Naveen Jain

Most people know Wapakoneta, Ohio is the hometown of one of America’s great heroes… Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon. It is also the home of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

The Armstrong Air & Space Museum is a place I like to frequent and I still enthusiastically recall the first time dad took me there. At that time, I felt great anticipation entering this museum that resembles a futuristic moon base.

So, when I was approached to review this book, I immediately thought Moonshots was a brilliant title. We all know, Armstrong coined the phrase “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” And, in my mindset, taking a giant leap is exactly what "super entrepreneurs" do.

Going forward, this book is all about that- going forward and making choices. Choices that stimulate us and make us feel the same thrill of anticipation that we did when we were children.

When we were young and approached a tree it was never a stop at the first branch. Instead, it was always about how high we could climb. And, we always trusted we’d be able to climb to the top. Of course, there was the possibility of falling, but we felt the risk was manageable, and as we reached for the next branch, we ignored the branches that scratched us on our way to the top.

Well, this book is pretty much like that.

It's a well written, thoroughly enjoyable read and I personally love that it starts off with the Quantum Future and connects characters from my childhood like Spock and Bones and Steve Austin. You betcha I'm a Trekkie and even though his red NASA jumpsuit has faded a little over the past 43 years, I still have my Six Million Dollar Man action figure (first version).

Jain clearly conveys the importance of developing the mindset of possibility and associates Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland.

As many of you know, Alice is one of my favorite reads and we learn many things from this book, among them is the important concept of the future.

‘I could tell you my adventures–beginning from this morning,’ said Alice a little timidly: ‘but it’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’ (Chapter 10)

I was talking with a friend the other day and her child had asked how long it would take to slide down a fireman's pole that went from the moon to the earth. In exploring, I learned this is a fairly common question.

Ignoring all the problems that question poses, "What if it could be so?"

Thinking along those "what if" terms, many years ago, that same vision of breaking new frontiers made a world of difference for a boy named Neil who loved to fly and had a neighbor with a powerful telescope.

Breaking the status quo, Jain admits his status as a non-expert has been his greatest asset. So, perhaps, what prevents many of us from our moonshot is we forget the fervor for the life we had when we were children climbing to the top of the tree or frantically running down the curious path that lead to the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

In closing, this book is about taking the dimmer off our expectations and instead using our imagination and having faith while leaping into the unknown. It’s about knowing the world we live in, grasping the concept of how we can improve it, and moving ahead. It's about accepting there will be challenges and pushing through them to make things better.

This book helps us realize that we all can use our ambitions and today's technology to shoot above and beyond and help reshape our world.

I received a copy of this amazing and truly inspiring read from author contributor, John Schroeter.… (mehr)