21: Reading Reflection #2

Book of my choosing: 

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

What is the general theme of the book?

This book is a humerus piece on Scott Adams life, or more so his failures, that lead him to where he is now, a famous cartoonist. He explains how your failures are your most vital tool in life, and you shouldn't be embarrassed to fail, you should be excited, or at least positive. He also explains how you are your own worst enemy. Anything you want to do can be done, but you have to let yourself do it. His tone is comedic, yet a bit harsh which is needed, a little bit or a wake up call and some tough love to get you going. 

How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

Scott Adams provides a great insight to entrepreneurship, as he himself is one and has been since his career started. My favorite part of the whole book is when he laid out and explained some of his most memorable startups and how they all failed spectacularly. Ideas that were too simple to patent, failed restaurants, but mostly ideas that didn't hold his interest, and therefore his time. I think this was refreshing, to see someone lay all of his failures out and look back at them fondly. We talk a lot about our 'ugly babies' in this class, but you don't really get to see other's as they are overshadowed by their success. 

If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I think early on we should have to make a list of a few times we failed at something. Anything from an uncomfortable interview to a failed project or start up. This could help show where we fall short, maybe we lack energy, passion, thick skin, time, skills, etc and from there we can work on them. If we can identify where and what we lack in, I think that could be a great confidence booster to those of us wanting to get more involved in entrepreneurship. 

What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The most powerful part of the book for me was when he talked about energy. Waking up and having something you look forward to doing is so important not just for an entrepreneur, but anyone. You should have something that makes you happy and gets you out of bed. Recently I've been lacking that energy and having a hard time getting out of bed and finding something to do that would make me happy and give me energy. Sure I have a schedule I keep up with for classes and work, but other than that its been hard to feel energized. Reading this book put that thought at the fore front in my mind and I've been coming up with little exercises I can do to get me out of this fog and eventually get me back on track. (ie read that book I've had on my shelf forever, exercise more often, pick up a new hobby, etc.) For that I thank Scott Adams for this book.