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How to fail at almost everything and still win big : kind of the story of my life / Scott Adams.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Portfolio/Penguin, 2014Description: 247 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 1591847745 (pbk.)
  • 9781591847748 (pbk.)
Subject(s):
Contents:
The time I was crazy -- The day of the talk -- Passion is bullshit -- Some of my many failures in summary form -- My absolute favorite spectacular failure -- Goals versus systems -- My system -- My corporate career fizzled -- Deciding versus wanting -- The selfishness illusion -- The energy metric -- Managing your attitude -- It's already working -- My pinkie goes nuts -- My speaking career -- My voice problem gets a name -- The voice solution that didn't work -- Recognizing your talents and knowing when to quit -- Is practice your thing? -- Managing your odds for success -- The math of success -- Pattern recognition -- Humor -- Affirmations -- Timing is luck, too -- A few times affirmations worked -- Voice update -- Experts -- Association programming -- Happiness -- Diet -- Fitness -- Voice update 2 -- Luck -- CalendarTree start-up -- Voice update 3 -- A final note about affirmations.
Summary: Dilbert creator Scott Adams offers his most personal book ever -- a funny memoir of his many failures and what they eventually taught him about success. How do you go from hapless office worker to world-famous cartoonist and bestselling author in just a few years? No career guide can answer that, and not even Scott Adams (who actually did it) can give you a road map that works for everyone. But there's a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of humor along the way. In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams admits that he failed at just about everything he's tried, including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants. But along the way, Adams discovered some truths you're unlikely to find anywhere else.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 741.5697 A217 On hold 33111007940725 1
Total holds: 1

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Blasting clichéd career advice, the contrarian pundit and creator of Dilbert recounts the humorous ups and downs of his career, revealing the outsized role of luck in our lives and how best to play the system.

Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you've ever met or anyone you've even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert , one of the world's most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big , Adams shares the game plan he's followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket.

No career guide can offer advice that works for everyone. As Adams explains, your best bet is to study the ways of others who made it big and try to glean some tricks and strategies that make sense for you. Adams pulls back the covers on his own unusual life and shares how he turned one failure after another--including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants--into something good and lasting. There's a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of entertainment along the way. Adams discovered some unlikely truths that helped to propel him forward. For instance:

* Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners.
* "Passion" is bull. What you need is personal energy.
* A combination of mediocre skills can make you surprisingly valuable.
* You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others.

Adams hopes you can laugh at his failures while discovering some unique and helpful ideas on your own path to personal victory. As he writes: "This is a story of one person's unlikely success within the context of scores of embarrassing failures. Was my eventual success primarily a result of talent, luck, hard work, or an accidental just-right balance of each? All I know for sure is that I pursued a conscious strategy of managing my opportunities in a way that would make it easier for luck to find me."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The time I was crazy -- The day of the talk -- Passion is bullshit -- Some of my many failures in summary form -- My absolute favorite spectacular failure -- Goals versus systems -- My system -- My corporate career fizzled -- Deciding versus wanting -- The selfishness illusion -- The energy metric -- Managing your attitude -- It's already working -- My pinkie goes nuts -- My speaking career -- My voice problem gets a name -- The voice solution that didn't work -- Recognizing your talents and knowing when to quit -- Is practice your thing? -- Managing your odds for success -- The math of success -- Pattern recognition -- Humor -- Affirmations -- Timing is luck, too -- A few times affirmations worked -- Voice update -- Experts -- Association programming -- Happiness -- Diet -- Fitness -- Voice update 2 -- Luck -- CalendarTree start-up -- Voice update 3 -- A final note about affirmations.

Dilbert creator Scott Adams offers his most personal book ever -- a funny memoir of his many failures and what they eventually taught him about success. How do you go from hapless office worker to world-famous cartoonist and bestselling author in just a few years? No career guide can answer that, and not even Scott Adams (who actually did it) can give you a road map that works for everyone. But there's a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of humor along the way. In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams admits that he failed at just about everything he's tried, including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants. But along the way, Adams discovered some truths you're unlikely to find anywhere else.

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