21A

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? I read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. His main argument throughout the book was that you do not need to be a genius or the best at something in order to be successful. It is more important to have many skills which makes you a well-rounded individual with more human capital to offer. In order to achieve this, you must have a system in place. A system rather than goals was a key component of his strategy to success. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? There were a lot of speaking skills mentioned in his book which I tend to struggle with in certain situations. Recording ourselves for the elevator pitches is something I thoroughly despise and get anxiety over but a lot of his advice helped reshape the way I see public speaking. Something he said that resonated with me is that if you are uncomfortable speaking in a certain situation simply act like you are someone else, someone more confident. It is through the pretending that you will forget about your fears. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? The exercise would involve brainstorming an outline for a strategy to success. Not simply writing down goals. Scott explained that goals while sometimes beneficial can immensely limit us if we are unable to reach them. When goals are not achieved we feel like failures so it is much better to focus on daily routines/strategies for success. 

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 had always thought that truly successful people were extremely smart, great public speakers that had some sort of advantage over the majority of the population. At least, many successful people I have met or grown up with seem to fit this description. Scott says this is all just a façade, they have struggled just as much as your average person in life, if not, more. To be truly successful you need to take risks and with risks comes guaranteed failure and failures are what he proclaims have given him the key to success. He was able to learn from his mistakes, adapt, and overcome. This changed my perception of failure because I am one of those individuals who doesn’t handle failure very well. I tend to feel worthless and extremely disappointed in myself when I fail at something but by looking at it with his perspective, it helps to shed some positive light on failure and what it has to offer.