Things No One Else Can Teach Us

by Humble the Poet

Overview

The rapper, spoken word artist, poet, blogger, social media influencer, and international bestselling author of Unlearn delivers unorthodox lessons for shifting our perceptions and learning to create silver linings from our most difficult moments.

Every one of us endures setbacks, disappointments, and failures that can incapacitate us. But we don’t have to let them. Instead, we can use these events as opportunities for growth. In Things No One Else Can Teach Us, Humble the Poet flips the conventional script for happiness and success, showing us how our most painful experiences can be our greatest teachers.

Humble shares raw, honest stories from his own life—from his rocky start becoming a rapper to nearly going broke to being the victim of racial prejudice—to demonstrate how a change in mindset can radically alter our outlook. This shift in perspective—one that stops seeing the negative and starts seeing the lesson or positive spin—is what no one else can teach us. We must figure things out on our own, often through difficult and heartbreaking experiences.

Humble inspires us to create these silver linings ourselves, preparing us to better handle any challenges that may arise. From a breakup to going broke to losing a loved one, our hardest moments can help us flourish, but onlyif we recognize and seize the opportunity. By doing so, we will become more self-aware, grateful, and empowered.

Simple yet profound, Humble’s message is clear. While we can’t control the vagaries of life, we have the power to control how we react to them. Things No One Else Can Teach Us reminds us all that we have the power within us to transform the way we respond to everyday challenges and ultimately be our best selves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062905185
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	193,648
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 7.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

HUMBLE THE POET, AKA KANWER SINGH, is a Canadian-born rapper, spoken-word artist, poet, international bestselling author, and former elementary school teacher with a wildly popular blog of over 100,000 monthly readers. He has over 930,000 social media followers and his first book, Unlearn, is a Globe & Mail bestseller in Canada. He has performed at concerts and festivals including Lollapalooza and been featured in major media including Buzzfeed and Huffington Post. Visit him at HumbleThePoet.com.

Editorial Reviews

07/29/2019

Humble the Poet (Unlearn), a Canadian rapper and spoken word artist, blends memoir with standard self-help advice in this uneven work. Having previously worked as an elementary school teacher, the author taps the informal vibe of a cool authority figure as he casually reveals his hardships, low points, and unflattering thoughts to demonstrate how “you can’t be yourself if you don’t know who you are.” Each chapter opens with an anecdote, including accounts of difficulties producing music videos and stories of working with Pharrell Williams, that segues into general insights meant to guide readers away from negative thinking: “Purpose is not one-size-fits-all... the more deeply we dive inward, the more clarity we’ll have about what tickles our fancy.” The author asks readers to admit when they are being greedy and selfish, and provides poetry and pull quotes to punctuate his lessons. Conversations with colleagues and friends (including a particularly affecting discussion with a friend fighting cancer), as well as with his famous acquaintances, are often the vehicle by which wisdom is imparted, lending their voices an all-knowing quality. While the personal stories of brushes with fame and fortune provide the most entertainment, the unspecific lessons (“There’s no fun waiting for us after the work; there’s just more work”) feel unnecessarily tacked on. Fans of the author’s work will enjoy this peek into his life, but readers looking for solid advice will be disappointed. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly