The Road Less Stupid

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars | 1,129 ratings

Price: 21.83

Last update: 01-05-2025


About this item

Smart people do dumb things. Here's the proof: How much money would you have right now if I gave you the ability to unwind any three financial decisions you have ever made?

Years ago, after suffering a humiliatingly large dumb tax, it dawned on me that I have a seemingly unlimited ability to hit unforced errors and sabotage my business and financial success. I suspect you do, too. It turns out that the key to getting rich (and staying that way) is to avoid doing stupid things. I don't need to do more smart things. I just need to make fewer dumb mistakes. The vast majority of our dumb tax is a direct result of emotional, overly optimistic, and poorly thought out decisions. Every one of those three decisions you would love to unwind was an avoidable mistake.

Thinking is critical to sustainable success in business; said another way, business is an intellectual sport. The principles and structure suggested in The Road Less Stupid will enable anyone, regardless of the size of the business, the currency, or the industry, to run their business more effectively, make more money, and dramatically increase the likelihood of keeping that money. It all hinges on Thinking Time.

This is a business book for business listeners who want to learn the principles and strategies of making great decisions and minimizing risk. The structure of Thinking Time will enable you to minimize reacting emotionally and defaulting to the most obvious "best idea" available in the moment. The series of short chapters and subsequent Thinking Time questions are designed to maximize clarity and create better choices...either of which will result in fewer stupid mistakes.

This is the real "secret": The chance of success goes up when you think, plan, consistently execute the right things, and worry about the possibility of loss. Here it is on a bumper sticker: Operators react and sweat. Owners think and plan.


Top reviews from the United States

  • P.M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wake up and smell the coffee book!!
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
    A great journey into reality!!! Inspiring to say the least. Minor criticism but also based on my reading style of cover to cover reading, the constant in line references to other chapters kind of threw off my reading cadence. Read this on Kindle but will also buy a hardcover version. Definitely worth having on the book shelf!
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Can't say enough good about it
    Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2023
    This book was recommended to me by someone I very much admire, and I'm so grateful because it delivers more value on running a business than anything I've ever come across to date and I've been in industry a long time, helping start-ups in all kinds of capacities and sizes, but the author really knows his stuff. I wish I could be so articulate about this subject but that's why he's an author and I am not. He's helped me at this juncture in my life more than he will ever realize. I highly recommend this book if you are a solopreneur who is faced with countless decisions repeatedly you have to make for yourself. I especially appreciate his advice on getting to know what you don't know. I've been busy with that for the past 3 months, lol. And it's working. That's only one piece of his many pieces of sage wisdom found in these pages. It's a book you will keep on your shelves all through your business enterprise/s to be bestowed upon your favorite person when they begin their ventures. Top shelf.
  • HughSimpson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking Process Is Key to Success
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2023
    Yes and Keith is a no nonsense no fluff teacher of his Thinking Process he has taught thousands of entrepreneurs like the BILLIONAIRE I heard interviewed who said what he learned from Keith was more valuable than sitting in MBA classes. He is barely 50 and has made his money in the electricity commodity world, which I had never knew existed!
  • Old Bull
    5.0 out of 5 stars most of this book is scalable for various sized businesses, but not all. It's still worth it.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
    UPDATE JUNE 11, 2024
    ---------------------------

    I just realized an unexpected phenomenon while slowly reading through this book. While reading about one concept, i'm suddenly thinking about an idea that occurs to me about a completely different one. I'm constantly thinking in terms of what can be done in my businesses with the topic I'm reading, and unexpectedly, another idea, unrelated pops up. I now have several sticky notes on pages of paper to organize these ideas and changes that arise with no seeming connection to what i was just reading.

    Moreover, the ideas that pop up don't necessarily occur right after reading a chapter. Sometimes, the realizations occur days later.

    I know this because had i not read the text in the book, i would have never come up with these revelations.

    It's an unusual but welcome phenomenon which i can't explain and don't understand.

    -----------------

    It's a little different in its layout and approach, but you'll get used to it. It's got many ideas for consideration, and if you don't invest the time in studying these concepts, you'll probably not get much improvement from reading it.

    The basic idea is not new, but presented in a different way, so it does have value. The idea is to stop working IN the business and start working ON the business by thinking about things broadly and objectively.

    I've got lots of breakthroughs i didn't expect from reading just a few concepts, and lots more to go. Then, when i'm finished reading the whole thing, i can go back and read it again for the ideas i didn't grasp or ignored during the first run-through. It's a keeper for sure.
  • JM85
    4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024
    4.5 stars. A book that can have immense value for any entrepreneur/business owner (or hopeful), IF you do the work to extract it.

    Only 4.5 stars because a lot of the advice he gives is somewhat vague and general. He has decades of experience with supposedly many companies—so he should have a wealth of examples to use to illustrate his points. But he almost never provides examples, so it often left me unsure of what exactly he was trying to say.

    But that said, he has many excellent insights, and the hundreds “Thinking Time” questions are worth their weight in gold—again, IF you actually put in the time to think about them.

    A must-read for anyone in a business leadership role.
  • A thankful reader.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best business book of the decade
    Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024
    I believe this has single handed changed my business for the better. No one teaches thinking time.
  • Shane Helsel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Read, it did change me
    Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
    I enjoy getting into the minds of people more successful and wiser than myself. This book inspired me to ask the owner of the company I work for to have weekly mentorship calls. He said yes! Those calls have helped me grow.

    I apply thinking time to about everything now and make sure I have clear goals and dynamic plans to get there. I'll make mistakes and learn from them.
  • Daniel V. Rusteen
    5.0 out of 5 stars At 5% through this book, I already had more significant highlights than most.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2023
    Think of The Road Less Stupid like a mini business course. Easy to read and easy to understand business concepts written by someone who’s been in business for many, many years and clearly has good foundational advice.

    Technically it’s a business book, but it’s about thinking, something that humans do too little of.

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