The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters

by Adam Smiley Poswolsky

How do you actually find meaning in the workplace? How do you find work that makes your heart sing, creates impact, and pays your rent?   After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky started asking these big questions. The Quarter-Life Breakthrough provides fresh, honest, counterintuitive, and inspiring career advice for anyone stuck in a quarter-life crisis (or third-life crisis), trying to figure out what to do with your life. Smiley shares the stories of many twenty- and thirty-somethings who are discovering how to work with purpose (and still pay the bills). Brimming with practical exercises and advice, this book is essential reading for millennial career changers and anyone passionate about getting unstuck, pursuing work that matters, and changing the world.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Business, Psychology, Audiobook, Economics

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 26, 2014

About the author

ADAM SMILEY POSWOLSKY is a millennial workplace expert, motivational speaker, and author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, The Breakthrough Speaker, and Friendship in the Age of Loneliness.

Smiley regularly speaks at Fortune 500 companies and has advised heads of state and foreign leaders about millennial talent, multigenerational engagement, and fostering belonging in the digital age.

Smiley’s TED talk on “the quarter-life crisis” has been viewed over 1.5 million times, and he has spoken in front of fifty thousand people in twenty countries.

Smiley’s work has been featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Fast Company, CNN, and the World Economic Forum, among many other outlets.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most valuable parts are the exercises. The rest wasn't very helpful. The main idea is that you don't find a single career path to spend many years in; you hop from job to job every 2-5 years, treating life as a continuous experiment. Basically, you don't find fulfillment by settling into one job; you chase it your entire working life. I was hoping for something more lasting and less transitory.

The authors says, "The journey to find meaningful work never really ends. … Success is embracing the journey to get closer to what you want to give the world."

I was skeptical about taking advice from the author, a "Millennial career expert" who's 32 years old and has had 10 drastically different jobs since college. He went broke and lived with parents twice since college. Although he's a self-described "yuppie hipster foodie snob," much of his advice is practical, like don't quit your job before your business takes off, and don't choose a job based on passion alone.

The book contains examples from several people in their 20s and 30s who changed jobs in search of meaningful work. It would have been helpful to hear from these people again 5 or more years after they found their meaningful work, but I suppose the idea of this book is that by that time they would've discovered their next meaningful role and moved on.

Here's how the author defines meaningful work:

Meaningful work provides personal meaning, reflecting who you are and what your interests are; allows you to share your gifts to help others; provides a community of believers that will support your dreams; and is financially viable given your desired lifestyle.

The author says,

The goal of this book is to help you find purpose for work, work that makes you come alive and feel excited to start your day, even on a Monday morning. … Reading this book will help you get a little closer to who you are and discovering what your next step might be in the context of building a purposeful career.

Notes
Introduction
Don't try to "do what you love." Most people who find meaningful work worry less about what they love, and more about their purpose, the unique contribution they can make to the world, and how they can serve the people they love."

Start Jumping Lily pads
Stop climbing ladders; start jumping lily pads. There's no clear way up anymore; it's just a series of projects or jobs that can go in any direction. Just strategize where to move and land. Each jump gets you closer to what you want.

Instead of trying to find your purpose, learn it. Explore your talents. Pay attention to how you feel about what you see. Pay attention to your motivations.

Take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves; thoroughly explore career options to get closer to who you are, what you value, how you want to help others.

Define Meaningful Work
Very few people have only one purpose or calling. Our purpose changes throughout our lives as our circumstances change.

Exercise: Where Your Heart Resides
What do you love about yourself?
How are you different from your friends?
What makes you, you?
What makes you weird?
Who do you want to show up as every day?
What memories do you have of when you were a kid?
What is your most sacred memory of spending time with a grandparent? Parent? Sibling?
What do you really like to do?
What do you absolutely hate doing?
When was the last time you were really happy?
When was the last time you cried?

Exercise: What Moves You
What do you care about?
What gets you fired up?
What social issues are you most passionate about?
What injustice infuriates you?
What challenge is worthy of your time?
What types of articles do you find yourself posting on Facebook?
What personal life experiences have shaped your beliefs?
What happened that made you change the way you see the world?

Instead of your passions, look at your unique gifts (strengths and skills) and interests to guide you to meaningful work.

