What do you think?
Rate this book
The Me Myth - What do you mean it's not all about me?
Successful Australian businessman and bestselling author Andrew Griffiths has a simple but effective message to share: it's time to stop analysing our lives and time to start living. Andrew defines The Me Myth as the limiting belief that the world revolves around me. In short chapters he gives advice on how to shift the focus away from me and start living a better life through simple actions like mastering empathy, giving generously, inspiring people and having fun. The message is simple, but profound. And, most importantly, Andrew makes the journey fun!
The Me Myth is a result of Andrew's observations as well as his own personal journey. His life has been filled with extraordinary hardships and obstacles, from an unusual childhood to near-death experiences, which he has not only overcome, but thrived on. This is the next step in personal growth it's time to move away from internal analysis and move the focus outwards.
The Me Myth is a result of Andrew's observations as well as his own personal journey. His life has been filled with extraordinary hardships and obstacles, from an unusual childhood to near-death experiences, which he has not only overcome, but thrived on. This is the next step in personal growth it's time to move away from internal analysis and move the focus outwards.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
13 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 8, 2011
superbly easy to read and smooth to follow + honestly revealing and inspiring!
you can definitely relate yourself with the author's own personal journey and find inspirations throughout the book. highly recommended!
you can definitely relate yourself with the author's own personal journey and find inspirations throughout the book. highly recommended!
December 10, 2016
This book's spine has been peering out of my office bookshelves for ages. Actually, 'ages' doesn't quite feel long enough. If you read this other review, you would have heard the story about how that book arrived on my doorstep. The Me Myth was in the same package of books.
It started out quite promisingly. Andrew Griffiths has an easygoing, very Australian style about his work. It's the kind of narrative that makes an Aussie feel quite at home. It's one that is at once self-deprecating, honest, clear, simple, and direct. The language is not complicated, the words have all the right kinds of -ise and -our endings, making them even less problematic to read, and we don't waste our mental capacity trying to imagine towns that are totally foreign to us. Even if we've never been to Townsville or Cooktown, we at least know where they are and what kind of climate it is when you go there.
The Me Myth begins as the kind of self-help book that promises to point out why thinking about yourself all the time isn't going to get you anywhere. The premise is that by focusing on other people you can achieve much more in your life, and enjoy it far more, because you're not thinking about your own petty little gains all the time. There's a caveat towards the start of the book that warns you that you have to go backwards a bit to go forwards, so you're quite forgiving about the rambling personal stories that bulk out the narrative. In fact, early in the book, they're essential to an understanding of who this guy is and why he's the right one to write this book.
But about halfway through this book a feeling starts creeping up your legs towards your belly. It's the same feeling that became the annoyingly large, clanking bells of exasperation when you read Naomi Simpson's Live What You Love, although in her case it was simply because the book's audience was clearly women who had lost their brains to children. (Yeah, scathing, I know - I was all wrong for that book. Yeesh.)
The feeling here, though, is much more along the lines of, 'Why, if this book is called the Me Myth, is the word 'I' mentioned 36 times in one page (page 156 actually)? And where has the deep and meaningful thread of this story actually gone, buried as it is amongst personal anecdotes? And why am I not getting the significance out of this book that it promised in the beginning?
Let's take a complete stab in the dark and suggest that the reason is because the author backed out of the challenge and felt more comfortable telling his own story. It's a good story: It's compelling, and it's useful. But it doesn't do what it promises it's going to do. By the end of it, the important elements were like pale threads of retellings of other narratives by Zigler, Rohn, and Robbins, and the argument itself - which was a good argument in the beginning - kind of trailed away and got lost.
It's a damn shame. It's a shame because for a while it seemed like Griffiths, who really does have skin in the game - he's not a wealthy, white, born-to-privilege kind of guy - was going to challenge an entire genre. If he had succeeded, it would have been utterly remarkable.
Instead, it's memoir thinly disguised as an alternative spin on self-help, with all the truly interesting stories (like hitchhiking around Australia and being lucky to survive) weeded out.
Given that this kind of pale, not-quite-anything book is becoming quite common, I'm starting to wonder about business books, entrepreneurial books, and anything that looks like it might be good. I'm wondering about them because they're starting to appear like they're being written and sold for the primary purpose of making money and putting people in an artificial position of leadership. In fact, if you read books like Become a Key Person of Influence writing and releasing a book so you 'look' like an expert is pretty high on the list. It works: I've known people who struggled to write and release books, and on the back of the release got great jobs and were lauded for being experts, even though their own businesses failed, they couldn't make any money, and really became more-glorified-than-usual-employees. Their brilliance is in leveraging the book to land a sweet job, and then using that to get to the next level of whatever their plans are. Generally speaking the books are terrible, and the passion that they had felt for their businesses originally is sucked up in their own myth of me: Becoming an influential person.
