Reviews
Make Your Bed: Small things that can change your life... and maybe the world by William H. McRaven
fireplacebookworm's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read with digestible bits of tips, most were ones I’ve heard before but the way they were phrased led to an engaging reminder. I really enjoyed the stories of both SEAL training and McRaven’s time in Afghanistan. It has led me to want to read more about that time in our country’s history.
This is a great one to pick up for a quick reminder and engaging story.
This is a great one to pick up for a quick reminder and engaging story.
dorothy_gale's review against another edition
4.0
Great book, speech, and storytelling. There is a quote from the author I will have to look up about when you make all your decisions a matter of life and death, you'll make yourself suffer.
jbmorgan86's review against another edition
2.0
I’m a sucker for inspirational/motivational lectures and commencement speeches. David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water,” Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art,” and Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” come to mind. When I heard about “Make Your Bed,” I assumed it would be full of common sense, folky wisdom. I also expected a degree of cheesiness. I still expect to see dozens of copies of this (former graduation gifts) at the local used book store. I was right about my first two assumptions. Time will tell if the third was correct!
William H. McRaven is a retired Admiral of the U.S. Navy. In a 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas. He thought that a retired Navy Admiral may not garner much attention or respect from his audience of college students, so he attempted to make a speech that was applicable to all. He gave ten lessons he learned from being a Navy SEAL. This book is a written form of that speech with some further elaborations on the anecdotes. These are the ten lessons:
1. Start your day with a task completed (Make you bed!)
2. You can’t go at it alone
3. Only the size of your heart matters
4. Life’s not fair—drive on!
5. Failure can make you stronger
6. You must dare greatly
7. Stand up to the bullies
8. Rise to the occasion
9. Give people hope
10. Never, ever quit!
While I enjoy stoic-like, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps wisdom at times, it was hard resisting rolling my eyes at points. Like most proverbs, if you hold them close together, they are often contradictory. This was glaring obvious at the end of lesson two and beginning of lesson three:
”never forget that your success depends on others.”
”It is easy to blame your lot in life on some outside force, to stop trying because you believe fate is against you. It is easy to think that where you were raised, how your parents treated you, or what school you went to is all that determines your future. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Nothing mattered but your will to succeed; not your color; not your ethnic background; not your education; and not your social status.”
So which is it? Is your success dependent upon others or does your success have absolutely nothing to do with others? McRaven explained how he couldn’t have made it if it weren’t for others helping him out (sometimes by looking the other way!) but at the same time the only person needs to succeed in life is drive. Doesn’t almost every sociology experiment on the success of children who grow up rich vs. children who grow up poor prove him wrong? Cf. “The Equality of Opportunity Project” - http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org.
All that being said I did feel motivated to punch sharks and never give up. And yes, I made my bed this morning.
William H. McRaven is a retired Admiral of the U.S. Navy. In a 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas. He thought that a retired Navy Admiral may not garner much attention or respect from his audience of college students, so he attempted to make a speech that was applicable to all. He gave ten lessons he learned from being a Navy SEAL. This book is a written form of that speech with some further elaborations on the anecdotes. These are the ten lessons:
1. Start your day with a task completed (Make you bed!)
2. You can’t go at it alone
3. Only the size of your heart matters
4. Life’s not fair—drive on!
5. Failure can make you stronger
6. You must dare greatly
7. Stand up to the bullies
8. Rise to the occasion
9. Give people hope
10. Never, ever quit!
While I enjoy stoic-like, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps wisdom at times, it was hard resisting rolling my eyes at points. Like most proverbs, if you hold them close together, they are often contradictory. This was glaring obvious at the end of lesson two and beginning of lesson three:
”never forget that your success depends on others.”
”It is easy to blame your lot in life on some outside force, to stop trying because you believe fate is against you. It is easy to think that where you were raised, how your parents treated you, or what school you went to is all that determines your future. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Nothing mattered but your will to succeed; not your color; not your ethnic background; not your education; and not your social status.”
So which is it? Is your success dependent upon others or does your success have absolutely nothing to do with others? McRaven explained how he couldn’t have made it if it weren’t for others helping him out (sometimes by looking the other way!) but at the same time the only person needs to succeed in life is drive. Doesn’t almost every sociology experiment on the success of children who grow up rich vs. children who grow up poor prove him wrong? Cf. “The Equality of Opportunity Project” - http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org.
All that being said I did feel motivated to punch sharks and never give up. And yes, I made my bed this morning.
charlieleanor's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
selinajcheng's review against another edition
3.0
Good in terms of concepts as many are ones I want to keep in mind. Admiral McRaven summarizes the idea in one sentence before giving anecdotes that demonstrate it. Similar in essence to a motivational speech and is clearly modeled after his commencement speech given at UT-Austin. Might decide to read his other book on sea adventures.
andbento's review against another edition
5.0
All time best self help / life advice book, no question.