The Psychology of Alfred Adler

Ever since I read The Courage to Be Disliked and The Courage to Be Happy, by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga — which I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the subject —, I became somewhat obsessed with the psychology of Alfred Adler.

Don't be fooled by the "self-help" titles: these are excellent books for learning a bit of psychology!

Rather than writing a review, I preferred to share a summary of Adler's ideas put together with the help of artificial intelligence. The text was written in simple language, accessible even to teenagers. As for the books themselves, the content is spectacular (and equally accessible, though more in-depth). The dialogue format can feel a bit slow-paced and even irritating at times, but they are excellent for anyone who wants to get acquainted with the core concepts of Adlerian psychology.

Of course, this post is no substitute for reading those books, let alone Adler's own writings or a proper psychology course — which is not my field. For those who want to go deeper, both titles are a great starting point. Either way, this text serves as a solid introduction to the subject, and it was revised to include the points I found most important after reading them.

I plan to expand this text soon with more examples from the books and from Adler's own writings, but for now I hope this first encounter proves useful!

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The Psychology of Alfred Adler

Who Was Alfred Adler?

Alfred Adler (1870–1937) was an Austrian physician and psychologist whose ideas about human behavior were nothing short of revolutionary. He began his career working alongside Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, but soon disagreed on several key points and went on to develop his own theory, known as Individual Psychology.

Adler believed that human beings are far more than hidden instincts and buried desires — we are social creatures, driven by goals, always searching for our place in the world. For him, understanding a person means understanding how they relate to others and what they hope to achieve in life.

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The Inferiority Complex

Have you ever felt that others are better than you? That everyone seems to know how to do something you don't, or that you simply "aren't good enough"? Adler called this the feeling of inferiority — and the great news is: everyone feels it!

Where does this feeling come from?

When we are born, we are completely dependent on adults. We cannot walk, talk, or feed ourselves. That early experience of being small, weak, and helpless leaves a mark on us. As we grow, we keep comparing ourselves to older, stronger, more experienced people — and this naturally produces the feeling of "I'm not there yet."

On top of that, difficult childhood experiences — being humiliated, dealing with health problems, being the youngest among older siblings — can intensify that feeling.

A everyday example

Imagine a 13-year-old boy who just transferred to a new school. He sees the other kids laughing, bonding, looking completely at ease. He thinks: "I'll never fit in here. They're all better than me." That's the feeling of inferiority in action.

When does it become a "complex"?

Adler makes an important distinction: the feeling of inferiority is normal and even healthy, because it motivates us to grow. But when it becomes so overwhelming that a person freezes up, avoids new challenges, or constantly puts themselves down, it turns into a genuine complex.

Someone with an inferiority complex may withdraw from groups, avoid speaking in public, give up easily, or genuinely believe they don't deserve good things.

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The Positive Use of the Feeling of Inferiority

Here is one of the most original and optimistic aspects of Adler's thought: the feeling of inferiority is not a disease or a weakness — it is the primary engine of human development.

Adler observed that civilization itself was born from this feeling. Humans are biologically fragile compared to other animals — no claws, no speed, no fur against the cold. That very inferiority forced us to develop language, tools, cooperation, and science. In other words, our collective greatness was born precisely where we were most vulnerable.

The same principle applies at the individual level. When we feel that something is lacking, we face a choice: we can use that discomfort as a compass — a signal pointing toward where we need to grow. A student who feels ashamed of not understanding something can let that shame paralyze them, or let it drive them to study harder. The difference lies not in the feeling itself, but in the interpretation and response we choose.

Adler called this healthy movement compensation. He drew on concrete examples from his own life: as a child, he was frail and sickly, suffering from rickets, and nearly died twice. Rather than surrendering to that, he became a doctor — compensating for his experience of fragility by dedicating his entire life to health. Beethoven lost his hearing and composed some of his greatest works afterward. Demosthenes, the greatest orator of ancient Greece, stuttered as a child.

The secret of transformation

What turns the feeling of inferiority from poison into fuel comes down to two ingredients: courage — the willingness to face a challenge rather than flee from it — and social interest — the understanding that I am growing not just for myself, but to contribute to something larger.

