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

by Steven Kotler

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.

Flow directly correlates to happiness at work and happiness at work directly correlates to success.

The great civil rights leader Howard Thurman once said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive. Because what the world needs most is more people who have come alive.”

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

High achievers, he came to see, were intrinsically motivated. They were deeply committed to testing limits and stretching potential, frequently using intensely focused activity for exactly this purpose.

he discovered that the happiest people on earth, the ones who felt their lives had the most meaning, were those who had the most peak experiences.

“flow states.” He defined the state as “being so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. The ego falls away.

What is the meaning of life? Flow is what makes life worth living.

Clear goals: Expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and

align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities. Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high. Concentration: A high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness: The merging of action and awareness. Distorted sense of time: One’s subjective experience of time is altered. Direct and immediate feedback: Successes and failures are apparent, so behavior can be adjusted as needed. Balance between ability level and challenge: The activity is neither too easy nor too difficult. A sense of personal control over the situation. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so action is effortlessness. A lack of awareness of bodily needs. Absorption: narrowing of awareness down to the activity itself.

“The ability to learn faster than your competitors is the only sustainable competitive advantage.”