How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams
1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
Systems > Goals
For the most part, each chapter of this book had a different theme, however I think one main theme throughout was that it's better to have systems than goals. What Adams means by this, is that instead of focusing our mind/energy on goals or the end-result, we should be focusing on the systems we need to implement daily, to get us there. By focusing on the systems/processes of our daily lives, we can celebrate small wins, and have feelings of success/accomplishment now, rather than waiting on this "goal" that seems so far in the distance. Adams says that this leads to a happier life, and I believe it. Focusing on daily wins, daily systems, daily excellence, will create a life of excellence.
1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
Systems > Goals
For the most part, each chapter of this book had a different theme, however I think one main theme throughout was that it's better to have systems than goals. What Adams means by this, is that instead of focusing our mind/energy on goals or the end-result, we should be focusing on the systems we need to implement daily, to get us there. By focusing on the systems/processes of our daily lives, we can celebrate small wins, and have feelings of success/accomplishment now, rather than waiting on this "goal" that seems so far in the distance. Adams says that this leads to a happier life, and I believe it. Focusing on daily wins, daily systems, daily excellence, will create a life of excellence.
2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
This book talks about the mindset required to be a happy, successful, and fulfilled entrepreneur. In my opinion we learn more of the "business" side of things in ENT 3003, the practical, logical things that go into developing a business model, and those are important. But, this book talks about the mindset and habits, and more "emotional" side of being an entrepreneur. I really enjoyed with this book, I love self development books/podcasts and I feel like this kind of fits that mold. Even if you aren't an entrepreneur or in this class, you could benefit from reading this book.
This book talks about the mindset required to be a happy, successful, and fulfilled entrepreneur. In my opinion we learn more of the "business" side of things in ENT 3003, the practical, logical things that go into developing a business model, and those are important. But, this book talks about the mindset and habits, and more "emotional" side of being an entrepreneur. I really enjoyed with this book, I love self development books/podcasts and I feel like this kind of fits that mold. Even if you aren't an entrepreneur or in this class, you could benefit from reading this book.
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
This probably sounds really cheesy but I would ask students to write about a failure they've experienced in their lives, and what they learned from it, and how it turned out to be a good thing in the end.
I personally would talk about how I "failed" at my engineering career here at UF, but then I changed my major to APK and am now doing what I'm passionate about everyday and building a life for myself where I'll be much happier than if I became an engineer.
This moment of "everything is falling apart" turned into "everything is falling into place" and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have had experiences like this, where failure at something, meant success at something else.
This probably sounds really cheesy but I would ask students to write about a failure they've experienced in their lives, and what they learned from it, and how it turned out to be a good thing in the end.
I personally would talk about how I "failed" at my engineering career here at UF, but then I changed my major to APK and am now doing what I'm passionate about everyday and building a life for myself where I'll be much happier than if I became an engineer.
This moment of "everything is falling apart" turned into "everything is falling into place" and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have had experiences like this, where failure at something, meant success at something else.
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 was surprised when Adams talked about how deciding is more important than wishing... That statement didn't surprise me, but earlier in this class when asked what advice I would give to other students taking this class in the future, I said "decide what grade you want to get in this class, do the work to get it, that's it." Adams said in this book "1. Decide what you want. 2. Figure out what price you're going to need to pay to get it. 3. Pay it"... I feel like that's already been my mindset in life, and I feel like that's one of those "mich-drop" moments...
I was surprised when Adams talked about how deciding is more important than wishing... That statement didn't surprise me, but earlier in this class when asked what advice I would give to other students taking this class in the future, I said "decide what grade you want to get in this class, do the work to get it, that's it." Adams said in this book "1. Decide what you want. 2. Figure out what price you're going to need to pay to get it. 3. Pay it"... I feel like that's already been my mindset in life, and I feel like that's one of those "mich-drop" moments...
