1) Scott
Adams book How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big focuses the story that
led Adams through many failures but ultimately to success. He gives insights about
how he used certain life mechanisms and paradigms to focus on maintaining a
healthy body and mind while pursuing the journey into success.
2) I
think the book does a great job at talking about failure as a positive thing.
Many times, we become blinded by our desire to be successful that we forget
there is a journey to success that may be riddled with failures.
Adams provides specific examples of actions
you can take to deal with these failures. For example, the one that grabbed my
attention the most is where he talked about “building a system” rather than
setting goals.
This connects to what we learned in class
about tenacity, and how being persevering is a crucial part of being an entrepreneur.
3) If
I had to design an exercise for the class based on the book it would instruct
students to create a system, they believe will lead them to success.
Systems, as opposed to goals, allow for
plans to be readjusted. As Adam puts it: “If you do something every day, it’s a
system. If you’re waiting to achieve it someday in the future, it’s a goal…. In business, making a million dollars is a goal, but
being a serial entrepreneur is a system.”
The assignment would make students think
about their everyday actions, and what they can implement to their daily
routines that will bring them closer to success.
4) There
is a quote by Adams that really stuck to me: “The
most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness,
eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your
family and friends.”
Sometimes we forget about the most
important things in life when we get too busy trying to succeed. But what Adams
argues is that the things we think as hindrances such as eating healthy and exercising
are the most important things we need to do. If we take care of ourselves, it
puts us at a better place to succeed and pursue our desires.
I also read this book for my reading reflection. Scott Adams has made me think about failure in a different light than before. Instead of viewing failure as a negative outcome, this book has taught me that failure is inevitable for a successful person, and can lead to greater success in the future if you know how to learn from your failures. The insight on systems instead of goals is also one that I think I will use in the future.
ReplyDeleteLearning to expect failures and deal with them in a healthy manner is huge! I also love the quote from the book that you gave us. I completely agree with him that fitness and eating right is very important yet most people forget about it. In the end when we are old it does not matter as much if we worked the longer hours or got to a higher level at work its our relationship and health that matter most. It is very important to remember to take care of yourself in those busy stressful times.
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