Sunday, November 25, 2012

Redefining Success: Still Making Mistakes


Hi, as you all know, my name is Jeri, and I am a 22 year old aspiring writer. When I was chosen to review W. Brett Wilson’s book, Redefining Success- Still Making Mistakes, on my blog, I couldn’t have been more excited. Honestly, I was a little surprised that he picked my tiny little blog out of the group of applications that he received. In fact, I was so excited that I didn’t think about the possibility that his book might not be meant for people like me. I waited and waited, eventually received the copies that were sent to me, and set about reading it. It became apparent early on that I was not his target audience, but I plowed through it nonetheless. I read and read, and when I finally got to the end, I realized that although the book was not meant for me, there were a variety of points and lessons that I could take from it regardless.



For those of you who don’t own a television, W. Brett Wilson was one of the Dragons on the CBC version of the television show Dragon’s Den. On this show, budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a number of well-established businesspeople, the “dragons”, who then decide whether to accept or reject their pitch. From the start, Brett Wilson was known as the generous Dragon, and he accepted more proposals than anybody else, often based more on a gut instinct for the person than the pitch itself. He is an established entrepreneur, having founded various successful companies, and philanthropist, having given millions away to various charities and organizations. He has battled workaholism, cancer and divorce and come out of it a better person. Basically, he is a great guy.

Redefining Success is a collection of stories and recollections from his life, combined with advice as to how others can live a more successful life themselves. He discusses his early life and how he started out, and then moved on to the decisions that made him successful. Then, he talks about the dark period in his life, where he realized that there was more to life than material success. Unfortunately, he was too late to save his marriage, but he improved his health and redefined his life to fit with a new set of priorities, which he mentions in another chapter. Of course, no book of his would be complete without mention of the deals he made on Dragon’s Den, so he devotes an entire chapter to those. He goes on to reminisce about his philanthropic ventures and offer suggestions as to how we can all give more back to the world we live in. Finally, he concludes his autobiography with a series of lists that concisely recount the main points he attempted to drive home.

I’m going to be honest, when I started reading Redefining Success, I didn’t actually expect to like it. I am not a big fan of autobiographies or self-help books, because I find that they are repetitive and cliche. I will admit, this book had some of those elements. I was a little confused as to why every chapter started with a photo of W. Brett Wilson in a different pose, accompanied by an artsy bit of text. To me, that addition seemed a little self-indulgent. Also, Redefining Success has the same problem that many self-help books seem to have. It was quite repetitive. I found myself skipping over parts, thinking that I had already read this information two or three times. I understand that for something to stick in your brain, it needs to be mentioned more than once in a different way, but I never felt like the points were made in an innovative way. Finally, the last thing that bothered me was the large amount of name-dropping. I didn’t know the names of most of the people that were mentioned in the book, and frankly, I didn’t really want to. I’m sure I feel the same way as most of the popular audience. These names don’t mean anything to regular people, and to me it just felt like another attempt to seem impressive.

On the other hand, there were a number of things that the book did quite well. On the small side, one of the chapters started with a Harry Potter quote, which pulled me in from the beginning and made me relate to the author a bit more. It is the little things that count when one is trying to be relatable, and the idea that this millionaire sat down, read Harry Potter, and thought that the quote was relevant enough to put in his autobiography really made me connect with him a bit more. Also, the chapters on creative philanthropy were very unique and introduced ideas to me that I had never previously thought about. The best part was that I felt I could apply them to my own life, even though my life is completely different than his. He advocates throwing parties or events and instead of a gift, telling everyone to bring a cheque to a charity of his choice. This is something I would have never thought of, but it is such a brilliant concept. Finally, I absolutely loved the conclusion. I am a very organized person who lives for lists, and the idea of summing everything up in a collection of lists really resonated with me. It was simple, concise, and easy to read. Well done, W. Brett Wilson. Well done.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that the book was meant for people like me. Its market is more entrepreneurs and older adults who can connect with his life more easily. However, even though it wouldn’t be my first pick for winter literature, it was easy to read and there were many points made that were directly relevant to my own life. I would recommend reading Redefining Success if you have watched the TV show, if you want to know more about W. Brett Wilson’s life, or if you are looking for ways to tweak your life for the better. 

Another reason to read this book is if you win it, of course! I have a signed copy of the book that I’m looking to give away to anyone who made it all the way through my review. In order to win, post a comment on the review with your thoughts and email me at prettymuchpremium@gmail.com! I will choose a comment at random and get the book out to you as soon as we get in touch!

Looking forward to reading some awesome comments!

Jeri

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Harry Potter is pretty awesome.

KnoppFamily said...

After watching you read the book I think your assessment is accurate from your perspective. I on the other hand would probably enjoy it more than you...

KnoppFamily said...

I want it!!!

KnoppFamily said...

pick me! PICK ME!!!!

Unknown said...

I'm old... Pick me! Wait! Who's book am I posting for?!? o_O

Lala Musings said...

I think you do a pretty fair review, nicely thought out and articulate. My main disagreement is with your take on the "artsy bit of text" and photos at the beginning of each chapter. I personally think it's the best part of the whole ego-indulgent thing. Why do I say "ego-indulgent"?...mainly because he quotes HIMSELF throughout the entire book. lol