Peak Performance

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Peak Performance 101

How to reach your potential and perform at your best when it matters most

Ready to reach your potential and perform at your best when it matters most? Fantastic. Let’s get clear on where you’re headed, go all in, and cultivate our grit + presence + self-confidence as we vacuum up any potential choke dust, visualize, let it rip and win or learn.

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It Takes What It Takes

How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life

Trevor Moawad is a mental conditioning coach to elite performers. He is well known for being the mental coach to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and has worked closely with prestigious NCAA football programs and coaches, the US Special Operations community, Major League Baseball, and the NBA. This book is, as per the sub-title, all about “How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life.” I loved it and, if you’re also equally fired up by the mental toughness in sports and life genre, I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include neutral thinking (much better than positive or negative), goats and G.O.A.T.s, the law of substitution (focus!), the illusion of choice (if you’re REALLY ALL IN, there is no choice), and drawing a line in the dirt (and getting to it… again and again and again!).

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With Winning in Mind

The Mental Management System

This is a SHOCKINGLY good book. Want to get your mind right? Lanny Bassham, an Olympic gold medalist, has been teaching the art of mental training/peak performance for decades and this book tells us just how to rock it. In the Note, we'll look at the importance of making the process primary and other fundamentals of mental mastery.

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Peak

Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Anders Ericsson is the world’s leading scientist studying expert performance—looking at how, precisely, the people who are the best in the world at what they do became the best. In this Note, we take a quick look at The Gift that we all have that’s the key to our potential greatness, HOW to go about tapping into the benefits of that gift via a certain type of practice (forget naive practice and go for purposeful + deliberate!), the fact that there is no such thing as a “10,000 Hour Rule,” and why we should be called Homo Exercens rather than Homo Sapiens. :)

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One Percent Better

A Story About How To Close The Gap From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be

Brian Cain is one of the world’s greatest mental toughness coaches whose client list includes four Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winners, eight UFC world champion mixed martial artists, World Series and Super Bowl Champions and MVPs, Olympic medalists, and countless other elite athletes and coaches. In this note, we explore how you can "intentionally invest 1% of your day into yourself and become a better version of you today than you were yesterday." How will YOU get 1% better TODAY? It's Day 1, Hero.

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Legacy

New Zealand’s national rugby team The All Blacks are arguably THE greatest team ever. In this book, James Kerr unpacks what makes them so great and how we can lead + create a Legacy. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that Better People Make Better All Blacks, Kiwi Kaizen, embracing expectations and leaning into the power of Loss Aversion (remember: no pressure, no diamonds), hitting the psychological gym and answering a couple questions that will help clarify YOUR legacy.

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Overachievement

The New Science of Working Less to Accomplish More

If you're looking to live an extraordinary life, this great book lays out the new model for rockin' it. In the Note, we'll explore some Big Ideas on how to get into your Trusting Mindset where you just let it rip as you eat stress like an energy bar and put yourself on super pilot. Remember that everyone who's ever made history was a nut… until they did what they said they'd do and then they were a genius.

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Talent is Overrated

What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

Colvin tells us talent is overrated. (As you may have gathered from the title. :) Where’s it at? 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, yo. That’s the bedrock on which greatness is developed. In this Note, we’ll check out The Mozart Myth (you think he was born great?! Think again!) to falling on your butt 20,000 times, and we’ll have fun seeing how we can create our own personal greatness.

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How Champions Think

In Sports and in Life

Dr. Bob Rotella is widely recognized as the world’s leading sports psychologist. He’s coached everyone from basketball stars like LeBron James to rock stars like Seal. The golfers he’s coached (including greats like Rory McIlroy) have won an astonishing 80+ major championships. Want to know how champions think in both sports AND life? Well, here you go. Big Ideas we explore include the importance of going for "exceptionalism" (by definition, to be great/a champion you need to be an "exception" to the norm so...), a message from God (key takeaway: focus on the process, results are all good), train it and trust it, enthusiasm (it's the catalyst of champions), how to create your own reality (hint: don't do what average people do), and how to win the ultimate game of life.

