Will by Will Smith, audiobook
“Will" by Will Smith is one of the better books I have heard in a long time. I don't remember being so engrossed in a book, wanting to complete it as soon as possible and bawling my eyes out when it ended.
TL;DR, go listen to Will Smith narrating his autobiography in his own energetic voice.
What made me like this book so much?
- I’ve realized that I crave north stars to aim at, goals which seem highly unattainable. Autobiographies of highly “successful” people are a proxy to that. I can peek into their lives, their thought processes, and aspire to replicate that.
- I could relate to Will Smith a bunch. Not sure if that’s his art of storytelling (which is highly probable, given that he is one of the best storytellers I know) or it might actually be true. His struggles with work, confidence, love, people-pleasing, and dreams seemed very similar to mine.
- I was looking for something to focus on outside of work. Will’s voice is addictive, his stories are relatable and authentic. The book made me laugh and cry at the same time, I set my half marathon PR while listening to this book.
- I wanted to hear that making mistakes is okay. Messing things up is human, and hearing someone that I admire share his struggles made me look at mine in a different light.
- I love Will’s intensity towards whatever he did in life. It was all in or out. In his words, you either go finish the mission or you die.
- The background score of this audiobook is on point. There is a different magic to Will rapping/singing his original songs, with the context behind how that piece came to be hit differently.