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My Life, My Rules: Stories of 18 Unconventional Careers
Not many people have heard of IIM and IIT graduates becoming bestselling writers or chief ministers. The professional career path chosen by many people is as plain as daylight and can be predicted many years into the future. But Sonia Golani's book, My Life, My Rules: Stories of 18 Unconventional Careers, catches the imagination of the reader and provides valuable insights into the inconceivable ways a person's career can proceed. It is a collection of eighteen different stories, each featuring an individual who has dared to walk the less-traversed path.
Amish, a successful corporate employee, ventures into the risky world of fiction writing. Eventually, his Shiva series becomes so successful that he quits his job and becomes a full-time author. Having graduate degrees from prestigious institutions and a doctorate in environmental toxicology, Rahul Ram chose to become a musician instead and played for the famous 'Indian Ocean' rock band. Such stories in this book challenge the common set of decisions that most people make for their futures. These stories show just how unpredictable life can be.
Amish, a successful corporate employee, ventures into the risky world of fiction writing. Eventually, his Shiva series becomes so successful that he quits his job and becomes a full-time author. Having graduate degrees from prestigious institutions and a doctorate in environmental toxicology, Rahul Ram chose to become a musician instead and played for the famous 'Indian Ocean' rock band. Such stories in this book challenge the common set of decisions that most people make for their futures. These stories show just how unpredictable life can be.
226 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2013
About the author
Sonia Golani
10 books12 followersSonia Golani has a BA (Hons.) in History from Lady Shri Ram College and a Masters degree from the University of Delhi. An entrepreneur, she manages her firm, Management Consultants Group which specializes in recruitment of MBAs, CAs and other qualified professionals for Banking, Financial Services, Insurance and FMCG sectors.
Sonia had the distinction of securing second rank in Rajasthan State in class X Board examination. She completed ISC from Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl’s School, Jaipur and was the school topper. While in college at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, she was elected as Treasurer, Students’ Union.
Sonia likes to tell enlivening and inspiring stories from within our milieu and has written 4 non-fiction books which are bestsellers, each on a theme of contemporary significance elucidated through stories of India’s super achievers from diverse domains.
Equipped with a fulfilling career of more than a decade as an entrepreneur in recruitment consulting, Sonia felt there was a paucity of books written in Indian context. She set out to bridge this gap by writing a book on women business leaders in India, the first of its kind. The book is titled Corporate Divas and was published by Penguin to much acclaim in October 2011. Corporate Divas brings forth the stories of 18 women business leaders and offers inspiring insights into what motivates and sustains them. It’s a useful resource for ambitious young professionals, especially women, aspiring for success in the corporate world. It explores what it takes for women to achieve pinnacle of success in their career.
Sonia’s second book My Life, My Rules was published in February 2013 by Amazon-Westland and soon after it was featured in Nielsen’s Bestsellers list. My Life, My Rules endeavours to challenge the idea of degrees & conventional careers as a measure of success and happiness in our society. All the individuals who have been covered in the book have had conventional success but they were missing happiness. That happiness came from doing the work they liked. ‘To do what you like is freedom. To like what you do is happiness’ can be said to be the tagline of the book. This book is an attempt at broadening the way our society thinks. By writing about people who have taken such calls in life, she has showcased their struggles, thought process and success stories which may inspire others who also want to follow such path.
Sonia’s third book, also published by Amazon-Westland, titled Decoding Bollywood is a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema. Through 15 riveting stories of Bollywood’s masterclass directors, Sonia demystifies the world of Bollywood.
Sonia’s 4th & the latest book, What After Money And Fame, published by Penguin covers 12 distinguished Indians who have achieved dizzying heights of success. Foreword to this book is written by Kumar Mangalam Birla. Through a series of in-depth conversations with them, she has attempted to explore what lies beyond material triumph for them; what is the measure of a life well-lived? What After Money And Fame earned glowing accolades from some of the leading people of our country like Adi Godrej, Amitabh Bachchan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Naina Lal Kidwai, etc.
When not reading, writing or managing the business, Sonia loves the outdoors, music and golf.
Sonia had the distinction of securing second rank in Rajasthan State in class X Board examination. She completed ISC from Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl’s School, Jaipur and was the school topper. While in college at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, she was elected as Treasurer, Students’ Union.
Sonia likes to tell enlivening and inspiring stories from within our milieu and has written 4 non-fiction books which are bestsellers, each on a theme of contemporary significance elucidated through stories of India’s super achievers from diverse domains.
Equipped with a fulfilling career of more than a decade as an entrepreneur in recruitment consulting, Sonia felt there was a paucity of books written in Indian context. She set out to bridge this gap by writing a book on women business leaders in India, the first of its kind. The book is titled Corporate Divas and was published by Penguin to much acclaim in October 2011. Corporate Divas brings forth the stories of 18 women business leaders and offers inspiring insights into what motivates and sustains them. It’s a useful resource for ambitious young professionals, especially women, aspiring for success in the corporate world. It explores what it takes for women to achieve pinnacle of success in their career.