Exercise: Discovering Your Gifts
Make a list of everything you're good at, and not only resumé skills. Think about things you were really good at as a kid, in high school, and in college. These are your unique skills and strengths.
Cross off things that you don't like doing. For the remaining items, in what areas do you need to deepen your knowledge? What classes, books, experts could help?
Pick one thing on that list and explore concrete ways to improve that skill.

Exercise: Community
In order to do your best work, what types of people do you want to surround yourself with?
What type of culture reflects your personality and your interests?
What are you looking for from your supervisor, team, co-workers?

Breakthrough priority: your bottom line. "Above all else, even if I have to make certain sacrifices, it's most important that my next lily pad allows me to …"

Find Alignment
Draw a Venn diagram with 4 elements of meaningful work: gifts, impact, community, quality of life. Fill in circles with what you want. Star most important items. You may not be able to find overlap of all 4.

Better advice than "do what you love" is "serve the people you love."

How to Kick-Start Your Meaningful Job Search
Intentionally explore your interests. Contact those making waves in your interest areas, to learn directly from them. Meet new people, explore new organizations, create new experiences, embrace the unknown.

Meaningful Job Search Resources
• ReWork Jobs
• 50 Ways to Get a Job: actionable steps for job seekers, including finding purpose and interviewing.
• B Lab: provides job board with openings at B Corps.
• Escape the City: provides job board with exciting, entrepreneurial, impact-driven opportunities.
• Game Changers 500: lists world's top purpose-driven organizations.
• 80,000 Hours: career research, advice, guides, coaching.
• Imperative: personality test to define purpose.
• General Assembly: classes in programming, business, design.
• Experience Institute: 12-month higher ed program to provide real-world learning.

Take a rapid prototyping approach to your career. Use short-term entry-level experiences, side projects, crowdfunding campaigns to test assumptions about career interests.

[Nilda · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I got almost halfway through the book, my initial thoughts were regret of having spent time and money on it. The reasons for this is I felt this book was written for a certain kind of privileged crowd that I could not relate to. His examples often were of people who've gone to Ivy league schools, had good income and knew just the right people to make big moves. He constantly seemed to be name dropping companies as well, which felt like too much like shallow advertisement. However, putting aside my initial gut reactions and reading some more, I could find some actual advice underneath it. He highlighted the constant "hustle" it takes to achieve your goals in a way that a lot of us can relate to, regardless of where you start. He also provides some questions that may lead you to see a clearer path. Not a lot here is new, and you've probably read it in one way or another, (the author himself recognizes this) but sometimes a different way will speak better to different crowds and make you see things differently. Again I just feel this is too padded with irrelevant information which makes its hard to fish out the good stuff quickly. So, if you don't have a problem with reading about millennial yuppies and are trying to make the jump to new endeavors (lily pads as he calls) this might be a worthwhile read, although it seems his first edition of this book is more beloved (and shorter), so perhaps check that out.

[Gemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if there was ever a book for me to pick up at this stage in my life, this is it. I couldn't help but be mesmerized by this book. Even though it is meant for millennials, I picked it up to see if my mid-life crisis could learn something. The answer is yes, most definitely.
It was really astounding to read about all the different people who were at a crossroads & pushed their way through to determine what was next for them. They all went about it differently & took various forks in the road to get there. It was simply inspiring. I love the stories being told by the author as well as the others he shared from people he knew/met. There is some serious out of the box thinking which is helpful so we get out of our comfort zone. Also important to make sure someone is holding you accountable so you don't make excuses & sit on your couch all day either. There are so many things to consider when making a determination of what is next for you. I really love how breakthroughs can happen at any point in your life. Since people get there in different ways, I appreciated how they were all different. That next chapter or door can be whatever you want it to be. I am hoping for another book like this since I feel the need for their to be a sequel.

[Laura Laing · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 46 years old, I don't fit the "official" demographic of this book, but darned if I didn't get tons out of it. I've been a lily-pad jumper my whole working life and felt terribly about it. Now I know for sure that finding meaningful work is ongoing. As a freelance writer and book author, I can tailor my career to suit my changing needs.

Smiley gets this. In his book, he outlines a simple process for managing these big career changes. He reassured me that my inclination to move on to the next thing is a-okay. That in itself was worth the price of the book.

I'm certain I'll return to this book again and again, using the exercises to help me plan my next move.

[Ellen Kobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is highly motivational. Smiley's optimism and positivity is helpful in feeling good about the trajectory of your career, even if you've hit a stumbling block. He also isn't afraid to push his readers, challenge their preconceived notions about themselves and their careers, and ask them tough questions. I will most certainly be working through Smiley's workbook and using the journal prompts within the chapters to learn more about myself. I would also love to see him speak because I do admire his work.

