Mastering Fear - A Navy SEAL's Guide by Brandon Webb, John David Mann
Published by Portfolio on 07/08/2018
Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Entrepreneurship, Self Help
Pages: 256
Format: eBook
Goodreads

Best book I have read in 2018!

When I saw the cover of the book I knew I had to get my hands on it. The cover is unique and simple. A yellow background with a man representing a warrior type of a person on a horse killing a lion with a spear. Might sound mythological to some or hypothetical to others. It has a significance to the context of the book. I urge you whatever thought comes into your mind after grasping the cover image from both of your eyes, either try to remember it or write it down somewhere. You will be astonished by its significance.

Mastering Fear is a great title to start the book. It is not your typical self-help book if you read it carefully. The author of this book had experience in war zones of Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL where he learned a lot of things and developed a conscience for trusting himself in the situations where panic easily takes over a human mind. Brandon Webb, he is an accomplished author and has written many books before this one. Apart from being a Navy SEAL, he now runs a media business that is worth millions. Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to understand the motive behind this book. To master the fear, the first step is to take a decision and I want you to take decide for yourself whether this book is for you or not.

Mastering Fear is not about facing a hostile gang of men or being in a war zone. It's about the battlefield in your mind.
Click To Tweet

Think about it. Who is that person that you most spend time with? Talk to, care about or listen to? Yes, yourself! This book talks about you. It is based on you. There are stories of people who are have mastered their own fear of drowning in the water, heights or build their own life after getting bankrupt 2 or 3 times. But all are these realities of others who have faced panic in its face when the time came for them. Brandon Webb, the co-author of this book starts it in a storytelling way about his friend who is suffering from the fear of drowning for the last 35 years of his life. The only reason he is still suffering because he wants to learn to swim and has tried everything. Contacted every medal winner or coach but always failed. This how Brandon concludes this situation:

Mastering Fear is not about becoming physically stronger, or tougher, or more macho r more aggressive, or more stoic. It is about how to identify and change the conversation in your mind.
Click To Tweet

I consider this a universal truth after hours of dwelling in works of ancient and modern day writers. The book focus on the self’s thought process and how to change it when the situation of an excruciating adrenaline rush comes where we often fail because we forget to give it a second thought right there, in that circumstance. This is the core of the book. Switching your thought process and understanding that fear is not something you should despise and can have your own way in life. Brandon points out that fear is a signpost, a gateway to the prize or the achievement or your success. It can be that secret weapon or the missing piece of puzzle right under your nose. To do so, Brandon divides the whole process into five interesting steps that are demonstrated with real-life anecdotes.

The writing style of the book is simple and easy to grasp. The book even though only 250 pages long is time-consuming. The chapters are short and consistent. Each follows the previous one, so I would not recommend skipping one for another. Its narrative style is catchy. Once you sit down and start reading it, it is hard to move away from it.

I would also like to say here that the context of the book is solely a pragmatic POV. Some readers might do not want to read it since it is written by a Navy SEAL or some only want to read it because it is written by a Navy SEAL and will have content on war zones, et cetera. You both are going to be disappointed. This book is about overcoming your fear even if you sit in a cubicle all day. It is about how to grow as a person and achieve what you always wanted to.

A must-read book for everyone.

5 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: Mastering Fear – A Navy SEAL’s Guide by Brandon Webb and John David Mann appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Pennies to Power by Tom Graneau
on 30/04/18
Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Entrepreneurship
Pages: 340
Format: ARC, eBook
Goodreads

Netgalley is a good platform to browse for upcoming books. If you get lucky, you will get the chance to read an ARC of a book you wish too. I also think it is one of the biggest platforms to search for indie authors. Recently, I got my hands on Tom Graneau’s new book, Pennies to Power: How to use your 20’s to Gain Financial Independence for Life.

For those of you who do not know, Tom is an advocate for working independently. At least to generate an income for your own efforts instead of working for others and fulfilling their dreams. In this book, he tries to provide pragmatic patterns and suggestions. He intakes 7 cultural barriers that are adhering most people from earn money outside their monthly paycheck life. There is no harm in that, but doing what you love and earning for yourself instead of paying to the banks to clear of your loans, is the motivation behind this book. Pennies to power gives the example of the American financial situation. It is full of researched anecdotes and diagrams. The author shows how temptations lead debt that looms for the rest of their lives. This forces one to think and live in a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.

