Beyond Order: Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 More Rules for Life, From Imagining Who You Could Be to Showing Gratitude
In Beyond Order, the sequel to 12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson draws on situations faced by his clinical patients and explains the remedies he offered in each case, from hypnosis to exposure therapy. Not always within the bounds of political correctness, he highlights the problems young people face today.
Author: Jordan B. Peterson (born 1962), Canadian clinical psychologist
Title: Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life (2021)
Format: English paperback (Penguin), 432 pages
Scope: Self-help and psychology
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/0593543696 (ASIN 0593543696)
Lost at Some Point
Anxiety and depression are common conditions in the twenty-first century. Many people feel lost at certain stages of their lives, and the book aims to offer keys for finding the right path and living a better life. For example, improvements in a person’s character through everyday experience can end up being reflected in their working life.
The Twelve Rules
1. Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement.
2. Imagine who you could be, and then aim single-mindedly at that.
3. Do not hide unwanted things in the fog.
4. Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated.
5. Do not do what you hate.
6. Abandon ideology.
7. Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.
8. Try to make one room in your home as beautiful as possible.
9. If old memories still upset you, write them down carefully and completely.
10. Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationship.
11. Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant.
12. Be grateful in spite of your suffering.
Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist who taught at Harvard and then for many years at the University of Toronto. His first book, Maps of Meaning (1999), was an academic study of myth and belief. He became world-famous in 2016–2018, first through online lectures and public controversies, then through 12 Rules for Life (2018), which became an international bestseller. Beyond Order, published in 2021, was written as its companion: if the first book dealt with the dangers of chaos, this one deals with the dangers of too much order.
A Book Born of Hardship
Peterson wrote much of the book during a very difficult period. In the overture he describes the serious illness of his wife, Tammy, and his own health crisis, which followed a dependence on prescribed anti-anxiety medication and required long treatment abroad. That experience gives several chapters a personal, sometimes raw tone, especially the last rule, about being grateful in spite of suffering.
Myths and Stories
As in his earlier work, Peterson draws heavily on ancient stories, from the Bible and Greek myth to Goethe’s Faust and the Harry Potter books, to illustrate his points. Readers who enjoy his interpretations will find plenty to think about; others may find the approach long-winded. Either way, the book is best read a rule at a time, with pauses to reflect.
A Divisive Author
Peterson’s public views on politics and culture divide opinion sharply, and many readers approach his books with strong feelings in one direction or the other. The rules themselves are, for the most part, less controversial than his reputation suggests: most of them are about responsibility, honesty, creativity and the courage to face difficulties.
Readers can judge the advice on its merits, chapter by chapter, whatever their view of the man.
The book stands on its own.
Each rule stands alone, so the chapters can be read in any order.
Who Is It For?
Readers of 12 Rules for Life who want more, and anyone looking for practical, sometimes provocative advice on responsibility, meaning and relationships.
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