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Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success
Let’s face Setbacks happen, and failure is always a possibility. But here’s the good Amazing success has been achieved by people who once fell flat on their faces. The secret lies in how we respond to life’s bumps and pot holes and unwelcome detours—from getting fired or losing a business to enduring a professional rejection or pursuing a passion that fails to pan out. Misfortune, it turns out, can be a springboard to success.
In Rebounders, U.S. News & World Report journalist Rick Newman examines the rise and fall—and rise again—of some of our most prolific and productive figures in order to demystify the anatomy of resilience. He identifies nine key traits found in people who bounce back that can transform a setback into the first step toward great accomplishment. Newman turns many well-worn axioms on their head as he shows how virtually anybody can improve their resilience and get better at turning adversity into personal and professional achievement.
• Setbacks can be a secret They often teach vital things you’ll never learn in school, on the job, or from others.
• There are smart ways to Once familiar with them, you’ll be more comfortable taking risks and less discouraged if they don’t pan out.
• “Defensive pessimism” trumps Planning for what could go wrong is often the best way to ensure that it doesn’t.
• Know when to Walking away at the right time can free the resources you need to exploit better opportunities.
• “Own the suck” : When faced with true hardship, taking command of the pain and sorrow—rather than letting it command you—lays the groundwork for ultimately rising above it.
Each lesson is highlighted by candid and inspiring stories from notable people, including musician Lucinda Williams, tennis champ James Blake, inventor Thomas Edison, army veteran and double-amputee Tammy Duckworth, and Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees.
In this uncertain and unstable time, Rebounders lays out the new rules for success and equips you with the tools you need to get ahead and thrive.
In Rebounders, U.S. News & World Report journalist Rick Newman examines the rise and fall—and rise again—of some of our most prolific and productive figures in order to demystify the anatomy of resilience. He identifies nine key traits found in people who bounce back that can transform a setback into the first step toward great accomplishment. Newman turns many well-worn axioms on their head as he shows how virtually anybody can improve their resilience and get better at turning adversity into personal and professional achievement.
• Setbacks can be a secret They often teach vital things you’ll never learn in school, on the job, or from others.
• There are smart ways to Once familiar with them, you’ll be more comfortable taking risks and less discouraged if they don’t pan out.
• “Defensive pessimism” trumps Planning for what could go wrong is often the best way to ensure that it doesn’t.
• Know when to Walking away at the right time can free the resources you need to exploit better opportunities.
• “Own the suck” : When faced with true hardship, taking command of the pain and sorrow—rather than letting it command you—lays the groundwork for ultimately rising above it.
Each lesson is highlighted by candid and inspiring stories from notable people, including musician Lucinda Williams, tennis champ James Blake, inventor Thomas Edison, army veteran and double-amputee Tammy Duckworth, and Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees.
In this uncertain and unstable time, Rebounders lays out the new rules for success and equips you with the tools you need to get ahead and thrive.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
49 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
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May 28, 2013
Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success by Rick Newman
“Rebounders” is a good collection of stories from successful people who have been labeled rebounders for their ability to bounce back from adversity. U.S. News & World Reporter and a frequent TV and radio commentator and a rebounder of sorts himself, Rick Newman brings the readers an eclectic list of rebounders. The book was fun to read and includes some interesting stories but lacks name recognition and science to support the keys behind the rebounders success. This entertaining 257-page book is composed of the following fourteen chapters: 1. What Makes a Rebounder, 2. The Elements of Persistence, 3. When Hardship Is a Privilege, 4. The Dangers of Optimism, 5. How Passion Misleads, 6. When to Quit, 7. When Hard Work Isn’t Enough, 8. The Bright Side of Burnout, 9. How to Improvise, 10. What Could Go Wrong, 11. What Trumps Passion, 12. Own the Suck, 13. From Wallower to Rebounder, and 14. The Nine Attributes of Rebounders.
Positives:
1. A well-written, narrative driven collection of stories of rebounders.
2. An eclectic list of rebounders.
3. The four important discoveries from the author.
4. The distinctions between Rebounders and Wallowers.
5. Throughout the book the author drops core strengths or traits of rebounders. " Resilience is the core strength of a Rebounder."
6. Interesting insight on success, " We tend to think that success comes from natural gifts like intelligence or talent, but the connection isn’t nearly as strong as it might seem. Renowned psychologist Howard Gardner has shown that the most widely understood form of intelligence—the kind measured on an IQ test—accounts for only about 20 percent of what makes people successful."
