How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams
This guy has some pretty controversial advice!
I thought he probably went a bit general and tried to cover everything in this book, but there’s still some good advice in here.
The author also freely admits that a cartoonist is the last person you should take advice from! So I’ve taken his advice and ignored all the advice I didn’t agree with – and copied some of my favourite advice for you below.
The most interesting part of his story was that he completely lost the ability to speak to others due to a medical condition – and interspesed throughout the book is how he cured this. I was hoping for a sort of micrculous, figured-it-out-myself kind of story, but (spoiler alert) he ends up with some ground-breaking surgery.
Again this book is more general life advice, rather than marketing. But hey I only have one book blog so it goes here!
9 tips from Scott Adams
(headings = mine, quotes directly from the book)
Invite failure
“The short answer is that over the years I have cultivated a unique relationship with failure. I invite it. I survive it. I appreciate it. And then I mug the shit out of it.”
Change your view
“I’m an optimist by nature, or perhaps by upbringing—it’s hard to know where one leaves off and the other begins—but whatever the cause, I’ve long seen failure as a tool, not an outcome. I believe that viewing the world in that way can be useful for you too.”
Use systems not goals
“A system is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of happiness in the long run. In the exercise realm, running a marathon in under four hours is a goal, but exercising daily is a system.”
Affirm
I bought some art supplies, practiced drawing every morning before work, and wrote my affirmation fifteen times a day: “I, Scott Adams, will be a famous cartoonist.”
Focus on one thing: your energy
“When I talk about increasing your personal energy, I don’t mean the frenetic, caffeine-fueled, bounce-off-the-walls type of energy. I’m talking about a calm, focused energy. To others it will simply appear that you are in a good mood.”
Use your superpower
“It turns out you have that superpower. You can control your attitude by manipulating your thoughts, your body, and your environment.”
Connect
“So how do you get a stranger to like you? It’s simple, actually. It starts by smiling and keeping your body language open. After that, just ask questions and listen as if you cared, all the while looking for common interests.”
Beat back shyness
“I credit one of my college friends with teaching me the secret of overcoming shyness by imagining you are acting instead of interacting.”
And remember…
“The only reasonable goal in life is maximizing your total lifetime experience of something called happiness.”
Happy reading,
C x
The Marketer's Bookshelf 
Love that last quote!