Build, Don’t Talk by Raj Shamani (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

  

33^rd Book of 2022

I remember when lockdown had hit all of us, we didn’t have any new movies to watch or restaurants to try. The only saviour that was left for our entertainment was Youtube. This was the time generally when Youtubers and Influencers grew like anything. There were many new names that got introduced to us. One such name that Instagram algorithm made me aware was of Raj Shamani. His reels would occasionally appear on my feed. Initially, I thought who’s this boy giving so much of gyaan but eventually, I started agreeing with few of his viewpoints. I finally subscribed him on Youtube when he started Podcast named “Figuring Out” and I love the way he dwells into important questions with the entrepreneur guests on his show. I was surprised when I saw that his book has also got published recently named “Build, Don’t Talk” by the No. 1 publisher of India, Penguin. It didn’t take me two minutes to order it’s Kindle version and start reading.

 

The book basically claims to teach us things that weren’t taught us in school. Now, frankly speaking, schools had a set of subjects and they never thought of teaching anything beyond it. The life skills were left upon parents to teach their kids. Unfortunately, parents also kept insisting us to focus on the subjects as good marks meant good job in future. It was surely true because when all of us were growing before the Internet culture came in place, we didn’t have much option to explore except getting a good degree and job to feed ourselves and our family. It is a good initiative by these influencing youth of 25 years old speaking about what they have learnt from their own experiences while walking on an unconventional path.

 

The book is divided into 39 chapters. Raj’s writing style is very simple. Anyone – who is even in 5^th standard would be able to read and comprehend the life-transforming meaning behind the sentences written in this book. Raj has a good reading experience which can be seen in the way he has written it. Every chapter has Key takeaways marked in the end for us to note it down which can give us the summation of the whole chapter as reference. Raj has not shied away from telling things which might sound hard to accept as it challenges your belief system continuously. I had smirk on my face in initial few pages but when I understood that Raj is not going to speak anything which can give me dopamine rush, I pulled up my socks to read things I am going to completely disagree with. And that’s the beauty of this book.

 

The book covers various topics such as personal growth, habit formation, Raj’s personal experiences and his learnings from it, skills to possess as a student, goal-oriented preparation, start-up ideas, money-building attitude, being a content creator, starting Youtube channel, investment tips, personal branding, creativity and what not. He unapologetically promotes hustle and hard-working culture which is inspirational and agreeable. He doesn’t speak of terms like work-life balance, traveling, making loads of friends because he has been a practical guide throughout the book which is actually needed to be successful in your studies, job or business – whatever you choose for yourself. If for nothing, one should read this book for his honesty.

 

Let me point out few points/advises given out of many that I liked in the book:

More than goals concentrate on habits and set a process and routine to get to your goals

I liked the truth about copying others by getting inspired rather than focusing on innovating as not everyone can do that.

Being a Producer on Internet than just being a Consumer echoed my own thoughts – The reason why I review books and talk about it.

Shamani talks nicely about how to increase price of your product gradually by charging more to your customers – and why it’s better to have less customers giving more money than having many giving less.

Negotiation chapter is great where he tells how to shift power to another person wittingly and rather than reducing price, adding services is a better option while selling your product/service.

He asks people to stay off social media and start doing things rather than only planning or waiting for the right time.

The chapter on failure is the real hustle talk that Raj gives which tells about the mindset with which few people work - something not everyone is agreeing these days.

The 5 investing tips author gives for beginners really sounds effective. Anyway, someone can authorize it only after implementing. 😊

The way his 7 sources of income stream started one after another and just at 25, the way he is earning money is really inspiring and something to learn from. I really got motivated from that chapter.

It is always interesting to read how content creators work Behind the Scenes and Raj Shamani tells how he plans everything. It has given me lot of insights as to how I can also up my Social media game which is having a slow run.

He has also spoken in length about communication and people skills which are highly effective as some techniques have been applied by me in past which were really helpful in getting opportunities later on.

 

Overall, this is a great motivational book. Do pick up if you are in need of motivation recently. You can also gift it to your friends, younger siblings, cousins etc. who have big dreams but remain unfocused and indiscipline. I am really a Raj Shamani’s fan now. This book has done wonders to me. I give this one 4.5 stars out of 5.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA