Author: M.J. DeMarco

One word summary: refreshing.

This is an honest book that doesn’t rely on some gimmick to keep it interesting. The language in here is strong, but it’s done in a way to show authentic author voice.

While the book leads towards the path of entrepreneurship as a source of freedom (taken from the author’s own story as the baseline), it’s the smacks to the face along the way that resonated with me.

There‘s a moment in our lives when we either realize we’ve been caught in a script and want out, or accept the script of how life should be and vehemently defend it. DeMarco is heavy handed in his approach to tell you all these scripts we believe and propagated by ‘gurus’ are manufactured.

Real change starts with dispelling the myths, setting a new course and working like hell to get there. These are all ideas I intellectually knew, especially when it came to writing (oh goodness the myths about what it takes to be one), but it was his perspective that made it sink in.

The neat intersection of his ideas and the world fighting a pandemic right now is seeing the societal scripts falling apart. All those things that “couldn’t be done” or “can’t be done” are being done right now. It’s not clear, clean or efficient, but we’re on a pathway there… which is exactly the ready, fire, aim mentality we all need.

However, my biggest appreciation for this book is it doesn’t hook you into wanting to buy more books like it. Instead, it kicks you to take action.

Well worth the read.