In health, in business, in life, there is no quick fix.
All you have is hard work, optimism, and honesty; common sense and a plan

This is, in short, the powerful essence of Maye Musk autobiography “A woman makes a plan: advice for a lifetime of adventures, beauty and success”. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical in the beginning, mainly due to some recommendations that I’ve read that were promoting the book under the influence of her son, Elon, somewhere along the lines of read how this amazing woman raised her amazing kids. But I do have a soft spot for autobiographies and from that point of view I was more than curious to read Maye’s perspective on life in general after her 70+ years of her journey and the lessons that she made out of for all of us to enjoy and thrive on.

I am really glad I picked up the book because I have enjoyed it much more than I have anticipated and I did not want it to end. She puts in perspective her childhood memories – of traveling through the Kalahari desert, alongside her parents and siblings, every July, in the mid 1950, packing up supplies of water, food, gas for a month and then hit the road only relying on a compass and a map – with today’s standards of parenting and how this would be unthinkable. But for sure, it makes it obvious where the planning first started. The book is so much more than some cheese motivational quotes put together – it’s full of lovely surprises.

I am going to leave you with some of the fragments that I loved the most:

I’m telling you this story, which isn’t even as bad as other women’s stories, so that you can know that you can get out of bad situations. I offer my story to you as proof that you, too, can find the inspiration and confidence to make a change and find a happier life. We all deserve a happy life.

I stayed too long, hoping that other people would change or that the situation would change. But nothing changed until I made a change.

There is a saying: “At twenty-one you are no longer an orphan.” This means, you need to take responsibility for
your future life

there’s no such thing as a guaranteed yes, but if you don’t ask, it’s a guaranteed no.

But those people were just scared for themselves. What other people, unrelated to you, think you should do with your life is not something to base your decisions on.

You don’t always have to follow what is expected of you. You can go your own way.

Practice doing what you’re good at, and don’t try to be the best at everything.

Your plan doesn’t need to be a five-year plan. If you’re always thinking too far ahead, it can become too difficult to make that first step. The most important thing is to get out. Don’t focus on the distant future. Focus on your next move.

Having a plan does not mean that things will go right. It means that if things go wrong, you will make another plan.

Plan for the expected, and be ready for the unexpected

Of course things could go wrong. So you thought in advance about what that could be and you planned for it.

Things broke. We didn’t panic. We fixed them and carried on. In life, we fear many things that don’t happen.
When bad things happen, we need to find a solution.

Feeling down all the time is not a way to live. You need to surround yourself with family, friends, and
colleagues who appreciate you for who you are.

Even if you are a very confident person naturally, you will still gain and lose your confidence many times in your life. Hopefully, as you get older, you lose your confidence for a shorter time.

The great thing about aging is that when you have a disappointment, you’ve already been through that. You
recover much quicker.