No Limits: The Art and Science of High Performance

by Mukesh Bansal

This journey has supplemented my experiences as an entrepreneur as I’ve had to reinvent myself and upgrade my skills every couple of years just to keep pace with the fast-changing start-up universe. I realised that the only way to survive was to continuously learn and unlearn;

The last two decades have seen a surge of research in behavioural psychology and on the intricate functioning of the human mind, which has contributed to our understanding of human performance. At some point on this journey, I stopped viewing high performance as a mystery or something to do with destiny, and began to see that there was a clear method through which people were able to achieve what they’d set out to do.

I observed that most of these high performers were not that different from the common man. They were not particularly gifted or destined for greatness. These were ordinary people who’d developed extraordinary skills over several decades, through concerted effort, following a specific system of working, either knowingly or unknowingly.

The more I read about human performance and interacted with top performers in a variety of fields, the more I got convinced that performance is a skill just like any other, and it is transferable, which means that once you have figured out a way to be a high performer in one field, you can acquire high

performance in a very different field with much less effort. And so, it isn’t surprising that we see so many people performing well in multiple fields; and we worship them as if they had superhuman powers! The truth is that most of them have been great students of human performance themselves, and have learnt the art of optimising their performance to the level they desire. It is also no wonder that people who are the best in their field, train the most and work harder than anyo...

One of the key revelations is the amazing adaptability of the human mind and body. This concept, called ‘plasticity’, proves that we are far more in control of what we can accomplish than we ever thought was possible. The brain’s plasticity enables it to change and grow well into adulthood, adapting to experience and new learning.

Knowing what our minds and bodies were designed for and adapted to, is crucial to building a lifestyle that takes full advantage of our potential. Spiderman’s Uncle Ben said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. The great responsibility for you, the reader, is to truly unlock the potential of your mind and body, and live a life that harnesses all that you are capable of.

We now know that the operating philosophy of the mind and body is ‘use it or lose it’.

The body is an extremely efficient machine, with no desire to waste precious energy on something that is not being used,

Therefore, knowing that almost everything about your physical and mental architecture is completely pliable, is the first step towards unlocking your potential.

With the concept of plasticity as the starting point, we will look at the three main ingredients in the recipe for excellence in any field: deliberate practice, motivation and coaching.

fascinating book Mindset. Based on decades of research, she proposes two fundamental mindsets: fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are born with certain capabilities and limitations over which they have no control. In contrast, the growth mindset is a framework of thought within which people see themselves as ‘works-in-progress’, believing that they can learn, get better, and change with time and effort. Thus, they are more open to criticism and tend to exert more energy on deliberate practice. Your mindset is closely correlated with the kind of career you will choose, the direction your personal life takes, and your ability to perform.

Most of us are convinced that willpower, like talent, is something that you are born with. But all the research on willpower suggests that it is like any other muscle in the body—the more you train it, the better it gets. If you get a good night’s sleep, you will have more resolve to avoid temptation. If you meditate regularly, you will be able to focus for a longer period of time to finish a daunting assignment. If, on the other hand, you haven’t eaten for the last six hours, you will struggle to bring your full attention to a task. With simple lifestyle changes and regular exercise for the mind, you can hone your willpower like almost any other faculty of your mind. Given that doing anything significant requires discipline and resolve, understanding the science of willpower and building a routine that continually nurtures it, is going to be a powerful tool in your toolkit for high performance.

Even the habits that govern most of our reflex behaviours can be tailored to help us achieve our potential. Studies have shown that each of us is essentially a bundle of habits, accumulated from our environment, our social interactions, our unique personalities and random life events. You might not give much thought to your regular bedtime or the first thing you do in the morning. But most of your day-to-day routine—from where you keep your car keys and whether you prefer tea or coffee, to how you answer the phone and celebrate festivals—seems to have been programmed into your life.

It seems that we were designed to be learning machines, soaking up information and knowledge from the richness of lived experience. And learning is responsible for the changes and improvements in our personalities and skills over the years, no matter our age.

Two people can spend exactly the same amount of time trying to learn something, but their pace and quality of learning might be dramatically different. This has almost nothing to do with innate intelligence, as we will see further on in the book, but is an artefact of the system of learning being implemented.

However, all of the aforementioned skills, mindsets, practices and abilities will amount to nothing without a purpose. Recent research has found that at the heart of every endeavour for high performance lies, what some have called, man’s ultimate search for meaning.

Whatever its source, a clear purpose has an almost magical way of channelling our energies towards a single goal, keeping us anchored through highs and lows, increasing the likelihood of putting in the ten thousand hours and continue until incredible things start to happen.

