Book Review: passion@work

I was lucky enough to be chosen to review one of the books on offer from Emergen. The first impressions when I first got this book was “Great – it’s not War & Peace, it shouldn’t take me too long.” In fact, it took me 2.5 hours to read while my little one was taking his nap. It’s a very easy read and it was quite engaging.

I love to read, however I have never picked up a self-help book or a how-to guide so went in with an open mind. I found Shivani's (the author) book to be part autobiography, part how-to guide and part self-help. What I really liked about passion@work was Shivani was so relatable. The stories she told and her personal experience would resonate with majority of women. It’s a great journey where Shivani first takes you through her decision to set up her own business and her fear of giving up a great paying job to go to nothing! And isn’t that what majority of budding business owners fear the most? Then takes you through the first four years of her business to how she finally achieved her dream in her fifth year. Her frankness is endearing and this is one of the reasons it was so engaging.

Another great thing about this book is that it provides a different kind of guidance to people who want to start up their own business. From what to how to where to what’s next. Shivani poses some (sometimes) confronting question. The question ‘What are you passionate about?’ personally was confronting. Who really has sat down and take the time to think about this? In Chapter 7, she provides a ‘Personal Plan’ (a series of questions) which is a fantastic starting point for anyone considering their own business – especially those that don’t have the experience and don’t know where to even begin.

The only downside to this book is it is very targeted at women. From the illustrated pages to the self-reflection questions, even Shivani herself says that her program is targeted for women. However the guide itself – or the workbook provided, would be valuable to any person who wish to start up their own business. It is unique in that it looks at the ‘fluffy’ side of starting a business. Many would have ideas about what their targets would be, what products they’ll have but not many would think about formulating their vision, meditation, relationship and overcoming fear.

It’s quite a shortened version of Shivani’s journey hence she covers a lot of different things and there are topics she mentions that you would want more in-depth information about (she mentions Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and The Secret to name a few). As she tells us in the book, she bought and read lots of books before embarking on her business, this is great advice and passion@work should definitely be used as one of the many resources when starting a business to look at all the different perspectives, especially during the beginning stages – for women in particular.