Like many reviewers here, I usually don't read self-help books but found this one remarkable. An "eye-opener" indeed, like in the title. Right off the bat, I liked it, the distinction Hausmann makes between dreams and goals. In essence, she's saying, forget about dreams, dreaming dreams is not the way to reach them.
What you need is to have a set of workable goals that step-by-step will get you (close) to your dream. Yes, I put "close" in parenthesis here because after all, you may not get there completely. But close enough if you set yourself "workable" goals, that is, as she put it, "making everything you know work for you".
Actually, that phrase is the title of a fascinating chapter built on César Ritz's experience, a poor peasant boy, the youngest of 13 children, born in Switzerland in 1850 who became - through hard work and a determination to do the best he could for his customers - the most extraordinary hotel manager in his lifetime, known at the Belle Epoque as the "king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings". That is a life story I certainly didn't know and a highly inspiring one that fits Hausmann's message like a glove.
Actually the whole book is filled with concrete examples to illustrate her points, including drawn from her own life, and that's what makes for a pleasant read full of intriguing, inspiring anecdotes.
I would urge readers not to miss out on the addendums at the end of the book. Addendum 1 is focused on 3 recent events that are causing, as she put it, "a massive mindshift". They are (1) the Arctic ice melt this summer (2) the Amazon rainforest wildfires and (3) Hurricane Dorian. And, she says, expect "radical changes" to follow. Because "whenever societies experience a mindshift, massive needs arise".
I couldn't agree more. With rising sea levels and ever more frequent extreme weather events hitting the lifestyles and income sources of a growing number of people (in developing countries but also in the developed West), it is becoming increasingly obvious that something will need to be done to avert the worst disasters (like massive displacement of "climate refugees"). The number of climate deniers, even in the United States, is falling. That's the "mindshift" Hausmann has observed. And as she notes, "the trick in all this is to figure out that a mindshift is happening" and the right response is "to get on board" in as "timely" a manner as possible.
The right response, she says, is to get "working on climate change solutions" because, and she underlines this point vigorously, this "could be the key to reach mind-boggling success". That's because "running a 'green start-up' has major advantages" over normal business-as-usual startups. Why? Because "entrepreneurs don't need to run surveys to know who their potential customers are".
Yes, of course, we all know who they are. They are the Millennials who are deeply eco-conscious and, as we now know, the following generation too led by Greta Thunberg in climate strikes around the world. Hausmann even provides what she calls "a very incomplete list" of all the professions - from artists and app designers to bankers and culinary art experts - that could "make their mark" in the fight to save our planet from climate armageddon.
Actually, one would love to get from Ms. Hausmann a complete list! And many more details and advice on how it could (and is being) done. Why not make this the subject matter of a whole new book in the Naked Eye-Opener series? That is something I would love to read next from this author!
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019
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Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2015
Top reviews from other countries
Kenna McKinnon
I found this controversial and brilliant
Reviewed in Canada on August 22, 2015
Deb McEwan (Multi-genre author)
Self-help from an award winning author
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2015
DaisyChain
A well written and informative book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2016
