BOOK REVIEW by Franklin Salazar ('21): "Rewire: Change Your Brain"
Rising senior Franklin Salazar reviews Richard O’Connor’s new book and questions if it’s possible to change our behaviors, our habits, and even our brains:
Self-development is the Sisyphean task that is in our perpetual to-do list. We are aware of some of our bad habits that at the same time affect other aspects of our lives. But why are they so hard to work on? In his book, Rewire: Change Your Brain to Break Bad Habits, Overcome Addiction, Conquer Self-Destructive Behavior, Richard O’Connor offers the reader a broad explanation behind this question. O’Connor suggests permanent solutions for the many bad behaviors—passive-aggressive behavior, anger, fear of success, self-sabotage, procrastination, and excessive worrying to name a few—that we have learned throughout our lives.
One of the many concepts that is introduced to the reader in Rewire is the concept of the two selves that coexist within our brains: the conscious self and the automatic self. The conscious self is in charge of making deliberate decisions to engage in the many activities that we are part of in our daily lives. On the other hand, the automatic self is the one in charge of things such as breathing, brushing our teeth, drinking water, and the many other activities that do not require us to actively think of them while we are doing them. O’Connor argues that the automatic self is the part of the two selves that is responsible for most of our bad habits. These habits have been part of our lives for a long time and oftentimes we are not aware of them. Using his years of experience as a psychotherapist, O’Connor introduces this concept to help identify the root of the issues that are part of our lives.
O’Connor does not only write about the root of the issues that most people have when it comes to self-development. He also offers solutions to overcome all of these issues that are very difficult to approach without the help of a professional. Rewire is an attempt to help anyone that reads the book with their self-development journey. The book has a lot of exercises that you must practice actively to start feeling the effects that they will have in your daily life. I highly recommend reading this book if you have been trying to tackle one or many of the different issues that are mentioned. Do not approach this book as just one check-off on your “books to read” list. But rather as a constant guideline towards a better version of yourself.