How to Fight a Hydra: Face Your Fears, Pursue Your Ambitions, and Become the Hero You Are Destined to Be Paperback – October 21, 2018

I've read all of Josh Kaufman's books to date - and also had the chance to interact with him a few years back. The Personal MBA is genius and the First 20 Hours changed my life. They are both really good books that I would recommend to anyone. But How to Fight a Hydra is better. I didn't expect much from it, to be honest (though I should have known better, knowing Kaufman's high standards for quality and his extreme thoughtfulness). I was blown away. The first time I read it, it was powerful. The second time, listening on audible, was incredible. I had a long car ride so heard the whole thing in one sitting. Kaufman has narrated all of his own audiobooks - and for good reason.As a CEO and co-founder of a tech startup, nothing I could have possibly read (and I read a LOT of books) could have helped me more than the allegorical fiction masterpiece Kaufman created here. There are so many valuable lessons it is hard to know where to start. I'll mention one in particular, but it is by far not the only one.As a Renaissance Soul (which Kaufman also is, as described in the First 20 Hours), the metaphor of being able to slay a hydra one head at a time was critical and entered my consciousness in a way that no amount of rational hammering has been able to do. For years, I have struggled with picking what to focus on and not getting distracted by the shiny object syndrome. I knew about this problem, I was aware of it, but still, I struggled to shake it. Years of meditating made very little dent into this issue. In fact, over years of effort, I made only slight inroads into this problem beyond the original a-ha moments when reading the Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine (for which I am eternally grateful to Kaufman, who mentioned this incredibly wonderful book in The First 20 Hours).No longer. Within weeks of my first reading, and days of listening on the audiobook, I find my ability to consciously evaluate where to direct my attention has improved greatly. I pinned up a note on my computer monitor: "How do you slay a hydra? One head at a time." I catch myself drifting off to tangents that are not helping my main goals. The power of metaphor is incredible. I now may have to go read Lakoff's book on metaphors, which Kaufman refers to in the author's note.Beyond the ability to focus, the implicit and explicit lessons of courage, determination, perseverance; planning and practice; the value of showing up; and knowing when not to embark on a journey, will stay with me long after this current venture I'm on. I can already see that this will be a book to reread and take heart from whenever I struggle.If you're hesitant about whether to buy this book, don't. Take your first step towards being the hero of your own story. You will not regret it.2023 Update: It's now been 5 years and I come back to this book about once or twice a year -- sometimes more, sometimes less, and sometimes I listen to it a few times in a row. It always resonates with whatever issue du jour I'm facing. I still love it just as much. Having now heard it on audiobook over a dozen times, I do have a few "I wish" type complaints (all pretty minor!):1. I wish that the later portion of the battle, between the hero's injury and the victory, was a little longer, and had more descriptions about how to shift strategies in the face of the hydra's learning / change of conditions / etc.2. I wish that the book did include something about team work, working with peers, or leading a team, collaborating to fight a complex foe. That is alluded to towards the end of the book, but not actually explored in depth in the book.Again these are all pretty minor issues in a book I have drawn strength from time and again. It is also very kid-friendly, and my 9yo begs me to listen to it whenever she spots it in my audible.

I heard a friend describe this as a fairy tale for the entrepreneur's journey and I was then immediately adding it to my kindle.I kept that idea in my head as I read it and I couldn't agree more. But to describe it as only that would be a major disservice to this book.What I took away from the book was a sense of the scope of my own journey, not just of my business journeys, but all of my unknown futures. It's calming to see the full picture of your journey while you yourself are still in the depths of the unknown. This book will have a permanent place in my library of books to return to.Also, I love that it's designed to be read in one sitting--in an hour. It's nice because I'm a dad and it's hard to return to long books as often as I would like. But more than that, it's nice because one of its values is helping you see the big picture amongst the daily struggles of the adventure. So to be able to grasp the whole book, and thus the whole adventure, in one sitting not only helps you identify your spot in the adventure, but to also see the finish line from where you're standing.I got the audiobook as well--because I want to listen with my kids on our frequent cross-state drives--and the sounds, pacing, and narration are excellent.

Overall, this was a great book. I wish the storyline were slightly more complex, but the message is conveyed to the reader perfectly. It’s a great short novel to have fun with while you take the edge off ‘technical’ reading.

The media could not be loaded.  Personal growth is a topic that has been in my mind for a good while now. (Essentially ever since I stepped deeper into full-blown adulthood by turning 30 about year ago and also watching every Queer Eye episode at least ten times.) And naturally books on the subject have turned out to be something of an interest, and I've been keeping an eye out for them.The only problem is that I find most of these types of books — so called "self-help" books — to be mostly insufferable. I'm not very big on generalizations and black-and-white views of the world as a whole — and less on promises of shortcuts and quick-fixes for the toils and troubles of life — and these are things on which a lot of these books seem to thrive. So, more often than not, I end up thinking of them as tedious and condescending at best; intellectually and emotionally dishonest at worst.I much prefer seeking out books which approach the subject from entirely different angles: diaries and biographies; books about history or science or art. I take what I can from them, and try, as best I can, to apply them to my life.Which is how I stumbled upon Josh Kaufman's How to Fight a Hydra.The premise of How to Fight a Hydra is simple but charming: it's presented as a guidebook written by an ancient adventurer on the topic of slaying hydras. Fun! That the author tells you in the introduction that the hydra is actually a metaphor for intimidating projects you want to tackle in your life is quite besides the point and a little redundant. You can read this straight through as a fantasy tale, not knowing what it actually is, and still glean the lessons the story wishes you to take away from it, as the best fairy tales are wont to do.It's the "spoonful of sugar" method: because who wants to spend time with books about heavy and heady topics like human anxiety when there are stories about monsters out there waiting to be read?It can sound a little gimmicky and childish, to be sure. But what Kaufman has done is simply go back to the beginning. Because this self-help-book-disguised-as-a-fairy-tale is really just doing what fairy tales have been doing since the dawn of stories: it tells us that slaying a hydra is pretty damn hard, and that it's just half the fun. Or, as G.K. Chesterton put it:"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."Fairy tales are the best and most enduring kind of self-help books, it turns out. Kaufman seems to get it. I hope other catch on, too.

Ele não é tema livro e sem moral como grande maioria de livros típicos fantasiosos. Ele possui engajamento nas explicativas,narrativa na primeira pessoa e entra em vários mundos pelo forma de história contada(bussiness,sonhos/meta e por aí vai. Recomendo ,eu li em 2 pra 3 dias pq tava lendo outro de tema específico. É curtinho,vai até o capítulo 6 em são umas 75 páginas apenas,resto é sobre o autor.

Great messageDeep, but an easy read.After I read this book, I bought another copy for my roommate.I had my 9 year old read it, then gifted it to my dad.I'll buy another copy for my brother.

Loved the book. This book has the same effect on me as The Alchemist had on me a couple of decades ago. Highly recommend reading and re-reading.

At first you think that this is like another lame self help book, but the writing style of this is marvelous!If you are a fan of Fantasy, or gamification task, this is a must have.

This book is a parable which I find useful almost every day.As a woman, I find so many things in life which are similar to a hydra - laundry, housework, gardening, for example.I have learned a new way of thinking about these tasks because of this book. Life is now considerably easier.It is an easy book to read, but requires effortful thought and practical application to be truly valuable.