HBRs 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness (with bonus interview Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience with Martin Seligman) (HBRs 10 Must Reads) by Harvard Business Review

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness (with bonus interview Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience with Martin Seligman) (HBRs 10 Must Reads) Reviews

• 
  Brian Nwokedi

  Introduction
  On Mental Toughness is a collection of ten essays originally published in the Harvard Business Review on you guessed it, mental toughness. Each of these ten articles has been hand selected to create a collection of impactful readings on building resilience and thriving in life. When it comes right down to it, we can all use some help to strengthen our ability to be resilient and bounce back from setbacks.
  
  Why You Should Read This Book?
  Mental toughness and overall grit are some of the more important characteristics that we need to develop and maintain. Life is full of ups and downs from both a personal and professional setting, and the only way to successfully navigate these rollercoasters is through mental toughness. The ten articles within this book will help facilitate your improvement in the area of mental toughness. The following is a quick summary/overview of the ten articles within this book:
  1. How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better: you have to make the choice to devote yourself passionately to self-improvement and seek out competition that will push you to your max.
  
  2. Crucibles of Leadership: one of the most reliable indicators and predictors of true leadership is an individual’s ability to find meaning in negative events and learn from even the most trying circumstances.
  
  3. Building Resilience: the personas of Douglas and Walter help us realize that optimism in the face of failure is one of life’s most important characteristics. Without it, resilience in the face of adversity is improbable.
  
  4. Cognitive Fitness: a state of optimized ability to reason, remember, learn, plan, and adapt that is enhanced by certain attitudes, lifestyle choices, and exercises. Cognitive fitness is directly correlated with better decision-making, problem-solving, and stress management.
  
  5. The Making of a Corporate Athlete: every corporate athlete needs to subscribe to the ideas within the High-Performance Pyramid.
  
  6. Stress Can Be a Good Thing If You Know How to Use It: we all need to redefine our relationship with stress shifting our view to “Stress is Enhancing” rather than “Stress is Bad.” Purposefully acknowledging stress lets us pause our visceral reaction, and allows us to choose a more enhancing response.
  
  7. How to Bounce Back from Adversity: we have to learn to turn negative experiences into productive ones through resilience. Psychological resilience is the capacity to respond quickly and constructively to crises.
  
  8. Rebounding from Career Setbacks: determine why you lost, identify new paths, and seize the right opportunity when it’s within your reach.
  
  9. Realizing What You’re Made Of: toughness and resilience is not the same thing. Resilience is not about deflecting challenges but about absorbing them and rebounding stronger than before.
  
  10. Extreme Negotiations: five highly effective strategies for extreme negotiations: (1) understand the big picture, (2) uncover hidden agendas and collaborate with the other side, (3) get genuine buy-in, (4) build relationships that are based on trust rather than fear, and (5) pay attention to process as well as desired outcomes.
  
  You should read this book if you are interested in learning some simple traits and effective tools to improve your overall resilience and mental toughness. When it comes right down to it, we can all use some help to strengthen our ability to be resilient and bounce back from setbacks, and this book gives you some things to start on.
  
  Final Thoughts
  The goal of On Mental Toughness is to help people become more resilient in their day-to-day lives, but sometimes the hype is better than the actual product. On Mental Toughness falls into this bucket for me. While the subject matter is very interesting and the book is compiled in an easy-to-digest fashion, it falls short of being massively impactful. When you expect a book to hit a home run, singles, and doubles are a little less than appealing. It’s still worth reading especially the 5th Essay on “The Making of a Corporate Athlete.”
  
  Deeper dive into
  "The Making of a Corporate Athlete"
  
  Easy to Read: (4.5/5) 90%
  Deep Content: (3/5) 60%
  Overall Rating: (3/5) 60%
• 
  Evin Ashley

  I picked this up at an airport several months ago en route to a conference, thinking it would be good plane reading, and informative for me personally and professionally. I was finally able to read it today, in a day. Harvard Business Review (HBR) has a voice to their articles that is direct and insightful, so it's easy to turn the pages.
  
  I'd say "toughness" here doesn't apply exactly to the dictionary definition of toughness, which has to do with one's ability to withstand adverse conditions. But rather, one's ability to holistically navigate life's challenges. Physical health is cited numerous times in terms of its benefits on focus, energy, stamina, creativity, and even neurogenesis.
  
  A related concept to neurogenesis that I love, and a new word that I learned is "neoteny" - which is "the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species", including "energy, curiosity, and confidence", often through "reinvention" (p.18). The concept of neoteny reminds me of a music video by
  Woodkid, called "Iron": spoiler alert, the video ends on a scene of a child lying in repose, wearing a crown, in a palace high above the clouds. Below him waging war are animals and human adults, some even reciting something apparently religious. It's subjective and interpretations differ, but I interpret the message of the song as one of encouragement to preserve the innocence of our soul - to fight to protect idealism, and avoid becoming either naive or jaded.
  
  I noticed the publication date of each article in this book, whether it was published before or after 9/11. The US changed socially and economically after 9/11. The case studies having to do with war, especially in Afghanistan, need to have a big asterisk next to them: in terms of building relationships and trust, these case studies in building effective business relationships are not appropriate for war. Successful business and a successful war have clear strategy and outcome. Our problem is that since 9/11, we increasingly view war as a profit-making enterprise, rather than an expenditure that is costly in terms of lives and relationships. The strategy and purpose of war have become so convoluted in our day and age, that this book gave ironic examples of us trying to make friends with enemy combatants during war. I hope our policymakers realize that you cannot create peace during war, and this "doublethink" (see Orwell, 1984) has drained our national budget and our influence in the world.
• 
  Malpiszon

  This book clearly got into my hands these days for a reason...
  
  I do believe in post-traumatic growth even more now.
  
  Life's adversities are like broken bones for me .. hurts at the beginning, but when the bone grows together again, it's stronger then ever before.
• 
  Ben

  In my current attempt at helping myself get a promotion at work, reading management books alongside taking management courses online, hopefully this will work (something has to eventually right?). This was a very interesting collection of essays about 'mental toughness' usually in regards to things like 'crucibles'; which is a term for a "super crazy crappy moment that happened that tested everything about me - who I am, what I am, my resolve, etc.". And then how do we handle ourselves, our surroundings, etc, afterwards of this crucible. Do we get PTSD or do we overcome the adversity? Do we get "post-traumatic growth" or "post-traumatic stress". A lot of the articles were based around the military and military practices and training of drill sergeants and similar personnel.
  
  A very well rounded, informative, educational read. Worth the pickup at the library definitely and made me interested in others of the HBR's '10 Must Reads' series.
• 
  Alysha Puducheri

  Quick and impactful read. The kind of book I would go back to and revisit specific chapters based on my environment and the circumstances around me. Offers actionable takeaways. Should be required reading for all managers, but there’s a lot to take away as an employee too.
• 
  Leah

  Kind of a random read. Pretty short and to the point but what really was the point? No real lasting tips that I took away
• 
  Khalid Hajeri

  Toughen up your mental capabilities on your path to becoming a leader!
  
  If you are looking for a book containing fast ways to increase your self-resilience in the face of challenging situations, then "On Mental Toughness" is for you. Selected scholarly articles dealing with tactics on how to persevere in personal, business, and even military environments are presented in this book.
  
  Part of the "HBR's 10 Must Reads" book collection, this book concentrates on the idea of using pressure to your advantage. Whether short or long-term, the troubles you are facing can be creatively funneled into good outcomes simply by using them to make things better. The authors of each article give real life examples of families going through hard times, managers and employees coping with stressfull situations at work, and soldiers using key negotiation skills with foreign citizens in the battlefield. Some of these stories are relatable and the strategies can be implemented in your life regardless of the setting.
  
  There are times where the strategies discussed need further exploration. That is to be expected since this book is simply a collection of chosen articles; I would have liked to see a page or two listing further reading on the topic of mental toughness. Readers will need to do their own further research after they are finished reading the book.
  
  Otherwise, "On Mental Toughness" works quite well as a light inspiring self-help book. It is also a great resource for people studying psychology. Good stuff!
• 
  Noor Abu Hassan

  Good reading, includes alot of new information I enjoyed it.
• 
  H.T. Ellis

  Will keep this one in my collection to refer back to. I felt motivated by this read.
  
