by Steven Kotler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2021
An entertaining, inspiring approach to life-hacking that begs to be implemented by the willing reader.
“Very little is impossible with ten years’ practice.” Journalist and performance coach Kotler delivers an incitement for us all to up our games.
Just about every human achievement was once deemed impossible, whether breaking the 4-minute mile or landing on the moon. Kotler’s Flow Research Collective, borrowing from the insights of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, studies “the neurobiology of human peak performance,” training and quantifying the nervous system at its optimum. Neurobiology being universal, it works for everyone in theory, even though when personality enters the picture, psychological traits such as risk aversion can affect the outcome. No worry, writes the author. Peak performance is attained through motivation, learning, creativity, and flow, the last of which is “how you turbo-boost the results beyond all rational standards and reasonable expectations,” surprising even yourself with the mastery that comes after figuring out how to do something perfectly. Kotler has something of the cheerleader about him, to be sure, but he’s thoroughly grounded in science, writing of the biological systems that drive fear, anger, grief, lust, and other emotions, all of which can be turned to advantage. He also offers a novel approach to learning, removing stress and letting curiosity make a game of it. “We’re letting our pattern recognition system find connections between curiosities that make us even more curious—which is how you cultivate passion,” he writes after chronicling a user-friendly approach to learning a new subject. Other strategies for performance optimization include getting enough restorative sleep; eating properly; spending your time effectively, including scheduling time for meditation and focused thinking; and avoiding stress. Kotler’s up-and-at-’em approach never sounds a false note, and it’s clear that he has applied his advice to himself. Besides, it’s fun to read sentences like, “Remember, the ROI on reading says books are the best way to go.”
An entertaining, inspiring approach to life-hacking that begs to be implemented by the willing reader.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-297753-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harper Wave
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal
by Action Bronson ; photographed by Bonnie Stephens ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2021
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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