The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

by Steven Kotler

Yet what appears to be impossible is actually progressive. Behind each of these feats is a litany of small steps: history, technology, training–and not just physical training, mental training as well.

In flow, we are so focused on the task at hand that everything else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Time flies. Self vanishes. Performance goes through the roof.

Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, a peak state where we both feel our best and perform our best.

From a quality-of-life perspective, psychologists have found that the people who have the most flow in their lives are the happiest people on earth.

Optimal performance is about being your best; ultimate performance is about being your best when any mistake could kill.

“Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.”