Tag: self-improvement

Book: Elena Rezanova “Never-ever”

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“Midlife crisis.” A cliché term that encompasses many things but most commonly refers to a moment somewhere in the middle of life (since each person has a sense of how long they think they’ll live), when many start asking themselves questions like “Have I been heading in the right direction all this time?” or “What’s the purpose of it all?” The real problem isn’t the questions themselves but the fear that the most productive years of life may already be behind them. And people who start asking these questions essentially trap themselves, especially if they’re unhappy with their current situation or it simply no longer brings them joy (which, in essence, is the same thing). Getting out of this psychological dead end is very challenging.

Elena Rezanova’s book Never-ever is precisely about this situation and what can be done about it. Elena worked for many years in HR (the Russian language still lacks an equivalent for the English term “Human Resources,” but these are people who theoretically help employees develop, can serve as a psychological “shoulder to cry on,” and also resolve interpersonal conflicts in the workplace). At some point, however, she and her husband realized that their reasonably successful careers no longer brought joy to either of them. They decided to make a radical change, something neither of them has regretted, as they found new, fulfilling pursuits that continue to bring them happiness.

I had marked this book as “something I’d like to read” a while ago, as that very same midlife crisis eventually caught up with me as well (even though I have a wonderful family and have achieved a lot in my career).

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Book: Maxim Dorofeev “The Jedi Way”

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Three years ago, also in November, I wrote a review of Maxim Dorofeev’s book Jedi Techniques. In it, Maxim aimed to consolidate the essence of his time-management training. The book was very good, although it didn’t reinvent the wheel. Now, Maxim has released its follow-up, The Jedi Way.

However, calling it a sequel isn’t quite accurate. The new book is more a reflection on his earlier advice and a re-evaluation of his own methods. In this way, I actually liked it even more than the first.

As I mentioned, in the first book, Maxim compiled what he considered the best elements from numerous methods. He amusingly illustrated these concepts through the characters of a rational little person and a monkey, supposedly living in our heads and competing for our attention and time. These characters were borrowed from Tim Urban, and they fit seamlessly into the narrative.

However, these were largely well-known techniques and tips from other methods. Maxim simply brought them together and presented them in an appealing way.

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Book: “Dealing with Difficult People”

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Sometimes, I read individual articles from Harvard Business Review and even posted one on my blog (Misconceptions about Feedback). They also publish books that compile several articles on specific topics, organized into sub-series.

I decided to read one from the Emotional Intelligence series, titled Dealing with Difficult People, as this topic has interested me for several years. The book includes eight articles by seven authors. It’s not very thick (around 150 pages), and with a more modest font size, it would be even slimmer.

As the title and description suggest, the main theme of the book is dealing with difficult people, those under stress, and troublesome colleagues.

On one hand, it’s a collection of very short articles, and I wouldn’t say each one is revolutionary or highly valuable. On the other hand, it’s brief and to the point, unlike many business writers who often stretch a single idea over 300 pages.

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Book: Susan Cain “Quiet”

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I remember, during my childhood, there was a period when I became very interested in various tests, even collecting them in a separate notebook. It all started with Eysenck’s temperament test, where people were categorized as choleric, sanguine, melancholic, or phlegmatic. But Eysenck had another test, which, by the way, overlapped significantly with his temperament test—the introversion-extroversion test.

Who are introverts and extroverts? There are actually a huge number of scientific interpretations, and they sometimes differ in the details. But I’ll try to explain in simple terms.

Introverts are generally rather reserved people; they tend to focus on their inner world. They are usually not very sociable, feel uncomfortable in public or in large groups, and would prefer an evening with a book to a party.

Extroverts are the opposite of introverts 😉 They enjoy being in the spotlight, often becoming the life of the party, have a large number of friends and acquaintances, and are very sociable.

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Book: Guy Kawasaki “Art of the Start 2.0”

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Guy Kawasaki is described as “the boldest venture capitalist in Silicon Valley,” according to the cover of the Russian edition of his book The Art of the Start. In the original English version, however, no one characterizes him this way, nor did he include his own name in the book’s title—that was the work of the Russian publishers (in the Russian version, the book is titled Startup by Kawasaki.)

I can’t speak to his boldness, but Guy Kawasaki is best known for promoting the Macintosh brand at Apple in the 1980s, and he is credited with creating both the strategy and even the term “evangelism” (when a product gains passionate fans who promote and advertise it on your behalf—”evangelists”).

The book is often recommended as an excellent guide for those wanting to start their own business and for those seeking investors for such ventures. The book’s subtitle positions it as a collection of time-tested methods for launching any business.

Yes, the book consists of a series of relatively short chapters covering everything that might be needed to start a new business: from preparing a pitch and finding investors to hiring employees and working with customers.

