Have you ever seen how a heartbeat is traced? Well, I am pretty sure who hasn’t. If you really look closely, you’d find that it consists of peaks, valleys, and plateaus. Quite similar are our lives too. Using terms like ‘peaks’ and ‘valleys’ metaphorically, this very book in scrutiny today goes well beyond physical geography and the heart line.
‘Peaks and Valleys: Making Good and Bad Times Work for You—At Work and In Life’ is another spot-on magnum opus by the New York Times bestselling author of ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’, Spencer Johnson. You already know how timeless, impactful, insightful, and provocative reading it’s gonna be if it’s by Spencer Johnson. (Well, let’s leave ushering into appreciating this astounding figure in the world of self-help books for another piece.)
Written for two decades and finally published in 2009, ‘Peaks and Valleys’ is essentially an allegory of a mere hundred pages which creates a lasting impact on its readers. Since it is a straightforward yet deeply moving story inhabiting within itself another underlying eye-opening tale, the best thing about the said book is its simplistic tone and to-the-point telling though it has a lot below its surface to get at.
The few characters in the story, young and old, seem to transform into each other or take place of each other as the tale unfolds such that the book seems to circle back time and again to where it began. You might find the story to be reiterative or very obvious at several junctures, but that’s the beauty. The principles get clearer and everything gets doubly reinforced into our wandering minds.
Regardless of where you are in your life, this book shall always hold impeccable relevance to our lives which fundamentally constitute highs and lows, making us what we are. The pearls of wisdom dropped every now and then urge you to grab your sticky notes, jot them all for future reference, and put them right up near your study table or on your work desk. The book speaks loud and clear about how consistent application of certain basic principles can bring a change in your perspective for quotidian things in life causing a positive paradigm shift, both in your personal and professional life, while you effectively endeavour to navigate through life.
What’s truly remarkable is to read about how the propounded principles and practical toolsets have equal significance and applicability in the arena of business and can plausibly solve organizational problems. The given ideas serve as great credo while dealing with problems both inside and outside one’s business environment.
Written in a universally or personally relevant context, the book brings readers to a common ground. It serves as a reminder of things that we forget in due course of juggling among the highs, lows, and lulls. Since it catches hold of your dilemmas, fears and bafflement, the book doesn’t let you forget about what it teaches you. It helps you learn how to swiftly make way through valleys and stay longer at peaks and why running into plateaus once in a while might be important. The author’s use of natural elements to tell a story is stunning.
Contemplating the subtle yet deep truths shared in such an understandable way really helps one overcome quite a few inner conflicts and gets one off the hook for a while from mechanically running on the treadmill of life for the longest time.
While giving you “Aha” moments, the book essentially teaches you how to use a new-fangled stratagem like the ‘Peaks and Valleys Approach’ to all aspects of your life so as to become calmer, be more at peace, and have more success overall. This book will undoubtedly assist you if you are at a nadir in your life and require some self-development suggestions. If you are at the pinnacle of your career or life, read this now while you are at the top as moments, irrespective of their nature, are always transient.
It might not help you solve all of your problems but will put you in a place to pull off with the tenacity and fervor needed to vanquish them and stay on a peak longer. This is the power of allegory at its contemporary best, challenging in content and potentially life-changing.
Written by- Aakriti Sanghi
Edited by- Isha Mehrotra