4 out of 4 stars
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And Then I Met Margaret: Stories of Ordinary Gurus I’ve Met is a motivational biography written by self-made millionaire Rob White. In the book, White describes his encounters with twenty-two everyday people who have inspired his successful life.
White grew up in a small, lower income town. There were limited career choices and advanced education was not encouraged. At the beginning of the book, White states that small towns survive because the pull of tradition is stronger than the outside forces that propel the younger generation into the larger world. He explains the humongous amount of pressure he felt growing up to literally follow in his father’s footsteps. It was always assumed he would graduate high school, get a job at one of the local factories and eventually start his own family. However, White wanted more from his life. He decided to not follow tradition and go to college instead. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts and became a successful teacher. White taught for seventeen years. He was on track to reach the principal level, but he felt he was not being challenged enough. So, he left teaching to embark on a career in real estate. Once he achieved success in real estate, he further challenged himself by entering the restaurant business.
White became a very wealthy person through his various business ventures. However, he still felt like there was something missing in his life. He sought help from several well-known motivational speakers and life coaches. But he still felt he was not achieving his full potential. He began to reflect about some of the ordinary people that had impacted his life at critical times and had therefore helped contribute to his success. It is his encounter with these twenty-two ordinary gurus that he writes about in this novel.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked how it was organized. Each of the chapters begins with a myth that the author believed to be true. The author then details the encounter with the ordinary guru that challenged this myth. He discusses the lesson he learned from the experience and then ends the chapter with the corrected reality of what he had believed. I have read many books in this genre and this is a unique format for a motivational book. It made the book easy to follow and fast to read. Organizing the chapters in this format allows the reader to stop and reflect up upon similar encounters in their own life. I found myself doing this quite often. I was surprised by how many encounters with ordinary gurus I have had.
There was nothing I disliked about this book. I enjoyed all of the guru stories the author presented. My only criticism would be that I wished he had included more ordinary gurus from when he was a child. These were the stories that were more interesting and entertaining for me. They were the easiest to relate to and childhood learnings are often the ones that have the most impact on us later in life. I also wish the book was longer. I completed the twenty-two chapters quickly and was left wishing for more.
And Then I Met Margaret was a well-written and inspiring book. I thought each of the chapters was relevant, entertaining and educational. The book appears professionally edited and free of grammatical errors. It is easy for me to rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The stories are all relatable and the author impresses on the importance of your becoming an ordinary guru by sharing what you have learned with others. I would recommend this book to anyone that is trying to focus on living a more positive, impactful life. There are so many different examples in this book that I am sure everyone will find a few guru stories they can relate to.
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And Then I Met Margaret
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