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How to Awaken Your True Potential

The Wisdom of Yogananda

This is our fifth Note on one of Yogananda’s great little books/booklets. For now, it’s time to Awaken Your True Potential. Yogananda reminds me of a spiritually-centered mix of other thought leaders of the era—including guys like Orison Swett Marden, Napoleon Hill, and Dale Carnegie. He brings the same intensity with a focus on awakening to our TRUE potential—connecting to and expressing the Divine within. The book is packed with Big Ideas and, as always, I’m excited to share some of my favorites, so let’s jump straight in!

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Hero on a Mission

A Path to a Meaningful Life

This is our first note on one of Donald Miller's books. In this book Donald Miller integrates wisdom from Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. And, as you’d expect seeing that this is a book about a modern Hero (that would be YOU!) on a mission, Donald also touches on Joseph Campbellian themes throughout. The book is PACKED with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!

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To Be Victorious in Life

This is our fourth Note on one of Yogananda’s little books/booklets. As I immerse myself in Yogananda’s wisdom, it’s been fascinating to see the remarkable clarity and consistent coherence of his perspective AND the force with which he communicates it. Yogananda’s SPIRITUALITY is astonishingly PRACTICAL. It’s time to enjoy some of my favorite Big Ideas from this great little booklet. Let’s jump straight in!

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Think Like a Warrior

The Five Inner Beliefs That Make You Unstoppable

This is our first Note on Darrin Donnelly and the first of six books from his "Sports for the Soul" series. We'll be featuring the entire series. This book is a fable about a college football coach going through hard times who is lucky enough to spend time with five of the most legendary sports coaches in history: John Wooden, Buck O’Neil, Herb Brooks, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Vince Lombardi. Those coaches each share ONE Big Idea to help him navigate his challenges and fulfill his potential. I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas from this one so let’s jump straight in.

Philosophers Notes

Heroic Coach

Activate Your Heroic Potential and Empower Others to Do the Same

Welcome to the Philosopher’s Note on our Heroic Coach invitation letter. Although people have told me I need to do a Note on my own book when it comes out (planning to!), this is the first Note I’ve done on my own work. (Hah!) We figured it would be fun to QUICKLY capture the power of our Heroic Coach program in the context of a Philosopher’s Note. So... Here we are. The letter is, essentially, an invitation to join our scientifically-validated 300-day program to learn how to activate your Heroic potential WHILE learning how to empower *others* to do the same so we can change the world together—starting with you and me and all of us—TODAY. In the letter, I make the VERY important distinction that, whether or not you *think* you are a “coach” ... you are. I’m excited to share exactly what the 300-day program is all about and WHY it has been so transformative for so many people, so let’s jump straight in!

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The Mental Game

Winning the War Within Your Mind

This is the seventh book in Darrin Donnelly’s Sports for the Soul series. We’ve covered all of them so far. As I said in the previous Notes, I basically read the first six books in a single week. They are all AWESOME. In addition to brilliantly integrating ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools in a grounded yet inspiring way, Donnelly has a gift for weaving that wisdom into a great sports story—which is why I’m such a big fan and highly recommend the books for you and your sports-loving friends and family and colleagues. This book features a professional golfer who is struggling to make it on the PGA Tour. He has the opportunity to spend time with one of the greatest golfers of the era who gives him some life-changing wisdom. It’s FANTASTIC. Super inspiring, quick-reading. Pure gold. Get a copy here. As you’d expect, the book is packed with Big Ideas. As always, I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!

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Beyond Possible

One Man, 14 Peaks, and the Mountaineering Achievement of a Lifetime

Nirmal "Nims" Purja is a celebrated Nepali climber who holds a number of mountaineering world records. He served in the British Armed Forces as a Nepalese Gurkha and then as a solider in the Special Boat Service, an elite special forces unit of the Royal Navy. He holds the record for fastest ascent of all 14 mountain peaks that are 8,000+ meters above sea level (as captured in the documentary, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible). This book is packed with Big Ideas and inspiring stories. I'm excited to share a few of my favorites so let's jump straight in!