Sonia’s second book My Life, My Rules was published in February 2013 by Amazon-Westland and soon after it was featured in Nielsen’s Bestsellers list. My Life, My Rules endeavours to challenge the idea of degrees & conventional careers as a measure of success and happiness in our society. All the individuals who have been covered in the book have had conventional success but they were missing happiness. That happiness came from doing the work they liked. ‘To do what you like is freedom. To like what you do is happiness’ can be said to be the tagline of the book. This book is an attempt at broadening the way our society thinks. By writing about people who have taken such calls in life, she has showcased their struggles, thought process and success stories which may inspire others who also want to follow such path.
Sonia’s third book, also published by Amazon-Westland, titled Decoding Bollywood is a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema. Through 15 riveting stories of Bollywood’s masterclass directors, Sonia demystifies the world of Bollywood.
Sonia’s 4th & the latest book, What After Money And Fame, published by Penguin covers 12 distinguished Indians who have achieved dizzying heights of success. Foreword to this book is written by Kumar Mangalam Birla. Through a series of in-depth conversations with them, she has attempted to explore what lies beyond material triumph for them; what is the measure of a life well-lived? What After Money And Fame earned glowing accolades from some of the leading people of our country like Adi Godrej, Amitabh Bachchan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Naina Lal Kidwai, etc.
When not reading, writing or managing the business, Sonia loves the outdoors, music and golf.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 10, 2013
Though I read books in this genre, I could read this book very quickly. These stories which deals with various personalities, who ventured into careers, that are normally unconventional. Easy to read and the way stories are presented from across the fields makes the book interesting. I heard Amish Tripathi, during a book launch and story on him remind me of his talk. The stories will help people who some times at cross roads regarding their choices. Really enjoyed reading this book.
June 22, 2013
List books as I like to call them are gaining quite popularity these days. Like a collection of short stories, these chronicle lives of people based on a common theme. Author Rashmi Bansal specializes in them with all of her bestseller books based on this model. My Life My Rules comes from the same publishing stable as later of Rashmi’s books have been delivered. Author Sonia Golani has picked up a peculiar theme, people who have had unconventional careers. She has compiled stories of 18 such individuals who according to her have led a life on the offbeat path rather than going to regular jobs.
But what defines an unconventional career? To me, an engineer who takes up a job at a bank selling insurances is an unconventional career. A doctor going on to clear IAS and becoming an administrator of cities and villages instead of taking care of sick is unconventional. Yet we see so many such people in our daily lives. Individuals, who never really prepared for what was going to be their final career choice. Happens to many of us. Some people say it is a path of self discovery. Eventually everyone wants to find comfort in his or her work place.
So in that sense, the book does not throw great surprises. Granted, it looks like it is such a simple task writing such a book. All you need is to Google some celebrities and watch a lot of business TV channels. But in reality it takes as much research work as for example for a work of fiction. The author has claimed to have met most of the mentioned people in a short span of time (invariably in or around the Taj at Mumbai). Still after reading such kind of book, you should feel inspired and motivated. But that does not happen. And it is sad, for the book is really well crafted, well researched and well written.
Perhaps where the writer faltered was in selecting the characters of her book. Like in fiction, non – fiction too needs its heroes. So here we have 18 people. Now, most of them here already had chosen their future career before they completed their academic life. For example look at lives of Nikhil Chinapa and Aditi Govitrikar. Nikhil was well into music by the time he completed his architecture degree. Aditi too was well into modeling by the time she became a doctor. So can you really claim that they chose a different career?
But what defines an unconventional career? To me, an engineer who takes up a job at a bank selling insurances is an unconventional career. A doctor going on to clear IAS and becoming an administrator of cities and villages instead of taking care of sick is unconventional. Yet we see so many such people in our daily lives. Individuals, who never really prepared for what was going to be their final career choice. Happens to many of us. Some people say it is a path of self discovery. Eventually everyone wants to find comfort in his or her work place.
So in that sense, the book does not throw great surprises. Granted, it looks like it is such a simple task writing such a book. All you need is to Google some celebrities and watch a lot of business TV channels. But in reality it takes as much research work as for example for a work of fiction. The author has claimed to have met most of the mentioned people in a short span of time (invariably in or around the Taj at Mumbai). Still after reading such kind of book, you should feel inspired and motivated. But that does not happen. And it is sad, for the book is really well crafted, well researched and well written.
Perhaps where the writer faltered was in selecting the characters of her book. Like in fiction, non – fiction too needs its heroes. So here we have 18 people. Now, most of them here already had chosen their future career before they completed their academic life. For example look at lives of Nikhil Chinapa and Aditi Govitrikar. Nikhil was well into music by the time he completed his architecture degree. Aditi too was well into modeling by the time she became a doctor. So can you really claim that they chose a different career?
