Average Sucks: Why You Don't Get What You Want

by Michael Bernoff

You’ve tried everything they told you to do. You pushed, you hustled. Nothing is really wrong, and yet, you’re unsatisfied with where you are. You’re painfully aware that there’s another level you can reach, and think you know what you need to do to get there. The only problem is you’re not doing it―at least not consistently. It’s not your fault that you feel stuck. There’s an invisible force holding you back, and in Average Sucks, Michael Bernoff shows you what it is and what you can do about it. Michael is not teaching business strategy, and this is not a book designed to bury you in busywork. It’s an invitation to meet the real you. The one who lives life the way they want to live. Michael is going to show you how to easily change the way you think and how you do things, so you can enjoy more success and more fun while you’re at it. You deserve better than average, you’re capable of it, too―isn’t it time to go get it?

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

206 pages, Hardcover

First published January 14, 2020

Reviews

[Andrea Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very shallow. Typical self help

[Rayna Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There is only one thing that changed in my whole body, and that has made all the difference: My mindset.”

“Your ambition is running around with your average like they’re best friends… and not getting anywhere.”

“In order to get out of the box, Your Average must increase.” BUT HOW WILL IT INCREASE?

You ever feel like you're capable of doing more but somewhere you’re stuck. You know that doing a task P is going to help you in future, yet you’re wasting your time in task Q (example, social media) and feeling guilty about not doing task P.

In his book Average Sucks, Micheal Bernoff does not say that you, as a person, are average. Rather, he says that every person has an average quality which they can improve, take it up a notch, which will become their new average. Then this is where they start again and again and repeat until they succeed.

The best thing about this book was that it wasn’t boring. I have read hundreds of fictional books but I had not been able to get through either of the non fictional books until this one.

The second best thing is that Michael actually shared an action plan rather than giving us a speech about why we should be studying or upskilling. The ‘why’ in our generation isn’t the problem. We all know why we should study.

What we really need is- how we should do it. What should be the approach? What are the ideal practices I should be following? Is the answer to the ‘why’ actually something I want in my life?

This book has provided me some very valuable insights and I know that I am going to follow the action plan.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent self-help/self-development book but unfortunately it didn't connect with me. Some good ideas but thought the style was too conversational and long in several parts. Key excerpts below.

- Average Sucks is about moving past YOUR average, so that you can become who you want to be. PJK: Key point here is that this doesn't mean everyone can be a MLB baseball player... but everyone can push themselves harder and perform at a higher level... with the right amount of work.
- With the Minimum Action Plan, you don't go from 0 to 100. You figure out where you're starting from, and you take the smallest step necessary to make progress. PJK: this is called baby steps. Just get some momentum started towards your goal(s).

[Abbey Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it was a good book. The writing style didn’t connect with me, but my husband also read it. He has a harder time reading it, and prefers audiobooks so the conversational style of this book worked really well for him and he felt like he was able to focus better.

I think the concept of the book was great, and I feel like it’s very on theme with other books like Atomic Habits. Overall, the content didn’t blow my mind, but I did think it contained several really practical action steps and application points.

[Kim Sheperek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, simple message, easily executed approach to tracking daily progress to be better than average every day.

[Matthew J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Met the author in the airport very cool and he gave me the book and signed it

[Diamond Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It definitely gave me a new perspective on life and helped rewire my thinking, allowing me to adopt mindset shifts that prevent me from falling into negative self-talk.