Pennies to Power tries to educate young ones about what financial situations they might lead into if there are no proper steps taken early in their lives. Tom believes that an individual’s 20s are the best time to start. Even though this book is targeted at people of a certain age group. The author claims that it can be useful for someone in their late twenties, I feel otherwise. I think the right audience for this book is for the age group of 18 to 22. They might feel more empowered and find it useful.

The writing style is not an attractive one. Even though it is a work of non-fiction, I felt it could have been better. The language is easy to understand and the book justifies the theme it revolves around: money.

3 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: Pennies to Power by Tom Graneau appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Infin-Eight: Eight Principles for Infinite Professional Success by Prajeet Budhale
Published by Fingerprint! Publishing on 01/05/2018
Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Entrepreneurship, Self Help
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

The post BOOK REVIEW: Infin-Eight by Prajeet Budhale appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Such is Her Life by Reecha Agarwal Goyal
Published by Fingerprint! Publishing on 20/04/2018
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir
Pages: 184
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

Such is Her Life is the debut work of writer Reecha Goyal published earlier this year. It is a heartwarming collection of thoughts. These thoughts are based mostly on reality and presented to us as a reader in the form of musings. It is as clear and raw as if I, the reader is picking on her brain.

Expressed over 184 pages long, the whole concept works well as it contains around 150 musings. The common theme of these musings is the role a woman plays in lives of everyone as a mother, daughter, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, but societal norms do not appreciate all the effort to the life giver herself. I know that the western world has accepted or adapted or changed for the better over the period of time with some force but societies in countries like India are still retrograded. Some of these musings are short and some are long enough to make you think what a woman has to go through in every phase of her life.

Life kept changing and she kept accepting it. Until the day she started questioning. And that changed the game. Changed her life. - @AgarwalReecha
Click To Tweet

Some of the author’s thoughts are bold for the society to absorb and I think this is what we need. Some of the highlights of this book are honor killing, dowry, neglection, societal expectations, gender discrimination and the tenderness of a mother or a woman in love. It talks about these realities in lesser words that will make one think hard. Written in simple language, some of these proses are going to stay with me for a long time. Hats off to the publishing team by coming with a genuinely themed book that does match with the theme of the book.

4 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: Such is Her Life by Reecha Agarwal Goyal appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Clarity is the Only Spirituality by Susunaga Weeraperuma
Published by Fingerprint! Publishing on 02/2018
Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Self Help
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

How often to do you think a human brain, your mind, is at peace? Not the ultimate peace, but the one from all the daily chaos that makes it scattered and eventually affects our decisions. Susunaga Weeraperuma who devotes different forms of yoga, organic gardening, creative writing, reading, and meditation, thinks has the answer to the above question and has come out with a book with the same level of wisdom to enlight his readers.

The book starts on a high note and directly with the first chapter. The author addresses the title of the book in the first chapter and goes on talking about ‘attention’ span of a human mind in the first chapter. The whole book is divided into eighteen chapters. Broadly, these chapters are about the importance of communication, religious tolerance, forgiveness, giving, societal activities, utilizing time, books and solitude, stress, chastity, and death. Each chapter is an essay which describes author’s experiences with the title or the subject.

Sounds a like a self-help but I think it is not a traditional one. Moreover, it is a collection of essays that revolve majorly around one thing, YOU. The writing style is easy to understand and cope with. The flow of each easy is interesting as the author tends to build a story and then dives deeper into the matter. The length of the is around 220 pages but that does not make it a light read. It is time-consuming and heavy.

Some of the essays do no conclude well in my opinion. They resemble the writer’s personal opinion in particular situation or in life but that is not true for everyone. There are things which can be generalized such as the way he talks about stress, not many have done in their work. That kind of effort is appreciable. Having a strong opinion is good, but nothing is constant except the change. Forcing down one’s opinion and passing it to the reader as a proclamation tells a lot about the writer and is disappointing. Overall, most of the essays are good to read.

3 out of 5

The post BOOK REVIEW: Clarity is the Only Spirituality by Susunaga Weeraperuma appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Before You Start Up: How to Prepare to Make Your Startup Dream a Reality by Pankaj Goyal
Published by Fingerprint! Publishing on 24/11/2017
Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Entrepreneurship
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

The debut novel of Pankaj Goyal, Before You Start Up is about preparing for the life of an entrepreneur. This book offers insight on more than having an idea, evaluating it, the financial hurdle, and other pragmatic steps of launching your own product or a service company. It is a business book that I recommend especially to someone who might have doubts in their mind about the journey.

