27A - Reading Reflection No.3

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

The theme of the book was trying to teach you ways to be successful. The author talks about ways in which he failed and how his failures ultimately led to his success. Some of the ways to be successful he talks about is using systems not goals to get to where you want to be, managing your energy (knowing what activities and the time of day your energy is at its highest), diet and exercise, and learning a little about many things instead of specializing in one.

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

In class and the book the author talked about failing (getting fired, getting patents, starting businesses), but learning something from each failure to come up with his “x-factor.” In this class, sometimes we didn’t get the most positive interviews with people we chose to interview. Instead of dwelling on the bad we need to figure out how to make the problem better and creating our niche.  

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

I would do an activity maybe on mindfulness. The author talks about looking at habits of some of the most successful people. I know when I thought about this, I would say most successful people wake up early. However, he also talked about knowing yourself and when YOU have the most energy to do something. Therefore, I would have everyone track how they feel throughout the day so they can figure out what time they are most likely to get the most work done.

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?

I’m not really sure what I expected to take out of this book but my favorite parts of the book that caused me to take a second look at how I work and study at home were my aha moments. He talks about never working where you relax and surrounding yourself around people that inspire you and being inspired by them. Since my husband and I have both been working from home, sometimes he is off when I have to work and I notice that my energy often associates with his. If he is off, and watching TV in the next room over, I too want to watch TV and not work. Its been a hard balance but learning and understand this has helped me come up with a better strategy when working while he is off.