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It's Great to Suck at Something: The Unexpected Joy of Wiping Out and What It Can Teach Us About Patience, Resilience, and the Stuff that Really Matters
Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal.
What if the secret to resilience and joy is the one thing we’ve been taught to avoid?
When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?
Odds are, not recently.
As a sh*tty surfer and all-around-imperfect human Karen Rinaldi explains in this eye-opening book, we live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over play. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. But we’re all being had. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection. We judge others on stuff we can’t even begin to master, and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever. Worse, we’re not improving on what really matters.
This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something reveals that the key to a richer, more fulfilling life is finding something to suck at. Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport she’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. She draws from sources as diverse as Anthony Bourdain and surfing luminary Jaimal Yogis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among many others, and explains the marvelous things that happen to our mammalian brains when we try something new, all to discover what she’s learned it is great to suck at something. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom : the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.
Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, (It’s Great to) Suck at Something is an invitation to embrace our shortcomings as the very best of who we are and to open ourselves up to adventure, where we may not find what we thought we were looking for, but something way more important.
What if the secret to resilience and joy is the one thing we’ve been taught to avoid?
When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?
Odds are, not recently.
As a sh*tty surfer and all-around-imperfect human Karen Rinaldi explains in this eye-opening book, we live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over play. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. But we’re all being had. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection. We judge others on stuff we can’t even begin to master, and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever. Worse, we’re not improving on what really matters.
This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something reveals that the key to a richer, more fulfilling life is finding something to suck at. Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport she’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. She draws from sources as diverse as Anthony Bourdain and surfing luminary Jaimal Yogis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among many others, and explains the marvelous things that happen to our mammalian brains when we try something new, all to discover what she’s learned it is great to suck at something. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom : the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.
Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, (It’s Great to) Suck at Something is an invitation to embrace our shortcomings as the very best of who we are and to open ourselves up to adventure, where we may not find what we thought we were looking for, but something way more important.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 7, 2019
114 people are currently reading
1297 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
June 5, 2019
When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?
The title of Karen Rinaldi’s book resonates with me, someone who has made conscious efforts to cultivate being a beginner on a regular basis. I was that kid Carol Dweck warns of when she talks about children who are praised for accomplishment who become fearful of taking risks. In response, I have spent my adulthood cultivating suckitude in many arenas. I have been a terrible photographer and a terrible runner/triathlete. I’m currently a terrible violin player. There’s something very freeing about this.
Rinaldi knows what I’m talking about and she wants to share the gospel of sucking with you. In her 40s, she opted to counter to her lifelong anxieties about the ocean by learning to surf. She was terrible at it. Like, legit terrible. After her initial lessons, it took her five years to catch a wave on her own.
Imagine that: five years’s worth of mornings and afternoons of pulling out a board, paddling out in the water, sitting on a board, and not once managing to pop up and ride a wave. That’s not even optimism; that’s definition of insanity kind of stuff.
But there’s a satisfaction in leaning into the failure. And, I think Rinaldi would agree, we have to be okay with naming it as failure. There are things we will attempt to do that we will never be good at by any objective means. This doesn’t mean those activities are not worthwhile. They still can be.
Life is not for figuring out. It’s for living. It’s for succeeding and sucking. And while we are inclined to seek comfort, we are sure to meet with discomfort. Sucking at something embraces that discomfort and turns it into something beautiful.
The book is a longer form of a New York Times article published two years ago. Rinaldi makes a passionate argument in favor of sucking, layering personal anecdotes with information culled from philosophy, literature, and science.
While I’m glad Rinaldi filled out her idea a bit more, the book drags a little under the weight of the more academic portions. The book almost feels like a surfer sitting in the water, waiting for the right moment to move forward and missing wave after wave of opportunities for forward motion. And this is why I've given it a lower rating. By about half way through the book, I was growing frustrated with the pace. It moves too slow and there were several points where I lost the thread of the discussion.
This is a lovely, if long, memoir that I would absolutely recommend to anyone on the fence about pursuing a hobby that sounds intriguing.
I will never be Regina Carter, Hilary Hahn, or Sarah Watkins on my violin. I might one day aspire to match Jack Benny’s comedy routine. Regardless, right now, I can absolutely say that Tuesday--the day I haul my instrument on my commute for my lesson at lunch--is my favorite day of the week. And that alone has made a huge difference in my mental health.
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.
May 31, 2019
I thought it was actually going to tell us how to enjoy the things you’re not good at, but it’s just a boring story about surfing, kept giving it chances but seriously can’t get to finish it
March 26, 2020
⭐️⭐️ for telling me how to suck at something.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for being a memoir about not being a good surfer but being a good human.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for being a memoir about not being a good surfer but being a good human.
October 11, 2019
It takes a lot for me to hate a book. Not only couldn't I stand this meandering, self-absorbed book (which was rambling and useless for supporting her theories), I found the author to present herself in such an unlikeable way, I found myself wanting to report her to some authorities. Child and family services? Ugh.
This is someone I wouldn't trust to drive a car in which I rode or hold my money without fear of her returning with magic beans. She comes off as a person good at her professional field, but selfish, and irresponsible. She actually reports, with some odd pride, that when she got frustrated and yelled at her eight-year-old child for "behaving like a child," he rightfully shot back, "What are you talking about? I am> a child." But mostly, she behaves like a child, and who can take advice from such a person?
I can't take advice from someone who risks her life, her children's education, her family's safety, or hers and her husband's financial security. This kind of person seems like a lunatic to me; I'm sure I'd seem stodgy to her. I'd rather be stodgy than have to get stitches in my most intimate areas. (Ahem! And yes, it was from surfing.))
The book is 200 pages. A good 150 pages was so boring that I can't imagine anyone who isn't pathologically addicted to surfing could bear to read it.
Allegedly, Rinaldi's framework for teaching people that "sucking" at something can "teach us about patience, resilience, and the stuff that really matters" is by talking about experiences where one isn't very good at something. Fair enough. That approach should be brilliant. Tell us how to focus on the enjoyment of the thing and not the success we achieve in attaining some level of doing the thing. I'm in!
But then she spends at least 75% of those pages talking about surfing. OMG, so much surfing!!! With buzzwords and lingo that shows she's not interested in making this book at all relevant to people who think surfing (and taking drugs, and shutting out your loved ones when you have cancer, and risking your child's safety) is dangerous and stupid.
When she's not talking about surfing, she's talking about a lifetime of irresponsible decisions she's made (like throwing all of her money, literally every penny, at a real estate investment of a property she's never seen and doesn't actually see until years later, sold to her by a man she's never met) or how her elementary school child had to put his foot down and insist he not be taken out of school so that he could be dragged on a jaunt to Costa Rica.
