Book Review: “Let Go” by Former Architect Intern Turned Internet Rockstar Pat Flynn

He was an ambitious young architecture student. He worked extra hard and was promoted quickly at the firm he first worked at.

He was engaged to be married. Life was good.

Then he was let go.

The rest of this story is chronicled in Pat Flynn's new memoir, “Let Go”. In it he tells how he went from an unemployed architectural intern to being an internet celebrity and business innovator. He talks about how he ‘let go' of his fears, and ‘let go' of the expectations of others that were holding him back. Pat now makes over $60k every month through various on-line businesses.

The book begins with a touching an motivating anecdote about an elephant. For full effect, watch the book trailer here:

The book is a motivating tale of overcoming challenges and adversity.

The Benefits of Adversity

Pat captures well the benefits of adversity in his book. Just think about that for a second. What were the most difficult times in your life? Did you not emerge from those times stronger, wiser, and with a greater determination to live life to its fullest?

The Future of Books

In addition to being a great business book, “Let Go”, includes videos as a an integral part of the story that makes the book a rich, multimedia experience. It has been released on the innovative platform “Snippet” (search the iTunes app store). Book publishers should take note. This is the future of information.

What Can Architects Learn from This?

As architects we can learn much from the way Pat has promoted his book. Pat's book launch is a great case study about how to leverage video, multiple platforms, and social media to gain visibility online and spread ideas. Each chapter has a separate video that goes with it.

Check out the book and let me know what you think (you can get it for less than the price of a coffee on Kindle for $2.99):

You can read more about Pat's story by visting his website here.

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Weigh In

Now it's your turn. What effect has failure had on your life? What do you think of failure and risk? Join the conversation in the comments below.