Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Reinvent Yourself

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2023

All of the blurbs are true - this book is what I truly needed as I stand in the rubble of a life and career in my 40s. These are very timely, precise, and wildly interesting stories that are pertinent and that have actual takeaways that you can utilize RIGHT NOW.

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Joe Metcalfe

Excellent Book - A GAME CHANGER! Authentic, insightful, and empowering! (12 Things I Learned From Reinvent Yourself)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 11, 2017

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Change is inevitable. Everything changes: Our relationships change. So do our lifestyles, endeavors, jobs, and the economy.

When things don't go our way will we crumble? Will we continue feeling down and out, stuck, and frustrated?

Or will we adapt and grow with change? Will we reinvent ourselves?

Many times in my life I've felt stuck, had regrets for things I’ve done in the past, and worried about what’s next. I continually felt like I had no way to get out of the rut I was in.

Every time I read James he gives such empowering insights and perspectives to help me with these challenges.

James dives deep into these questions. He shares his entire process through personal story of how he reinvented himself and survived tumultuous change in his life.

He shares his failed businesses, failed relationships, ups and downs, and what he felt during those times.

He shares how he dug himself out. How he was able to reinvent himself. How he was able to find the blessings in disguise. That's where the real growth is.

He shares his goldmine of knowledge through the incredible people he's studied, been connected with and interviewed like Mark Cuban, and many other successful entrepreneurs, writers, and artists.

James is one of the most authentic and transparent writers I've ever read.

Here’s 12 Things (among so many) I Learned From James in his excellent book!

1. When I wake up in the morning, ask who can I help today? This is a super hero question. It can save the world. 1 person at a time.

2. Don’t be sad when you fail, and don’t be happy when you succeed as you’re learning something new. Both are going to happen again and again at every new level.

3. When you love something, and work at it, an instant community builds around you to protect you. You become something much bigger than yourself.

4. Losses are the maps that point you to what you never knew before.

5. Live like we are going to live forever. So we have all the time in the world to learn and live all of the things we love.

6. The choices you make today will be in your biography tomorrow.

7. When you compare, you despair.

8. Have 3 kinds of mentor relationships –
---A) Plus (someone better than you to guide you),
---B) Equal (someone on your level to challenge you),
---C) Minus (someone you mentor – you teach to eventually become a master)

9. It’s ok to hit roadblocks and change directions as you reinvent yourself. Reinventing yourself many times makes your life a book of stories, instead of boring textbook.

10. Don’t be creative for something to generate money. Instead be creative for the sake of it. For the bliss you find in it.

11. How to gain skills in something you love:
A) Read as many books as you possibly can on the subject
B) Study your mistakes, don’t regret them. More mistakes you have is more opportunity to get better.
C) Talk and surround yourself with people smarter than you

12) When I go to bed at night, ask myself, who did I help today? This is a super hero question. It can save the world. 1 person at a time.

Thank you James for bringing this book to the world!!

7 people found this helpful

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Sonia

Valuable content, but Kindle version has missing sentences and littered with silly mistakes, thus 4 stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

Beware before buying: At one point in the kindle version there seems to be a few missing words (see pic). At the very end of the paragraph it says “Come” but the rest of the few words are missing. I guess we will never know the important lesson from Wayne Dyer. I value the content of the book above the few mistakes that is why I have given this book 5 stars for content, but 4 stars for mistakes in Kindle version of the book. I don’t know if the paperback version has the same mistakes, but I would like it to be fixed.
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I must say I’m a huge Altucher fan. I don’t follow his blog, but I do love his podcasts and his book Choose Yourself was a huge success. If you haven’t read Choose Yourself I suggest you read that before you read this book. Altucher basically gave away Choose Yourself, so you shouldn’t have a hard time finding that book. The book has great lessons, highly recommend it. Let me not waste anymore time and get into the review for this book.

In Reinvent Yourself, Altucher maintains the same type of witty laid back writing that we saw in Choose Yourself. That being said, if you are a avid reader you may find that the book does have a few typos and errors, but it’s not overwhelming.

He defines reinvention as 3 things:
1. redefining freedom
2. improving relationships
3. Improving habits

Key Takeaways:
1. the rich only get richer (Read Thomas Piketty's “Capital”)
2. happiness comes from well being; increase your freedom, relationship, and competence
3. we are influenced by everything
4. Negotiation - Best part of the book in my opinion. He refers to many podcasts he has done, but I would’ve liked it if he had linked the podcast episodes.
5. Listen, Observe, Be humble, be respectful, don’t be entitled, don’t be disappointed

Where I disagree with James Altucher
- Altucher writes “You can’t rely on the government or educational institution.” Don’t get me wrong but for some people, especially “the rich” getting a college degree is not worth very much because one goes to college to get a job so that one can make money. If you’re rich you don’t need the money, so why waste money getting a college degree. However, if you are poor you need the college degree to basically assert your intelligence. Many poor people go to shabby schools where they learn nothing — the fault of our Education system. So, by going to a good or great college a poor person can basically say look I’m smart. Plus, without a degree no employer will give you a job. And if you’re “poor” and don’t have the proper connections you will not be getting that job without a degree.
- Altucher writes “I’ve interviewed hundreds of people now on my podcast…But none them have done it for the money.” This is false. He has interviewed a couple, the Ikonns, who started a hair extension company when they were broke. They borrowed against their line of credit. The couples main reason for starting the company was that they saw a gap in the market that they thought they could fill and profit off of. Therefore, sorry Altucher, but money is the root of some reinventions.

Overall, I believe the book has great content, however I think it just needs one more edit. I don’t think the book is ready for prime-time especially with the errors in the kindle version. It also has silly mistakes that can be corrected if someone edits this book one more time. I highly recommend reading this book, but I also recommend Altucher edit this book just one more time for the sake of the readers who are expecting something great.

11 people found this helpful

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MG

AKA "Escaping the labels and titles and hopes everyone else has for us"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

I first came across Colonel Altucher's writing in an article entitled "Why You Need to Quit Your Job This Year." He has rewritten/updated the article a few times. It's a brutally honest article. I saw it posted once on LinkedIn. There were lots of negative, even angry comments. And when you think about it, that made perfect sense -- because LinkedIn is a community that defines itself by the jobs everyone has. I read Altucher's book "Choose Yourself" and I really liked that too.

To be honest, when I started reading "Re-Invent Yourself," I wasn't sure I was going to like it, or get much from it. The paragraphs are mostly just one of two sentences long -- I was going to say written in a bullet-point manner, but each one is not necessary a point. Sometimes they are just comments; a small thought here and there. But the book started to gel for me around the chapters on Asimov and Bukowski and I found myself highlighting a lot.

The book could have -- I was thinking should have? -- been titled something else. Most of the chapters are about what he learned from X: Louis C.K., the FBI's best hostage negotiator, Picasso, Star Wars, Superman, Elon Musk, Mick Jagger, Gandhi, Eminem (the greatest movie scene about sales ever), the list goes on. I really enjoyed the Bukowski chapter.

I was past page 300, still trying to figure out exactly why the book was called "Re-Invent Yourself," then the Colonel hit me. He was saying how "Peter Thiel worked as a lawyer in one of the top law firms in N.Y. When he quit in order to become an entrepreneur, he told me that many of his colleagues came up to him and said 'I can't believe your are escaping.' Then Altucher wrote: "Escaping the labels and titles and hopes that everyone else has for us is one of the first steps in choosing ourselves for the success we are meant to have. BOOM! We define our lives from our imagination and the things we create with our hands." BOOM AGAIN!

BTW, what I quoted are three separate paragraphs in the book, so you get the idea of the structure. Altucher has had the highest highs and the lowest lows in his business and personal life, and he is unafraid to be brutally honest -- about himself and what he's learned. Look up the article I referred to above. If you like his writing style, you'll like his books. If you dislike what he says (don't own a house, don't go to college, don't pay off debt; his article on war got/gets a lot of hate mail/comments), maybe you NEED to read what he says. Perhaps read "Choose Yourself" first, if you want more in-depth narrative.

Proofreading side-note: Early in the book he talks about Barbara Cartland, a very prolific romance novelist who wrote 23 books when she was 82 years old. Except he spelled her name Cortland most of the time.

3 people found this helpful

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Mark Messick

James Altucher is a Beautiful Man

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

I won't lie. I'm freaking in love with James.

He is THE most genuinely fascinating, brilliant, and crazy person I've ever had the pleasure of encountering.

He says the things that other people are afraid to say. He bleeds on every single page. He spills out his guts and shows us exactly what he did wrong and how we can be better than him. He's a leader. Taking the fall for us, and pathing a new path through the jungle of modern life for the benefit of us all.

James possesses a profound sense of wisdom that can only come from having a life that is constantly batting you across the head with a rolled-up newspaper. And he doesn't sugarcoat anything in this book. He says upfront that life is crappy for him, and it will probably be crappy for you too. And sometimes you'll come out on top, and sometimes not. And that's just the way things are.

I appreciate that honesty. Most self-help authors aren't like that. Most authors tell you that if you do what they say then your life will change forever and you'll always be happy. James doesn't say that. He's different.

I remember watching the comedian Louis C.K. one time, and a heckler was giving him a hard time. Shouting out random insults and stuff. The most hurtful stuff he could think of. And Louis C.K. turned to the guy and said "look dude, you CAN'T hurt me. I've already hurt myself beyond anything you can even imagine. I get up onstage and make fun of myself every single day. I've already thought of every insult for myself that you could possibly conceive. And that makes me invincible to you."

