» Blog Archive Book Review: The Good Among the Great

October 11th, 2011

19 Traits of the Most Admirable, Creative and Joyous People

Author: Donald Van de Mark

Wow, it seems like a long time since I’ve posted a book review. I must say, I’ve not been reading as much lately as I’ve spent a lot more time working freelance 3D animation with my side business, Ethereal 3D. Anyway, that aside, I’m please to bring this review of a very good book, The Good Among the Great. This is a book based on a couple decades of interviews and knowledge of prominent people by the author, a journalist and anchor reporter for CNN.

This book captures and clarifies 19 specific traits that are common among exceptional people. Not that every exceptional person has them all, but of all the traits of the great, these are the ones that show up most frequently and are most common. Van de Mark starts with a very concise introduction that you can use the book to develop some of these traits yourself and to improve yourself. Exceptional people are not born that way, they are a result of many life choices and some circumstantial help, so the choices you make can drive you to be exceptional and the book demonstrates it and describes how that occurred for many people, who are used as examples and as stories through the 19 chapters, one per trait.

The traits are a powerful list on their own, let along exploring each one as is done. They are as follows:

autonomous
loving
ethical
unaffected
private
detached
experimental
realistic
laid back
performance and process-oriented
egalitarian
jolly
empathic
dutiful
appreciative
creative
exuberant
joyous
transcendent

The chapters are each exploring either personal stories and childhood memories as reference to people with the traits and they are told well, from a perspective that has you looking up to the subjects of each story. There is one tough example that the response of a woman who had been raped certainly exhibits the trait in discussion, yet the whole story and her response seems very inappropriate for anyone to look up to that characteristics. All of the other stories however, are good examples that are much easier to look up to the characteristics demonstrated. The style the author writes with is engaging when the stories speak for themselves and the rest of the book is easy to read and learn from. Each chapter has take-aways written at the end of it and several quotes to help frame the trait in a memorable way.

So, its certainly a book to be learned from and it is easy to pick up and take on a chapter at a time to let it sink in. I wouldn’t rate it with 5 stars because the way it is written and even some of the stories and content are a bit dry and there is little flow from chapter to chapter aside from some scattered references to specific people and traits that lead to other related traits. It didn’t leave me with a sense of always wanting to read a little more like any 5 star book does for me, so all in all, it is a very good book and one you can learn a lot from, if you wanting to really use it for that. If you are new to personal development books, I wouldn’t recommend this to you, but if you have read other self-help books and want something you can use to learn exceptional traits from, then this is a good book to challenge you and have you thinking about how to develop these exceptional traits for yourself.

Prev: Individual Innovation and Experimentation
Next: Book Review: Acting Up Brings Everyone Down

8 Responses to “Book Review: The Good Among the Great”

Armen Shirvanian Says:
October 16th, 2011 at 10:34 PM

Hi Mike.

It looks like it is best for us to be these traits. I noticed “private” there, and that makes sense because you are spending your energy on yourself and not on exhibiting for others.

I also notice dutiful because we have to keep on rolling with activity or we get dull and useless.

Experimental makes sense because if we don’t try things then we don’t get to the next step and we get stuck at step whatever for a long period of time, letting others get ahead of us.

I am going to come back and look at this list again during the week. There is much to learn in it.

Thanks for the book feedback. It is nice to see your review of a book.

Alex @ Easy ways to make money online Says:
October 17th, 2011 at 12:25 AM

Of all the traits, the one i like most is the “loving” trait. Considering it is the most powerful attribute of any human being, being loving is indeed the most popular one.

Mike King Says:
October 17th, 2011 at 8:19 PM

@Armen – I liked the private one as well. There are certain individuals who express their achievements and everyone else they do for others, and I mean in a way to show off to others, not the act themselves for others. Some people have a mix of that, and then the great people are much more humble and private about their actions and their lives, even when they do great things, they don’t have to make note of it on their own, it should stand for itself. I’m glad you like that one, you will definitely enjoy this book. You could easily stuff and write about each and every trait from your own perspective, and I have thought of doing some of that myself.

@Alex – loving is a powerful trait and unfortunately many people do not exhibit it enough (including me) so it often gets lost under the shadow of the other stronger traits. Those with this one though allow compassion and love to steer a lot of what they do and create incredible followers and loyalty. Powerful stuff, thanks for sharing!

p90x Says:
October 22nd, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Missed your book reviews Mike. The Good Among the Great looks like a nice read. I like how Donald takes the time to explore such a big list of traits. I will be looking forward to checking this one out.

– Robert

Mike King Says:
October 22nd, 2011 at 8:29 PM

Thanks Robert, I’ll have another review out right away as well. So many great books, so many I’ve read, so many I want to, and so many to still review, I’m glad to know my reviews are helpful! Thanks for the comment.

hedging plants Says:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:08 AM

After read the review,I’m excited to read it.Mike you are really a good blogger,I love to read all posts on your site.

17 Ways to Be More Realistic | Learn This Says:
November 13th, 2011 at 12:47 AM

[…] EmailRSSOne of the traits I referred to and read about recently in “The Good Among the Great” was realistic. Being realistic however, is not always that easy. There are many things that get […]