I recently read this power-packed little book titled Poke-The-Box by the well known entrepreneur and a popular blogger Seth Godin.
The title of the book and Seth's interview on the domino project site made me read this book without fail. After reading it I felt, oh, well, this kind of poking is very much required for myself.
The author, at the beginning of the book, asks a very fundamental question that we may fail to ask ourselves - When was the last time you did something for the first time? and the question made me think for a while and all my answers were filled with some guilt of not being completely honest.
Poke the box is the manifesto about 'starting'. Starting something, making a ruckus, taking what feels like a risk, leaping, committing or making something happen. If you haven't been doing something that you planned to do and waiting for something, this book pokes you to start. Starting is everything. If you start, you will get moving, no matter you fail or succeed.
There will be many examples in our lives for which 'poking' is necessary. We need to initiate something somewhere. And why we do not start? or why we do not initiate? is not to be answered anymore. Go! is what is required.
The book also answers a lot of questions like what can we start? When to start? and some very good real time examples for us to grasp the importance of 'starting'. It also highlights some of the happenings all over the world in terms of excellence, mediocre performance, hard work, quality and related concerns.
Why do we have fear in starting something? why do we hesitate taking risk? and what makes us really start? all such questions will be never asked after reading this book. Getting into the habit of shipping things is what matters in the end.
We certainly do not like to regret for not doing certain things or for missing opportunities. Seth advises us on not missing them. Start the thing that you are thinking of doing. Let us fail at something or do something worth doing. But for that to happen, we need to start.
While reading the book, I recalled a statement by one of my very good friend - "Give us an opportunity to fail". It made more sense to me.
His (Seth's) own recent experience of initiating a new book publishing project itself is a terrific example for us. Read about it here - The Domino Project.
I have extracted some interesting excerpts here. And this book made me think and 'start' on all those things that I was sleeping on since a long time. I poked myself for a better Go.
It is a must read for all of us.
Srik
2 comments:
Thanks Srik for introducing one more good book !
Delighted that you found the time to read a self-improvement challenge.
With respect, may I suggest that you are excessively pessimistic about assessing your own efforts at doing something new.
As far as I know, you have done a number of new things lately. It all depends upon what you consider new. Climbing Mount Everest may be a new thing but it has no social relevance. It is just an individual effort. Individual efforts, however noteworthy, do not address the basic human need of being part of society and doing something socially useful.
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