While coasting along as an average student, I developed an interest in numbers and puzzles, which eventually led to an interest in maths and physics. When I was in high school, I would spend endless hours trying to decipher formulas in an attempt to come up with shortcuts for calculations and, unbeknownst to me, I ended up being better than average in that one area. I didn’t realise at the time that I was indulging in what researchers would call ‘deliberate practice’ and the ‘flow state’, in which you intentionally step out of your comfort zone and try to flex the physical or mental muscles that have never been flexed before. With every such effort, you keep getting incrementally better, and over a period of time, it ends up making a significant difference.

The life of a particular species of tree that grows in China, known as the Chinese Bamboo, is often narrated as a lesson in patience and perseverance. Unlike most trees, this one doesn’t break through the ground for the first four years of its life. And yet, right through this period, it must be watered, fertilised and cared for. It is only in the fifth year that something incredible happens. Not only does the tree appear above the ground, but it also grows at an amazing rate. Within five weeks, it can reach a height of 90 feet. If the people who plant the Chinese Bamboo lose patience and give up watering and nurturing them, these gorgeous trees would never grow to the heights they do, creating lush, green groves.

In life too, we often give up on the projects that don’t seem to yield quick results. But the fact is that persevering, even when there is no obvious success, has immense value. My own start-up journey illustrates this. Between 1999 and 2006, I worked for four different start-ups in the Bay Area, two of which failed. I spent so many years working so hard, and I thought I had nothing to show for it. I was completely disillusioned. But much later, when I started my own company, I realised that the things I’d learnt during those years were, in fact, the most important lessons on this journey. The metaphorical tree appeared only after I had spent years and years labouring underground.

Incidentally, by this time, I had spent five out of the eight years working for failed start-ups. During these years, I discovered that what you learn from failure can’t be learnt any other way. When you face death, your mind works differently. You zoom in on what’s real and what matters. Everything else disappears. You make difficult decisions easily and take bold risks.

During these years, I discovered that what you learn from failure can’t be learnt any other way. When you face death, your mind works differently. You zoom in on what’s real and what matters. Everything else disappears.

A surprising but valuable lesson for me was that people grow at dramatically different paces. Some people grow so much and so quickly that you can hardly recognise them after a few years. On the other hand, many just become stagnant, never truly understanding what happened.

Many of these folks have attained peak performance in their chosen field. They seem to be unusually gifted and continue to perform at the highest levels. But as you start to peel the onion, you realise that most of their ‘overnight success’ is backed by years of intense hard work and refining their craft.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

the fact that any worthwhile aspiration cannot be achieved through a straight and easy path. If it were easy, you would have achieved it a long time ago.

‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles’.

Thomas Edison famously created over a thousand prototypes of the light bulb before finally discovering the commercially viable version that became a landmark invention. But instead of viewing them as a thousand failures and giving up, he is reported to have said, ‘I have not failed ten thousand times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those ten thousand ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.’

Herein lies the secret to the hero’s ability to overcome multiple insurmountable setbacks to reach his ultimate destination. Our very approach to failure might need an overhaul so that we can learn to find lessons in every colossal mistake we make, seeing every challenge as the opportunity to learn and get better rather than as a roadblock to success. The experience of recognising failure, accepting responsibility, and identifying opportunities to learn from errors and reinventing yourself accordingly, requires a demonstration of resilience, creative thinking and problem-solving. And increasingly, new-age companies and businesses are recognising the importance of resilience in potential employees. NASA rejects applications from those with pure histories of success, seeking instead those who have undergone professional failures of various kinds and bounced back from them. And this might be what lies at the very heart of the hero’s journey. So, as you shape your hero’s journey, remember that no hero ever had an easy time—there is value in your road of trials and lessons to be learnt from the ordeals you face.

‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’

Nothing comes easy. As someone once said, ‘It takes ten years to become an overnight success.’ ‘What we repeatedly do is what we become; excellence then is a habit.’ – Aristotle

What is deliberate practice? You can think of regular practice as coasting along within your comfort zone; while deliberate practice involves breaking down what you are trying to learn into smaller elements and specifically focusing on each step, pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, and doing it again and again.

The reality is that your environment plays a powerful role in influencing you, in determining what inspires you, and fuelling your desires and ambitions. Role models who are respected and continuously talked about are the ones that you naturally come to admire. Sometimes, ignition can come from a life situation. Maybe you suffered a major setback, the loss of a loved one, a financial disaster or a life-threatening illness, and in the midst of that suffering, you realised what really matters to you.

No matter the field, no matter the time or geography—the elements of ignition, deliberate practice and coaching are almost always present, and to this date, provide the most scientifically valid explanation for talent. Does that mean that anyone following this recipe can become a world-class performer in any field? Probably not. But you can become really good, and often being really good is more than enough, as it can translate into a life of fulfilment, contribution and accomplishment. The myth of talent holds back far too many people from attempting their best and makes them settle for less than what they are capable of.

