PROGRESSION

by Sebastian Marshall

Progression takes you through deep, counterintuitive, intensely actionable lessons from across history. In Section I, you'll learn how UPSTREAM EFFECTS rule your life. How much control do you have over this current moment? Maybe less than you'd the actions you take upstream flow down into the current moment. Change your life by working now to make things flow smoothly into the future. In Section II, there is a deep exploration of TOUGHNESS. Marshall's definition of mental toughness is it’s doing what one ought to do, regardless if you feel like doing it or not. Channel this through Mission Orientation, your core philosophy that you filter everything through, develop your toughness, and integrate with worthy allies and societies to fight through life's adversity into high achievement. Finally, in Section III, study deeply a set of UNCOMMON VIRTUES to help you thrive. Marshall makes the case that Mere Competence is the foundation of virtue -- and shockingly rare -- and then traverse two thousand years of history and note how masterful friendships and loyal alliances have been built, learn why Marshall is anti-intuition and thinks the modern view of short-term happiness is largely overrated in favor of a deep generational focus. Develop your Counterintuion, Higher-Order Thinking, Aesthetic Sense, and end with an investigation of the truly Great and Sublime. Marshall's work takes you through elite military commanders and soldiers through history, explores how Europe fell into the throes of fate after the fall of Rome before Machiavelli and Luther set the world on fire, and takes you into modern successes in Toyota's factories, Iowa's courtrooms, and modern special forces units and elite athletes. Broad, wide-ranging, expansive, challenging -- PROGRESSION can't be unread; the writing is sweeping and informative with deep history; the mental models and actionable points will make you a stronger, tougher, smarter, more pragmatic, and more fiercely successful human.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Business

442 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2016

Reviews

[Mariam Talakhadze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never felt so connected with any other author in my life

You are subtly telling my personal truth and discussing all of my values and more through these pages.
You are inspiring and charging me with enthusiasm for life, work and goodness.
There is no greater joy than reading your mind.
But perhaps only to meet you in person. Which I will some day.
I want to listen to your thoughts over and over again.
Thank you.

[AuspiciousAnomaly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essays on Toughness and Uncommon Virtues were powerful and illuminating, and Generational Focus was especially evocative and compels you to consider the legacy and footprint you'll leave for the future. It was deeply resonant and personal. If you can appreciate it for what it is, Progression is rich with substance and depth, offering insights that are as practical as they are profound.

[Bouke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A though-provoking series of essays exploring various topics with lots of historic background. I've received a lot from this book, but was a bit put off by the writing style in places. It could also use a pass by an editor because there were quite a few spelling mistakes.

[Mohamed Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome book by Sebastian

I loved his writing style and his other books. I guess having similar thinking or me wanting to think at the similar level is what drives me to read his books.

[Neil]

Promising - https://medium.com/the-strategic-revi...

and active on LW: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PqbDg...

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Después de disfrutar enormemente con "Ikigai"; del mismo autor, llegué a este libro con muchas expectativas.
No dudo de que está lleno de grandes ideas y que refleja la gran mentalidad estratégica de Sebastian Marshall; pero en esta ocasión no conseguí conectar con el libro.

[Brian Cajes · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I find the most insightful books to read are those that were very popular in their era, but are not currently well-read.” This book started with seemingly disparate threads of thought, but about halfway through, these ideas started to interconnect in a powerful way. Marshall starts with upstream effects related to physiology and the mind, which leads to thoughts on toughness of mind and body, which in turn leads to “Uncommon Virtues” which are a more granular take on aspects of traditional virtues that are rarely seen in people today, yet common in many historical figures that we still admire. Obviously well versed in history, he backs his thoughts up with historical evidence, as well as empirical and scientific data.