Things No One Else Can Teach Us

by Humble the Poet

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.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Poetry, Audiobook, Philosophy, Spirituality

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2019

About the author

Humble the Poet (Kanwer Singh) is a Canadian-born rapper, spoken-word artist, poet, internationally bestselling author, and former elementary school teacher with a wildly popular blog with over 100,000 monthly readers. He has more than 930,000 social media followers, and his first edition of Unlearn is a Globe and Mail bestseller. He has performed at concerts and festivals including Lollapalooza and has been featured in major media including BuzzFeed and Huffington Post.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You are the only person capable of creating a real change in your life."

Humble the Poet, also known as Kanwer Singh, is a Canadian-born rapper, spoken-word artist, filmmaker and designer, poet, social media influencer, as well as the international bestselling author of Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life. He is a former elementary school teacher with a wildly popular blog of over 100,000 monthly readers.

Humble the Poet delivers unorthodox lessons for changing your outlook and learning to create silver linings from your most difficult moments.
Everyone endures setbacks, disappointments, and failures, but you don't have to let these painful experiences incapacitate you. In Things No One Else Can Teach Us, Humble flips the conventional script for happiness and success, and shows you how your most painful experiences can be your greatest teachers. Humble shares raw, honest stories from his own life - from his rocky start as a rapper to nearly going broke, to becoming the victim of violence - to demonstrate how a change in mindset can radically alter your outlook. This shift in perspective - one that stops seeing the negative and starts seeing the positive - is what no one else can teach us.

Although I chose this book to fill a Bingo square in a book club, I confess that I was intrigued by the author's name - Humble the Poet and wanted to read what he had to say. This was an easy book to read, and although I didn't learn anything new, it reinforced several thoughts.
1. Everything is temporary, so appreciate those you have while you have them.
2. Time is always worth more than money. You can make your money back. But once time is spent, it's gone for good.
3. "Our common stories of oppression should unite us much more than our fears of each other can ever separate us."
4."The Five S's we have to worry about are salt, sugar, sitting, social media, and self-pity. All are highly addictive, and...will take a heavy toll on us if we consume them over a long period of time."

"WE ALL HAVE THE UNLIMITED POWER TO SHIFT OUR PERSPECTIVE."

[CM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very thought provoking and motivating book. It really makes you analyze so much in your life and leaves you with so many ideas to ponder. I found that it resulted in a lot of self reflection while reading it. I find Humble the Poet to be very honest and relatable.

I did however like this book a bit less than his previous books. I found it to be a bit repetitive and more self help bookish.

[Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/10

[Kyrinne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Midway through this book I actually checked the Goodreads review to see what the general consensus was on this book.
I was shocked to see such a high rating, because honestly I hated this book.
The messages are basic and the writing is kind of egocentric and comes off pseudo-woke

[Nova Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reinsured everything that I’ve been learning so far as I embark on my spiritual journey to healing and understanding.

[Zoe Westbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lol I have no idea how this book has such high rating, maybe because so few reviews.

The writing feels forced… there’s a certain dryness to it, maybe originating from the triteness and non-originality of the content. I found myself rolling my eyes repeatedly while reading.

Something about his writing irritates me, the fake humility but obvious ego, the cheesiness, the way every moment has to signify something much deeper. Like okay you enjoy playing ping pong does that really merit a whole chapter?? He over extends himself trying to squeeze meaning out of every little story, then way over explains and over analyzes it (maybe due to elementary teacher training?!). I find the best books to be the ones that give room for the reader to uncover the profundity, the deeper sense … in this book it’s always presented in (literal) bold.

Yes he makes some good points and shares a few thought provoking stories. Yes, we should appreciate the people we love and the journey and the transient nature of life… but there you go I pretty much summed up the whole book. Lack of philosophical depth, very superficial observations that appear to be profound, and which he clearly thinks are ground breaking/revolutionary.