Doubts are not at all like holes in the brain cells. They are an essential part of a critical thinking process. But they often lead to low creativity levels. I urge not to dwell in them much. Instead, read this book. The first 50 pages of this book are highly critical. The author/entrepreneur himself starts by telling his own journey, a brief period of three years of his own product. All over the book, he has used quotes and cites text from the book that is already bestsellers and popular in the business world as well as with readers. He refers to the to his story in between the chapters. But that is not the reason I want you to read this book.

This book offers a lot of pragmatic advice that is important to observe if not implement all of it. I suggest you take his advice and his personal experience as his own point of view but at the same time you will find things useful. The world is full of them. You have your own and that is very necessary. No one has succeeded in their life by walking the track already exists. It is not a linear track for anyone.

The topics this book puts emphasis on are the generation of an idea, evaluating it, finding a co-founder, but most important one I found is understanding your “why”. It is all about your “why”. Everything starts and end at the “why” part. Best chapter of the book I would say.

Rest, as I said, his opinions are his own, I do not agree with his three-year breakup analogy of running a startup. You cannot judge a company or a product with that. What if it fails in the fourth year? He sounds too harsh in first pages of the book which in my opinion could have been anatomizing over the book instead of appearing all at once with more reasoning and understanding of the reader, especially, the first time readers. Here, at this point, the author assumes, the reader is already familiar with the sense of a topic. What if he is not?

3.5 out of 5

The post BOOK REVIEW: Before You Start Up by Pankaj Goyal appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

She Walks, She Leads by Gunjan Jain
Published by Penguin on 27/07/2016
Genres: Nonfiction
Pages: 584
Format: Hardcover
Goodreads

She Walks, She Leads is the latest work of Gunjan Jain, an effort that closely and in-depth explores individual lives of twenty-six Indian Women, and their journey to success. The book covers these real-life personages of various fields such as business, art, entertainment etc. Notable modern day icons such as Nita Ambani, Sania Mirza, Parmeshwar Godrej, Indra Nooyi, etc.

Each chapter in that covers the biography of every individual will leave an impression on the reader. Each chapter explores how these icons started their journey and continue to rise. By the end of every chapter, there is questionnaire round. The author interviews a close family member, friend or spouse to get more insight out of their lives. These real-life tales are inspiring and motivating. The author covers every woman in this story from almost every angle.

The length of the book more than 550 pages and I’d recommend it that there is no need to read it in one go. The writing style is smooth, and expressive, and has a flow that will indulge any reader in the conversation. I compliment the author for her research work on every icon. This book is a modern day necessity and a delight to read.

4 out of 5

The post BOOK REVIEW: She Walks, She Leads by Gunjan Jain appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Treasure Trove of Zodiacs by Tanuj Lalchandani
Genres: Nonfiction
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback

I am among those who are unable to find any consistent logic behind astrology. Yet, an individual who has mastered the art of it can build correct predictions about someone’s characteristic traits on the basis of their zodiac signs.

Treasure Trove of Zodiacs is the debut work of Tanuj Lalchandani. Written in-depth about each zodiac sign this book does an excellent job of explaining things to a novice. The book talks about the personality traits of a person, their behavior, a little light on what kind of careers, in general, she or he might like, suggestions on relationships and how to overcome negative vibes such that one can make peace with himself.

The artwork used as illustrations is amazing. I have to compliment both the author and designer for their effort on this.

Written in third person narrative voice, in an easy to understand language. I was able to finish this book in a day.

Such is the power of stars. Ancient civilizations have all been dependent on things like ruling planet and zodiac signs. Tanuj’s work is an exploration for that. The artwork definitely earned this one a lot of brownie points. Recommended if you want to explore the world of stars, this is a good start.

The post BOOK REVIEW: Treasure Trove of Zodiacs by Tanuj Lalchandani appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Succeed The Happionaire Way by Yogesh Chabria
Published by TV18 Broadcast Limited (CNBC TV18) on November 10th 2017
Genres: Nonfiction
Pages: 180
Format: Audiobook
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Some say happiness is a state of mind. Many believe in that. I do too. It indeed is a state of mind but we all wonder how to achieve that state of mind, don’t we?