To be fair, Rinaldi is pro-risk and I am anti-risk when it has to do with physical danger. Risking embarrassment? Sure. Risking failure of a non-physical, non-financial variety? Why not? But one huge section of the book, she ends up with 17 stitches and ruins her inner thigh and her intimate parts. In a chapter about her bout with cancer, she makes herself as unlikeable as possible by ignoring medical advice (over and over) so she can go play in the water and risk further damage.
I am incredibly in favor of the premise of the book -- embracing doing things at which you do not excel so that you can avoid perfectionism and actually enjoy things without self-judgment. And the 30 pages of citations at the end of the book -- everything from Pema Chödron to Hannah Arendt to Sartre to Jung -- whose findings and quotations were peppered throughout the book, were actually interesting. But Rinaldi, while being a decent story teller, is terrible at making a point. Had her editors not started each chapter with a rule, a lesson, and a benefit, one might not even know what the point of any given chapter was supposed to be.
This book could have been a memoir about surfing. Hell, this book could easily have been EXACTLY what it is and PROMOTED as a memoir about surfing, and I'd have no complaint, because I would have avoided it completely, or at least after I had a sense of the author's mindset. But this was marketed as a book about personal growth and development by way of relinquishing perfectionism, and it was not that. None of her stories about surfing ever seemed to adequately support her points. The material related to her topic, when stripped of surfing, could have fit in a long blog post without deleting any of her salient points.
The author has a good grasp of sentence structure, syntax, and grammar, as befits a writer and editor. Had it been badly written, technically, I would have given it one star, and that was practically its only saving grace. The only part of the book I appreciated -- I can't say liked -- was the deft and compelling quality of her narrative when she talks about her teenage son having a very bad head injury while surfing, and the afternoon and overnight hours after his injury. On its own, that chapter, or parts of it, could stand as an evocative discussion of the pain inherent in parenting, and indeed, in loving someone.
Again, it's rare for me to have such a profound reaction to a book, or an author, but this book was not what it was promoted as, and the resulting work filled me with revulsion toward the author and much of the material. If you're a physical risk-taker, if you think scars, and bad parenting, and risking bankruptcy and being eaten by alligators are anything to find compelling, have it at it. I can't wait to return this book to the library just to get it out of my house.
This is someone I wouldn't trust to drive a car in which I rode or hold my money without fear of her returning with magic beans. She comes off as a person good at her professional field, but selfish, and irresponsible. She actually reports, with some odd pride, that when she got frustrated and yelled at her eight-year-old child for "behaving like a child," he rightfully shot back, "What are you talking about? I am> a child." But mostly, she behaves like a child, and who can take advice from such a person?
I can't take advice from someone who risks her life, her children's education, her family's safety, or hers and her husband's financial security. This kind of person seems like a lunatic to me; I'm sure I'd seem stodgy to her. I'd rather be stodgy than have to get stitches in my most intimate areas. (Ahem! And yes, it was from surfing.))
The book is 200 pages. A good 150 pages was so boring that I can't imagine anyone who isn't pathologically addicted to surfing could bear to read it.
Allegedly, Rinaldi's framework for teaching people that "sucking" at something can "teach us about patience, resilience, and the stuff that really matters" is by talking about experiences where one isn't very good at something. Fair enough. That approach should be brilliant. Tell us how to focus on the enjoyment of the thing and not the success we achieve in attaining some level of doing the thing. I'm in!
But then she spends at least 75% of those pages talking about surfing. OMG, so much surfing!!! With buzzwords and lingo that shows she's not interested in making this book at all relevant to people who think surfing (and taking drugs, and shutting out your loved ones when you have cancer, and risking your child's safety) is dangerous and stupid.
When she's not talking about surfing, she's talking about a lifetime of irresponsible decisions she's made (like throwing all of her money, literally every penny, at a real estate investment of a property she's never seen and doesn't actually see until years later, sold to her by a man she's never met) or how her elementary school child had to put his foot down and insist he not be taken out of school so that he could be dragged on a jaunt to Costa Rica.
To be fair, Rinaldi is pro-risk and I am anti-risk when it has to do with physical danger. Risking embarrassment? Sure. Risking failure of a non-physical, non-financial variety? Why not? But one huge section of the book, she ends up with 17 stitches and ruins her inner thigh and her intimate parts. In a chapter about her bout with cancer, she makes herself as unlikeable as possible by ignoring medical advice (over and over) so she can go play in the water and risk further damage.
I am incredibly in favor of the premise of the book -- embracing doing things at which you do not excel so that you can avoid perfectionism and actually enjoy things without self-judgment. And the 30 pages of citations at the end of the book -- everything from Pema Chödron to Hannah Arendt to Sartre to Jung -- whose findings and quotations were peppered throughout the book, were actually interesting. But Rinaldi, while being a decent story teller, is terrible at making a point. Had her editors not started each chapter with a rule, a lesson, and a benefit, one might not even know what the point of any given chapter was supposed to be.
This book could have been a memoir about surfing. Hell, this book could easily have been EXACTLY what it is and PROMOTED as a memoir about surfing, and I'd have no complaint, because I would have avoided it completely, or at least after I had a sense of the author's mindset. But this was marketed as a book about personal growth and development by way of relinquishing perfectionism, and it was not that. None of her stories about surfing ever seemed to adequately support her points. The material related to her topic, when stripped of surfing, could have fit in a long blog post without deleting any of her salient points.
The author has a good grasp of sentence structure, syntax, and grammar, as befits a writer and editor. Had it been badly written, technically, I would have given it one star, and that was practically its only saving grace. The only part of the book I appreciated -- I can't say liked -- was the deft and compelling quality of her narrative when she talks about her teenage son having a very bad head injury while surfing, and the afternoon and overnight hours after his injury. On its own, that chapter, or parts of it, could stand as an evocative discussion of the pain inherent in parenting, and indeed, in loving someone.
Again, it's rare for me to have such a profound reaction to a book, or an author, but this book was not what it was promoted as, and the resulting work filled me with revulsion toward the author and much of the material. If you're a physical risk-taker, if you think scars, and bad parenting, and risking bankruptcy and being eaten by alligators are anything to find compelling, have it at it. I can't wait to return this book to the library just to get it out of my house.
February 13, 2022
Honestly, I didn't think I would need to read an entire book entitled “Suck at Something” to drive the point home. Most days, I feel like I don’t need to seek out things to suck at, but that’s another story. So while I am confessing my honest thoughts, I will say that I could write two vastly different reviews of this book. Let me start by saying I love the premise of this book and I highly recommend it. Rinaldi argues that many adults stop trying new things, and if they do venture out into the land of beginners, once they find they are not good at it, they immediately quit. Because there is nothing worse than being inadequate at something. What Rinaldi grapples with is the fact that many of us are diminishing our own lives and “add another blank spot” when we stop trying new things and our adulthood becomes a kind of “accumulation of blank spots.” Why? Rinaldi argues because we are scared to be vulnerable; we dislike feeling uncomfortable when we are not good at something. But, if we change our thinking, by trying new things we aren’t very good at and continue to do them even when we’re not good at them, we become better humans. We learn grit and a dose of humiliation can often lead to humility. We learn to accept our imperfect selves and therefore be kinder to our fellow flawed humans and accept their imperfect selves too. So, this book is filled with inspiration and great lessons. It’s a message I needed to hear and she gave it to me with quips and bits from philosophy and psychology from existentialism to chaos theory with a side of wabi sabi. Her citations, notes, and bibliography are fantastic.