There was a recurring theme about not following the “standard” path in life, which was a discussed in a way that just annoyed me. If someone wants to get married and have a child and a reliable job, why is that wrong?? There was an implication that it’s morally superior to be an artist, to live in a more unpredictable/erratic way and I don’t know if I agree with that. People should not be held back by fear, I’m with him on that, but there is a way to have a very pleasurable and even exciting life with a 9-5, a committed partner, and kids.

Overall I just found this book hackneyed and uninspired. There are much better books out there if you want to think about life/death/self-improvement.

[Doodle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not everyone can be the subject of a autobiography and make it worth reading. To put it bluntly, this book is written by a man of nothing about a man of nothing.

[Dan Organ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a book where a guru gives you life advice, it is more like a deep chat with a trusted friend where they help you unpack problems and together you find a path forward.

I really enjoyed this book. So many great quotes.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa

All the experiences we go through in life are our lessons, all the people we meet are our teachers. What we learn is what we earn from those experiences, and this book is here simply to help you see, discover, and create the silver lining that's always been there so you don't discard the unpleasant moments as things you want to forget. Everything we go through is important and puts us up on game to better ourselves and the way we feel moving forward. Wisdom can't be taught or told by anyone else, only we can mine the jewels of wisdom ourselves.

Everything is temporary, so appreciate those you have while you have them.

Beautiful winds won't take us anywhere if we don't have our sails open.

Cool is simply someone who is comfortable in their own skin. The only way to be that comfortable is by being yourself.

Being rich and successful is the unrealistic body type for all guys to measure up to; it's our bikini body.

I realise that my self-esteem doesn't just go up from getting that new girl; it also goes down from hurting the previous one - making her feel invisible and insignificant.

Forgiveness is saying, "What happened sucked, and it hurt me, but I no longer want to carry it with me moving forward." Achieving a state of forgiveness takes more time for some people than others and that is okay.

"We are either pushed by fear or pulled by love." Either way. he explained we are headed in the same direction but only love will keep us fueled for the long haul. Fear is not a sustainable motivator; it just exhausts us.


His homeroom teacher addressed him in a way I hadn't heard before. He sat the kid down and said "I like you, man, but I don't like your choices. I need you to leave those choices at home, or better yet, throw them away because those choices are hurting a great guy." the homeroom teacher successfully separated the student from his actions.

Your ultimate leverage is your craft. Stop taking meetings, stop networking, stop trying to cut corners, and get better at what you do. As you get better, your craft will be your leverage, and opportunity will find you. Devote more time to your craft and become irreplaceable." That was one of those moments when I felt like I was both punched in the chest and kissed on the forehead.

Now, instead of complaining and looking for sympathy. I constantly question my effort and try to figure out where else I have the power to improve things on my end.

Find a quiet place, get comfortable and ask the uncomfortable question: "What is bugging me?"

Take heart: Losses become gains when we let go of resentment, regret grudges, and self-pity because that opens us to finding the value in the times things don't go the way we want.

You can be the ripest juiciest peach in the world and there's still going to be someone who hates peaches - Dita Von Teese.

Once we decide we become.

[Gogelescu Ion Petre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing is the end of the world until it's the same end of the world, and then nothing will matter anyway.

[Jay Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating - 7.2

Comments
Full of good points however not really anything that has been read/seen before in inspirational quotes/posters; Can only take in small doses as it becomes repetitive & you lose the meaning of the message

Seems like a genuine individual & although rooted in the same insecurities, his problems are not relatable to the everyday person; Happy that he has made so much progress & that others achieve the same

[Karine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seem to be the first reviewer to give 2 stars. Some messages are better than others but overall I did not like this book. I had liked Unlearn but this one was too long, not very well written, very egocentric (I did, I realised, I figured it out) and throwing in celebrities names very often which I do not find humble at all.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great reminders for everyone!

