How to Get Back Up

By: Neil Pasricha

Narrated by: Neil Pasricha

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

We all fail. We all fall. We all need to know how to get back up. Few know this better than New York Times best-selling author Neil Pasricha. Before selling over a million copies of his Book of Awesome series and touring the world to teach Fortune 500 CEOs, Ivy league deans, and members of the royal family how to unlock a positive mind-set, Pasricha’s life hit rock bottom. In this Audible Original, you'll hear for the first time Neil's very personal story of failure and resilience - and you'll learn how you, too, can find the strength to get back up. 

©2018 Neil Pasricha (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Great memoir. Must read!

To be honest, I did not know the author, Neil Pasricha, before I bought this book. I was just having a hard time at work as a research scientist, and was failing and feeling like I shouldn't have fun in my life at all because I'm so bad at everything, and also should not be making money receiving salaries because I'm wasting humanity's resources. Basically I was just feeling terrible. That's when this book just popped up in the audible top page so I just gave it a go using my new credit even if I didn't know the guy. I needed to get back up.

Boy I'm so glad. Neil just totally rescued myself from my 2-year stretching misery by publishing this audiobook.

Soon after I started listening, I realized that this story was organized as a memoir (rather than something like a systematic analysis or some sort of failure/resilience) about a writer podcaster and a TED talk speaker that I do not know (I'm sure he's famous but I don't usually watch TED talks). That's when I realized the word "memoir" in the subtitle of the book.

But his story was engaging, writing was beautiful, tempo was pleasant, jokes were fun and overall it was just a great listen so I kept listening.
And listening.
And I just finished the whole audiobook in 2 days and it was AWESOME.

It's a bit hard for me to pin-point what was good about this book because there are so many aspects of it. There was a lot of his memoir stories than I thought, which was very interesting and fun. But it was not just that; Neil talks about in detail how he did the "getting back up" part -- about "sticking to systems" is more important than "goal setting". And those are not like another new tricks or hacks; he describes systems in a light and easy way using his personal stories, but I understood the content itself was pretty fundamental (I think he is good at this because he has the "untouchable days" to think deeply - read the book!).

Everyday life is getting so complicated too much and it's easy to get overwhelmed by them. Until not so long ago, people used to have a common way ("system") to live that everyone sticks to, but the increasingly diverse lifestyle and the information explosion is making us difficult to decide how should we live everyday. I became increasingly confused and anxious after I came to the US few years ago from Asia, where the culture (especially working culture) was quite different. I really liked how Neil introduced his system to the readers and how it works for him. I guess I need to figure out and build a system that works for me - and his advice in Chapter 11-14 (3B, making contracts, confessions) sounds like the systems I needed to try out.

And above all, the thing that touched me the most was his wonderful family and the love that's pouring out from his voice. I especially loved listening to the final chapter.

I became a great fan of Neil by listening to this book. (Also this is my first time to write a review, ever! I'm not good at writing English and haven't thought of writing any, until now.) I will recommend this audiobook to everyone; and I'm sure you will also be able to feel the awesomeness of our everyday life that he shares by his fantastic narration.

A story well told

I can relate to Neil. I am an immigrant and take care of my family back home. It is very hard when people look up to you and you realize if you don't force yourself to go to work, people won't eat.

I got this book because I feel down most of the time now and needed a " pick me up". I like how passionate and close knit Neil's family are. You can tell it is the great upbringing that has led Neil to be the way he is.

Along the way, many things went wrong. He felt he wasn't good enough at his first job, his marriage failed, his mother etc. But with all that, he never gave up and kept going on even when he was so stressed, couldn't sleep and lost forty pounds.

This book was thoughtfully put together. It is a book that you can relate to those times you just want to give up. I recommend it. Thank you Neil for sharing and I enjoyed that thoughtful note your father read.

Very touching.

Good but not what I expected

I have been going through some trials lately so I downloaded this audiobook to get some tips and information about how to "get back up." Well, this isn't that type of book despite the title. It was the author talking about some of his hard times but no real solutions. It was good and well produced but not the self help I was looking for.

Touching, educational and wildly brave.

The book is touching yet also warmly and surprisingly hilarious. It's raw but also extremely delicate. It's obviously self-reflective for the author, but I love how he also made it so self-reflective for us too. So many of my own emotions, basement walls and acceptance issues to face through the journey of his story.

It's also actionable. In addition to all of the lessons in failure, there are some great tools mixed in that explain how he has managed to be so successful through failure but also in general. I needed this book. If you're searching for something then maybe you need this book too. Most of all, I appreciate the author's bravery in writing this tearful, funny and inspiring memoir.

A heartfelt memoir distilled into life advice

I've been following Neil for awhile after stumbling onto his 3 Books podcast, which I listen to religiously. What I got from this book is similar to what I get from his podcast: meaningful life experiences that provide some background into the useful advice that can I can implement into my own life.

To me, this book is about self-discovery, persistence, and finding your own place in the world. Neil boldly tells us about his personal experiences struggling with his culture and heritage, and how he faced professional adversity and used the lessons learned from those failures to build the life and success that he has today.

Neil gives us a rare look behind the curtain as he shares the details about his experiences that led to the creation of his wildly popular blog (and book), 1000AwesomeThings.com.

When I finished this book, I felt like I'd had a warm, personal conversation with Neil about his life and the valuable lessons he's learned from his experiences. I wish there were more books that were this sincere and touching, as well as being enlightening and instructive.

Neil personally challenges us to be the best version of ourselves, and gives us valuable advice based on his own experiences. A truly impactful work.

Encouraging, Honest and Heartwarming

Neil has a unique voice. I liked how vulnerable and honest he was with the listener. I found him encouraging, funny and engaging. He is sincere and helpful. His insights were profound, but presented in a humble and thus very palatable way. I hope he writes more!

Can’t wait to listen to Neil Pasricha’s other books!

The whole book felt Honest, genuine and sincere. Loved every bit. I especially loved the story of Neil’s dad.

It’s his story, nothing new here.

If you are looking for a Tony Robbins style, informative instructional technique, you won’t find it here. This is the story of one man’s journey and career with little tid bits of advice, but nothing that any ordinary person couldn’t have written. But, maybe that is the point? After hours of listening, the only thing I can take away from this is that you have to continue to do what you do regardless of failures because success at anything takes much longer than you want it to.

Raw and relatable!

I really enjoyed this audio book. It was easy to listen to while cooking, walking, and pre-bedtime routine. Neil's personality shines through and it was so interesting to hear stories about how he grew up in a Hindi family. (Turmeric is the king!) This book reminds us all that our setbacks (failures) are not the end of the story. It's not what happens to us, it's what we do with it that makes all the difference. It's refreshing to hear a successful self-help author admit they don't have it all figured out and the memoir format makes for an intimate interesting read. Highly recommend this book!

Incredibly boring

This is pretty much an uneventful autobiography with zero compare and contrast references to failure and or resilience.

Great read

one of the best books I have listened to this year. Not quite what I expected but brilliant.