I struggled with applying Smiley's advice and information to my experience for three reasons.

1) It was highly geared for someone living with a west coast mindset. Not that this isn't a good mindset, and not that it can't be employed on the east coast or Midwest, but some of the advice isn't as easy to take when dealing with a different situation culturally.

2) It was about making an extremely dramatic career change. Sometimes, I think people, including myself, already have a helpful set of skills that they enjoy. I'm not necessarily wanting to change industries, but I want to elevate my career to its full potential and perhaps veer in a bit of a different direction within my industry. There were some examples of people who sort of did this, but it didn't seem to entirely fit the bill for me.

3) It was mostly geared toward people who want to be entrepreneurs. Not everyone has the desire or the means to do so. Plus, if we had a world of entrepreneurs, who would work for them?

While I did have some gripes about this book, it did help me get a step closer to discovering what I want for my career. And on the plus side, it was a very entertaining read.

[lori light · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've certainly passed the quarter-life mark, but that doesn't mean that I am not in dire need of a quarter-life breakthrough. Working on myself and living a life based on spiritual principles has allowed me to see that something in my life isn't working and I am ready to make some changes.

I really loved Smiley's book.

I think there is a ton of good stuff in here. Things that I knew/know already but love to be reminded of. Like the importance of honesty in relationships, building a network of people that inspire you, and taking small steps instead of dropping everything to do something different. Sometimes I get very overwhelmed by the big picture and forget that I am blessed to live in an age where information is everywhere and sometimes, the easiest thing to do is to be honest about where I'm at and trust that the right people will be put in my path, as long as I'm walking forward.

If you're in a place of wonder and know that there is something else out there for you, read this book. If you're in a place where you now that you are not maximizing your full potential and desperate to find meaningful work in your life, then pick up this book. It's a delightful read, full of lots of helpful information and insight. Smiley keeps it real and doesn't do much to make himself look like he's better than anyone else by doing the things he's done. He makes his life seem like an attainable one, which is very important when reading about making changes in this life.

I will definitely be sharing this book with my friends. Thanks for the good read, Smiley! xo

[Stephanie Thoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone hovering around age 25 to read. Also, if you're in SF or wanting to get to SF, plenty of restaurant-specific recs to spark a book of its own!
I appreciated how Smiley name-dropped orgs he's worked with to help get his foot in the door and career off-the-ground and breaks down the process of how he got to where he is: TEDx speaker, published author, that it took 8 drafts to get this book right, and all.

Takeaways:
- Ask yourself "What do you love about yourself? When was the last time you were really happy? Cried?" or "What life events made you question how you see the world?"
- Don't wait for permission to find meaning in your current job
- Start what you love as a side gig and instead of going all-in FT, perhaps you can find that exact job already exists
- Job Search resources: ReWork, 50 ways to get a job, B lab, Escape the city, Gamechangers 500, 80,000 hours, Imperative, General Assembly, Experience Institute, The Muse.
- Want to write a book and self-publish? Crowd-fund it in Kickstarter like Smiley did!
- Go to grad school if your NEED to in order to fulfill your purpose.
- When you build up the skills you need to distinguish yourself from the crowd, you can reach your potential.
- Make a list of companies in your area of expertise and see if you can build a mission-aligned partnership.
- Invest in a breakthrough community like StartingBloc
- Apply to be a motivational speaker via CAMPUSPEAK

[Nate Bagley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In every section of this book, I caught myself nodding fervently, and muttering, "Yes... yes... yes!" (But not in a sexual way.)

Smiley somehow took all of the pains and frustrations I've faced since graduating college and has articulated them in a beautifully logical way. Not to mention, after presenting the problem, he's offers incredibly simple, practical solutions to guide you through.

There are no magical fixes for finding meaningful work, but there are some pretty simple questions to answer for yourself... questions that most people go their entire lives without asking themselves. Just reading this book and asking yourself these important questions will help you understand what's important to you, and will point you in the direction to either falling more in love with what you're doing now, or starting down the path of loving what you do.

Every college grad, or struggling young professional, or disenfranchised workaholic should read this book. Every. Single. One.

[Nicole Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason I read this was bc it was a failed attempt at gifting an audiobook to a friend. Since it was in my library I decided to read it, and I wish I didn't. I would've DNF'd this but hey, I can at least justify my one-star rating.

I listen to audiobooks at 1.7x speed which put this one at 3 hours and 32 minutes. However, this took me DAYS to finish. It's just...unbearable. This is incredibly far from an inspiring rags-to-riches story; it is surface-level, classist, and tone-deaf "advice" from a self-righteous author who loves telling everybody how successful he is. I would not recommend this to anyone, there are far better self-help/personal growth books out there (ie: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, If You Feel Too Much by Jamie Tworkowski)

[Rosie Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful tips, some honest stories, some resources for personal development. But I find the book shallow and boring. Perhaps because this is the first book of Smiley Poswolsky, and his experience (to me) is insufficient to write a breakthrough self-help for 20 - something.

[Isha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the BEST career advise book I have ever read. Every single thing Adam says in this book resonated with me and hit the nail right on the head with what my struggles career wise are right now. Adam's writing is lighthearted and easy to read, but make no mistake, it makes a huge impact. Every single chapter, paragraph, and sentence drew me in and made me think. While this may be a short book, it took me a while to read it simply because I thought about everything Adam had to say. I highly recommend this book to some recently out of college or to anyone wanting to find meaningful work in their life.

[Jon Phang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam gives really good insight in regards to life and ideas about modern youth career planning

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy should read marx and get back to me. 2/5 stars.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - I liked the book and motivated me to think about my work and how to find meaning in it, but it seems to me a book more suitable for people that want to start a company or drastically turn their lives around

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not recommended.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this book existed couple of years ago when I was going through my quarter-life breakthrough. I think then I would have found it very useful. Even then, it was still a good read right now because those life breakthroughs will happen again and again.

The author does NOT follow the camp of “follow your passion”. He explains why that advice doesn’t work. It is also refreshing to see that your desired quality of life is important when deciding on the next step (along with your gifts and impact you want to have on the world). The book is full with actionable exercises of how to find your alignment for the next breakthrough. Author also cites all the relevant research and books, like Meg Jay’s book The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter--And How to Make the Most of Them Now or Cal Newport’s book So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.

A lot of the stories in the book involve somebody quitting their job. Except the following one: “I didn’t quit my job right away; I treated my job as training for what I knew I was going to do next. I felt like I was getting paid to go to business school.” I wish there were more stories like this. I do believe that sometimes it is possible to change a job into a meaningful one by changing the perspective. For example, what are all the other things that this job could teach me? For example, how to deal with office politics, how to be the best person on earth doing this, what do all the people around me are doing, for those more successful than me, how did they achieve it?

It was also interesting to hear Smiley's own journey of becoming a writer and doing his own breakthrough in regards to writing this book. What’s the worst could happen, he asked. Only his mom would read, but he would read something invaluable in the process.

In addition Smiley has convinced me to finally read the books Bird by Bird and The War of Art.

All in all, I recommend to read this book to anybody in their twenties and thirties, especially if you are wondering what’s next?

[bee munny · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot I was able to glean from this book as a 25 year old. It helped me to look at my occupation and career goals with a new perspective that begged me to ask myself, what do I want out of my 9-5? How can I get to where I want to be in my career? There are plenty of practical steps that can help you to reach your goals and resources.

The cons to me were that the information was oftentimes disorganized, repetitive and hard to follow. It also feels, at times, that this book is tailored towards the author’s demographic-20 and 30-something college grads who’ve found themselves in successful, lucrative positions, but who are dissatisfied and want to transition to a more purpose-driven career.

If this sounds like you, you’ll get a lot of this book. If it doesn’t, there are still nuggets of helpful information herein.

[Christina Ausley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While very occasionally I had disagreements with the author’s perspective, wow was this an amazing read for people in their twenties, people looking to make a difference and find purpose in their work, and people who just feel stuck — all without telling what most twenties-focused books tell you, “to just quit your job!”. This quick read is an incredibly practical approach to finding meaningful work and finding people who will support you along the way. Absolutely would recommend to anyone who doesn’t know their next step, feels lost at work, or is simply looking for a way to make their work more impactful. This book, on the flip side, really made me appreciate the work I currently do even more, and made me value my teammates, all while showing me how I can be an even more impactful individual in the workplace.

[Catherine Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed most of this book but did find pieces of it helpful. I came across this book at a time when I was questioning my worth and purpose at work. I appreciated that this book isn't just about the author's own experiences, but he includes the experiences of other friends and colleagues.

