Make Your Bed

Time spent reading this book: 2h35m
Reading sessions: 7

What I Liked: The book is well written and clear. It's a breeze to read as the author and his editor did a great job at conveying the message they intended. The author seems to be an honest person. It could be in a specific context a good entry book when it comes to productivity techniques and self-help globally.

What I disliked: Do you remember the Pareto principle? It can be applied here. If you're in doubt about reading this book, you might as well watch the commencement talk that it is based upon. It's a good talk. The book is that talk content expanded with examples taken from anecdotes from his military career. That's it.
Now comes the real issue. What works for a motivational talk might not work for a book. Here, in particular, the whole tone of that book can be particularly preachy and lacking nuances. Things like “They would regret”, “were always more important” and so and so are regular occurrences here. It's an example of personal experience in an ultra-specific context generalized as universal laws. That works for motivational talks and posters, much less when you buy a book to go beyond that and look for some depth. What is odd is that I am very similar in mindset to the author when it comes to the importance of discipline, yet the whole piece of work rubbed me the wrong way. Perhaps the lack of sympathy? Perhaps the survivorship bias?
Having read already a few productivity books, there was nothing that I didn't know and already applied. It wasn't a book relatable to me and there wasn't much value apart of knowing more about the training and life of Navy SEALs.
I recommend watching the talk, expand to the book for military-focused emotionally-driven examples if that's something you're interested in. It's a short-read, so why not?

Manga Analogy: The whole book felt like the first chapter of a Shōnen, were everything is really simple and binary, giving you the stepstone for a more complex reality. Admiral William H. McRaven would then be Uchiha Fugaku from Naruto. Like the Admiral, Fugaku is a military leader who obeys to a simple but strict ruleset and is driven by discipline and his responsibility to protect his people. Everyone that deviates from the rulebook or can't apply it is a failure in that respect.

I thought it'd be super corny. I'd watched the graduation lecture that it's based on. By the end my jaw dropped so many times and I was crying. And it wasn't boringly long; crisply put. Actually inspirational message from someone who's actually been there and done it, instead of some career consultant who is witty with a pen. I've now bought a few of the author's other works.

This was a quick listen. I got the audiobook for free for Indie Bookstore Day. The lessons are all pretty basic but the stories Adm. McRaven uses to explain the bits of advice he is giving are all interesting and give you insight into how he became the decorated officer that he became. His life has included incredible hardship and incredible privilege and you can see that his training and upbringing gave him an incredibly strong foundation. Well worth the short time it took to take it in.

First book down for Reading Rush 2019!

To be perfectly clear, this book is not something I would ordinarily pick up because I know it's just not something I tend to enjoy. However, a relative gave it to me upon my high school graduation and I felt compelled to read it at some point. Plus they left such a sweet note inside the inside cover for me!

In my opinion, this book is very well-written. It is. McRaven has a lovely way of words and I did appreciate the writing style he used. That's actually a big positive for this book– that and the fact that it is so short (however I also think that this is a failing of it as well).

I just felt that this book was boring. It made me yawn. It reminded me of why I don't tend to read these types of books.

Additionally, I didn't feel like there was enough detail in some cases. When he spoke about his military training, I felt that it was an incredibly important part of the book and actually fascinated me. Unfortunately, these parts were discussed for a mere page or two and then it jumped to something else. There were times that I felt I was going to get whiplash from jumping so rapidly from one topic to the next.

Overall, decent book. Nice graduation present. I suppose it'll look good on my coffee table?