THE THIRD DOOR by Alex Banayan: A detailed review

By Kavya NSV

I say in the title, ‘a detailed review’ and I hope you are ready for it. So I came to know about this book THE THIRD DOOR by Alex Banayan while listening to a podcast on Spotify called the-The Ground up Show. It was author Alex Banayan speaking to my favorite host. I couldn’t help but be startled by how good of a speaker he was and I impulsively ordered his book on Amazon.

Yesterday, in the afternoon, I picked up the book from my shelf and started reading. An hour later, a few pages into the book, I couldn’t help but think how relatable it was. A confused college student, lying in bed and thinking how boring life was. Not knowing what his interest in life was nor his passion. Fast forward to three years, he is at Microsoft Headquarters about to interview Bill Gates for his book.

Just hit 21 this week and I have to admit I don’t have much knowledge about success and where to even start to pursue it. So I am not going to say that this book is a guide for success. Except what this book is, a journey you take along with the author while he evolves into an individual capable enough to see life as an experience than a conquest. An impulsive youngster to a refined and mellowed adult.

While the book itself is nonfictional, the occurrence of events was more than startling to me. I laughed and cried with the author and occasionally felt a jolt. I was in utter disbelief in some instances and couldn’t take in that all this happened for real. Finishing more than half of the book, last night I decided to rest my head for the night.

While I decided to sleep, one thought kept coming into my head again and again. I couldn’t help but notice that the author did not interview any women until now. I have to admit, I was bummed. But coincidentally, the next chapter I read involved the same questions that were in my head. Although the author goes on to talk to a few more gentlewomen, I couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied. Being a woman who is just starting to find her way into the real world, I had abundant questions left unanswered.

In the book, he talks about how there are three doors to everything, and how most of the exceptional people always take the third door. He teaches how important it is to find an inside man and to form invaluable connections with people along your way.

As someone starting their career in any field, as an artist, an entrepreneur, a tech geek, or even a writer should pick this book up. The more I indulged myself in the book, the more I found resources for pursuing my knowledge further. It shows the power of networking, loyalty, and persistence. How they can take you places you would have never imagined.

I would like to end the review right here and not spill out any more spoilers. Hope you have a great time reading!

Some of my favorite lines from the book

Life will keep hitting you over the head with the same lessons until you learn.

In life, there are friends, there are best friends and there are the best friends who carry your dad’s casket.

Almost everything is learned.

It’s the biases that we don’t know we hold that are the most dangerous.

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities