Book picks similar to
The Champion's Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite by Jim Afremow
sports
sport
non-fiction
psychology
Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable
Tim S. Grover - 2013
Now, for the first time in paperback, he reveals what it takes to get those results, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.Fore more than two decades, legendary trainer Tim Grover has taken the greats—Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and dozens more—and made them greater. Now, for the first time ever, he reveals what it takes to get those results, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.Direct, blunt, and brutally honest, Grover breaks down what it takes to be unstoppable: you keep going when everyone else is giving up, you thrive under pressure, you never let your emotions make you weak. In “The Relentless 13,” he details the essential traits shared by the most intense competitors and achievers in sports, business, and all walks of life. Relentless shows you how to trust your instincts and get in the Zone; how to control and adapt to any situation; how to find your opponent’s weakness and attack. Grover gives you the same advice he gives his world-class clients—“don’t think”—and shows you that anything is possible. Packed with previously untold stories and unparalleled insight into the psyches of the most successful and accomplished athletes of our time, Relentless shows you how even the best get better . . . and how you can too.
Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World
Matthieu Ricard - 2013
In Happiness, Matthieu Ricard demonstrated that true happiness is not tied to fleeting moments or sensations, but is an enduring state of soul rooted in mindfulness and compassion for others. Now he turns his lens from the personal to the global, with a rousing argument that altruism -- genuine concern for the well-being of others -- could be the saving grace of the 21st century. It is, he believes, the vital thread that can answer the main challenges of our time: the economy in the short term, life satisfaction in the mid-term, and environment in the long term. Ricard's message has been taken up by major economists and thinkers, including Dennis Snower, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, and George Soros. Matthieu Ricard makes a robust and passionate case for cultivating altruistic love and compassion as the best means for simultaneously benefitting ourselves and our society. It's a fresh outlook on an ardent struggle -- and one that just might make the world a better place.
The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
Josh Waitzkin - 2007
A public figure since winning his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine, Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father's book "Searching for Bobby Fischer" was made into a major motion picture. After dominating the scholastic chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning the title of World Champion. How was he able to reach the pinnacle of two disciplines that on the surface seem so different? "I've come to realize that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess," he says. "What I am best at is the art of learning."In his riveting new book, "The Art of Learning," Waitzkin tells his remarkable story of personal achievement and shares the principles of learning and performance that have propelled him to the top -- twice.With a narrative that combines heart-stopping martial arts wars and tense chess face-offs with life lessons that speak to all of us, "The Art of Learning" takes readers through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process. Rather than focusing on climactic wins, Waitzkin reveals the inner workings of his everyday method, from systematically triggering intuitive breakthroughs, to honing techniques into states of remarkable potency, to mastering the art of performance psychology.Through his own example, Waitzkin explains how to embrace defeat and make mistakes work for you. Does your opponent make you angry? Waitzkin describes how to channel emotions into creative fuel. As he explains it, obstacles are not obstacles but challenges to overcome, to spur the growth process by turning weaknesses into strengths. He illustrates the exact routines that he has used in all of his competitions, whether mental or physical, so that you too can achieve your peak performance zone in any competitive or professional circumstance.In stories ranging from his early years taking on chess hustlers as a seven year old in New York City's Washington Square Park, to dealing with the pressures of having a film made about his life, to International Chess Championships in India, Hungary, and Brazil, to gripping battles against powerhouse fighters in Taiwan in the Push Hands World Championships, "The Art of Learning" encapsulates an extraordinary competitor's life lessons in a page-turning narrative.
Life Word: Discover Your One Word to Leave a Legacy
Jon Gordon - 2016
Now with Life Word they help readers discover a word that will significantly impact their life and legacy.Life Word reveals a simple, powerful tool to help you identify the word that will inspire you to live your best life while leaving your greatest legacy. In the process you’ll discover your why which will help show you the way to live with a renewed sense of power, purpose, and passion. The authors walk you step-by-step through the process of discovering your Life Word and share an action plan with the most successful ways to live and share it. If you’re ready to live with more clarity, confidence and courage and leave a lasting legacy, let’s get started!-"What Jon, Dan, and Jimmy have discovered and share with you in Life Word is a simple, powerful, and life-changing idea that really works. Don't just read this book. Dig into it. And when you discover your Life Word, don't look back! It won't just change you; I believe you'll change the world because of it."— Mark Batterson, New York Times bestselling author of Chase The Lion and The Circle Maker
The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
Steven Kotler - 2014
Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand interviews with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes such as big–wave legend Laird Hamilton, big–mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of “flow,” an optimal state of consciousness where we perform and feel our best.Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, The Rise of Superman explains how these athletes are using flow to do the impossible and how we can use this information to radically accelerate our performance in our own lives.At its core, this is a book about profound possibility, what is actually possible for our species, and where—if anywhere—our limits lie.
