Be Awesome Live Awesome Summary by Himeesh Madaan shares short lessons on career, relationship, and mindset to help an Indian youngster live a happy and satisfying life.
Be Awesome Live Awesome Summary (PDF)
In this summary, I will share all the best lessons I learned from this book.
So without further ado, let’s jump in.
There Is No Limit To How Big You Can Think
The only limit to our growth is our imagination.
The author asks you to think as BIG as you can.
And thinking big doesn’t have to be always about money.
Thinking big has to do with ideas.
Big ideas lead to huge possibilities.
So don’t limit yourself.
Even if your idea seems impossible, don’t stop. Think further.
Anyway, you don’t have to pay for thinking.
So use it as much as you can.
Generate as many ideas as you can.
Most people put barriers in their thinking. Usually, it happens because most people are not confident that they can realize those ideas.
So what happens? They limit themselves.
And thus, they don’t use their full potential.
Probably you have heard this before, and you may think of this lesson as generic self-help advice.
I agree, to an extent, it is.
But…
The truth remains:
If you fail to think big enough, you won’t achieve big enough.
To Use Your Full Potential, You Need To Know Your Goals
I have already written a lot about goal setting in previous summaries.
And if you’ve read all my summaries before, feel free to skip this lesson.
So to realize your full potential, you need goals.
But why?
Think of your goal as a GOAL in football.
Now you’ll relate to this idea better.
Football players spend excessive mental and physical energy for 90 minutes to score goals.
Imagine if the goalposts didn’t exist in the game.
Would the players be able to shine then?
Did we have so many football legends then?
Of course not.
Goals give you direction.
And when you sail in that direction, you do everything in your power to reach your destination.
That’s why goals are SUPER important.
Stop Doing Self-Criticism
Have you heard of positive affirmations?
If you say positive things to yourself all the time like:
“I’m good enough.”
“Everyone loves me.”
“I can achieve anything I want.”
…you develop a positive mindset.
But on the other hand, if you continually keep criticizing yourself for all the things you don’t have or are unable to achieve, you develop a negative mindset.
Most people keep self-criticizing themselves and get depressed. This may be due to various factors.
The author suggests that you should stop saying negative things to yourself.
Of course, feedback is essential.
But don’t take it to the extreme.
No matter the reason, by saying too many negative things to yourself, you won’t achieve anything better.
So why do it?
Instead, put your energy to good use.
Which also connects us to the next lesson…
Appreciate What You Already Have
Maybe you aren’t as rich as Bill Gates.
Maybe people don’t acknowledge your efforts.
Maybe you are a loser.
Maybe people don’t like you in general.
So what?
On the surface level, if the above things are true for you, your life might look like a living hell.
But remember, there are always different ways of seeing things.
If you change your perspective, you’ll find that there are so many things that you have –but others don’t have.
Maybe your situation isn’t as bad as it looks, huh?
It could be anything:
Maybe you are single.
So on the surface, it looks like you got nothing.
But by shifting your perspective, you’ll find that many people are frustrated with the people around them.
They want solitude in their life. They want a distraction-free environment.
Things aren’t always as bad as they look.
So appreciate what you have got instead of whining about the stuff you don’t have.
This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to desire anything.
I know you are smart enough and got my point.
So let’s jump on to the next lesson (which is related to this one.)
Learn To Deal With The Bad Stuff
“If things are going good, enjoy them. If not, learn, correct, and make them worth enjoying.” —Himeesh
The author is saying the same thing I just said above. (Don’t bother about who said it. Just get the idea. Cool? Okay.)
So if you are having the time of your life, don’t bother too much. Enjoy your moment while it lasts.
Life is like a roller-coaster ride.
You also get to taste some bad experiences after good ones.
One moment, you’ll feel like you are in paradise.
And the other moment, you’ll feel like you are in hell.
Everyone has problems.
So when you face one, try to solve it and move on.
Don’t stick to the issues and complain.
Learn how to deal with problems. Solve them.
And if you are crazy enough, you may even enjoy solving those problems and appreciate the process.
Just Start —Don’t Wait For Motivation.
Are you waiting for motivation to start your tedious work?
Well, take the author’s advice:
Don’t wait for something or someone to give you a kick.
If you want to achieve anything significant, you need to build systems.
And to create systems, you need to get off your bed and do some work upfront.
But if you rely on motivation, you keep waiting for a perfect moment.
So you wait for something that doesn’t exist.
Painful to hear, but that’s the reality.
Perfect moments don’t exist.
It would be best if you take deliberate actions to achieve your goals.
It doesn’t matter whether you are motivated or not.
Of course, motivation is good at certain times.
But you must not depend on that alone.
Fear Emerges Due To Lack Of Preparation
Fear is hard to overcome.
