“My search to understand my mother led me to another epiphany as well: narcissism isn’t all bad. In fact, some narcissism is good—even vital—for us to lead happy, fulfilled, and productive lives. Feeling special, I’ve discovered, can make us better lovers and partners, courageous leaders, and intrepid explorers. It can make us more creative, and it might even help us live longer. …
That feeling special can be good as well as bad is just one of the startling findings I unearthed while exploring the mystery of narcissism. In the following pages you’ll discover many other truths that challenge accepted wisdom. …
My goal in writing this book is to help you not only understand and cope with the people around you—those you live and work with—but also to better understand yourself. My explorations certainly did that for me. …
What I eventually realized is that neither stance—constant self-doubt or continuous bravado—made for a very fulfilling life; they both left me feeling lonely and misunderstood. …
As a therapist, I am a firm believer that growth is possible, for everyone, whether we harbor too little narcissism or too much. And happily, the evidence, as you’ll see, supports that conclusion.”
~ Dr. Craig Malkin from Rethinking Narcissism
Dr. Craig Malkin is an author, clinical psychologist, and Instructor of Psychology for Harvard Medical School with two decades of experience helping individuals, couples, and families.
He’s also one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of narcissism. In this book, he shares, as the sub-title suggests, “The bad—and surprising good—about feeling special.” (Get a copy here.)
In the process, he also challenges some of the myths about narcissism out there.
The short story? Narcissism is a lot more nuanced than we might have been led to believe. Yes, there are some intensely narcissistic people out there but we *ALL* have varying levels of narcissism—and that’s not a bad thing. We want to think about it like a spectrum and then do the work to make sure we stay in the “healthy narcissism” center of that spectrum.
Of course, the book is all about helping us do that.
I’m excited to take a look at some of my favorite Big Ideas on how to go about Optimizing our healthy narcissism while making sure we don’t hang out at the extremes of either too little or too much!
So… Let’s jump in!
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