GauravBlog Logo

A Lion’s eye on the Bulls and Bears

“In India, companies may fall sick, but promoters rarely do!”

Gaurav's Blog

Categories

You must Read Richard Branson’s “SCREW IT ,LET’S DO IT”

Two Years ago,I read Richard Branson’s Quick Read and Lessons in Life “Screw It,Let’s Do It”

You Must read it too !..The Quick Read version is just Rs 150…ask your bookstore for a discount…the extended version a little more

I was floored…I have to admit that I changed my opinion of him…from an eccentric,lady killer,unethical go-getter and a carpetbagger to one who has a conscience and is a big and exciting risk taker by choice…and one who lives Life to the Full

I actually bought several copies and distributed it to clients and friends and relatives…It has been reprinted seven times in 2006 and thrice in  2007 to meet the demand !

Recently I again rewarded some participants ,for their interaction in my workshops, with it.

What also got me was that Richard and I have something in Common…we’ve both cheated Death Thrice !…Difference being he did so out of Choice…a Powerboat race across the Atlantic and two hot air balloon adventures across the Atlantic and the Pacific….. and me out of Tragic Chance…Bomb Blast at the BSE,trapped in the Worst Sandstorm in the Sahara Desert in Egypt and a near tragic Car Accident !

But this is about Richard Branson……

Richard Branson tried Crossing the Atlantic to Ireland to win the ‘Blue Riband’ on the Virgin Atlantic Challenger while Joan was delivering their first son…The son was born,but Richard’s Powerboat died on him with the hull splitting in a fierce storm and all of the crew being rescued of the raft after radioing out “Mayday ! Mayday! Mayday!”…he came back six years later in Virgin Atlantic Challenger II….but with sea water entering their fuel tanks and the engines stalling it looked like they had lost again….Richard Branson motivated his crew for one last try and somehow got the engines working and they won…Keep Trying and Never Give Up was his Big Lesson from this Adventure

Immediately he was challenged to cross the Atlantic yet again by a Swede, Per Lindstrand…but this time together in a Hot Air Balloon…He accepted after learning Per had two kids too !….He took lessons in Flying the Hot Air Balloon in Spain….They actually crossed the Atlantic to Ireland…but had serious landing Issues..When they flew into a thick Fog and missed the Beach,Per panicked and jumped into the ice cold waters…with only Richard’s weight to tackle,the ballon simply flew away higher..Fuel was low,Radio was not working and Richard weighed his options…he could parachute out into the ice cold ocean or stay put and while he was alive work out something…he chose the latter and was saved by a rescue helicopter…They pulled out Per from the Sea just before he would have froze to death…..Lessons learnt were several….Never Give Up….If you want to do something,just do it…prepare well…. have faith in yourself…help each other….Whatever your Goal,you’ll never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly…Love your Family….Richard knew that he could die on this Adventure…so before he took it,he wrote a letter to his children saying “Live Life to the Full.Enjoy every minute of it.Love and look after Mum.”

Next Richard and Per embarked on a Hot Air Balloon to cross 8000 miles over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to America….This was an even more riskier journey than the one they had done before…As you can imagine,they faced challenges that threatened their Life…they finally landed in the wilderness of Canada and it took eight hours to rescue them…but they had done it ! 

“Life is too short to be unhappy”.Read the Book to find out how Richard’s enterprising mind gave birth to Virgin Music and what inspired Virgin Airlines,Virgin Trains and now Virgin Galactica…and the most inspiring of all,for me that is,how he finally got his ‘Necker’ island…says Richard “I can make up mind about people and ideas in sixty seconds.I rely more on gut instincts than thick reports.” 

There’s a lot more inspiring stuff in the Book…..Richard calls these Lessons in Life, Simple Truths. It’s written in first person and in a racy style….just go ahead and read it !…and share it with others !

Share:

4 thoughts on “You must Read Richard Branson’s “SCREW IT ,LET’S DO IT””

  1. Gaurav Parikh

    Yes Madhu…I’ve been meaning to get round to doing so…But this Quick Read had tempted me…and I loved it

  2. Sir,
    Today read the news today about Madoff.
    The prosecution started in December and within 6 months trial he was sentenced to 150 years imprisonment.

    Now when I look at Satyam Scam. It happened at the same time and SIFO / CBI is still fooling around. I bet that Raju will be out within next 15 months.

    Sir I come from IT Industry and have deep knowledge of IT industry margins. In no way Satyam could have operated on 3% OM as claimed by Raju. Had it been so, how come in Jan-March Qrtr Satyam could manage 17% profit margin? That too after the scandal broke out?

    Sir I feel the money is very much there. It should be to the tune of around 15,000 – 20,000 Crores. The speed with which Satyam was sold may have impressed corporate world, but this is one of the biggest scandals brushed in the carpet by the government. Now what happened to those 4 billion dollars? Everybody has forgotten that now. Sometimes I feel ashamed of the rampant corruption in India. We want to be a developed country. But only a revolution larger than Independence struggle would get us there.

  3. Hi Kamal,

    The same thought occured to me last night too while seeing this on the News…am sure millions in India too must be on our wavelength

    I stopped blogging on Satyam some months ago as I realised there was a huge political angle to it and justice,if at all, will not prevail for years..check out the category ‘Satyam: The sordid Asatyam Saga’

    It is indeed a sad reflection of how India functions and exposes the nexus between Big Business and Politicians and even the Bureaucracy,that included Investigating Agencies too

    Justice Delayed is Justice Denied…and we have great precedence on this….

    I shall review Compact Disc soon for you

    Cheers

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

On Key

Related Posts

Scroll to Top