The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer

by Steven Kotler, Fred Sanders (Read by)

Overview

Bestselling author and peak performance expert Steven Kotler decodes the secrets of those elite performers—athletes, artists, scientists, CEOs and more—who have changed our definition of the possible, teaching us how we too can stretch far beyond our capabilities, making impossible dreams much more attainable for all of us. What does it take to accomplish the impossible? What does it take to shatter our limitations, exceed our expectations, and turn our biggest dreams into our most recent achievements? 

We are capable of so much more than we know—that’s the message at the core of The Art of Impossible. Building upon cutting-edge neuroscience and over twenty years of research, bestselling author, peak performance expert and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective, Steven Kotler lays out a blueprint for extreme performance improvement. If you want to aim high, here is the playbook to make it happen!

Inspirational and aspirational, pragmatic and accessible, The Art of Impossible is a life-changing experience disguised as a how-to manual for peak performance that anyone can use to shoot for the stars . . . space-suit, not included. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799971009
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Fred Sanders (PhD, Graduate Theological Union) is professor of theology in the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He is author of numerous books including The Triune God in the New Studies in Dogmatics series; The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything; and Dr. Doctrines’ Christian Comix. He is coeditor of Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology and Retrieving Eternal Generation. Fred is a core participant in the Theological Engagement with California’s Culture Project and a popular blogger at The Scriptorium Daily.

Steven Kotler is a New York Times-bestselling author, an award-winning journalist and the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. He is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He is the author of nine bestsellers (out of thirteen books total), including The Art of Impossible, The Future is Faster Than You Think, Stealing Fire, The Rise of Superman, Bold and Abundance. His work has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes, translated into over 40 languages, and appeared in over 100 publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, TIME and the Harvard Business Review. Steven is also the cohost of Flow Research Collective Radio, a top ten iTunes science podcast. Along with his wife, author Joy Nicholson, he is the cofounder of the Rancho de Chihuahua, a hospice and special needs dog sanctuary.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Formula for Impossible 1

Part I Motivation

1 Motivation Decoded 17

2 The Passion Recipe 29

3 The Full Intrinsic Stack 41

4 Goals 55

5 Grit 65

6 The Habit of Ferocity 97

Part II Learning

7 The Ingredients of Impossible 105

8 Growth Mindsets and Truth Filters 109

9 The ROI on Reading 115

10 Five Not-So-Easy Steps for Learning Almost Anything 121

11 The Skill of Skill 135

12 Stronger 139

13 The 80/20 of Emotional Intelligence 143

14 The Shortest Path to Superman 151

Part III Creativity

15 The Creative Advantage 161

16 Hacking Creativity 175

17 Long-Haul Creativity 191

18 The Flow of Creativity 205

Part IV Flow

19 The Decoder Ring 211

20 Flow Science 217

21 Flow Triggers 233

22 The Flow Cycle 257

23 All Together Now 269

Afterword 277

Acknowledgments 279

Notes 283

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

Thoroughly grounded in science, writing of the biological systems that drive fear, anger, grief, lust, and other emotions, all of which can be turned to advantage. . . . [Kotler] offers . . . an entertaining, inspiring approach to life-hacking that begs to be implemented by the willing reader.”   — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The Art of Impossible is consistently fascinating. There aren’t many writers I would follow on an intellectual journey as ambitious as this to examine peak performance; fortunately, Steven Kotler is one of them.”  — David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene

“This book is a tour de force of high performance. It’s an essential resource for those looking to align their curiosity, passion, and purpose to have not just a little more flow and creativity in their lives but to have a lot more flow and creativity. Want to learn how to take your innovation to seemingly impossible heights? Steven Kotler will teach you how.” — Scott Barry Kaufman, author of Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization

“This book is quite literally impossible. I’ve been tracking Steven’s work for ten years now, and it’s impossible to overstate how important it is. It’s impossible that he cracked the code on breakthrough success, yet he has. It’s impossible to have turned extreme innovation from an art to a science, yet he has. It’s impossible that he put it all together in a book that’s impossible to put down, yet he has. Read it and go accomplish the impossible yourself.” — Salim Ismail, chairman of ExO Works, author of Exponential Organizations

“The Art of Impossible is a must-read! Steven Kotler is one of a handful of people on the planet with a deep understanding of the frontiers of human performance. His ability to bring applied neuroscience and psychology to life through storytelling is world-class. This book is a treasure.” — Dr. Michael Gervais, high-performance psychologist

“In The Art of Impossible, Steven Kotler has managed to articulate what many peak performers intuitively know but can’t explain: that there’s a formula for impossible. Kotler demystifies the mythic, breaking down that formula and giving readers exactly the tools they need to accomplish their dreams, no matter how big.” — Laird Hamilton, waterman, big-wave surfer

From the Publisher

The Art of Impossible is consistently fascinating. There aren’t many writers I would follow on an intellectual journey as ambitious as this to examine peak performance; fortunately, Steven Kotler is one of them.” 

