UNREASONABLE SUCCESS AND HOW TO ACHIEVE IT [Paperback] Koch, Richard

Nobody can have the last word on success and it will remain an endlessly fascinating topic. What Mr. Koch achieves in doing is offer a clear view from his vantage point and inspire the reader to go for it.

The wisest person I ever met says, "Human beings respond far more to inspiration, than to information."And while Richard Koch's "Unreasonable Success & How To Achieve It" is exquisitely informative, the depths to which it inspired me are indeed what I cherish most.I am not going to write a structural overview; you can read that in Koch's own summary, or many of the other fine reviews on this page.Instead, I will pay it the finest compliment I can pay anyone or anything: it made me look deeper. It gave me a new way to look at the world. And, on a visceral and personal level, a grander sense of what a human being can achieve.Like all Richard's books, it is wildly multidisciplinary and focused on universal truths. Unlike many how-to-succeed books, which reduce the lives of legends to aphorisms or simplistic rules, Richard dove deep into grainy reality.Page after page, you get not simplistic "do's and don'ts" extracted from cursory observation, but a rich sense of who people like Albert Einstein, Jeff Bezos, J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, and Margaret Thatcher, and Paul of Tarsus REALLY were. Their quirks, the worlds they lived in, the way they saw themselves, the lucky breaks they never saw coming, and the unflattering sides of their pathological drives.An illustrative example that I loved:"Einstein's overwhelming faith and self-assurance came from his faith that the universe was rational; it's secrets could be discovered through mathematics and thought experiments, which only the most intuitive and unconventional scientists might uncover. He never doubted he was one of that elect. He read everything that might be relevant to his investigations, and he loved to debate concepts and throw around ideas with the very best brains in quantum mechanics; but he never needed their patronage or agreement to arrive at his insights. "Yet this is no hagiography of the ultra-successful. It is Richard's incisive and honest examination, warts and all. By humanizing the high achievers he talked about, he made high achievement feel realistically attainable. These were all highly imperfect people. Yet they still succeeded magnificently. Beyond most people's wildest dreams!I greatly appreciated Richard's examination of his own rise as strategy consultant and fabulously wealthy investor. I don't believe he's gone into as much detail on this in any of his other books as he did in this one.While "Unreasonable Success" is a very biographical book, it differs from standard biographies in an interesting way.Up-front, and throughout, Richard synthesizes the patterns in the lives of his subjects into what he sees as the governing laws of high achievement. Not merely the tactics for winning a given prize, but the very mechanics of achievement itself. The forces deciding how far anyone goes, in any endeavor, in any era, anywhere. And how to put them in your favor.Has he done it? Is he right? I don't know. That's my honest answer. Many of his conclusions ring home with me, though, and even if he is off-base here or there, the *very question this book asks* is more valuable than any "answer" one could give. It's the kind of question you could spend a lifetime exploring.It gave me the exact sort of joy I felt upon reading another of Richard's books, "The Natural Laws of Business." The feeling of standing upon a new peak, where things you never understood (or partially understood) suddenly make sense. Entirely new paths and possibilities awaken in your mind. You start "seeing" the book in the world around you.No matter who you are, there are forces you can align yourself with that will take you somewhere great. You can literally and truly raise your odds of changing the world.That's what I walked away from "Unreasonable Success" with a much clearer grasp of.It was a joy to read, you can clearly tell it was a joy for Richard to write. It's the third book he's written that I remember exactly where I was when I read it. His classic "The 80/20 Principle" and the tragically-less-known "Natural Laws of Business" are the others. I would recommend reading this book first.

Buenos ejemplos y trabajo de investigación

Ich bin auf dieses Buch durch den Auftritt von Richard Koch in Tim Ferris podcast aufmerksam geworden. Es war eine Freude es zu lesen.