[Jung]

Things No One Else Can Teach Us (2019) is a part-memoir, part-unconventional self-help book. Full of revealing personal stories and philosophical musings, it will inspire you to question your beliefs about failure, success, and what really makes life meaningful.

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.

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Learn to live life on your own terms.

Humble the Poet has experienced plenty of setbacks.

As a Sikh spoken word artist who wears a turban, he’s no stranger to racism and discrimination. He’s also had to put up with fierce criticism from members of his community, who felt he was disrespecting his culture and faith.

To follow his dreams, he quit his day job as a teacher and went into debt. Along the way, he’s been lonely and full of self-doubt. He’s put his trust in scam artists and had lousy performances. He’s also had his heart broken numerous times.

You could say that he’s an expert in adversity. But today, he wears each of those setbacks and failures on his sleeve, because he knows that none of the triumphs in his career could have existed without those difficult times.

Humble’s wise and raw revelations about living an authentic life on your own terms have inspired his millions of fans. You’ll get insight into six key teachings from his book Things No One Else Can Teach Us.

---

Life is finite, so guzzle all the joy you can while you can.

When you’re born, you’re born with a finite number of breaths. That’s right. You have, in a sense, an “expiration date.” Does that sound terrifying?

Well, death scares most people. Hearing that you, too, will die could make you want to hide under the covers and refuse to come out.

But pretending you’ll be here forever can be even worse. The truth is that as soon as you accept that everything is finite – even your life – you’ll be able to value what you actually have in the moment. Everything is temporary.

But you’re here right now.

Here to love and connect and hold your grandmother’s hands in your own, eat delicious food, drink in the faces of your children, and feel sand under your feet or the swish of your skirt as you walk down the street. You’re here to admire that tiny flower growing through the cracks in the pavement and to swoon as you listen to a beautiful song. The fact that it won’t last doesn’t make it less special. It makes it even more special.

So, right this moment, take some time to think about what’s important to you. Let your life flash before your eyes. Which parts of it light you up? Who really matters? What really matters?

---

Embrace the freedom of letting go of people and things that don’t fit you anymore.

Now comes the hard part. 

When you’re identifying the people who light you up and support you, you’ll also identify people who don’t show up for you in the way that you need.

That means that you need to let some people go. You know who they are:

People who drain your energy and leave you depleted after you meet up. People who you Whatsapp out of obligation, but your heart’s not really in it anymore. People who pour scorn on your dreams. People who sabotage you while pretending to support you. People who say one thing while doing another.

There’s no space in your one brief and precious life for those people. They’re taking up space, energy, and time. All things that you have in very finite quantities. They’re taking time from your family, your dreams, and the friendships that do nourish and support you. The truth is that you need to let them go. You can do that lovingly and kindly. But do it.

Just like those clothes in your closet that don’t feel right on your body anymore when you put them on, some relationships just don’t “fit” you anymore. And that’s alright. They may have fitted perfectly at one stage of your life. You may have lots of beautiful memories together. But your past isn’t your future. At least, it doesn’t have to be.

So, it’s time to ask yourself: What parts of my past do I need to let go of? What do I need to leave in the past?

---

Throw away the map and follow your internal compass.

Charting a new future for yourself can sometimes feel like being stuck in the middle of a fierce storm. Visibility is poor and you don’t know where you’re going. The map that you’ve been following doesn’t apply anymore. So you’ve thrown it away.

That means you’re free.

But you’re also lost.

Some days this feels exhilarating, but sometimes it also feels completely terrifying. Where the hell are you going to end up? You have no idea. Remember, you threw away the map. It was leading you where society expected you to go. But that doesn’t fit you anymore.

When Humble the Poet quit his secure job as an elementary teacher, he was throwing away the proverbial map. The map said that he’d teach for the next 30 years until he could retire, and maybe dabble with music on the side in his basement.

The map said he had to hold on to his safe and respectable job with both hands and make the best of what he had. The map said that his parents had worked so hard to give him that opportunity, that he couldn’t possibly throw it away.

But, the creative life called to Humble. And the cries only got stronger. He knew he had to take the plunge, to back himself 100 percent. Even if no one else believed in him, he had to believe in himself. So he decided to quit his job as a teacher. At that stage, he had no idea how he’d pay his bills. There was no map to the path to becoming a successful artist. He had no idea what awaited him. He just knew he had to take the plunge and see what happened.

Now, the changes you need to make in your life might not be so drastic. You don’t have to turn your life upside down to live authentically. All you need to do is to tune into your internal compass. That compass is so much more important than any societal map you were following. It’s more important than what your parents, friends, or that hot person on Instagram think you should be doing.

So throw away the map and start to feel where your compass is pointing. The only thing that matters is that you follow that arrow – wherever it leads.

---

Get back in touch with the delight of doing something for its own sake.

Living in Los Angeles, Humble the Poet had bought into the city’s hustle culture. Everyone was ambitious and hard-working. He admired their grit and was determined to emulate it. So he forced himself to write every day, make music, post on social media to try and grow his audience, and try to get meetings with important people.

As he became more successful, he also became more strung out. He kept track of how many times his songs were downloaded; how many people liked his posts. He compared himself to even more successful and established artists, like Pharrell. He was desperate to have a massive hit and everything in his life became about working toward that goal. In the process, he lost sight of why he’d set out to become an artist in the first place. He stopped having fun.

Do you know what saved him? Ping-pong.

Between work sessions, Humble and his housemate would play a game to loosen up and get their creative juices flowing. It was exhilarating and easy. Everyone who visited the house inevitably joined in. Humble became the reigning champion. Which confused him. How on earth had he gotten so good at the game without ever trying to become good at it?

But then he had a revelation. In fact, over the last year, he’d been playing ping-pong every day. He’d been just as consistent at ping-pong as he was at writing songs. But there was one difference. Playing ping-pong had never felt like work. He never had to bribe himself to play a game. He didn’t stress about it when he wasn’t playing. He didn’t look up ping-pong champs online to compare himself to them. He just had fun. He enjoyed himself. And, in the process, he became good at it. It was the by-product of the fun, not the aim of the game.

Making art had been like that for him once, too. When he was a teacher, he’d always made time for writing and recording songs after school. It was pure joy. Something he did for the simple reason that he enjoyed it in the moment of doing it. But, when he decided to pursue art full time, all the fun was drowned out by the seriousness of his ambitions, by his determination to make it. Whatever that meant.

Humble realized that he had to bring that joyful ping-pong energy back into his music and writing. He slowed down and stopped measuring success in likes on Facebook. The only thing that mattered was that he liked what he was doing.

When was the last time you played a game like ping-pong or table football just because it felt good?

So, here’s an exercise for later. When you’ve completed this book, just take a few minutes to play. You probably don’t have a ping-pong table in your living room. But you can throw a ball against the wall, or chase your kid around the garden. And when you’re done, close your eyes. Feel your heart beating faster. Feel the exhilaration radiating through your body. That’s the way you should be feeling as often as you can!

---

Self-pity should be an occasional treat, not a default mode.

Are you familiar with the character of Eeyore in the story of Winnie the Pooh? Eeyore is the sad donkey who always looks on the dark side of life. No matter how much everyone tries to cheer him up, he always sees the glass half empty. Eeyore is convinced that nothing will work out for him. And guess what: it doesn’t!

We all have an inner Eeyore.

Maybe you’ve gone through a brutal breakup. Or a friend betrayed you. Or your career isn’t going the way you want it to despite all your hard work. Or your parents don’t support you like you need them to. When you’re experiencing something difficult, self-pity is a natural response. It’s a way of connecting with yourself when you’re feeling low. It’s also a way of trying to get attention from the people around you. It can feel good to get hugs and sympathy from people trying to cheer you up. 

But are you ready to hear the blunt truth? 

