Assignment 21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

Book: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1)    What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general argument of the book was no matter how many times you fail, you can always achieve your goals and succeed. This book is very empowering and eye opening in the sense that it reminds you that everyone fails too, but it can be overcome. In addition, this book also is somewhat comical as the author describes his “fails”, which helps the reader relate to the author more.

2)    How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

The book connects and enhances what we learn in ENT 3003. In this class, we are set to have entrepreneur mindsets. There have been countless times I have come across the term “determination”. The previous book I read about Chanel, I also learned that it was important to never give up even when you fail. This book is another prime example of showing that anything is possible. Therefore, in order to become a successful entrepreneur, you must cope and deal with failure before you can become successful.

3)    If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

Based on this book, I would probably design an exercise where I would ask students to name something embarrassing or “fail” that occurred while trying to achieve something. For example, it could be someone tripping while walking up to make a speech. However, this exercise would focus on how amazing the person did afterwards and how the fail literally didn’t mean anything at all! So for that example, the student would mention she made an excellent speech in her speech class, that earned her an A… so it relates to the book, no matter how badly you fail, you’re a winner.

4)    What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment for me was the ability to realize that your fails are not always the end of the world. I feel like that book taught me that the most. Every time I would do badly in something or fail at something, I would feel so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. But, this book taught me that it’s just one ridiculous mistake and that shouldn’t be taken too seriously, and that this little fail will not shape my future.