James Altucher is best known for his radically honest and vulnerable writing. In his book, Choose Yourself, which seems like a compilation of essays from his blog, he communicates the following fundamental premise: waiting for others to “choose” you, whether it be employers, publishers, or any other so-called gatekeeper, is a recipe for failure — especially in our hyperconnected world.
Therefore, the wise individual must choose themselves and plot out their own course, make their own luck, and take matters into their own hands if they wish to thrive in this new world.
In other words, playing by the old rules of going to school for credentials, using those credentials to get a job for life, and hoping to inch yourself up the corporate ladder, are relics of a bygone era. In this book, Altucher gives some good advice and offers inspiration to individuals who want to exercise more sovereignty in their own lives and increase their optionality.
Leadership is one of those topics that makes me uneasy, only because it seems to attract charlatans, especially within the corporate world. That’s why the word has some negative connotations to it, at least in my mind. But there is nothing mysterious or negative about true leadership.
A couple of years ago, Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby, wrote a short book called