Ingredients of Young Outliers by John Sufeldt

When I saw this book, I immediately thought of Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. And this book was inspired by it! However, it's targeted at a much younger audience than Outlier.

Ingredients of Young Outliers the key ingredients that make young people stand out. They include: humility, enthusiasm, composure, intuition, perspective, integrity and many others. Each chapter opens with a quote, and a short biography of someone who illustrates that ingredient (normally the person being quoted) is given before talking more about that trait. Quite often, the author uses his own experience to show us how this trait is applicable (he is equally candid about his failures as he is about his success).

What I liked about this book was that it's very readable. Although the author could easily have been condescending (he's way accomplished, I wouldn't blame him if he accidentally sounded proud), he comes across as very humble. I suppose it's because he gives the reader so many examples of other people he admires instead of bragging. Because of that, the book was readable (and not-annoying).

My favourite "ingredient" is probably the first one: humility. The one insult that gets me riled up instantaneously has got to be "you are so proud". Unfortunately, I do get called that quite often. Sometimes, it's just stating things like "Oh, in Singapore we do this is secondary school" that get that insult ^^; So I do know how easy it is to come off as proud, which makes me appreciate the virtue of humility so much more. It's something that I have to work on.

If you know a young adult, or perhaps a not-so-young adult, that could do with an inspirational book on how to stand out, you should seriously consider this book.

Disclaimer: I got a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.