Book Review: The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Igor

I first read The Ride of a Lifetime what feels like an actual lifetime ago. Before Covid, before my first business, before so many of the relationships and experiences that have shaped me since. I was younger, more naive, more lost, and a lot more eager. This was the first book I read as an adult, and it’s the book that made me fall in love with reading. For the last six years, whenever someone asked me what my favorite book has been, my answer was always this one.

Recently, I wanted to feel that spark again. I decided to pick it back up and see if it lived up to all the hype I had built around it in my own head. I’m very glad to say that it absolutely did.

At its core, this is a book about Bob Iger’s journey from the very bottom of the television industry to becoming CEO of Disney, and the lessons he picked up along the way. What makes it so powerful is not just the story itself, but the way Bob approaches every problem. His superpower was his ability to dive deep, get to the heart of an issue quickly, and be completely dialed in. He wanted innovation at all costs and refused to let complacency creep in. He was willing to take big risks, and more often than not, those risks led to massive rewards.

Back when I first read it, I saw it mostly as a story of success and inspiration, a reminder that you can rise from the very lowest position to the very top. But this second read gave me something else. I began to see why he got so far so fast. He starts the book with lessons that feel simple at first, and then as he tells the story of his career, every decision he makes ties back to them. He doesn’t just share what he did, he explains why he did it, and those principles shine through with real clarity.

Reading it again, those lessons resonated with me far more deeply. I’d even say I learned more on this second read than the first, and it left me more eager to build than almost anything else I’ve picked up in years.

Someone asked me the other day why I mainly read memoirs. This book is my answer. It’s not about theories or secondhand assumptions, it’s about hearing directly from someone who lived it, with all the feelings, doubts, and choices that shaped their journey.

I still don’t like Disney as a company. But I can’t help but admire everything Bob Iger has done and how he’s carried himself. I’ll be waiting for the day he retires and shares the next chapter of his story.