A Book Review “Reinvent Yourself” by James Altucher

James Altucher is a well-known podcaster and to my knowledge, he has interviewed close to 3,000 people.  I am not sure if all of them are published, however, if a person googles him and goes to his website there are a lot of interviews. He is more than just a podcaster though. He started as a computer programmer, worked for a hedge fund, is an entrepreneur, and is a published author. The book “Reinvent Yourself” is a simple and easy read encompassing a conglomeration of his life experiences from his business ventures, people that he has interviewed, and books that he has read and how all of these have influenced his life. This is why I decided to review this book as it does demonstrate that no one has a set and perfect career path and if we do pay attention to what is happening around us, we can receive information that can shape our lives and careers for the better.  In this blog, I will use examples from the book and how they relate to some of the guests that have been on my show.

James talks about his experience in interviewing Dr. Wayne Dyer. Wayne Dyer is a published author, lecturer, well know teacher, and spiritual leader.  During the interview, it came out that at one point in Wayne’s career he wanted to give up writing. He told his family and everybody around him he was done writing books. The next day after the big announcement he was inspired to write and so he did and with that, he began another book.

In all my interviews with Gino Arcaro https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-career-in-law-enforcement-and-much-more-part-3, he admits that he never had the desire to be a police officer, an educator, and running and owning a business. As he believes and keeps repeating in the interview “Spiritual Synchronicity” is what has helped him. People and circumstances will enter into our lives and being aware of them and being open to them are critical. Too many of us hang on to what we may think is our passion and in doing so we pass up on key opportunities that are in front of us. Follow leads that come into your life especially if your heart tells you so.

Reduce confrontation is what sticks out for me in part of the book where James talks about his interview with a notorious drug kingpin. It’s not like what we see on TV or in the movies. Someone such as a drug lord does not want to attract attention to themselves. In doing so accept a loss if that is what happens and then learn to move on with the next segment of life. There are three good examples of this in the blog entitled “Fear and Career Change part 2”  https://www.thecareerguy.ca/blog/fear-and-career-change-part-2. The three examples I give in the blog have been guests on my show. They all talk about admitting that the career they choose was not working for them. In realizing this they admitted it and changed. How they did this was what the blog is about. The lesson here is, forcing something that is no longer working is futile. In other words, reduce our own confrontation be it the company we work for or what we have in our own minds.    

Keeping a low profile, keeping humble, and having humility are pointed out throughout the book.  As Bruce Voigt points out in his interview https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/serving-the-public-radio-broadcasting-to-real-estate-and-still-growing let your work speak for itself. Attention is good when it is positive. Unfortunately, all of us are not perfect we all have flaws and the more we boast about ourselves the more others will tend to pick us apart for our flaws. Letting our work speak for itself, we create more of a following which is a good way to do it as it is solid. In essence, work on getting results for others, and be low-key about it.  By doing this a person can minimize aggravating others. This is important because no matter what we do in life, we are not alone we will always need the help of others. Attracting people into our lives by being a quality person that is known for doing good work will take us further.

Louis Armstrong according to James had a terrible childhood, his mom was a prostitute and his dad abandoned him when he was young.  And still, with all these setbacks look at what he did, he was a great jazz trumpet player. It is a mindset, every one of us has so much more capability to do more than we give ourselves credit for and we have all had setbacks as well. One of the key things we should all do to reach our potential like Louis is to be grateful for what we do have. Focus on what is good as opposed to our shortcomings.

Megan Burns points this out in her interview https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/an-inside-look-at-social-work as a social worker who deals with drug addiction and mental health issues. She is grateful for the life she has when she sees what some of her patients are going through and have gone through. With respect for her patients, she does say that she has seen people change and it is possible not saying that it is easy. It is just wanting to change knowing that a person can do better is one of the key ingredients. With what I said in the previous paragraph look at where a person is and appreciate that and move on from there. Self-pity will not take you anywhere. In essence, changing careers can be hard but a person has to want to do it, and this can be uncomfortable, however that is how growth takes place we cannot expect someone or something else to do it for us. Self-entitlement is a killer.

Throughout the book, there are some examples of resting. Stopping and just stepping back and letting things happen. In our modern society, this seems to be counter-intuitive where we are taught to do more and get more.  My interview with Scott Muchowski https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-life-change-finance-to-civil-engineering-and-loving-it points out that when he left the finance world he took five years off from the corporate world. He still worked on the family farm and other laboring jobs. During this time off he let himself ponder what he may want to do next. Far too many of us jump into something else too fast and realize later that we made a mistake. As Scott points out he knew when he found what he wanted to do and then he was ready. Faith and trust play into this as well.

I do recommend this book “Reinvent Your Self” as it is a simple light read. It is also a candid look at how someone like James Altucher the author has accomplished so much. And more importantly, as Gino Arcaro puts it “Spiritual Synchronicity” there are always signs around us that are guiding us. Be it from books, music, movies, friends, family, or even from my podcasts, or other podcasts, we can learn from all these and apply them to our lives not to mention how they can shape our lives as well. It is realizing this is what this book demonstrates and how one person like James has done this and shared it in his book.

We are all changing as we age that is how we grow and this is normal that is why the title and the concept of this book are so fitting we are all reinventing ourselves. In all, we all share the same fears but have interests and aspirations to do more and it is finding the support that we need at times that will help us get over some of the obstacles and this book does show how it has helped someone like James.  Thanks for reading and I hope this blog helps.