The messed up part of my The Decision review is that I read this book two months ago and just now getting to it.
“I’m not going to stop having problems.” Kevin Hart
The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success by Kevin Hart is an Audible Exclusive written and read by Kevin Hart. The hilarious comedian, actor, host, mogul, producer, adds another title to his repertoire: Life Coach. The Decision is Kevin Hart's self-help book full of experience, thoughts, wisdom, and actionable plans to help you achieve what you want to achieve.
Kevin Hart takes a very grounded and personable approach to life coaching. He doesn't use lofty philosophies or high brow diatribes, he often breaks it down to doing the work. He sums it up nicely with a line that can be found in a number of his specials/videos, “Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work." Which is far truer that most care to admit. Most want fame and success, most won't even try.
“Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work. I live by that. You grind hard so you can play hard. At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay off.” - Kevin Hart
What he also does well, is to go into some depth about that hard work. Hard work matters, but if it's not for your goal it's for someone else's. Hart gives actionable plans that help you work for yourself. He gives simple plans that are general, but purposely so you can adapt it for yourself. The advice isn't inherently unique, or things you can find else where, or even things you haven't heard before, but I will say it lands a lot closer to home coming from Kevin Hart.
Because Kevin Hart is hilarious. His humor and charisma is carried through and makes everything a lot more personable and digestible. This audio book wouldn't be anything without Kevin Hart. I mean... granted he wrote it so that's easy to say. What I'm saying is, the stuff is better because it's from Kevin Hart. The Decision is Kevin Hart's recipe. Given by anyone else, it wouldn't be as good. It's like if Bobby Flay tried to make one of Guy Fieri's recipes. I'm sure it'd be good, but it wouldn't have the Flavor Town panache. The Decision works so well because it is thoroughly a Kevin Hart product of love and hard work.
Kevin Hart reading the book fully makes the experience. His performance feels very natural and off the cuff as to not feel like a story time circle. It feels like a conversation, like you're getting advice from your mentor. Your mentor who is easily distracted and incredibly busy. At one point his wife calls and he has a conversation with her and you get a sense they are both playfully annoyed. I do not believe there is a physical copy, but if there was, Hart's performance would be considered as added value and superior to it because of the added thoughts and insights that he has as he reads his own words. He may have actually wrote all of that, but it comes off as genuine realizations and epiphanies.
“Laughter heals all wounds, and that’s one thing that everybody shares. No matter what you’re going through, it makes you forget about your problems. I think the world should keep laughing.” Kevin Hart
Personally, having the same first name makes it a lot more personable. Kevin Hart shares his inner monologue which often start with "Kevin." It feels like he's talking to me, even though I know he's talking about talking to himself. It's really hard to not think someone is talking to you if they say your name. Imagine someone texting you, then they say they're not talking to you. YOU SENT IT TO MY NUMBER; WHAT YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT TALKING TO ME? Sorry... side tracked.
The one critique, which I'm not 100% on, is that he kind of glosses over different mental conditions. He in no way disparages them, or denies them. But, I can see how some people with crippling anxiety/depression, might not absorb the advice and maybe resent how direct ans basic the advice may seem when getting out of bed and basic functions are momentous. He does challenge readers to want more "I don’t see how people are comfortable with seeing other people be great. You can be happy for anybody, but what is your excuse to not want to be great? These people are great because they just say ‘I’ma do that,’ and they do it. That’s it. There’s no scientific process.” But again, he in no way disparages or condones anyone. It is something I felt I had to address as I've seen it come up in numerous self-help books and when I worked for a figure in the self-help business world.
"The two things in the world we all share in this world are laughter and pain. We’ve all got problems.The levels of those problems vary, but we’ve all got problems. When you can take things that are painful and make them funny, that’s a gift – to you and your audience.” Kevin Hart
The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success by Kevin Hart is in the epitome of modern self-help books. It is hilariously read and performed and full of moments that would be impossible to get from reading the pages. Kevin Hart's direct and non-BS approach to life and success is not just sound, but visible. It is not often that you can recognize the author of a self-help book and it is less often you can see the author practice what they preach on a near daily basis. Though the advice and guidance might seem grand coming from the most famous comedian on the planet, there is plenty of content for everyone no matter the level of success and fulfillment they are trying to achieve. His best advice "Put actions behind your words. Don’t be a talker, be a doer."
I give my The Decision Review a 5/5