The Flinch

"The Flinch is a book about fighting your gut reaction, accepting awkwardness and pain, and pushing through to achieve things that matter. It's about getting scars - and doing things anyways. One of my favorite thoughts in the book is that it's fine to start down a path that is too hard for you. The path changes you and you grow stronger as you continue on. The book offers useful flinch-fighting "homework" assignments like taking freezing showers and talking with strangers. I've personally started taking cold showers and even though it's flinch-inducing at first, the feeling of battling through and stepping out of the shower in victory is a great way to start the day.<br/><br/>Some nice quotes from the book:<br/>"Behind every moment of courage was a man or woman who faced a difficult internal struggle. When they face it, it becomes an amazing story. They become legends. But if they turn away from the flinch, their stories are unexceptional. They’re like everyone else. They vanish."<br/><br/>"If you choose the ring, you’re already better than most. Why? Because you chose to fight. You’re a contender, and almost no one can say that about themselves."<br/><br/>"Adjust to it. You will never be entirely comfortable. This is the truth behind the champion—he is always fighting something. To do otherwise is to settle."<br/><br/>"Every person has his own way of being avoidant and overly confident. It’s impossible to name all the ways people do this. But the solution is always the same: ruthless yet compassionate honesty in the face of all the lies you tell yourself."