What's not to love about this book? And that’s my problem, there is one thing I didn’t love, surfing. And boy does she talk about surfing. A lot. Her tales of battling the waves, and the detailed minutiae of learning how to catch her first wave I found tedious. And perhaps I was a little annoyed by the fact someone can take on a lifestyle that requires time and money and even an extra home in Costa Rica made me feel like rolling my eyes.
But I didn’t give up on this book, because I felt like the message was too important to quit. I wrote my list of the things I want to try. And the things I want to try AGAIN. Perfectionism is overrated anyway. And by setting up impossible standards, you are just robbing yourself of a more rewarding and full life. So go ahead and start finding the joy in the doing, even if you suck at it.
What's not to love about this book? And that’s my problem, there is one thing I didn’t love, surfing. And boy does she talk about surfing. A lot. Her tales of battling the waves, and the detailed minutiae of learning how to catch her first wave I found tedious. And perhaps I was a little annoyed by the fact someone can take on a lifestyle that requires time and money and even an extra home in Costa Rica made me feel like rolling my eyes.
But I didn’t give up on this book, because I felt like the message was too important to quit. I wrote my list of the things I want to try. And the things I want to try AGAIN. Perfectionism is overrated anyway. And by setting up impossible standards, you are just robbing yourself of a more rewarding and full life. So go ahead and start finding the joy in the doing, even if you suck at it.
June 24, 2019
The basic premise of the book is this: if you're afraid of sucking at something, you'll never try anything new. You need to open yourself up to being vulnerable. Go ahead. Suck at something. Do things just for the love of doing it.
Which is great.
Except the woman who wrote this is -- ugh, how do I put this -- not a role model. She's constantly putting her children and finances in peril. She jettisons huge portions of her life for her interests, none of which she's good at. Her selfishness cannot be overstated.
For example, she moved her family to the beach so she could surf. She is not good at surfing. She spent 5 years (FIVE YEARS) trying to catch her first wave.
Another time, she liquidated ALL OF HER FINANCES to buy a plot of land, SIGHT UNSEEN, in another country. Because she felt like she and the real estate agent clicked.
So anyway, she's a loon. But the point of the book is sound.
Which is great.
Except the woman who wrote this is -- ugh, how do I put this -- not a role model. She's constantly putting her children and finances in peril. She jettisons huge portions of her life for her interests, none of which she's good at. Her selfishness cannot be overstated.
For example, she moved her family to the beach so she could surf. She is not good at surfing. She spent 5 years (FIVE YEARS) trying to catch her first wave.
Another time, she liquidated ALL OF HER FINANCES to buy a plot of land, SIGHT UNSEEN, in another country. Because she felt like she and the real estate agent clicked.
So anyway, she's a loon. But the point of the book is sound.
November 28, 2019
3.5 en realidad.
-
“Hazlo fatal, pero hazlo igualmente” es un libro que aboga por la libertad, por la necesidad de equivocarse, de aprender de los errores y no sentirse mal por fallar.
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Este libro lo recibí en un momento en el que quería leer muchos libros de este estilo que tocaran diferentes temas. El crecimiento personal creo que es un tema muy importante y que se tiene que tocar más, por ello quería ver como lo enfocaba esta autora.
Karen utiliza sus propias experiencias para detallar el porqué de la necesidad de hacer cosas que se nos pueden dar mal, pero que nos divierten y proporcionan un bien. la forma en la que se cuentan las cosas está muy bien y es interesante. Es verdad, que a veces es libro parecía más una autobiografía que un libro de autoayuda que te proporcione consejos para conseguir el fin que promete. Yo sé que esto puede gustar más o menos, yo soy de las personas a las que les gusta más porque muchas veces es más fácil que nos demos cuenta de las cosas si se nos cuentan con ejemplo. En este caso, la autora utiliza su propia vida para enseñarnos a disfrutar la nuestra.
Aunque el tema anterior está bien, para mí lo más importante es todas las enseñanzas que se pueden sacar del fracaso. Muchas personas, entre las que me incluye, no saben gestionar algunos fracasos. Es verdad que yo nunca he tenido un bache muy grande del que no haya sabido afrontar como seguir adelante, pero sí que sé que hay muchas personas que no son capaces de levantarse tras una derrota, y eso es justo a lo que enseña este libro. Entre otras cosas, se tratan temas como la vulnerabilidad, la confianza, la humildad, la resiliencia… En general la sensación que se me ha quedado tras leer esta obra es de felicidad. Todos somos humanos y podemos equivocarnos, todos podemos caer y luego levantarnos Al final, nada es para siempre y hay que aprender de nuestros errores.
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Reseña completa aquí: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5V0q6nFrUH/
-
“Hazlo fatal, pero hazlo igualmente” es un libro que aboga por la libertad, por la necesidad de equivocarse, de aprender de los errores y no sentirse mal por fallar.
-
Este libro lo recibí en un momento en el que quería leer muchos libros de este estilo que tocaran diferentes temas. El crecimiento personal creo que es un tema muy importante y que se tiene que tocar más, por ello quería ver como lo enfocaba esta autora.
Karen utiliza sus propias experiencias para detallar el porqué de la necesidad de hacer cosas que se nos pueden dar mal, pero que nos divierten y proporcionan un bien. la forma en la que se cuentan las cosas está muy bien y es interesante. Es verdad, que a veces es libro parecía más una autobiografía que un libro de autoayuda que te proporcione consejos para conseguir el fin que promete. Yo sé que esto puede gustar más o menos, yo soy de las personas a las que les gusta más porque muchas veces es más fácil que nos demos cuenta de las cosas si se nos cuentan con ejemplo. En este caso, la autora utiliza su propia vida para enseñarnos a disfrutar la nuestra.
Aunque el tema anterior está bien, para mí lo más importante es todas las enseñanzas que se pueden sacar del fracaso. Muchas personas, entre las que me incluye, no saben gestionar algunos fracasos. Es verdad que yo nunca he tenido un bache muy grande del que no haya sabido afrontar como seguir adelante, pero sí que sé que hay muchas personas que no son capaces de levantarse tras una derrota, y eso es justo a lo que enseña este libro. Entre otras cosas, se tratan temas como la vulnerabilidad, la confianza, la humildad, la resiliencia… En general la sensación que se me ha quedado tras leer esta obra es de felicidad. Todos somos humanos y podemos equivocarnos, todos podemos caer y luego levantarnos Al final, nada es para siempre y hay que aprender de nuestros errores.
-
Reseña completa aquí: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5V0q6nFrUH/
October 27, 2019
This is more memoir about this woman's love of surfing - even though she "sucks" at it - than anything self-help. As a perfectionist I was hoping for some tips for just enjoying the process but I didn't find it here!
May 9, 2019
Such a wise, funny, inspiring read
October 12, 2024
That was a lot of fun, and had some great messages and thoughts. I’m not sure why, or if it is just my own experience… but I’m not sure I’ve ever met a surfer who wasn’t also a philosopher in some sense. This book gave me a lot to think about and ponder … it also helped me to put into perspective the absolute mountain of things in my life that I genuinely suck at! Maybe tomorrow I’ll “suck a little less”.
March 3, 2020
La premisa que nos presenta el libro es interesante: en la sociedad en la que vivimos se identifica el éxito (lo que se nos da bien) con la felicidad. La autora nos propone que seamos capaces de aceptar aquello que se nos da fatal y que lo hagamos, porque eso nos aportará libertad y resiliencia que nos ayudará a encontrar la felicidad.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
La autora se basa en su propia historia con el surf, y nos narra en el libro sus experiencias a modo de autobiografía.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Como sabéis, me encantan los libros de crecimiento personal, pero en este caso ha sido un poco desilusión, precisamente porque esperaba un libro más inspirador e interactivo. La premisa tenía buena pinta pero me encontré con la biografía de la autora que no me ha despertado gran interés.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Por un lado, se centra demasiado en hablar sobre el surf, que a mí personalmente no me atrae demasiado. Y por otro, no he conectado con la forma de actuar de la autora, con las decisiones que ha tomado en determinadas situaciones de su vida que nos relata en el libro. Por ejemplo, pone en peligro su salud de forma innecesaria, en otro momento arriesga su economía junto a la de su familia por hacer una gran inversión por impulso... Decisiones con las que no he llegado a empatizar.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Como positivo, me gustaría destacar que la edición está muy cuidada. La estética general está orientada al surf incluyendo ilustraciones relacionadas. Y también se nota muchísimo que Karen se dedica al mundo editorial, porque el libro está muy bien escrito, y además a lo largo de la lectura incluye bastantes referencias completadas con una extensa biografía al final.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Ha sido un poco desilusión porque iba con otras expectativas diferentes a una biografía y porque finalmente no he conectado con la autora, pero seguramente sea algo personal y vosotros si os animáis a leerlo lo disfrutéis, ya que la idea principal me parece bastante interesante.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Valoración: ♡♡ 2'5 corazones
⠀⠀⠀⠀
La autora se basa en su propia historia con el surf, y nos narra en el libro sus experiencias a modo de autobiografía.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Como sabéis, me encantan los libros de crecimiento personal, pero en este caso ha sido un poco desilusión, precisamente porque esperaba un libro más inspirador e interactivo. La premisa tenía buena pinta pero me encontré con la biografía de la autora que no me ha despertado gran interés.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Por un lado, se centra demasiado en hablar sobre el surf, que a mí personalmente no me atrae demasiado. Y por otro, no he conectado con la forma de actuar de la autora, con las decisiones que ha tomado en determinadas situaciones de su vida que nos relata en el libro. Por ejemplo, pone en peligro su salud de forma innecesaria, en otro momento arriesga su economía junto a la de su familia por hacer una gran inversión por impulso... Decisiones con las que no he llegado a empatizar.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
Como positivo, me gustaría destacar que la edición está muy cuidada. La estética general está orientada al surf incluyendo ilustraciones relacionadas. Y también se nota muchísimo que Karen se dedica al mundo editorial, porque el libro está muy bien escrito, y además a lo largo de la lectura incluye bastantes referencias completadas con una extensa biografía al final.
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Ha sido un poco desilusión porque iba con otras expectativas diferentes a una biografía y porque finalmente no he conectado con la autora, pero seguramente sea algo personal y vosotros si os animáis a leerlo lo disfrutéis, ya que la idea principal me parece bastante interesante.
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Valoración: ♡♡ 2'5 corazones
July 31, 2019
I picked this book up hopeful that I would be able to introduce it to a work book club. The premise seemed promising: do something at which you suck, but enjoy doing, or learning about. Get comfortable being uncomfortable in something that doesn't matter and that brings no extrinsic reward. Unfortunately I can't use it. Certainly I can take some of the tidbits that Rinaldi offers to make myself better. The method of delivery in this book is terrible. This is more of a memoir for Rinaldi, wherein she explores her awakenings and finds peace in the struggle, while raising children, and finding out she has cancer. And she surfs. A lot. One would think that as a publisher (her day job) that she would understand that the tedious, repetitive minutiae of how to surf would turn readers off. I say this knowing full well that I put people to sleep when I get into the finer details of my passion: running. It's too much. Also, the vulgarity was off putting and unnecessary. I believe that a well timed F bomb has a certain value. Cursing for the sake of cursing is not helpful in the context of what Rinaldi wants to share with us. You can call me a prude, that's fine. But to illustrate this take the example of a surfing accident she describes in her book in which she suffered a severe laceration to her most private of parts. Her word choice was the most offensive she could have found, and she used it repeatedly. The idea for her book started as a New York Times article. She should have left it at that.
June 14, 2024
Para todas las mujeres que todavía lidiamos con la idea completamente utópica de perfección para atrevernos a hacer algo y con la crítica interna que no solo nos vuelve más duras con nosotras mismas si no con las otras, este libro es perfecto. Es una lectura rápida, sencilla, entretenida, llena de narraciones personales que nos hace pensar que todas las mujeres en diferentes contextos vivimos con los mismos miedos y dudas.
April 11, 2021
Here is a fun book that uses the author's surfing obsession to highlight what sucking at something does for someone. It builds character and the capability to face just about anything. Resilience.
Sucking here means a hobby that one does & doesn't care how good/bad they are. In the author's case it is surfing. She doesn't feel the desire to be better than anyone else out in the waves. Only to keep at it. The ability to suck at something gives yourself the freedom to just be. I can definitely see the positive in such thinking.
I do martial arts. I don't care how quickly I move up in belt colors or if I ever will. The most important thing for me is to be on the mat. Nothing else. I am used for examples as it is known I don't have an issue looking like the most uncoordinated student on the mat. I try and keep trying. Our group is supportive & I have kids that can definitely kick my butt. I have been channeling that freedom to suck into other things and it feels good.
One of the entertaining aspects of the book is the author's stories. Some of her injuries are cringeworthy. By telling her stories, she is making herself vulnerable while at the same time letting go of the stress & worry of sucking. It is an interesting approach to life. The author excels at goofing things up in life, but her resilience is what keeps her going. Do note the language is coarse throughout (colorful metaphors), so while the concepts are great for any age group, the text is better for teens and up.
When I was in high tech, I saw way too many parents push their kids to be the best in sports and other after school activities. Their kids were not allowed to suck at something. Instead it was more pressure to excel, but at a huge cost. The brain needs its play time. But if every minute is to strive for greatness, then greatness won't be achieved. Nobel winners have hobbies they suck at. It is considered one of their techniques to excel in a specific area. We should take their example and embrace the ability to suck at something, as it would make for a calmer society.
Sucking here means a hobby that one does & doesn't care how good/bad they are. In the author's case it is surfing. She doesn't feel the desire to be better than anyone else out in the waves. Only to keep at it. The ability to suck at something gives yourself the freedom to just be. I can definitely see the positive in such thinking.
I do martial arts. I don't care how quickly I move up in belt colors or if I ever will. The most important thing for me is to be on the mat. Nothing else. I am used for examples as it is known I don't have an issue looking like the most uncoordinated student on the mat. I try and keep trying. Our group is supportive & I have kids that can definitely kick my butt. I have been channeling that freedom to suck into other things and it feels good.
One of the entertaining aspects of the book is the author's stories. Some of her injuries are cringeworthy. By telling her stories, she is making herself vulnerable while at the same time letting go of the stress & worry of sucking. It is an interesting approach to life. The author excels at goofing things up in life, but her resilience is what keeps her going. Do note the language is coarse throughout (colorful metaphors), so while the concepts are great for any age group, the text is better for teens and up.
When I was in high tech, I saw way too many parents push their kids to be the best in sports and other after school activities. Their kids were not allowed to suck at something. Instead it was more pressure to excel, but at a huge cost. The brain needs its play time. But if every minute is to strive for greatness, then greatness won't be achieved. Nobel winners have hobbies they suck at. It is considered one of their techniques to excel in a specific area. We should take their example and embrace the ability to suck at something, as it would make for a calmer society.
September 9, 2019
2.75 stars. Probably my own fault but I was expecting more of a self help/memoir type book, but this has a lot of philosophical sections that I couldn’t wrap my mind around (despite what I perceive to be the author’s attempt to put it in laymen’s terms). I found myself re-reading several passages to try and understand the point and coming up short. There were some great takeaways though and I enjoyed several of the stories.
October 21, 2023
I picked this book up thinking it would be a quick, light, fluffy read about surfing. What I discovered instead was a surprisingly deep meditation on surviving cancer, navigating the milestones of motherhood, finding meaning in life, embracing impermanence. Rinaldi writes with humility and gratitude, despite enduring loss and sorrow.
February 19, 2020
This was ok to start but became repetitious and boring. I was disappointed. I kept thinking it was over and she’d start talking again for the next chapter. I was glad when it ended. Well read by the author.
February 8, 2021
Autobiografía de una editora de libros y surfista estadounidense. Viendo los comentarios me esperaba algo peor, pero no está tan mal. Es una buena historia y tiene de autoayuda lo justo. Mucho mejor que todos esos libros famosos de autoayuda, que dan pena y no sirven un carajo.
January 25, 2022
Great read about the benefits of letting go of perfection especially where we can afford it. Sucking at stuff builds resilience for when it really matters and makes room for growth even when it doesn't seem like it. Explains a lot my love-hate relationship with running.
May 31, 2024
This book is a fascinating and refreshing read, and I am puzzled by all the negative reviews here. The critiques seem to mostly concern the fact that this is probably 70-percent memoir and 30-percent self-help and information about the science of suckitude. If you want less memoir and more basic nitty gritty about her thesis, I recommend her interview on "The Genius Life" podcast. She really distills it well.
It inspired me to pick up a guitar again. I have tried several times, and I am terrible. But this book was like an awakening. I can keep sucking at guitar and just play for my own enjoyment and enrichment, and it will be a great new hobby, a good break from work and adulting, and it might even teach me to take other pursuits less seriously.
For posterity, and mostly so I can reference them, here are her rules, lessons and benefits of suckitude:
Rules:
You have to care about what you suck at, or else it doesn't count.
Do what you love without expectation of gain or reward. You are not your work.
Don't compare yourself to others
You will have to start at the beginning again
Love rules
Do no harm to others in what you suck at
You will lose something along the way
Lessons:
First times are overrated
If you fight the wave, the wave always wins.
It's going to get ugly
Vulnerability makes you stronger
You become less of an asshole
How something meaningless becomes the exact opposite
Benefits:
You appreciate how hard so many things really are, especially those things the truly talented make look so easy.
Playing is good for you.
You come to know yourself — possibly the hardest task in life
Sucking at something is a reason to live
A witness makes it real
Turn humiliation into humility
You become less of an asshole
You'll find beauty where you least expect it
It inspired me to pick up a guitar again. I have tried several times, and I am terrible. But this book was like an awakening. I can keep sucking at guitar and just play for my own enjoyment and enrichment, and it will be a great new hobby, a good break from work and adulting, and it might even teach me to take other pursuits less seriously.
For posterity, and mostly so I can reference them, here are her rules, lessons and benefits of suckitude:
Rules:
You have to care about what you suck at, or else it doesn't count.
Do what you love without expectation of gain or reward. You are not your work.
Don't compare yourself to others
You will have to start at the beginning again
Love rules
Do no harm to others in what you suck at
You will lose something along the way
Lessons:
First times are overrated
If you fight the wave, the wave always wins.
It's going to get ugly
Vulnerability makes you stronger
You become less of an asshole
How something meaningless becomes the exact opposite
Benefits:
You appreciate how hard so many things really are, especially those things the truly talented make look so easy.
Playing is good for you.
You come to know yourself — possibly the hardest task in life
Sucking at something is a reason to live
A witness makes it real
Turn humiliation into humility
You become less of an asshole
You'll find beauty where you least expect it
March 27, 2025
I didn’t like this book at all
nopesauce
June 4, 2019this type of book is great and i love the concept and message, but there's so much surf knowledge, lingo, terms, process, history, culture, etc that it's getting bogged down and i feel like i'm reading a beginners how to book on surfing and it's not quite what i'm in the mood for.
June 14, 2023
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S IT'S GREAT TO SUCK AT SOMETHING ABOUT?
The Publisher's Description is:
My description would be—Rinaldi is a devoted surfer. That doesn't mean that she's a good one—she has witnesses and video evidence to back that up. But she doesn't care—she still loves it. In fact, she's learned a lot about herself—and probably about the way people tick—from being a lousy surfer, and now she has some good advice to share about being lousy at things (and continuing to do them). She weaves this advice with a semi-meandering recounting of her surfing career in the pages of this book.
A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE NARRATION
Rinaldi's narration on this was really good—I'd listen to her narrate another book easily. Maybe it's easier because it's her book and she knows the emotions she's trying to evoke—but I've heard enough authors not know how to do that for me to really believe it.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT IT'S GREAT TO SUCK AT SOMETHING?
I should start by saying that I'm 100% on board with Rinaldi's central thesis and think it's something that more people need to embrace and practice. I just have problems with most of the rest of the book.
We've all been to those "meetings that could've been an email," right?* As I was listening I kept thinking—this is a book that could've been an article. Maybe a series of them. Or a few blog posts. But it had no business being a book.
Of course, not at my current job. I'm talking exclusively about previous positions.
Or at least not this book. If this had been sold as a "memoir of a lousy but committed surfer with some advice you can apply to your own passions/hobbies." It would've been fine. The book wasn't about the benefits of sucking at things, it was about a big part of Rinaldi's life, and through it she offered some observations on the human condition—some of which she can offer footnotes to.
The book really didn't need the turn to spirituality it took toward the end. It was very out of place.
Trim the personal anecdotes to anecdotes/illustrations, amp up the advice (and the reasons for it) and you've got a decent, albeit shorter, book. But as it is, it's hard for me to say that a reader or listener isn't wasting their time.
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WHAT'S IT'S GREAT TO SUCK AT SOMETHING ABOUT?
The Publisher's Description is:
When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?
Odds are, not recently. We live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over happiness. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing anymore: they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever.
This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something “shows how joy and growth come from risking failure and letting go of perfectionism” (The Wall Street Journal). Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport Karen Rinaldi’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom: the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.
My description would be—Rinaldi is a devoted surfer. That doesn't mean that she's a good one—she has witnesses and video evidence to back that up. But she doesn't care—she still loves it. In fact, she's learned a lot about herself—and probably about the way people tick—from being a lousy surfer, and now she has some good advice to share about being lousy at things (and continuing to do them). She weaves this advice with a semi-meandering recounting of her surfing career in the pages of this book.
A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE NARRATION
Rinaldi's narration on this was really good—I'd listen to her narrate another book easily. Maybe it's easier because it's her book and she knows the emotions she's trying to evoke—but I've heard enough authors not know how to do that for me to really believe it.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT IT'S GREAT TO SUCK AT SOMETHING?
I should start by saying that I'm 100% on board with Rinaldi's central thesis and think it's something that more people need to embrace and practice. I just have problems with most of the rest of the book.
We've all been to those "meetings that could've been an email," right?* As I was listening I kept thinking—this is a book that could've been an article. Maybe a series of them. Or a few blog posts. But it had no business being a book.
Of course, not at my current job. I'm talking exclusively about previous positions.
Or at least not this book. If this had been sold as a "memoir of a lousy but committed surfer with some advice you can apply to your own passions/hobbies." It would've been fine. The book wasn't about the benefits of sucking at things, it was about a big part of Rinaldi's life, and through it she offered some observations on the human condition—some of which she can offer footnotes to.
The book really didn't need the turn to spirituality it took toward the end. It was very out of place.
Trim the personal anecdotes to anecdotes/illustrations, amp up the advice (and the reasons for it) and you've got a decent, albeit shorter, book. But as it is, it's hard for me to say that a reader or listener isn't wasting their time.
July 11, 2019
I had a teaching assistant in college who, seemingly a bit frustrated at the difficulty of getting a point across to us, ended up settling for "you gotta dig it to dig it". I think a version of that, maybe "take my word for it; I REALLY LOVE surfing even though I'm not good at it," could have been used to sub in for about 150 pages of this book.
I take her point that there's no need to play it cool or to appear competent all the time. If you enjoy something, who cares what others will say about your success rate? I'm regularly the worst in my yoga class, and I'm confident that I lift less weight than any of the bros at my school's gym, but so what? both are [i believe] good for me, at least somewhat enjoyable, and my suck-i-tude doesn't hurt anyone else [author gives this last as an important qualifier -- if you suck at brain surgery, please don't practice on others even if it's fun for you].
While the book itself is pretty boring [i gather she had a newspaper article about it that got a strong reaction -- publishers, please quit thinking that favorable reaction to 500 words means that puffing it up with anecdotes, tying it to trendy topics like acceptance, and repeating the points a lot will make for an excellent full-length book], it did at least provoke me to think about categories of stuff at which I suck:
1. like it, think it's worth doing, just not good: [as noted, yoga fits here]
2. never done it, no idea, presumably bad: playing guitar
3. had to try it at some point, bad, no fun, unmotivated to get better: drawing
4. enjoy, don't care whether i'm considered good: crossword puzzles
I think one factor in whether something at which you suck is nevertheless a good experience is whether one can do it at all. I know lots of slow runners who love running -- going slow doesn't make you keel over. But I don't know too many terrible unicyclists who stick it out all the same -- guessing that you have to be pretty good to even be up there riding it.
anyway, yeah, don't let society shame you out of singing in church even if you're in the 20th percentile for voices, or studying a second language even if it comes slowly to you. But get started on those right away; no need to read this book first to get permission.
I take her point that there's no need to play it cool or to appear competent all the time. If you enjoy something, who cares what others will say about your success rate? I'm regularly the worst in my yoga class, and I'm confident that I lift less weight than any of the bros at my school's gym, but so what? both are [i believe] good for me, at least somewhat enjoyable, and my suck-i-tude doesn't hurt anyone else [author gives this last as an important qualifier -- if you suck at brain surgery, please don't practice on others even if it's fun for you].
While the book itself is pretty boring [i gather she had a newspaper article about it that got a strong reaction -- publishers, please quit thinking that favorable reaction to 500 words means that puffing it up with anecdotes, tying it to trendy topics like acceptance, and repeating the points a lot will make for an excellent full-length book], it did at least provoke me to think about categories of stuff at which I suck:
1. like it, think it's worth doing, just not good: [as noted, yoga fits here]
2. never done it, no idea, presumably bad: playing guitar
3. had to try it at some point, bad, no fun, unmotivated to get better: drawing
4. enjoy, don't care whether i'm considered good: crossword puzzles
I think one factor in whether something at which you suck is nevertheless a good experience is whether one can do it at all. I know lots of slow runners who love running -- going slow doesn't make you keel over. But I don't know too many terrible unicyclists who stick it out all the same -- guessing that you have to be pretty good to even be up there riding it.
anyway, yeah, don't let society shame you out of singing in church even if you're in the 20th percentile for voices, or studying a second language even if it comes slowly to you. But get started on those right away; no need to read this book first to get permission.
October 31, 2019
Given that our culture mocks ineptitude it is difficult to continue doing something you are terrible at. That is why Karen Rinaldi’s (It’s Great To) Suck At Something comes as a bit of fresh air. Rinaldi claims that being terrible at something yet still doing it in the face of adversity is what leads to resilience and other good qualities. I have one of my own, a thing that I am terrible at. I don’t do it anymore, but I still have my keyboard and sheet music. I could try to play it again.
The book claims that having hobbies that aren’t meant to line your wallet enrich your life instead. It is well-intentioned and allows people to be unabashed in their mediocrity.
Karen Rinaldi is quite candid about a number of subjects. Among those is the reason she went to try to be a surfer rather than almost anything else. She even tells the story of how she unloaded her bank account to buy a piece of land in Costa Rica from a complete stranger at the time. For a while, I didn’t know what this book meant to accomplish. The blurb on the front cover claims that being terrible at surfing or any other hobby leads to resilience in your daily life. I agree that having the moxie to continue to do an activity that you are terrible at shows dedication, but the book seemed to meander a lot. I also don’t understand how a grown woman would go and empty her bank account in the manner she did. It wasn’t like she was inexperienced or anything either. Honestly, she comes across as naive.
Eventually, she reaches the important parts. She wipes out and cuts herself on the fin of her surfboard and comes back from that. Then Rinaldi gets cancer. Through these events, she displays a measure of resilience and stoicism that I don’t feel I would be able to muster. Chemotherapy is hell from what I hear. They administer a cocktail of drugs and poisons meant to take out the cancer cells, but it also affects the healthy tissue. In that situation, Rinaldi felt like giving in but didn’t.
I will admit that when I put this book into my Currently Reading shelf I was a bit taken aback by the aggregated score. It might have taken a toll on my reading of this book. Some of the notes I took in the preparation of this review reflect this fact.
The book claims that having hobbies that aren’t meant to line your wallet enrich your life instead. It is well-intentioned and allows people to be unabashed in their mediocrity.
Karen Rinaldi is quite candid about a number of subjects. Among those is the reason she went to try to be a surfer rather than almost anything else. She even tells the story of how she unloaded her bank account to buy a piece of land in Costa Rica from a complete stranger at the time. For a while, I didn’t know what this book meant to accomplish. The blurb on the front cover claims that being terrible at surfing or any other hobby leads to resilience in your daily life. I agree that having the moxie to continue to do an activity that you are terrible at shows dedication, but the book seemed to meander a lot. I also don’t understand how a grown woman would go and empty her bank account in the manner she did. It wasn’t like she was inexperienced or anything either. Honestly, she comes across as naive.
Eventually, she reaches the important parts. She wipes out and cuts herself on the fin of her surfboard and comes back from that. Then Rinaldi gets cancer. Through these events, she displays a measure of resilience and stoicism that I don’t feel I would be able to muster. Chemotherapy is hell from what I hear. They administer a cocktail of drugs and poisons meant to take out the cancer cells, but it also affects the healthy tissue. In that situation, Rinaldi felt like giving in but didn’t.
I will admit that when I put this book into my Currently Reading shelf I was a bit taken aback by the aggregated score. It might have taken a toll on my reading of this book. Some of the notes I took in the preparation of this review reflect this fact.
July 1, 2019
I really wanted to like this book. In fact, it’s one of the first books purchased (rather than rented from a library) in a while. I thought it would be great information for me, my family and my students. I had a few issues with it:
1. It could have been substantially shorter. There was a lot of “fluff” that didn’t help the story/information
2. I’m known to swear more than I need to, but the cursing in this book was often unnecessary and didn’t contribute in any way. It was, at times, shocking to read the words and it weakened the writing and the research. It was confusing to read a book that included scholarly work as well as extreme profanity.
3. The author relates a lot of the book to her experience sucking at surfing, and, admittedly some of the best moments of the book were the telling of those stories. But the use of surfing jargon felt exclusive. She even mentions how surfers can be a bit exclusive and not overly welcoming; I felt she was doing that to me as a reader.
4. Some elements felt unresolved. When she first speaks about buying the land and planning to build a home outside of the U.S., she comments how it seemed like the deed to the house was legit, insinuating perhaps it wasn’t with the language she used. She never followed up on this. She discusses her terrible experience with cancer, and not that I expect full personal details, but she never wraps that story up, although she mentions not having cancer anymore.
5. Sometimes the language used felt forced- as if the author had thesaurus.com open on another tab while writing. I’m not suggesting the author isn’t smart, I think she is likely brilliant, but at certain parts of the book the language wasn’t congruent with the language around it.
I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy this book more. I hope others find it interesting and inspiring. For me, the book was well summarized in the title.
1. It could have been substantially shorter. There was a lot of “fluff” that didn’t help the story/information
2. I’m known to swear more than I need to, but the cursing in this book was often unnecessary and didn’t contribute in any way. It was, at times, shocking to read the words and it weakened the writing and the research. It was confusing to read a book that included scholarly work as well as extreme profanity.
3. The author relates a lot of the book to her experience sucking at surfing, and, admittedly some of the best moments of the book were the telling of those stories. But the use of surfing jargon felt exclusive. She even mentions how surfers can be a bit exclusive and not overly welcoming; I felt she was doing that to me as a reader.
4. Some elements felt unresolved. When she first speaks about buying the land and planning to build a home outside of the U.S., she comments how it seemed like the deed to the house was legit, insinuating perhaps it wasn’t with the language she used. She never followed up on this. She discusses her terrible experience with cancer, and not that I expect full personal details, but she never wraps that story up, although she mentions not having cancer anymore.
5. Sometimes the language used felt forced- as if the author had thesaurus.com open on another tab while writing. I’m not suggesting the author isn’t smart, I think she is likely brilliant, but at certain parts of the book the language wasn’t congruent with the language around it.
I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy this book more. I hope others find it interesting and inspiring. For me, the book was well summarized in the title.
July 3, 2019
I heard about this book/author from Matthew Hussey
This book really moved me because it acknowledged this flaw in society (including myself) that we love winners and we love to win to such a severe point we won't even try something for the sake of it being fun. I am incredibility guilty of this. I can't count how many times I have quit going to the gym, running, or stopped myself from trying something I have always wanted to do because "I am not good at it".
I didn't want to go the gym anymore because I put myself in this box of "I am not good at working out", I have always wanted to paint and I never even tried because "I am not good at it", I would never play any board games, video games, or did something as simple as bowling because 'if I am not good at, why bother?'. I would only participate in something if I got a guarantee I would be good at it/ I would win which then resulted me in doing nothing and I didn't even know how to "play" anymore.
Karen Rinaldi put this perspective of, what if it didn't matter you were bad at it? What if you ran without having a goal? Or what if painted being okay with being horrendous at it? What if you did something you enjoy for the sake of enjoying it? Another concept I really enjoyed in the book was this idea of getting used to and being okay with failure. It's a part of life.
There are things that you have no control over. For example, Karen talks about her cancer treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Bad stuff happens to everyone and we can't get into this mentality of taking bad experiences to a personal level. We have to show ourselves compassion and ride the difficult waves in life.
This book really moved me because it acknowledged this flaw in society (including myself) that we love winners and we love to win to such a severe point we won't even try something for the sake of it being fun. I am incredibility guilty of this. I can't count how many times I have quit going to the gym, running, or stopped myself from trying something I have always wanted to do because "I am not good at it".
