Content :

INTRODUCTION

In everyone’s life, a point comes when he or she overthinks, does not know how to let go of his or her fear, procrastination, inability to take up challenges and thus end up letting go of the best of opportunities. “Screw it, Let’s Do it” is a wonderful book written by Richard Branson.

The book teaches its readers to let go of one’s inner fears and embrace challenges, try to aim for the stars and live life king’s size. In the Book, Richard Branson real experiences from his life. From wrong to right decisions of his life, he covers pretty much everything.

The researcher in the Book Review has tried to find out and disclose why one should read this book over so many other books available on the market on this topic, rather than disclosing the events of the book. The book is wonderfully knit and the best part is in every second paragraph the Author has tried to give a personal touch to his writing by sharing his real-life experiences. It is a short book, which is an added advantage as in an age of technology we hardly find time for long drag novels.

This book is very impactful and is one of those books which stays with you even after you have finished it long back. This book teaches life lessons which no one will share. You can turn to this book for guidance whenever you don’t know what decision to take. And this book is not just a monotonous book filled with quotes and dos and don’ts in life. It will not just teach you to handle success but also accept failure. The author discloses to his readers how he had failed in his subjects in his high school and he even drop out of his studies to open his Start-up and how he became successful and at the same time encountered several failures.

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

Before we jump into the summary of the book I would like to introduce Richard Branson to the readers of this Book Review. For the world, Richard Branson is a Business Tycoon, who won a Multinational Company named Virgin which deals with a range of business ranging from Airplanes to Music records and of course he is a Billionaire. He is a celebrated author. Through his writings, he guides his readers to become successful and have a positive outlook on life. He is himself interested in multiple adventures like once he flew across the Atlantic in a Hot Air Balloon. “Screw it, Let’s Do it” is his motto in life.

Richard Branson has beautifully written in his book how we should not let failure engulf ourselves, rather live at the moment. The book is further divided into nine chapters along with an introduction and Epilogue. Even the Author’s note from Richard Branson at the beginning is a wonderful read. Mr Branson has shared how he not just dealt but fought and overcame mild Dyslexia in his childhood. Even his teachers thought that he was just being lazy but he did not give up. He worked hard and went on to develop a good memory, which helped in business later on in his life. This personal story made the book begin with a positive note. He also goes on to say that life was much easier in earlier days and how life is a hard struggle and so much unsure today because of the competition in the market. He said that one should not delay much in taking the first step. He said beginning is the most important and that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. He advises readers not to think about dangers a lot. He said that one does not stand a chance in success until one puts in a lot of effort and hard work.

Then, he moves to the introduction of the book. At the very beginning of the chapter, he lists a list of to-dos which include never giving up to be bold. He describes how he always finds more reason to do work than excuses for not doing it. Richard Branson says the little word “can’t” should not stop us in our aspirations and endeavours. He tells his readers to have a shot at everything no matter how impossible it might seem. Branson says one does not necessarily need a formal degree in Fashion Designing from a fancy Art school. Rather, one can just enter a Fashion designing Company to push a broom, learn a lot by keeping his or her eyes open and then work his or her way up. Later on, in one of the chapters of his book he even introduces a man named Ken Berry, who joined his International Company (later on) Virgin Music as a clerk but according to Richard Branson he was highly knowledgeable and hardworking thus he got quick promotions and went on to become the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Music and much later the Chief Executive Officer of EMI. This real-life incident proves that there is nothing that one cannot do if there is will therefore, the sky should be the limit.

Moreover, Richard Branson gives the example of his mother who went on to become a pilot during the war. At that period, only men were allowed to become pilots but his mother did not give up hope. He covered her blonde hair under a skull cap, dressed as a male, learned to fly and went on to train thousands of her male colleagues. After the war, she went on to become an Air Hostess, though at that time Air Hostess necessarily need to know Spanish and needed formal nursing training, neither of which his mother had but she didn’t give up, cajoled a person in Authority, who secretly put in her name and thus she became a successful Air Hostess.  Now, it is evident that Richard Branson got his indomitable spirit from his genes to be specific to his mother.

