Peaks and Valleys by Spencer Johnson

Thanks to a student who took the initiative to lend me this book, another book by Spencer Johnson, one of my favourite authors, I hark back to some valuable principles.



Compared with his another book The Present, the messages in this book are more like common sense.  Well……common sense or not, they are useful and human, from time to time, need to be reminded of important things anyway.

My favourite line in the book is not one of the main messages though.

‘They all discouraged him from going where they themselves had never been.’

My student quoted the line in his report and it may be one of the reasons why the line has been brought to my attention. 

There is another reason.  The line reminds me of what Richard says in Rich Dad Poor Dad.  Poor people around ‘him’ asked him not to do ‘risky’ investments.  They stayed poor their whole life.  Noticing this, how would a person finding ways to get rich listen to their advice?

On the other hand, it does not mean that we should ignore their advice.  We don’t want to end up dying with a safe but boring life.  At the same time, we don’t want to die in dangerous trips.  There is only one way out

‘learn to do it safely and successfully’.

That comes to another message in the book

‘be humble and learn from friends and family’.

We NEED to listen to them, seriously, to know why they are doing what they do and the dangers they are trying to avoid.  Learning from them, we insist on going where we long for, but be sure to be equipped with the skills and knowledge which will save us from dangers and …… failures.

Doing this, we learn, grow up and make our life more fun.

I also like the message ‘enjoy both good and bad times’.  As said in the book, ‘The purpose of the Peak is to celebrate life and the purpose of the Valley is to learn about life.’

Life, which is full of ups and downs, is short.  So, why not treasure every bit of it, both the good moments and the bad moments?

One more key point here is ‘Realising the truth’, which is also mentioned in Rich Dad Poor Dad.  For many of us, getting angry, blaming others and defending ourselves are the things to do in our Valleys.  Here we are reminded of realising the truth and seeing the bad times as reminders. 

The bad times are telling us something.

They tell us what we are doing does not work.  Not surprisingly, if we are careful enough, we will, very often, find that the bad times are created by our own doings.  So, just ‘do the opposite of the things that take you to the Valley’ and ‘do more of the things that take you to the Peak’.  Simple, right?

I have enjoyed this book and let me end here by two reminders.

Beware, even in good times.  Just as King Chuang of Chu (楚莊王) taught his citizens, if we are not careful, we will easily go from a peak to a valley. 

Enjoy, in both good and bad times.