David Epstein

This book is quite literally impossible. I’ve been tracking Steven’s work for ten years now, and it’s impossible to overstate how important it is. It’s impossible that he cracked the code on breakthrough success, yet he has. It’s impossible to have turned extreme innovation from an art to a science, yet he has. It’s impossible that he put it all together in a book that’s impossible to put down, yet he has. Read it and go accomplish the impossible yourself.

Salim Ismail

In The Art of Impossible, Steven Kotler has managed to articulate what many peak performers intuitively know but can’t explain: that there’s a formula for impossible. Kotler demystifies the mythic, breaking down that formula and giving readers exactly the tools they need to accomplish their dreams, no matter how big.

Laird Hamilton

The Art of Impossible is a must-read! Steven Kotler is one of a handful of people on the planet with a deep understanding of the frontiers of human performance. His ability to bring applied neuroscience and psychology to life through storytelling is world-class. This book is a treasure.

Dr. Michael Gervais

This book is a tour de force of high performance. It’s an essential resource for those looking to align their curiosity, passion, and purpose to have not just a little more flow and creativity in their lives but to have a lot more flow and creativity. Want to learn how to take your innovation to seemingly impossible heights? Steven Kotler will teach you how.

Scott Barry Kaufman

In The Art of Impossible, Steven Kotler has managed to articulate what many peak performers intuitively know but can’t explain: that there’s a formula for impossible. Kotler demystifies the mythic, breaking down that formula and giving readers exactly the tools they need to accomplish their dreams, no matter how big.

LAIRD HAMILTON

This book is a tour de force of high performance. It’s an essential resource for those looking to align their curiosity, passion, and purpose to have not just a little more flow and creativity in their lives but to have a lot more flow and creativity. Want to learn how to take your innovation to seemingly impossible heights? Steven Kotler will teach you how.

SCOTT BARRY KAUFMAN

This book is quite literally impossible. I’ve been tracking Steven’s work for ten years now, and it’s impossible to overstate how important it is. It’s impossible that he cracked the code on breakthrough success, yet he has. It’s impossible to have turned extreme innovation from an art to a science, yet he has. It’s impossible that he put it all together in a book that’s impossible to put down, yet he has. Read it and go accomplish the impossible yourself.

SALIM ISMAIL

The Art of Impossible is a must-read! Steven Kotler is one of a handful of people on the planet with a deep understanding of the frontiers of human performance. His ability to bring applied neuroscience and psychology to life through storytelling is world-class. This book is a treasure.

DR. MICHAEL GERVAIS

The Art of Impossible is consistently fascinating. There aren’t many writers I would follow on an intellectual journey as ambitious as this to examine peak performance; fortunately, Steven Kotler is one of them.” 

DAVID EPSTEIN

★ 2020-10-13
“Very little is impossible with ten years’ practice.” Journalist and performance coach Kotler delivers an incitement for us all to up our games.

Just about every human achievement was once deemed impossible, whether breaking the 4-minute mile or landing on the moon. Kotler’s Flow Research Collective, borrowing from the insights of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, studies “the neurobiology of human peak performance,” training and quantifying the nervous system at its optimum. Neurobiology being universal, it works for everyone in theory, even though when personality enters the picture, psychological traits such as risk aversion can affect the outcome. No worry, writes the author. Peak performance is attained through motivation, learning, creativity, and flow, the last of which is “how you turbo-boost the results beyond all rational standards and reasonable expectations,” surprising even yourself with the mastery that comes after figuring out how to do something perfectly. Kotler has something of the cheerleader about him, to be sure, but he’s thoroughly grounded in science, writing of the biological systems that drive fear, anger, grief, lust, and other emotions, all of which can be turned to advantage. He also offers a novel approach to learning, removing stress and letting curiosity make a game of it. “We’re letting our pattern recognition system find connections between curiosities that make us even more curious—which is how you cultivate passion,” he writes after chronicling a user-friendly approach to learning a new subject. Other strategies for performance optimization include getting enough restorative sleep; eating properly; spending your time effectively, including scheduling time for meditation and focused thinking; and avoiding stress. Kotler’s up-and-at-’em approach never sounds a false note, and it’s clear that he has applied his advice to himself. Besides, it’s fun to read sentences like, “Remember, the ROI on reading says books are the best way to go.”

An entertaining, inspiring approach to life-hacking that begs to be implemented by the willing reader.

Kirkus Reviews