Deep down, every person who runs a business wants to be an influential person. If they tell you they don't, they're lying. They do it as much for the attention as for any other reason, and being an influential person takes some of the pain out of the grind. Building a business is grinding. It's just like fishing in World of Warcraft for weeks on end so you can level up and get a horse so you can get around the world a bit faster, and it's not even as glamorous. Plus, when you're an influence, you have more things to brag about than simply that you managed to keep your customers happy this week and haven't spent every cent you earned doing it.
So, while that's probably a bit unfair to Mr Griffiths, who really does seem to have a genuine love for helping people as a result of his own life, this book does feel like it belongs to a pile of fading narratives whose worth isn't particularly high.
Quite probably you will read this book and vehemently disagree with me. And if so, that's awesome, because you really did need to read this book and you probably got a whole lot more out of it than me.
But in my case, I went in being promised something much more incisive and insightful than what it delivered. On the basis that this particular genre has many millions of titles, a whole lot of which are outstanding to read, I hesitate to recommend this to you unless you really are at the beginning of your journey. If you are familiar with Rohn, Robbins, Zigler, Tolle, or even the Dalai Lama, then I suggest you won't get anything new out of this except a desire to hear the stories that are hinted at but not told.
It started out quite promisingly. Andrew Griffiths has an easygoing, very Australian style about his work. It's the kind of narrative that makes an Aussie feel quite at home. It's one that is at once self-deprecating, honest, clear, simple, and direct. The language is not complicated, the words have all the right kinds of -ise and -our endings, making them even less problematic to read, and we don't waste our mental capacity trying to imagine towns that are totally foreign to us. Even if we've never been to Townsville or Cooktown, we at least know where they are and what kind of climate it is when you go there.
The Me Myth begins as the kind of self-help book that promises to point out why thinking about yourself all the time isn't going to get you anywhere. The premise is that by focusing on other people you can achieve much more in your life, and enjoy it far more, because you're not thinking about your own petty little gains all the time. There's a caveat towards the start of the book that warns you that you have to go backwards a bit to go forwards, so you're quite forgiving about the rambling personal stories that bulk out the narrative. In fact, early in the book, they're essential to an understanding of who this guy is and why he's the right one to write this book.
But about halfway through this book a feeling starts creeping up your legs towards your belly. It's the same feeling that became the annoyingly large, clanking bells of exasperation when you read Naomi Simpson's Live What You Love, although in her case it was simply because the book's audience was clearly women who had lost their brains to children. (Yeah, scathing, I know - I was all wrong for that book. Yeesh.)
The feeling here, though, is much more along the lines of, 'Why, if this book is called the Me Myth, is the word 'I' mentioned 36 times in one page (page 156 actually)? And where has the deep and meaningful thread of this story actually gone, buried as it is amongst personal anecdotes? And why am I not getting the significance out of this book that it promised in the beginning?
Let's take a complete stab in the dark and suggest that the reason is because the author backed out of the challenge and felt more comfortable telling his own story. It's a good story: It's compelling, and it's useful. But it doesn't do what it promises it's going to do. By the end of it, the important elements were like pale threads of retellings of other narratives by Zigler, Rohn, and Robbins, and the argument itself - which was a good argument in the beginning - kind of trailed away and got lost.
It's a damn shame. It's a shame because for a while it seemed like Griffiths, who really does have skin in the game - he's not a wealthy, white, born-to-privilege kind of guy - was going to challenge an entire genre. If he had succeeded, it would have been utterly remarkable.
Instead, it's memoir thinly disguised as an alternative spin on self-help, with all the truly interesting stories (like hitchhiking around Australia and being lucky to survive) weeded out.
Given that this kind of pale, not-quite-anything book is becoming quite common, I'm starting to wonder about business books, entrepreneurial books, and anything that looks like it might be good. I'm wondering about them because they're starting to appear like they're being written and sold for the primary purpose of making money and putting people in an artificial position of leadership. In fact, if you read books like Become a Key Person of Influence writing and releasing a book so you 'look' like an expert is pretty high on the list. It works: I've known people who struggled to write and release books, and on the back of the release got great jobs and were lauded for being experts, even though their own businesses failed, they couldn't make any money, and really became more-glorified-than-usual-employees. Their brilliance is in leveraging the book to land a sweet job, and then using that to get to the next level of whatever their plans are. Generally speaking the books are terrible, and the passion that they had felt for their businesses originally is sucked up in their own myth of me: Becoming an influential person.