The Champion Mindset: An Athlete's Guide to Mental Toughness
Joanna Zeiger - 2017
Reaching the top of any sport, or any aspect of life, takes years upon years of dedication and proper preparation. But if there's a huge pool of individuals who have undertaken the same commitment and steps towards becoming the best, what truly separates the winners from everyone else? Joanna Zeiger believes proper mental preparation is the answer.The Champion Mindset is a much-needed and long overdue look into how to program a competitor's mind to achieve optimal success. Changing behaviors and ways of thinking are never easy, but the chapters in this book aim to simplify this process to make it manageable and achievable. This book is for every athlete--from the weekend warrior, who wants to complete in his or her first 5k running race, to those who have aspirations of one day becoming Olympians and world champions.The Champion Mindset is a compendium of Zeiger's own personal journey from struggling novice swimmer to Olympian and World Champion. Through steps including: Proper Goal Setting, Keeping it Fun, Building Your Team, Intention in Training, Improving Motivation, Promoting Self-Confidence, and Mind/Body Cohesion, among others, Zeiger uses her decades of personal experience, doctoral-level research, and professional success, to prepare readers to go all-in with their mental game.
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
K. Anders Ericsson - 2016
Rest assured that the book is not mere theory. Ericsson's research focuses on the real world, and he explains in detail, with examples, how all of us can apply the principles of great performance in our work or in any other part of our lives."--
Fortune
Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak distills three decades of myth-shattering research into a powerful learning strategy that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring new abilities. Whether you want to stand out at work, improve your athletic or musical performance, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson's revolutionary methods will show you how to improve at almost any skill that matters to you."The science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work possible: to become a little bit better each day."--Dan Coyle, author of
The Talent Code
"Ericsson's research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world."--Joshua Foer, author of
Moonwalking with Einstein
The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance
Tom Brady - 2017
Jeter. Ali. Williams. These elite legends have changed the game, achieved the unthinkable, and pushed their bodies to unbelievable limits. Joining their exclusive ranks is Tom Brady. “Brady is the healthiest great champion the NFL has ever had, both physically and mentally” (Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post). The longtime New England Patriots quarterback, who in 2017 achieved his fifth Super Bowl win and fourth Super Bowl MVP award, is widely regarded as an athlete whose training and determination pushed him from a mediocre draft position to the most-revered and respected professional football player of his generation. In The TB12 Method, Tom Brady explains how he developed his groundbreaking approach to long-term fitness, presenting a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to his personal practice. Brady offers the principles behind pliability, which is at the heart of a new paradigm shift and movement toward a more natural, healthier way of exercising, training, and living—and one that challenges some commonly held assumptions around health and wellness. Filled with lessons learned from Brady’s own peak performance training, and step-by-step action steps to help readers develop and maintain their own peak performance, The TB12 Method also advocates for more effective approaches to strength training, hydration, nutrition, supplementation, cognitive fitness, recovery, and other lifestyle choices that dramatically decrease the risk of injury while amplifying and extending performance, as well as quality of life. After using his methods for over a decade, Brady believes that the TB12 approach has made him—and can make any athlete, male or female, in any sport and at any level—achieve their own peak performance. With instructions, drills, photos, in-depth case studies that Brady himself has used, as well as personal anecdotes and experiences from on and off the field, The TB12 Method is the only book an athlete will ever need, a playbook from Brady himself that will change the game.
Leading with the Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life
Mike Krzyzewski - 2000
Army.Duke University's head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has proved himself a leader both on and off the court. He's led the Duke Blue Devils to five straight Final Four appearances, culminating in back-to-back championships in 1991 and '92. He has received five National Coach of the Year Awards—and many of the players he coached in college have gone on to NBA stardom.From sportsmanship to respect, Leading with the Heart is a genuine gift from a coach who knows how to lead with heart.
A Life Without Limits: A World Champion's Journey
Chrissie Wellington - 2012
As a newcomer to the sport and a complete unknown to the press, Chrissie's win shook up the sport. A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS is the story of her rise to the top, a journey that has taken her around the world, from a childhood in England, to the mountains of Nepal, to the oceans of New Zealand, and the trails of Argentina, and first across the finish line.Wellington's first-hand, inspiring story includes all the incredible challenges she has faced--from anorexia to near--drowning to training with a controversial coach. But to Wellington, the drama of the sports also presents an opportunity to use sports to improve people's lives.A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS reveals the heart behind Wellington's success, along with the diet, training and motivational techniques that keep her going through one of the world's most grueling events.
How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life
Bob Rotella - 2015
Now, for the first time, he’s distilled his decades of in-depth research and practical experience into a potential-unlocking guide for everyone. This exciting book is not a collection of Rotella’s theories; it consists of performance principles that have proven themselves in countless competitive situations, in arenas from which only the strongest minds emerge triumphant. It’s a book full of insights that you can learn and use the next morning—in the office, the classroom, or wherever your quest takes you—told not in abstractions, but through case studies and stories drawn from Rotella’s years teaching sports psychology, counseling athletes, and consulting for Fortune 500 companies. It explores how to keep the mind from holding you back, whatever your physical gifts or other talents. It’s about how to make a commitment, how to persevere, how to deal with failure—and how to train your mind to create a self-image that promotes confidence and accomplishment. Any successful life starts with how you see yourself. And with these pearls of wisdom from the nation’s preeminent sports psychologist, you can learn to achieve the success of your dreams.
The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired
Ryan Robert - 2012
She obsessed about her weight and let it take control of her life. Eventually she even lost the confidence she once effortlessly displayed. As an avid runner, Ryan knew if he was able to get his niece to start running she would gain self-confidence, better mental and physical acuity. It would also allow her a better focus on health rather than weight. Ryan started writing notes to his niece about different aspects of running. These notes became the impetus for his book Running Inspired.Running Inspired provides a wealth of information for the non-runner and beginning runner. The book covers everything from proper form, to shoes, to running schedules, and food. There is also information on how to stay motivated including visualization exercises. These are the tools Ryan used to teach his niece to run inspired and they will help you too.Ryan's writing style is friendly, easy to read, and non-judgmental. If you have ever thought about running, even if you've never tried it, Running Inspired is the perfect place to start.
Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace)
Chade-Meng Tan - 2012
With Search Inside Yourself, Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest engineers and personal growth pioneer, offers a proven method for enhancing mindfulness and emotional intelligence in life and work.Meng’s job is to teach Google’s best and brightest how to apply mindfulness techniques in the office and beyond; now, readers everywhere can get insider access to one of the most sought after classes in the country, a course in health, happiness and creativity that is improving the livelihood and productivity of those responsible for one of the most successful businesses in the world.With forewords by Daniel Goleman, author of the international bestseller Emotional Intelligence, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, renowned mindfulness expert and author of Coming To Our Senses, Meng’s Search Inside Yourself is an invaluable guide to achieving your own best potential.
A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character
Bear Grylls - 2012
Encountering the wild forces us to plan and execute goals, face danger, push our “limits,” and sharpen our instincts. But our most important adventures don’t always happen in nature’s extremes. Living a purpose-driven, meaningful life can often be an even greater challenge. . . .In A Survival Guide for Life, Bear Grylls, globally renowned adventurer and television host, shares the hard-earned wisdom he’s gained in the harshest environments on earth, from the summit of Mt. Everest to the boot camps of the British Special Forces.Filled with exclusive, never-before-told tales from Bear’s globe-trekking expeditions, A Survival Guide for Life teaches every reader—no matter your age or experience—that we’re all capable of living life more boldly, of achieving our most daring dreams, and of having more fun along the way. Here’s to your own great adventure!
The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong
David Shenk - 2010
“Forget everything you think you know about genes, talent, and intelligence,” he writes. “In recent years, a mountain of scientific evidence has emerged suggesting a completely new paradigm: not talent scarcity, but latent talent abundance.” Integrating cutting-edge research from a wide swath of disciplines—cognitive science, genetics, biology, child development—Shenk offers a highly optimistic new view of human potential. The problem isn't our inadequate genetic assets, but our inability, so far, to tap into what we already have. IQ testing and widespread acceptance of “innate” abilities have created an unnecessarily pessimistic view of humanity—and fostered much misdirected public policy, especially in education. The truth is much more exciting. Genes are not a “blueprint” that bless some with greatness and doom most of us to mediocrity or worse. Rather our individual destinies are a product of the complex interplay between genes and outside stimuli-a dynamic that we, as people and as parents, can influence. This is a revolutionary and optimistic message. We are not prisoners of our DNA. We all have the potential for greatness.