The Flinch [Kindle Edition]

Julien Smith

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Book Description

Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come.

The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It shortcircuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there.

But what if danger is exactly what you need?

What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want?
Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do.

What are you afraid of? Here's how to find out.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julien Smith is a New York Times bestselling author and speaker who has been involved in organizing online communities for over 15 years, from early BBSes and flashmobs to the social web as we know it today.

Along with being the co-author of Trust Agents, one of the social web’s most recognized books, he is a contributor to GQ, Sirius Satellite Radio, Cosmopolitan, the CBC, and more.

Julien's work is often about leaning into discomfort and pain, into self-examination and discipline, intending both to provoke and unbalance. The lessons from The Flinch came from self-defense professionals, security experts, weightlifters, parkour practitioners, and more.

From AudioFile

Product Details

• File Size: 863 KB
• Print Length: 133 pages
• Publisher: The Domino Project (December 7, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0062Q7S3S
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,773 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #83 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Self-Help

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Face your fears December 7, 2011

By John Gibbs TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Take a cold shower. Even the thought of taking a cold shower is enough to make most people experience "the flinch", according to Julien Smith in this book. The flinch is the instinct which tells you to run, the reaction which causes you to refuse a challenge and prevents you from moving forward. It urges you to avoid risk and hard work, and it pushes you to choose the safe and easy options.

Some of the author's thoughts on the flinch:

* The flinch is why you don't do the work that matters, and why you won't make the hard decisions.
* Over a lifetime, those who listen too much build a habit of trust and conformity.
* Avoiding the flinch withers you, like an old tree that breaks instead of bending in a storm.
* The anxiety of the flinch is almost always worse than the pain itself.
* Flinch avoidance means your everyday world becomes a corridor.
* Train yourself to flinch forward, and your world becomes a series of obstacles to overcome, instead of attacks you have to defend yourself from.
* If you aren't willing to sacrifice your comfort, you don't have what it takes to make a difference.

It is hard to argue with the author's arguments. Many of our failures to act which we explain away as being part of our personality or wise choices designed to minimise risk are in fact little more than an ingrained lack of courage, a persistent failure to face up to our fears. The book provides a number of homework assignments designed to train the reader to avoid flinching, but it seems to me that the battle against flinching is one which lasts a lifetime.

114 of 129 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Likely You Won't Actually DO The Work December 7, 2011

By ChrisBrogan

Format:Kindle Edition

Please know that I am biased. Julien and I wrote Trust Agents together, and we are writing another book due in 2012 together. But if you are willing to accept that I'll write this review for you, the reader, and not on behalf of Julien, my friend, then we can get along. Otherwise, skip and read what others will say.

The Flinch is a book of action. As such, I'm skeptical that you, the reader, will actually do the actions that Julien recommends, even though that's the big reason to read a book like this. But, let's say for a moment that you DO step into the icy cold shower or throw your coffee mug to the ground. Let's say that you DO learn what it means to take on the difficult work of reprogramming some behaviors that have been with you since you were a child. The rewards are phenomenal.

This book is brief. It is also free. But neither detail means that it's an "easy" read. Julien Smith is essentially challenging you to change your perceptions, alter your habits and reflexes, and then reap the rewards of doing this. It's a book that will push you to be brave. It's a book that challenges you to be more honest. It's a book that, if executed, will give you a chance at pushing ahead of those around you because you'll be facing everything with a much more open stance.

Please prove me wrong. Please do the work. Please dare to attack your behaviors and embrace the flinch.

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An unblinking look at universal fears ... and how to overcome them December 7, 2011

By J. C. Hutchins

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

What is "the flinch"? Author Julien Smith explains: "It's a reaction that brings up old memories and haunts you with them. It tightens your chest and makes you want to run. It does whatever it must do to prevent you from moving forward. ... Whatever form it takes, the flinch is there to support the status quo."

Julien's thoughtful, zero-B.S., examination of this fear is well worth the download and read. The very fact he was able to give such a powerful force an instantly-recognizable name is worthy of your peepers, too. But let's not kid ourselves: Naming a fear makes it easier to identify and discuss ... but calling something "the flinch" doesn't provide much backbone in overcoming it.

Thankfully, that's what the rest of Julien's ebook is about.

I dare not reveal the steps Julien suggests to address and rise above the primal fear of the flinch ... or the simple yet revelatory "homework" assignments he gives readers. That stuff, you can easily discover on your own. However, I will promise that by reading The Flinch, you'll learn something about yourself ... and you might see that you have far more gumption than you ever imagined. Highly recommended.

106 of 129 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars How to be a sociopath? February 22, 2012

By D Earle

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Or "The Flinch who stole Christmas" or "take as part of a balanced diet and program of exercise".

I found this both an energizing and totally disappointing book. It is based on the rather tired premise that we can all become "great people" if we just give up our quiet, comfortable lives and fight for what we want. But we held back by The Enemy, the primordial urge to flinch at the least sight of danger. (In several passages I could substitute Satan for Flinch and it would replicate sermons I had heard at Bible camp! Hence "the Flinch who stole Christmas")

Some of the advice is worth taking. If fear and anxiety is holding you back from your goals - there is some real gold in this book and some good things to try out. I did put the first two homework assignments into action. I was brought to an abrupt stop on about the fourth day when I slipped down the wet stairs running for the train and landed firmly on my butt. This is something I have never done before in my life. It occurred to me after this that the so called "Flinch" is neither enemy nor friend - it just is. It is that moment when you hold back and consider. That moment when you think before opening your mouth. The moment you pause before hurtling down slippery steps. To train yourself out of it is just as ridiculous as holding onto it regardless.

In my view, if you just follow this book, at best you will end up shadow boxing imaginary enemies and having little regard and respect for the people around you. At worst, you will rush head long into dangerous and potentially suicidal situations with little preparation or planning.

And by the way, the last three days have reminded me that pain sucks. Falling on your butt is something well worth avoiding and adds nothing of value to your existence.

So in this way the book reminds me of those no-fat diets that were popular in the 1990s. The only problem was that having given up all fat, people loaded up on carbs and sugar and low and behold put on more weight and increased their risk of diabetes. Fat was not the evil. It was the lack of a balanced diet.

The book lacks any discussion of other key aspects of success such as establishing purpose, setting goals, having compassion, acting with humility and building perseverance.

At the end of the book we are exhorted to take on the fight to "defeat the flinch" by handing it on to others. Only problem is it only available in Kindle format, one of the least sharable formats available.

The book itself ends rather abruptly at just on 20%. The rest is advertising for something called the Domino Project. This is named after the Domino Effect. I am not sure if anyone has told the group that this was a political theory about the spread of communist totalitarianism in South East Asia following the Second World War. Apparently if we all read these books and follow their ways it will change the world. Their plan is to use Amazon as the new channel for engaging with directly with readers. Have they not heard of blogs? And they will bring us books written by "stellar authors". Well, I am not quite sure what their criteria are selecting authors. But going on the Flinch, the author is stellar neither by writing nor expertise.

If you are looking for some good personal change books, I would recommend to stick with some of the more definitive titles in the field. My personal recommendations are:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters Read more ›