Build, Don’t Talk By Raj Shamani | Book Review

It is rightly said that the only constant is “change”.

With time the way of life is also kept changing.

It makes some things obsolete and some new discoveries take the center stage.

The basic requirements of food, clothing and shelter remains there. And to fulfil them, one needs to earn.

The way to earn is dependent a lot on the surroundings and circumstances.

We witnessed the whole new “work” remotely” culture during COVID-19 pandemic. And, we saw a rise of many unicorns in India during recent times. The affordable accessibility of Internet also opened a lot of doors of opportunities for those who are seeking them passionately.

Having a careen in “content creation” is one of these new fields.

Many people, especially youth, started following this new zone. And we had seen rise and fall of many content creators in India. It would not be wrong to say that we had already more than generations of content creators.

Raj Shamani is one of the famous content creators from India. His command over the language and mastery over the art of conversation started giving him opportunities from a very early age. It would be worth to note that he got a chance to deliver a speech at UN when he was quite young.

His podcast Figuring Out is one of the most widely viewed/listened to podcasts from India. A very few people know that during his early year, he also started a business of his own and with that he understood the commerce, practically.

Sometime ago he wrote his debut book Buid, Don’t Talk which comes with the tagline You Wish You Were Taught in School. And, as expected it met with the commercial success. We are going to talk about it today.

Book Cover:

By nature, we humans, are attracted towards the beauty.

That applies to books as well. When a large number of books are arranged in a display, you will pick the one whose cover attracts you, right? Of course, there are exceptions (if someone you trust has highly recommended a specific book, or it belongs to your area of interest,… makes you pick the ones regardless of their appearance. It is like love!).

So, despite believing in the fact that “a book should not be judged by its cover”, we also acknowledge the influence of a book cover in a remarkable number of book purchase and/or read decisions.

As you can see, the cover page of this book is decent.

It is a self-help book intended to motivate thee reader and is to be sold on the author’s name. So, it would be obvious to expect the photograph of the author on the cover page.

The glossy black background gives the book cover a rich and crispy look.

The designer used a minimalistic approach and tried having only the necessary elements on the cover page.

The fonts and colors used for the book title/tagline and author’s name are well thought and in contrast of the background, making them properly readable.

The cover page creates the impact expected from it, for sure.

What do you think of it?

The Book And What We Think About It:

Usually, we talk about a book in two segments. In one of them we share a glimpse of the storyline and in the other we share our views and reviews for the book. The nature of this book is different, so here we are merging both these segments together.

Also, we will be skipping a lot of content when having discussion to avoid spoilers. If we mention all the key points and elements to explore in the book, it would affect your reading experience and would be injustice with the book as well.

To give you the actual idea about the content and its quality we will share some quotes from the book, as always. And, they may have some spoilers, so please read further with the consent.

First thing first.

The book remains true to its genre.

The author has nicely written it. He used simple day-to-day language to convey his thoughts, rather than showing off a rich vocabulary or exploring literary aspects. The author is quite clear about it. He says:

You don’t need to be intelligent. You just need to be average. Because only intelligent people understand intelligent content; the masses prefer relatability.

Actually, that works in favor of the book, as per my opinion.

Also, the hollow words of advice don’t create much impact. If that would have worked, most of the people around the world were successful human beings and we get a lot of advice in our life from known and unknown fellows. The author is clear about it. He says:

The one thing you shouldn’t do is ask for advice.

When you share your real life experiences, people will be able to relate to the point you are making. For example, the iconic commencement speech delivered by Steve Jobs is considered amongst the best. In that speech, Steve made 3 points and all of them linked to his real life. Raj, in this book, thus share his experiences. Be it of starting his own business, his fear of public speaking and how he overcome it, his successes, his failure. When you talk frankly and openly about your good and bad experience, the reader/listener connects to quite well. And, thus you, as an author, are able to score one more brownie point. Quoting some segments from the book in the same regards:

Acknowledge your weakness and overcome it with the help of your capabilities.

