| karimdag's summary is pretty complete (and very good). I also recommend the book - it's mostly very practical, generally free of the "one magic trick to fix your life" sentiment, and it has enough humor and voice to make it worth reading end to end. I thought I'd share the few tidbits I highlighted and got the most out of. - He talks a lot about luck, but mostly in the context of managing it, not making it. His advice sort of combines the two old sayings about "the harder I work, the luckier I get" and "worker smarter not harder." Manage your opportunities and skills so you can capitalize on luck; find and take high percentage shots. - "In our messy, flawed lives, the nearest we can get to truth is consistency". - "Some people act much more decisively than others. And that can be both persuasive and useful. Decisiveness looks like leadership." - He is a big proponent of the concept of managing personal energy ("The way I approach the problem of multiple priorities is by focusing on just one main metric: my energy"), I really agree with this and found this book to be one of the best treatments of the idea. He explicitly contrasts energy with passion: "Energy is good. Passion is bullshit". "Success causes passion more than passion causes success", i.e. don't rely on passion. - "The trick to eating right is to keep willpower out of the equation for your diet. Laziness can make you choose healthy foods if you are clever enough to make those foods the most convenient in your house." In my experience, this works very well, and not just with food. Work hard to set yourself up for lazy success. - That last bullet goes very well with what I think is the best advice in the book: "If you want success, figure out the price, then pay it." "Success has a price, but the reality is that the price is negotiable. If you pick the right system, the price will be a lot nearer what you're willing to pay". People often wish for things but never actually decide to have them. Set yourself up for success, focus on making smart choices to make things easy for yourself. |