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Winning

The Unforgiving Race to Greatness

Tim S. Grover is the preeminent authority on the science and art of achieving physical and mental dominance. He has worked with THE most elite basketball players in history. In this book, he shares his fierce wisdom in the context of stories about Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as he RELENTLESSLY makes the point that “Winning” (with a capital “W”) is, shall we say, not for the faint of heart. If you’re feeling inspired to feel the INTENSITY of an ALL IN human being, I think you’ll love it. As you’d expect, the book is packed with Big Ideas. Let’s get to work.

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Read This Book Tonight To Help You Win Tomorrow

Get Mentally Primed To Perform Your Best

Dr. Rob Gilbert has been teaching sports psychology since 1979. And, he’s been dominating a daily inspiring message for OVER 30 YEARS. This book, that was recommended to me by my dear friend Brian Cain, is a SUPER conversational, quick-reading look at how to, as per the sub-title, “Get Mentally Primed to Perform Your Best” by, as per the sub-sub-title, “Using Inspirational Stories, Practical Sports Psychology Tips and Over 120 of the Greatest Motivational Sports Quotes. It’s packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share a handful of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!

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Relentless

From Good to Great to Unstoppable

Tim Grover was Michael Jordan’s trainer and, basically, his mental toughness coach. Kobe Bryant’s as well. And Dwayne Wade’s. And... Well, a ton of other elite athletes. He’s one of the world’s top mental toughness coaches and this book is, as per the sub-title, a manual on how to go “From Good to Great to Unstoppable.” Big Ideas we explore include: relentless commitment (vs. "Meh, good enough"), Do. The. Work (eat frogs and dominate), Pressure (pressure, pressure! BRING IT ON!), the source of true confidence, greatness math (remember: effort counts twice; just ask Michael Jordan and Jerry Rice), and turning your dreams into reality (ready?).

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David and Goliath

Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

As millions of people would agree, Malcolm Gladwell is an extraordinarily (!) captive writer. This is another one of Gladwell’s gems—packed with riveting stories that challenge our notion of what it means to be an underdog and how, as the sub-title suggests, we can embrace our misfit status as we master the art of battling giants. It’s awesome—especially if you’re looking for a fun, entertaining read that’s packed with wisdom but delivered in a delightful package. Big Ideas include the fact that David SHOULD have won, full-court presses, the inverted U, earning courage and desirable difficulties.

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No Limits

The Will to Succeed

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in history and arguably the greatest athlete ever. This book is a quick look at 8 virtues that led to his 8 gold medals in '08. Big Ideas we explore include how to train your mind, going all in, knowing what's important now (aka W.I.N.), and not confusing "can't" vs. "won't."

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The Inner Game of Tennis

The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

Originally published in 1974, this book is, as the sub-title suggests, the classic guide to the mental side of peak performance and transcends tennis/sports. If we want to win the game of life, we've gotta start by winning the inner game. In the Note, we'll take a quick look at how to do that, learning about Self 1 + Self 2 (and how to help them get along), quieting our mind and asking for qualities we aspire to have.

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The Rise of Superman

Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

The Rise of Superman. What an awesome title and vision. Steven Kotler is one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of flow. He created the Flow Genome Project that is all about “decoding the peak performance state of flow.” (<—Awesome.) In this book we take a peak at how we can get our greatness on. Big Ideas include a quick look at flow and how to hack it, achieving mastery sans misery, using fear as a compass and how to do the impossible.

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The Talent Code

Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown.

Whatever you want to learn, know this: It’s ALL about the myelin. Myelin? Yep. Myelin. In this Note we’ll learn what myelin is and why it’s so cool along with some other Big Ideas—ranging from the importance of “Deep Practice,” to the importance of baby steps as the royal road to skill and the fact that greatness isn’t about not magic, it’s about hard work.

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The Little Book of Talent

52 Tips for Improving Your Skills

In The Talent Code, Dan Coyle introduced us to the power of myelin and its role in creating world-class performance. In The Little Book of Talent, he shares 52 uber-practical tips on how to improve our skills. Big Ideas we explore include how to actually deliberately practice (hint: find your sweet spot), the most important skill (hint: get good at actually practicing), playing mental movies, adopting a blue collar mind set and thinking like a gardener while acting like a carpenter.

