By Telana Simpson
Have you ever admired someone, and wished that one day you might get to sit down with them over a scrumptious meal and get to hear stories from their life, to learn from them?
I felt like I had this opportunity with Guy Kawasaki recently, as I read his latest book, “Wise Guy”. My time with him was filled with stories from his rich life. And he shared his wisdom by highlighting his learnings. My experience just missed the scrumptious meal.
Guy has now written 14 books, and I have been fortunate enough to chat in my podcast shows with him about two of them. I learnt all about how to publish a book, and then how to start a business. And I most enjoyed asking him more about how to deal with criticism and the communication skills to do your best at pitching.
“Wise Guy” though appeals to me because the best way we learn is from experience, and Guy shares his range of life experiences from raising kids, to learning to surf, to working with Steve Jobs and being a venture capitalist.
I got to learn new pearls of wisdom and be reminded of some that I’ve heard before, and see how practically they play out in a real live context – his life.
Like about quitting: Guy shares the story of getting into Law School and quitting after his first week, not even finishing the orientation programme. This experience taught him a valuable lesson from his father, and grew his relationship with him.
As Guy sums the lesson up:
“What you do after you quit is more important than the fact that you quit. Do you reboot, remake and restart, or do you give up? This is what determines whether you disappoint others and yourself as well.”
Many of the other stories in the book and his accomplishments in his life are testament to the fact that after quitting he chose to reboot option, and excelled!
Besides all the learnings about a variety of life contexts and skills, from motivation types to victim thinking, from telling the truth to decision making tests, reading this book give you an inside view into Guy’s character and values.
It’s refreshing to hear someone authentically share both the good aspects and the failures in their life, and in a humble way that allows for so much learning. Guy is an example of grit and determination, and even in the way he writes, he is living his advice to others. For example, he explains how important story tell
ing is in communicating with others effectively, and the entire book is just that – a collection of important, sometimes cringe worthy, and often times funny stories.
As Guy says in his book, and as you learn from getting a glimpse into the life of this constantly learning and ever evolving man:
“Be curious. Mistakes and failures can yield opportunities. If you have the right mind-set, the opposite of success is not failure, it’s learning.”
- Pick up a copy of the book “Wise Guy” at Amazon.
- Learn more about Guy Kawasaki and his book here.
About the Author:
Telana is a dynamic transformational Personal Coach who focuses on communicating and relating. She works with people who want to change their lives, specifically to improve their communication skills and relationships and their ability to express themselves verbally, creatively, emotionally and physically. She specialises in self esteem, controlling emotions, overcoming self consciousness and anxiety, handling conflict, fear of confrontation and developing relationships. She is the host of the online TV show “ Let’s Talk Communication”. You can contact her through www.innercoaching.co.za or Instagram, or tweet her @Telana .
