I usually shy away from self-help books. Most of them you can do a little digging and find out that the way that the authors pulled themselves up by their bootstraps was by writing a self-help book. The quickest way to get rich, be successful, or have a good life is telling other people how to do it. With Outswimming the Sharks, author J.H. Hyun bucks that trend and tries to explain how to look inward to reach whatever goals you may have.
The book starts with a quick exercise where Hyun asks: What do you want your tombstone to say? Sure, the statement might be sadistic on its own, but it’s very rare that someone would want “Workaholic, Estranged Parent, and Indifferent Spouse” carved above their final resting place. After having you assess yourself, in following chapters Hyun explains how you can reach those goals by overwhelming adversity, naysayers, personal tragedies, setbacks, and procrastination. Those barriers are the “sharks” in this theory of getting organized and shielding yourself from the negative Nancys out there.
Tales that are shared in the book are easy to relate to. Over years of working in corporate environments, there are traits that continue to manifest themselves. If you’re familiar with the waste of time that is office politicking then you’ve seen a shark first hand. Want to reach your goal in a timely manner? Hyun sums it up succinctly in the 200 pages: do your best, have goals and then focus on achieving goals. Those of us who walk around life not knowing what we want, Hyun explains, are just wasting our lives.
Occasionally, the book delves into religion which seems to play a key role in the author’s life. Hyun balances what could turn off those who are not Christian in faith by mixing in parables from Aesop’s Fables and using the life stories of newsworthy people like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and Michael Phelps. It’s not a Biblical manifesto, but those who are sensitive to other religions may cringe in a few chapters.
Hyun’s author profile pitches him as a twenty-year veteran of Fortune 500 companies. His focus certainly stays within that realm, but he shies away from keeping it focused on business, and even at some times suggests that family is more important than financial gain or prestige.
The book is a quick read. It’s like sitting down with a wisened elder and having a conversation where you can learn about their experience in the business world, in family life, and how to get the best out of our precious time on this planet.
