Book Review #145 : Unstoppable

 

From Olympians and academicians to musicians and environmentalists, “Unstoppable: How Youth Icons Achieve Extraordinary Things”, written by debutant author-podcaster Manthan Shah chronicles the inspiring journeys of 40 Indian youth icons who overcame their struggles to create something of value.

With in-depth interviews and analysis of what makes champions tick, Manthan in his book, identifies the attributes that make these achievers who they are — grit, courage, determination, creativity and empathy.

The book comprises of ten chapters talking about the above traits associated with their success. In each chapter, comprehensive mental models and insights from hundreds of books, research papers, and journal articles are cited that knit their stories together. Finally, you will also find action points, small exercises, and key learnings from industry leaders along with bits from author’s personal life stories that help you craft POA to achieve your own goals.

“Unstoppable” is truly a unique inspirational book that covers motivational stories of 40 youth icons that I could relate to. This book is inspiring, motivating and can craft the inanimate to life. The author has exemplified many stories which cover subjects like hard work, team work, sacrifice, self-confidence, modesty, dreaming big, perseverance, positivity, courage and dealing with adversity. The book is an easy read, that’s packed with a lot of punch. There are many nuggets of wisdom and insights interspersed throughout that will help the reader replicate their success. 

The language used is a fine balance between rich and simple sentences. I strongly recommend this book to every person who wants to get a fresh take on the challenges, struggles, ways to succeed and meaning of success.

I would suggest you to read this book at a slow pace so that you can introspect and think through the stories in this book to make your life better. It is a book that guides you while being packed with honest and insightful perspectives.

This book is a powerhouse of knowledge and surely deserves a place in every bookshelf. This is a book that has to be read again and again to sharpen and educate our mind into creating something extraordinary from ordinary circumstances and preparing a ‘plan of action’ for achieving one’s goals.

Verdict: Amazing from start to finish. This is a book that everyone can relate to and is a brilliant guide to self-introspection and be ‘unstoppable’!

Rating- 5/5

Review copy courtesy – PR, Penguin Random House India.

Book Review #139 : Atomic Habits

In my humble opinion, this book is so good that I would like to file it under the elite category of books that can actually change your life!

In this book published by Penguin Random House India, the author focuses on “atomic habits” – a term that he uses to describe small improvements made on a daily basis so that small wins and tiny breakthroughs add up to noticeable change that can be celebrated. He builds out a nice 4-point framework for building habits and explains some good practices built around behavioral trigger that can help us reshape our lives.

Atomic Habits is a great book if you are looking for some prescriptive which will lay out a bunch of do’s and don’ts for creating new habits and breaking old ones. It is full of directly actionable advice. James Clear — presents in this book, very compelling arguments and examples from his in-depth research spanning multiple areas like sports, arts, science, business, history etc., to pick interesting nuggets that serve to push his framework. And his frameworks are very practical, with a good mix of examples and some thought-provoking life philosophies as well.

What is the reasoning behind the idea that tiny improvements made consistently are far more meaningful in the long run? The author offers a useful analogy. He writes, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.”

It is not just pages of pep talk stuck together. It offers a step-by-step plan for building habits that can serve us for a lifetime. The author translates research into everyday language that can be grasped quickly. Another valuable suggestion is the practice of habit stacking, wherein you “tie your desired behavior into something you already do each day.” The author also suggests using habit trackers and accountability partners to help you. Perhaps the best way to use this book is to study the main principles, and not take the recommendations too literally. People live under different circumstances, and what autonomy means to one person may not mean the same to another. Do not miss the appendix because it has pointers for additional reading, and links to online resources for readers who are keen to understand how the ideas in this book work!

Overall, I recommend ‘Atomic Habits’ because of the way it blends in some practical tips with powerful stories that align with those tips. As someone who has been trying to change habits since quite a few years (and failing miserably), I concede that this book helps me take my efforts a bit more seriously. This definitely helped me not only increase awareness in matters like health & fitness and hobbies, but also made me create some systems around these that brought to life some intentionality into how I approach these. That, to me, is the biggest take-away, from this book. I’d strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and read the rest for yourself. If you’re struggling with your habits, this is very much a book for you.

Ratings: 4.8/5