Brimming with wisdom and support—ideal for young adults looking to make their way in the world.
A guide to pragmatic life skills that teaches readers how to operate in the world with know-how and confidence.
Scott has put together a “playbook” of wide-ranging qualities that he deems essential for living one’s best life. Fifty skills are presented over seven “levels” and include interactive elements (like self-assessments), quotes (from people like Steve Jobs), and various charts to break down particularly complex information (such as compounding interest vs. inflation). Level 1 focuses on cultivating a “winning mindset” through mindfulness and meditation tips. Scott also suggests here that readers can discover their passions by using the Japanese concept of ikigai, which involves four elements: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Level 2 suggests ways to turn that passion into productivity, including using the “Pomodoro technique” (pick a task; focus only on that task for 25 minutes; take a five-minute break; then repeat four times before taking a longer break). Level 3 delves into physical and mental health, including stress management. Level 4 focuses on critical thinking and problem-solving, offering a list of common fallacies one might encounter in everyday conversations, including “Appeal to Emotion: Attempting to manipulate an emotional response in place of a valid argument” and “False Dilemma: Presenting only two options when more exist.” Level 5 gives tips for better communication and conflict resolution. Level six covers all things financial, from establishing a “wealth mindset” to different types of insurance. Level 7 wraps everything up with an explanation of how to use these skills to become an effective leader.
With a warm and encouraging tone, Scott presents what could, in less capable hands, seem like a discouragingly large amount of information; the author instead makes the included skills feel not just doable but desirable. While some motivational catchphrases can come across as a bit trite (“We are more than our history; we are the authors of our next chapter”), Scott obviously takes great care to treat his audience (which one assumes will be high school or college kids preparing to make their way out of the family nest) as the young adults that they are. This means using straightforward language that never comes across as condescending and providing practical advice that goes much deeper than the typical self-help book. Instead of just suggesting that readers avoid debt, for example, Scott breaks down the difference between “good” and “bad” debt, as well as what a FICO score really means and how to keep track of it. The advice is so detailed and wide-ranging, in fact, that it could certainly prove useful to older adults as well (the guide to fallacies alone should be mandatory reading for all ages). In addition to occasional charts and graphs, hand-drawn illustrations by Ukrainian artist Miroshnichenko are peppered sporadically throughout the book. These quirky black-and-white drawings add some fun and levity to what can be dry topics. This is a book that readers will likely find themselves referencing again and again through different life stages; Scott has written a clear, catchall guide to “adulting” that manages to remain relevant and engaging throughout.
Brimming with wisdom and support—ideal for young adults looking to make their way in the world.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2024
ISBN: 9798990974425
Page Count: 317
Publisher: Ponder Rocket Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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