Reading Reflection No. 1

Book- Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

What surprised you the most?

I didn’t know that he had struggled so much to arrive to where he is at. I was aware of his more recent affiliations (PayPal, Tesla, etc.) but had no idea of his early life working at life threatening jobs just to make ends meet.

Most admire?

He never stopped being himself. He kept true to who he was without changing for anyone or anything. Even though he amassed a huge amount of wealth, he didn’t let that get to his head, instead he kept being his nerdy self that would code for days on end.

I also like the fact that he stayed persistent and never gave up on his dreams, even when people doubted him. 

Least admire?

His poor way of dealing with people. While he has significantly improved from his early days working with Zip2, he still seems to lack emotional intelligence when leading. This was even discussed in the early chapters of the book, where Elon himself noticed that not everyone saw things the way he did and that caused his reactions to things to look rude or insensitive from the outside. 

Did he encounter adversity or failure?

 Yes, not only was he bullied in his early life, but he also lacked serious opportunities while living in Africa and had to experience a lot of hardship in order to finally get to America. He first moved to Canada by himself, taking dangerous jobs in order to make more money and pay his bills. Eventually he was able to make his way to the USA, but it definitely wasn't easy. Once there, he talked about early days working with Zip2 and how no money would come in. Success does not come easy... 

Competencies that Elon exhibited

He had a strong ability to think differently and focus on his goals (persistent). He not only has the technical knowledge when it comes to engineering, coding, and business, but he also has the passion to truly make an impact on this earth.

Confusing parts?

There wasn’t a specific time in the book where I was necessarily confused but I will say that Elon’s way of thinking is so different from what one is used to, that it sometimes can be quite difficult to understand what he is trying to convey or say. That being said, Vance did a great job at compacting his life in an understandable manner.

Two questions I would ask

First, I would ask him what his next goal will be once he finally accomplishes his mission of starting a civilization on Mars.

Then, I would ask him if he ever feels any regret for living the way he has (always working and consumed by his missions), and if he ever wishes he had a more calm and normal life.

His opinion of hard work?

He thinks that you should always be working. You can see that work is his entire life and takes priority over everything else. He stated: “if there was a way I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat.”

Do I agree?

I believe that his outlook on work is great but a bit excessive. You want to do something you love so much that it doesn’t even feel like working and it becomes your life. That being said, I am a big believer in having a balanced life filled with a variety of different things. The way he lives, in my opinion, is too obsessive and not optimal for your mental/physical health.