I’ve just finished reading The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett. I say reading, studying would be a more accurate term because I took my time and made notes, paused numerous times to consider what was being said.
In other words, I didn’t just read through the book, I disseminated, digested, and divulged the books’ secrets.
In this review:
- What is the book about?
- How it is set out
- What you can gain from the book
- My Summary and Opinion
- Links to Purchase
What is the book about?
Steven Bartlett is a successful entrepreneur who has compiled knowledge gained from over ten years in business and from thousands of interviews conducted.
This is not just another ‘how to be successful in business’ book. It also provides simple and understandable instructions, ‘laws’ as Steven calls them to get on in life.
You can read this book and perhaps only one of the 33 laws is relevant to you at the time of reading. Then, in my opinion at least, the book is worthwhile reading.
How it is set out
There are 33 laws described and discussed within the book. Each section is backed up by evidence from real life stories and research from sporting coaches to business mentors and entrepreneurs, from health and sleep experts to cognitive scientists.
The 33 laws are further broken down into four pillars. Those pillars are:
- The Self (Fill your five buckets: What you know; What you can do; Who you know; What you have; What the world thinks of you)
- The Story (Our story defines us)
- The Philosophy (Sweat the small stuff; Fail to succeed; Use pressure; Negative manifestation; Context more important than skills;)
- The Team (Who, not how; Power of progress)
Each chapter, or section is short enough to read in one seating (for me at least) yet long enough to provide all the information to help the reader understand each law.
My Summary and Opinion
Not only did I thoroughly enjoy reading this book, I have immediately made small changes in the way I approach certain aspects of my life. That would be a little to personal to talk about here but suffice to say that some of the laws resonated particularly strongly with me. Law 31 especially.
What worked for me was to take my time reading and studying this book.
I have read hundreds of self-help, self-development, and ‘how to be successful’ books over the last 30-40 years so you might wonder what I could gain from reading yet another. What new thing could I find that changes my life?
Well, I did benefit greatly from the content in this book. Perhaps it was the studying aspect, or maybe because I invested myself in to Steven Bartlett by watching his Diary of a CEO YouTube videos and Behind the Scenes videos too?
I don’t know, perhaps because I am always learning. I do believe (and hope) that I will continue learning until my dotage!
It is my belief that anyone can read this book, anyone, and benefit from something within the pages. Even if just one of the laws resonates strongly with you, I believe the read will have been worth it.
So, my recommendation is to read it, and read through to the end. Don’t worry about how long it takes, just keep picking it up! Oh, and watch some of the videos on YouTube or listen to some podcast episodes while you are it.