“You Are Awesome” by Neil Pasricha
The 9 secrets to resilience
This is the first book by Neil Pasricha that I’ve read. After the huge success of his first book, The Book of Awesome, you would think I would’ve started with that one; however, a few months ago I heard the author talk about it in a podcast, and it immediately sparked my interest.
In a nutshell, this is a book about how to be resilient. In a very conversational and relatable way, Pasricha walks us through situations in his life that he’s been able to bounce back from and how he did it. While reading them I personally thought, “I’ve totally been there” more than once.
The book is divided into nine “secrets” through which the reader learns about specific setbacks in the author’s personal life from which he learned how to get “back on track”. In addition to his personal stories, these nine concepts are also backed up with research, which adds to the value of the book’s content.
I was not disappointed at all. Having gone through my own share of setbacks and challenges to accept and move on from, many situations in the book truly resonated with me. On his “Add a dot dot dot” secret, Pasricha tells the story of his mother’s life in Kenya and her early years as an immigrant in Canada. The lesson here is, when you feel or think like you’ve reached the end of something and there’s no other solution or way to go, don’t “end the sentence” there — “add a dot dot dot.” See beyond that specific situation and keep moving. Being an immigrant myself, I’ve also lived through many challenges in which I’ve had to move past the “period at the end of a sentence” and keep moving… adding not one, but several “dot dot dots” along the way.
Another “secret” that highly resonated with me was #3 — “See it as a step.” When you’re going through a difficult situation, feeling like you’re stuck or thinking that there’s no way to get past it, try to imagine that you’re climbing a staircase in which the steps to go up are invisible, and therefore, you are unable to see them. They’re there — you just can’t see them, yet. We’ve all been there — whether it’s due to a relationship, a job, a health condition, or if you’re simply having a bad day; it’s hard to trust ourselves and realize that things eventually fall into place.
As you keep reading, each of the secrets ties nicely into the previous one, allowing you to complete the book with a nice set of advice that you can put into practice in your everyday life. For example, you’ll realize that situations that did not go well in the past actually happened because something good was coming your way (Secret #5); or you’ll learn how a daily practice can help you reduce your feelings of anxiety (Secret #6).
You Are Awesome is certainly a fun and light read; before you know it you’re halfway through it. But don’t get me wrong, by saying “light” I don’t mean to diminish the importance of Pasricha’s message. His insights are real, and as I mentioned above, it’s easy to relate to them. I, frankly, appreciate the openness with which the author shares both his downfalls — such as his experience at P&G and his first marriage — and the decisive moments in his life — like the night when he Googled “How to start a blog” and the “Awesome” book series was born. His stories are inspiring and adequate illustrations of the message he looks to get across to the reader.
We all have good days, as well as others that are not so good. We all go through challenges and yes, failure, too. This book is certainly one to have handy when things go well and also when things don’t go the way we expect them to. Its optimistic spin will make you realize that a) it’s possible to approach setbacks from a positive angle and b) you are indeed awesome.