I think James is like that too. He's tough. He's already been through so much crap, and now he's a professional at dealing with crap. He's like the plumber of life. And that's probably the best compliment I could ever give him.

This book has that same classic James Altucher "voice" that we've grown to love. It's quirky, it's brilliant, and it's painful. But at the same time it manages to cover new ground and expose new ideas that he hasn't discussed on the blog before.

If you like James...do yourself a favor and pick up this book. It doesn't disappoint.

And if you DON'T like James...why did you read all the way to the end of this review? You're an idiot. You know there are probably a million better things you that could be doing with your time right now, right?

- Mark Messick, 17 year-old bestselling author, passionate lover of breakfast food, and master picker of handcuffs. And noses.

45 people found this helpful

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Richard M. Rosso

Are you ready to travel Reinvention Road?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book is the next reinvention of James.

I recall one of my favorite TV series as a kid every time I read one of JA's works.

James at 15, (then James at 16) was about the travails of a teen who had a tough time fitting in, the son of a relocated professor who stumbles through school-girl crushes, heroic day dream fantasies, and deals with life and surroundings through a unique prism.

I may have been the only one watching.

One day I realized:

That awkward boy grew up! He's James Altucher!

Every event in his life has prepared James to walk this path of never-ending knowledge and share it with us.

He's a society's teacher, an eye opener, a Walter Mitty with guts, who shares his life, opens himself to gut punches so we may learn to do the same.

James has grown to be a bridge between readers, listeners (to his podcasts) and mentors.

Every chapter is a lesson from a life lived. The lessons are not smooth. There's nothing magical here. Just reality applied by others. Laid out for you.

And it's James at his best. Punching out tiny but strong words of wisdom.

I have favorite chapters, but can't stress enough to READ THE INTRODUCTION.

You know how readers bypass the introduction to a book? Guilty. It's like a gallbladder. You ignore it. You have no idea what it does or why it's there.

Right until it kicks you from the inside out.

The intro to Reinvent Yourself is the soul of the book. It outlines inner motivation for what Jame's does.

His internal driver revealed:

"I spent my life pretending to be something I wasn't."

He wanted to move beyond it.

He seeks for us to do the same.

Page 9 alone will motivate you. I ripped it out. Pinned it to a corkboard.

James helped me to realize what the heck an 'Introduction' is supposed to do.

James Altucher has been my mentor.

Frankly, he's everybody's teacher now.

Through his books and podcasts an ongoing passion to build and repave Reinvention Road, shines through.

So others may travel this journey.

For that I am grateful.

6 people found this helpful

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Ivaylo

8 Things I Learned from Reinvent Yourself

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

The book reads like a stream of consciousness exercise with little or no connection between the different chapters or paragraphs. And yet, it deserves five stars. James Altucher has developed a unique writing skill - he has learned to trim out all excesses and shares his view in the most simple way possible. This is rare and it has to be appreciated.

I enjoyed reading Reinvent Yourself. The book is packed with useful advice. Here are eight of my favorite quotes:

1. We are what we experience every day - “You are not just the average of the five people around you. You’re the average of the five habits you do, the things you eat, the ideas you have, the content you consume, etc.”

2. “Learning never stops. Many people die at 25 but are not put in the coffin until 75. The learning stopped for them early.”

3. Quantity often leads to quality - “Try many things. One thing I realized is that quantity equals quality. People think it’s one or the other but it’s not. When you have a quantity of ideas and things you are trying, you will find quality.”

4. On mentoring - “Believe it or not, sometimes it’s just as good (often better) to read all of their materials rather than be directly mentored.”

5. On how to be creative - “People say, “Everything has already been written.” Everything has already been said. But that’s a lie. I think every outline has already been written. But each human has a unique fingerprint. Just putting that fingerprint on an outline makes it yours, different, unique. And through practice and vulnerability, you make that fingerprint something others want to see.”

6. On how to sell - “If I want to sell an idea, if I want to convince, if I want someone to like to me, I have to figure out how to connect.”

7. On how to find your unique niche - “It’s hard to be the greatest at any one endeavor, but by combining passions, it’s much easier to be the greatest in the world at the intersections of those passions (because there are billions of things that can intersect, you can find your own place in the “long tail of passion” to be the master of).”

8. “But the only thing that gets results is action. Not a single ounce of greatness in history ended with thoughts. It happened with hands. With actions.”

246 people found this helpful

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Dawn Casey Rowe

A BOOK FOR THE NEXT GENERATION: “Your legacy is not what you do. It’s what the people who you teach do.”