7. Covers rebounders from all walks of life and eras. "Benjamin Franklin, America’s first self-help guru, ran away from his parents in Boston at the age of seventeen, finding work as an apprentice for a dim-witted Philadelphia printer."
8. The persistence of Thomas Edison. " Edison cultivated failure in his hundreds of laboratory experiments, because he knew that rich learning—and sometimes, major commercial breakthroughs—came from studying mistakes and capitalizing on them."
9. The advantages of hardship. "Bogle became a breakthrough Rebounder because he continually created advantages for himself and shunned the unproductive behavior that leads to stagnation."
10. Passion in perspective. "The dangerous myth about passion is that if you love something intensely enough, you’ll be successful at it."
11. Key skills. "Westergren sees adaptability and self-sufficiency as core survival skills likely to become more valuable, not less."
12. Hard work and burnout. "There’s no formulaic answer, and people handle burnout in personalized ways, just as they handle any other kind of stress."
13. The importance of focus. "Rebounders often bounce back by channeling their efforts into things they can control, and by learning not to waste their energy on things controlled by others—especially by people with petty or manipulative agendas."
14. Improvisation. "To be successful and turn change to their advantage, many twenty-first-century Americans will have to move quickly from one field to another, without much of a map to guide them."
15. The story behind Netflix's Reed Hastings was my favorite. "Since founding the video-rental firm in 1997, Hastings had built it into a powerhouse that changed the way people rented and watched movies and drove its top competitor, Blockbuster, into bankruptcy."
16. Time and desire. "Thomas Keller obviously has many things in common with other Rebounders, and to his own mind, the most important quality of people trying to accomplish difficult things is desire."
17. The interesting story of Captain Tammy Duckworth and the concept of "Own the Suck".
18. The story of how Joe Torre went from Wallower to Rebounder.
19. The nine attributes of rebounders.
20. Notes.
Negatives:
1. If you are expecting a how-to-rebound book this is not quite it. It's much more about the stories from rebounders.
2. Limited use of social science/psychology and as far as I can recall no neuroscience to get behind the mindset of a rebounder.
3. It's an eclectic list of rebounders for sure and it includes people from all walks of life and from different eras but lacks that star quality expected in books of this ilk.
4. Did not link up to notes. Shame.
5. No formal bibliography.
In summary, an easy book to pick up and read through the interesting success stories of rebounders. The stories are interesting but the book lacks the meat of science to give readers insight into the mindset of a rebounder. Fun to read, but lacking some substance. Average to good book.
Further suggestions: “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us” by Daniel H. Pink, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, ,“Good Strategy Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt, "Quiet" by Susan Cain, "Outliers" and "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, "Switch" by Dan and Chip Heath, and "Power" by Jeffrey Pfeffer.
“Rebounders” is a good collection of stories from successful people who have been labeled rebounders for their ability to bounce back from adversity. U.S. News & World Reporter and a frequent TV and radio commentator and a rebounder of sorts himself, Rick Newman brings the readers an eclectic list of rebounders. The book was fun to read and includes some interesting stories but lacks name recognition and science to support the keys behind the rebounders success. This entertaining 257-page book is composed of the following fourteen chapters: 1. What Makes a Rebounder, 2. The Elements of Persistence, 3. When Hardship Is a Privilege, 4. The Dangers of Optimism, 5. How Passion Misleads, 6. When to Quit, 7. When Hard Work Isn’t Enough, 8. The Bright Side of Burnout, 9. How to Improvise, 10. What Could Go Wrong, 11. What Trumps Passion, 12. Own the Suck, 13. From Wallower to Rebounder, and 14. The Nine Attributes of Rebounders.
Positives:
1. A well-written, narrative driven collection of stories of rebounders.
2. An eclectic list of rebounders.
3. The four important discoveries from the author.
4. The distinctions between Rebounders and Wallowers.
5. Throughout the book the author drops core strengths or traits of rebounders. " Resilience is the core strength of a Rebounder."
6. Interesting insight on success, " We tend to think that success comes from natural gifts like intelligence or talent, but the connection isn’t nearly as strong as it might seem. Renowned psychologist Howard Gardner has shown that the most widely understood form of intelligence—the kind measured on an IQ test—accounts for only about 20 percent of what makes people successful."
