Book Review: The Truth About You
I was fortunate enough to be one of the winners of Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Pitch Thanksgiving Contest.
As a result I received a copy of Marcus Buckingham’s “The Truth About You
If you are someone who still is not sure what to do with your life, then this is probably a great book for you to pick up. It includes a DVD, the book and a notepad, all of which make for a very interactive experience. If you are already in tune with your strengths and how you want to spend your life, and you are one of the 2 out of 10 people Marcus mentions that get to play to their strengths at work, then there are still some solid nuggets in the book for you as well.
The book discusses how successful people can build their dream jobs. The philosophy of the book revolves around 3 myths that hold you back from building your own dream job. It also explains the differences in your strengths versus your weaknesses in a way that you probably have not thought about. Ensuing chapters provide 5 pieces of advice (a chapter for each) to stay on your strength path and succeed in both work and life.
The book is a very quick read (110 pages). Seriously, I read the entire thing faster than I can read what is in my RSS reader for a day. Marcus writes with a very conversational approach that is very easy to digest, and I found the DVD to be a worthy introduction to the book, though the two do overlap some. Marcus is a very skilled speaker and he shines on the DVD; the words in the book are not nearly as dynamic as actually listening to Marcus speak. Finally, depending on your disposition some the activities may feel a little hokey for you. I didn’t do any of them, and still got a lot of value from the book.
The Verdict: There’s something for everyone here. If you’re about to make the transition from college to the real world and are not sure what you want to do, or if you are stuck in a job that you do not particularly like then this will be a valuable read for you.
If you are satisfied with the work you are doing or even if you know what you want to be doing and have started setting goals to achieve that status, then you might want to pass on purchasing it yourself. Borrow from a friend or the library because like I mentioned there are still some good pieces of advice, but it will not be a book that you revisit very often.
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December 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm