Street Smarts: Beyond the Diploma
By: Jim Randel
Often, when we’ve “grown up” and graduated college, we all move on to our new lives as adults with the expectation that our schooling has given us everything we’ll need to be prepared for the wide world ahead of us. And, just as often, we are disappointed. While school has the advantage of preparing us for the work part of the world; we can all read, write, and do most arithmetic; we are usually very unprepared for the subtle nuances that take place that will give us a step up on the ladder of success.
Jim Randel, if you’re unfamiliar with him, is the author of the Skinny On series. I’ve reviewed a few of those here before, which, I would guess, is why his company sent me a copy of this book. (That’s my disclosure, folks. I was sent a free copy of the book.) What he’s done with both the Skinny On series and this new book, Street Smarts, is to take some very complex issues, and simplify them enough that you can get the basics without having to knock your head against the wall trying to understand them. Street Smarts holds 125 lessons on how to better succeed in the real world. Each lesson is short, to the point, and valuable. There’s very little chaff to sort through, and it’s an easy and fast read with some rereading value.
One thing you won’t find inside it’s pages is explicit detail. There is not, for instance, 20 pages on the mathematics behind the rule of 72. There also is not 100 pages or more on the workings of a mortgage loan. Each is it’s own lesson, and is two pages. You’re not going to learn everything there is to know about any of the topics by reading this book. What you will get is the highlights that will allow you to safely navigate the topic without causing yourself too much trouble.
The book is also paired with a website where they’ve been putting up regular fresh content. It’s already got quite the archives of good tips and information. You can visit it at TheStreetSmartBook.com.
This book would make a great gift for a newly graduated senior, of high school or college.
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I love the Skinny On series! I highly recommend the books on Time Management and Willpower. Currently, the Kindle version of Street Smarts is only $8. Hmm. I am very tempted.
Looks like an interesting book. It probably wouldn’t have any new information for me but it would be good to give as a gift as you said. I’m a fan of the Skinny On series because they present their information in a concise manner.
If you like the Skinny On series, You’ll likely like this book. It’s very much in the same style, but expanded out to a full size book of several hundred pages.
a book like this would’be been great to have as a graduation present. I never heard of this book series, but sounds like something that can quickly bring some great tips to a deer in the headlights graduate 🙂
Thanks for the book review. I’ll have to check that one out sometime.
Looks quite good, especially for those wanting some tips for navagating the real world. Nice review.