Book Review – Psycho-Cybernetics

Author: Maxwell Malts

About the author:
Dr. Malts was a plastic surgeon by profession. According to him altering a man’s face not
only change his outer look but also his inner self. This book includes his lifelong experiences
and lessons. His deep understanding of psychology could easily be judged after reading this
book. This book provided easy and illustrative examples that almost everyone relates to in
his day to day life.

Summary of book:
In first chapter he talks about the self-image created by ourselves and its importance. Each person
has a self-image – a mental blueprint that describes the kind of person he is. This blue print is the set
of believes and experiences of ones about oneself. These notions about one self are important as it
determine the persons fate to a great extent. For example, if one thinks he is a failure, he would fail.
These self-images are created by some past experiences and could be negative or positive. One
usually gets over these believes of one self but for some this could remain with them for a long time.
Here is an example where author talks about a man who is insecure of his ugly looks. He wished that
he had big nose and his ears where stuck out. He was worried that people will judge him for his
looks. But in reality, nobody judged him but he was himself sad because of negative self-image
created by himself.

Next he talks about how negative thoughts hypnotise us and how rational thinking can help us to
overcome this. We experience both positive and negative believes that hypnotise us. These believes
are not the result of facts or experiences but the conclusions that we draw from them. He gives
example of his friend Dr. Alfred Alder who was considered as a poor student by his math teacher.
Alder accepted this fact and grades proved his teacher right. But one day he suddenly understood
how to solve a complex problem and showed it to his teacher. Teacher realized that he doesn’t have
any problem in grasping arithmetic. Therefore, his confidence boosted, and he became a better
student at maths.

He also talks about a success mechanism in human body that driven by imagination. He says human
brain cannot differentiate between experiences that we imagine and ones that actually occur. As a
result, it reacts according to what we believe or imagine to be true. We can stimulate creativity and
make ourselves happy. For example, once we have struggled through a problem sufficiently, we
reach the point at which further thinking only holds us back. Then our built-in creative instinct kicks
in. As a result, we have our best ideas when we’re not actively working. So, while creativity is
unreliable, we can reboot it by altering our actions and thoughts. And the same goes for happiness.
Most people think happiness as of future. For example, we will be happy we get married, get a high
paying job or purchase your own house. We first need to recognize that happiness is an entirely
internal feeling, a product of our thoughts and the attitudes.

Next is the best thing according to me about which the author talks. It is the seven elements that
make up a successful human personality. First- sense of direction. Every human is a goal seeker and
just like a mountain climber need an objective to pursue. Second- understanding. Most failures are a
result of misunderstanding, for example you see two colleagues in conversation. Right as you walk
by, they look up and stop talking. You might easily conclude that they were gossiping about you, but
that’s unlikely. This is how misunderstanding can alter our perception. Third- courage. Only by taking
courageous actions one can make his dreams a reality. Fourth- charity. A successful person is
thoughtful of every person’s needs, dignity and respect. Fifth- esteem. If you think you can, you will.
A low self esteem is never a trait of successful person. Sixth- self-confidence. And seventh- self
acceptance.

Along with traits of a successful person he talks about seven causes of failure namely – frustration,
aggressiveness, insecurity, loneliness, uncertainty, resentment and emptiness.

After this he tells the reader to see his emotions and unleash your real personality. When you incur a
physical injury, your body forms a scar to protect the damaged area. Similarly, people tend to form
emotional scars to protect hurt feelings. However, such scars don’t just protect one from the person
who initially hurt him but also these can separate oneself from all other people as they construct an
emotional wall that keeps out friends and foes alike. But we can overcome these scars by using
genuine forgiveness our primary tool. Forgiveness cut away old wounds and allow healing to occur.

At last he tells about two methods to find mental peace in a world full of interruptions. The first
technique is to start avoiding the different disruptive stimuli that populate your environment. These
stimuli are the things to which we have been conditioned to respond. for example, you are reading a
book comfortably in your favourite chair, and your phone stars ringing. Though you cloud easily
ignore the call but due to your prior conditioning you go and pick it up. Another way to achieve
peace of mind is to construct a mental quiet room that offers you a retreat from the world. You can
furnish it with whatever you find relaxing – maybe a beautiful landscape, or your favourite piece of
art. Then, whenever you have a few moments to spare, calm your mind in your quiet room.

My take away:
After reading this book one does not need to read any other self-help book as it is a complete
package in itself. Author talks about every aspect of human psychology related to being successful.
He tells about how human brain work and how can we use its working mechanism to our benefit. He
speaks about techniques to concours your brain with beautiful and illustrative examples. He also
tells the traits of a successful person and the traits that lead to failure. At last he talks about
methods to achieve mental peace. Overall it was a great experience to read this book and I am
surely benefited from this book.