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Outliers

The Story of Success

As with all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, this is a fascinating read—exploring the underpinnings of what *really* makes great people great. In short: It’s more complicated than we think and it’s *definitely* not simply innate talent. Culture and hard work and other often wacky variables play a pivotal role. Big Ideas we explore: The 10,000 Hour Rule, no naturals + no grinders, The Beatles (and their 1,200!! shows before they hit it big), Bill Gates sneaking out of bed in high school and the three keys to meaning.

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#4 Your Infinite Potential

And Where to Find It
Phil Stutz and Barry Michels wrote a great book called The Tools. There are five Tools in the book and we may chat about others later but I
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#13 Good Bad Days

Mastering the Art of Playing Badly Well
Jack Nicklaus once said that the real key to being a great golfer was “playing badly well.” It’s one thing to play well when
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#15 Did I Win?

How to Sink a $1m Putt and Do Other Great Things
Gold-medal-winning mental toughness coach and author Lanny Bassham is all about focusing on the PROCESS of goal achievement. He tells a
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#16 Relentless Solution Focus

60 Seconds of Whining and Then You're On!
Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading mental toughness coaches. He tells us that the best among us have a “relentless solution
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#31 "Needs work!"

What to Say to Yourself When Things Don’t Go as Planned
What do you say to yourself when things don’t go as planned? It could be in the middle of a big game or creative project or dinner
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#56 Greatness = Consistency on the Fundamentals

Universal + Specific (What Are Yours?)
Robin Sharma tells us that greatness is all about consistency on the fundamentals. Look at any great performer and that’s what you’ll
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#60 Never Waste a Mis-take

It’s All Awesome Data!
Have you ever made a mistake? (Hah.) Right. (I’ve made a mistake or 3 million as well.) Here’s the deal: When we approach it with the
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#62 "That's Like Me!"

How to Optimize Your Self-Image
Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, teacher, parent, manager, or — fill in the blank here —, what percentage of your game do you
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#63 “That’s NOT Like Me!”

Part II on How to Optimize Your Self-Image
In our last +1 we had fun cultivating a strong Self-Image via “That’s like me!” imprints. Quick recap: All the elite performers agree:
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#65 Sacrifices vs. Decisions

There’s a Big Difference between the Two
George St-Pierre is one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the world. Ever. Of course, he wasn’t always one of the greatest. At one
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#92 The Gift of Greatness

We’ve All Been Given It — Here It Is
Anders Ericsson is the world’s leading authority on the science of what makes great performers great. If you’ve ever heard of the
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#94 Adaptability + Homeostasis

Why Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone Is So Important
We’ve talked a lot about how important it is to get out of our comfort zones. But why is it so important? Two words: Adaptability +
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#160 Presence

Expanding into Your Best Self
In our last +1, we talked about the fact that the word courage comes from the Latin word for “heart.” Just as our heart pumps blood to
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#165 Flow

What It Is & How to Get in It
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of well-being. He co-founded the Positive
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#230 Marginal Gains

Here’s How to Win
Once upon a time, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France. Over 100 years of trying, and, precisely, zero wins. Then a guy named
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#264 Prior Best = New Baseline

Your Best Days? That’s Your New Normal
In our last +1, we entered our World Champion You Training Camp. * Cue Rocky theme song * Here’s one way Josh Waitzkin tells us we can go
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#311 Ideal Performance State

Emotional Consistency and Peak Performance
Jim Loehr is one of the world’s leading authorities on peak performance. He and Tony Schwartz wrote The Power of Full Engagement and
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#319 You Think You’re at an 8

But You’re Really at a 2
In our last +1, we talked about Tony Horton and the voices in his head that get him to work out consistently. Today we’re going to talk
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#367 Optimize = Optimus

= The Best Version of You
Somehow we’ve spent a year together with these Optimize +1s and we haven’t even talked about the ancient etymology of one of my favorite
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#544 Becoming a Champion

What’s Your Best REALLY Look Like?
In our last +1, I introduced you to my new watch, Mr. Suunto, who asks me every day, “What direction are you headed today, sir?” To
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#545 Being a Champion

