Book Review: The Greater You by David Gusenga

There’s within each of us a limitless potential. Unfortunately many fall off this mortal coil without fully exploiting it. The Greater You not only explores this paradox but also offers a remedy.

Believe and you’re halfway there.

Gusenga, a young man, dissects this phenomenon with razor-sharp precision in his maiden book, The Greater You. The wisdom he shares is deep and it’s easy to mistake him for an aged sage. It’s hard to believe he wrote this book while still in high school.

Gusenga urges the reader to always think right. Because as a man thinketh so is he. Since everything man becomes or creates starts in the mind, ‘we should do more elaborate thinking and then act on it’, he writes.

Furthermore, it is prudent to focus on systems and not just goals. Systems, he says, will guarantee continued results because a process has been mastered.

When we reflect on bad choices, most times we believe that our current state could have been altered by a single small right action. But rarely do we think that small good actions bundled together could over time translate into a major success. “Small changes appear to make no difference until you cross a certain critical point.” Yet when small positive acts accumulate, they become a habit — a way of life. And once positivity becomes a way of life, success lies within our grasp.

He shares a story of a priest who as a young man set out to change the world only to discover that it was a herculean task he’d embarked on. In his old age, he regretted not having started by changing himself. Because he kept reducing the scope of the area he wanted to positively influence yet he was met with resistance all the time. From trying to change the world, then his country, then his village, then his family. Through it all, he figured albeit late that had he started by changing himself he’d have inspired others to change. Therefore before you embark on changing the world, change yourself first.

Somewhere Gusenga says we are defined by what we reject. Hence we need to make valid choices and also take responsibility for what happens in our lives. We can’t keep blaming our families, parents, and circumstances. “Personal growth and change happen when we take charge of our lives,” he says. And I totally agree with him. How our lives turn out is a product of the choices we make.

Finally, The Greater You doesn’t fall short of aptly showing that consistency is key. Consistency comes from a habitual way of behaviour. And much as it isn’t an easy feat to achieve, it’s possible to build good, productive habits. Science proves that it takes 30 days of routine to build a habit. Without habit, greatness can’t be sustained and you’ll become a statistic of coulda-woulda-been.