I’ve been reading a lot of fiction lately, and with the new year, I thought it might be good to peruse a good professional book. One of my goals this year is to dust myself off and restart my goal of travel and lifestyle writing, and one of my favorite quotes is Jump, and the net will appear! It was only natural that when I stumbled upon Steve Harvey’s newest book, Jump, that I’d pick it up.
Honestly, what’s not to like about Steve Harvey? He’s funny, he’s direct and to the point, he makes mistakes (and fixes them) with grace, and he likes to help people. Love him or hate him, he’s an Everyman. As the author of several books, Harvey has embraced a personal goal of helping others.
You may ask yourself, just as I did,
- How could a comedian possibly help me achieve a life of abundance?
- How could a celebrity with a life, culture, and opportunity so very different than mine give me actionable advice?
- Is this going to be a tome of self-importance or self-indulgence that is a bestseller because of the popularity of its author?
In answer to my questions above,
- I didn’t expect this book to do anything special to help me achieve a life of abundance. What this comedian did was get me off my duff and moving forward again on my lifelong goal of sharing the joys of traveling, living a healthy lifestyle, and pursuing dreams with others. Will I make a lot of money from it, probably not. But if I can inspire one person to do one thing they’ve not done before, then that is a form of abundance.
- I found myself connecting with Mr. Harvey on many different levels despite being from very different backgrounds and having different pursestrings. At the end of the day, we all will struggle to make our hopes and dreams a reality. By the end of the book, I found myself adding Mr. Harvey to the list of people I’d enjoy meeting one day in a personal way rather than an autograph and selfie way.
- Jump was in no way, form, or fashion self-important or self-indulgent. Any reference to his celebrity was balanced with non-celebrity real life struggles that bring a humanness that one can’t help but connect with.
As I read, I found myself highlighting nuggets of wisdom that I hold near and dear to my heart. Nuggets such as
- You’re the only one who can take your dreams off the shelf and turn them into reality. You are the only one that can take I can’t and turn it into I can.
- The doors that God opens for you are not difficult doors to walk through…. Have courage to walk through the door He has opened especially for you…. Be willing to jump even when you don’t know where you’ll land…. Only then will you ever be able to soar.
- With every lesson you learn, you add more confidence and gain more strength for the next part of your journey. But you must determine the experience was a lesson not a failure.Â
Whatever your questions or reservations may be, I encourage you to pick up this book. As much a self-help book as a personal narrative, Jump is an enjoyable read that very well may light a fire under at least one area of your life be it professional or personal. You learn about a man who has crawled through many valleys in his life including relationship failures, financial failures, as well as periods of not knowing where his next meal was coming from, and even living out of his car. Through it all, he kept his eye on his goal and never gave up.
Again. Again. And again. Almost as if Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping was a mantra written especially for him as much as it was for all of us.
Add
Have you read this book? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Note: Actual page numbers are not included above as I read this book via iBooks and exact page numbers are not attainable. The quotes are easy to locate using the search function, however.
Links to the book and Mr. Harvey’s profile on Amazon.com are affiliate links.
Interested in other books we’ve read? Be sure to check out our Reading List.