# How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

7 Hacker News commenters recommended How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its ideas on systems over goals, habits, and career thinking, and by readers who say it shaped how they think about success.

## Why people recommend it

- Systems and habits over goals (2 comments): "It taught me to focus on systems and habits as a preference over goals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46602281)) "the key to many types of success is consistently repeated action" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46494400))
- Enjoyable read readers appreciated (2 comments): "I really appreciated "How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46602757)) "I really enjoyed How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46662930))
- Influential and widely imitated ideas (2 comments): "That book turned out to be a huge success, often imitated, and influencing a wide variety of people." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46605001)) "particularly impacted me early and exposed me to First Principles, biases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46606508))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people.md): 67 recommend
- [Atomic Habits by James Clear](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atomic-habits.md): 20 recommend
- [The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/easy-way-to-stop-smoking.md): 9 recommend
- [Feeling Good by David Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-good.md): 8 recommend
- [The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-money-getting.md): 8 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9798988534952&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9798988534952) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams", https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).