We all know people who seemed to have popped out of nowhere into a career, a gig, or an experience that they had no business doing.
How did they do it?
In Smartcuts, Shane Snow attempts to explain why and how some people figure out these “lateral jumps.”
The subtitle of the book is “How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success.”
It’s not accidental that it says “accelerate success,” rather than “achieve success.” If you picked up this book expecting a handbook on how to make your dreams come true, you’d be disappointed.
Snow chooses fast-paced stories to illustrate many different ways of “hacking” the system to make massive success happen faster. Typically, these methods make it look as though the person appeared out of nowhere, since they don’t come from an expected direction or path.
So if you’re already primed for success, how can you pour gasoline on your performance?
The author highlights 9 primary ways to accelerate success:
- Hack the ladder
- Train with a master
- Get rapid feedback
- Find a platform for your art
- Watch and capitalize on patterns
- Harness the power of a super-connector
- Keep momentum going
- Simplify your life
- Dream big. 10X big.
Each concept is illustrated with fun, interwoven stories, making for a quick read. However, the ideas contained in the book will stick with you.
You know that old optical illusion image that looks like an urn, until they tell you that it contains two faces? This book gives you that same feeling, as you may have seen the “accelerators” at work before without recognizing them.
But the key takeaway is that you must be willing to challenge the conventional wisdom about how to become successful. Dare to say you want to go to Mars.
Have you read Smartcuts yet? Please share you thoughts in the comments!
