Book Title: How To Fail at Everything and Still Win Big:
1. Central Theme: I would argue that this book does not have one general theme, but many different themes. If I had to paint with a broad brush, I would say that the theme I took from the book is that failure is something that should be embraced and seen as a stepping stone to success and the fact that you must do things in your life that maximizes your personal energy. It all starts with yourself, which includes your health, thoughts, etc.
2. I think the book really complemented the idea that failure is inevitable and something we should not look at as a problem, but rather something very attractive. In this course and in the book, the author talks about how things you learn that are seemingly pointless today may actually become incredibly important in the future. It reminds me of the idea where Steve Jobs took a calligraphy course in college that seemingly had nothing to do with computers, but ended up being a competitive advantage for Apple in the future.
3. I think the best exercise the author spoke about was the difference between systems and goals. I would make an exercise where I would tell students to instead of writing down their goals for their companies, write down what they need to do everyday on a consistent high-level in order to be successful. I would ask them to think about the process rather than the finish line to help with their entrepreneurial ideas.
4. I think the biggest 'aha' moment for me was that it might actually be better to be a jack of all trades. Growing up, I thought it was for sure always better to be the best at one specific, narrow field. This book opened up the idea to me that maybe success is found rather in being above average at a plethora of things instead of being the best at one thing. I think that point really stood out to me personally and really granted insight to me.
I think your "aha" moment is something that can and should be thought about, as I find myself wondering whether or not to specialize in one area or find balance among different things. I think teaching failure is valuable to everyone and embracing defeat can lead to introspection and will result in further comprehension of what needs to be done to prevent similar failures in the future.
ReplyDeleteYour "aha" moment really got me thinking. I recently decided to change how I spend my time and it has made everything better. I decided to focus on the few things that I love and enjoy doing. This has led me to being better at those things and happier. I don't think you should spread yourself out, but instead find the 3-5 things you enjoy and enjoy them. We do a lot that we don't enjoy because someone says it looks good on a resume, enjoy what you want and live happy. This sounds like a horoscope, I'm sorry. Good post!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh,
ReplyDeleteI like how you dove into this idea of how failure is inevitable and we should almost look at it like it is something good. Which right, in our early careers, I think is a crucial lesson everybody should know. We will always have our ups and downs in life, but it is how we respond to the downs and failures in which we learn the most. Trust me, as someone who has failed at things in life, you just have to get up and keep working hard and try to learn from the failure. I also agree with your 'aha' moment as that an interesting point to think about. Is it better to be really good at one thing or decently good at a lot of things. I think right now, again in our early careers, try to find a bunch of things you are good at and then go from there and see what you truly excel at.