A compact guide to well-known self-improvement principles and practices.
Sarraille offers a self-help guide to achievement in this nonfiction work.
“Despite our best intentions, the circumstances of life often derail us from our goals,” writes the author in the introduction to this latest entry in the group of books written by veterans of elite military units offering leadership lessons, inspiration, and life advice for civilians. Sarraille, a former United States Navy SEAL–turned–businessman and host of the podcast that shares the book’s title, asserts that “very few people are fortunate enough to have been taught the framework or to have developed the discipline required to remain focused when times get tough.” The author builds such a framework around 11 familiar life principles: Develop a “warrior mindset,” embrace failure, advance one step at a time, strive for balance, know thyself, reject victimhood, take action, accept discomfort, be disciplined and accountable, find your tribe, and, finally, take time to rest and reflect. Each chapter opens with an inspirational epigraph and the brief story of a role model who exemplifies its key principle by overcoming obstacles to reach success, concluding with a “structured writing and reflection exercise” (called an “After Action Review”) and a list of key takeaways. The precepts are solid and enduring; “know thyself” goes back to ancient Greece, and scientific research strongly supports the value of developing strong personal relationships and spending time in nature. Few would argue with such straightforward sentiments as “success is rarely a straight line,” “let go of negativity and embrace optimism,” and “life isn’t about winning or losing; it’s about experiencing joy and being present in the moment.” Sarraille notably emphasizes the importance of mental wellness, asking for help when you need it, and prioritizing rest and reflection.
Although he acknowledges life’s struggles, challenges, and discomforts, the author’s clear and conversational prose makes implementing his ideas seem easy. He advocates making a habit of journaling and meditating for five to 10 minutes at the beginning and end of the day as well as spending just 10 to 30 minutes reading or listening to podcasts. While these are useful practices, it’s questionable to claim that such brief sessions will truly “expand your mind” or “provide a new perspective on life.” He also strongly disparages social media and its “keyboard cowards” and devotes an entire chapter to “fighting the epidemic of victimhood,” which he asserts “runs rampant” and is “spreading like a virus.” Current politics intrude briefly when the author criticizes “wokeism, a radical ideology.” Throughout the text, the phrase at ais styled “ATTA,” appearing more than 30 times without explanation (in fact, ATTA is a “purpose-driven apparel line and lifestyle community” launched by the author in 2022). Ultimately, this guide will appeal to those who aren’t already familiar with the self-help genre and want a serviceable guide to time-tested life practices. Readers who are well versed in self-improvement and personal productivity philosophies will find little new here.
A compact guide to well-known self-improvement principles and practices.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2022
ISBN: 9781544531274
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.
In which the veteran humorist enters middle age with fine snark but some trepidation as well.
Mortality is weighing on Sedaris (Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002, 2017, etc.), much of it his own, professional narcissist that he is. Watching an elderly man have a bowel accident on a plane, he dreaded the day when he would be the target of teenagers’ jokes “as they raise their phones to take my picture from behind.” A skin tumor troubled him, but so did the doctor who told him he couldn’t keep it once it was removed. “But it’s my tumor,” he insisted. “I made it.” (Eventually, he found a semitrained doctor to remove and give him the lipoma, which he proceeded to feed to a turtle.) The deaths of others are much on the author’s mind as well: He contemplates the suicide of his sister Tiffany, his alcoholic mother’s death, and his cantankerous father’s erratic behavior. His contemplation of his mother’s drinking—and his family’s denial of it—makes for some of the most poignant writing in the book: The sound of her putting ice in a rocks glass increasingly sounded “like a trigger being cocked.” Despite the gloom, however, frivolity still abides in the Sedaris clan. His summer home on the Carolina coast, which he dubbed the Sea Section, overspills with irreverent bantering between him and his siblings as his long-suffering partner, Hugh, looks on. Sedaris hasn’t lost his capacity for bemused observations of the people he encounters. For example, cashiers who say “have a blessed day” make him feel “like you’ve been sprayed against your will with God cologne.” But bad news has sharpened the author’s humor, and this book is defined by a persistent, engaging bafflement over how seriously or unseriously to take life when it’s increasingly filled with Trump and funerals.
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-39238-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
PROFILES
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