Earlier in the year, I was feeling super lost and had no clue what I wanted to do anymore. I was watching one of my favorite vloggers, Datev Gallagher and she mentioned a book and said, “If you are feeling lost in your life, if you hate your job or you just make a change or if you are just interested in creating a life that’s more catered to your interests, you should definitely check out this book.” I felt like she was talking directly to me because it was exactly how I’d been feeling. I immediately ordered it, but didn’t start reading it until later. I’d mentioned the book in my June Goals and how I wanted to write a review on it because I loved it so much! It’s been 5 months and I’m finally getting around to writing the post. Nobody asked me to write this review, I just loved the book so much that I wanted to share it.
Interviews of Awesome People
The book features interviews and examples of all kinds of successful, inspiring people. Some of my favorites include; Weird Al, Wanda Sykes, Tony Hale, John Legend and many more. There are interviews from people all types of careers. The book also comes with access to interviews of the people that are mentioned in the book. The only unfortunate thing about it is, all the videos I was most interested in watching, aren’t included in the free limited subscription. I would’ve loved to hear Weird Al’s interview, but the site doesn’t really tell you how to access it and just makes you think you are extending your subscription. There are still tons of amazing interviews you can watch though and it comes with the book. My favorite interview I could watch was Tony Hale because he talked about how badly he wanted to to be in a sitcom and when he got Arrested Development, he wasn’t as happy as he thought would have been. He said, “you have to learn how to be content with where you are because if you get to where you think you want to be, you aren’t going to be content”. Even just examples in the book were inspiring. Someone that lost so much while doing what they love but they were able to turn it around and make it into something positive.
Noise vs Feedback
Most of you know that I’m working on getting a new job and for a while my mom and step dad kept telling me all these places that were hiring. I knew the places they suggested weren’t going to be my dream job and that I wanted to wait till I found that job. After a while, it started to make me wonder if I just wasn’t good enough for a better job. They had no idea that their suggestions were making me so confused. They were just trying to help me, the trick is figuring out when to listen and when you need to make your own decision. It’s my life, it’s now to never… wait, that’s a Bon Jovi song.
Living in Beta
They talk about how your life should be like a beta test, you should always be trying to make a better version from yourself. You might have chosen a career you thought you wanted to do forever, but instead of just thinking it’s what you chose and you are stuck where you are, change what you are doing no matter how scary it is. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you aren’t going to be happy in the same job forever, but there will be new technology & challenges if are are in the same job forever.
Vomit-Flavored Jelly Bean
One of my favorite examples from the book was the person behind all the gross jelly beans in Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want to spend my day testing a vomit-flavored jelly bean. For Elise Benstein, she took her love of science and candy and made her own dream job by doing that exact thing.
Comfort is Overrated
For me, I’m most comfortable when I’m in bed watching Netflix by myself or hanging out with family and friends I’ve known for a long time. If that was all I did for the rest of my life I’d never find my dream job or get married or anything else I want to do with my life. I might be feeling good right now, but if I keep trying to just stay comfortable I’m never going to make things happen.
Easier isn’t Always Better
It would be so easy for me to just stay in my hometown for the rest of my life, but I know that in order to be where I want to be, I need to move to a bigger city in order to get out of my comfort zone. It would also be easy for me to just blog & freelance design full-time, but with my social anxiety I know I could just slip into never wanting to leave the house. I might be reading to work for myself in the future, but I know it’s not what I need to do right now.
I am so glad I decided to read this book! I’m not usually the type of person that likes reading self-help books, but this is different, they give you a ton of examples of people that were struggling but were able to find something they absolutely loved doing.
Thanks for sharing, Emily 🙂 I’m putting it on my to-read list, it’s definitely something I need right about now. I hope you find your dream job soon!
It was such an amazing read, you’ll have to let me know what you thought after you read it! Thank you, I’m keep ing my fingers crossed!