The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (in Real Life)

by Chris Hardwick

WELCOME YOUR NEW NERD OVERLORD

Attention, Nerds: You don’t have to be a stereotypical geekwad to appreciate the tenets of Nerdism and to make your innate talents for over-analysis and hyper-self-awareness work for you instead of agin you. Join Nerd superstar Chris Hardwick as he offers his fellow “creative-obsessives” the crucial information needed to come out on top in the current Nerd uprising.

As a lifelong member of “The Nerd Herd,” Chris Hardwick has learned all there is to know about Nerds. He’s studied them, lived with them, and has endeavored to milk their knowledge nectar and isolate its curative powers for what ails you. Thus, he has founded a philosophical system (and blog) called The Nerdist, and here he shares his hard-earned wisdom about turning seeming weaknesses into world-dominating strengths.

From keeping your heart rate below hummingbird levels to ignoring your brain, Hardwick reveals the secrets that can help you accomplish what you want by tapping into your true nerdtastic self. Remember, success is the most satisfying—and legal—form of vengeance there is. And you can achieve it…when you follow the Nerdist Way.

• ISBN10: 1101548053
• ISBN13: 9781101548059
• Publish Date: 1 November 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

I generally don’t read self-help books, but I picked this up because I am a fan of Chris Hardwick. Hardwick, who some may recognize as being one of the hosts of MTV’s Singled Out way back in the 90s, spent much of his 20s partying, drinking, and generally ruining his life. What happened when he hit 30 is best expressed in his own words:

"Then, when I hit thirty, I began to look around at my life: I was consuming a baby elephant’s weight in alcohol EVERY DAY. I lived in a shitty apartment near UCLA … my place was always a mess, I had ruined my credit, and I had no real work prospects. I had become a thing I had always feared–the fat, drunk guy who used to be on television."

Hardwick quit drinking in 2003 and started trying to improve his life. Now he has multiple projects on the go, including a successful (and extremely entertaining) podcast, a new podcast network, and several TV gigs.

The secrets to Hardwick’s success aren’t anything new. Basically, he was able to harness his innate nature (his nerdiness, so to speak) and use it to his advantage. And that’s what this book is about.

His techniques aren’t going to appeal to everyone, but if you enjoy the quantitative over the qualitative, you may find some ideas here. In general, he is advocating identifying your goals and developing a way to track your progress in a visible way. He also talks a lot about how to deal with the generally obsessive "nerdist" brain, something which I could relate to. It’s nice to know that you’re not the only one who thinks the way you do. In the final section, he talks a lot about his diet and fitness, even providing a starter fitness plan that is modeled after what he has done with his trainer.

One thing you can’t forget is that Hardwick is a comedian. The tone of the book is funny and descriptive, even during the more serious parts.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the book, even if I won’t adopt some of the more time-consuming tracking techniques. However, there is one big ding against it. Hardwick spends a fair amount of time on the development of a "character tome" that is the heart of his goal-tracking technique. He sends readers to a web site for sample templates, but that website is not functional. We’re now almost 3 months after the release of the book, and that’s really not acceptable.

Good thing it’s hard to be mad at Hardwick for long.

[empressbrooke]

I guess I've never read a self-help book before, because I went into this expecting some funny philosophizing from a self-proclaimed nerd who likes Doctor Who and instead found a step-by-step instruction book that included creating an RPG-ish notebook where you give yourself points and a how-to about cleaning up your credit score. Fine and fluffy at best, but I'd expect someone who insists he's super-nerdy to have a better grasp of "your" vs. "you're" and to know that symbols are not the things that are on drum sets.