The Art of Doing by Camille Sweeney & Josh Gosfield was recommended here and there, so I put it on my list. The book turned out to be different than what I expected—not in a negative way. I had expected a self-help book with chapter-by-chapter advice. Instead, every chapter shares 10 learning points from the achievements of high-flyers in a wide variety of professions. The list of these people goes from author Stephen Dubner to tennis champion Martina Navratinova to soprano Anna Netrebko.

A few common threads emerge among these people. All have a vision, persevere through bad times, and are collaborative. None of them are psychotic “leaders” you typically find in large bureaucratic organizations or egomaniac attention-seeking media addicts. All are driven by a why. All are hardworking and humble.

My highlights:

Martina Navratilova: don’t specialize, dream big, practice and exercise (do the work).

Simon Doonan (I didn’t know who he was before reading the book – Simon is a world-famous window dresser): Go Niche, be the best at something.

Tony Hsieh: discover your values (first).

Mark Frauenfelder (by far the best entry in the book!): Make the blog that doesn’t exist, Be original, get an attitude, Don’t bullshit (don’t waste people’s time), mix things, find unexpected things.