You have fear.
I have fear.
Almost everyone on this planet has some sort of fear.
It may be the fear of public speaking.
Or it may be the fear of exams.
Fear exists in many forms.
So how do you overcome fear?
The author shares a fantastic strategy to fight your fear.
He says that the best way to overcome fear is to prepare.
Preparation is the key to overcoming fear.
For instance, public speakers, like the author himself, always fear before going on the stage.
How do they deal with it?
They practice a lot. Or they do a complete preparation for it.
That’s how they deal with their fear.
Fear will automatically emerge if you feel like you aren’t prepared enough.
So make sure that you prepare as much as you can to get better equipped to fight with fear.
Fear will be there.
Sometimes, it’ll be small.
The other times, it’ll be huge.
But you need to be prepared because any lack of preparation will give room to fear.
Machines Can’t Love You Back
We live in a digital age.
And our mobiles or iPads have become an extension of us.
We can’t live without our devices.
We love them so much that we might even get crazy if they get lost.
But here is the reality:
No matter how much you love your machines, they can’t feel emotions.
Your devices don’t love you back.
It’s one-sided love.
It’s strange how we are in a one-sided relationship with machines who don’t give a damn about us.
So who cares about us?
Our friends. Our parents. (Who we take for granted these days.)
We spend so much time surfing the web and playing games on the Internet.
But we forget to spend time with those who care for us.
Become The Director Of Your Emotions
Most people are directed by their emotions.
Think of your life as a movie where you are the actor, and the director is your emotion.
When you are merely the actor, you can’t control the movie.
Would you want a life that isn’t in your control? I hope not.
So why do we tend to give total control to our emotions?
Why don’t we take charge and control our emotions instead?
It’s because nobody teaches you how to control your emotions.
In fact, most people never realize that their emotions are controlling them.
So whenever you feel a surge of any emotion, take a moment, and watch if your emotion is driving you to take a specific action.
You must be self-conscious to do that.
It’s simple:
Either you control your emotions. Or your emotions control you.
The choice is yours.
But remember, you are a better master.
You are not your emotions.
You can control and regulate them if you practice enough.
That’s How You Give Feedback: The Sandwich Technique
Humans hate feedback.
Because we have vast egos that blind us to reality.
We show as if we care about feedback.
But inside, we all want to see ourselves as perfect human beings.
So if you are giving someone feedback, you must be careful about your words.
It doesn’t matter how good your intentions are. Chances are, you may hurt the other person’s feelings.
The author shares an exciting technique called The Sandwich Technique.
With this technique, you can deliver feedback without hurting other people’s feelings.
Here is how you apply it:
Sandwich the criticism with appreciation.
Make sure that you pre-frame the other person by appreciating him for what he is good at. And then tell him his flaws.
And to make sure you don’t hurt his feelings, appreciate him again for his strengths.
That way, you stay on the safer side.
First, you fuel his ego a little. And then give him a small dose of feedback.
Pretty cool, huh?
This technique is handy.
And it’ll also help you build long-term relationships.
The Key Takeaways From “Be Awesome Live Awesome By Himeesh Madaan”
- There is no limit to how big you can think.
- To use your full potential, you need to know your goals.
- Stop doing self-criticism.
- Appreciate what you already have.
- Learn to deal with the bad stuff.Just start —don’t wait for motivation.
- Lack of preparation gives room to fear.
- Machines can’t love you back.
- Become the director of your emotions.
- Use the Sandwich Technique to give feedback.
Be Awesome Live Awesome Review
Since I was a kid, I’ve been watching Himeesh Madaan’s (the author’s) Youtube videos.
And I appreciate how honest this guy is.
You’ll hardly find such a brutally honest motivational speaker in today’s world, where many see ‘motivation’ as a mere business.
Talking about the book, it’s best suited for Indian youngsters.
And if you’re from a western country that doesn’t speak or understand Hindi, you may face some difficulties while reading this.
Why?
Because the author has used Hindi phrases throughout this book like:
“Jhatka Laga?”
“My name is Sheela…”
“Toh Kya Samjhe?”
I didn’t find it annoying. But some people may not like it.
Talking about the thoroughness of the topics discussed, I’d say that this is a very generic self-help book.
As I’m already used to reading such books, I didn’t find much new stuff.
Some ideas were good. But most of them were old and generic.
So if you are a newbie to the self-help world and have Indian origins, you may like this book.
This book will hardly take 2-3 hours to finish.
I’d give this book a rating of 6.5/10
Further Reading
If you liked this summary, you might also like:
- How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
- Think Small by Owain Service and Rory Gallagher
- Attitude Is Everything by Jeff Keller
Your Turn Now!
I hope you got a lot of learning through Be Awesome Live Awesome Summary.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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