La brújula interior: Álex Rovira’s Guide to Self-Knowledge, Living in the Present and Owning Your Time
"It is not possible to secure the future. It is only possible to lose the present." La brújula interior (The Inner Compass) explains how to face the anxieties and fears we are taught from an early age: the mortgage, the job, the famous phrase "earning a living", a headache for so many people.
Author: Álex Rovira Celma (born 1969)
Title: La brújula interior (first published 2003)
Format: Spanish paperback (Plataforma Editorial, 2019), 210 pages
Scope: Self-knowledge and personal development
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/8417622934 (ASIN 8417622934)
Live Now
There is a way of facing things that is both positive and realistic. The paradox, in short, is that we must live in the present and not worry too much about things outside our control. If the burdens of daily life cause you constant unease, you will never enjoy what you are doing. Anxiety will not let you see beyond short-term goals, while great achievements come from investing time and being consistent.
Self-Esteem and Change
To change your way of life you need to know that you have the qualities required. High self-esteem helps you cope with the challenges in your way. Improving is not impossible, but it is hard unless you set your mind to it. Leaving behind those childhood fears and facing things as they are can change your mindset and make you more positive. Resting and not making decisions lightly make a great difference.
The Fisherman and the Businessman
With anecdotes like that of the fisherman, the book explains briefly and simply the difference between two mentalities. The fisherman has breakfast with his family, goes out fishing for four hours, comes back at two with enough fish to get by, has lunch with his family, takes a nap and lives peacefully. The businessman sees only the economic side and insists the fisherman has no head for business.
Álex Rovira
Álex Rovira was born in Barcelona in 1969 and trained as an economist, with an MBA from ESADE business school. After working in business he turned to writing and lecturing on personal development. La brújula interior was his first book; a year later he co-wrote, with Fernando Trías de Bes, La buena suerte (Good Luck), a short fable that became an international bestseller and made both authors widely known.
An Old Parable
The story of the fisherman and the businessman is a well-travelled parable. Its best-known version is a short story by the German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll, published in 1963, in which a tourist urges a dozing fisherman to work harder, buy a fleet of boats and build a business, so that one day he can relax in the sun, which is exactly what the fisherman is already doing. Rovira uses it, as many writers have, to question what we really mean by success.
Reading It Today
The book’s central message, that we should stop sacrificing the present to fears about the future, resonates strongly in an age of constant hurry. Readers who enjoy reflective, warm-hearted self-help with plenty of stories will find it a pleasant companion, best read slowly, a chapter at a time.
Who Will Find It Useful
It suits readers who feel trapped by routine or worry, and anyone looking for encouragement to reconsider their priorities without abandoning common sense.
Its short chapters make it easy to pick up again whenever the daily rush starts to take over.
Letters for Your Own Life
The book also includes a series of original letters that set out a method to help you steer your own life and be the master of your own time: to live an autonomous and happy life. It is available in Spanish only.
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