❓✡️ "What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?: Discover a Life Filled with Purpose and Joy Through the Secrets of Jewish Wisdom" (2021) ✡️❓ - Book Review

 

MY REVIEW

 

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: DK (May 4, 2021)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0744029104

ISBN-13: 978-0744029109

⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information

“As a mentor for leaders in top global companies, Michal created a unique personal growth methodology based on the life-changing principles of Jewish wisdom. It is easy to think that the daily challenges we experience in the 21st century are new and unlike any that people faced in the past. Michal draws on her own heritage and a wide range of Jewish teachings to offer practical advice for common concerns, such as a broken heart, parenting, overcoming setbacks and getting the most out of your career.

 

By challenging you to explore what matters, Michal offers solutions to your everyday struggles. She will empower you as well as teach you how to adopt her self-development tools to discover who you really are and what you were born to do with your life. With its uplifting belief that you already have all the ingredients within you to lead a joyous life, Michal's unique mix of corporate culture experience and Jewish wisdom will help you reconnect with yourself. This unique book will help you to find your courage, and move forward freely, with no fear at all! What leaders are saying about What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?”

 

Thank you in advance to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a complimentary copy of the book. A positive review was definitely not required or requested in any way; all words are my own.

I originally saw this book on BookishFirst and passed on using my points to get it. After all, I don’t really do the self-help books. But, when I saw it on the Vine program, I decided to grab it. So many of the BookishFirst books have ended up on the Vine in the past few weeks.

 

The cover isn’t one that grabs you. It isn’t flashy. It’s simple – it’s the author, looking confident yet in some ways concerned, worried, assertive, with the title and related information. And, it is a rather short book. Most of the “text” is 224 pages. So, this isn’t a long read at all.

 

I was drawn in by the first page, roughly finishing it within a 24-hour period.

 

Oshman isn’t one of those “self-help” gurus, she isn’t a psychologist, she isn’t even a therapist. This is in fact, her first book, and at one point she admits it wasn’t her idea to write a book. What she is, is a person who has an impressive life-story:

 

** Three (3) years in the Israeli Army (as required)

** Worked for Danone (Dannon)

** Worked for eBay

** Worked for Facebook

** Currently employed by TikTok

 

Having been born in Israel, she was culturally Jewish but not practicing.

 

But, she’s also had anxiety since she was a child. Honestly, if I had grown up in Israel with everything she had seen – I likely would too. Her father’s occupation as the top forensic pathologist in Israel also didn’t help matters. Her anxiety was also a result of grandparents who survived the Holocaust. In fact, her grandmother jumped off a train and broke both her legs. She felt something was wrong and had to get off the train, even risking injury and death. She later learned it was heading for Auschwitz. Her parents and sister were murdered by the Nazis. In later years, she had nightmares thinking the Nazis were coming back, even instilling in young Michal that “it” could happen again.

 

This anxiety robbed the author of simple joys – enjoying what life had to offer and bring her. While she still functioned, it wasn’t at what some might say an enjoyable level.

 

While most would suggest therapy, Oshman did just that. But, she found it lacking. While not bashing therapist or their techniques, she relates her experiences with it. It was, and often is, a never-ending cycle of digging up the past. In stead of getting better, her problems were getting worse. She wasn’t moving on. Therapy, in and of itself, is unyielding in its own beliefs.

 

One thing that struck her was “purpose”. What is her purpose here? What is the purpose each of us have? We have origins of “self” in the bible.

 

What Oshman has done, is researched Jewish wisdom, and well-researched it is. She refers back to the book of Exodus and the famous leaving Egypt. In short, we will all have our versions of Egypt. We get out of it, but can’t get it out of us. The key component of Jewish wisdom, well one of them, is we will always have struggles. It is a part of life.

 

It is up to us to change. If you change nothing, nothing will change – another pearl of Jewish wisdom.

 

While the principles come from the Jewish faith, they’re not stuck to that religion per se. Even Christians or almost anyone can apply these principles in life – work, family, and even in their own “self”.

 

Throughout the short book, Oshman leads the reader – without preaching – through the principles. She uses real-life examples. There are quotes from famous people in this book – from Kamala Harris, Anne Frank, even Rabbis.

 

Some of the key highlights reference making mistakes, where we are in life, what are we needed for, accepting things might not “be”, not being afraid to fail, not comparing our lives, real conversations (even if it might be hard), being present.

 

Oshman’s presentation is more of a conversation with a friend than being preached to or at. She keeps it real with personal experiences and anecdotes in a vivid and detailed manner. Some of her experiences were down-right horrific. Some of the “best” advice given to her when she moved to the UK were to “straighten” her hair because men didn’t take women with curly or wavy hair seriously.

 

Mind you, some of this happened in the 2000’s! Other key factors – her nose (yes, a co-worker mentioned her nose and assumed she was Jewish); even her emotions (yes “feeling”) and talking with her hands cost her a promotion and a raise at a bank. The “excuse”? “This isn’t done in the UK” and a reference to her culture was made. So, there was some prejudice even then towards Jewish people. She remarks, like so many of us, we can’t be us and succeed. She however, decided to leave the job. Kudos to her!

 

Oshman also has advice for raising children and goals for “being”. I also learned that a mensch is a good thing, or rather a decent person. Quite simply, the principles teach us about thinking “I value …”, “I thank …”, “I appreciate …”, “I love…”.

 

There is a LOT of wisdom in this tiny book. And, just as she points out about Judaism being a journey – so too is this book and the wisdom.

 

One won’t feel enlightened overnight, but there is some enlightenment that will follow in reading it – better ways to communicate, acceptance of ourselves, and learning to be a mensch.

 

I am definitely glad I was able to read this book. I highly recommend it! As one of the nuggets of wisdom goes – life is not a challenge to solve, but an experience to be lived.

 

 

 

 

RATING:

 

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads

 

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub

 

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Michal Oshman is Head of Company Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at TikTok Europe and formerly responsible for international leadership and team development at Facebook. Throughout her career, Michal has trained and coached hundreds of tech leaders. She has three university degrees in psychodynamic and systemic thinking, sociology and anthropology. Michal lives with her husband and their four children in London, UK.

 

 

You can also find her on the following social media accounts:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaloshmanofficial

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaloshman/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaloshman

 

 

 

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