Book Review: All Groan Up by Paul Angone

At this point in our lives, we are all just trying to figure out what our next move is going to be. After we graduate from college and enter into adulthood and our early twenties, it seems like we can no longer see the road in front of us. It isn’t drawn out on any map and no one left us directions to where we are supposed to go from here.

It’s tough territory to navigate, and most of us don’t figure that out until we are well into our twenties. Back in our teenage years, it always seemed as though our twenty-something selves would have it all together.

We thought we knew exactly what life was going to be like (totally awesome, duh). And we’d never have to worry about working boring jobs, having enough money, paying bills, or finding purpose. Everything would just magically work out because that’s how life works, right? Boy were we wrong.

Paul Angone has been there and he knows what we’re going through. In All Groan Up, Paul tells us it’s okay to keep on going, even when we have no idea how it’s all going to play out.

You might know Paul from his wildly popular post, 21 Secrets for Your Twenties; we reviewed his subsequent book 101 Secrets for Your Twenties back in 2013. Back then, it seemed like he had it all together. From the outside looking in, it appeared as though he had achieved the overnight success we all secretly crave. But the fact is, that was just one chapter in his story — and an early one at that.

In All Groan Up, he shares his story, his highs and lows throughout his twenties, and how through faith, he kept blindly putting one foot in front of the other until he was where he knew he needed to be.

Three major takeaways from All Groan Up by Paul Angone:

1) Never stop doing and never stop trying.

Throughout his twenties, Paul experienced many of those “I’m totally lost” moments. But what really stood out to me about his journey was that even during these times where he lacked focus and direction, he never stopped moving. If one thing didn’t work out, he didn’t dwell on it for long. He simply moved on to the next thing.

Remember that sitting idly by will get you nowhere. It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to not know where to go. But it’s not okay to sit back and do nothing.

2) Make connections, even when you don’t have anything to show off.

We tend to think networking is something you only do when you’ve started to “make it.” Truthfully, networking is something you should be doing all the time, everywhere you go. You don’t need to wait until you’ve found a position or graduated from your entry-level job. Networking is simply about making genuine connections based on shared interests and passions.

Don’t make connections just to have them, instead of focusing on what other people can do for you, build your relationships from the ground up. Ultimately, no one owes you anything, but if you work hard, stay humble, and support other people, your network will support you to.

3) There’s more than one way to prove your worth. 

Just because you don’t have years of experience under your belt doesn’t mean that you don’t provide value. When Paul was angling for a book deal, he was able to show his impact by making a visual board of tweets, pins, and posts. This illustrated where his advice was being shared, who resonated with it, and how it was making an impact.

Be creative in your pursuits and don’t accept that there is just one way to do things. Don’t settle for less when your heart is calling you to do something more.

All Groan Up by Paul Angone is a great, quick read and I throughly enjoyed every page of it. It’s the perfect read for anyone who has no idea what to do next and is struggling in their own journey to finding purpose (AKA all of us).

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GenTwenty received an advanced copy of this book for review, but all opinions are our own.

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