a wonderful compilation of stories of successful people from different industries, Each story is eyeopening and I really had a great time reading this book, At the end of the book, I could notice several common traits among these celebrities even if they're from different industries,
. They were passionate about what they were doing,
. They had to change their career paths frequently,
. They believed in coming up with their own ideas even if they were unconventional,
. Formal education didn't have a greater influence on their success, Lessons from life were far more important and became more useful for them,
. They worked very hard. Many of them managed both a job and education simultaneously,
. They were risk takers.
. They went through countless bitter experiences before tasting victories,
. What separates them from unsuccessful people is how they dealt with their difficult moments,
. They treated each problem and criticism as an opportunity,
Well, these are my findings, and you can comment below if I missed more of these, Although I originally looked at the list of featured people as a who's who of crappy people at leastmen with sexual assault allegations andperson from a show known for unhealthy body image issues are the biggest issues I have at a first glance, not including people who have generational wealth and are in a different playing field, once I thought "maybe there is something to learn from the generation that got us to where we are today", it became more tolerable.
I liked hearing Anderson Cooper, Sara Blakely, Kathy Ireland, and Rachel Zoe's stories but I'm sure they've given Ted Talks or other interviews about their personal lives.
You can get similar wisdom in a Dove chocolate wrapper, the lyrics from theone hit wonder Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, and even the recent Lifetime Wendy Williams biopic.
I will admit that at least a genuine variety of people were picked, from art to television to business to nonprofits, Eventually you develop a sort of Stockholm syndrome on all of the vague fortune cookie advice that is in this book and you can power through it as well.
Also, I did not know anything about Marina Abramovic's or Jeff Koons' personal lives, so I guess that was interesting.
I registered a book at BookCrossing, com!
sitelink BookCrossing. com/journal/ This was a great collection of short stories of how some of the most successful people around us got there.
It is a story in resilience, focus, and how when success is deconstructed it is a journey of failures and learning, This book would probably be a great nightstand book, reading one person's story in each sitting, I absolutely loved "Getting There" by Gillian Zoe Segal, This book was given to me as a gift after graduation, I love that you can read it piece by piece, and skip around to learn about all these fascinating people if you wish to do so.
I read them all in order and didn't look at the table of contents at all so that I would be surprised by who was next.
I really enjoyed reading these stories many were rags to riches, but it was also great to see many who recognized that they came from pretty well off families, yet made a name for himself or herself.
I liked to highlight and keep a pen on me while reading this to take small notes, It was great to see themes of what makes a great leader in such a variety of industries, I would definitely recommend this to any selfstarter, graduate, or someone who is looking for some motivation to push through and make their own difference in the world.
One of the highly recommended books to read, This book helps someone who looking for resources, time and opportunity to start or in the middle of building their career which is so passionate to do.
This book line up some great example to realize once path to move forward and determination required in once passion, I personally dislike the word success, not only because it can be subjective but often results are over glamourised, While this will always somewhat hold true for all motivational type of books, “Getting There” tells the ordinary story ofindividuals who withstood their challenges to reach their fulfilment across a diverse domain ranging from Finance, Entertainment, Technology, Science, Business, Music and Art.
Three key lessons stand out for me,
. Creativity works best with discipline: while having a structure naturally seems to oppose creativity it gives you focus to do your best work
.
Dont compromise on work ethnic: if achievements are a sweat drop, then success is an Olympic sized swimming pool waiting to be filled
.
Rejection gets you closer to your goal: blergh, easier said than done but I think you get this one The things that struck me about this book: all the stories are in firstperson, it's as if you are having a oneonone chat with these people who made it big in life.
Their stories are candid they do not omit the less glamorous parts of their journey, in fact they actively discuss their mistakes and low points in life.
They are all short pieces, easily digestible but not lacking in depth,
Experiencing adversity and putting in hard work is a common theme throughout the book, Every next story you read proves to you that these successful people are not superhuman, and that they worked their way up.
There are some really great life lessons to pick up from this book,
That said, it features mainly white American males, and many who had rather privileged lives I'm not saying privileged persons cannot be counted as successful.
Additionally, though these people come from a variety of fields, many stories lean towards success in the business sphere, I am loath to pass judgement, but I feel the selection of mentors could have been better in terms of diversity, in more respects of the word.
However, the author might have had her reasons for putting together theselives,
p. s. Admittedly, I did not know many of the names in here before this, The stories of the following personalities particularly resonated with me: Anderson Cooper, Matthew Weiner, Nitin Nohria, Ian Schrager, Michael Bloomberg, Wendy Kopp, Warren Buffett, Muhammad
Yunus, Tom Scott and Gary Hirshberg.
I wish this book was written in the interview format, It would have brought more life to the stories of majority of the people, Sometimes it felt like drag because only one person is talking and writer doesn't contribute much to the conversation,
The part I liked is that most of the people had a humble but ordinary beginning, And most of the success stories are not legendary or mythical, Most of the people here were broughtup in ordinary life and gradually reached to the position and reading their story gave the confidence that any ordinary person can get successful.
