Review: The Mind Game

The Mind Game by Devika Das
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While there are plethora of books on personality development and self-help, I find this book to be unique. The author has named this book as Mind Game probably because, she used the mind as a metaphor to make the readers aware how an regulated or uncontrolled minds make us act against our self-interests; how much ever well-intentional we might be at the conscious level. Every body has aspirations and dreams, but how to make them  come true? It is by regulating your mind. And, that is what Mind Game is all about.It is the title which precisely caught my fascination and I must say it was a worthy read.The time spent with this book read will reap huge dividends if you practice at least some of the tips shared by the author Devika Das. .

This book is divided into six sections. Topics range from emotional intelligence and analyzing people to secrets of happiness and a recipe for a happy, productive workplace. Though I read lots of psychology books, in this book I find that some of the most important and intricate concepts of psychology has been explained thoroughly, and in the most lucid manner. In this way, this book becomes one of the most well-rounded books written on the development of the latent human potential written by the Indian authors.

This book is not only just rife with theories but also filled with examples. She quotes the works of credible and noteworthy psychologists such as Sigmund Freud, B.F Skinner, Eduard Spranger, Martin Seligman and Shawn Achor to name a few. I really appreciate the knowledge of the author and the pains she has taken to glean the nuggets of wisdom from various sources so that the reading audience would be immensely benefited by it.

Of all the concepts mentioned in the book, the highlight of this book is the section on Emotional Intelligence. Man is not just a thinking animal. He has emotions too. Emotions, if unregulated can hijack the rational faculty of men/women, thus landing them in trouble. Just imagine how many lives have been ruined? How many opportunities lost? How many relationships broken? And how many lives ended, just for the simple want of not able to handle the emotions properly. In that way, this book is an eye-opener. Whether one is a student, housewife, employee, entrepreneur, professional or a leader, there is a pressing need to handle the negative emotions prudently and foster the positive emotions to lead a flourishing life. The mishandling of negative emotions can lead to dissatisfied, unfulfilling lives. In that way this book is the need of the hour for youth and working professionals. Because, a great IQ may land you in a job, but to survive that job, you need to leverage on the power of EQ, and that is what this book exactly points out through various examples and interesting theories.

On a high-level, this book introduced me to the concept of emotional agnosia-the inability to read people’s emotions, commonly observed  among the schizophrenic/autistic patients. The next is Eduard Spranger’s values theory.Apart from  theories like these, this book made me introspect my own shortcomings and the steps I have to take to overcome them.Anybody who reads this book will have his life changed if at all he/she practices at least some of the tips given by the author in the book. Read this book and get ready to live a life true to your dreams. After all, it is only a ‘mind game’.









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