I didn't want to go the gym anymore because I put myself in this box of "I am not good at working out", I have always wanted to paint and I never even tried because "I am not good at it", I would never play any board games, video games, or did something as simple as bowling because 'if I am not good at, why bother?'. I would only participate in something if I got a guarantee I would be good at it/ I would win which then resulted me in doing nothing and I didn't even know how to "play" anymore.
Karen Rinaldi put this perspective of, what if it didn't matter you were bad at it? What if you ran without having a goal? Or what if painted being okay with being horrendous at it? What if you did something you enjoy for the sake of enjoying it? Another concept I really enjoyed in the book was this idea of getting used to and being okay with failure. It's a part of life.
There are things that you have no control over. For example, Karen talks about her cancer treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Bad stuff happens to everyone and we can't get into this mentality of taking bad experiences to a personal level. We have to show ourselves compassion and ride the difficult waves in life.
April 28, 2024
I loved this book! The fact that the author is an editor and publisher is very obvious based on the excellent manner in which the book is organized (instead of "chapters" it's divided into "Waves" with the narrative using a specific wave experience as a metaphor for other experiences she had in life and how surfing (and sucking at it) leant her additional resilience in the face of the many ups and downs that life throws at us all.
The book is both humorous and poignant with the author's "voice" (see Note below) coming through clearly. She's a tough, smart cookie I'd like to share some waves with. Her writing style is quirky and engaging in a way that reminded me instantly of Karen Karbo's. And low and behold, she mentions Karbo in this book - it turns out they are friends. Who'da thunk it?
Everyone needs to be okay with failure, with sucking at something, and to pursue a passion regardless of their prowess and Karen Rinaldi beautifully demonstrates why in this engaging read. I couldn't wait to get back in my truck to pick up where we'd left off - and that's saying something because the roads around here are what suck. Spending time with Rinaldi was so engaging that I've ordered a hard copy of her book. I need to read it again and highlight the many wonderful lessons and turns of phrase that were examples of excellent writing. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND READ IT.
Note: I listened to it as an audible book, read by the author. She did an amazing job and it was so great to hear her voice as she shared her story. There were times when I could have sworn she was getting choked up and it just made the experience that much more "real" and authentic.
The book is both humorous and poignant with the author's "voice" (see Note below) coming through clearly. She's a tough, smart cookie I'd like to share some waves with. Her writing style is quirky and engaging in a way that reminded me instantly of Karen Karbo's. And low and behold, she mentions Karbo in this book - it turns out they are friends. Who'da thunk it?
Everyone needs to be okay with failure, with sucking at something, and to pursue a passion regardless of their prowess and Karen Rinaldi beautifully demonstrates why in this engaging read. I couldn't wait to get back in my truck to pick up where we'd left off - and that's saying something because the roads around here are what suck. Spending time with Rinaldi was so engaging that I've ordered a hard copy of her book. I need to read it again and highlight the many wonderful lessons and turns of phrase that were examples of excellent writing. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND READ IT.
Note: I listened to it as an audible book, read by the author. She did an amazing job and it was so great to hear her voice as she shared her story. There were times when I could have sworn she was getting choked up and it just made the experience that much more "real" and authentic.
January 28, 2023
In her book, It's Great to Suck at Something, Karen Rinaldi reveals the importance of trying new things and embracing the discomfort of nonimmediate success. Through a late-in-life adoption of surfing, a sport notoriously difficult to pick up in adulthood, Rinaldi discovers that sticking with something you suck at is less about eventual success, but rather, "about ritual and meaning, beauty and pain, connection and loss and how all of it ties together." Her book is a crash course in discomfort, and how "sucking at something embraces that discomfort and turns it into something beautiful."
One thing I didn't know about myself before I started this book is that I don't give a crap about surfing, and this book has surfing overflowing its pages and dripping from its spine. Each chapter is so full of surfing jargon and metaphors and overexplination that I felt drowned in sentences I didn't even care to read. What kept me reading, mind you, I did have to walk away from the book and eventually came back, was Rinaldi's thought provoking analyzes of her eventual point of the chapter.
This is not a must read, but if you are unlike me and actually enjoy surf talk, go for it! Another reason to pick this up: if you want to discover why choosing to suck can shift your internal narrative. This not a "how-to" but rather an "I did and I feel better for it;" an encouragement to try things you're not good at and keep trying them, if they bring you joy.
One thing I didn't know about myself before I started this book is that I don't give a crap about surfing, and this book has surfing overflowing its pages and dripping from its spine. Each chapter is so full of surfing jargon and metaphors and overexplination that I felt drowned in sentences I didn't even care to read. What kept me reading, mind you, I did have to walk away from the book and eventually came back, was Rinaldi's thought provoking analyzes of her eventual point of the chapter.
This is not a must read, but if you are unlike me and actually enjoy surf talk, go for it! Another reason to pick this up: if you want to discover why choosing to suck can shift your internal narrative. This not a "how-to" but rather an "I did and I feel better for it;" an encouragement to try things you're not good at and keep trying them, if they bring you joy.
August 23, 2019
Practice takes practice.
This book hit a lot of areas I'm struggling with lately - specifically, the ability to open myself up to the risks or feeling and failing. I've always been a perfectionist, and I've seen so many paths of interest, curiosity, and even talent shrink away from my stubborn refusal to try.
Most of the book, however, was dedicated to the author's life. Her love of surfing took up most of the space, and while the initial parallel between that hobby and the premise of the book is strong, it's not strong enough to sustain two hundred pages. It seems like this was an expansion of an essay, and honestly, I wish I had just read that instead. The point was made in the introduction and everything after that felt like we were all out at sea, waiting for a wave of revelation and motivation that had already arrived.
I applaud the author for taking risks in writing, surfing, traveling... For surviving breast cancer, motherhood, and countless surfing accidents and scares. I think her premise is solid and I hope to learn to apply it, even badly, in my own life.
This book hit a lot of areas I'm struggling with lately - specifically, the ability to open myself up to the risks or feeling and failing. I've always been a perfectionist, and I've seen so many paths of interest, curiosity, and even talent shrink away from my stubborn refusal to try.
Most of the book, however, was dedicated to the author's life. Her love of surfing took up most of the space, and while the initial parallel between that hobby and the premise of the book is strong, it's not strong enough to sustain two hundred pages. It seems like this was an expansion of an essay, and honestly, I wish I had just read that instead. The point was made in the introduction and everything after that felt like we were all out at sea, waiting for a wave of revelation and motivation that had already arrived.
I applaud the author for taking risks in writing, surfing, traveling... For surviving breast cancer, motherhood, and countless surfing accidents and scares. I think her premise is solid and I hope to learn to apply it, even badly, in my own life.
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