Brad StulbergPeak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success

I admit it. I’m a sucker for books on productivity and improving performance. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve looked for ways to improve my own productivity and performance. I’m not an athlete. I’m an author, ghostwriter, and book writing coach. My purpose is to help other people discover and create great business books. That’s what I want to be fit for, and productive at.I don’t know how many books on improving performance and productivity I’ve read over the years, but I’m sure it’s over 100. As a result, when I read a new book, I’m not looking for some grand secret that no one has yet discovered. I’m looking for a fresh presentation of some things that I already know. I’m also looking for a tip or two about how I can change my behavior to do better. Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with The New Science of Success delivers on both of those.The authors introduce themselves and the book by telling the story of how they both achieved significant levels of performance and success early in life, then had that all come apart. They made their first connection online and shared their individual stories with each other. Here’s how they describe what happened next.“What started out as a two-person support group morphed into a close friendship, followed upon a shared interest in the science of performance. We became curious: Is healthy, sustainable peak performance possible? If so, how? What’s the secret? What, if any, are the principles underlying great performance? How can people like us – which is to say just about anyone – adopt them?”Here’s the core truth that this book builds on.“The key to strengthening your biceps – and, as we’ll learn, any muscle, be it physical, cognitive, or emotional – is balancing the right amount of stress with the right amount of rest. Stress + rest + growth. This equation holds true regardless of what it is that you’re trying to grow.”That’s not new. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz wrote an excellent book about that basic principle almost 20 years ago. The title is The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.Stulberg and Magness build on that core truth in the three sections of their book. Section one is about the growth equation. Section two is what they call “priming” and discusses optimizing your routine. The third section is about developing and living out your purpose.What makes this book different is contained in one of the quotes above. The authors aren’t just after peak performance. Lots of people write books about that. They’re after “healthy, sustainable peak performance.” That difference from other books is important and significant and why I thought this was a great book.This is the kind of book that repays reading straight through. Sure, you can jump around from topic to topic, but the organization is perfect for a straight-through read.Every few pages, the authors summarize their key points in a section called “Performance Practices.” This is great for helpful review. They even go further by putting a recap of all the performance practices toward the end of the book.In A NutshellIf you’re looking for solid advice on improving your performance at anything in a healthy and sustainable way, Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with The New Science of Success is the book for you. It’s well-researched and well-written.

The book provides usefull advices for people who want to improve their performance in any aspects of their life. The authors included several real life examples from great performers of different fields: athletes, artists, businessman, and so on. They also try to ground their advices on scientific research. The reason I gave four stars is that I expected more scientific evidence and more detailed explanations about several concepts presented in the book. However, it is a very good book and it worths reading it.

This is a thoughtful, well-written and practical work on ways to improve your performance based on principles developed from both real-world examples (across many fields) and the latest science (across multiple disciplines). This is a "Do the work" book - if you are looking for the success and flourishing equivalent of a get rich quick scheme, then look elsewhere. If you are willing to do the work, try some new things (and/or stop doing some others), then this book will provide a wealth of ideas and information to help you on your journey.The book is broken into 3 sections based on their key principles of:* The Growth Equation (stress + rest = growth)* Priming - the power of developing optimal routines and designing your day* Purpose - to keep you focused and motivatedThere are many valuable ideas and insights in each chapter. My favorite feature of the book are the "performance practices" - these are callout boxes that distill key ideas into actions you can take right away to start to improve.I learned and was challenged throughout the book - my 2 favorite chapters are:* minimalist to be a maximalist - life is about choices and it is important to be highly focused in some areas and minimize the decisions and attention we give to other areas. I loved this quote from Michael Joyner - "You need to say no to a lot of things so that when it is time to say yes, you can do so with all your energy." The key is to be intentional and to make habits for the areas that are needed but not part of your focus.* transcend your "self". This chapter is on purpose and it challenges a lot of my thinking. I plan to work with some of the ideas mentioned here (and do the exercise on purpose that they recommend) and see how this works for me. I want to understand both the theory and practice in this area so I will be reading some of the works mentioned here in the near future. I am a strong believer in purpose but not "self-transcendence" and that is what I want to understand more.The book is truly action oriented and I have already starting using the ideas as I read the book over the last few days. I recommend the book highly and for those who are coaches or leaders, I would encourage you to share the ideas with your teams (and encourage them to read the book).Two additional thoughts - any critical thinker will find areas they disagree with in most books and this is no exception. The power of this book is that it is encouraging me to explore those areas in more detail. Additionally, most of us know that psychology and the social sciences have been plagued with a "reproduce-ability crisis" with many studies. While this work is very evidence based, it is important to remember that these ideas and findings will continue to evolve and change. For those with a growth mindset, that is just another piece of the puzzle in long-term learning and growth.I hope this book gets a wide audience and helps others in their personnel success and flourishing.

One of the best reads on the subject of self-improvement I have ever read. All through the book, they give you practical advice and real life practices, as well as many insights into the common ground of peak performers that are very relatable and applicable to daily life. What many think is actually opposite to the truth when it comes to working harder equating to accomplishing more. The book reveals many case studies of a diverse range of peak performers and the common ground to peak growth and performance in any field is actually doing less work, but the work that is done is much more intense and focused. Rest is key. Many of the best in their field work only half days and take the other half off to enjoy life and fully recharge. This full recharge is what's missing in today's modern faced paced society that drives overtime and late work nights. The book goes into many things that you may never have even known are sapping your energy and suggests alternatives to really plug into your own custom daily cycle of action rest cycles. A book you will come back to again and again.

Un libro altamente recomendado para las personas quedesean dar un paso más alla de lo habitual para lograr un mejor rendimiento en las actividades de la vida diaria.

Very practical and makes you rethink your perspective on stress. Love the references to actual science

Brilliantly exploratory, delves into the science and practice of performance in any sphere. If you are an artist, writer, athlete or regular person like me striving to discover your purpose, this is the book to frame it.

great

Peak Performance is more than a sports fitness motivation book. There are life lessons that apply beyond athletic venues and locker room jock and chalk talk. Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness combine their talents and expertise in a compelling synthesis to shape the "best version of yourself" in every dimension of your life and your self-driving force. Individuals, families, teams, businesses, communities and corporations can benefit from the persuasive approach the authors of taken and apply it in their inner and outer manifestations.