7. Covers rebounders from all walks of life and eras. "Benjamin Franklin, America’s first self-help guru, ran away from his parents in Boston at the age of seventeen, finding work as an apprentice for a dim-witted Philadelphia printer."
8. The persistence of Thomas Edison. " Edison cultivated failure in his hundreds of laboratory experiments, because he knew that rich learning—and sometimes, major commercial breakthroughs—came from studying mistakes and capitalizing on them."
9. The advantages of hardship. "Bogle became a breakthrough Rebounder because he continually created advantages for himself and shunned the unproductive behavior that leads to stagnation."
10. Passion in perspective. "The dangerous myth about passion is that if you love something intensely enough, you’ll be successful at it."
11. Key skills. "Westergren sees adaptability and self-sufficiency as core survival skills likely to become more valuable, not less."
12. Hard work and burnout. "There’s no formulaic answer, and people handle burnout in personalized ways, just as they handle any other kind of stress."
13. The importance of focus. "Rebounders often bounce back by channeling their efforts into things they can control, and by learning not to waste their energy on things controlled by others—especially by people with petty or manipulative agendas."
14. Improvisation. "To be successful and turn change to their advantage, many twenty-first-century Americans will have to move quickly from one field to another, without much of a map to guide them."
15. The story behind Netflix's Reed Hastings was my favorite. "Since founding the video-rental firm in 1997, Hastings had built it into a powerhouse that changed the way people rented and watched movies and drove its top competitor, Blockbuster, into bankruptcy."
16. Time and desire. "Thomas Keller obviously has many things in common with other Rebounders, and to his own mind, the most important quality of people trying to accomplish difficult things is desire."
17. The interesting story of Captain Tammy Duckworth and the concept of "Own the Suck".
18. The story of how Joe Torre went from Wallower to Rebounder.
19. The nine attributes of rebounders.
20. Notes.
Negatives:
1. If you are expecting a how-to-rebound book this is not quite it. It's much more about the stories from rebounders.
2. Limited use of social science/psychology and as far as I can recall no neuroscience to get behind the mindset of a rebounder.
3. It's an eclectic list of rebounders for sure and it includes people from all walks of life and from different eras but lacks that star quality expected in books of this ilk.
4. Did not link up to notes. Shame.
5. No formal bibliography.
In summary, an easy book to pick up and read through the interesting success stories of rebounders. The stories are interesting but the book lacks the meat of science to give readers insight into the mindset of a rebounder. Fun to read, but lacking some substance. Average to good book.
Further suggestions: “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us” by Daniel H. Pink, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, ,“Good Strategy Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt, "Quiet" by Susan Cain, "Outliers" and "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, "Switch" by Dan and Chip Heath, and "Power" by Jeffrey Pfeffer.
November 8, 2012
This book was both disappointing and a great read. The disappointment came because I expected it to be comprised of what was in the last chapter -- characteristics of "Rebounders". I expected a book filled with ideas of how to overcome setbacks and to be giving advice on how to make the best from a bad situation. So I was more than a little surprised that only a few pages were dedicated to this, almost as an after thought.
However, the book was a great read. Instead of learning how to turn your failures into successes, it was filled with examples of those who did just that. Before reading this book, I had only ever heard of Thomas Edison. However, I would love to read more about Tammy Duckworth. The chapter on her felt too short, and unlike some of the others profiled, I was left wanting to read more about her. In fact, I likely would have only given this book a three star rating if it wasn't for the chapter about her.
If you're wanting a how-to book, this isn't it. If you are looking for a book to sit down and read about those who have overcome adversity, this is your book.
Please note: I was a Goodreads First Reads winner for this book.
However, the book was a great read. Instead of learning how to turn your failures into successes, it was filled with examples of those who did just that. Before reading this book, I had only ever heard of Thomas Edison. However, I would love to read more about Tammy Duckworth. The chapter on her felt too short, and unlike some of the others profiled, I was left wanting to read more about her. In fact, I likely would have only given this book a three star rating if it wasn't for the chapter about her.
If you're wanting a how-to book, this isn't it. If you are looking for a book to sit down and read about those who have overcome adversity, this is your book.
Please note: I was a Goodreads First Reads winner for this book.
July 8, 2017
Feeling sorry for yourself? Not sure you'll ever make it? Do you feel like you've reached a dead end and don't know how to get out? Rebounders will give you some inspiration, direction and clarity. It's full of real life examples of people who have succeeded, several of whom with you would be familiar. What makes these success stories interesting, however, is that each person had to overcome self-doubt, business failures, a lack of direction, an unwillingness to let go, etc. to achieve their success.
The book is generally enjoyable and interesting to read and is written in a style that is a combination of psychology, biography, inspiration and storytelling. Sometimes it gets a little clunky or forced, but that may be because the author is trying to weave so many diverse examples into the book. On the other hand, he does a good job of tying the examples back to the central theme: what is a rebounder; what are the traits of a rebounder, even when two examples seem completely opposite; and, how one can become more like a rebounder and less like a wallower.
I recommend Rebounders as a worthy read, especially if you want or need some insight or perspective; or, simply a guide to help lead forward to that next place in your life.
The book is generally enjoyable and interesting to read and is written in a style that is a combination of psychology, biography, inspiration and storytelling. Sometimes it gets a little clunky or forced, but that may be because the author is trying to weave so many diverse examples into the book. On the other hand, he does a good job of tying the examples back to the central theme: what is a rebounder; what are the traits of a rebounder, even when two examples seem completely opposite; and, how one can become more like a rebounder and less like a wallower.
I recommend Rebounders as a worthy read, especially if you want or need some insight or perspective; or, simply a guide to help lead forward to that next place in your life.
July 12, 2017
Not quite what I thought it was going to be. Luckily I enjoy biographies as well, because basically that is what this book is. A bunch of biographies about people who rebounded.
The author didn't bring all the characteristics of Rebounders together until the last chapter and there was new information. Get past failures, our your mistakes, learn from them, and know your weaknesses and continue to educate yourself. Again, not news.
The author didn't bring all the characteristics of Rebounders together until the last chapter and there was new information. Get past failures, our your mistakes, learn from them, and know your weaknesses and continue to educate yourself. Again, not news.
May 3, 2022
“But he felt lucky to be there, and he was also learning that hardship breeds advantages that privilege doesn’t. Years later, with his career in shambles and his plans wrecked, the fortitude he had learned at a young age would help Bogle mount a crusade that transformed an entire industry and helped enhance the personal wealth of millions of middle-class families—not to mention his own.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Back in school, one of Bogle’s strongest subjects had been math, but he also enjoyed writing and had a flair for historical allusions. Getting fired and knocked down a few rungs on the ladder of achievement reminded him of the Greek myth of Antaeus, the son of Poseidon, who had gained fame as an unbeatable wrestler. Antaeus’s secret—and his vulnerability—was that he gained indomitable strength when he was in contact with the ground, which meant that he got stronger when he was knocked down. The only way to defeat Antaeus ”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“ “I never had huge doubts in my ability,” he told me. “I had huge doubts about whether the rest of the world would recognize it.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“FedEx founder Fred Smith, for instance, is famous for flying to the blackjack tables in Las Vegas in 1973, when his fledgling air-express company was desperately short of cash, and winning $27,000 that he promptly wired to company headquarters, to help meet payroll expenses.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Instead of confidence, he talked about humility. “I’m in the church of humility,” he said. “You can be bold and humble at the same time. Those are not incompatible. To me there are two important things about being humble. One is you listen. You believe you have something to learn from your experiences and from people around you. That makes you aware of your environment and how it’s changing. You’re much wiser about your decision making and your business. If you’re humble, you also don’t get caught up in the trappings of success, which can be very corrupting for most people. You can get drunk on that if you’re not humble.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“My greatest professional successes occurred after I had faced my most daunting personal challenges,” he wrote in his memoir. “I used to think this was ironic; now I realize that my success flows directly from having cleared those hurdles.” When I asked him to link cause and effect, he told me that simply spending time with family and friends, getting out of the bubble he had been in on the pro tennis circuit, made him more confident, because for the first time in years he was among people who didn’t expect him to prove anything. “So much of my life up till then had been based around tennis,” he said, “and my success or failure at tennis was the most important thing to me. I realized that these people didn’t care if I won or lost a tennis match.” At the same time, his coach, Brian Barker, was telling him that even if his career ended, he had accomplished a lot and would end up just fine. Like other Rebounders, he realized there was a Plan B, which relieved some of the pressure he felt to execute Plan A.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“During the first few years of his pro career, everything revolved around his ranking and his match record. Then his ranking plummeted and he struggled to get the ball over the net, even in practice. So again, with no other choice, he had to find a new way to measure success, and decided that as long as he was getting better and could notice his own improvement, that counted as success. He was finally following Wilander’s advice, and worrying less about the standardized measures of success turned out to be the very thing that helped him improve by those same measures. “I was playing without pressure,” he said. “I had no fear of losing. I was just happy to be playing.