Is Way More Important Than Becoming a Champion
In our last +1, we talked about my mission to become a Spartan World Champion. My heart skips a beat just typing that. ❤ (Which, btw, is a
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#546 Catching Excellence

As We Chase Perfection
In our last +1, we talked about Ben Bergeron—the CrossFit Games coach whose athletes have won six world championships. I briefly mentioned
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#551 Maximizing Minutes

Ben Bergeron + Dan Millman on Mastery
A few +1s ago we spent some time with world-champion CrossFit coach Ben Bergeron. Let’s have another quick wisdom session with this
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#560 Full Effort = Full Victory

Gandhi, Matt Damon and Will Smith on Winning
We’ve been talking a lot about how champions maximize minutes—giving everything they’ve got into being the best versions of
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#587 Making the Impossible Possible

How to Make It What’s for Breakfast in X Tomorrows
As we’ve discussed, Steven Kotler wrote The Rise of Superman. His “No pressure, no diamonds” mantra goes through my head at least a
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#588 Flow Junkies

How to Attain Superyou Mastery Sans Misery
In our last +1, we made our plans to enjoy doing the impossible together over breakfast in the not-too-distant future after following a nice
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#617 Touchdown, Jerry Rice!

When? Every Time He Caught the Ball
Not too long ago, we had fun discussing some wisdom from Jerry Rice—the all-time great NFL wide receiver. He once said: “Today I will do
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#690 Your Engine: V-12 or V-Lawnmower?

Which Will It Be?
Continuing our theme of seeking/conquering fear, let’s have some fun with Jon Eliot and his wisdom from Overachievement. Here’s how he
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#856 Practicing with Kobe (At 4am)

Wonder What We’ll Work On…
In our last +1, we chatted about The Comparison Game with Alan Stein. Remember: The odds of us losing that game are (precisely!) 100%. So…
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#857 Practice: When Can I Stop?

Great Ones Say…
In our last +1, we hung out with Kobe Bryant and Alan Stein in the gym at 4am. Doing what? HAMMERING our fundamentals, of course. (Fun fact:
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#925 C.A.N.O.E-ing

On the Optimizing River of Flexibility
One of the core themes of our work together (in these +1s and in our Coach program, etc.) is the power of constantly (!) experimenting as we
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#991 The Peak Performance Equation

Stress + Rest = Growth
In our last +1, we talked about some wisdom from Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness’s great book The Passion Paradox. Recall1: We can have
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#1138 Playing to Win

vs. Playing Not to Lose
Wrapping up our tour through Robert Biswas-Diener’s brain and book, let’s talk about another Tool we can use to boost our Courage
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#1219 SEALs and Hoosiers

Get Your Tape Measure Out and Let’s Go!
In our last +1, we made it through one evolution at a time with William McRaven as he endured Hell Week and became a Navy SEAL. Fast forward
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#1220 Peak Performance You

Flip the Switch—TODAY!
In our last +1, we got an inspiring (Hoosiers-inspired) pep talk from Admiral McRaven right before engaging in our next most important
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#1257 “That Works!”

Let’s Do It Again (And Again) (And Again)
In our last +1, we talked about Trevor Moawad’s distinctions on Conscious Competence from his great book It Takes What It Takes. As we
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#1262 Goats and G.O.A.T.s

Game-Winning Touchdowns and Home Runs Gowith Game-Losing Interceptions and Strike Outs
Today we’re going to continue our brief tour through Trevor Moawad’s brilliant mind and book It Takes What It Takes. As we’ve
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#1263 The Illusion of Choice

Want Greatness? There Is No Choice
We’re kinda on a roll exploring some of Trevor Moawad’s peak performance wisdom from his great book It Takes What It Takes so, I say,
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#1267 Targeted Thinking

What Do You Want + Now What Needs to Be Done?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole idea of “neutral” thinking since I first read about it in Trevor Moawad’s It Takes What It
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#1280 How to Be a Success

Wisdom from Two World-Class Coaches Named Phil
In our last +1, we drew some Venn circles with my Yoda and had fun high fiving God by giving ALL we’ve got. Today I want to chat about
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An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything

Chris Hadfield is the super cool guitar-strumming Canadian astronaut who served as Commander of the International Space Station. This is his guide to life on Earth. It’s awesome. Big Ideas we explore include the power of negative thinking, why we need to sweat the small stuff, creating deep love time blocks and finishing strong.

