posted on: June 12, 2016
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.
I had a few hours of driving to do over the weekend, so I downloaded a couple of Tim Ferriss podcasts onto my phone to occupy my mind on something productive for the ride. I thoroughly enjoyed each episode and wanted to share some insights with you. Both topics are important in the context of performance improvement so for those of you looking to improve your mind and body for the long haul, check them out. My brief thoughts appear below.
Ego is the Enemy is the new book by Ryan Holiday who also wrote The Obstacle is the Way. The title of this book reminded me of one of the chapters in The Fighter’s Mind entitled “The Ego is Garbage,” so I was intrigued to see if the philosophy was similar. The episode is mostly comprised of an excerpt from the book, and after hearing it, I’m putting this on my Goodreads To-Read List. And yes, the philosophy is similar to the one in The Fighter’s Mind!
Holiday discusses examples of successful people, such as Ben Franklin and Bill Belichik, who were able to put their egos aside, and do “menial” tasks to help other people and make others look good. Both men took pride in doing this work well, and the skills they learned in this process distinguished them in their careers. Contrast this approach with how many of us complain about work that is “beneath” us or about how we should be higher up in our organization rather than reporting to people we don’t respect. That’s how the ego sabotages us. Instead, can we focus on helping others to be their best by doing the work that others are not willing to do? That’s a way to success.
Listen to the episode here (22 minutes).
This guy was fascinating! Some people know him as the man who introduced the kettle bell to the US, but his background is so much more than that. The episode was nearly 2 hours, but it flew by because it was dense with great content. Topics ranged from methodologies for developing strength and flexibility to what Americans can learn from Soviet culture and vice versa. At the end of my drive, I added a bunch of notes to my Wunderlist research items list and I’ll be adding his books to my To-Read list.
Here is a link to the web page with the episode: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/01/15/pavel-tsatsouline/
If you take the time to listen, let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Enjoy!
Dr. Brian Lomax founded PerformanceXtra™ in 2009 with a mission of helping athletes achieve their goals and their top performances more consistently through a progression of mental skills that enables them to focus on what is truly important.
Learn more about the author: https://performancextra.com/brian-lomax/