While this book has been an enjoyable light read, this is an uncomfortable review to write given that Scott Adams had endorsed Donald Trump before the US presidential elections.

Adams seems convinced that Trump is a “Master Persuader” who is simply using hateful rhetoric amongst other tactics to lead the far-right crowd that follows him into less extreme policies. On a podcast with Sam Harris, Adams argues that Trump is simply moving the far right closer to the middle of the political spectrum. Now that we are experiencing his presidency first-hand, Adams clearly has overestimated Trump’s tactical abilities.

Having said all that, let’s get to the book.

It is a light read, and Adams has a natural sense of humor that kept me engaged. The book is a pseudo-memoir meant to highlight a long list of failures that accelerated his growth and helped him succeed in his career. For the most part, this did not achieve the intended effect as some of his failures felt a little exaggerated but hearing his personal account of his struggle with Spasmodic Dysphonia, a rare disorder that forces vocal muscles to spasm which heavily interfere with the ability to speak, was very enlightening.

The two main takeaways I did enjoy were:

• his discussion about prioritizing establishing systems and habits over constantly setting goals.
• his take on why he likes to win at the smallest things and how success is habit forming.

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