“A User’s Manual For The Human Experience” by Michael W. Dean is a book I most likely would have never read if I had not previously read, reviewed, and enjoyed Dean’s “$30 Writing School.” I’m glad I found “$30 Writing School” on the shelf of a book store and enjoyed it, because that led me to this “User’s Manual For The Human Experience.” It is a self-help book, but one like no others I have read. I found it to be unique, interesting, informative, and most of all enjoyable.
Dean definitely has a style of his own. It’s a mixture of reflection, self-assuredness, a zest for life, libertarianism, his own brand of humor, all combined with a love for his wife and cats. In this very revealing book, Dean shares some of his triumphs along with some personal tragedies in order to present a message that will help the reader live a more productive and positive life. He calls his personal philosophy of living “Life Amplification,” or “LifeAmp” for short, and describes this as learning to be comfortable in your own skin, and making a living doing what you love.
I don’t think this book is the one and only book to read for living the life of your dreams, or for motivation, because I think Zig Ziglar was right when someone told him motivation didn’t last, and he replied, “Neither does bathing, that’s why I recommend both daily.” The book is almost like several books in one and could almost be described as a collection of essays rather than a continuous book. Almost. I do think it is an extremely important book for those that are recovering from some sort of addiction, and a very good book for those looking for a different take on living the life of their dreams by doing what they love to do.
The first half of the book focuses on recovery from codependence and substances without meetings. However, Dean does give AA, their meetings, and 12-step Programs a lot of credit. They have helped him, and will help many others. Dean found a way to graduate from those programs and live productively without them, and that is some of what he shares in this book. I have never had an addiction, and my only familiarity to AA and 12-Step Programs is what I’ve seen in movies and television, recently in “Rescue Me” with Denis Leary. So I found the sections interesting from an academic point of view. I enjoyed learning from Dean’s experiences that I am personally very unfamiliar with. Those with addictions will benefit most from Dean’s examples of how to stay sober without the Twelve Steps. At the same time, I think the advice about Practical Emotional Self-Defense and blocking serenity vampires and others from your life can be beneficial for anyone. Life is too short to have your energy and existence sucked out of you by those that do not enhance your time here on earth.
Read the book to find out what Dean’s two rules in life are, but I will tell you that if everyone lived by them, the world would undoubtedly be a better place. Dean didn’t make these rules up, he just re-packaged some old wisdom. Since many people don’t follow these rules, I think we could use a little more spreading the word.
As a self-defense instructor, I have used modifications of Cooper’s Color Code in numerous writings, seminars, and presentations. I’ve even adopted them to paid presentations on communication. So I really enjoyed how Dean used Cooper’s Color Code in his Practical Emotional Self-Defense portion. Good advice on how to deal with people who emotionally assault you. I like Dean’s “stop being a victim attitude” and his belief that anyone can take control of their own destiny. While many of us believe this, some stuck in depression and addiction may not. Dean is an example that this is true.
The second half of the book could almost be a different book entirely, since it takes a different approach. This half focuses on Dean’s thoughts on doing what you love. The first chapter of this half includes many tidbits of practical advice and wisdom in random order. This was one of my favorite chapters of the book, and I even wrote a short blog/article on a passage titled “Do Everything As If You’ll Be Remembered For Only That One Thing.”
Dean’s message will resonate most with artists. Dean is a musician and author and doing what he loves includes those activities. He loves to create, and that comes through clearly. Many of his suggestions can be applied to other occupations as well, but it is the artist, regardless if music, writing, painting, or whatever, that will connect with Dean’s message the most. While I’m an attorney, I also create with my books, audio programs, and DVDs, so that part of me really enjoyed a lot of this second half of Dean’s life lessons. His thoughts on professionalism were spot on, and I think his advice for time management will help some, though he didn’t convince me to get rid of my planning calendar altogether. But his key is find a system that works for you, and he shares what works for him. I applaud that. My favorite message of his is to produce and do something you enjoy!
He also provides his ten-point plan for moving from a job you don’t like to the freedom of doing what you love. He did it, so why can’t you? He also provided an interesting example of using the AA 12 Traditions to organization building. While he made a good argument for this, this was probably my least favorite chapter. Maybe because of my unfamiliarity to AA and 12-step programs, but I just didn’t connect with this chapter.
I found the final chapter, “Letter to a Young Me” to be creative and entertaining. Not only did he write as a 44 year-old to a 22 year-old self, but also as a 60 year-old writing back to himself at 44. I think this is a cool exercise that many would benefit from doing themselves.
I’m sure some people won’t like some of Dean’s political views that come through in this book. Some people won’t share his beliefs on certain things, and might not like his directness on them. That’s okay, because if you try to please everyone, you won’t really have something of substance left. I for one don’t agree with Dean on everything. I’ve also never experienced some of the things Dean wrote about. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, gained some knowledge on subjects I know little about, and took away some gems to incorporate into my life to live more productively. That makes this a book very worth reading, and one that I am very glad I did.
A User's Manual For the Human Experience by Michael W Dean
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