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ethanjarrell's review
3.0
I'm not usually interested in self help books, but I've always been a fan of Apolo Ohno. His perspective on life, and life changes is interesting, but also a little bit unapproachable. Hard pivoting probably looks a lot different for an antisocial computer engineer than it does for a multi-million dollar olympic athlete. I think I would have liked it more if it was more about Apolo's personal history, and what he did, and specific examples of how those specific decisions impacted his life specifically. But the book had more of the tone of, "Here's a brief synopsis of what I did, and here are all the reasons you should do this too, and here's all the ways this will make your life better." It comes of as more 'preachy' than allowing the reader to assess Apolo's choices, and extrapolate their own conclusions and applications for their individual lives.
doubletroubledogmom's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, it was short with lots of good ideas and action points. Chapter 8 in my opinion was the best. Good for graduates, people trying to vigor if they're in the right career or even want ways to re-engage with a career.
literaryhypewoman's review
3.0
I'm not sure why this was such a struggle for me to get through, but here we are. Something in his tone slightly annoyed me, while his advice/tactics were all pretty generic. The skating stuff was the most interesting but there wasn't much to it.
caradeane's review
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Fun-filled fact— Apolo Ohno and I swam together on a swim team when we were kids. I was 11 and he was …9? And pudgy and annoying like all little 9 year olds are. Fast forward 5 years… he’s on my TV. An exotic specimen, God of the sun… speed skating his ass off. What?!
Apolo writes his latest book from the vantage point of having been the most winningest American Olympic athlete of winter sports and now what? Hard pivot. He says there’s always risk when we decide to pivot🙏🏽that’s why speedskaters wear helmets. 💯
He talks about gratitude, meditation (all the great ones do), journaling…and how far he’s come as a human being.
“Winning feels awfully hollow when you’re lost.”
My favorite story was of when he was #1 in the world at speed skating at 14 but dropped to dead last at the Olympic Trials a year later. His father sent him to a cabin in the the woods to think about himself…. In that time (2 weeks) of isolation, Apolo realized he was cheating himself, he hadn’t left it all on the ice, he had more to offer the sport, he needed to commit to his training and to the lifestyle. He goes on to become the most winningest Winter Sports Olympian of all time.
I don’t know what magic he put into those pages but in the last chapter, it all came together and I felt a deep and urgent need to cut the sh** and go be great.
Hard pivot.
#iread #chasingcarabooks #chasingcarabooks2022
Apolo writes his latest book from the vantage point of having been the most winningest American Olympic athlete of winter sports and now what? Hard pivot. He says there’s always risk when we decide to pivot🙏🏽that’s why speedskaters wear helmets. 💯
He talks about gratitude, meditation (all the great ones do), journaling…and how far he’s come as a human being.
“Winning feels awfully hollow when you’re lost.”
My favorite story was of when he was #1 in the world at speed skating at 14 but dropped to dead last at the Olympic Trials a year later. His father sent him to a cabin in the the woods to think about himself…. In that time (2 weeks) of isolation, Apolo realized he was cheating himself, he hadn’t left it all on the ice, he had more to offer the sport, he needed to commit to his training and to the lifestyle. He goes on to become the most winningest Winter Sports Olympian of all time.
I don’t know what magic he put into those pages but in the last chapter, it all came together and I felt a deep and urgent need to cut the sh** and go be great.
Hard pivot.
#iread #chasingcarabooks #chasingcarabooks2022
kassymac's review
4.0
Overall: 3.5- 4 stars
Summary:
This is a self-help and sort-of memoir of the speed skater Apolo Anton Oho. If you are making a major life change, then this book provides some good advice.
My thoughts:
I remember watching Apolo Anton Ohno speed skate in the Olympics. It is one of my fondest memories of spending time with the family and cheering him on the ice. I was a little disappointed there were no pictures in the book. It would have been nice just to see a picture of his inner circle that he mentions, Olympics, etc.
Being that this was not a memoir, I think the choice of the cover was a little misleading. I picked this up thinking that it was a memoir, only to discover that it was not. Oh well, it was good though.
I really wanted to read more about his life. But it gave me glimpses of his life enough to call it a self-help/memoir. I think some of his talks about how he treated other people made me think he was a jerk. I thought him giving me advice when he treated all his ex-girlfriends the way he mentions in the book. Then he blames his busy life, his mother’s abandonment, etc.
I did think this book provided a lot of great advice. I also did not think that the same advice I could have used when I was making a life change. I, unlike him, needed money to pay the bills. I was unable to network like him with international businessmen and have a job handed to me. I was also unable to travel the world after I lost my job. But I think the overall thoughts and processes were there. He called his retirement from speed skating “The Great Divorce.” I think that analogy is a good one. I went through all the emotions of grieving or divorcing when I lost my job.
I really enjoyed learning about Ikigai. It was very educational, and I am going to study it a lot more. I started to really research it. I think it may change my life and the way that I view it. I did a lot of the journaling in the book too.
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