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Chasing Excellence

A Story About Building the World's Fittest Athletes

If you’ve ever worked out at a CrossFit gym and/or watched the Reebok CrossFit Games, you know that the absolute best CrossFit athletes are absolute beasts. Well, Ben Bergeron has been the coach behind six world championships. This book is his inspirational, wisdom-packed (!!!) look at how he coaches greatness told through the lens of the 2016 Games in which his athletes (Mat Fraser and Katrín Davíðsdóttir) BOTH won. (Think about that... He coached BOTH the men’s and the women’s champions. <- That’s amazing.) My copy of the book is r i d i c u l o u s l y marked up. The book is OUTSTANDING. Big Ideas we explore include: Committing to excellence (vs. "Meh, I'm good enough."), the 12 character traits of a champion, grit (how's yours?), positivity (selection attention + confirmation bias), embracing adversity (overload and get stronger!), and acting like a champion NOW.

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Elite Minds

How Winners Think Differently to Create a Competitive Edge and Maximize Success

Stan Beecham is a sports psychologist who has worked with many of the world’s elite athletes. As per the title of the book, he tells us that it’s their MINDS that make the difference in sustained high levels of performance—creating a competitive edge and maximizing success. Big Ideas we explore include your case of mistaken identity (you're greater than you think), the curse of perfection (remember to play poorly well), the true meaning of the word "compete" (= "to strive WITH" not against) and of the word "contest" (= "to make a promise"!) your ultimate opponent (fear!!) and the ultimate question: To go or not to go (Answer: GO!!!).

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Finding Your Zone

Ten Core Lessons for Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and Life

Would you like to find the Zone more often? Well, yah! Leading sports psychologist Michael Lardon, M.D. shows us how. 10 core lessons. In the Note, we'll look at why you want to have two scorecards, the importance of activation energy (451 degrees, please!!) and how to keep your confidence dialed in.

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He Can Who Thinks He Can

And Other Papers on Success in Life

Do you think you can or do you think you can't? As Henry Ford told us, either way you're right. Orison Swett Marden (who created Success magazine) walks us thru some old-school no-nonsense mojo in this great little book. In the Note, we'll look at the power of being a functional dreamer and bringing ourselves to a 212 degree boil!

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How Bad Do You Want It?

Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle

Matt Fitzgerald is a journalist, coach, sports nutritionist, and author of more than 20 books. In this book, he walks us through the different scientific perspectives on how to tap into our latent potential with a deep dive into what’s known as the “Psychobiological Model.” It’s a super-engaging look at some ridiculously inspiring elite athletes and how they mastered their minds to do some extraordinary things. Big Ideas we explore include a quick look at the psycholobiological model (see: sub-title of the book: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle), the fire walk of life (how far do you get to your wall?), the psychology of pain (brace yourself!), perfectionism (vs. optimalism), the audience effect (eyeballs = better performance), motivation (= the strongest influence) and Steve Prefontaine's approach to crushing it ("Bring it on!").

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Mastery

Leonardo da Vinci. Charles Darwin. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Martha Graham. The Wright Brothers. Jane Goodall. Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Edison. Zora Neale Hurston. What do they all have in common? Mastery. In this great book Robert Greene shows us the key components of their mastery and, most importantly, how WE can each attain our mastery in our own lives.

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Peak Performance

Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success

Brad Stulberg is a writer focused on health and the science of human performance. (Amy Cuddy calls him her favorite health and science writer.) Steve Magness is a coach to some of the top distance runners in the world. Together, they’ve written a super-engaging, quick-reading book on how to pursue growth in a healthy, sustainable way—aka, without burning out. Big Ideas we explore include the secret equation of sustainable awesome (Stress + Rest = Growth), just-manageable challenges, the iPhone Effect Part 3 (aka how to decrease your productivity in one step!), the optimal work/rest ratio, and the paradoxical twist of fulfillment.