Nobody wants to be around someone who feels sorry for themselves all the time. The Eeyore act gets very old very quickly. So if you carry on that way, your friends will start to avoid you. Which, of course, will only fuel your self-pity even more.

Self-pity is to emotional connection what McDonald’s is to food. It’s quick and easy – but it doesn’t last and it might well leave you feeling a bit queasy.

The thing is that everyone goes through hard times. You’re not special. Everyone around you is dealing with shit too. But self-pity will keep you stuck in your head and unable to be there for your community.

This might all sound harsh. No one’s saying that you can’t be down in the dumps from time to time. Of course, you’ll have hard days and feel sorry for yourself sometimes. You just have to make sure that self-pity doesn’t become your default mode for dealing with tough situations.

Stopping by McDonald’s for a burger and fries occasionally won’t damage your health. Having lunch and dinner there every day probably will. The same is true for self-pity. Make it an occasional “treat.”

For example, the next time you feel sorry for yourself, you could listen to a sad song and, while the song is playing, you can allow yourself to feel really, really awful. Call to mind all the people who’ve been unfair to you. All the times you’ve failed. All your disappointments. Let yourself give in fully to your inner Eeyore and gorge on self-pity. And when the song comes to an end, give yourself a shake and snap out of it. The self-pity show is over.

---

Now that you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, it’s time for some good news.

Your life is your responsibility – 100 percent of the time.

This might sound heavy. But really, think about it. You can’t control what happens to you. You can’t control how other people treat you. But you can control your responses.

Welcome to the school of life. You were enrolled at birth and the tuition is expensive. You’re going to make big mistakes, fail, and get your heart broken. Those heartaches and disappointments could make you shut down. Or you could choose to treat them as compassionate teachers here to give you valuable lessons. You could let them open your mind.

So stop fearing failure. Stop living small. Allow yourself to follow your compass. Fail hard – and proudly.

FULL SCRIBE https://shrib.com/#Genesis6QBZVMK

[Pretentia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This motivational book is easy to read. It's full of the usual - treasure others, things aren't black and white, let go of fear, etc. The author is charismatic, but at times it feels smug.

[Doyle Swinimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly an inspiring book!

[Nazaar Al hashem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I write these notes for myself, so don't bother if they are not organized or not in order.
" like the fine wine, we'll get better with time ''
'' it took me a while to realize that I was pouring salt into my own wounds just to keep them open so that I could keep extracting self-pity from reliving the pain''
'' If you want to be good practice so you don't make mistakes. If you want to be great practice until you can't make mistakes''
'' the straw that broke the camel's back''
'' it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees''

[Jenna W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-memorable, there is nothing in this book you haven’t heard before. It was truly mediocre. Not bad, but not great. I paid 18 bucks at Barnes and nobles for it only to not remember a single thing because nothing stood out.

[Kostadin Krushkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

▪️If things laster forever, would we be able to appreciate them?

▪️The more we learn about ourselves, the farther we may find ourselves from the rest of the world. When we have a deeper understanding of
ourselves and begin to pave our own toad there won t
be any traffic, but we also won't have much company.

▪️Have you ever noticed, though, that when
you're having fun, you're more present and willing to
dig in when you don't have the destination in view?
When our teachers were sharing the sounds of the
alphabet in kindergarten, we didn't know they were
preparing us to read books like the one you're holding.
We were just having fun, making funny sounds.

▪️If you don’t bring the fun into your life, don’t expect the fun to find you.

▪️Other times we may realize that the path we were on helped reveal the path we should be on.

▪️Those who judge us for our choices are most likely doing so to avoid the issues they have with themselves.

▪️Are you pushed by fear or pulled by love?

▪️There is no absolutele good and bad; everything is what we make of it.

▪️Life isn't simply good or bad, black or white, right
or wrong; it's a spectrum.

▪️How we judge the world is a reflection of how we judge ourselves.