March 25, 2013
I'm a biased reader of this book since it features my own story. That said, I found all the other accounts of individuals who've followed their hearts on a road less travelled, both educative and engaging. I was particularly inspired by the story of Praveen Tyagi who defied the odds for a poor, rural kid to gain an engineering degree from IIT Delhi only to dedicate his life to training other kids, with and without means, to emulate his example. I was struck by the fact that, despite the very diverse range of career choices made by the 18 individuals featured, they all appear to share some characteristics. Most enjoyed supportive (or at least non-obstructive) families and partners. Most enjoyed academic success but were not terribly academic in their orientation. Optimism, persistence, resilience and professionalism were some other shared traits. All seem to strike great balances between pragmatism and idealism as well as between risk and reward. And, though all seemed to have discovered their callings somewhat serendipitously, they all seemed to operate to a strong inner compass in their quest for purpose. It troubles me that, at a time in history that offers a myriad different viable career paths, most kids, especially in middle-class India, are still being constrained to a few narrow choices. I hope the book helps a few more to make the leap.
Coincidentally, I came across these 2 articles today that make that point far better than I can:
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/08/wh...
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2012/10/is...
Coincidentally, I came across these 2 articles today that make that point far better than I can:
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/08/wh...
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2012/10/is...
May 11, 2013
In the last few years I have been more into reading business magazines & sports magazines apart from reading business & regular newspapers. Got back into the habit of reading books again regularly after reading Chetan Bhagat's Five points Someone which I liked a lot. Recently read My Life, My Rules by Sonia Golani which I finished reading in two hours. Normally, I am a slow reader and I can't read continuously unless the stuff is really interesting. Must be after a long long time that I finished reading a book in one shot. I must mention that I found My Life, My Rules very gripping. Very interesting stories of successful people who made interesting choices in life. I could relate to this book as I come from the same environment. I must compliment the author for her easy flowing writing style. I hate those so called heavy books of award winning authors who are out there to impress readers with their complex language. The concept which can be written in a few pages goes on & on and becomes boring. I had liked Five Points Someone for interesting content and easy flowing writing style and I liked My Life, My Rules for exactly the same reasons. I feel people who read for their own interest and not to impress other will like My Life, My Rules. Enjoy reading. Cheers, Vikram.
June 24, 2013
This is a compilation of stories of 18 successful people who chose to walk away from their "regular" professions to start something that they really wanted to do. Some of these people are well-known celebrities e.g. For example, Rashmi Uday Singh used to be a Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, but today is a well-known food critic; Amish Tripathi, is a banker-turned-bestselling author; and Rahul Ram, an avid environmentalist who participated in the Narmada Bachao Aandolan, now makes music with the band Indian Ocean.
One of my favourite chapters in this book is the one dedicated to Praveen Tyagi, who is the founder of IITians PACE – an exemplary institute that provides coaching for IIT- JEE and other important examinations. I’d never heard of this guy, but his life story is so uplifting that I’m sure it gives hope to many youngsters who come from not-so-privileged backgrounds.
This book would be especially good for those who are facing the dilemma of whether to follow their heart or to tread the known path.
One of my favourite chapters in this book is the one dedicated to Praveen Tyagi, who is the founder of IITians PACE – an exemplary institute that provides coaching for IIT- JEE and other important examinations. I’d never heard of this guy, but his life story is so uplifting that I’m sure it gives hope to many youngsters who come from not-so-privileged backgrounds.
This book would be especially good for those who are facing the dilemma of whether to follow their heart or to tread the known path.
Want to Read
April 19, 2014ok
October 27, 2018
Interesting and motivating. I found out to be a page turner within chapters.
Good motivational book to see how hard work pays off and also how offbeat people have gone from their educational vocations. It really underlines that formal education and career need not be the same. I give it 4* not a 5* because the prose could have been better in places.
Good motivational book to see how hard work pays off and also how offbeat people have gone from their educational vocations. It really underlines that formal education and career need not be the same. I give it 4* not a 5* because the prose could have been better in places.
October 9, 2019
This book is full of selfishness,self worth, self confidence, self esteem so that means its for u
Do read every life lover!
This book is made for u .
This book motivates that its your life a nd u will rule it
Do read every life lover!
This book is made for u .
This book motivates that its your life a nd u will rule it
August 2, 2022
Amazing
July 5, 2025
My first read of 2020. Inspirational, if you want to pursue your dreams. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
July 22, 2026
Nothing guiding the flow of conversation, nothing to build interest about these amazing people. Reads very dry. Not the best non-fiction
Want to Read
July 27, 2026How can i read the book
April 27, 2013
This book is set on similar lines as those compiled by Rashmi Bansal, such as Stay Hungry Stay Foolish and Connect the Dots. The success of such books is not determined by a great writing skill (frankly all that is needed is that writing does not come in way of a story) but the selection of people and interestingness of their stories. It is the power of these stories alone that can make a book worthy.