The happiness of an individual is reflected by aspects that are prior to us mortals. These aspects fall under few different criteria and a common ground between them is where the state of happiness lies. It is not something that is achievable because there is nothing to achieve. It is a state of mind that takes some practice and wilful mindfulness on daily basis. Thus, this is the message of Yogesh Chabria, a world-renowned leader in the field of human potential, new book: Succeed The Happionaire Way.

The book takes all those aspects I mentioned above into a deep consideration. The author describes pragmatic strategies along with subject matter which and they all are oriented towards a mutual goal, the happiness of the reader, reading the book. In-depth he talks about dreams and turning them into goals and how to shape yourself and the life you are currently living, to define a shape your own way. He then has defined is own terms such as DIG, HOPE (all are trademarked) and urges the reader to take action. You can follow along with the suggestions and the anecdotes from many lives he has observed or has been touched by, including his own.

This process is making an individual realize a sense of clarity in his mind and motivating him to continue on his ambitious journey is successful. Since the early days of human civilizations, we find a similar context in writings of Plato, Heraclitus, and Aristotle. Their manner of writing might be poetic or dialogues, but it is just their method. Chabria’s method is clear, simple, easy to absorb and understand. It seems his focus on more on the reader of the book.

He then talks on topics like emotional health, the art of relationships, and finally to be consistent in maintaining the balance of life. He even offers step by step guidelines on meditation for those who have never tried it. My favorite chapter in the book is on relationships of every kind.

I know there are many books in this genre but if you are looking for a clear, follow along, written in a smart and succinct manner, this one is for you and you should grab a copy straightaway.

5 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: Succeed The Happionaire Way by Yogesh Chabria appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Published: September, 2016 by Rodale Books

Think for a moment. When you read the word, ‘Hustle’, what does it mean to you? How does your brain process it? Have you ever thought that a word such as Hustle posses power over your heart, mind and habits? These are the questions I’d want you to think about before going in-depth into this book. To answer the questions, this book describes

Hustling is about shaking things up, letting go of old patterns that suck the life out of us and beginning anew.

To break out monotony of 9 to 5 lifestyle step by step and focusing on reality at the same time, you’d need tools for that. Hustle: The Power to Charge your Life with Money, Meaning and Momentum by Neil Pater, Patick Vlaskovitz and Jonas Koffler provide just that in this latest title. These tools will make you realise the work you enjoy and gain the confidence and motivate yourself. The book is divided in three main sections:

• The Heart
• The Head
• The Habits

Each section demonstrate how to work on your dreams, to get started and prepare for mistakes and risks that comes in the journey and how to spot opportunities to create your own luck. When I came across these section I could relate them to Logos, Ethos and Pathos (knowledge, values and passion) from some ancient text. It’s not a new concept and has been around a long time but it’s a concept we often forget to remind ourselves as we dwell into the monolithic labyrinth of 9 to 5.

This book is a great reminder of that. It combines all three sections aforementioned and help the reader understand how they work together.

Heart

Focus in this section is on readers valuing their own dreams. It’s how the book starts by pointing out some concepts like talent perception, Lake Wobegon effect and altering your own ego. I love the references it provide based on scientific methods to describe their (co-authors) point of view of the world and how it works, more, how you gain momentum in your life without damaging it.

Head

The purpose of this section is to give purpose to the whole book and the point of view of hustling. Authors clearly states that the value of work outweigh the reason you do it. The reward only comes by doing the work.

Habit

The real benefit from reading the last two sections, comes after reading this one. This section is designed for you to take action and implement your own hustle. There is a lot of depth in this section since it is divided further into smaller sections but that won’t consume your time much.

Overall I think the book has a great value to offer. The narrative voice has a medium pace which provides it a great start and the reader will be engaged in matter of no time. There is a lot to think and reflect along with it. This book won’t define your life but if you decide to read it you will definitely reflect back in a better standard. The book is more about the concept of Logos, Ethos and Pathos I discussed earlier and should be regarded in that way rather than what the cover of the book might signify on earlier impression as it certainly does not do justice to this book.

4 out of 5

~Find me on~

BLOG | GOODREADS | MEDIUM | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

The post Hustle: The Power to Charge your Life with Money, Meaning and Momentum appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.