The following is a review of the book ‘Punch above Your Weight’ by business psychologist John Potter.
The first impression
The book by Mr. Potter comes in a red paperback, with a clean front cover design. The first thing I did was to flick through some pages of the book, which left quite a good impression. The font size is just right and the typography allows a good flow of reading. There are many tables, columns, free spaces for exercises, summaries and graphics in the book. Also, every chapter begins with an inspiring quote and a nice little graphic. Overall, this leaves a very good first impression.
The content
When looking at the table of contents you can clearly see that this book is neatly structured. The author starts with an introduction ranging from popular figures such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar to Earl Nightingale. The book continues by explaining different concepts that are tremendously important for the achievement of success. These concepts range from proper goal setting to decision-making, networking, negotiation, leadership and strategy.
The book functions as an excellent introduction to people who are interested in personal development, as it is able to give a detailed overview about the most important subjects.
The unique selling proposition of the book is that the author argues that we all should consider ourselves as businesses when it comes to our own personal growth. We need to plan and develop strategies for our own advancement, just like businessmen do with their own company.
One point of criticism that could be raised about the book is that the author addresses many concepts, such as Kaizen or the Time Management Matrix, that are already widely discussed in the personal development industry. Most are already familiar with these concepts and won’t gain any further insights about them.
However, the book is an excellent read, especially for those who are interested in gaining a proper overview of some of the most important tools one can use in order to grow as a person.
Conclusion
Punch above Your Weight is a book that is worth reading, especially for those who simply do not have the time to investigate hundreds of different subjects from the personal growth industry.
