For fans of tough love and the secretly optimistic, Gary V has got you covered - Crushing It Review
As it was a large source of inspiration for this site and my plans for it, I felt it was only fitting my first book review for what you Audibly Reading be Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk, A little backstory about me, I first came across Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary V, when I had to work on booking him for a millionaire who likes to focus on knowledge and the vehicles in the section of his property where vehicles are stored. This is not meant to be a dig at my previous employer, but Gary V was basically the more real and more about it version. Let's say my previous employer was Mountain Lightning while Gary V is Mountain Dew. I'll eventually start getting into like personal blog posts about the places I've worked before, but that's for another time.
But back to my Crushing It review. Crushing It is the follow up to Gary V's other book, Crush It. Crush It was about Gary V's rise to success, Crushing It is a collection of others' success with insights and wisdom from Gary V. You hear how some people come from the WORST situations, like being homeless and abused, to renowned international success, to people who just devoted themselves to their pursuits and saw it through.
Gary V has a very direct, blunt, and matter of fact way of speaking/reading/writing. As this is based of the Audible version, you can hear the passion and intensity in his words. It can be jarring. Especially if you're not into sports, or have played sports, this "you suck because of you" tone can really put people off. Gary V's greatest motivational saying is "You're going to die someday." And if that's not your cup of tea, Crushing It is probably not for you.
However, if you're accustom to tougher love, harsh truths, and accepting that most people don't do enough to reach their goals, then you will likely flock to Crushing It and other Gary V content.
If you follow him regularly, the Crushing It content isn't really anything new. The advantage of the book is that it is essentially directed and curated information versus the more free form content that Vayner Media produces daily. The biggest value aside from the inspirational advice and applicable information, is that Gary tends to go off the script in the audio book. Sort of like a director's commentary on the material. It can help clarify and expand on the ideas.
I think the best and most poignant part of the book, is when Gary V gives the reader permission to try. He breaks down that people often sit on their ideas because their waiting for permission, a sign, some kind of outside force to tell them it's okay to try, and he just directly says "Here's your permission." That insight is incredible, and I thought it was a genius breakdown of what I was basically looking for.
The reason I recommend this book, because at the end of you get the feeling of "why not?" Why am I not trying to make money from my passions and interests? What am I really losing by not trying? Why am I doing less than I can and want too? There's a whole list of reason people have, and the book does a great job of acknowledging them and the solutions without discrediting or demeaning them. But when it comes down to it, most people don't want to be wrong or don't want to fail. And I think that was best address by this quote,
"You're better off being wrong 10 times and being right 3, than if you only try 3 times and are always getting it right."
Crushing It is an interesting, inspiring, and entertaining read. Gary V and his team do a great job of reading it, plus have the added bonus of them going off script and adding to it. It is also filled with genuinely useful advice in today's social media business world. If you're looking for a motivational/business read that can get you to take a truly critical look at yourself, Crushing It should be your next read. My Crushing It review gets a 4.5/5
You can get your copy of Crushing it on
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