Will it Make the Boat Go Faster? by Ben Hunt-Davis & Harriet Beveridge

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Now, you have probably not heard of this book, and I personally think it’s been severely underrated because after reading it, I can honestly say that this is one of the best personal development books I’ve read so far.

This book will definitely get ten out of ten from me!

What’s the book about?

Ben Hunt-Davis is a gold medal-winning Olympic rower, and this book is about his journey to medal-winning success at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Ben was in the eight-man rowing team that was not expected to achieve very much at all. In the UK, the best rowers in the squad are usually separated into the smaller boats, and the rowers who are left are thrown into the eight-man boat. Whereas other countries have been known to do the reverse and put their best rowers in the eight-man.

The British crew adopted a strategy of focusing on ‘what makes the boat go faster.’ So, any activity that would make the boat go faster was what they would do. Likewise, anything that would not make the boat go faster was dropped.

This seemingly simple question is what helped the team to maintain their focus and harness all their energy in the right direction, and ultimately win an Olympic gold medal, against everybody’s expectations.

The business and analytical aspect …

Although this book is the story of Ben Hunt-Davis, Harriet Beverage is the lady that transforms the Olympic-winning strategies into something that you can implement for everyday success.

Here’s how the book is laid out.

Book structure

In each chapter of the book, there is a distinct focus. For example, if the focus is on setting goals, Ben Hunt-Davis will tell his story about how the rowing team went about planning and structuring the goals that they wanted to achieve. The second part of the chapter is handed over to Harriet Beveridge, who shows you how to apply that strategy to your daily life, providing you with the implementation tools that you will need.

Here are the topics and chapters that are included in the book:

1. Goals
2. Motivation
3. Beliefs
4. Bullshit filters
5. Make it happen
6. Teams
7. Process-driven
8. Momentum
9. Change
10. Bouncebackability (I love that word!)
11. Risks

Every single chapter has lots of information about how you can be more successful in your own daily life, and the whole thing works together brilliantly to provide you with the complete package.

Easy to understand and implement

The book is written in a very conversational tone throughout, making it easy to read and digest.

In a nutshell, the book has everything that you want in a personal development book; it’s in simple language, it’s easy to read, and it’s straight to the point.

The story of how the team made their successful journey from nothing to winning a gold medal is engrossing and motivating, and the analytical sections at the end of each chapter give you the practical tools that you need to apply the lessons learned by the team to your daily personal and business life.

I also enjoy that the book contains photographic inserts, which help to illustrate the team’s story and make it come to life.

Have you read, Will it Make the Boat Go Faster?

This book review is my personal opinion and experience of Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?

If you’ve read this book, share your thoughts in the comments section, and leave your own review in the box below. 

Roseanna x