Stephen Bruyant-Langer’s ‘The Existential Playbook’ offers a path to meaning and reinvention, but its optimism may come at the cost of perspective, writes Dr Amanda McLeod.
I WAS SCEPTICAL about this book and Stephen Bruyant-Langer’s approach from the outset. I imagine that this kind of “motivational literature” is not the standard fare for an Independent Australia readership.
Bruyant-Langer is described as a ‘distinguished executive coach, economist, lecturer and keynote speaker’. Bruyant-Langer defines himself, his contemporaries and his clients as ‘thought-leaders’. The book, however, is largely free of management speak and jargon.
Interspersed with anecdotes, The Existential Playbook: How to survive, live and thrive is clearly a work close to Bruyant-Langer’s heart. Refreshing for a book of this kind, it talks of a values-driven life rather than one focused on wealth and power. It is a philosophy he has tried to live himself, of ‘life ambition, personal reinvention, learning agility and courage to commit’.
Trained as an economist, Bruyant-Langer once worked as chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola, as an academic and, now, as a ‘top executive coach’. As a card-carrying existentialist and one trained in – but no longer a proponent of – trickle-down economics, his driving force is the combination of ‘personal choice, action and responsibility’. His is a persuasive argument: ‘that people who believe in free will feel more meaningful and content in their lives’.
Such a position is convincing, unless you think that free will is a luxury only afforded to the privileged.
The purpose of the book, writes Bruyant-Langer, is to ‘find and give meaning to life’. A grand statement and goal. It is designed as a guidebook that gives the reader directions to live by.
Bruyant-Langer promises ‘actionable steps’ to change your life and he delivers these with clarity. On the whole, his interweaving of philosophical and political thought is interesting and engaging. His interdisciplinary approach offers more than standard motivational/self-improvement literature.
Free will and choice underpin this work: “Who am I? And who do I want to be?” are central tenets. Bruyant-Langer puts the “self” at the forefront of his thesis. ‘Self-interest’, he controversially contends, ‘can be common interest’.
Anticipating potential criticism, that self-improvement might seem overly optimistic and self-indulgent, Bruyant-Langer states:
Some of the people I speak to feel that the world is falling apart and don’t understand the changing cultural currents and shifting paradigms...
It can seem self-indulgent to improve your own life when so many others live in appalling conditions and the climate crisis threatens to end humanity as we know it.
I felt uncomfortable with this part of the book and with existentialism more generally. Bruyant-Langer acknowledges that there are significant and real challenges facing the world (climate change, the war in Ukraine and the plight of Palestine, amongst others).
But my main concern is with the book’s overarching tone, the belief that ultimately ‘things are always changing’, as if to downplay the very real suffering that modern life is delivering.
This seems an overly simplistic and privileged position rather than one that is merely pessimistic and misguided. The world, writes Bruyant-Langer, is a ‘far better place today’ than it ever has been and urges us to remain positive. I remain unconvinced and lean to the side that feels that such optimism is a self-indulgent luxury.
If writers are told to ‘write what you know’, then Bruyant-Langer has passed the test. This work is clearly targeted at middle-class professionals (of which Bruyant-Langer is one). If this describes you or if you ignore this fact, you will find an engaging, well-researched and sincere book. Bruyant-Langer has achieved his aims.
Ultimately, the book leads the reader to a ten-point action plan to achieve success. This comes after an interesting discussion that consumes the bulk of the text, interwoven with examples from philosophers and psychologists.
From the Stoics to Descartes to Freud and beyond, this book builds its evidence on thoughts rather than mere facts. Gratingly, even Musk gets a good wrap. This was before his strident assault on democratic principles. I wondered what Bruyant-Langer would think of that.
Refreshingly, this is not your average motivational text. It is rare to find such a book that places itself within the philosophical literature. Yet, its grand ambitions and the promises of existentialism troubled me from cover to cover. The book’s underpinnings are to be wary of. I worry that such individualism is the stuff only the privileged can afford.
If you are looking for a guidebook that will give you the tools to change your life and identify and live by your values, then it might be a good place to start. If you are worried about your place in a rapidly changing world, a position that Bruyant-Langer would describe as unduly pessimistic, then it would be a good reason to look elsewhere.
‘The Existential Playbook: How to survive, live and thrive’ by Stephen Bruyant-Langer is published by Right Book Press and is available from Amazon for $29.71 (paperback).
This book was reviewed by an IA Book Club member. If you would like to receive free high-quality books and have your review published on IA, subscribe to Independent Australia for your complimentary IA Book Club membership.
Dr Amanda McLeod has a BA (Honours), majoring in history and philosophy and a PhD in consumer history. She writes on politics, economics and Australian life.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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