Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

Recommended by:

Author:   Scott Adams

Genre:  Non Fiction, Memoir, Self Improvement

248 pages, published October 22, 2013

Reading Format:  e-Book on Overdrive

Summary

In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams relates all of the mistakes he has made in his life and how making them was an essential factor in his ultimate success.  Adams also shares his strategies for life success which include:

• Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners.
• “Passion” is bull. What you need is personal energy.
• A combination of mediocre skills (i.e. a “talent stack”) can make you surprisingly valuable.
• You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others

Quotes 

“A goal is a specific objective that you either achieve or don’t sometime in the future. A system is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of happiness in the long run. If you do something every day, it’s a system. If you’re waiting to achieve it someday in the future, it’s a goal. If you achieve your goal, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. Your options are to feel empty and useless, perhaps enjoying the spoils of your success until they bore you, or set new goals and reenter the cycle of permanent presuccess failure. All I’m suggesting is that thinking of goals and systems as very different concepts has power. Goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous presuccess failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things never work out. Systems people succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do. The goals people are fighting the feeling of discouragement at each turn. The systems people are feeling good every time they apply their system. That’s a big difference in terms of maintaining your personal energy in the right direction.”

 

“If you want success, figure out the price, then pay it. It sounds trivial and obvious, but if you unpack the idea it has extraordinary power.”

 

“Happiness has more to do with where you are heading than where you are.”

 

“The most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness, eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your family and friends.”

 

“Priorities are the things you need to get right so the things you love can thrive.”

 

“Avoid career traps such as pursuing jobs that require you to sell your limited supply of time while preparing you for nothing better.”

 

“Few things are as destructive and limiting as a worldview that assumes people are mostly rational.”

 

“Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, tells us that people become unhappy if they have too many options in life. The problem with options is that choosing any path can leave you plagued with self-doubt.”

 

“If you can imagine the future being brighter, it lifts your energy and gooses the chemistry in your body that produces a sensation of happiness. If you can’t even imagine an improved future, you won’t be happy no matter how well your life is going right now.”

 

“Recapping my skill set: I have poor art skills, mediocre business skills, good but not great writing talent, and an early knowledge of the Internet. And I have a good but not great sense of humor. I’m like one big mediocre soup. None of my skills are world-class, but when my mediocre skills are combined, they become a powerful market force.”

 

“Positivity is far more than a mental preference. It changes your brain, literally, and it changes the people around you. It’s the nearest thing we have to magic.”

 

“The surest way to identify those who won’t succeed at weight loss is that they tend to say things like “My goal is to lose ten pounds.” Weight targets often work in the short run. But if you need willpower to keep the weight off, you’re doomed in the long run. The only way to succeed in the long run is by using a system that bypasses your need for willpower.”

 

“For our purposes, let’s say a goal is a specific objective that you either achieve or don’t sometime in the future. A system is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of happiness in the long run. If you do something every day, it’s a system. If you’re waiting to achieve it someday in the future, it’s a goal.”

 

“Most important, understand that goals are for losers and systems are for winners.”

 

“One of the most important tricks for maximizing your productivity involves matching your mental state to the task.”

 

“Failure always brings something valuable with it. I don’t let it leave until I extract that value.”

 

“If you don’t drink coffee, you should think about two to four cups a day. It can make you more alert, happier, and more productive. It might even make you live longer. Coffee can also make you more likely to exercise, and it contains beneficial antioxidants and other substances associated with decreased risk of stroke (especially in women), Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Coffee is also associated with decreased risk of abnormal heart rhythms, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.  Any one of those benefits of coffee would be persuasive, but cumulatively they’re a no-brainer. An hour ago I considered doing some writing for this book, but I didn’t have the necessary energy or focus to sit down and start working. I did, however, have enough energy to fix myself a cup of coffee. A few sips into it, I was happier to be working than I would have been doing whatever lazy thing was my alternative. Coffee literally makes me enjoy work. No willpower needed. Coffee also allows you to manage your energy levels so you have the most when you need it. My experience is that coffee drinkers have higher highs and lower lows, energywise, than non–coffee drinkers, but that trade-off works. I can guarantee that my best thinking goes into my job, while saving my dull-brain hours for household chores and other simple tasks. The biggest downside of coffee is that once you get addicted to caffeine, you can get a “coffee headache” if you go too long without a cup. Luckily, coffee is one of the most abundant beverages on earth, so you rarely have to worry about being without it. Coffee costs money, takes time, gives you coffee breath, and makes you pee too often. It can also make you jittery and nervous if you have too much. But if success is your dream and operating at peak mental performance is something you want, coffee is a good bet. I highly recommend it. In fact, I recommend it so strongly that I literally feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t developed the habit.”

 

“When politicians tell lies, they know the press will call them out. They also know it doesn’t matter. Politicians understand that reason will never have much of a role in voting decisions. A lie that makes a voter feel good is more effective than a hundred rational arguments. That’s even true when the voter knows the lie is a lie.”

 

“Unhappiness that is caused by too much success is a high-class problem. That’s the sort of unhappiness people work all of their lives to get. If you find yourself there, and I hope you do, you’ll find your attention naturally turning outward. You’ll seek happiness through service to others. I promise it will feel wonderful.”

 

“Passion feels very democratic. It is the people’s talent, available to all. It’s also mostly bullshit.”

 

“I made a list of skills in which I think every adult should gain a working knowledge. I wouldn’t expect you to become a master of any, but mastery isn’t necessary. Luck has a good chance of finding you if you become merely good in most of these areas. I’ll make a case for each one, but here’s the preview list.

 Public speaking

Psychology

Business Writing

Accounting

Design (the basics)

Conversation

Overcoming Shyness

Second language

Golf

Proper grammar

Persuasion

Technology ( hobby level)

Proper voice technique”

My Take

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was a fun, informative and inspiring read.  Scott Adams, the very funny creator of Dilbert, has led an extremely interesting and varied life.  He has no fear of trying new things, often does and usually fails.  However, he always gleans a lesson from every failure which has led to his tremendous success as a cartoonist, writer and public speaker.   The book additionally offers many pearls of wisdom for maximizing your chances of leading a successful and fulfilling life.  Every year for my birthday, I have my son Nick read a book and then we discuss it over a lunch out.  This year’s book will be How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.  I got a lot out of it and I think Nick will too.