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Book: Gareth Moore “Lateral Logic”

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Since childhood, I’ve loved logic puzzles, IQ tests, and other brain teasers. In 2018, I found a book by Gareth Moore called Lateral Logic, which is essentially a collection of tasks aimed at developing thinking skills. The subtitle sums it up: A Puzzling Path to Non-Standard Thinking.

The book is divided into three parts by difficulty level. The first part serves as a warm-up and introduction to this type of puzzle, with examples illustrating the thought process needed to solve them. Then, it gets harder, with the third part reserved for masters of the craft. Each puzzle includes several hints that don’t give away the answer directly but are meant to steer you in the right direction.

It sounds like paradise for enthusiasts like me. And at first, I did enjoy it. But as I progressed, doubts started to creep in, certain puzzles began to irritate me, and by the end of the book, I had solidified my mixed feelings about its content.

There are definitely some interesting puzzles in the book that are fun to work through. Some I was already familiar with or knew the approaches, thanks to skills I’d developed long ago. But overall, the book didn’t really resonate with me, leaving my final rating rather low. So, why is that?

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The Russian Teacher “50 Deadly Sins in the Russian Language”

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50-grehov-russkogo

There’s a concept known as “grammar Nazi,” even covered on Wikipedia. It started as an internet meme and refers to people who are extremely meticulous about language accuracy. Naturally, it has no actual connection to Nazism or fascism, though the joke went far enough that an emblem, based on Nazi symbolism, was created for the term (and rumor has it this even led to law enforcement issues).

But the term has taken root, and people often use it in conversation—when correcting someone, they might say they’re a “grammar Nazi” and thus don’t tolerate such mistakes.

I was naturally lucky; Russian came easily to me in school, even though I didn’t study the rules all that much. I have an internal sense of the language. Over time, I’ve always been interested in the meanings of rare words and in which words people most commonly misuse. I even corrected some of my own speech mistakes as soon as I learned about them.

Then, just the other day, I stumbled upon a book called 50 Deadly Sins in the Russian Language, with a bold cover to boot. Naturally, I couldn’t resist picking it up.

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Maxim Ilyakhov, Lyudmila Sarycheva “The New Rules of Business Correspondence”

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novye-pravila-perepiski

If anyone remembers, I really didn’t like Write, Shorten by Maxim Ilyakhov and Lyudmila Sarycheva, a book on editing texts. Judging by the number of likes my review received on Goodreads, I’m far from alone in this opinion. As a result, I had no intention of reading another book by these authors. However, a colleague first recommended it to me, then another gave it a high rating. So, I decided to give them a second chance—anything’s possible.

From the very first pages, I felt this might have been a mistake, although my opinion shifted slightly later on. As before, there are some practical tips in the book. But let’s break it down step by step.

The authors begin much like they did in their previous book: first, they highlight how poor the world of business correspondence has become, the old ways we were taught for years, and how outdated those norms are. Now, they claim, they’ll teach us how to do things right. At least this time, they spared us a pompous comic about their battle against evil. But the tendency to exaggerate and sometimes paint a bleak picture without much basis is still present right from the start.

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Mark Manson “Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope”

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Mark Manson caught my attention right from the first book of his that I read, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, which I discussed previously. Mark is 36, a popular blogger, and recently an acclaimed author.

He has a fairly cynical outlook on the world, yet he presents this perspective with a sharp and interesting style. We’ve read about not caring in his first book; the new one shocks right from the title, setting the tone with Everything is F*cked, while the subtitle complicates it further: A Book About Hope.

Like the first book, this one drew me in from the start, though I hit a point where I stalled, setting it aside and only returning a month later.

It’s hard to pinpoint a central theme in this book. It seems to build on the previous ideas that you should keep things simple, that the world can’t be changed, but you can change yourself. Yet it doesn’t feel entirely cohesive. Manson structures the narrative so one idea flows into the next, but afterward, you realize the connections don’t hold together that tightly. At least, I found the connection too artificial. Still, this doesn’t stop the book from being good.

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Josh Kaufman “The Personal MBA”

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A friend of mine recently decided to enroll in an MBA program. I was curious as to why. From my experience, I’ve noticed that while MBA holders often have solid foundational knowledge, they frequently lose out to those who have acquired these skills independently, especially through hands-on experience.

So, I checked out the course content and its requirements. It states that a certificate of English proficiency is absolutely essential. The thing is, in all my life, I’ve never bothered to get any such certificate. Yes, my English is far from perfect, I know. I work on it continuously, but I never got around to obtaining a certificate. Nonetheless, I work at a large international company and communicate with colleagues and partners in English daily, both verbally and in writing.

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