▪️ALL PERSONAL GROWTH
EXISTS OUTSIDE OUR
COMFORT ZONES, AND OUT
THERE, INCONVENIENCE
AND DISCOMFORT ARE
INEVITABLE.

▪️We Don't Scream
"Why Me?!" Durine the
Good Times, so Don't Scream It During the
Bad


◼️Those who offend you, conquer you.


▪️There’s no Win or Lose. There’s only Win or Learn.

▪️Dont give people reasons to come at you, and you will have less trouble to deal with.

▪️You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in
the world, and there's still going to be
somebody who hates peaches.
-Dita Von Teese

▪️Freedom is having nothing to lose.

▪️ The reason there are things no one else can teach
us is because no one else can live our lives and explore
our stories for us.

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book about how to deal with everything that comes Your way, when you navigate on this sphere called earth.
.
Author ( Humble the poet ; Kanwer Singh), lives in Canada and has creative expertise in music, blogging and book writing. His kast book unlearn was successful. He is famous youtuber and his channel is awesome. He is multi talented guy.
.
Book discusses key philosophical nuggets by attaching them to his own life experiences and then he tries to make sense of -
1. What he did in these situations
2. What he thinks that he should have dobe
3. And what he learnt from that life event.
.
And at last he summarises what reader can do correctly in similar situations and problems.
.
Best part is honesty in the writing and noncomplicated nature of prose.
You tend to glide through pages.
.
.
Book covers all possible areas like career, pets,idols, rage,Ted conference,selfpity, getting offended, finance, creativity, marriage, hapiness and personal relationships.

Sections describing how to deal with difficult people and difficult situations were that I liked most. Author is very clear in explaining the process. Changing your perspective towards life is the core theme of the work.
.
What I didn't like is that some points may be repetitive and wisdom is generally what an avid book reader might have already encountered in othe self helf books
.
.
There are wonderful poems at the start and end of each section. I liked his poetry.

If you are tired of jargon filled repetitive self hrlp books full of tricky terms, read this one for honest informative writing.
.
.
Thanks edelweiss plus and publisher for review copy in exchange of honest review.

[Carey Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Humble the Poet's first book, Unlearn, 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life, he wanted us to pursue steady; however we defined it. And to not be so hard on ourselves.

In Things No One Else Can Teach Us (only 33 lessons this time), he doubles down on that message; that: "All of us are beautiful messes, and no one else knows how it feels to have our experiences, or how much we hold onto or how much longer we can go on."

As a former elementary school teacher, he writes in a way that you not only comprehend but absorb the points he's made (like Unlearn, the main lessons are bolded to serve as easy reminders).

This, his second book, is more of the same but also, more ambitious. He takes liberties to share his poetry much like a preamble to the various chapters and includes an Open and Close to each, either adding reflection or additional pertinent content.

My favorite chapter is Limit Your Self Pity where he opines about social media (a playground for self pity); why don't we scream 'why me?!' during the good times, why only during bad times? and that self pity feeds our insecurities (which leaves us bitter and angry).

Finally, Things No One Else Can Teach Us is an opus on learning more about ourselves; that we can ultimately help those in similar situations by sharing our stories in a matter in which we see fit. A call to action that learning from our losses is earning from our losses.

... and those rewards are priceless.

