I read a very interesting short book called The Flinch, by Julien Smith (available only on Kindle at this stage apparently). The concept is simple. “It’s about an instinct— the flinch— and why mastering it is vital. The book is about how to stop flinching. It’s about facing pain.”
A flinch is ‘to make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus‘ (Wiktionary definition). The concept of the book is that this reflex is what beats us in a variety of situations in our current life.
Of course, the flinch was a useful survival reflex in the wild, but in today’s society, it becomes an impediment in a variety of situations. The split second hesitation or pull back leads to being overwhelmed by others or even creates dangerous situations for the self. An example developed in the book is boxing, where training is a lot about overcoming the flinching reflex so as to be able to push into the opponent.
According to Julien Smith, “The flinch is your real opponent, and information won’t help you fight it. […] It’s why the monolithic company gets wiped out by a lean startup— because the big company culture avoids the hard questions. It’s the reason you make the wrong decision, even though you may know what the right one is.”
The flinch is what prevents us from taking risks and from responding quickly to new situations. We need to be able to overcome the reflex in many situations. And it can only be learnt by practicing. When do you start?