Dad was taken into the emergency ward. After some time, a doctor’s assistant came out and told us that he was unresponsive and that they were doing their best. I saw my entire life flash in front of me. Those few minutes still feel longer than the twenty-five years of my life.

You know, worrying about the consequences of anything and everything is like crying over a breakup that hasn’t even happened.

It might seem arrogant, but the truth is, I believe in my achievements, and I am bold about it. This gives me the attention that I want.

For public speaking the author shares his thoughts as:

Going on a stage and talking or giving a speech is not public speaking, it is a performance.

Your speech should be like a kiss.

Shocking the reader with a phrase or title is an interesting way to get his/her attention. Raj is good at it, some phrases/titles/lines in the book are evident of that.

Our Education System Sucks!

Exhibitions are nonsense.

You Suck—Admit It!

Stop Innovating, Start Copying

They will make your interest in knowing the author’s exploration of the point he made, forcing you to read further. Here are some line in the context of the above mentioned lines.

The problem with traditional education is that we are taught ‘what to learn’, but we are not taught ‘how to apply’.

There is one thing which I say a lot: ‘People who study a lot often study about people who do not study at all.’

The kid is taught to ask questions every day.
No question is stupid, it’s just a way of seeing things.

Start copying what you love.

They link beautifully, right?

Here are some interesting lines that may serve as life-advices.

Life is all about little accomplishments.

It’s hard to form good habits, even harder to stick to them.

Growth is uncomfortable, but being uncomfortable is the only way you grow.

Do what works for you.

Without overthinking, life gets ten times better.

If you have a good idea, there’s no right or wrong time to start.

Negotiation is a game with just one rule—managing the power shift. What

I don’t understand equality. Life is not equal. Life is brutal.

The author knows his potential readers at large. So, he refers to various characters from films when presenting his argument. It includes Suniel Shetty’s character in Dhadkan, Ranbir Kapoor in Wake Up Sid, Bombay Velvet, Rockstar. The author
The author talks about various stuff like rules of selling, information overload, how to negotiate, how to het over failure, art of networking, taking care of health, setting up your goal, etc. The good thing about the book is, rather than just being optimistic, it talks realistically. For example:

Basically, people who isolate themselves from the world get sidelined very quickly. Those who accept themselves and the world around them are the ones who reach the masses.

You say, my entire crypto wallet got trashed because Elon Musk tweeted about it. Yeah! You deserved it. If one tweet from one person is actually decreasing your net worth, then you deserve it.

You do something, they’ll have an opinion. You don’t do something, they’ll have an opinion. Unsolicited, unwanted, never-asked-for opinions—way too many opinions.

Here are a few more interesting lines that you shouldn’t skip.

There are two kinds of people in life. Achievers, and those who think they want to become achievers,

I’m sure most people love to do that, some do that with their exes, some with their crush, some with someone they’re just interested in,

Appreciation should be real, not necessary.

Wealth is when you are able to make enough money to sustain your lifestyle without putting in any effort, time or skill.

At the end of the book, there are gems of small writings by various contemporary successful fellows. Most of them are known to the current generation of readers. I am avoiding mention their names.

By now, you must have got a fair idea about the book and the quality of its content. So you can decide now, whether you like such books and want to go for it.

Summary:

Overall, a nicely written motivational and inspirational book that falls in “how to” category. Such books help only if you actually implement whatever you learnt from them. It is not for time pass reading. In fact, the author himself has said in the book:

If you belong to the number who will say, ‘I will read the first chapter tomorrow’, put this book down. Forget the book. I don’t want you to read this book.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 7.5 to 8 stars out of 10.

Remember:

By the way, we have hosted a giveaway for this book in recent past. Have you participated in it?
Well, keep looking for our Book Giveaways and do participate. You may be the next winner!!

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - Build, Don't Talk by Raj Shamani - Paperback - Amazon IN
• Buy - Build, Don't Talk by Raj Shamani - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - Build, Don't Talk by Raj Shamani - Paperback - Amazon US
• Buy - Build, Don't Talk by Raj Shamani - Kindle EBook - Amazon US

Over To You:

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