Thoughts on David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Jolo Lat
Jolo Lat
Jul 28, 2017 · 4 min read
Me holding the book. I’ll shave later

This is not really a book review, more of a “my thoughts and key takeaways” from this book David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. I got wind of this book when I listened to Dre Baldwin’s Podcast episode #190 titled “What if I fail”. If you haven’t heard it yet, you should. Right now.

Overall, It was a really great book. It moved me so much to write this takeaway a few hours later. The book talks about the beauty of some disadvantages and that some of them turn out to be advantages after all! While it also shows that some things we think of as advantages aren’t really an advantage. The last chapter is about power as well with a great compelling read.

1. Being a Big Fish in small pond is way better than a small fish in a Huge pond
One of the chapters in the book talks about Caroline Sacks who was a really bright student coming out of high school, straight As and all. She chose between going into a big school with really smart students, or a pretty okay school and she could be the best there.
She chose the big school area and she was shook when it came to some subjects. In the end she loved science but dropped out of science when she had difficulty and some subjects while COMPARING HERSELF to others. I relate personally going here to Ateneo and being in Management Engineering. SOBRANG DAMING MATATALINO AMPUTA. SINO BA NAMAN AKO?! But you can’t be deterred. Hindi ka pwedeng mawalan ng pag-asa. You have a light inside you. Mayroon kang maipagmamalaki. Being in this small fish big pond makes you feel really really small. BUT IN REALITY, hindi talaga. As in hindi talaga.

That’s why I continue to find places where I can succeed and comparing myself to others is a fucking losing game. FUCK comparing. Kung mas magaling ka sakin sa ibang bagay, edi ayos congrats paturo pre paburger respeto!!

2. Some things we think as disadvantages are not really disadvantages. They could be strengths
One of the chapters talks about dyslexia. Some people have dyslexia growing up and it’s hard for them to read. Paano yun di ba? Pero may mga sikat na tao na may dyslexia. They find ways. One story talks about David Boies who grows up being dyslexic and becomes a lawyer. Not because he is a good reader, but he is a listener. He turned dyslexia into advantage. He had no choice. It also talked about this guy named Gary Cohn who rode into someone else’s taxis to talk to this person and lied about being good at options trading (stocks thing). Ibang klase di ba? And he says his upbringing allowed him to be comfortable to failure and he had nothing to lose. Some things force you to doing undesirable things.

Yung dyslexia nila, naging advantage sa kanila. What we thought was a disadvantage naging advantage!

There are things in life that I thought were disadvantages but can turn out to be advantages.
Probinsyano — I used to think of it as a bad thing, but then again I get to converse with people in different backgrounds better
Kuripot — I try to think more of resourceful things to get things done

Or many other things. Sa buhay natin may mga bagay na AKALA lang natin na nagpapahirap pero may pwede pang gawin.

3. “Courage is not something you already have that something makes you brave when the tough times start. Courages is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough at all”.

These has many examples in my life and you can think of some in your life.

1. Case competitions — I used to be afraid, but when I joined I realized there’s nothing to be afraid of and ayun sumasali pa rin ako kasi masaya
2. Basketball — I used to see big guys and get scared. I would sometimes play and win against them. Not really tough is it
3. Tough semesters- We had this really really tough Semester called SMEG Sem. I passed it and even though the grades weren’t that high, I passed it. It certainly gave me newfound confidence and more adventurous. I feel more confident overall.

This encourages me to take on more things and see things differently. You should too.

There are many more lessons in this book. and if you’ve learned something else feel free to share it too!

Working in a Marketing Company but a Student in Real life.

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