Summary of Oliver Burkeman's The Antidote

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The philosophy of positive thinking is the doctrine of positive thinking at its most distilled. If you decide to think happy and successful thoughts, and banish the spectres of sadness and failure, happiness and success will follow.

#2 The Get Motivated! seminar is a global industry of positive thinking. It is staged roughly once a month in cities across North America. It features celebrity speakers, special effects, and many attendees take advantage of the event’s extra day off work.

#3 We seem to be extremely inept at achieving happiness. The modern-day apotheosis of the quest for happiness is self-help books, which apparently don’t help us become happier.

#4 The idea of seeking happiness is flawed to begin with. It's impossible to define happiness in words, and it seems that trying to find it reduces your chances of ever achieving it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669372097

IRB Media

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Insights on Oliver Burkeman's The Antidote

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The philosophy of positive thinking is the doctrine of positive thinking at its most distilled. If you decide to think happy and successful thoughts, and banish the spectres of sadness and failure, happiness and success will follow.

#2

The Get Motivated! seminar is a global industry of positive thinking. It is staged roughly once a month in cities across North America. It features celebrity speakers, special effects, and many attendees take advantage of the event’s extra day off work.

#3

We seem to be extremely inept at achieving happiness. The modern-day apotheosis of the quest for happiness is self-help books, which apparently don’t help us become happier.

#4

The idea of seeking happiness is flawed to begin with. It's impossible to define happiness in words, and it seems that trying to find it reduces your chances of ever achieving it.

#5

The effort to feel happy is often the thing that makes us miserable. We constantly try to avoid negative emotions, but that just leads to insecurity, anxiety, and depression. We must learn to enjoy uncertainty, embrace insecurity, and stop trying to think positively.

#6

The negative path to happiness is not about embracing contrarianism at all costs. It is about rejecting the dichotomy between optimism and negativity, and instead finding the happiness that arises from negativity.

#7

The negative path to happiness is not a single, comprehensive