I have never been interested in either reading self‐help books or those that guide you on your way towards a pleasurable utopia. I find them pointless since I believe they won’t tell you anything you had not thought about beforehand. Yet, surprisingly, it has turned out that I was wrong. I have just finished reading The 10 Keys to Success, a short book written by John Bird, and I have to say I have enjoyed it quite a lot.

John Bird is the founder and editor of The Big Issue[1], a news and current affairs magazine launched in September 1991 whose main purpose is to offer a way of life to homeless people. I am sure that, if you live in London, at some point you would have seen any of its vendors around but have you ever bought one of these publications? Well, that is not the question that concerns us right now.

On the back cover of the book you can spot an engaging question: are you struggling to achieve what you want? And who isn't or has not ever? I wonder. Good question anyway and the main point of the discussion. Bird believes that success is all about settling in your mind what you want, working out what is important to you and going out to grab it.

In this regard, the author goes through ten chapters while giving you practical tips and advice, such us ‘ignore the negative voices’, ‘think about improving bit by bit’, or ‘don’t be afraid of failure’.

I thoroughly agree with the majority of the ideas expressed in the book but this last one stuck with me in particular, so much so, that I can see myself petrified while suffering from the fear of failure. Fortunately, I have never allowed any fear to force me to choose the easiest option because, as the book preaches, otherwise you would never overcome any challenge. ‘The more failures you have, the quicker you will learn’. Mostly everyone knows this quote but mostly no one takes it into account.

Likewise, another argument in which I could perfectly identify with is shown in chapter three. ‘Don’t wait for the perfect time to start’ because ‘there is no perfect time’. I tend to idealize the future as the perfect scenario and wait for something better while working for it. I am sure many of you are thinking that this idea is quite risky to be upheld, especially in the business world where nearly everything is about waiting for the best opportunity, but curiously this is the case of the author. He based these pieces of advice on his own experience running the magazine. He actually started at ‘the wrong time’ when the economy was in a bad place but he believed in a solid idea.

I know that, at a glance, it can be seen like another book filled with well­‐know advice and conventional tips expressed by the common quotes we all have at least once heard about – it was my preconception at first - but, in one way or another, it turned out to be enjoyable. It may be thanks to the way in which the book has been written that makes you feel as if you were having a chat with someone you know. Or the fact that it talks about your thoughts, in many occasions, in the same way as you usually do, as if there were someone reading your mind.

Although the script is rather predictable, I couldn’t put the book down. It struck me as completely comprehensible and useful. It is as if the author has succeeded in catching a piece of your busy life to make you think about what you thought was already known.

It is, as a matter of fact, true that I am specially following one of the tips of the book. Now, I am paying even more attention to what others do; not comparing myself in a way that it lets me down but taking worthy notes which will help me to not make the same mistakes or just consider another way from these small details we sometimes miss out on.

I picked up this engrossing book from one of the shelves in Holborn library, London. The edges of its pages are already yellow in color although I suspect they have never been white at all, as a sign of a good book. I would suggest reading it but, as a light adventure, find it among second hand bookshops or any library around your city so that you can take it as a small treasure, as if it were a friend who is giving you advice. Although I don’t think it will affect the sales of a book published in 2008, my apologies to the author for this bohemian idea.

[1] The Big Issue