What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (1901) - Plot & Excerpts
"Rules are often meant to be broken."This was quite a different read in the "What I wish I ..." range of books. The choice of chapter titles were pretty "creative"; something Tina excels at! In my opinion, the stories and case studies in each chapter are what make the book stand out. Tina touches on different aspects of entrepreneurship and how they relate to everyday life in general:"Attitude is perhaps the biggest determinant of what we can accomplish. True innovators face problems directly and turn traditional assumptions on their head." "Assumptions are sometimes so integrated into our view of the world that it’s hard to see them."The author's views on Idea Generation and Failure and the real-life stories to back them up were pretty instructive. And I particularly liked the Wallet Experiment (SO TRUE!). I've summarised my favourite highlights from the book below and highly recommend it to all my fellow twentysomethings looking for inspiration."The concept that there are no bad ideas is a hallmark of good brainstorming. During a brainstorming session it is important to explicitly state that there are no bad ideas. You need to break with the assumption that ideas need to be feasible in order to be valuable. By encouraging people to come up with wild ideas you diffuse the tendency to edit your ideas before you share them.""For most people in the world, this is where they live. They have a job that uses their skills, but they can’t wait to get home to focus on the activities they love—their hobbies. They count the days until the weekend, until vacation, or until retirement.""The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both.""Ideas are like hiccups because when they start they don’t stop, therefore take advantage of idea streaks."And the book couldn't have a better ENDING:"The poem I wrote twenty-five years ago is a poignant reminder of the anxiety I experienced in my twenties when I looked ahead, not knowing what lay around the next curve. I wish someone had told me to embrace that uncertainty. As the stories in this book demonstrate, the most interesting things happen when you get off the predictable path, when you challenge assumptions, and when you give yourself permission to see the world as opportunity rich and full of possibility." Here are some ideas from the book that I enjoyed the most:"It is much more comfortable to stay locked in a role that's "good enaugh" than to reach for an alternative that has a higher degree of uncertainty""It is worth questioning rules along the way.Sometimes side roads around the rules can get you to your goal even when the traditional paths appear blocked""The interesting things often occur when you are open to take un unexpected turn, to trying something different, and when you are willing to question the rules others have made for you""The world is divided into people who wait for others to give them permission to do the things they want to do and people who grant themselves permission""You don't need someone else to give you this assignement.In fact, all successful entrepreneurs do this naturally.They pay attention at home, at work, in airplanes, at the beach, at the doctor's office, or on the baseball field, and find an array of opportunities to fix things that are broken""It is also nearly impossible to learn anything without doing it yourself, by experimenting along the way, and by recovering from the inevitable failures.You can't learn to play the piano by studying sheets of music, you can't learn to cook by reading recipes, you can't learn to play sooccer by reading the rulebook...Likewise, you can read as many books on leadership as you want, but until you experience the challenges that face real leaders, you'll never be prepared to take charge""Things that you are likely to remember from the jurney are those that weren't on your original schedule.They will be unexpected things that jumped in your path, surprising you along the way""Give youself oermission to challenge assumptions, to look at the world with fresh eyes, to experiment, to fail, to plot your own course, and to test the limits of your abilities "
What do You think about What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (1901)?
Very empowering. A nice book for anyone at any age who would like to innovate and change its life.
—Cindy
Awesome book. Inspiring and delightful anecdotes. Inspired me to start taking actions.
—Cat
A great book that inspired me(to some extent) to chase my dreams.
—daidai
I want to study at Standford after read this.
—Roberta
I'm a worthless person of all human kind.
—mamalee