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Instead of confidence, he talked about humility. “I’m in the church of humility,” he said. “You can be bold and humble at the same time. Those are not incompatible. To me there are two important things about being humble. One is you listen. You believe you have something to learn from your experiences and from people around you. That makes you aware of your environment and how it’s changing. You’re much wiser about your decision making and your business. If you’re humble, you also don’t get caught up in the trappings of success, which can be very corrupting for most people. You can get drunk on that if you’re not humble.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“the “fail fast” mentality prevalent among venture capitalists, who knew that many of the startups they funded wouldn’t succeed. Their goal wasn’t to avoid failure, but to recognize failure quickly if it was bound to happen, fix what was fixable, junk what wasn’t, and try again, smarter and shrewder. So while others sought to mimic the many success stories to be found in Silicon Valley, Hastings started to study the failures, to make sure he never became one of them. A continual focus on what could go wrong would become the guiding ethos at Netflix.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Back in school, one of Bogle’s strongest subjects had been math, but he also enjoyed writing and had a flair for historical allusions. Getting fired and knocked down a few rungs on the ladder of achievement reminded him of the Greek myth of Antaeus, the son of Poseidon, who had gained fame as an unbeatable wrestler. Antaeus’s secret—and his vulnerability—was that he gained indomitable strength when he was in contact with the ground, which meant that he got stronger when he was knocked down. The only way to defeat Antaeus ”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“ “I never had huge doubts in my ability,” he told me. “I had huge doubts about whether the rest of the world would recognize it.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“FedEx founder Fred Smith, for instance, is famous for flying to the blackjack tables in Las Vegas in 1973, when his fledgling air-express company was desperately short of cash, and winning $27,000 that he promptly wired to company headquarters, to help meet payroll expenses.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Instead of confidence, he talked about humility. “I’m in the church of humility,” he said. “You can be bold and humble at the same time. Those are not incompatible. To me there are two important things about being humble. One is you listen. You believe you have something to learn from your experiences and from people around you. That makes you aware of your environment and how it’s changing. You’re much wiser about your decision making and your business. If you’re humble, you also don’t get caught up in the trappings of success, which can be very corrupting for most people. You can get drunk on that if you’re not humble.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“My greatest professional successes occurred after I had faced my most daunting personal challenges,” he wrote in his memoir. “I used to think this was ironic; now I realize that my success flows directly from having cleared those hurdles.” When I asked him to link cause and effect, he told me that simply spending time with family and friends, getting out of the bubble he had been in on the pro tennis circuit, made him more confident, because for the first time in years he was among people who didn’t expect him to prove anything. “So much of my life up till then had been based around tennis,” he said, “and my success or failure at tennis was the most important thing to me. I realized that these people didn’t care if I won or lost a tennis match.” At the same time, his coach, Brian Barker, was telling him that even if his career ended, he had accomplished a lot and would end up just fine. Like other Rebounders, he realized there was a Plan B, which relieved some of the pressure he felt to execute Plan A.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“During the first few years of his pro career, everything revolved around his ranking and his match record. Then his ranking plummeted and he struggled to get the ball over the net, even in practice. So again, with no other choice, he had to find a new way to measure success, and decided that as long as he was getting better and could notice his own improvement, that counted as success. He was finally following Wilander’s advice, and worrying less about the standardized measures of success turned out to be the very thing that helped him improve by those same measures. “I was playing without pressure,” he said. “I had no fear of losing. I was just happy to be playing.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“Instead of confidence, he talked about humility. “I’m in the church of humility,” he said. “You can be bold and humble at the same time. Those are not incompatible. To me there are two important things about being humble. One is you listen. You believe you have something to learn from your experiences and from people around you. That makes you aware of your environment and how it’s changing. You’re much wiser about your decision making and your business. If you’re humble, you also don’t get caught up in the trappings of success, which can be very corrupting for most people. You can get drunk on that if you’re not humble.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
“the “fail fast” mentality prevalent among venture capitalists, who knew that many of the startups they funded wouldn’t succeed. Their goal wasn’t to avoid failure, but to recognize failure quickly if it was bound to happen, fix what was fixable, junk what wasn’t, and try again, smarter and shrewder. So while others sought to mimic the many success stories to be found in Silicon Valley, Hastings started to study the failures, to make sure he never became one of them. A continual focus on what could go wrong would become the guiding ethos at Netflix.”
