In about 3 sittings I finished reading Guy Kawasaki’s latest book. I received a review copy and I gotta say it made me realise a few things:
- I still prefer reading hard copy books (as opposed to digital versions) when it comes to non-music books
- This is definitely my favorite of Guy’s books that I’ve read so far
What’s so special about the book is how conversational the whole tone of the book is. It’s Guy sharing anecdotal stories from his life (from when he was a kid in Hawaii) all the way to his life now living in California. There are tons of advice (wisdom, as he points out – appropriately because of the book title), which reflect his thoughts and reflection back at various events in his life. There were many stories on turning points in his life. Some gave him a new perspective on things that changed how he set goals. Some taught him how to be thankful of his circumstances (even when they were challenging). Some lessons taught him how to approach life as a father, some as an employee and later as a leader.
One important lesson is ‘Get high and to the right’.
He says:
The key to career success is to acquire unique skills that are valuable. Unique skills that aren’t valuable don’t matter. Valuable skills that aren’t unique don’t set you apart. Life is good when you are unique and valuable, so be the best at something’s that in demand.
This graphic from the book illustrates this best:
Another interesting lesson is to, ‘Have something to say.’
According to Guy:
“The only time you should write a book is when you have something important to convery. Fame, fortune, credibility, and other fantasies are not good reasons to do so. You should feel a moral obligation to write for the benefit of mankind. That’s the test for whether the “book in you” should come out.”
He gives a lot of advice for young people and a lot of practical encouragement (in terms of making money, being successful, how to be happy, love and family life). He also shares a lot of his life during his time as Chief Evangelist at Apple and his experiences with Steve Jobs. There’s a lot of candid stories that are very revealing of his life, circumstances and decisions (good and bad, in retrospect).
There’s a lot of lessons in the book. So much of his life experience captured in this 269 page book!
Reading the book again through some of favorite parts, I realized that I really need to open up a notepad or at least the TextEdit app on my computer so I can take notes about his main pieces of advice. Also, after several reminders he made in the book, I feel VERY compelled to read If You Want to Write by Brenda Euland. So there’s that & I’m planning to read that next.
In conclusion, if you’re curious about life lessons from a very fascinating person – I recommend checking out Guy’s latest book.
Pros: Great book, lot of good advice and stories. Fun read and educational!
Cons: You may disagree with some of his advice. But hey, he’s Guy Kawasaki and man, he’s done a lot of cool stuff in his life.
TLDR: Strongly recommended for creatives, people in the tech industry and anyone who’s remotely curious about Guy’s work and life.
Thanks Guy & his team for the advance review copy this amazing book!
Get your copy of the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Guy-Lessons-Life-Kawasaki-ebook/dp/B07DBPNK41
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