Some of the advice I found uncommon and truthful
, You must do something that you are passionate aboutand something that is “within your circle of competence Gillian Zoe Segal
, I knew if I gave him the cash I'd show up Warren Buffet
, Knowing what to leave out is as important as knowing what to focus on, Warren Buffet
. When you have a meeting with somebody, look that person up and know everything you can about him or her, Matthew Weiner
. No matter how early they are in their career, treat them as if they were important Matthew Weiner
, A great idea is worthless execution is everything, Matthew Weiner
. Intelligence and drive are important, but fairness, loyalty, and all around good morals are essential, Tom Scott
. If you observe something that bothers you, make your own action plan to fix it, Muhammad Yunus
. If you set a goal that isnt fairly realistic, you could be setting yourself up for failurewhich can really set you back emotionally Rachel Zoe
.
Brevity is the soul of wit Craig Newmark Great book packed full of life lessons, An overwhelming theme is persistence and continuing even after failure Curious about how Warren Buffett, Jillian Michaels, or Michael Bloomberg became so successful Read about the road to success from these public figures and more who excel in a variety of careers.
Each person also offers advice in addition to their candid recollections about success, An excellent book, especially for anyone looking for a mentor or just some career inspiration,
Kathleen K, / Marathon County Public Library
sitelinkFind this book in our library catalog,
Very satisfying read about success, mentors and people from different disciplines looking to make a name for themselves.
It is enlightening and relevant for all of those who are looking for information on selfimprovement or may be stuck careerwise, This is a book of Essays the author put together, The writers of the essays are successful people in many areas of study, I enjoyed listening to the stories of the peoples upbringing and how their career paths deviated and got them to the place that they are today.
If you are looking to find some key traits in successful people reading this book will give you some insight as they all seem to have common threads connecting them.
This book provides great insight into the life journey of many individuals in a diverse spectrum of fields, Each person's section is aboutpages on average and all carry a common theme of positive thinking, overcoming hardships, and being a leader in today's society.
I would highly encourage all to read,
The path to success is rarely easy or direct, and good mentors are hard to find, In Getting There, thirty leaders in diverse fields share their secrets to navigating the rocky road to the top, In an honest, direct, and engaging way, these role models describe the obstacles they faced, the setbacks they endured, and the vital lessons they learned.
They dispense not only essential and practical career advice, but also priceless wisdom applicable to life in general, Getting There is for everyonefrom students contemplating their futures to the vast majority of us facing challenges or seeking to reach our potential.
This book was a great compilation of successful people in many different industries, It was nice to hear their stories and I appreciate that those stories weren't cookie cutter like some books in this genre that encourage you to think positive and everything will fall in place.
These people share their tragedies, their fears, their struggles and their triumphs, They don't sugar coat their journey to success, This book, really humanized these celebrities so anyone can relate to their story, Well done. Enjoyed this book, thank you! What makes someone successful Talent Luck Hard work In Getting There Gillian Zoe Segal askedsuccessful individuals about how they made it to the top of their respective industries and then collected the results in a series of firstperson essays.
The "mentors" here include investors, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, scientists, executives, and at least one Nobel laureate, Some of the more recognizable names include Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffet, Kathy Ireland, Laird Hamilton, and Hans Zimmer, The essays are coupled with high quality photographs of the subjects, taken by the author,
As one might imagine, the style and tone of the essays vary quite a bit, Each subject has his or her own voice, For that reason, I found it easiest to read no more than one or two of them at a time, The advice the subjects give is also widely scattered, and sometimes even contradictory, One mentor might suggest pursuing one's dreams with passion regardless of expertise, while another might encourage the reader to do as much research and homework as they possibly can before starting out.
This dichotomy suggests that the path to success doesn't look the same in every field or for every person, For someone trying to gain inspiration, this might prove a bit frustrating, The reader will have to decide which mentor's advice most resonates with them, and who they find most credible,
There are a couple of things that recur, For example, a great number of these mentors did sales jobs early on in their careers, and credit those jobs with building both skills and character.
Having done sales myself, I don't disagree, You learn a lot about yourself and others in the process of selling, Another common theme was hitting rock bottom, Many mentors discuss having nothing, being at wit's end, living out of a car, having no money in the bank, etc, The ways in which they respond to these bottoming out moments varies, but the theme is resilience, If one can hit that low point without despair and keep moving forward, there is life on the other side, You may not develop the next Craig's List or crack the human genome, like some of these folks did, but a brighter day of some sort is possible and even likely.
A few of the mentors struck me as incredibly unhelpful, Laird Hamilton's story for example conveyed to me a sense of a young man who had a chip on his shoulder and parlayed that attitude into a daredevil career.
It worked for him, but I wouldn't take it as life advice nor would I want to be him, He doesn't seem like a nice man, Additionally, I wondered if Ms, Segal regretted any of the people she chose to put in the book, Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS, probably seemed like a pretty safe success story inbut the coda of his tale has made him persona non grata.
Still, for someone looking for a shot in the arm as they pursue their dreams, this book can offer a pick me up.
Or if you're just curious about successful people and how they view their own lives, this could be an entertaining read, It may not provide any particularly new or earthshattering insights, but it does show the breadth and variety of ways people make it.
We each have to find our own road to success however we may define it, .