Peak Peformance

"Billionaire" Reading Habits -- 11 Ways to Read 52 Books In 52 Weeks, 2X Your Reading Speed and Improve Your Comprehension By 500%.

"Billionaire" Reading Habits -- 11 Ways to Read 52 Books In 52 Weeks, 2X Your Reading Speed and Improve Your Comprehension By 500%.

My 8th grade geography teacher used to say "leaders are readers". I was skeptical. It seemed like a clever phrase designed to trick us into reading, instead of watching another episode of The Simpson's. 

It's been a few years, but I'm finally starting to understand the depths of the phase. After reading the biographies of the world’s peak performing billionaire leaders, it's clear... They read. A lot.

Here's a few examples of "Billionaire Reading Habits":

  • Oprah Winfrey has one of the biggest and most popular book clubs.
  • Bill Gates reads 50+ books each year and takes vacation time each year devoted to reading.
  • Warren Buffet still reads 600-1000 pages each day and spends about 80% of his work day reading. 
  • Phil Knight was a reading fanatic and used the philosophies of great military and business leaders to build Nike into a multi-billion dollar shoe Goliath. 
  • Mark Cuban reads 3+ hours each day.
  • Elon Musk taught himself to operate 3 multi-billion dollar companies (in different industries) through reading.
  • Charlie Munger reads so much that his family refers to him as "a book with a couple of legs sticking out".

If you want to start your billionaire reading habit, below we'll outline a series of strategies that will help you to read at least 52 books a year. In part 1, we'll discuss the basics of starting a reading habit and in part 2 cover specific strategies to 2X your reading speed, improve your comprehension by 500% and build billionaire wisdom. 

The 4 Elements of Deliberate Practice -- The Source of Kobe's Greatness

The 4 Elements of Deliberate Practice -- The Source of Kobe's Greatness

As a kid, I remember practicing my jump shot in the driveway. I would imagine the clock ticking down -- "5", "4", "3", "2", "1" and releasing my jump shot, while yelling "Kobe!" --- Only to watch the ball clang off the rim. For some reason we thought that calling out the name of a prominent athlete (Jordan, Garnett, Iverson, etc) would somehow magically cause us to shoot a higher percentage. Perhaps it did.

This was at the age that all of my peers dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. We wanted to be the next Jordan, Pele, Elway or Agassi. We wanted to be superstars and somehow still live the lives of normal kids -- going to birthday parties, playing after school and learning to become productive members of society. We didn't understand the price they paid in order to achieve greatness in their sport.

Similarly, today many of my peers dream of becoming the next Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Malcolm Gladwell, Ramit Sethi, Richard Branson, Marc Cuban or Bill Gates. We want to be a superstar and still live the life of a normal working adult. We want to see our friends, hangout on the weekends, live a low stress lifestyle (no worries), and yet have all of the riches and freedom the life of a high-profile entrepreneur promises.

But, are we willing to pay the price?

You’ll “Sleep Like The Dead” If You Do These 9 Things After 9 PM

You’ll “Sleep Like The Dead” If You Do These 9 Things After 9 PM

It's 4:59 AM and I'm waiting outside of Starbucks at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. A mob of exhausted travelers gathers near the entrance and waits impatiently for the barista to lift the gates. Each weary traveler scans the menu with their bloodshot eyes, anticipating the quick hit of caffeine and sugar before they head to their final destination. With their sunken eye sockets, drooping shoulders and outstretched arms, they look more like a group of zombies than a group of upper middle-class business travelers.

After getting my morning cup of coffee, I head to the bathroom and look in the mirror. An unrecognizable set of bloodshot and sunken eyes stares back at me in the mirror.

I am one of them.

As I return to my waiting area I'm reminded of the importance of a good night of sleep and a successful routine that always precedes a night of rejuvenating rest. In the last year, I found that you burn out fast when you aren't doing the little things that set you up for success. With that in mind, I've highlighted 9 things that I try to do each night before bed. I don't always complete each one, but when I do, I know tomorrow will be successful. It’s that simple.