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The Superiority Complex

Have you ever met someone who constantly brags, thinks they're better than everyone, refuses to take criticism, and treats others as inferior? Adler called this behavior the superiority complex.

The big secret behind arrogance

Here comes the most surprising part of Adler's theory: the superiority complex is not the opposite of the inferiority complex — it is a disguise for the very same feeling.

A person who feels deeply inferior on the inside, but cannot bear to live with that pain, may construct an "armor" of arrogance. They begin acting as though they are superior to everyone so they never have to face how small they feel within.

An easy analogy

Picture a castle with towering walls. From the outside, it looks imposing and invincible. But if you could see inside, you'd discover that those walls exist because the person living there is terrified of being invaded — of feeling weak and exposed. Arrogance is the castle wall.

That is why Adler said: don't be angry at arrogant people — have compassion for them. Behind the grandiosity, there is usually someone in a great deal of pain.

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The Engine of Life: The Striving for Superiority

Adler believed that human beings carry a powerful, natural drive: the desire to overcome difficulties and grow. He called this the striving for superiority — but be careful, this does not mean being better than others. It means being better than your former self.

When we use our feeling of inferiority as fuel to learn, practice, and improve, we are channeling this drive in a healthy way. A student who feels weak in math but decides to study harder is doing exactly that.

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The Tasks of Life

Adler believed that every person, regardless of culture or era, faces three great universal challenges he called the tasks of life (Lebensaufgaben). The way someone approaches these tasks reveals a great deal about their lifestyle and their level of social interest.

1. The task of work

Finding a meaningful occupation that contributes to society. It is not simply about earning money, but about feeling that what you do matters to others. Those who flee this task tend to develop chronic laziness, procrastination, or a persistent sense that life has no meaning.

2. The task of friendship and social life

Building bonds of cooperation, friendship, and belonging with other people. For Adler, isolation is always a warning sign. The person who avoids close ties is usually protecting themselves from the risk of feeling inferior or rejected.

3. The task of love and intimate relationships

The ability to give oneself genuinely to another person, building a partnership of equality and cooperation. Adler saw true love as an act of courage, because it demands vulnerability.

The key point is that none of these tasks can be fulfilled in isolation — all of them require connection with others. That is why Adler said that every serious psychological failure is, at its core, a failure of social interest.

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The Key to Happiness: Social Interest

For Adler, a person's mental health is measured by their capacity to connect with others and contribute to the community. He called this social interest (Gemeinschaftsgefühl).

According to him, happy and healthy people are not solely focused on themselves — they care about their family, friends, school, and society at large. When we feel part of something greater than ourselves, the feeling of inferiority naturally diminishes.

Those who close themselves off from the world, thinking only of themselves, tend to suffer more and to develop problematic behaviors.

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The Lifestyle

Adler believed that each person develops, from childhood onward, a "lifestyle" — a kind of personal script about who they are, what the world is, and how they should act in it. This script is shaped by the experiences we go through and by the meaning we assign to them.

Adler did not prescribe a specific lifestyle for people to adopt — the concept is descriptive, not prescriptive. But he evaluated lifestyles according to a few key criteria:

• Oriented toward social interest or toward self-centeredness? A healthy lifestyle is geared toward cooperation and contribution.
• Based on realistic goals or rigid fictions? Adler spoke of a "guiding fiction" — the ultimate goal that directs a person's life. For some it is constructive; for others, it is an inflexible illusion.
• Flexible or rigid? A healthy lifestyle adapts to circumstances; a problematic one responds the same way every time, even when it isn't working.

The good news? Adler believed the lifestyle can be revised and changed. We are not prisoners of our past. With awareness and will, we can rewrite our script.

If Adler had to sum up the ideal lifestyle in a single question, it would be: "How can I be useful?" — not "How can I be better than others?" or "How can I avoid suffering?"

