Po Bronson is a novelist and writer of op-eds, performance monologues, book reviews, screenplays, and radio scripts. He believes that anything that gets people to read is meaningful, and when someone reads a whole book, his/her close attention is like a gift to the author. He is on the board of directors of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and the editorial board of Zoetrope: All Story magazine.
Po, who grew up in Seattle, received an M.F.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in economics from Stanford University. Since high school, he has had many different jobs. At age 24, he was offered a position as a full-time bond salesman with projected first-year commissions of $300,000. But he turned it down.
Po began work on his book, What Should I Do With My Life?, because he was asking himself the same question. He found ordinary people across America who had discovered their true calling or at least were trying to find it. He then compiled profiles of those who had actually confronted and gotten past their psychological stumbling blocks. Po’s first novel, Bombardiers, became an international bestseller
Po Bronson has written for such publications as The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. His novel, The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, was derived from interviews and experiences conducted while writing about Silicon Valley for Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and Forbes ASAP.
• Addressing the question, “What should I do with my life?,” isn’t just a productivity issue. It’s a moral imperative.
• Failure’s hard, but success is far more dangerous.
• The tougher the times, the more clarity you gain about the difference between what really matters and what you only pretend to care about.
• As I get older, I’ve learned to listen to people rather than accuse them of things.
• It’s a real disconnect to assume that the way to a better life is something that happens only in good times.
• Holding onto fear and other assorted emotional baggage is much like holding onto a 20-pound watermelon; you can’t get close enough to someone to give them a good hug.
• The things we really want to do are usually the ones that scare us the most.
According to Po Bronson, the fundamental question for most people is “What should I do with my life?”. He felt it was so important that he spent two years asking hundreds of people how they answered it. He conducted interviews with 50 people, which he used as the backbone for his best-selling book, What Should I Do With My Life?. I recommend it as the place to get started.
The book is an interesting set of stories, interspersed with Po’s thoughts and analysis. Each chapter contains a profile of a person searching for their “their soft spot—their true calling.” He talks about the idea that “nothing is braver than people facing up to their own identity” and uses the backdrop of these people’s lives to help us figure out what we, ourselves, should do with our lives.
Po Bronson is a very successful writer, and this book is his primary venture into the Self Help and Self Improvement genre. The book was on The New York Times bestseller list for 22 weeks and was #1 twice during that time period. What Should I Do With My Life? is compelling because it gives you a glimpse into the lives of real people whose thoughts, hopes, dreams, and plans often parallel our own.