Good news is that in the choice of people and their stories, the book has been very effective. Although inclusion of popular, well-known folks like Aditi Govitrikar, Nikhil Chinnapa, Harsha Bhogle, R Madhavan and Srikant initially miffed me, however, after reading Harsha Bhogle and R Madhavan’s stories I realised that I didn’t know it all, and was mollified. It was interesting to know about what Harsha did before cricket commentary happened to him and that R Madhavan conducted widely successful coaching classes before he became an act or.
Also, I must add that author has done a great job in choice of people to include fair share of stories of successful women. That definitely does the book some credit.
Complete review at: http://alchemistpoonam.wordpress.com/...
Good news is that in the choice of people and their stories, the book has been very effective. Although inclusion of popular, well-known folks like Aditi Govitrikar, Nikhil Chinnapa, Harsha Bhogle, R Madhavan and Srikant initially miffed me, however, after reading Harsha Bhogle and R Madhavan’s stories I realised that I didn’t know it all, and was mollified. It was interesting to know about what Harsha did before cricket commentary happened to him and that R Madhavan conducted widely successful coaching classes before he became an act or.
Also, I must add that author has done a great job in choice of people to include fair share of stories of successful women. That definitely does the book some credit.
Complete review at: http://alchemistpoonam.wordpress.com/...
May 11, 2013
Many a times a lot of us have thought about making our hobby our career. However, in most cases this remains a thought only & does not not become a reality. Lack of proper information, fear of unknown, financial insecurity, family & social pressures hold us back from taking the plunge. Recently read My Life, My Rules which has stories of 18 people who could gather the courage & followed their hearts and made a good name & life for themselves. Apart from being an interesting & light read, this book is likely to inspire lot of people to take the leap. I think we need many more such role models & many more such books which will help change the way our society thinks. Assessment & slotting of people based on age-old rigid & limited parameters needs to give way as times have changed, country has progressed and we now live in a globalised world where there are more opportunities in diverse fields. Success, capability & status of people need to be measured in very different ways now and not the way we used to do 30-40 years back. Happy reading.
October 7, 2013
A good book is one that makes you think. You read it for a while. Some lines of it strike a chord inside you and you sit thinking about the lines and the ripples it created within you. You start reading the rest. Some line hits you. You start thinking again. This happens over and over until you finish the book.
It was really rare that you find such books. They may lack many things that a good book have. All that matters is the fact that some parts of the book created an ocean of thoughts inside you and you are forced to analyse them and eventually you are forced to gain something from them.
This is one such book though at times with her intricate detailing, the author drags few stories way too much.
It was really rare that you find such books. They may lack many things that a good book have. All that matters is the fact that some parts of the book created an ocean of thoughts inside you and you are forced to analyse them and eventually you are forced to gain something from them.
This is one such book though at times with her intricate detailing, the author drags few stories way too much.
July 3, 2013
This is collection of 18 successful ppl who choose unconventional careers and proved their mettle in same. I particularly liked the story of R.Madhawan and Amish Tripathi. There is another story of boy from poor family who got seat in IIT and after completion went into training other poor kids instead of joining regular MNC job. It take good heart and strong will to help other...poor or rich really doesn't matter.
Everybody will find one or other story to which they can relate their own life.
Overall nice book.
Everybody will find one or other story to which they can relate their own life.
Overall nice book.
September 16, 2016
Read the title again before choosing to read the book!
This book talks about the personal lives of 18 persons who have chosen to adopt 'unconventional' careers. By personal i mean, upbringing, education and work profile, family and future plans - with little to no description about the career, challenges in the industry, India as a battleground, tips for a newcomer in it and maybe future of the industry. I was disappointed.
This book talks about the personal lives of 18 persons who have chosen to adopt 'unconventional' careers. By personal i mean, upbringing, education and work profile, family and future plans - with little to no description about the career, challenges in the industry, India as a battleground, tips for a newcomer in it and maybe future of the industry. I was disappointed.
July 20, 2013
This book is an interesting collection of interviews of successful professionals who chose unconventional careers. It's good for inspiration and gaining exposure, but does not cover any hard facts/challenges faced by the interviewed persons. It's overly positive!
June 27, 2013
It is very inspiring book
It tells just listen to heart n follow Ur dreams u will achieve it..
It tells just listen to heart n follow Ur dreams u will achieve it..
February 26, 2014
Really very real examples of people who have their own Life and their own Rules. Very inspirational.
January 6, 2015
A sneak peak into the lives of some individuals who took an offbeat road ... a refreshing read
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews