Plains

Great message. Poor execution.

Revisado: 06-03-24

I really like the concept and the explanation of how and why our lives play out in certain ways according to mindset. I never knew about growth mindset and I’ve occasionally had it and occasionally didn’t have it and had no idea.

What I didn’t like is how much the author’s personality comes through the book. It is written very self indulgently. Rather than in service to the message it seems she’s writing it mostly in service of herself and all the resentments and chips on her shoulder she has. It’s pretty annoying honestly because it keeps coming back to examples that are chosen because of some area in life she’s frustrated about. Rather than being written clinically about this topic for the service of the reader using evidence, it’s just a lot of fluff and self indulgent rambling.

It’s a great idea but I wish someone else would write it.

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So far so good

Revisado: 01-23-24

I think this genre of books are pretty hit or miss for me and often seem to be about basically power over others and that turns me off because I don’t want others to have power over me so therefore I don’t want to dominate and deceive others either. This book isn’t like that. It seems genuinely positive and if other people learn it, it’s a positive thing. I don’t want to participate in messages about how to make others feel small and worthless so I can take advantage of them. I think the world would be better off without that kind of behavior. Instead, we should all hope to be more present, kind, and capable as this book suggests. I know that in nature people perceive physical power as a big factor and for those without exceptional size and strength, or who may even be born smaller genetically, it can seem like a big and unfair barrier to getting the respect we want. But they suggest here that it’s more about social factors like seeming like one I has social status or is capable than physically intimidating. It’s difficult to draw that line between physical posturing for the sake of making positive connections with others vs simulating social violence. But hopefully I’ll get to the part where she clarifies… and if she doesn’t well it’s ok I still got something out of this book.

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I bought it based on the cover design

Revisado: 01-13-24

Great cover design. Book is pretty good too. Mostly stuff about how to be a Japanese salaryman. But some good ideas.

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Great with flaws

Revisado: 01-09-24

I made a lot of the mistakes because of the passion mindset which is really a fantasy / unreality mindset. I squandered time due to dreaming and sometimes actually quit jobs that were working for me due to the false notion that the job was holding me back from success. And because I didn’t have any other model for success I kept doing it. Fortunately I did also have a career in a field and hopefully all is not lost but I have paid a high price due to my culture’s repetition of the passion idea. I always noticed how cultures like Japan reinforce the craftsman idea and they always produce highly respectable craftsman no matter their job.

Only downside to this book is the voice actor I feel like he sounds like an old man lecturing me from his high horse and looking down on me. It’s not his intention I’m sure he’s a really good voice actor but it just comes across like lectures from a kind of arrogant person. I’d appreciate a more compassionate voice especially considering a lot of people had to experience a lot of failure before receiving this wonderful message the author wrote. It sucks that his voice style taints the experience but it’s very minor, and something worth pushing through to get the message. Just try and focus on the content not the style of his voice if you can is my only advice.

Also, I agree with the other reviews about his choice of stories. He picks incredibly privileged people and I personally did not resonate with almost any of the stories he chose. These are people who had a leg up in life and I think that is probably also the case with the author which is why he liked them. He finds those similar to him relatable: people from elite backgrounds that are very wealthy.

However, that said, I agree with the craftsman mentality. I think it is tremendously valuable for me personally to hold onto this idea and keep going with it. I think it’s too bad he chose the stories he did because actually they undermine his argument very badly. He would have had a better story just with the argument and some research. I only liked the one about the comedian, and the zen guy only because it supports the idea that passion is usually just fantasy.

Overall I’d say the concept is solid, but written in a way that actually makes one question if it’s really true, because he picked such lucky and privileged individuals. If he picked stories of people who had disadvantages and made mistakes, or just regular people who had made mistakes, it would be more convincing… however I think none of these anecdotes would be as good as actual scientific research.

The problem with authors using these silly stories as “evidence” is that I believe readers will always find issue with them. They’re not like me, they went to Ivy league schools, whatever. I can find a lot of reasons. That is the entire purpose and value of science, and why we have it. Since the ancients, debaters have pointed out that one anecdote can just be countered with an opposite one. That is why we have randomized control studies, and meta analyses and so on.

I would’ve given it 5/5 til I got to a portion heavy with his young and successful friends and I was pretty turned off by it.

Let me say that, I’m grateful I heard this message and I totally believe it. But I won’t be continuing with listening to the book.

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Decent

Revisado: 01-08-24

I think the sober truth is a lot better. In the end he ends up supporting AA for some reason despite all the science that is against it. I guess it’s just easier to promote whatever is the status quo

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It’s ok not enough concrete content especially as an audiobook

Revisado: 01-01-24

I think if there are practices and vows to practice then an audiobook format isn’t great. I would need them written down. Also the voice actor is just ok. His accent is really heavy.

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I couldn’t finish due to the voice actor

Revisado: 12-29-23

I think the book itself is good but the voice actor has some kind of purposeful accent that seems to be trying to be macho and authoritative (trying to make her voice deeper on purpose), and this kind of affect of purposely pronouncing things weird. Like she’s trying to sound all Eastern-y instead of just speaking normally. It is extremely distracting. I tried powering through it several times just to get the author’s message but kept getting distracted by her pretentious accent. It’s like those fonts that look like Chinese brush strokes that they use on parody kung fu movies, except verbally. I wish I could just get a computer to read it instead. Her voice acting is so corny. It seems to have so much to do with her ego and how she’s this big tough lady who knows all about how to pronounce “Buddha” and “kamma” the REAL way, and also lets that affect spread into her pronunciation of other words needlessly too whenever she feels like it. Even though it’s clear she’s capable of speaking normal standard English and doesn’t have an accent, she just chooses to. That’s called being pretentious or affected. If the author picked this lady to make the book sound “mystical” and “Eastern” then I have to say I’m not too impressed. I think the content of the Buddha’s teachings is all I need not someone virtually dressing as a samurai and hamming it up. Just awful.

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Great book I’d recommend and the speaker is a pro

Revisado: 12-27-23

Very professionally read, well written book. I don’t agree with everything in the book but it has a lot of good points and is helpful.

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The voiceover for the second book is whack. Otherwise good.

Revisado: 05-07-23

The first and third books are the same book but with a couple added chapters. The second book is very very VERY difficult to listen to due to the cheesy accents the lady uses. It’s not even clear what she’s trying to emulate. Southern? British? Who knows. The content is good, but don’t buy this - get the truth about caffeine one instead.

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Critics literally never even read or listened to this work.

Revisado: 06-11-22

Let no one say “Machiavellian” again without at least hearing the book for itself. I think people have an idea of what it’s about without ever hearing it. Books have a way of being misunderstood in popular culture because people dislike nuance, and dislike reading (or listening) to books even more. But perhaps they mostly dislike trying to actually comprehend something which may be difficult at first. Which is why great works are easier to write off. It elevates the critic’s ego above the great work with no need to exert effort in comprehension.

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