The book has several activities throughout, which offered me moments to think about what I want out of my career/workplace/community. It's an easy book to put down and pick back up.

[Laura Smail · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Always ignore people who tell you not to pursue your dreams. Almost everything has already been done, but it hasn’t been done by you, and that’s all that matters.” ~ @whatsupsmiley

It was barely 8:00 a.m. and his phone was ringing off the hook. A long sigh echoed from the other side of my cubicle as a tired young man reached over to answer the first of many calls that day. My overworked colleague searched for words to soothe the stressed caller while drafting an agency-wide email and trying to fit in a last-minute meeting request on his boss’s full calendar.

This was Adam Poswolsky’s daily grind before he had his breakthrough.

Adam (a.k.a. Smiley) defines a breakthrough as “a moment of opportunity and possibility when you discover why you’re doing what you’re doing and what you want to give to the world.”

For my former coworker, that moment came when a friend asked him, “Why would you be doing anything less than maximizing your potential in life?”

Smiley’s lightbulb moment led him to write “The Quarter-Life Breakthrough,” a career book for millennials that redefines our basis for making important decisions, like which job opportunity to accept, when to leave a position, and whether or not to pursue grad school.

Breaking from tradition, Smiley asserts that play-it-safe career advice from friends and coworkers can actually prevent you from stepping into your breakthrough and discovering your true vocational calling.

Unlike other career books, Smiley’s goal is not to help you land a new job lickety-split. On the contrary, Smiley challenges his readers to carefully consider whether an opportunity would be a good match based on four personal criteria: gifts, community, impact, and quality of life.

Smiley writes from his own experience and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly. Full of honesty and free from pretense, Smiley’s words resonate with anyone who has ever questioned what’s next. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the workforce or a seasoned veteran, I promise you will have a lightbulb moment when you read “The Quarter-Life Breakthrough.”

[p · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

Wow, I absolutely loved this book. I actually bought it sometime in 2020, and then it lived on my shelf until I decided to get over myself and deal with things that were bothering me. This is an ongoing rut I've been in for so long now, and I've never been willing to settle for good enough. This is a book for anyone who fucking hates their job LOL

I 10000000% rec this book to anyone going through a quarter-life crisis, but especially to college students just graduating. I think college does a great job at educating you in your chosen field, but no so much about the job market and how to navigate through it.

This book has so much practical and concrete advice, and it's written in such a conversational manner that it feels like you're chatting with a friend. I loved all the exercises, and I genuinely found all the advice to be renewing and helpful.

This is not a book that blindly advises you to quit your paying job and pursue your passion, it is a book that encourages you to pursue your passion as a side project until you can find a stable source of income in your desired field.

It's so good. It's so helpful. And it's a reminder that careers, no matter the field, span decades. It takes hard work and hustle to get where you want to be, but that doesn't mean you never will. Anyway I encourage everyone to read this book. I gave it a 4.5 because I found some of the ending chapters weren't as engaging for me personally, but it's such an important, eye-opening, and comforting read.

[Jaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're really feeling stuck without a sense of what you actually want to do with your career, and you have a lot of flexibility to take risks, this book might be for you. Treats career fit as a problem to solve with rapid prototyping.

Otherwise, probably not for you.

Despite the name, like many books this one conflates life with career and maybe a bit of lifestyle. You could take the exercises in other directions too and go for other aspects of your life, but that's not how they are intended.

Gets repetitive especially towards the end, and felt dated to me. Some of it tech/social media references that are out of date, but other aspects more fundamental to cultural shifts.

I appreciated the red light to green light metaphor in the Fear section (Matthew McConaughey would agree! I read his memoir this year too!) - taking what seems like a failure and treating it as data to learn from is usually a helpful tactic in many areas of life. I also appreciated the focus on what you can give sustainably as a model to replace the idea of "finding your passion."

Not really the right book for me, and again, not the right book for you unless you are really at a loss with what to do next in your career (rather than just a little bit disgruntled or looking for the next growth opportunity) and have the flexibility to prototype in the way that the author does (which many Americans in their early-to-mid 20s do, and sometimes beyond that, but not everyone does).

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an optimistic, uplifting book if you're currently re-evaluating where you are in your career in your 20s/30s.

Not entirely 'feel good' however; this book also gives you very practical, concrete steps you can take to start figuring out what to do next if you're currently living a life that isn't aligned to your values (and that these values will continuously shift, and that's okay too).