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Putting It All Together

Adler's psychology teaches us some powerful lessons:

1. Everyone feels inferior at some point — that is normal and human.
2. The feeling of inferiority can motivate us to grow — or paralyze us, if it becomes a complex.
3. When met with courage and social interest, the feeling of inferiority becomes the primary engine of development.
4. Arrogance usually conceals deep insecurity.
5. True self-improvement is about being better than you were — not better than others.
6. We have three great tasks in life: work, friendship, and love — and all of them require connection with others.
7. Connecting with people and contributing to the community is essential to happiness.
8. We are not defined by our past — we can always change and grow.

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Ultralearning, by Scott H. Young — Review, Summary, and Study Tips for 2026

This is a short summary and review of the book Ultralearning, by Scott H. Young.

The book offers a series of tips on "ultralearning" — an intense, efficient, and self-directed method of learning.

The author's most famous project was completing the four-year MIT Computer Science curriculum in just twelve months, studying entirely on his own, without ever enrolling at the university. After that, he learned four languages in one year by living in different countries under a strict rule: no English allowed.

If you feel like doing something similar, the book's tips will be quite useful, even if some of them seem vague or even obvious. Either way, I think it's worth reading — especially if you enjoy this summary, since the book includes countless other examples and tips not covered here.

One caveat: the book was published in 2019 — there's already a follow-up, which I haven't read yet — and it isn't updated to make good use of apps and artificial intelligence. So rather than just writing a review, I'll also share a series of tips for applying the book's principles with the tools available in 2026.

This article was written with some help from AI (especially the last section), and by an author who read the book three times, summarized it with pen and paper, read the summary out loud, tried to put some examples into practice, and is hoping he hasn't become obsolete yet!

Summary

Ultralearning is an intense, self-directed study strategy that requires real effort. Using it is a choice — for some skills, you may prefer a gentler approach — but if you decide to try it, it serves to learn quickly, reduce time and costs, and advance in a skill, hobby, or career (your current one, or a new one!).

The book organizes everything into nine principles.

Principle 1: Metalearning. Understand how the subject works before diving in. Map out your project: why, what, and how you're going to learn. Seek out experts who can point you in the right direction, in person if possible, emphasize what you need to learn, and cut out the rest. Dedicate about ten percent of your project timeline to planning, and occasionally revisit your learning approach.

Principle 2: Focus. The first obstacle is procrastination. Identify it, recognize that it doesn't last long, and commit to acting for five minutes — or use the Pomodoro technique, or study until the next win (keep trying until you get it right). When distracted, alternate between different activities and methods to avoid boredom. Also avoid low-quality focus — when you seem to be studying but aren't absorbing anything. Its main causes are fatigue, stress, trying to study for too long without breaks, or simply being in the wrong mental state for that activity at that moment.

Principle 3: Direct Practice. Learn in the context where you'll use the knowledge, or as close to it as possible. Direct practice improves transfer — the ability to apply in real life what you've learned. Connect learning to its context of use; use projects, immersion, simulations, or a more challenging approach, like putting yourself in a difficult situation to force progress.

Principle 4: Drill. Identify the hardest points that block your performance and isolate them — train specifically on those, even if it feels artificial and uncomfortable. It's the equivalent of the musician who repeats the five hardest seconds of a piece rather than playing it from start to finish. Once you've strengthened your weak points, return to practicing the whole.

Principle 5: Retrieval. Testing yourself through active recall — remembering material through mental effort alone, without notes — is more efficient than rereading. Tests, quizzes, and practice exams also work. Even without checking your answers, the exercise helps (but see Principle 6). Retrieval is especially useful a few days after learning the material. Difficulty here is desirable: the more effort you put in, the more fixed the knowledge becomes. Common methods include flashcards, free recall, writing what you've learned as questions to answer later, and practicing with the book closed.

Principle 6: Feedback. To know whether you're improving, seek feedback that guides and corrects — not just praise or criticism. Having a mentor or coach, if possible, is even better. The more specific and informative the feedback, the better. Try to get it quickly. Watch your ego: don't get discouraged by criticism or overexcited by praise — what matters most is knowing where to improve.

Principle 7: Retention. Forgetting is natural — the brain discards what it perceives as non-essential. Spaced repetition works because you revisit the content exactly when you're about to forget it, signaling to the brain that it matters. Also use review projects, or simply practice a little more than necessary.

Principle 8: Intuition. Invest in difficult problems. Instead of memorizing theories, try to arrive at them through your own effort. Use concrete examples, ask questions, explain concepts in your own words. This is the creative side of learning.

Principle 9: Experimentation. Try different resources and techniques, copy others, compare methods, create arbitrary constraints, combine different skills to create something new, and explore the extremes — get out of your comfort zone.

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The book also includes two additional sections.

How to run an ultralearning project. A step-by-step guide for structuring a project from scratch: research the subject and the method, gather materials, build a realistic schedule, execute, review what worked and what didn't — and at the end, decide whether you want to keep that skill, deepen it, or simply let it go. That last step matters: not every learning project needs to become a permanent commitment.

Raising children as ultralearners. The central idea here is to cultivate autonomy from an early age — raising someone who knows how to learn on their own, rather than always depending on a teacher or adult for guidance. To do this, the author suggests starting early, tailoring learning to the child's interests, turning practice into play so it doesn't feel heavy, reinforcing progress positively, and above all giving space for self-direction — resisting the temptation to over-control the process.

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How to Study in 2026

As mentioned, the book is full of useful ideas, but since it was published in 2019 it doesn't address the more recent use of artificial intelligence tools and learning apps.

But before we get into that, an important warning: using AI excessively can sabotage exactly what you're trying to develop.

The book is clear on this point — difficulty is often desirable. The more effort you put into retrieval, solving a problem, or producing a piece of writing, the more you learn. Asking AI to write for you when you want to learn to write, or to solve the exercise when you want to learn programming, is the opposite of what the book recommends.

In short, use AI after you've tried, not before. It's an excellent sparring partner, reviewer, and exercise generator — but it should be used as a coach, not a crutch.

Note: apps marked with an asterisk I haven't personally used.*

For metalearning, use AI to map the subject before you begin: "what are the essential concepts to learn X?", "what can I skip at the start?", "what's the ideal order?" In minutes you have a map that would previously have taken hours of research. Always review that map, though, and make sure it aligns with your goals.

For focus, the app Forest* gamifies the Pomodoro: you plant a virtual tree that dies if you leave the app during the session. Simple and surprisingly effective. Focus To-Do* combines a Pomodoro timer with a task list, also free. Personally, I just use a tomato timer on my phone or computer.

For direct practice, AI is a solid partner. Want to learn English? Speak English with it from day one. Want to learn to write? Write and ask for immediate feedback. Want to learn programming? Ask it to give you a real project to build, not abstract exercises.

For drill, after practicing anything, ask AI: "what were the weak points in that response?" or "give me exercises focused only on this specific point." It's a tutor available at any time.

For retrieval, Anki* is the most established app for spaced repetition with flashcards — free, with ready-made decks for almost any subject. Quizlet* is a more visual and collaborative alternative. But you can also simply ask AI to quiz you on what you just learned, exactly as we did in this article. Personally, this is the tool I've been using most. I ask AI to create tests for me — starting with multiple choice, then short essay questions, and so on.

For feedback, AI solves a long-standing problem: quality feedback used to require having a teacher or mentor available. Today, you paste a text, a piece of code, or an answer and ask for specific critique. The key is not to ask "what did you think?" — but rather "what is weak, imprecise, or confusing?"

For retention, Anki* already covers a lot. But you can go further: ask AI to generate a set of flashcards from any content you paste — a PDF, a summary, a book chapter. Personally, I like the idea of scheduling "tests" at set intervals. For example, take a test one day after studying. If it goes well, schedule another for five days later. If it goes well again, for twenty days. If it goes poorly, study a bit more and repeat in a week. Remember that the format of the test should be close to the real situation in which you'll use that knowledge — it's the principle of direct practice applied to review.

For intuition and experimentation, AI works as a sparring panel: try to solve the problem first, present your reasoning, and ask for an evaluation. This forces the cognitive effort that builds real intuition — very different from simply asking for the answer.

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