Start Next Now: How to Get the Life You've Always Wanted by Bob Pritchett

by Bob Pritchett

More than inspirational puffery from a life coach; Bob Pritchett's Start Next Now is blunt, funny, practical advice on how to get ahead from a successful entrepreneur with 440+ employees. It is a kick in the pants and an actual plan that can advance your career before you even finish the book. Which won’t take long, because it’s short.

Genres: Audiobook, Business, Self Help, Personal Development

Hardcover

First published October 20, 2015

About the author

Bob Pritchett co-founded Faithlife Corporation (makers of Logos Bible Software) and serves as Executive Chairman. He is a 2005 winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, one of Glassdoor's Highest Rated CEOs 2015, and was included in the Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40. Bob lives with his wife Audra in Bellingham, Washington; they have two adult children.

Bob's latest book, Start Next Now: How to Get the Life You've Always Wanted was released in October, 2015.

Fire Someone Today, And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success, was released in April, 2006, and has been translated into Russian and Korean.

Reviews

[Mark Jr.]

I don't normally read anything that has "Self Help" on the back, but since my CEO wrote this book and I got a free copy I thought I'd give it a shot. I actually happen to think he's a good visionary leader; I don't just say it because I work here. I also figure I might as well get some insight into the way the top guy thinks if I'm going to do well at this company. I felt like I was rewarded with genuine wisdom rather than vapid, platitudinous pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps pablum.

I don't think people can succeed without grace: common grace at least, special grace at best. I'd probably say more about that—I couldn't help it—if I were to write such a book. But if I were to write such a book, it wouldn't have as much wisdom from experience as this book has. I am definitely guilty of not thinking strategically about my career and growth. Coming to a place with higher expectations, a quicker time horizon, and a more entrepreneurial culture—such as Bob's company—has helpfully forced me to think about the future.

A few pointers I got out of the book:

• Just about everybody feels like an impostor sometimes. Just keep doing your job, even if you're afraid that people will discover your incompetencies.

• If you want to reach a goal sooner, increase your rate of change.

• Be a "known quantity" by just doing the things you want to be asked to do rather than waiting to be asked (this precise terminology is actually my father's, and it's one piece of wisdom I already practiced before reading the book).

• TV takes up all your free time and makes it difficult or impossible for you to distinguish yourself from all the other Americans watching 30 hours of TV per week.

• If you want your boss's job, start helping him do his till he comes to rely on you. (I don't want my boss's job and never have, but I'm filing that one away!)

Here's my personal theological reflection: there is an inscrutable mixture of human and divine work in every life. If some Christians rely too heavily on divine providence to get them ahead, failing to "make every effort" to add to their faith the character qualities that might lead to success, then some Christians (I've just been listening to Kate Bowler's book on the history of the prosperity gospel) think they can compel God to give them success by working or believing hard enough (or sending enough money to Creflo Dollar). At the end of my life I want to be able to say, "I planned this for good, and God planned it for better." I am indeed going to try to increase my rate of change and adopt some of the career-forwarding wisdom in this book—not because I love money, nor because I crave acclaim, but because God told us to subdue the earth and take dominion and to lay up treasures in heaven. I want His rewards. And I think Bob's book provides insight on how to do that in our current job culture.

[Nathan Runke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second read through of this book. Still a good book that I'd encourage everyone to read at least once. Has a lot of good advice for young people who often struggle with making decisions and just taking that first step. It's definitely a motivational book, but still has some good truths that one can learn from.

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Bob Pritchett's "Fire Someone Today". It is one of my favorite books. But I thought this [very] short book was rather pedestrian. Very little here that isn't common sense or already outlined elsewhere.

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I noticed Amazon and Goodreads have a slightly different meanings to their 5-point scale. I thought it was odd to have a different rating for the same book on two different sites, so I came up with my own scale below. For the record, it is fairly close to Amazon's scale, but allows me to be consistent between the two sites.

5 - Fantastic. Life-altering. Maybe only 30 in a lifetime.
4 - Very good.
3 - Worth your time.
2 - Not very good.
1 - Atrocious.

[Mark Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief and insightful. Had I read it 20 years ago I would have added the fifth star! Not quite my demographic.

[Mike Sr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Own Your Career

Great, quick read designed to help anyone take responsibility for their career, or what's left of it. Very practical advice with actionable suggestions in every section.

[M. L. Feather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the first part of the book better than the last. Practical advice to actively and purposely pursue your dreams.

[Babajide Ajayi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that encourages you to take the next step in the plans you have and that you do it now. It is encouragement from someone who has done it and is doing it.
Great Book

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, punchy book with great insights about being intentional with your career goals.

[Chris Craft]

Great book. Easy read. Can finish in one setting. You will learn and grow from having read it.