“I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.” -Tony Hsieh, Delivering Happiness
Yay hooray – it’s a new Rousing Review! This month I’m reviewing Delivering Happiness, the new book by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. I know it’s a bit of a deviation from my usual creative career books, but I was interested in it because (a) I’ve always been intrigued by the stories I heard about Zappos, from offering their trainees $2000 to quit to sending a client flowers when they heard that her mother passed away(b) I was sent an advance copy of the book with the promise that I’d review it on my blog. But, the former is what lead to the latter, & I’m so glad to have gotten my hands on a kick-ass book that might’ve taken me some time to pick up otherwise.
Delivering Happiness is, essentially, Tony Hsieh’s autobiography, despite his young age. I’ll admit, it was tough to get through the first half of the book without really wanting to hate the guy, who sold his first business, LinkExchange, to Microsoft for $265 million before his late 20s. But I liked him in spite of myself, as he’s a self-made guy who has built his success around creating a life he loves. He walks the walk, talks the talk & even ate $40 million, which Microsoft offered him to stick around for a year as an advisor. At first, he took it (he ain’t no idiot), but when it led to multiple weeks of waking up late, heading to the office, checking/sending emails, & going home, he walked. Tony writes:
“I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I knew what I wasn’t going to do. I wasn’t going to sit around letting my life and the world pass me by. People thought I was crazy for giving up all that money. And yes, that decision was scary, but in a good way…I had decided to stop chasing the money, and start chasing the passion.” (more…)