9 things may seem like an awful lot, but you’re already doing 9+ things each night and what I'm going to describe isn't that crazy. Most of these ideas I've borrowed from top performers like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlie Munger, Dave Asprey, Napoleon Hill, Thomas Edison, Jim Rohn and my dad.

My intention with this is to give you a set of tools to help you maximize your nightly routine.

See what resonates with you. Try one. Maybe two. Test and see what happens.

Let's dive in.

4 Scientifically Proven Techniques to Amplify Your Meditation Practice

4 Scientifically Proven Techniques to Amplify Your Meditation Practice

Are You Getting What You Want Out Of Your Meditation Practice?

I once told a Zen Philosophy PHD student about my meditation practice. He told me it was cheating. 

According to him “real” meditation means you need to sit for 12 hours each day, for 50 years, in the Himalayas, in complete silence, with your legs crossed, while saying “ohm”, give away all of your worldly possessions, eat nothing but rice and boiled vegetables and drink 35 cups of green tea each day… in order to achieve enlightenment. Or something like that.

In any case, everyone has heard about the importance of mediation and yet very few people are actually making progress in their meditation practice. They learn how to do it and then never improve. It's like the guy who’s been typing with two index fingers for 30 years and never learned how to use both hands on a keyboard. 

If you want to get more out of your meditation practice, this article is for you. 

You'll learn:

  • Why most spiritual teachers have absolutely no idea how to teach meditation. 
  • 4 methods to amplify your meditation practice and take it to the next level (backed by real science).
  • How to meditate like a monk in the Himalayas without leaving your house.
  • One very effective (and expensive) way to teach your brain to monitor itself. 
  • A method you can use each morning to stop your brain from procrastinating. 

How To Solve Your Creative Problems And Come Up With Your Million Dollar Idea

How To Solve Your Creative Problems And Come Up With Your Million Dollar Idea

Do you ever get stuck on a creative problem?

Trying to come up with the next brilliant business idea that's going to change the world? Blah.
Want to put your personal spin on an existing idea so that you can make it fresh and new? Ick.
Writing ANOTHER article? Booooo.

It sucks. It's hard. It drives you mad. It makes you want to quit. 

Honestly... There are so many problems to solve and things to do, that you just want to take a nap. It would be so much easier to fall asleep and let all of your worries drift away.

But, when you wake up... Your creative problems are still there. Unsolved. Unanswered. Staring menacingly at your face and laughing at your creative incompetence.

How do we solve our creative problems? How do we come up with "the BIG Idea"? And how do we get past our mental blocks?

Whenever I get stuck, I remind myself of the story behind Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. 

The 7 Step Method To Achieve Any Goal

The 7 Step Method To Achieve Any Goal

To all my peak performing and goal achieving friends out there (yes, that’s you!), let’s discuss the finest and most comprehensive goal setting process available. It’s called…

The 7 Step Method To Achieve Any Goal

Whatever YOUR top new year's goal is -- grow your business, get organized, lose weight, spend less, get fit, be happier, get promoted, fall in love, enjoy life more, you can use this ultra effective goal setting process to achieve your top new year’s goal.

The 4 Fundamentals Of Unstoppable Motivation

The 4 Fundamentals Of Unstoppable Motivation

The other day, I was asked a question by a reader and friend.

She asked: "It’s hard for me to stay motivated and consistently make progress towards my goals. How do I get motivated and stay motivated?"

It's a good question, because when we are motivated, we stay consistent and we make progress. We'll stay up late, read all the books, put in the extra work, develop the skills, create the habits and do all the little things necessary to realize our goal.

It's that simple.

This got me thinking about the times where I was driven like an obsessive maniac to accomplish a goal, and the times I was unmotivated and failed. 

After searching through my stories, and re-reading the lessons of great leaders and peak performers, I noticed that there are 4 fundamentals to getting motivated and staying motivated.

