How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

This book by Scott Adams is not only the #1 New York Times Bestseller, but also a book that teaches the readers how failing is an essential part of life in order to succeed. Learning from your mistakes is good, but learning from the mistakes of others is great as this can be viewed as a shortcut to success.

Scott Adams talked about most of the failures he made throughout his life and how he learned from them. However, I found that some of the mistakes are not hard to avoid if little research was done or if he sought advice. For example, one of the mistakes he did is that he did not wear a suit for a job interview at an accounting firm in New York. Scott was not the type of guy who would prepare for a situation, but to risk the opportunity. Thus, he learned the hard way.

Scott pointed out that successful people are more system-oriented than goal-oriented. This is vital as a system is a set of unlimited goals that the bar is set higher after accomplishing each goal whereas a goal is just single goal. Being a goal oriented, you might have a period of time with no goals on mind. For instance, Scott met a CEO during his trip to California that gave him a valuable advice about career development. The CEO said that you should start seeking a new job every time you land a new one. Therefore, there should be no time where you are not looking for a new opportunity.

The book is excellent for those who have fear of failure and fear of uncertainty. Life is adventurous; thus, all that problems and failures you face are good for you in order to be where you want to be. However, choose your problems wisely so you do not fail or make mistakes that others made. Do not reinvent the wheel. Start from where people left off.

In summary, Scott Adams mentioned most of the failures in his life and how he approached them to minimize their negative effects and turn them into learning-opportunities.