This was the 6th book I read in 2020.

The meticulous details and the kind of writing has really made me obsess over this book and some of the adjectives that I could associate with this book include and not limited to are good, motivational, emotionally uplifting, and inspirational.

I learnt many things while reading this book and hope that I covered almost everything that I learnt through the below points.

Preparation is very important to achieve your goals
When I heard about this book and the kind of feats that the author had already achieved in his life, I was not aware about the preparation that went in realizing this goal. It was until I read this book that I realized how hard it is to actually achieve what the author has achieved. The sheer audacity of attempting this feat of crossing Antarctica alone, unassisted, and without refueling his supply is simply amazing and the preparation for doing that was even more arduous and strenuous.
I was amazed to read how his coach helped him prepare for this journey of the lifetime. I can’t get the picture out of my head where the author is trying to solve a piece of puzzle with the cold hands (which were in the bucket full of ice), doing wall sit with his legs in the bucket full of ice. I got cold shivers just looking at that picture and didn’t realize he trained this much hard for his journey through Antarctica.
The other preparation that he did was to go through Antarctic like conditions in the snowy mountains of Greenland. I am not sure if I am right about the place, but you get my point, right?
The one aspect of this preparation that we cannot take away is the mental preparation and that’s what blew me away. He was dropped off by his StepFather at a Vipaasana retreat for a 10-day workshop on building the mental strength and meditation. During the later stage of his climb across Antarctica, the author realized how important those 10 days were and how much he has benefited from just going through the ritual of meditation. That helped him to keep calm and do what he was destined to do.

It is always better to take a step back when things are not under control
This was the biggest learning for me while reading this book.
During one of the days on ice, the author was attacked by a severe storm and the moment he opened the tiny zip of his tent, he knew the climbing today won’t be easier. He was contemplating whether he should continue his journey or take a rest as he has been hauling his sled for more than twelve hours each day for past twelve days, so he was due for a rest day. But, the thought of Captain Rudd catching upto him captivated his mind and he decided to go ahead and see how far he could go. He thought he might end up surprising himself and accomplishing a few more miles before calling it a day.
Boy, he was so wrong. Not only he survived what seemed like a mission ending accident, he barely completed three miles for the day. It was a high risk low return kind of deal and he regretted not staying put and taking a rest day. If he would have taken a rest day, he would have avoided going through the physical pains of recovering that accident and wouldn’t have been emotionally and mentally drained to find out he could cross only 3 miles in the entire day.
It is always better to take a step back when things are not in your hand and you cannot do anything about it.

Cherish & Appreciate small moments in life
During his time on the ice, he understood the importance of small things that he missed back home. His grand family gathering, the Hawaiian term that he coined – Ohana. Ohana means family in English. Whenever he was depressed or missed home, he used to imagine these yearly family gatherings and how they used to spend time with each other. He used to miss the time he spent with his wife back home and how she had supported him and still supporting him in his journey to capture Antarctica.
He reminisced all old memories that he could while walking and hauling his sled across the ice. He realized how much he missed simple and small things in life like spending a lazy weekend afternoon with his wife and spending time with school kids, telling them and trying to inspire them about his journey and world records.
Sometimes, in our daily lives, we take things for granted and never appreciate them. It is until we lose them we realize how important they were. So, one thing to learn from this is to appreciate and value what you have in life, instead of, running to achieve something else.

Be humble and show gratitude
When I was done reading the book, the last few pages were filled with Acknowledgments. I was so engrossed in reading that I didn’t even realize I was reading that section and thought of going ahead with that and really finish the book in one go as he finished the last 70 miles in around 35 hours and termed it as an ultramarathon at Antarctica.
I was simply amazed and humbled to find how detailed and truthful his acknowledgements were. The most unfathomable thing that I found was he started this section with his wife and who truly deserved it. After reading the entire book and knowing the kind of struggle that these guys went through to raise money for his other expeditions, his wife, deserves equal recognition for all the work that they both have accomplished.
Also, one more mention in the acknowledgement section that surprised me was that of Captain Rudd, who was his competitor during this “race” to become the first man to cross the Antarctica, on foot, unassisted, and without refueling their supplies. I was humbled to see how down-to-earth the author was to recognize the importance of his competitor to achieve this once-in-a-lifetime goal.
And the last thing that blew me away was the fact that he stayed a couple of days after crossing the finish line to see Captain Rudd cross his finish line and accomplish what he wanted to do. He made sure he would camp a mile away from the actual finish line to let Captain Rudd have his own moment and don’t overcome the feeling. What was more intriguing was the fact that the author recognized the feeling that he was experiencing at that moment was felt by only one more person in the whole wide world and that was Captain Rudd. So, it was awesome to read that he waited for him for a couple more days and then flew together out of Antarctica to see their respective families.

Be loyal to people who stuck with you during tough times
Even after achieving these many things in life and holding 10 world records, the author is still humble and down to earth and it is what inspired me the most.
He values the support that he got during this journey and vows to never take that for granted.
He is still highly respected of his wife and Ohana and all the amazing and important people in his life who directly or indirectly help him achieve his goals.

#BePossible
And this hashtag is the core of this book. Through this book, the author tried instigating the never-say-never feeling for the readers. You never know what the human body is capable of, so, the best way to find out that is to actually do it and see if you are successful or not. There is not other way. PERIOD.

This book is packed with so many powerful, inspiring, and motivational moments that it is very hard to get enough of just one edition of this book. This book joined an exclusive group of books (for me), which contains all books giving me instant motivation and cheering me up whenever I feel down.

It is in many ways truly The Impossible First.

I am in awe of the way this book is written and understood why it is the NYT bestselling book.

This is the fifth book I read in the year 2020.

This book was *not* initially a part of my reading plan for the year, and the way I stumbled upon it was a pure coincidence.

I asked my friend, Monika, to suggest me a good book after I finished the last wisdomous quotes from Mr. Barack Obama, and she recommended checking out her bookshelf instead of her suggesting what to read. It was a pure moment of luck as I browsed through the middle section of the book shelf and felt so happy that I got to finally see the book that was on my reading list for a couple years, but, then got buried due to other more influential and new books. Anyway, I was excited to give it a read and curious to find out what the author’s take was TO NOT GIVE A F*CK.

I must say this book didn’t live up to the expectations. Maybe, a couple of years of buildup didn’t help while reading this book. I have had heard many good stories from friends about how good and weirdly positive this book is, so, I had high expectations that I would get to read something different that I don’t live by in my life. To my dismay, most of the stuff given in the book was already a part of my lifestyle. I am not complaining here. I am just trying to say that there are many good and positive things mentioned in the book, some of which, if you follow in your life, you would definitely come out as stronger and more positive person.

Now, at the risk of sounding a big philosopher, let me jot down a few points that I think perfectly describes what this book is about.

WHAT REALLY MATTERS AT THE END
I have stressed so much on this point through these blogs and through my conversations with friends and family. Also, it was the single biggest thing that I learnt after reading The Snowball, the biography of the Oracle of Omaha.
I cannot stress this enough and again how important to know what really matters at the end of someone’s lifetime – Family and people that surround you and love you without any expectations.
All the success that you accomplish in life, all the marathons and ultramarathons that you run, all the races that you win and be the wealthiest person in the world, nothing of that helps or makes you happy if you are not surrounded by people that you love and care about you. That victory becomes so insignificant because of the absence of your loved ones at the finish line.
I had a little bit difficulty understanding this point from the author, but, as I have already read the Snowball, which has put this point directly and without any buildup, I think, I got the idea that the author was trying to mention here.

HOW TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING IN LIFE
This is the third biggest learning for me after reading this book.
This is where the author hit the first home run for me. While reading this book, I usually found that I was (in a weird way) talking to myself, and then suddenly the author talks about how to achieve or do something in life and in the simplest language possible.
And the thing that I liked more was his examples to show how to do something in life. His example was asking a girl that you like out on a date. It was a relatable example for me. In the past, I had been afraid to ask girls that I liked out on a date. After reading this book and understanding how to achieve that, I find it super easy now.
The author’s take on this is JUST DO IT! Don’t overthink about it, don’t spend time contemplating what might happen and what might not. By doing something only will you find out what happen, correct? Then, why are you afraid of doing things? Whatever you want, just do it and see how it goes and find out yourself.
In a single sentence – If you want to do something in life, just do it already!

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IN DILEMMA
This is the second most important thing I learnt after reading this book.
If I had to pick the best thing about this book, it would be this topic. In this chapter, the author, very cleverly, gives you three questions that he recommends asking yourself whenever you are in a dilemma and don’t know what to do next or about it.
Many times in my life, I am faced with such a dilemma, both in the past and the present; and, I know, I will face similar situation in the future as well.
These questions go like these.

Question 1 – WHAT IF I AM WRONG?
The author recommends asking this first question when in a dilemma. By asking this question, you are sure to realize both the pros and cons of the decision you *think* is right.
For example – if a friend stopped talking to you, and you are being upset about it and thinking some conspiracy theory around it, then this is the definite question you should ask yourself – What if I am wrong? What if whatever I am thinking about a friend of mine is wrong? By answering this question, you will soon realize the consequences of either talking or not talking to that friend of yours.

Question 2 – WHAT WOULD IT MEAN IF I AM WRONG?
This is the second crucial question you should ask yourself. We will take the same example as I mentioned above. After answering the first question, let us think more about the second question. Does it matter whether I am right or wrong here? If it doesn’t, then we are good; but, if it does, then what would it mean to be the wrong person in this conversation. You can figure out by answering this question whether you would like to continue talking to your friend or not.

Question 3 – WOULD BEING WRONG CREATE BETTER/WORSE SITUATION FOR MYSELF AND/OR THE PERSON INVOLVED?
And this is where things really start unfolding.
The third question is most important and gives away the decision that you are going to take. By answering the third question, you can definitely tell what your final decision is going to be. If talking to your friend (which means you are wrong – the answer to your first question), betters the situation, then you will have something which will last a lifetime. But, if you were not wrong and being wrong worsen the situation, then it is better to let go of things/people/feelings.
I know that I sound so plain and rude while saying this, but, that’s what one of the learnings this book has given to me and is one of the partial reasons why this author loves Russia – because Russian people are transparent and quite vocal about their feelings regarding things and people.

THE LAST CHAPTER OF DEATH
And that brings us to the last chapter of this book.
This chapter moved me personally a lot and made me think about the only inevitable thing in this world and in our lifetime – DEATH.

Author starts this chapter by stating the above. The only thing which is inevitable for every living thing in this world – Death. Death is what makes us living and there is no way to escape that; which is both true and profound.

The author then goes on to give example of one of the most influential philosopher of all time – Ernest Becker. Back in 1970s, when Mr. Becker was diagnosed with some kind of cancer and when he was going through the therapy sessions, he wrote one of the greatest books ever on the topic of philosophy – The Denial of Death. The author says there are two important takeaways from this book.

The first one is that the human beings represent two things – one physical form and the other one is soul. This is true in so many ways. People, during their lifetime, are mostly concerned about their physical body, without looking inside how their soul looks like. The Author recommends taking care of your soul the same way you take care of the physical body.

The second and more important point that the author makes that Mr. Becker mentions this entire world is crippled by the idea of the IMMORTALITY PROJECT. The way Mr. Becker explains it is even better. He mentioned that the entire human race is worried about their name and their legacy once they leave this world; What they forget to notice is that it doesn’t matter what happens once they depart from this world, so the Immortality Project is not the book but the curse to the human race. And, we should focus more on accepting the sad reality of death.
I agree with whatever he mentioned, but the one thing I strongly disagree with is we shouldn’t do anything to improve or make this world a better place. That’s why it was hard for me to digest the second point of this chapter, but, respected him as he is considered one of the greatest philosophers ever.

This book gets both boring and exciting at the same time; partly because I have been following this rule in my life for quite some time now and never seems to get enough of it. When I was looking for the next book to read, my friend, Monika, told me she has a copy of it, so, I didn’t want to pass on the opportunity to read this book as it was on my reading list for more than a year! It is worth read and totally depends on your taste how you take it. I loved it and didn’t turn out to be a waste of time for me.

In conclusion, it was a good and thought provoking book.