Creative Entrepreneurship: The Walt Disney Way by Virender Kapoor (Book Review: 5*/5) !!!

2013th BLOG POST

17^th Book of 2022

 

It happens that we know a well-known personality or an inspirational figure but we often don’t have knowledge about the journey behind what it took them to reach the position they are at. Walt Disney has been one such figure for me. We are lucky to have Rupa Publication who is publishing short books on such figures regularly and making us accustomed with such personalities who can definitely lead to some positive change in our attitude towards our life. I have just completed reading “Creative Entrepreneurship: The Walt Disney way” written by one of my favorite authors, Virender Kapoor. This is a short book of just 135-pages which tells us enough to get inspired and motivated by the life of Walt Disney.

 

You can complete this book within two hours itself and that’s what Virender has also mentioned in one of the sections that if the world is loving short videos in reel format and you produce your marketing videos in long format then there’s going to be minimal traction in your product sale. He is writing biographies in the same format whereas it can be written in around 500-pages because every such personality has a wonderful life journey but Virender choses to describe it in as less words as possible to make it easy for people to read and grasp the learnings from their life. I like how Virender doesn’t keep things for readers to interpret but either through his direct conversation with readers or the headers of the section, he makes it easier for people to understand what are the takeaways of the respective piece.

 

Author is successful in providing us the lessons from Walt Disney’s life if implemented can definitely moot our life to next level. The courageous and hard-working attitude of Disney is described very aptly. I was able to imagine him while working on his creativity. The best part is how Kapoor has narrated the whole story keeping in mind the theme of creative entrepreneurship which is also the title of the book. The current era is all about people in creative field wanting to build their own brand through their content – either online or offline. This book will definitely make them understand the skill sets and attitude required to walk on this tough path.

 

I am glad that Virender has not only used the successful achievements of Walt Disney to influence us but also discusses about his failures, mistakes and ego issues. It is really fulfilling to know that an achiever like him also had issues to deal with. Author also talks about how his marriage life was thoroughly impacted due to his passion of creating cartoons and animated characters. We also get to know about his depression being highlighted and given due attention even in the era of early 1900s – something which is considered taboo even now in 21^st century for many of us. How his over-obsession led him to treat his colleagues and sub-ordinates badly that many of them left working with him. We also realize how he couldn’t understand how to handle money throughout his career due to which he was always struggling with it being in debt most of the times.

 

The last chapter is such a powerful boost as it lists down everything that we can learn from this powerful creative and determined man named Walt Disney. Post the last chapter, author yet again gives takeaway pointers in numbered bullets for our ease. Virender has written this short biography in a manner which can be gifted to someone who’s just 12 years old and this will be an interesting read even for someone who has retired. There are not many short book authors who can manage to write for such a vast range of audience. I give this book 5 stars out of 5. It deserves nothing less. It’s enough to transform your attitude at work and lead a successful and determined life.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA 

MAKE YOUR LIFE EXTRAORDINARY RIGHT NOW: Secrets to Better Living from the Supergurus (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

2012th BLOG POST

16^th Book of 2022

 

I remember reading a wonderful compilation of some beautiful chapters from bestselling books worked upon by Aleph publication house named “Become your best self right now” last year. I am very glad that Aleph is continuing with this series that has resulted in release of another book named “Make your life extra-ordinary right now” – the tagline of which says “Secrets of better living from the Supergurus”. I don’t think there’s any reason left for anyone to not pick this book up when another element on the cover page of the book mentions “Books by these authors have collectively sold over 100 million copies worldwide”.

 

The book has compilation of chapters from the bestselling books or articles from the following authors:

• Hector Garcia
• Sadhguru
• James Clear
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Jeff Keller
• Grant Cardone
• Louise Hay
• Brene Brown
• Daniel H. Pink
• Napolean Hill
• Randy Pausch
• George Clason
• Joseph Murphy
• Paramhansa Yogananda
• Dale Carnegie
• Sheldon B. Kopp
• James Allen
• Viktor E. Frankl

 

The book has been divided into three different sections such as: The path to a good life, success and prosperity. The first section talks mainly about how we have to conceptually lead our life on daily basis to create long lasting impact which can give a positive tone to our life. An excerpt from the very famous book “Ikigai” tells us how to implement workout of our mind as it results in a youthful body in long term. Then there’s another extract from Sadhguru, a very popular spiritual guru who shares four practical tips to ensure that we wake up the right way, for a healthy and joyful life. Dalai Lama’s chapter teaches us to be compassionate towards everyone and treat the whole humanity as one. Brene Brown explains how to cultivate authenticity and letting go of what people think about us. I am glad the Aleph Editorial Board chose to include an extract from Paramhansa Yogananda’s transformational book which gives us insight on Yoga system that speaks of the Eightfold Path. Dale Carnegie, another popular author, tells us how our people skills can make many things easier for us to achieve than other efforts involved in it.

 

By the time you think that the book is speaking more about mindset and thoughts and less about actions required to achieve zenith performance, another section begins on Success which will just push you harder to take your hustle on a different level altogether. James Clear talks about the two-minute rule – that every time you find doing something tough just commit yourself for two minutes daily on it and eventually it will become a part of your routine with the amount of time it actually needs from you. Daniel Pink speaks of five steps that can bring us closer to mastery. Dale Carnegie who again appears in this section talks about how we like to excel against our peers naturally without requiring any extra push and also shares with us some tips on how to be an effective leader.

 

Finally, talking about the last section which talks on how to grow your wealth and prosperity – you will not be given exact advises on how to protect your money or multiply it but it will give you highlights that can make you think about money if you have yet not given much thought to it. The one chapter that I really liked in this section has been about putting 10x effort in order to achieve 10x success than our competitors written by Grant Cardone. Joseph Murphy’s chapter on how our mind can give us the access to the new sectors is a positive read.

 

Overall, this is yet again a light motivational and inspirational book that can help you achieve the mindset or that push you were waiting for. You can finish this book within 2-3 hours easily but I would advise reading it a page a day and apply the learnings in your life and journal your own experience after implementing it. There is a consistency in the way chapters are ordered as you can relate with the narrative editors have wanted to create for us to process the learnings easily. You will find many beautiful quotes and suggestions in this book which you’ll want to highlight hence keep a highlighter with you before even picking this book. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA 

The Imperfect Deception: A Slow Burn Second Chance Romance by Shalini Ranjan (Book Review: 3.75*/5)

2011th BLOG POST

15^th Book of 2022

 

When I started reading books around a decade back, I was in college and loved the new love stories that were releasing back-to-back by many IIT pass-out authors. Later on, I lost interest in the love genre and moved to other non-fictions or mythological fiction but I still end up picking up exciting book by any Indian author from the same genre whom I have never read before. Hence, this time I picked up a book named “The Imperfection Deception” written by Shalini Ranjan which is probably her 3^rd release. This 264-pages book also has a tagline that says “A slow burn second chance romance” – it attracted me enough to choose it from the unlimited list of books that Amazon recommends.

 

This is not a typical love story but it has many layers to it. As you keep on reading, you identify that the two main characters just can’t get together so easily even when they keep on falling for each other at times. Every time they feel that everything is going to settle for them, author brings up in a twist which takes the story further for us to explore and know what and when will the moment arrive when both the characters will finally stop fighting their inner demons as well as external factors that keep on impacting their crawling romance.

 

Shalini has very successfully crafted this story which seems like a marathon divided into many laps – where every lap is like a piece of relay race – as exciting as the previous one. Her writing prowess can be felt as you will want to finish the story in a single sitting which is what I did. It has been a long time since I have read 250+ pages within 12 hours which this book has made it easier for me to achieve. The book is one of the interesting page-turners I have read in 2022. The book has released just in June and I am glad that I got my hands upon it quite early. Shalini’s command over the language is very good which is rare to find with the new Indian authors who get their book published through their own efforts.

 

I am glad to find how she was able to narrate a story in a manner where certain important facts are kept hidden without affecting our reading experience. The way she discloses and reveals certain flashbacks in the italic fonts just changes every thing in the story and as a reader, you jump on your seat and pace up your reading speed to know what will happen next with these new revelations that have taken place. Reading this book, I regularly felt as if I am watching some web-series which is getting interesting with each chapter and phase. Even when the book ends, there’s a relaxation that I am finally done with the story but you still wish that the story shouldn’t have ended. I don’t think there’s anything more to say about author’s storytelling skills than this.

 

I liked how Shalini didn’t give a feminist tone to her female characters who are actually very strong and determined in the book. She didn’t speak lowly of men in her story which is what many female authors do to state that women are stronger and better than men. Even when the book talks about failed marriages and unloving engaged couples, she ensures that she shows both sides of the story and tells confidently what went wrong from both the people involved in the relationship. It is very mature of Shalini to get onto this path rather than easy one to woo the newly woke feminist crowd.

 

How parenting is such an important aspect in modern society where a child deserves both the parents equally is very nicely portrayed. Parental alienation is a very big issue in our Indian system which is not spoken much in the society but I am glad authoress was able to throw a good amount of light even on this topic. This is quite a daring story, I must say. Similarly, author gives a very nice perspective on life on how to unapologetically live your life rather than regularly pissing yourself in regret and self-pity because of few big mistakes you make in life. Through her protagonists, she is able to display how they accept their wrongs but still keep moving on in their life dealing with new set of challenges.

 

Talking about the drawbacks – I must say that the book’s publishing quality – size, font, spacing etc. could have been better. The cover page could have been more exciting considering the multiple layers the story and its character had. The book could have been cut short by almost 25% for sure as there comes a time when you don’t want to read every expression or reaction of characters between the conversations. Hence, you have to fight the temptation of skipping sentences in between. I felt pre-climax and climax part was quite dragged and it wasn’t needed to be so lengthy. It just starts testing your patience by then.

 

Overall, this is a nice exciting read. Just because of the last 50 pages i.e. pre-climax which added unwanted pages to the book – I am deducting 0.25 stars and hence my rating is 3.75* out of 5 otherwise I definitely wanted to rate this book nothing less than 4 stars. Looking forward to reading more books from Shalini Ranjan now.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA