Review by Emdad Rahman

A FORMER BOXER and an entrepreneur? It’s an interesting mix but one that will resonate with many youngsters determined to forge a path through the dense forest of life. 

Bilat Shaista took inspiration from the life of Mike Tyson, and has used boxing to help him develop his character and shape his life, vision and goals. The entrepreneur and business management consultant has used his experiences to compose a book titled Business Motivation. 

Influenced by Iron Mike, Bilat offers bite size advice to highlight the importance of staying focussed and consistent in order to overcome life obstacles, building better habits and achieving goals. He wrote the book to share his experiences and how discipline has helped him experience success. 

One of the first issues Bilat tackles is how to concentrate actively in a distracting world. He describes the brain as always being on duty, seeking to receive and absorb crucial information. The brain sifts through noise to determine what it wants to concentrate on, referred to as “selective attention”. He lists strategies that can be used to mitigate the effects of being easily distracted. 

In essence, the more distractions there are, the easier it is to neglect actual work. Something as simple as the ping of a text message alert can lead the brain to assuming that the incoming information is critical and requires immediate attention. In our modern day the phone is frequently cited as one of the greatest diversion tools in our life. 

In terms of time management the, book touches on aspects of the Pomadoro technique, Parkinson’s Law and Eat the Frog, which involves identifying the most critical task, tackling and aiming to complete it first thing in the morning. Productivity needn’t be time consuming, and Bilat expertly cites how physical activity, sleep and small breaks can stimulate the brain and rejuvenate the mind in order to produce better results. 

Consistency is referred to as the key to personal achievement: both a crucial tool and an important factor in the success of businesses and goods. 

Bilat touches on the influence of the people we choose to be around – family, friends, colleagues, neighbours. The closer they are, the more weight their opinions have on one’s life decisions. Rather than being overwhelmed, on balance it is better to take their opinions in order to help research goals and achievements. Challenges and obstacles are described as opportunities to grow, though this requires hard work and effort to achieve and become a better person. 

Bilat has written a book full of crucial titbits and nuggets which allows the reader to digest the content at their own pace. The simple counselling he offers allows for the reader to choose as little or as much to adopt and put into practice as they wish. With a focus on using practice to overcome obstacles, being resilient and staying optimistic, Bilat’s words will be popular with a diverse group of readers. 

The true measure of success is dependent on how each and every obstacle is hurdled. The journey is never easy but being motivated when the chips are down can help turn what seems like defeat into victory. 

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