[Melissa Hevenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Things No One Else Can Teach Us by Humble The Poet, Is a book that I truly needed at age twenty. Even so we all need reminders of where to find our motivation such as, through a fun process rather than solely for financial gain or how to keep self pity in check and the role social media can play in feeding self pity.
Having just turned 44, I very seldom spend a lot of time in the energy of self pity therefore, similarly many of the topics in the book are not on the forefront of my life experience at the present time. However, I work with all walks of life, who are at varying stages in their lives and so the book gave me great spiritual lessons and or reminders to pass on to others who may benefit because of things they are currently going through.
Then there are certain life lesson tune ups we need periodically, to get us back on track by expanding our perspective, zooming in on our responsibility or role in any given situation. While other times teaching us when to zoom out and see the bigger picture that goes far beyond ourselves. The author shares personal stories to exemplify the lessons he is imparting on his readers. The book is an easy read and broken down into sections that help us digest and recall all the wisdom found within the pages, like a wise, kind, friend, we can always return to when necessary.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am familiar with Humble from his YouTube days and I currently follow his Instagram page. There are many posts he makes which I found of interest to me, and so I decided to finally read his book. I listened to his audiobook version of this specific book. Being honest, I felt his reading was so monotone that I fell asleep on two occasions while listening, so I’m pretty sure I missed some parts of this book. While the content of this book offered really great quotes, both by Humble himself, as well as from famous figures and proverbs, I found the anecdotes he shared quite sad. I was not sure what to expect going into this book, but the content always had an underlying depressed/ sadness tone to it. I did appreciate the stories he told and the lessons he learned from them and the advice he had to offer based off of those incidents, but I’m not sure how memorable his lessons will be to be. Maybe I was unable to connect to his stories, or have yet to live anything similar, or simply because of personality differences, I was kind of bored while listening through this. However, I will give this 4/5 simply because while within the story, in the moment, the quotes and advice were quite good. This was also the first time I had heard any of his spoken word/ rap content, and they were interesting.

[Zemmiphobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 stars

I picked this book up by pure happenstance. He starts the book with a disclaimer that this isn't a self-help, spiritual enlightenment, guro-guide kind of book. This book is a collection of his own personal stories that outline his own sort of spiritual journey to live a better life. In the end though, this book does indeed recycle all those things and mentalities that are peddled in those guro-guide self-help kind of of books. The one thing that this book does a bit different is that it takes a very mainstream and in the modern lifestyle approach to these old wisdoms. Same basic truths in refreshing new packaging. Overall, this book isn't bad and if your looking to hear about mindfulness and moving away from an egocentric mindset but get annoyed by steortypical suburbanite yogis, then this book may be right for you.

Biggest criticism of this book is that this book is focused on inaction to promote change. Get in a good head space and send those good vibes out in to the world and great things will happen. I agree that negativity spreads negativity spreads negativity. I don't believe that systamatic change comes from spreading good vibes.

[Monica Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a regurgitation of Humble's first book: Unlearn. Unlearn was 5 stars for me.

All this book does is take those same lessons and talk about his experience of applying them. Which, is somewhat interesting, but there's nothing in this book that you can't get from Unlearn. Unlearn was Humbles' first book and he clearly put a lot of effort and work into it. This one, was a money maker, to capitalize on the momentum of success from Unlearn. He definitely rushed it. He talks about the pressure to publish quickly *in the actual book* and on some of the podcasts he's been interviewed on.

You don't need to read both Unlearn and Things No One Else can Teach Us. Same messaging in both. Unlearn is definitely better, but Things No One Else can Teach Us is not a total loss. It's just so redundant.

I hope the financial success of both these books fuels Humble's ability to keep creating - poetry, music, spoken word, t-shirts, whatever. I really like his mindset and way with words.

[Alethea Rocks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of Quest Love's Book Creative Quest, where he discussed creativity and dissected it by sharing how other creatives work. While some can argue this book is a regurgitation of his last book. I beg to differ, I appreciate him diving deep into himself and putting himself on the platter. Sure, one can argue its egotistical, but I like to think we learn by example. I really appreciate the insight into the world of one creative mind and how despite all odds or how successful we become, we all have doubts. We all have worries. I appreciate the lessons he shared and the reminders he gave with the book and as a working artist I appreciate how he chose to put himself out there as the example and share his trials and tribulations. And just because something looks beautiful doesn't mean it isn't hard work and a mess.

