What was the inspiration behind your book? Why did you feel a need to write it?
The first inspiration behind The New IQ was attending the infamous Woodstock music festival in 1969 when I was fifteen. But, it wasn’t until after two profoundly traumatic events that occurred decades later that I finally felt ready and willing to write this book. The first was being in the New York City area when 9/11 occurred, and for the 10 days after following that turning point event. The second was my own personal twin towers falling six months after 9/11 when my first wife ended our marriage in early 2002. The events surrounding 9/11 made it clear to me that I had to bring to the widest audience possible the things I know about how we lost our way with integrity. Recovering from a divorce I would never have predicted brought into focus some key pieces about integrity I hadn’t known were central to understanding integrity in a complete way. As a result of harvesting profound gifts from these two traumas, I knew I was finally ready to write The New IQ.
What kind of research did you have to conduct to write your book?
The bulk of my research had occurred years earlier, when I was studying the question of what “natural developers” intuitively did to recover from traumatic experiences and build life fulfillment. I first wrote about natural developers in a now-out-of-print book that my first wife and I wrote, entitled Sensible Self-Help. To write The New IQ I took another look at that research through the prism of integrity and was dazzled to discover that the seven core life skills natural developers rely on for creating life fulfillment appear to be equally necessary for personal, relationship, citizenship and leadership development.
What message are you trying to convey with this book?
There are two interconnected messages around which The New IQ revolves: 1) We got into the mess we’re in as individuals, in our relationships and as a society, because of believing the myth that in order to attain life fulfillment it is necessary to sacrifice integrity, people and social responsibility; and 2) Natural developers teach the rest of us, from everyday people to world leaders, the secrets to reconnecting integrity, life fulfillment, love, abundance, business profitability, and social responsibility.
Why did you choose your particular genre?
I am a clinical and organizational psychologist who has always specialized in connecting seemingly disconnected dots, making complex psychological concepts accessible to everyday people, and converting understanding into concrete action. This is why nonfiction is my genre and writing at the intersection of social change, health & wellness and self-help is my niche.
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