The word that I feel truly describes this book, is important. Self help books provide so many of us with useful tools and 'landmarks' to get us through life and enable us to achieve our goals. But Richard's latest book, is a must read, especially for those with strong, yet unfulfilled potential.Why important? My reasoning is two fold.Firstly, the year 2020 is one history will not remember with too many smiles. So many of us have been severely impacted by the pandemic. But with vaccines on the way, and a light shining as we reach the end of the tunnel, the world will need to rebuild itself. The world will need the kind of success generated from the 'players' Richard writes about, and the more unreasonable success we can generate post-pandemic, the better change we can bring to the world. This book is one that encourages the right attitudes and strategies that we all should embrace, as we seek to bounce back from a tough and difficult period.Secondly, Richard's book is just...correct. So many of us assume that you need things such as naturally 'god given' skills or pure genius, to become successful. Useful as those traits may be, Richard proves to us, with real examples from both the experiences of the players in his book, and with the lessons he learnt through life, that the correct philosophy and the appropriate strategy, will position you well for unreasonable success.Further praise should go to Richard for choosing the players he did. A diverse set of successful and well known players does help emphasise his arguments. This book isn't just for the next Prime Minister, the next Jeff Bezos, or the next Madonna...it is for anyone.However, my only critique to the book is the weak emphasis (please note - i do not mean a complete disregard of) on discipline. Indeed when discussing certain landmarks (eg No. 7 - thriving on setbacks), there are suggestive points that discipline (ie show resilience despite setbacks) is important. I am curious as to what RIchard would say regarding the notion that perhaps discipline/grit might not be the most essential attribute to achieve unreasonable success, but is it needed to sustain, prolong and further it?Thank you for this important book, Richard. It was a fantastic read and I recommend this to anyone who has the ambitions, desires, and self-belief in becoming - not just successful - BUT UNREASONABLY SUCCESSFUL

Mi opinión en español más abajo._______________________________________________________My review might be biassed by the admiration that I have towards the author. Author of the book The 80/20 principle, one of the books that I have recommended the most to entrepreneurs, family, and friends. Having said it, this is my opinion about this bookIn order to get the most out of this book you should read it more than once. The value you get from this book is more than worth its price. This book is well organised and is written in a direct and clear way. It's easy to read, it's entertaining and, especially, very interesting.This book has surprised me for the clarity that the author has used to present all the essential concepts to achieve unreasonable success. The book presents a map with a total of nine landmarks. Landmarks that have been presented in the specific proper order. Required landmarks to achieve your goal.The author has done an extraordinary work by synthesising to the maximum level his knowledge, his experience, and his deep research on the success matter. Each landmark is explained in an easy way to understand. In addition, each of them is supported with stories from people that have attained unreasonable success. Twenty one people, from the past and today life, have been selected by the author to make the point for each landmark. Each landmark includes key experiences, from key people, in order to strongly highlight the key concepts.I also liked the way the author wraps all the important key components in the summary and conclusion section for each landmark. Also, you will find key quotes “Churchill led Britain into total war without much thought for the morrow: he said he had only one single purpose - the destruction of Hitler - and that his life was much simplified thereby'. - Robert Tombs.Now, what I liked the most from the book is the author's own experience. Richard shares openly his own journey. He goes in detail how he did conquer each landmark that made him achieve unreasonable success and how can you achieve it as well._____________________________________________________Mi reseña puede estar sesgada por la admiración que tengo hacia el escritor. Autor del libro “El principio 80/20”, uno de los libros que más he recomendado a emprendedores, familiares, y amigos. Dicho esto, mi opinión sobre este libro es la siguiente:Para sacarle el máximo provecho, este libro debe leerse varias veces. El valor que recibes supera con creces su precio. El libro está escrito de forma ordenada, clara, y directa. Su lectura es fácil, entretenida y, sobre todo, interesante.Este libro me ha sorprendido por la claridad con la que el autor presenta los conceptos esenciales para alcanzar un éxito de alto nivel. El libro presenta un mapa con nueve puntos de referencia. Puntos de referencia ordenados minuciosamente, indispensables para alcanzar el objetivo.El autor ha realizado un trabajo extraordinario al sintetizar al máximo sus conocimientos, su experiencia, y su elaborada investigación realizada sobre el tema. Cada punto de referencia viene explicado con sencillez. Además, cada uno de ellos, viene soportado por historias reales de personas de éxito extremo. Veintiuna es el universo de personas, de nuestra vida e historia, elegido por el autor. Cada punto de referencia presenta las historias clave de las personas clave para reafirmar el concepto clave.También me han gustado los apartados de resumen y conclusiones de autor, al igual que las citas utilizadas.“Churchill led Britain into total war without much thought for the morrow: he said he had only one single purpose - the destruction of Hitler - and that his life was much simplified thereby'. - Robert Tombs.Ahora, lo que más me ha gustado del libro es la propia experiencia del autor. Richard comparte abiertamente el origen de su éxito describiendo su mapa. El mapa por el cual ha alcanzado “Unreasonable Success”.