[Anant Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often times self help books start with let me tell you something and along the sentiment of I know what to do so just follow what I am saying. But the author here begins with a self-proclamation that he doesn’t know what will help you because he doesn’t know you, the sum of all your experiences, thoughts and actions. And thus it segues into anecdotes of his life, the situations he faced (good but mostly bad) and how he reacted to it.

We all learn much more from the bad in life as compared to the good, because bad makes us focus, makes us ask why me? And pain is often the precursor to personal. The language was simple and the entire book felt like a disjointed set of stories(glimpses) in the life of author. I’d like to thank the author for sharing his set of experiences in all the gory details so that people out there can learn from it.

[Eray Engin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s an easy to read book. For the majority of the part the messages I have read were no news to me, though they are powerfully written and resonated with me in ways that I had reconsidered them. So it certainly left a very positive remark with me.

I must also mention what I am seeing in the world two types of characteristics emerging that are seemingly getting more and more distant to each other yet both popular. One of them is like Humble; humility is on forefront along with sharing, empathy, and self awareness. And the other type of personality is narcissism, aggressive egoism and selfishness. They also attract much attention and lead with fear and manipulation. If you are the latter, then this book is a worthless waste of time for you but if you are the other one then this book will resonate deep inside you in ways you might not have experienced before.

[jaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections of the social media personality, rapper, poet, author on his life lessons so far. Some really good guidance based on the experiences of HTP. Some of these are basic life experiences others are professionals as he made his transition from school teacher to poet / social media start. Many ideas / lessons put forward, including: Focus on the journey, not just the goal; Don’t cry because its over, smile that it happened; HTP also gets into some heavy subjects that most if not all of us face, such as coming to terms with spiriruality and being addicted to self pity. The line that resonated the most for me? “All personal growth lies outside our comfort zone”. In summary, a very relatable and heartfelt book. HBT has told his truth and encourages us to tell our own.

[Shara Padilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved Humble the Poet's insights on life so I was very excited to read his books. He has a very straightforward, no-BS approach to life which I really liked. If you're in for some life stories and advice like that, you will surely love the book as well. He tells a story first before getting into the lesson that he has learnt throughout his life which definitely helps in putting the thought into perspective instead of just stating generic words of wisdom. It humanises these phrases more. The book is also well-organised and had a clear direction. I would definitely recommend and definitely read again!

[Mudit Aggarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you read anything lately that didn’t offer anything new, yet surprised you and made you think?


Things No One Else Can Teach Us, by Humble The Poet, turned out one such book for me.

The general message of this book is almost a cliché now: “we all have the unlimited power to shift our perspective, and with that the unlimited power to change the way we feel about life.”

Yet, the book surprised me and made me think!

Simplicity, honesty and humility of the author surprised me. He has used his own life’s experiences, including failures, break-ups & f*ck-ups, to highlight life is essentially a hue of grey.

His concepts of Zooming-In & Zooming-Out made me think.

Humble The Poet suggests that we can try Zooming Out, when we observe ourselves judging someone / something.

His view is, while we get judgemental we are taking things personally. Instead, let’s zoom-out to see the bigger picture. We may realise our opinion matters far less than we think in that moment.

By zooming-out, we bring distance between the moment and our opinion / feeling about the moment. This distance may help realise if we, somehow, contributed to the situation as it has turned out.

Zooming-out allows us to calm down, and reminds us to be kind.

On the other hand, Humble The Poet suggests Zooming-in when we wish to understand. This is to reach the hidden depths of a person (self included) or a situation.

When we are able to go through layers (and more layers), only then we begin to understand people and situations. Not much is exactly as it appears on its surface.

I have often found myself doing the exact opposite: Zooming-in while judging someone (self-included), magnifying mistakes. Zooming-out when trying to understand something, thinking looking at the broader picture is always the best way to understand something.

As an added flavour to the not-new-yet-thought-provoking content, this book has many poems written by the author (expectedly so, he calls himself a Poet).

An easy, enjoyable and inspiring read.