Performance Hack #2: Bid Farewell to the Comfort Zone Every time we do something that we have not done before, we feel uncomfortable and are forced to think and pay a lot of attention to the task. Think about the time when you were learning to ride a bicycle. There is no way to learn that absent-mindedly! Finding new activities challenges you, makes you sharper and keeps your mind alert and young. As one gets older, one tends to withdraw more and more into one’s comfort zone. If you intend to stay young in both mind and body, embrace the new and fight your way through the struggles and challenges of the chosen path.

‘Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.’

you can easily become a local expert with as few as a hundred hours of deliberate practice. With two hours of practice a day, it requires just around two months. You read it right. Even if you have never laid your hands on a guitar, with the right kind of practice, you can impress people at your college festival or company using your newfound guitar skills in the next two months. I believe this realisation has to be one of the most liberating ones, enabling us to recognise that what we can do with our minds and bodies is not limited by an old, arbitrary definition of talent, but is very much a function of how we apply ourselves, armed with the latest science about mind, body, learning and performance.

‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’.

The more we push our bodies, the more they adapt to the new challenge and grow the capabilities to get the job done.

Performance Hack #3: Ice-Cold Showers Taking a freezing cold shower or sitting in a tub of icy water sounds like a painful form of self-inflicted torture, but it has been found to be a powerful performance hack. As you shock your body with cold water, your mind sharpens its focus. These ice baths can also heal muscle soreness after an intense workout, making you feel more energetic, and even help you sleep better. Research has shown that this practice also improves immunity and can increase metabolism. Taking a super cold shower first thing in the morning can shake you out of your groggy morning stupor and put you straight into high-performance mode for the day.

If you treat your body like a highly adaptable machine and train and nurture it for your objectives, you will be amazed at what it is capable of doing without any complaints.

Now that we have seen that the body is our primary vehicle for translating all intentions into actions and that we can shape it according to our needs, let us look more closely into how the body operates. It is primarily governed by what is known as the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. If you don’t want to lose it, you better use it.

It appears that the body pays close attention to almost everything we do, and in response, it continually adjusts its functions. If you can deeply internalise the core principles of how your body functions, then you can deliberately fine-tune and optimise it for the performance you need.

but for now, it should suffice to know that no matter what your aspiration, your performance will be significantly better if you have a highly functioning and efficient body. A strong and healthy body will also ensure less downtime due to illness, more energy throughout the day and better likelihood of being highly productive in the later years of your life. All of this significantly expands the quality of productive time available for your life’s work. If you have a strong and healthy body, it will definitely mean that you have a sharp and focused mind

Performance Hack #4: Schedule Standing Meetings You might have heard the catchphrase, ‘Sitting is the new smoking.’ Well, if you find yourself sitting for numerous hours a day, you might want to experiment with standing meetings. Not just does standing eliminate many harmful physiological effects caused by long periods of sitting, but studies have found that standing meetings are shorter and more to the point, therefore more productive. People are more alert and less likely to get distracted or doze off. Research has also found that people are more creative and collaborative when standing during a meeting.

How we breathe can have a profound impact on the body and on our emotions. It is not a coincidence that all ancient traditions emphasise on breathing properly. In the pranayama practice of yoga, there are dozens of different ways to breathe, each affecting us in a different way and leading to much better overall health. Just a few deep breaths every morning and evening can improve your lung health, drain toxins from the body and help in managing stress.

Performance Hack #5: Drink Water First Thing in the Morning After sleeping for (hopefully) seven to eight hours each night, your body wakes up slightly dehydrated. The best thing you can do for your overall health and energy levels is to drink at least two glasses of water first thing in the morning, even before brushing your teeth. Hydrating can boost your energy levels and make you feel alert, rather than sluggish and slow, which might be how you wake up. Water also fuels the brain, as it is essentially 75 per cent water, keeping it well-hydrated for the day ahead. In addition to this, drinking water on an empty stomach in the morning is known to improve immunity by flushing out toxins and is related to weight loss as it stimulates metabolism. This might be one of the simplest changes you can make to your morning routine to make sure you’re at your productive best through the day.

there are actually a few really simple but significant changes that you can make in your evening routine that will help you sleep better. One of the simplest methods is to keep all kinds of screens out of the bedroom. Let your bedroom be a sacred space that you associate with a good night’s rest. Bedtime rituals like listening to soothing music before you sleep, drinking a warm glass of milk or meditating for a few minutes might be helpful as well. It is important to calm the busy mind and get into a relaxed mode.

Performance Hack #6: Find Your Biological Prime Time Have you ever observed the time of the day when you feel most alert and active? This is called your biological prime time (BPT), and while for most adults this is early in the morning, it could differ from person to person. To harness your potential and make the most of your day, identify your BPT and plan your work around it. If you find that you hit your peak in the morning, schedule the most important or difficult tasks for the first quarter of your day. On the other hand, if you find yourself hitting your peak towards the evening, finish your busy work in the morning and save up the tough tasks for the evening. Identifying your BPT and scheduling your day according to it can be a simple but powerful way of discovering your most productive self.