Book recommendations time! *rubbing hands with glee.* The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler (UK)
Steven Kotler is awesome. He’s a journalist and author, not a scientist, but he’s been writing about flow states for 20 years, ever since he started using surfing to get him into flow state daily. Finding a flow activity like this helped him recover from Lyme Disease that had left him largely bed-bound for three years.
Fascinated by this experience, he turned his journalistic sights onto action sports athletes. These folks accessed flow so readily they could accomplish the seemingly impossible.
In Rise of Superman (UK) Kotler chronicles athletes doing the near-impossible, using flow.
In Bold (UK) and Abundance (UK) he explores entrepreneurs and innovators doing the same level of incredible, each in their own fields.
In The Future is Faster Than You Think (UK) he talks about exponential tech and the opportunities for achieving what once seemed impossible in a wide variety of fields.
But Art of Impossible (UK) is the first time Kotler breaks down all the research into flow we've got so far, and creates a manual, a set of checklists, for how we can embed flow into our lives. It’s a fantastic book.
Side note: Kotler found the Flow Research Collective (FRC) and reading Art of Impossible inspired me to sign up with them, and learn to master the neuroscience behind flow, apply it to myself, then coach others. Beside myself with excitement about this. Will share my adventures and discoveries online.
Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, Death in a World That's Lost It's Mind by Jamie Wheal (UK)
Wheal used to be the writing partner of Steven Kotler, and they founded Flow Genome Project together. However, the two have taken their interests in different directions. Kotler's focus is training entrepreneurs and knowledge workers to level-up and accomplish great things. Whereas Jamie Wheal is fascinated by the potential of flow states to tackle the extinction-level challenges we face today.
Recapture the Rapture is beautifully written, and an incredible trip through the cultural history of humanity from the perspective of neuroscience. With faith in traditional authorities collapsing, how can we come together, reclaim meaning, and architect a fulfilling new culture for ourselves (based on flow science)?
My Flow Research Collective buddies and I have a weekly reading circle on this at 5.30pm BST Fridays if you care to join.
This is original bible on the subject, first published in the 1990 by the scientist who coined the term flow. It’s full of stories and insight into how people become happy through deep engagement with meaningful work in the present. You’ll get quotes like this one: Academic Studies on Flow
Here my Dropbox folder of PDFs on Flow, gathered over many months. Now that I've settled on a PDF Reader (LiquidText), maybe I can finally start reading them. Let me know if you can download those okay?
Academic Studies on Creativity.
I’ve got a Dropbox folder on this too. Remind me to share it later?
Okay, that's all I got time for. Was fun to share! Will keep adding to the list.
Message me below if you want me to update you when I add more.
*rubbing hands with glee.*
Let me know if you can download those okay?