First up I should mention that this is the first proper product review I have written for my blog. It has one thing in common with everything else I intend to review over time – I actually have this product right by me at the moment, in preparation for the review. I have read it and personally I love it. You may think otherwise, but the important thing is that I will only ever review products (whether that will be books, software or anything else) that I actually own. That was the case with my previous foray into reviews on this blog, when I reviewed my Comfort Curve keyboard.
I’ll also mention that in common with a lot of other bloggers in all kinds of niches, I’m an affiliate for Amazon. So if you go ahead and buy a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese?” through the links below, I’ll get a small commission to help with the upkeep of this blog. If you would rather not go through the affiliate links, you can just visit Amazon.com and do it the old fashioned way instead.
Anyway, on with the review…
The chances are pretty good that you will already have heard of this book. It’s extremely well known and according to the many hundreds of reviews on Amazon.com, it has polarised people’s opinions. You either ‘get’ it and love it, and your life may change for the better because of it, or you think it is a waste of time and a rip off.
While the book isn’t directly connected to writing or writing careers in any way, it can be enormously relevant if you let it. In truth the ideas here can be applied to any or all parts of your life. It’s up to you whether you use them and keep the story in mind as you progress through your writing career.
Why did I buy “Who Moved My Cheese”?
I bought this book originally for two reasons. Firstly I was writing a book for a client and she mentioned that she loved the story, so I got it for research purposes. Secondly I saw it as an opportunity to quit procrastinating and buy my own copy instead of always thinking ‘I must get around to buying that!’
I’m quite interested in this kind of thing but I didn’t really know what to expect from “Who Moved My Cheese?” Suffice to say that it turned out to be different to my expectations, but well worth the purchase price. By the way you can get it for just a few dollars from Amazon, and you can generally find second hand copies as well as brand new ones, both in paperback.
What did I think of it?
As you’ve probably already guessed, I really liked it. The story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and the two Littlepeople, Hem and Haw, is nothing if not simple. But it is that simplicity which is so effective. It’s said that most people who open their minds to it will see parts of themselves in each of the four characters, and I would agree with this.
The book is basically about change and how we deal with it. Getting stuck in your ways isn’t good if you are a writer, and that’s something I have sometimes been guilty of. I’m not good with change, and I’m not going to pretend that things have suddenly got miraculously better in the hour or so it took me to read the book. But it has made a difference. I can recognise that change is a good thing, providing you take the right approach to it.
In a sense it’s not so much what is in this book as what you take from it that counts. If you read the reviews on Amazon you’d be tempted to pass this book over and not buy it. There are a lot of very cynical people out there who haven’t really “got” the point of it. But equally there are a lot of people who have bought it, loved it and learned from it.
I am going through changes with my online freelance writing career at the moment (probably just the same as we all are – nothing ever stays the same in a freelance career for very long!). I want to produce more of my own products and focus on developing this blog and some other websites as well. I will still keep going with client work, but there will be more of a balance between the two.
But however much I want to make this happen, I am nervous of doing it as well. What if my books don’t sell? What if I spend ages doing things for myself that never replace the money to replace the client work I would otherwise have been doing?
This is exactly what “Who Moved My Cheese?” is about. Now, instead of knowing there is more cheese out there somewhere but being afraid to move towards it, I’m striking out towards that cheese and enjoying the journey!
My verdict on “Who Moved My Cheese?”
* * * * * 5 stars out of 5
It should be noted that this book is only 95 pages long in paperback. But it really doesn’t need to be any longer. It’s plenty long enough at that length, and for my money I think the whole point of the book is the message rather than the number of pages it has.
I’m glad I bought this book. I think it will change the way I look at my freelance writing career. It might change yours too.
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