October ’16 – The Achievement Habit (Bernard Roth)

If you are the type of person who thinks about a project or task too much before ever taking action – if at all – then this is a must-read for you! This book is aptly summed up in its subtitle “Stop wishing, start doing and take command of your life”.

The achievement habit provides a succinct call to action to the reader and reveals via case studies that achievement or success can be learnt and developed like a muscle. The book starts off by detailing these case studies undertaken in a course titled ‘the designer in society’ taught by the author at Stanford University throughout which the students only requirement was to achieve a goal that they had always wanted but had never done. For me, this first chapter of the book
stood out as the greatest call to action and the thought of having no choice but to take action on my goals and desires sparked a motivation inside of me to just start doing.

Beyond the first chapter there are many great gems of wisdom but beware the faint of heart or the strong of ego. If you have a tendency to blame others for your problems – beware this book – at times it can be blunt and confronting, but for the right audience this is like a kick in the right direction. With phrases like “Your life has no meaning” and chapter titles including “Reasons are bullshit” it is easy to see how this book could be tough to swallow for a person who habitually makes excuses or ‘reasons’. The truth is that, and Roth explains this thoroughly, you are in control of your life and that your reality is of your own creation – and not of anyone elses making. The book detailed how if you don’t take action or you simply ‘try’ but do not ‘do’ then the results you reap from your endeavours are completely of your making.

I read this book hoping to muster some inspiration myself and learn more about the psychology of success and to a large extent the book fulfilled that need. If you think you need a good kick in the right direction, this might just hit you where it hurts, or it might just be that book that ignites a fire inside of you and starts you on your journey toward becoming the best version of yourself.

Check out our previous books of the month!

September 2016 – Getting There: A Book of Mentors (Gillian Zoe Segal)

Read this article in Spanish (Español)