The next chapter is named to have fun. At first, readers might wonder what fun has to do in a highly motivational book but he rightly points out one cannot succeed if he does not enjoy his or her work. He says how he questions himself as to why he is not enjoying a particular work, then tries to fix it by trying to make it interesting but when he cannot he leaves the work then and there. He advises his readers to have fun and take on challenges. This is even his advice to his children. This fact points out towards the fact that he perceives his readers as his extended family. He shares his personal experiences with readers rather than giving fancy advice which he never follows. He states that he knows that if he works hard, enjoy his work and take up challenges than money will follow. He tells how once he and his best friend plants seeds of Christmas Tree in their garden and wait for nine months. But they were destroyed by rabbits.

 Later on, they both had fun shooting rabbits (which he guiltily admits and tells his readers not to follow), selling their flesh to the local butcher, earning a profit (though comparatively less) and then treating family and friends with rabbit pie. He says there is always a way to earn money if one is willing to have fun and work hard, no matter how strange the combination might sound it is indeed possible to have fun and work hard if one enjoys his or her work. He advises his readers to find alternative jobs if one is not satisfied with his work. He says with the internet we can easily find jobs nowadays and the job can start from home itself. He gives the example of Homegrown brands like the Body Shop, the master of which used to make homemade face packs and it is a successful International Brand. He gave the example of his friend who along with her wife started making chilli sauces and later came out with a chain of restaurants. He gave the example of another friend, Nick Powell, who quitted his job at Virgin music records to start doing films just because he enjoyed it more.

The author told how he went to roam various islands with his partner for fun and ended up discovering and buying Necker islands, where he found solace in life. Then he says every person can’t enjoy his or her profession, those of you can try enjoying the persons in your workplace if not your profession.

Next, he tells his readers to value friends and family as they are the ones who stand by us through thick and thin. He says even if you differ in your ideas with them you can continue to be best friends. In that case, one should bring things to open than to criticize behind one’s back, which destroys the relationship. He says blood ties are thicker than every tie. He refers to his Aunt, Joyce, who gave a loan to his nephew by mortgaging her own house just because she had faith in him and she does not even disclose this fact to him knowing well that it would put him under a lot of pressure. The author advises his readers to surround themselves with the right people, who will remain with you not just in success but also when you are not doing well.

He devotes one entire chapter on how to respect others and in turn earn respect. He gives an instance where he broke the taxation law and ended up being in jail and he vowed from then onwards he would not ever do anything which hampers his night sleep and he followed it. Also, he tells to let go of regrets as human beings are made to create mistakes and remembering them would only pull us down.

In the last chapter, he tells his readers to try and change the world and it does not matter how small our contribution is as this will help us feel good for ourselves and can cause no harm. He gives several instances of his social work. When he was a student and had nothing to donate he tore his clothes and donated and when he grew up he donated a huge amount of quilts to people when the country was at war. It saved the lives of thousands of people.

In the Epilogue, he mentions small things goes a long way in the journey of success like maintaining a notebook, organizing one’s work etc. He tells his readers to encourage their fellow mates and not push them.

CONCLUSION

 “Screw it, Let’s Do it” is a wonderful book written by Richard Branson. There are instances in the Book points out towards the fact that he perceives his readers as his extended family. He shares his personal experiences with readers rather than giving fancy advice which he never follows. In the book, he mostly shares his experiences in life and then makes a point to prove it at the end. “Screw it, Let’s Do it” is his motto in life. Therefore, the title pretty much says how much personal touch he has given to the book.

The book teaches its readers to let go of one’s inner fears and embrace challenges, try to aim for the stars and live life king’s size. In the Book, Richard Branson real experiences from his life. From wrong to right decisions of his life, he covers pretty much everything. This book teaches life lessons which no one will share. You can turn to this book for guidance whenever you don’t know what decision to take. And this book is not just a monotonous book filled with quotes and dos and don’ts in life. It will not just teach you to handle success but also accept failure.You can turn to this book for guidance whenever you don’t know what decision to take. And this book is not just a monotonous book filled with quotes and dos and don’ts in life. It will not just teach you to handle success but also accept failure.