Book Review of
No Pain No Gaines
In his most vulnerable book to date, Chip Gaines opens up about his lifelong pursuit of building relationships with people from all walks of life. Chip emphasizes the importance of seeing people for who they are and not for what they can do for you, enabling you to build a strong community and a life of meaning, joy, and connection.
How does it happen? By being intentional about choosing the company you keep. Chip explains the value of seeking out people who are electrified by living according to their purpose, who will stand beside you as you tackle new challenges, and who bet on each other instead of the status quo. The key is being true to yourself, figuring out what you want to do with your life, and finding people who will lift you up along the way.
No Pain, No Gaines will open your eyes to valuable lessons, including how to:
- Find the risks worth taking
- Value what you bring to the table
- Resist the status quo
- Look outside yourself and your circle and foster connections with others
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortably kind
- Live life fully awake, not asleep at the wheel
A good life doesn’t always come easy, but that’s because the good stuff never does. It requires faith in people. It requires faith in yourself. It requires hope. And it requires a willingness to grow even when it hurts. In No Pain, No Gaines, through hard-won lessons and personal stories all told with his trademark blend of wit and wisdom, Chip Gaines will coach you on how to make your life rich and your relationships run deep.
Lynn's Review
No Pain No Gaines is the third book by Chip Gaines that I have read. I read The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines and Capital Gaines by Chip. I loved The Magnolia Story and Capital Gaines, but I struggled with No Pain No Gaines.
I listened to both Capital Gaines and No Pain No Gaines on audio. I loved the audio of both because Chip reads it. If you are going to read his books I suggest audio.
I expected No Pain No Gaines to be a business type memoir and in some ways it is, but I felt like it was too much Chip and not enough business information.
It was not so much a how you should do it book, it was about how Chip did it book.
And can I just say it is hard for me to say that. I wanted to love this book because I loved his other books, but this one is hard to recommend.
Chip did do a great job sharing about the importance of networking. He talks about being curious and interested in those around you and focusing on the interaction, not the transaction. Those are all good things, but I felt like it lost the lessons you can learn because so much of it was about how Chip did it.
I struggled with this book so much that I almost didn’t finish this book.
For example, there is a section of the book where Chip’s family members share stories. After I listened to the section his mom did I almost quit the book.
She compares Chip as a child to Kind David, like King David in the Bible. I had to play it back to make sure I heard it right. She then ended her section by saying, ” my son of whom I am well pleased. ” That is a quote from Matthew 3:17 where a voice from Heaven said “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
I was already feeling like the book was too much about Chip and when his mom said those two things, I struggled to keep going. Comparing Chip to King David and to Christ was just a little too much for me.
I did keep going, and even though I didn’t love the book, I am glad I finished it. Mixed in with the Chip did this and Chip did that, there were a few good business tips. However, I am not sure there are enough business tips and information for me to recommend this book.
I was curious what others thought of this book so I looked on Amazon. It has a ton of great reviews and very few bad reviews. However, when I read over the bad reviews most of them felt like I did in that it was just too self-centered.
Yes, memoirs are about the author, but a good memoir shares their story in an interesting and at least some what humble way. Humility is not how I would describe this book.
I know I am in the minority on this book, but I always give my real thoughts in my reviews. If you have read it, I would love to hear your thoughts.