Reading Reflection No.3

The book that I chose to analyze for the last reading reflection was How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams, a comic book creator.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The book ties together a bunch of small, yet effective life lessons from Scott Adams. He derived these lessons throughout his experiences of developing his career -- facing hardships and even failure like every entrepreneur at some points. The book itself has a humorous tone to it, although the lessons themselves are serious and good things to take mental notes of.

Adams focused a lot on the importance of valuing yourself, taking care of yourself first before anything else. Many of the lessons incorporate some elements of "selfishness," which are incredibly important -- as in order to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to make the right decisions that benefit yourself first before anyone else. This is imperative if you wish to reach your goals and find personal success, you have to be your own biggest motivator.

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

As the book title suggests, failure is something that is a part of our lives. At one point or another, the entrepreneur stumbles upon a roadblock in the process of attaining success in their market -- a concept that the class explored in detail in the assignment "Celebrating Failure." Therefore, this book deeply enhanced the content of the class by touching upon the personal side of things -- the entrepreneurs themselves. This is just as important as focusing on the business and logistical intricacies of creating and running a venture, as you have to have a certain mindset to be a successful entrepreneur. This book therefore delves into the more personal elements of the entrepreneurial process, specifically how to get back on your feet after failures, and develop human capital to craft a mindset tailored towards success.

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

Since the book involves a lot of self-care tips to maximize personal success and happiness, I would probably develop an exercise that incorporates self-reflection. I would want students to reflect on some long-term goals -- whether it be personal, career related, etc. -- then I would want them to provide some insight on how they plan to reach these goals. It doesn't have to be incredibly elaborate because many of us aren't 100% on what we wish to do in the future. However, if we can sort of get a general idea of the small steps we plan to take to gain personal success, then I feel like it would be insightful to see how we map out what we do in the present to help prepare us for the future. Then, after this is completed, the next step would be to amend the smaller details about how we plan to reach these goals -- what are some things we can do in our everyday lives to improve ourselves and attain our goals? How can we productively improve ourselves each and every day? These small goals -- maybe perhaps like adopting a better diet, exercising more, meditation, or making more time to do the things that make us happy, are key concepts that the book emphasizes to make ourselves more successful in the future.

4) 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?

My biggest surprise moment came while detecting a strong pattern among all of the lessons -- finding personal happiness. This means doing things that encourage you both mentally and physically, which means surrounding yourself with positive people to foster a positive attitude that will lead to success. Often time, an entrepreneur finds themselves hunched over their work for hours upon hours, and neglecting to take care of themselves and basic needs. This, according to the book, will lead one to quickly run out of the personal energy that needs to maximized in order to strongly carry out through the journey. This came as a big surprise because in entrepreneurship there is a huge emphasis on the value of "the hustle", but the book made me realize that every extreme -- like overworking -- can slow down your productivity towards reaching these goals. Therefore, it's important to create a healthy balance that focuses on working towards success but still includes elements of personal positivity, health, and management skills in order to maintain the energy to keep going.