This book is a cross between a biography and a personal growth guide, and describes how we can all succeed in life, even after a succession of failures. In fact, failure is often the very thing that leads to success. The author provides many useful lessons from his own personal experiences, with the aim of helping us get where we want to go.
The first lesson is that, in order to achieve success, we must focus on ourselves and on preserving our energy. We all want to achieve any number of objectives, in many different areas of life, from our finances and health, to developing meaningful relationships, travelling, and much more. So how do we prioritise which objective to work on first? Scott Adams says that maintaining our level of energy should always be our top priority, because this energy forms the basis for everything else, and is the main driving force that pushes us to achieve what we want. If we do not have enough energy, we will almost certainly not be able to perform at our best in any other area of life.
According to the author, in order to increase and maintain our level of energy, we have to take care of our basic biology, so we need to focus on exercising, sleeping enough, and eating a healthy diet. Exercise does not take energy away from us, but actually makes us more energised, because it increases circulation throughout the body, slows down ageing, and makes us feel stronger, more active, and more motivated. Food also has an extraordinary effect on our bodies; most carbohydrate-rich foods, for example, make us feel tired and lethargic. Sleep is another key factor, and it has been widely proven that regularly sleeping less than six or seven hours per night weakens the immune system, makes us more likely to fall ill, and leaves us feeling tired and stressed.
Once we have these basic biological factors under control, we can then start thinking of other ways to increase our energy levels, such as working on projects that can potentially have a significant impact on our lives. The author, for instance, worked on other kinds of projects for many years, but he was still able to maintain his energy levels, because he always had a series of parallel projects on the go at any given time, a strategy which he believed could help him become wealthy and independent. Dreaming of a better future gives us a sense of purpose and motivation.
