How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

This was given to me as a gift, and originally I dropped out about halfway through. That was before Scott Adams was thoroughly and rightfully canceled for being a paranoid racist, though—an event that rekindled my interest in the book.

While it initially styles itself somewhat as an autobiography, it falls squarely in the self-help category. And in a sense, this is as good as self-help gets. It's written by someone with an interesting life who makes his money writing funny comic strips, so at the very least, it's a competent and entertaining read. And Adams actually presents a handful of useful mental models on life and success and shares some outrageous stories. But most of the chapters either give off major pick up artist vibes or boil down to “sleep well, exercise and eat your veggies.”

Seeing how Scott Adams' own life has turned out, it's safe to say that all the “tactics” and “systems” in here–the ones he literally wrote the book on–didn't really help him in the end. So, in a way, Adams' behavior has inadvertently and retroactively transformed this book into a profound take-down of the self-help genre, I guess?

On a side note, if you have read this and still were surprised to find out Adams is a douchebag, I ... don't think we've read the same book? He's really not hiding it.

Finally, since seeing one of his videos for the first time was one of the cringier experiences of my life, I'd like to quote Adams' complete YouTube channel description. Because it's really all you need to know about him and the tone of the book:

“Scott Adams (famous for creating Dilbert) is a trained hypnotist, and is widely recognized as an expert on persuasion. Adams has emerged as one of the most influential observers of politics in the United States. His bestselling book, “Win Bigly,” teaches persuasion, and his bestselling book “How to Lose Almost Every Time and Still Win Big” is widely considered the best book ever written on developing systems for success. His most recent book is Loserthink, which teaches you how to avoid it. If you enjoy learning how to be more effective in life while catching up with the interesting news, this is the channel for you.”

My favorite part is that he seems to get the title of his own book wrong? What a loser.

After reading this self help/motivational/humor book from Dilbert creator Scott Adams, I feel a lot more positive. He has some of the most simple advice when it comes to being successful and although it may seem too obvious, it's very enlightening to me. I took away quite a bit from this book, specifically on staying positive, creating a routine, exercising daily, and being outgoing. I feel very refreshed after reading and I feel like I hit an imaginary “reset” button.

It didn't blow me away and I found that disappointing as I really enjoy Scott's blog. It was just a bit too scattered and surface-level for me to get any real value from it. Shame.

Buenísimo libro. Scott Adams es muy gracioso y sus consejos son del estilo que más disfruto; simples, graciosos y motivantes. Perfect timing en un 2021 con pinta de 2020. :)

Rating: 8.4/10

Started out very strong with the concept of energy being the most important thing in life, driving all goals. Also stressed the idea of systems over goals that I have been striving to follow. Adams falters in the second half in the Fitness and Diet sections where his advice is merely anecdotal and prescriptive.

4.5 stars. I knew nothing about this book going in and really enjoyed it. It's an eclectic mix of good advice on a variety of topics, interspersed with personal stories. I think his concept of weighing your personal experience against the advice of others is particularly important. Could be a good introduction to a life hack mentality.

Warning, rant: I felt the need to leave 5 stars to offset the surprising number of 1 and 2 star reviews from people who apparently didn't bother actually reading this:

- he came from a small town and he (and I assume his siblings) were the first in his family to go to college.
- his parents didn't have the money for a private college; he had to help pay his way.
- his so-called dumb college stories were to reveal his lack of knowledge of what was acceptable in the business world (and lack of good advice from the people around him).
- the Dilbert characters stuck in cubicles? He was one of them for years. He got up at 4 am to work on Dilbert because at first it was a side hustle.
- many of his business failures were before Dilbert got big, and some involved hours of learning to code himself. Tell me that's not perseverance.
- he's had multiple serious health issues.

These are only the things he's chosen to write about, and only in this book.

Yes, he's rich and famous NOW, but the reviewers complaining about how “lucky” he is are missing the entire point of the book, not to mention skipping over what he actually wrote. It's clear he tried not to come across as out of touch. The general public assumes that an overnight success is actually a thing, simply because they don't see the blood, sweat and tears that an artist or entrepreneur pour into their work, or all failures that came before. He's trying to let you in on that and for some people, it didn't appear to work. I agree with him; your job is to make it easier for luck to find you, which is exactly what this book is about.

In my opinion, the only people with a right to complain that he's just lucky are the most disadvantaged among us, who could probably level that complaint against anyone on the low end of middle class.

If you like other Scott Adams book then you will like most of this one. It does get a little repetitive but its got some interesting ideas throughout.

I'm pre-emptively giving this the “best book I read in 2015” award. It's witty, but more importantly, chalked full of life tactics and strategy. A significant chunk of the book covers energy-management techniques, with seemingly-solid discussions on diet and exercise aimed towards people who feel completely overwhelmed when they approach the literature in either of those topics (ie. me). I got a huge inspiration boost out of this book, and for the most part couldn't put it down – except when it inspired me to put it down and go exercise, which is a tricky feat indeed.

A list of quotes I liked from the book:
http://sandymaguire.me/books/scott-adams-how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big.html