Excerpt From: Rick Newman. “Rebounders”. Apple Books.
December 18, 2021
Rick Newman’s fascinating list of traits rebounders from all walks of life and industries is illuminating . Was most impressed about how little afraid they are of failure or at least don’t let failure get in the way of their goals.
It’s truly an inspirational list of well accomplished individuals and how the tools they developed help them hone and /or achieve a rebounder character.
It’s truly an inspirational list of well accomplished individuals and how the tools they developed help them hone and /or achieve a rebounder character.
February 4, 2023
This book is motivating, and gives the reader a way to gage their ability to achieve goals. In addition, it provides insight into how successful people deal with setbacks.
Reading this book will give you a new way of looking at failure and also some tools for rebounding from professional and personal setbacks.
Reading this book will give you a new way of looking at failure and also some tools for rebounding from professional and personal setbacks.
January 16, 2018
An adequate advice book with commonly shared stories, like the life of Sam Walton, highlighting the ways that successful people can become resilient. If you are short on time, read solely the last chapter.
April 25, 2019
There are some good stories about some folks who leaned to the side of the 'rebounder', as opposed to the side of the 'wallower' (not a spoiler)
May 22, 2021
A good guide for overcoming challenges in many facets of life!
February 12, 2022
I think my rating says it all.
August 16, 2024
It's like only eating the foam on your frappé, this book only scratches the surface of the topic. There are other books out there that do it better.
July 5, 2012
What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, April 28, 2012
Author Rick Newman was struggling as a journalist in an industry that was undergoing changes, downsizing, and laying off writers. Wanting to learn how to rebound from setbacks in his own career, he decided to write Rebounders and learn how winners pivot from setback to success. Soon Newman began to feel like a new man (sorry, I had to get that one out of my system. Been holding it in ever since I noticed the author's name). He researched Rebounders throughout history, such as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Edison. They all experienced setbacks before rebounding to success. Newman sought out rebounders from contemporary life and interviewed them. The insights gained make up his book, Rebounders.
Joseph Campbell told people to "follow their bliss" in a popular documentary series from the 80's called The Power of Myth. Newman questions this slogan, thinking it too easy to expect that you can just do what you love and success will automatically follow. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the "10,000-hour rule" in his popular book, Outliers. People might draw the conclusion from this that if they follow their bliss and devote 10,000 hours to the task, they will become virtuosos and become rich and famous. Lucinda Williams is used as an example in a chapter called "When Passion Isn't Enough." Hearing Lucinda's music I would say she was a resounding success, but it wasn't without sacrifice, and she is more of a critical success, and she has a devoted cult following, but she's not such a commercial success. Still, she is quite the rebounder.
James Blake, tennis player, shows us that at times, hard work isn't enough. Tim Westergren is an example of knowing when to quit and change direction. He succeeded with online music company Pandora after several false starts in other careers. Reed Hastings, the CEO and founder of Netflix, learned from the mistakes--of others. Thomas Keller, top chef and founder of the French Laundry in Napa, and many other restaurants and food businesses, learned that passion ebbs and flows and sometimes it is not enough, but something he defines as desire is more constant. These and other folks share their stories with Newman and his readers in Rebounders.
Newman has distilled his insights and lessons into the following four things:
The Bottom Line is that Rebounders is an inspirational book that can help you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but it doesn't offer any alluring but false shortcuts or incomplete slogans. There is a lot to learn from Newman's book and the Rebounders he has interviewed.
I will leave you with the words of Fredrich Nietszche, who Newman describes as "that starchy German Philosopher," aphorism number eight from his 1895 book The Twilight of the Idols:
Author Rick Newman was struggling as a journalist in an industry that was undergoing changes, downsizing, and laying off writers. Wanting to learn how to rebound from setbacks in his own career, he decided to write Rebounders and learn how winners pivot from setback to success. Soon Newman began to feel like a new man (sorry, I had to get that one out of my system. Been holding it in ever since I noticed the author's name). He researched Rebounders throughout history, such as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Edison. They all experienced setbacks before rebounding to success. Newman sought out rebounders from contemporary life and interviewed them. The insights gained make up his book, Rebounders.
Joseph Campbell told people to "follow their bliss" in a popular documentary series from the 80's called The Power of Myth. Newman questions this slogan, thinking it too easy to expect that you can just do what you love and success will automatically follow. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the "10,000-hour rule" in his popular book, Outliers. People might draw the conclusion from this that if they follow their bliss and devote 10,000 hours to the task, they will become virtuosos and become rich and famous. Lucinda Williams is used as an example in a chapter called "When Passion Isn't Enough." Hearing Lucinda's music I would say she was a resounding success, but it wasn't without sacrifice, and she is more of a critical success, and she has a devoted cult following, but she's not such a commercial success. Still, she is quite the rebounder.
James Blake, tennis player, shows us that at times, hard work isn't enough. Tim Westergren is an example of knowing when to quit and change direction. He succeeded with online music company Pandora after several false starts in other careers. Reed Hastings, the CEO and founder of Netflix, learned from the mistakes--of others. Thomas Keller, top chef and founder of the French Laundry in Napa, and many other restaurants and food businesses, learned that passion ebbs and flows and sometimes it is not enough, but something he defines as desire is more constant. These and other folks share their stories with Newman and his readers in Rebounders.
Newman has distilled his insights and lessons into the following four things:
1. Setbacks can be a secret weapon.
2. Small adversities matter, just like big ones.
3. We're addicted to alluring shortcuts and incomplete slogans.
4. Optimism is overrated.
The Bottom Line is that Rebounders is an inspirational book that can help you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but it doesn't offer any alluring but false shortcuts or incomplete slogans. There is a lot to learn from Newman's book and the Rebounders he has interviewed.
I will leave you with the words of Fredrich Nietszche, who Newman describes as "that starchy German Philosopher," aphorism number eight from his 1895 book The Twilight of the Idols:
"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."
August 15, 2012
...Impressive!. At first I thought this is too much to read, but as I flip through pages, It was a very interesting read about people from varied fields and how they overcome their setbacks and move forward. This book is a collection of inspirational stories, talks about qualities that differentiate an extra ordinary from ordinary way of thinking. Although, the author makes it clear that these traits may or may not apply to everyone, he sure assures that, instead of complaining/blaming on others and situations, but focusing the same energy onto something they could be proud of in the future is worth doing.
Those 9 points he finalizes at end of the book ain't convincing enough /interesting to the reader, may be he could have put bit effort in revising it over again.
Those 9 points he finalizes at end of the book ain't convincing enough /interesting to the reader, may be he could have put bit effort in revising it over again.
March 6, 2016
3.5 stars. I like that the author chose to tell the tales of people who had overcome failure to find success in different fields, different ways, and different times. There is no "one size fits all" formula to success. Different people succeed in different areas for different reasons. I think choosing to illustrate that is much more powerful than trying to sell people a magic step-by-step formula to success, because no such thing exists. While there were a few characteristics present among the different people whose stories are told here, the paths they took were not uniform by any means. If you are interested in reading short essays of different people who overcame adversity to succeed, you will enjoy this.
March 1, 2013
In this book, Newman discusses the characteristics of the rebounder, a person who is able to take failure and turn it into success by learning from it. Newman uses over nine case studies to demonstrate how various people have rebounded from failures and mistakes to become successful in their fields, while highlighting the mental skills and tools that are necessary to accomplish this. I found the stories to be inspiring and useful for helping me see how I could become a better rebounder.
March 27, 2012
I won this book in a Goodreads contest and was really happy to do so because, as a writer myself, the title and dust jacket blurb really resonated with me. I wasn't disappointed. Powerful messages, blunt reminders and advice mixed with entertaining and revealing anecdotes helped make this a quick and enlightening read.
November 4, 2012
Good stories about people who came back or bloomed late. Very motivational to hear some of the stories, especially during these times. Loved them all. Didn't buy any of his gobble-de-gook about how to become a rebounder, but loved the stories.
September 4, 2015
inspirational book for people who is going through a rough patch to find the light and the end of the tunnel.
This book offers a glimmer of hope and it identifies traits of these rebounders that maybe you can see in yourself or develop into it.
This book offers a glimmer of hope and it identifies traits of these rebounders that maybe you can see in yourself or develop into it.
Want to read
March 16, 2012I won this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Hope to read it soon. Thanks.
July 17, 2013
I'm not sure that it helped me change my attitude, but the stories were interesting. And I feel like I picked up a few tips about working on projects.
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