‘Stand Firm’ by Svend Brinkman teaches that helping others — and forgetting yourself — will lead you to happiness
It might seem strange to be reviewing a self-help book in the pages of this paper, especially one that includes chapters called “Focus on the Negative in Your Life,” “Suppress Your Feelings” and “Dwell on the Past.” But Svend Brinkmann’s “Stand Firm,” as you might guess, is an anti-self-help book. It offers the kick in the butt you might need to resist the self-help culture’s call to make yourself the center of your life. Pursuing endless growth and development by any means necessary could come at the cost of forgetting that other people exist.