Deep down, every person who runs a business wants to be an influential person. If they tell you they don't, they're lying. They do it as much for the attention as for any other reason, and being an influential person takes some of the pain out of the grind. Building a business is grinding. It's just like fishing in World of Warcraft for weeks on end so you can level up and get a horse so you can get around the world a bit faster, and it's not even as glamorous. Plus, when you're an influence, you have more things to brag about than simply that you managed to keep your customers happy this week and haven't spent every cent you earned doing it.
So, while that's probably a bit unfair to Mr Griffiths, who really does seem to have a genuine love for helping people as a result of his own life, this book does feel like it belongs to a pile of fading narratives whose worth isn't particularly high.
Quite probably you will read this book and vehemently disagree with me. And if so, that's awesome, because you really did need to read this book and you probably got a whole lot more out of it than me.
But in my case, I went in being promised something much more incisive and insightful than what it delivered. On the basis that this particular genre has many millions of titles, a whole lot of which are outstanding to read, I hesitate to recommend this to you unless you really are at the beginning of your journey. If you are familiar with Rohn, Robbins, Zigler, Tolle, or even the Dalai Lama, then I suggest you won't get anything new out of this except a desire to hear the stories that are hinted at but not told.
December 28, 2019
One of my favourite reads for 2019 - hands down!
It was the first book in a very long time that i simply could not put down. It left a significant mark in my heart and mind, and was the catalyst for change in my life.
It was the first book in a very long time that i simply could not put down. It left a significant mark in my heart and mind, and was the catalyst for change in my life.
April 11, 2013
To say Andrew Griffiths has had an interesting life would be a serious understatement. Deserted by parents, abused by carers, and more, you could excuse him for feeling down on life. But instead he tells each chapter with an upbeat hope, ending with the sort of question that makes his tale apply to the boring everyday lives of his readers. Then he challenges us to make the most of our lives. The comfortably familiar can hold a child back from hope, and an adult from learning to make something of his/her life. Challenge yourselves, the author tells his readers. Be specifically positive and thankful. Recognize pivotal moments as opportunities and be empowered.
The writing’s smooth and honest. The voice is easy to read, neither overly personal, nor didactic. And the surprises keep each chapter fresh and new. How can a man deserted by his mother as a child still say his mother had the greatest influence on his life? How can Zen calm collapse into a sea of rage and still win through? And where does empathy come from in such a situation? Each chapter illustrates a lesson with no sign-posts and no sense of forcing the reader to follow along. Then the questions act like a sting in the tale, and the repeated refrain reminds us “It’s time to change your Me Myth.” It’s not all about me, or all about the author, and when we realize that it becomes “all” about so much more. Life can be so much more fulfilling.
Covering such topics as forgiveness, charity, communication, passion and more, with examples from a life well-lived, filled with adventure, wisdom, and lessons learned (octopi have real beaks for example), this is a pleasingly readable book with great teaching, memorable aphorisms, and wonderful encouragement. My favorite quote? “Problems are like diets; the longer you put them off the more you have to lose.” Highly recommended and a challenging incitement to wake up and have fun, this is that rare sort of self-help book that’s actually fun to read.
Disclosure: I found out it was free so I got it.
December 15, 2010
As self-help books go, this is not one of the best. Griffiths is a successful entrepreneur who repeatedly reminds his readers of his humble beginnings. Drawn purely from his own life experiences, The Me Myth lacks the authority that comes from cumulative studies conducted by researchers and psychologists. Griffiths however does offer some sound advice ‘the less time you spend thinking about ‘me’ and the more time you spend getting on with living, the greater your life will become’ and the exercises at the end of each chapter are useful.
If you have never read a self-help book before, then this one is not a bad one but be aware that it does have its short comings. 3 stars
If you have never read a self-help book before, then this one is not a bad one but be aware that it does have its short comings. 3 stars
November 14, 2014
It's a self-help book that's similar to other self-help books but uses the 'Me Myth' theme to try to distinguish itself. (In reality, of course, all self-help books are encouraging people to focus on themselves). The author had a very bad childhood (the woman who bought him up was a monster) but overcame it.
I suspect that some parts were made up e.g. the author said that he received advice for improvements to his business that would cost $5000 to implement then bought a lottery ticket and won $5000. That's the sort of thing that I've read in American self-help books and I have a suspicion that he just copied the idea from one of them.
I suspect that some parts were made up e.g. the author said that he received advice for improvements to his business that would cost $5000 to implement then bought a lottery ticket and won $5000. That's the sort of thing that I've read in American self-help books and I have a suspicion that he just copied the idea from one of them.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews