I picked up "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" after my friend Cathy recommended it. We had been discussing a blog post Mr Adams wrote about marriage and what he needed out of a relationship. Seems he couldn't deal with having someone around 24 hours a day which resonated with me. Fair warning, "How to Fail..." is a self help book. The first quarter reminded me of other self-help books but with a sprinkling of Dilbert-style humor. I almost started to sour for this reason, but Scott turned things around and closed strong. For most of the book Mr Adams talks about different careers/businesses he has been involved with. I knew he used to work for Pacific Bell, and Crocker Bank before that, but there is a whole trove of side endeavors, both before and after he started cartooning. As the title implies, most of these failed, but the author talks about what he learned from each experience. One of his big talking points is to not set goals, but rather create systems to succeed. As a simple example, he argues against setting a weight loss goal, but rather create a system of eating that allows you to actually loose weight. More conceptually, he argues that doing extra-ordinary things to reach some goal virtually guarantees you will stop doing those things once you reach it, and undo your efforts. The author might border on being too "self confident" a times, but the book contains some good life lessons, and is worth your time.