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

There are tons of people out there that are smarter than me that I might not get to talk to. People like Mark Cuban, (he’s busy), Einstein and Gandhi (they’re dead), and Tony Robbins, (he’s Tony Robbins). In “Reinvent Yourself,” James found all those people and wrote down some of their best teachings for me so I didn’t have to work hard finding them myself.

That got me thinking…even if Tony Robbins called me right now and said, “Dawn, come down here for a month and study with me,” I’d hesitate and prepare to turn down the opportunity of a lifetime.

I’d ask myself, “Oh no, what will my boss say?”

I wonder how many “opportunities of a lifetime” I’ve turned down for real?

“Reinvent Yourself” is about putting a stop to all that, about learning to say “yes” to what’s best for me without limits. When I do, I know that’s when the magic happens.

In “Reinvent Yourself” James Altucher tells stories and discusses ways to freedom through the use of creativity, cultivating relationships, and continuously building and layering on new skills.

This got me thinking more. I’m an adult. I’ve had a few careers and am headed for a few more.

As I finished “Reinvent Yourself,” I thought, “This is what we must teach in schools. This is what works…” As an educator, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen kids sleep over handouts and testing but come alive when I say, “Here’s how I use this to make money. You can, too…” and “Go, build it. For real.”

American students are getting less and less creative because they’re tested and standardized to death. Their teachers don’t take risks because they’re constantly being measured and everyone’s afraid they won’t hit “the numbers.” It’s a cycle of stagnation and status quo. Let’s break out of that--teach them to create instead of obey.

That’s what “Reinvent Yourself,” used correctly, has the power to do.

I’ve taught with James Altucher’s “Choose Yourself” in high school classes before. I’ll use “Reinvent Yourself” for sure. If kids and adults are destined to have so many more careers in this economy, I’d be negligent not teaching students how to prepare.

This book reminds me to keep growing wings, and to teach next generation how to fly.

“Your legacy is not what you do. It’s what the people who you teach do.” That’s my favorite quote from “Reinvent Yourself.” I’ll be putting that up on my desk today.

112 people found this helpful

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Jen Turrell

Yeah, I'm a James Altucher fan and thought this book was great.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

I'm a pretty big James Altucher fan, so it isn't surprising to me that I loved this book. I've read Choose Yourself and The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth. I listen to his podcast and I am a subscriber to his Altucher Report. Which means that some of this book I had read before. James does tend to repeat the story of his rise and fall, rise and fall, building a start-up and selling it for a lot of money, losing all of his money, getting divorced, making money again, losing money in different ways. But the thing is, because I like him and know that this is part of why he does what he does, I don't mind reading that same story in a few different places. I was however really glad to get past that bit and on to the stuff that I hadn't read before. Some of my favorite take aways from this: read a lot. If you are interested in something and read 100 books about it, you will move yourself from being a novice to knowing more than all but the top experts in that field. Read 200 books about it and you will be one of those top 1% experts. Sure you will need to actually do something with some of that knowledge as well, but he uses cases like Bobby Fischer taking a year to read books about old chess games to move him from being a really good player to being one of the best. I am currently doing a 100 book challenge for 2017 and am happy to have this book in my count. I also love the advice that he gives based on so many of the podcast interviews that he has done. So many great insights from so many great podcast guests.

5 people found this helpful

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Dogson

is James a genius or a hack? He's both.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

Is James Altoucher a legit genius, or is he a hack self-help writer spamming as many books as possible? I just read his first two books, "Choose Yourself" and "Reinvent Yourself", and the verdict is, he's both.

James is an Idea Guy. The main takeaway you'll get from these books is to write down 10 ideas a day, and develop the good ones. If you have a really good idea, figure out the next step to take. What separates a big idea from a small one - and what makes an idea "too big" for you, is if you can figure out the next step.

These books are the result of James being a voracious reader, insatiably curious, and focused on getting better every day. The mindset behind these books are worth the price. They're full of ideas, and if even one changes you for the better, that's a good ten bucks.

The cons are, the books are full of typos. He also re-published several sections of "Choose Yourself" inside "Reinvent Yourself". These are the actions of a hack writer. If you consider yourself a literate or well-read person, you'll probably be very annoyed by this. But you can also learn from it. The mindset of an entrepreneur is to "fail fast, fail forward," meaning create something rapidly, don't worry if it's not perfect, get it done, and move on to the next thing. This mindset is what can actually create your company. It's also the mindset of why every company becomes terrible once it goes public, and why so many things across every industry are of poor quality.

If you read this book, learn from the nuggets of gold AS WELL AS what James is doing wrong. Don't be a hack writer, or a hack entrepreneur. Take the time to do things well, so you can build a reputation for quality. I'm glad I read these books, but I definitely won't be buying any more of them.

36 people found this helpful

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5 star		62%
4 star		22%
3 star		10%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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