If I could tell you just one thing…..{Book Review}

Blogging is hard work, but blogging is also so rewarding. Occasionally I get amazing products to test out. Other times the kids get some much-needed toys…. 3 kids…new toys do not come easily in our home anymore. I am also fortunate to be paid some dollar bills for some posts. Then there are books deliveries… *sigh* I love my book deliveries….. Books remind me of my childhood and fills me with so many memories. I spent hours and hours reading as a kid. Sweet Valley High anybody? 

So when I (or the kids) get a book delivery….my heart skips a beat. To me, it means less time on our cellphones, our tablets, mindlessly watching series….. The time BEFORE social media. Books connect us to a time that once was…..Books are soul food for me. Right now….I really really need some soul food! When ‘If I could tell you just one thing…’ arrived on my doorstep from Penguin Random House SA, I was so excited, because…Soul food delivery!! My husband messaged me with a picture and said: Look what you got! That middle book (the one I’m reviewing today) is the one I really want to read! Even he wants to read this book!

What is this book about?

A collection of canny and creative advice from some of the world’s most successful and remarkable people, gathered by a young entrepreneur. 

Richard Reed built Innocent Drinks from a smoothie stall on a street corner to one of the biggest brands in Britain. He credits his success to four brilliant pieces of advice, each given to him just when he needed them most. Ever since, it has been Richard’s habit, whenever he meets somebody he admires, to ask them for their best piece of advice. If they could tell him just one thing, what would it be? Richard has collected pearls of wisdom from some of the most remarkable, inspiring and game-changing people in the world – in business, tech, politics, sport, art, spirituality, medicine, film, and design.

From Richard Branson to Andy Murray, from the president of Google to President Clinton, and from Richard Curtis to Annie Lennox, Richard has picked some of the world’s most interesting brains to give you a lesson in how to live, how to create and how to succeed.

My thoughts…

Good advice is like a nutrient-rich broth, made from boiling down the bones of life. And being fed so much of it, sourced from such remarkable people, has enriched my life and understanding of my fellow Homo sapiens immeasurably.

This quote from the book, from the author really speaks to me and sets the tone for this book. Richard Reed knows that we have all been through troubled times, good times, great times, very hard times…a lot of times. How did you get through it? How did you get there? What’s the one piece of advice that you would pass on? It makes the contributor think long and hard. You only have one message…..what will it be? 

I’ve just started the book and already just reading the advice from former President Bill Clinton was like…Yes Bill! You’re right! I think I already live that piece of advice, but its good to get a reminder once in a while.

I am going to savour this book slowly, from cover to cover. While I may not even recognise half of the names, but I think that this book is really going to feed my soul, at a time when it needs feeding. Life is tough at the moment, for me….for a lot of you. If there’s a book that I think will give you some much-needed encouragement, valuable advice for living and even some laughs….I think this is the one.

If I could tell you just one thing, I find there is a lesson in absolutely everything, no matter how tragic or difficult the situation. It never makes sense in that moment….heck sometimes not even 5yrs after it happens, but one day, there’s a shift…..the lesson will come. Be open to it. Now I ask you….if you could tell me just one thing….what would it be?

The recommended retail price of ‘If I could just tell you one thing…’ is R230, but I see it is currently available on Takealot.com for R199.