The most useful parts of these books were the end of chapter 'thought exercises'.

The wide perspective from over 20 interviews was also helpful as a reminder that there is 'no one way' that is the best -- it all comes down to what's best for -you-. It could be entrepreneurship, it could be social work, it could be the corporate world, it could be working in a big MNC...

I found this book motivating for getting me thinking about what my values are, and what's currently lacking in my life today that I could start taking small steps towards building.

Not widely life-changing; but certainly encouraging and points you in the right directions.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose a perfect time to read this; today began my journey on a new lily pad. I love how the author clearly states that climbing the corporate ladder doesn't exist anymore, because even though I did take a few steps up some ladders, me finding other jobs had always been a new lily pad instead. Something that's familiar, but not too familiar that I'm not doing the same job over and over.

The only reason why I'm giving the book a lower rating than most is that a lot of the self-help books I read in my lifetime, the same logical explanation is being used (besides the lily pad metaphor). I'm aware of hustling hard and keep going and creating a vision board so you have something to look at while accomplishing your goals. This book would be geared towards people who are going through a quarter-life crisis that needs that extra push to get them out moving, and I've already read one too many of those books to know where my motivation needs to be. (Granted, the book is written that it's pretty easy to understand and provides enough real-life examples.)

[Etchison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book. I like the basic tenets of it and the exercises throughout. I think they can be applied to pretty much anyone. The only reason I don't give it more stars is because I think the anecdotes in the book focus too much on a specific type of career and success. Basically, everyone eventually moves to San Francisco and works in a startup. (I'm exaggerating. Not everyone in the book goes to San Fran.) And the examples he gives of his friends on Facebook made me feel totally inadequate at even making friends. Who the hell has a friend in Forbes top 30 under 30 AND a friend with a medical start up AND someone with a documentary in South by Southwest AND a friend raises $10 million dollars. I want to be like - dude - of course YOUR network got you a thousand cool opportunities. But what about us normal people? I still bought a copy for my brother though because he seriously needs to find a job.

[Div Manickam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smiley, a sacred bow to you and your book.

This book made me smile. I always said 2021 is my year of breakthrough. And having read this book I feel it in my bones.

You have given me hope and inspiration to self-publish my first book. Not sure what it'll take but I'm committed to make it happen. Thank you for being you. Thank you for empowering our millennial generation to believe in ourselves and set a path forward.

I love the definition of success. And how you described the feeling to know when you're fulfilled and content. To know when it's enough. Success is what it means to you and you alone.. not what others think.

Today is enough and I'm happy.

I highly recommend this book for anyone irrespective of age trying to figure out what to do next.

I will hold on to this quote from the book anytime I doubt myself.
"Almost everything has already been done, but it hasn’t been done by you, and that’s all that matters."

[Faith Dismuke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could only get past the intro and the first 30 pages. Although the book mentions in the intro that it is not a “selling dreams“ type of book, The constant feel of the book is go after your passion and how you feel. The advice is not particularly practical or helpful in actually going into the job market.

Even as a motivational book the examples are not as motivating. Many of the examples in the beginning are about individuals who were already in a very established position. Although their stories are presented as them being risktakers, the individuals all had significant safety nets that many who are going through a quarter life crisis do not have.

Every self-help book has his audience. I do not feel like I am this particular audience.

[Anica Bareis-Golumb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with many other reviews of this book; the book is definitely written for a certain type of privileged person who is already well connected in professional fields, or for a person who knows that they have a secret dream and want it to become a reality. It was a less helpful read for someone who isn't sure what path to pursue. The most useful part of the book are the questions. I would suggest just flipping through the book for those. Otherwise the entire book is comprised of anecdotal stories that can feel infuriating if you're at the point in your career transition where you aren't sure where to go next. One positive is that overall this book can encourage a reader with the fact that they aren't alone in their feelings of dissatisfaction with their career

[Breanne Brocker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably wouldn't recommend this book. Some of it was encouraging and made good points about surrounding yourself with people who support you moving forward rather than finding excuses for you to be complacent but a lot of it felt like fluff meant to fill the pages. It also had a lot of random stories of how people succeeded by making giant leaps in their career, which is great for them but also seems very far fetched for most people. Like deciding to leave a leading law firm to start a non-profit in some foreign country, yes it's an inspirational story but is it relatable to most people's lives.. probably not