1: “My best friend, Michael Wharton, ran track in high school,” Steven Kotler writes in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer. 

Michael’s coach had unusual protocols.  “When they went out for long runs, whenever they encountered a hill, the team had to shift their focus entirely to core running skills: long strides, strong arms, high kicks.  Note the focus wasn’t on speed or acceleration, it was on … continue reading

1: “There’s a little gap, no more than a millisecond, between the moment a thought arises and the moment our brain attaches an emotion to that thought,” Steven Kotler writes in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.

If we are interested in manifesting the grit to control our thoughts, then we are wise to pay attention to that gap.

Because once a feeling is attached to a … continue reading

1: “Early-stage passion doesn’t look like late-stage passion,” Steven Kotler writes in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.

Imagine LeBron James as “a little kid standing in front of a big hoop, trying to get his shots to drop,” Steven writes. “On the front end, passion is nothing more than the overlap of multiple curiosities coupled to a few wins.”

Sure, to be passionate, we want to … continue reading

1: When we reflect on our lives, what are our proudest accomplishments?  Steven Kotler asks in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.

“Now think about how hard we worked to accomplish them.  Sure, everybody gets lucky a few times.  There’s always a handful of occasions when you get exactly what you want without having to work very hard to achieve it,” he observes.

“But are those the memories that … continue reading

1: Grit is “the intersection of passion and perseverance,” University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth tells us.  

Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle’s observation three hundred years ago is even simpler: “No pressure, no diamonds.”

We all know the path to consistent high performance is a bumpy road with many rocks, boulders, and unexpected hairpin turns.  

In his book, The Art of Impossible, author Steven Kotler identifies three indigents required for … continue reading

If Grit author Angela Duckworth were to get a tattoo, these are the words it would say.  Grit, Angela tells us, is a combination of an intense passion and intense persistence.

“Expect challenges” is Rule #1, according to philosopher Brian Johnson.  When life knocks us down, our goal is to challenge ourselves to bounce back.  Quickly.  The most successful people are not those who never fail, but rather those who … continue reading