21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

1. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: General Theme and Argument
I believe this book's general theme can be described in a few points

• Conquer shyness by being a huge phony: Adams says that we are not born with the tools to overcome our own shyness, but with practice we can. He says that he overcame it by acting like someone else, because since shyness is a feeling, he would divert his feelings to feeling like someone else. He said that once you realize that most people feel awkward in social situations, it is not just you that feels shy.
• Luck can be managed: If you are not good at one thing, you move on until you find something you are successful at. He says how if you keep up your own personal energy and keep find new opportunities, you will find success. He emphasizes that accounting, professional speaking, and business writing are three aspects of life that if you don't understand, the world will be a confusing place. He also mentions that sometimes success is defined at being at the right place at the right time and this is something we need to keep in mind.
• Taking care of yourself: Adams says that if you focus on yourself in these ways you will see yourself excel in the realm of success. These ways are happiness, diet, and fitness. He said that if you hone in on these aspects, you will find success because you are taking care of yourself first.

2. Adams recognized opportunities and pursued these. This reminds me of assignments we do in class and how we try and find realistic opportunities instead of dreams. Adams sees the importance of finding success and he lays out the metrics on how to get there, just like Dr. Pryor does in lecture.

3. The exercise I would design is having a game where people write down times that they have failed and other times where they have succeeded. When doing this I would ask them to explain feelings and preparation they had for these situations. Then I would look at these and see the similarities and differences and how they could explain the results.

4. My big 'aha' moment when reading this book was how much emphasis Adams put on putting yourself first and taking care of yourself. I know this is obvious, but as busy people, we often forget about this. I think after reading his opinion of it and how he succeeded, makes you realize that when you take care of yourself, you can succeed. I think another 'aha' moment I had was how funny and practical Adams is and how he translates this into his success.