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Raise Your Game

High-Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best

Alan Stein is a peak-performance coach who was immersed in the basketball world for fifteen years and now applies that wisdom to the broader game of life. I’m a huge fan of peak performance books, especially those with sports themes so I enjoyed this book. It’s broken down into three parts, capturing the various roles we play in life and work: Part I: Player, Part II: Coach and Part III: Team. Each section features a set of five core virtues we need to master and integrate across each domain. Big Ideas we explore include the importance of Self-Awareness (it's virtue #1!!), two case studies on discipline (featuring Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant), the comparison game (note: you will always (!) lose), the five virtues of being a great Coach, and one more rep (up Hell on the Hill).

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The Art of Mental Training

A Guide to Performance Excellence

DC Gonzalez is one of the world's leading peak performance/mental training experts and this quick-reading manifesto on the art of mental training is fantastic. In the Note, we'll take a quick look at why mental training is so important, the critical three (breathing + relaxation + imagineering) and the most important lesson of all.

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The Champion's Comeback

How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite

Jim Afremow is one of the world’s leading sports psychologists. We covered his first book The Champion’s Mind. This one is kinda like part 2 in which we look at how the Champion responds to the inevitable (!) setbacks faced on the road to greatness—using those setbacks as opportunities to bounce back and make a sweet comeback. Big Ideas we explore include seeing setbacks as challenges rather than threats, outperforming our contracts, practicing ’till you can’t get it wrong, and the 3 P’s of peak performance.

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The Passion Paradox

A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life

Brad Stulberg writes, coaches, and speaks on health and human performance. Steve Magness coaches some of the world’s top distance runners and has propelled numerous athletes to Olympic trials, world championship teams, and the Olympics. This is the second book they’ve written together. We featured the first one Peak Performance. When this book came out, Brad reached out to let me know I might enjoy it. I immediately got it, immediately read it and, well, here we are. He was right. I loved it. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that passion needs to be handled with care, the "fit mind-set" (vs. the mastery mind-set), two kinds of passion (obsessive vs. harmonious), the mastery mindset (secret sauce #1) and self-awareness (secret sauce #2).

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The School of Greatness

A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy

Ready to attend The School of Greatness? Awesome. Lewis Howes shares his lecture notes from 200+ interviews with extraordinary humans for his uber-popular podcast. Lessons include Creating a Vision + Turning Adversity into Advantage, and Flexing Your Hustle Muscle. To greatness!

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The Science of Being Great

The Practical Guide to a Life of Power

Wallace D. Wattles. Funny name and funny looking dood but lots of great wisdom. In this Note, we'll have fun looking at how to get our greatness on. Big Ideas include the fact that we've gotta move beyond our fears, obey our souls (always), be patient, pay attention to our habitual thoughts and, perhaps most importantly, if we want to be great we've gotta SERVE greatly.

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The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental Dynamics

Let the Silva Method of Mind Development Teach You How to: Become More Secure and Self Aware, Improve Your Relationships, Be Physically Healthier, Develop a Zest for Living, Strengthen All Positive Aspects of Your Life

This book is one of the most densely packed with goodness books out there and in the Note we're going to explore the different brain waves and the fact that stress causes faster brain waves than relaxation along with how and why we want to drop into "alpha" as often as possible. Plus, we'll look at how to turn fear into excitement (really cool Idea!), the seven hermetic laws and the five rules for happiness.

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Unleash the Warrior Within

Develop the Focus, Discipline, Confidence, and Courage You Need to Achieve Unlimited Goals

Richard Machowicz. Mack for short. He’s an intense, inspiring and empowering former Navy SEAL. He’s an ultimate warrior. In this book, Mack teaches us how we can unleash the warrior within ourselves to, as the sub- title suggests, “Develop the Focus, Discipline, Confidence, and Courage You Need to Achieve Unlimited Goals.” Big Ideas we explore include World War 0, “Not Dead Can’t Quit,” the #1 question (hint: Do you have the guts?), and 110% vs. 80%.

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#754 How to Make a Pearl

To Go with our Diamonds
One of our very first +1s was on a brilliant line from Steven Kotler. At the end of our interview about his great book The Rise of Superman,