Monday, January 17, 2022

Book Review: Nailing It

Happy Monday, lambs! Do you have plans for this week? I have to entertain the kids today and tomorrow because no school, I've got doctor appointments, and I plan to do crafty stuff... more on that later. 

Nailing It - Robert L. Dilenschneider

This inspiring and encouraging book from respected consultant Robert L. Dilenschneider provides 25 fascinating and diverse profiles of iconic men and women that show where they were at or near age 25—and how they built their legacies across a range of careers, including the arts, business, science, and government.

With a foreword from U.S. Ambassador Donald Blinken.

Do you think Albert Einstein had his act together by his mid-20s? Think again. Would you assume style icon and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn’s life was always as beautiful as she was? Far from it. At the other end of the spectrum is the revolutionary Steve Jobs, who was at the top of his game by age 25. But Jobs’s beginnings were marked by his adoption, displacement, bullying, and then a rocky personal life. This absorbing book examines the trajectories of 25 iconic figures—from Toni Morrison to Albert Einstein and Golda Meir to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—to reveal where they were in their lives in their mid-twenties and the choices that enabled them to make their historic marks. For those who are coming of age now, and for those who care about them and their futures, these captivating profiles provide inspiration, instruction, and encouragement. The profiles in Path to Greatness will be real-life examples of the fact that the turning points that lead to success and happiness come at different times and as a result of different conditions. Some people create their own turning points, other people build on what happens to them.

Many people who seemed to "have their act together" at age 25, had already weathered difficult beginnings to their lives; their turning points came early. And other people who didn't even have an act at age 25, went on to make profound contributions to the world; their turning points came with maturity.

This book will remind readers that it is never too late to make an impact.
I think I found the graduation gift I'm getting both high school and college graduates this year, it's going to be Nailing It. I think all of us felt a lot of pressure to get our future figured out as we were leaving high school and as an adult with a teenager approaching this age, it is so stressful. On one hand, the grown up in me knows that finding a career, buckling down, and investing immediately will be such a stress reducer as they get older. Of course, on the other hand, the twenty-something I used to be is screaming, "let her live her life" and man... it is REAL hard to watch your child make mistakes and know that you have to let them do that. 

Parenting is hard, y'all. 

The great part about this book is that it will be a relief to the kids and twenty-somethings who read this, it reinforces that it's OK to not have an idea about what you want to do. It's totally OK to try things, to fail, and keep moving forward. It's validate the concerns parents will have, but also give them the reassurance that things are going to work out, even if they fail miraculously, they could still end up being fabulously successful in their own way. There isn't a timeline to get things done, you might be flipping burgers at 25 but an in-demand engineer at age 50, who knows? I also like that this book reinforced that success is different to everyone and there is no cookie cutter determination on whether someone is successful. 

I also loved the historical tidbits because it features 25 famous men and women and talks about what they were doing around age 25. It's 246 pages of gentle encouragement for us all, no matter which end of the journey you're on. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and providing a copy for review. 

This post contains affiliate links. 

1 comment:

Shooting Stars Mag said...

This sounds great. I like that it features profiles on actual people and what they were doing at 25. I'm 31 and I still don't have a lot of my "grown up life" together, but I think that's more and more normal these days, so it's good to know that you don't have to know it all. You have time.

Lauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net