Review of Always Strive to Be a Better You
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Ams Strong
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Review of Always Strive to Be a Better You
[Following is a volunteer review of "Always Strive to Be a Better You" by Pete Hall.]
When you look at the title of this book, you may ostensibly think it is one of those generic self-help books about how to live a happy life. Always Strive to Be Better by Pete Hall is a unique book in its category for two key reasons: First, the book is packed with multiple exercises and homework to help you put into practice what you read. These are usually in the flavor of pause-and-reflect moments, where you write down your thoughts and topics for discussions with your close friends. Another way this book stands out is that the author drew inspiration from the personal experiences of seven relatable individuals who have purportedly achieved happiness, virtue, and success in their professional lives. The author regularly featured first-hand accounts from these individuals, which he felt best illustrated the current topic. The spectrum of experiences presented here is quite broad, and you might find someone to relate to.
The author discussed happiness and success, partly based on the philosophy of Plato, psychology, and empirical data organized into four principal tenets: Tenet 1 focuses on rediscovering yourself by identifying your core values or beliefs. Tenet 2 is about setting goals and taking actions that align with your core values. Tenet 3 tells us what mindset to adopt in light of challenges on our path to success, and Tenet 4 is about ways we focus on the current goal and quell distractions or fears.
The novelty of this book is the heavy focus on practicality as opposed to philosophical or psychological approaches to the question: how to live a happy, virtuous, and good life? To help readers formulate answers to this question, the author has designed many helpful resources like lists of core values, tables to fill out, and even a dedicated website for the book containing templates for some exercises.
Some themes felt trite, partly due to the author's writing style and possibly because I have read similar books. For example, the tenet of setting articulated goals and sticking to them is a theme many readers might be familiar with. On the flip side, practicing some behaviors repeatedly, as the author discusses in Tenet 2, like being overexposed to these themes, helps engrave them as habits into our subconscious minds. That said, the author included some thought-provoking and new concepts in this book, like how to use the Dunning-Kruger effect to your advantage, something I had previously thought we should eschew.
This book contains a few instances of profanity, some being non-borderline. There are no scenes describing sex or violence. I found only one typographical error.
Overall, I rate this book five stars out of five because of the author's unique practical approach to the discussed topic (in its genre), the perfect editing of the book, and the featured advice from experienced and successful people. Other than the issue with platitudes, I liked everything about this book.
******
Always Strive to Be a Better You
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
When you look at the title of this book, you may ostensibly think it is one of those generic self-help books about how to live a happy life. Always Strive to Be Better by Pete Hall is a unique book in its category for two key reasons: First, the book is packed with multiple exercises and homework to help you put into practice what you read. These are usually in the flavor of pause-and-reflect moments, where you write down your thoughts and topics for discussions with your close friends. Another way this book stands out is that the author drew inspiration from the personal experiences of seven relatable individuals who have purportedly achieved happiness, virtue, and success in their professional lives. The author regularly featured first-hand accounts from these individuals, which he felt best illustrated the current topic. The spectrum of experiences presented here is quite broad, and you might find someone to relate to.
The author discussed happiness and success, partly based on the philosophy of Plato, psychology, and empirical data organized into four principal tenets: Tenet 1 focuses on rediscovering yourself by identifying your core values or beliefs. Tenet 2 is about setting goals and taking actions that align with your core values. Tenet 3 tells us what mindset to adopt in light of challenges on our path to success, and Tenet 4 is about ways we focus on the current goal and quell distractions or fears.
The novelty of this book is the heavy focus on practicality as opposed to philosophical or psychological approaches to the question: how to live a happy, virtuous, and good life? To help readers formulate answers to this question, the author has designed many helpful resources like lists of core values, tables to fill out, and even a dedicated website for the book containing templates for some exercises.
Some themes felt trite, partly due to the author's writing style and possibly because I have read similar books. For example, the tenet of setting articulated goals and sticking to them is a theme many readers might be familiar with. On the flip side, practicing some behaviors repeatedly, as the author discusses in Tenet 2, like being overexposed to these themes, helps engrave them as habits into our subconscious minds. That said, the author included some thought-provoking and new concepts in this book, like how to use the Dunning-Kruger effect to your advantage, something I had previously thought we should eschew.
This book contains a few instances of profanity, some being non-borderline. There are no scenes describing sex or violence. I found only one typographical error.
Overall, I rate this book five stars out of five because of the author's unique practical approach to the discussed topic (in its genre), the perfect editing of the book, and the featured advice from experienced and successful people. Other than the issue with platitudes, I liked everything about this book.
******
Always Strive to Be a Better You
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Unfakeable Code® by Tony Jeton Selimi
