Peak Performance Book Summary - Peak Performance Book explained in key points

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Name: Peak Performance
Rating: 4.2 (241 reviews)
Author: Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness

Brad Stulberg Steve Magness

Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, And Thrive With The New Science of Success

4.2 (241 ratings)

19 mins

Brief summary

Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness presents a science-backed approach to achieve long-term success. It emphasizes the importance of rest and recovery for enhancing performance and shares tools to optimize physical and mental wellbeing.

Topics

Success Inspiration

Table of Contents

Peak Performance
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Become the best you can.

Olympic athletes, master violinists and top CEOs all have at least one thing in common: they’re at the peak of their performance. And in a world where competition for jobs or advancement gets fiercer by the minute, peak performance is more crucial than ever.

But how do you get there?

In these blinks, we look at why optimum performance is more important today than ever before and how you can find the formula for the balance that will get you to the pinnacle of performance.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

that taking a day off from the gym for rest is more important than we might think;
why you should stop multitasking right now; and
which routines will get you on your way to peak performance.

Technology has globalized the job market and ramped up competition.

Just a few decades ago, getting a job was a piece of cake. As long as you stood out from the few people in your geographical area who had also applied for the desired job, you had a good chance of landing it. But today, that’s clearly not the case.

At this point, the job market is akin to a full-blown world war. After all, technological innovations have made it possible to do a number of jobs from anywhere on the globe. As a result, the number of people vying for a limited number of jobs has increased, which has made the competition fiercer than ever.

To make matters even more difficult, an unprecedented number of people are committing themselves to breaking world records these days, a fact that makes standing out from the pack that much harder. For instance, in 1954, when the British athlete Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes, lots of people thought his accomplishment represented the outer limits of human performance. But today, more than twenty Americans break that four-minute barrier annually.

And finally, computers, robots and other forms of artificial intelligence are putting the squeeze on the job market. Just take the e-commerce and cloud-computing company Amazon, which is making human employees redundant by using technology. Since the firm operates entirely online, there’s no need for cashiers or salespeople; Amazon doesn’t even need to pay rent on, or invest in, storefronts.

The rise of this online monolith has naturally resulted in the bankruptcy of some brick-and-mortar competitors, like the bookseller Borders, which previously employed over 35,000 people.

To take things to an even higher level, Amazon is now looking into using drones to deliver its products, which may eliminate the need for human workers altogether.

The point is, machines are getting smarter every day and coming for an ever-greater percentage of jobs.

Impossibly high standards are driving people to take performance-enhancing drugs, to ill effect.

What would you do to get a leg up at work? Well, for many people, intense competition is leading to some desperate measures. In fact, performance-enhancing drugs have become integral to academic, athletic and even professional life.

For instance, researchers estimate that 30 percent of students take the “study drug” Adderall, a toned down version of the street drug known as “speed.” Adderall is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. But according to the Center for Disease Control, just five to six percent of the population actually suffers from this condition. Most students take this drug to increase their attention span, concentration and focus.

The secret to sustainable success is balancing stress and rest.

We’ve all heard the classic saying “work hard, play hard.” But maybe it’s time to add “rest well” to this adage. After all, giving your body and mind time to rest and recover makes them stronger, which enables you to put in more effort in the future.

Just take Deena Kastor, a collegiate runner. She had never won a major race and so, hell-bent on achieving one, she went to train with the legendary coach Joe Vigil. Under his tutelage, she far surpassed her prior levels of success. When asked how she’d done it, she said the major impact was between training sessions – not the training itself.

Stress can stimulate growth and adaptation, but a positive mindset is also key.

In 1934, the endocrinologist Hans Selye did an experiment in which he injected ovarian extracts into rats. The rats reacted strongly, and he believed that he had discovered a new sex hormone. But he soon realized that he was wrong. In reality, the rats reacted exactly the same way to any injection. The experiment just shows that anything that shocks or causes pain and discomfort can trigger stress.

Interestingly enough, however, Selye observed that the rats adapted to the stressors over time. In fact, stress can actually be positive and spur growth.

Multitasking is inefficient and it’s best to focus on one task at a time.

Do you love multitasking and consider it the most efficient way to get things done? Well, if you do, it’s time to change your ways.

That’s because countless studies have found that both the quality and quantity of work suffers when people do multiple things at once. Just take research from the University of Michigan that found that multitasking can consume up to 40 percent of your productive time. Other research has found that multitaskers are worse at filtering out information, are slower to identify patterns and have diminished long-term memory.

Rest is important for peak performance, but not all types of rest are equal.

Have you ever wondered why so many people have their best ideas while walking, showering or sleeping?

It’s in large part because such restful times allow the brain to step out of the linear thought process. After all, when you’re actively working, your conscious mind reigns supreme. It functions in a linear “if-then” kind of way. If this, then that. The issue is, you often fail to solve problems when you get stuck and begin obsessing about them.

Great performers abide by a few simple tricks.

Whether it’s a writer getting ready to type out a story or an athlete preparing for a race, a great performer will never just hope to be at the top of her game. Instead, she’ll actively cultivate an environment that will help her do her best.

That’s why having a solid routine is paramount. Just take Matt Billingslea, the drummer for pop star Taylor Swift. Before every sold-out show, he takes 30 minutes to hop rhythmically from side to side. He then does some exercises, making wide circles with his arms and activating his core and back muscles. Finally, he shifts his focus to his mind, taking deep breaths and visualizing each move while getting into the zone. This routine helps Billingslea stay focused and perform at a top level, despite the pressure of playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

Having a purpose can help you transcend self-imposed limitations.

It’s every kid’s dream to be a superhero with incredible strength and dazzling powers. And, as it turns out, the realization of such a dream might not only belong to science fiction.

That’s because fatigue and the physical limits of your body actually only exist in your head. In other words, you’re capable of actions that go beyond your normal abilities.

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What is Peak Performance about?

Peak Performance (2017) employs success stories, case studies and various examples of athletes, artists and intellectuals to give you a crash course in performance. These blinks explain why performance became so integral to society in the first place and how you can be your best.

Peak Performance Review

Peak Performance (2017) by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness is a book that explores the secrets behind achieving peak performance in any area of life. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides practical strategies backed by science to help individuals optimize their performance and reach their full potential.
The authors combine real-life stories and research to make the content relatable and interesting, keeping readers engaged throughout.
With its insights into the psychology of peak performance, the book offers valuable tools to unlock excellence and maintain high performance levels.

Who should read Peak Performance?

Athletes who want to take their game to the next level
Artists who want to become experts in their field
Anyone interested in self-improvement or boosting their success

About the Author

Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness are both experts on human performance.

Stulberg worked at McKinsey and Company and has coached some of the top business executives in the world.

Magness holds a Master’s degree in Exercise Science and has coached Olympic athletes.

Together, their writing has been featured in publications such as the BBC, the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal and NPR.

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