When we understand and implement these fundamentals we create unstoppable motivation and achieve our goal. 

4 Books That Will Make You A Genius

4 Books That Will Make You A Genius

Many books are written and released each year. Most of them are bad, some of them are good, a few are great, and the top .001% are exceptional. 

It’s rare that an author is a great writer AND has deep domain expertise. This is a list of books by authors who are both.

Who’s this book list for? The creative/visionary/big picture thinker who wants to awaken their inner genius.  

The Hangover Cure For The Masses

The Hangover Cure For The Masses

I'm not a big drinker. But when I do, I get crippling hangovers. It's not just the awful hangover feeling that pisses me off, It’s that I stop being my best.

Instead of dealing with the repercussions of my poor decisions, I've been perfecting an antidote. It’s been years in the making, but I’m ready to release it.

I'm calling it "The Hangover Cure For The Masses". You can call it whatever you want.

What I’ve done is broken down a hangover cure using food and supplements. This post focuses on the fundamentals of hacking your hangover, with a few notes for the elite performer who needs to bounce back quickly.

How to Rapidly Increase Your Success By 400% Using These Little Known Powerful Strategies from LeBron James, Steve Jobs & Picasso

How to Rapidly Increase Your Success By 400% Using These Little Known Powerful Strategies from LeBron James, Steve Jobs & Picasso

They Hated Him.

His biggest fans burned his jersey. They cursed his name. They wished he was never born.

When Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers he went from the biggest star in the NBA, to the most hated man in sports. Just like that, in an instance. 

This post is about his road to redemption.

It's about how he elevated himself to a new level of super-stardom.

In this guest post from my buddy Robert James Collier you'll learn:

  1. The secret behind 'Post Traumatic Growth'
  2. How he used his daily habits to create a new skillset. One that the basketball world had never seen.
  3. The common thread between elite performers like Lebron, Picasso and Steve Jobs. 

5 Ways to Get In "The Zone" (Proven by Science)

5 Ways to Get In "The Zone" (Proven by Science)

The zone is just a brainwave state

It’s important to know that “The Zone” is not a quasi-mythological state, but well researched brain wave state.

Research conducted by the Biocybernaut Institute shows that peak performers from Brady to Mark Cuban know how to generate peak performance when they need to. They understand how to calm their nervous system before big moments and can get generate performance boosting brain waves (almost at will).

Today’s post is about how top performers can use well researched methods and techniques to produce more Alpha brainwaves and get in the zone. 

How Top Performers Stay Calm Under Extreme Pressure

How Top Performers Stay Calm Under Extreme Pressure

In the last post we talked about how exponential technologies are creating a need for rapid learning. Today's topic is about how top performers manage their emotions and remain calm under extreme pressure.

Here's the problem: Most people walk around in a low level state of anxiety. This constant anxiety clouds our judgment and stops our ability to develop as top performers. Research shows that consistent anxiety causes degradation of the area of your brain that controls willpower and self-control.

It gets worse.

When placed in stressful situations our nervous system kicks in; all learning stops and performance plummets. Worst of all, in high pressure situations we panic and we stop being the best version of ourselves. This is especially frustrating when you are used to performing at a high level. 

Csikszentmihalyi's Flow State Triggers and The Power of Habit

Csikszentmihalyi's Flow State Triggers and The Power of Habit

The first time I saw Laird Hamilton. I knew this guy was a badass. He was jacked, tall, had blond hair, and was a big wave surfer. Hamilton had calm confidence about him that came through even while watching him on TV. For some reason I was really impressed by the guy.

He was like a mutant king from another planet. The things he was doing were so beyond anything I could ever dream of doing. He was achieving the impossible and with ease. His laser like focus, calm presence under chaos, and ability to slow down time were like nothing I had ever seen. It was like he was able to see the codes of the Matrix and knew what was coming before anyone else.

In other words, he had abilities that I would never have.