The courage to be disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi (EN)

Written by Japanese writer Fumitake Koga and philosopher Ichiro Kishimi, this book has been an unbelievable success since its original publication in January 2018. The book offers a new and empowering perspective on how to brush off social pressures and trust in your self-worth to find happiness. The book develops the ideas of 19th-century Austrian psychologist, Alfred Adler, through a dialogue between a philosopher and his student. The book covers many controversial theories by Adler, such as his opinion that every flaw, misery, and complaint is intentionally created by the person suffering from it and not an immediate consequence of an event. The underlying idea of the book is that in order to find happiness, one must first find the strength to be disliked – We should not depend on each other for happiness but rather find it within us first. The book offers a liberating point of view, teaching us how to develop the courage to change and to ignore the limitations that we and those around us often place on ourselves. Koga and Kishimi want to show us how being courageous can allow us to grow both professionally and personally by questioning and reflecting upon our behavior a bit more often.