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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Leading Brain summary
Friederike Fabritius & Hans W. Hagemann
Powerful Science-Based Strategies for Achieving Peak Performance
15 mins
Table of Contents
The Leading Brain
summarized in 6 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 6
Peak performance requires a certain amount of stress, and the optimal level depends on your testosterone levels.
If you’ve ever played tennis or baseball, you’re probably familiar with the sweet spot. This is an area on a bat or tennis racquet that will give you the best control or most power when hitting the ball. But what you may not know is that there’s also a sweet spot for getting the most out of your job performance.
We all have a mental zone that allows us to do our best and most productive work, and research shows that it takes just the right amount of applied stress to get us there.
The link between stress and performance was discovered in 1908 by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson, who found that rats were better at navigating mazes when given mild electric shocks. However, they found that when the shocks were too intense, the rats would panic and try to escape. So there was a sweet spot, where just the right amount of added stress would help produce peak performance.
The same holds true for humans as well: when the stress levels are at just the right intensity, we’ll reach our optimal levels of attention and focus. Too low, and we’re likely to be unfocused and bored; too high, and we’ll be so panicked that we won’t be able to focus on the task at hand.
So what is the perfect amount of stress?
Results show that men, on average, require more applied stress than women to reach that sweet spot of peak performance. Researchers believe this is due to their higher levels of testosterone, which is associated with risk-taking and thrill-seeking behavior. So, to perform at their best, those with high testosterone levels will require a more thrilling, or stressful, scenario.
Since our testosterone levels decrease with age, research shows that the level of stress required for the best work results also decreases over time.
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What is The Leading Brain about?
The Leading Brain (2017) dismisses the trends and gimmicks surrounding productivity in favor of hard science about how the brain really works in the everyday stress of a nine-to-five job. There is plenty of research and scientific data on how to create productive habits, build the perfect team and keep staff working at their best.
Best quote from The Leading Brain
Of an estimated 90 percent of Americans who make New Years resolutions, 92 percent fail to live up to them.
—Friederike Fabritius & Hans W. Hagemann
Who should read The Leading Brain?
- Psychology students
- Managers and supervisors looking to improve their leadership skills
- Readers interested in self-improvement
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