[Book Review] Submarine Mindset by Muhammad Iman
Score: 3.8/5.0
The author really has talent with words. The book contains so many interesting, sincere, truthful, and uplifting quotes. His style of narrating his experience memang berbunga, berkias, ada seni. Kita boleh nampak kegigihan, cara pemikiran, dan liku-liku kehidupan yang telah dilalui oleh penulis. To always get up, move forward, achieve success and always have plan B, C, D and so on. Whenever your ship sinks, don't stay drowned, hop onto your submarine!
“Sesudah tersungkur, bangkit berjaya.” He is definitely a thinker; philosopher? It’s good that he encourages others who may have been put down by the harsh society for having a big vision and thinking all the time, to have faith in oneself and push forward. Others who said your dream is just a dream, they are the ones who stay stagnant.
Maybe it was not the intention; sometimes the sharing may have come off macam masih ada rasa yang berbekas di hati. He was too harsh on himself. For someone who keeps on emphasising to care less about what others think and focus on your own growth, he subconsciously still cares about it; those thoughts actually fuelled his passion, as if indirectly he wanted to prove to those who have let him down or mocked him that he survived and is now successful in life. It is indeed a blessing; he has a strong mindset that he is able to achieve his current life, barakallahu feek!
Cruising through the first few chapters, the build-up of momentum is good. Tapi, after a while it gets tiring, I was waiting for some punches. And yet, I was only the outsider, listening to his monologue.
”Because in the end, the strongest person you will ever meet… is the version of yourself that refuses to give up. And that person is already inside you.” — Yes, that is true. But, not everyone is built the same? Not everyone is born with a strong mind. Some people need support to build and nurture it.
It still feels like a pep-talk opening; it can be motivating, but not much of a guiding presence. You have to look and decide the “guide” here and there, across the book. I get it, the titles of each chapter serve as the mindset values that we should adopt, but no clear, distinctive definitions on how to achieve them, too linear. Buat orang berfikir, tapi tiada solusi. How to build this mindset tho? The delivery and elaboration need to be reconstructed, perhaps?
Big portions of content are observations and their afterthoughts. No proofs, no recommendation steps, no examples, much. Only in the last few chapters, especially in chapter 12, are there a few recommendations shared. Towards the end, the content gets repetitive.
Even the greatest of creation, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), was instructed to continuously seek more knowledge. This is a lesson for all of us:
“وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًۭا”
“wa qul Rabbi zidnee ‘ilmaa”
“…and say: ‘My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.'” (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:114)
In some parts, I understand where he comes from; perhaps those sentences can be paraphrased better. For example, education and knowledge are always important. Yang membezakannya is formal or informal education. Islam always encourages us to seek knowledge. However, certification or official/formal qualification proofs are not necessary to be successful in life. You can still gain informal education through experiences. When there’s a will, there’s a way! Side notes, SKM Level 3 is an achievement that one should be proud of!
"The future belongs to the prepared”
Anas ibn Malik reported that a man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him): “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophet replied: “Tie her and trust in Allah” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2517, graded Hasan by Al-Albani).
”A prepared man will never drown.” — IMO, you will still occasionally drown, cos life is full of surprises, but with preparation and a strong mindset, you will inshaAllah eventually thrive. Absolute expectation is the root of all heartache. After putting in our efforts, we should put our absolute hopes and trust only in Allah SWT, after all, He knows best! In all occasions, having hopes is okay, since that can motivate us to do better. But never expect things to turn out to be exactly as you foresee, even when you work so hard for it, and you’re relying only on yourself. Cos, there is always a blessing in disguise. Tuhan jadikan kita hidup bermasyarakat, so as much as we rely on ourselves and Allah SWT first and foremost, we should somehow rely on others too, and be integrated. We just have to be wise about it. Symbiotic relationship.
Considering the selling price, which weighs the depth of the content and the thickness of the book, it is a bit pricey. I am not an experienced publisher, but as an experienced reader, I found that having a page number is important for any book. It’s good for reference purposes. As I do when I want to compare quotes or passages. Or when I want to share significant lines with other fellow readers. Another thing, the font size is quite small.
Penutup kata, should one read this book? Yes, because it is mildly mind-provoking, triggering thoughts. Should one buy the book, hmm..mungkin boleh start with e-book first to cut down the cost?
I always believe that to understand the author’s POV, read the epilogue/prakata oleh penulis. :)
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