  Key takeaways from each article:
  How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better
  - See pressure as motivation, not stressful.
  - Train with the best, even if they are your competition.
  - Don't let short-term failures discourage you from your long-term goal.
  - Actually take the time to celebrate your victories.
  Crucibles of Leadership
  - A crucible in this context is an often rough, life-changing event in your career — a turning-point. See each set-back as an opportunity for positive change.
  Building Resilience
  - Focus on positive psychology — what are your strengths? What is going well? How can I spin this for a positive outcome?
  Cognitive Fitness
  - A great cognitive exercise is a "walkabout" - getting out of your chair and conversing with employees, especially ones in other departments.
  - Experiment and play. This often requires quiet alone time for thought.
  - Learn a variety of skills unrelated to your job that are mentally enriching, such as playing an instrument, learning a sport, or conversing in a new language.
  The Making of a Corporate Athlete
  - Do all the things that you already know are good for you, including: getting regular rest, taking breaks throughout the day, working out, eating right.
  Stress Can Be a Good Thing if You Know How to Use It
  - Stress is a reminder that we care.
  - Acknowledge when you are stressed. Reframe it as excitement.
  - "It's just another cold, dark night on the side of Everest."
  - Stress can "facilitate the acquisition of mental toughness, deeper social bonds, heightened awareness, new perspectives, a sense of greater appreciation for life, a sense of meaning, and strengthened priorities."
  How to Bounce Back from Adversity
  - Best article in the book. Has a helpful exercise; it is a mindset that must be practiced.
  - Resilience: the capacity to respond quickly and constructively to crises. Move quickly from analysis to a plan of action.
  - Consider the following: what can you control right now? What positive impact might your actions have? Can the crisis be contained? How long will the crisis and its repercussions really last?
  Rebounding from Career Setbacks
  - Start by being humble and figure out why you lost.
  - Identify new paths forward.
  - Seize new opportunities that may come your way as you are building the next phase of your life.
  Realizing What You're Made Of
  - Story of someone who suddenly was paralyzed and how they made the best of it.
  - "You don't have to like or somehow justify what's happened. You just have to decide that you can live with it."
  - You can't control what happens, but you can control how you respond.
  - Adversity has a funny way of "crystallizing the truth"; loss amplifies the value of what remains.
  - Remember that your happiness is more important than righting injustices.
  Extreme Negotiations
  - Gave + and - ways to handle negotiations in tough, military situations where pressure and risk felt high.
  - Pause before reacting. Get the big picture first. Lead with curiosity, not judgement.
  - Build or rebuild trust through respect, understanding, and reciprocal commitments.
  - Don't assume there are only two options or outcomes in any situation.
  Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience
  - This was in the format of an interview. For a better experience, there is an episode of Hidden Brain about this very topic.
  - Post-traumatic growth describes the process of becoming a stronger person after a traumatic event. It almost always follows normal trauma responses like emotional upset.
  - It is not widely discussed and therefore not actively recognized by most people; the author hopes to change that through programs in schools and the military.
• 
  Tara

  Fantastic topics on mental fortitude. A few folks already neatly summarized key points in other reviews, but here were my main takeaways:
  
  1) You have the power to change your mindset (and your life). To strengthen your resilience, shift from reflexive, cause-oriented thinking to active, response-oriented thinking. The below are active, response-oriented questions rather than brooding on the causes.
  - CONTROL: What features of your situation can you improve, or even try to improve?
  - IMPACT: What kind of positive impact can you have on what happens next?
  - BREADTH: How can you contain the negatives of the situation and generate currently unseen positives?
  - DURATION: What can I do to begin addressing the problem now?
  
  2) When having conversations with people, especially where you may disagree, focus on understanding their perspective. Don't assume the other side is biased, but you're not. Don't assume their intentions. Instead, be curious - understand the situation from their view. Be humble - ask what you have wrong. Be open-minded - ask yourself if there is another way to explain the situation.
  
  3) Post-traumatic growth is a very real thing. Difficult obstacles arise, but what happens next depends on your mindset. Every challenge is an opportunity for positive change.
• 
  Shivai

  Great short afternoon read. Rational and objective strategies for the workplace. Key takeaways:
  
  
  -Always sit with the smartest person in the room, and if you are the smartest, change the room.
  - Don't quit working on strengths
  - Negative experiences aren't supposed to be the end of the world.
  - Adversity will hit, just let it affect you based on importance
  - Greatest mental workout- learning to play a musical instrument.
  - There is a difference between exceptionally great performers and a regular high achievers.
  - What would the person I look up to do in this situation
  - Neural workouts are emphatic for growth
  -People who don’t give up have a interpret a losing situation as temporary, local, and changeable.
  -Motivation in the most cliche terms is not over rated. It is important.
  - Getting to the top- train with the best.
  - Goals setting isn't taxable. If you don't achieve one, make new ones, just don't forget identifying what the cause of the failure was.
  -Make and interpret notes - REGULARLY IN SHOUTY CAPITALS
• 
  Liz Mercer

  This book found me in an airport, after one of the wildest 12 months I’d ever seen. I found solace reading an instruction manual on how to bounce back after taking a few punches in 2021/2022.
  
  The book reads like a scientific review article, making it instructive and easy to follow. With summarizing charts and just the right amount of anecdotes, I found it quite useful. I’ve implemented quite a few of these lessons into my career and personal life.
  
  If you’re looking for a some education on how to become a more stronger force in your career, this truly is (as the title states) a must-read.
• 
  Will

  While I think this is a good read and is written by people a lot smarter than myself, I didn't find any of their papers that insightful. Most of it seemed to be simply common sense. This would probably be a good book to read prior to starting a managerial job later on in life.
• 
  Maggie

  ABCD: C (emotional consequences) stem not directly from A (adversity) but from B (one's belief's about adversity). The sergeants work through a series of A's and learn to separate B's--heat of the moment thoughts about the situation (I'm a failure) from C's, the emotions generated from those thoughts (feeling down and performing poorly). They then learn D--how to quickly and effectively dispel unrealistic beliefs about adversity" (32)
  Example: overgeneralization or judging a person from a single action: "A soldier in your unit struggles to keep up during physical training and is dragging the rest of the day. His uniform looks sloppy, and he makes a couple of mistakes during artillery practice. It might be natural to think that he lacks the stuff of a soldier. But what effect does that have on both the thinker and the other soldier?" "We also discuss "icebergs"--deeply held beliefs such as "Asking for help is a sign of weakness"--and teach a technique for identifying and eliminating those that cause out-of-kilter emotional reactions: Does the iceberg remain meaningful? Is it accurate in the given situation? Is it overly rigid? Is it useful?" (33)
  "minimize catastrophic thinking by considering worst-case, best-case, and most likely outcomes." For example: negative performance evaluation, follow plan, improve
  
  "Just as positive emotions ignite the energy that drives high performance, negative emotions--frustration, impatience, anger, fear, resentment, and sadness--drain energy. Over time, these feelings can be literally toxic, elevating heart rate and blood pressure, increasing muscle tension, constricting vision, and ultimately crippling performance."
  
  Notice stress triggers, reframe anxiety as a positive benefit, something to be "used" or employed, "own the experiences we have been through and use them to fuel our future . . . thrive, not in spite of stress but because of it." (75)
  
  "...you can create a narrative of your trauma, arise and you can go, like Orpheus, come back from the underground and make sense of what's in the underground, and tell the world what's in the underground, that there's a reason to think there's an important enabling condition after trauma." (128)
  
  Response-oriented thinking:
  Control: What feature of this situation can I even potentially improve?
  Impact: What sort of positive impact can I have on what happens next?
  Breadth: How can I control the negatives of the situation and generate potentially unseen positives?
  Duration: What can I do to begin addressing the problem now?
  
  "Your happiness is more important than righting injustices." (104)
  
  Negotiations: (108)
  1. Understand the big picture
  2. Uncover hidden agendas and collaborate with the other side
  3. Get genuine buy-in
  4. Build relationships that are based on trust rather than fear
  5. Pay attention to process as well as desired outcomes
  
  Avoid assuming. Instead:
  Be curious. Help me understand the situation.
  Be humble. What do I have wrong?
  Be open-minded. Is there another way to explain this?
  
  Uncover and collaborate:
  Ask: Why is that important to you?
  Propose solutions: Here's a possibility. What might be wrong in it?
  
  Elicit buy-in
  Appeal to fairness: what should we do?
  Appeal to logic and legitimacy: I think this makes sense because...
  Consider constituent perspectives: How can each of us explain this agreement to colleagues?
  
  Be respectful.
  
  Focus on process:
  I can't agree, but I'd prefer not to walk away either.
  Unless you're willing to work toward a mutually acceptable outcome, I can't afford to spend more time negotiating.
• 
  Shweta Jha

  This is my second book from the HBR series, the current COVID situation has changed so much for all of us and at times even doing routine things and keep us in the business requires mental discipline and agility. I thought this book may be good read and may help me in dealing with current situation in better way.
  The book is great and gives you perspective on how to not just survive but thrive under pressure, how to focus on your strengths and why we need to work on cognitive fitness and more. Five key takeaways for me are:
  Managing pressure – personally, I perform better under certain level of pressure, the key to deal with pressure is to focus on your own excellence, look through what you can and can’t control. Understand the long term goal and channelize your energy. Competition can be good, use the competition – its opportunity for you to retrospect and reinvent. Keep the desire to win and finally don’t forget to celebrate. 😊
  Building resiliency – failures are tough to deal with, no one likes to fail, but it’s part of our professional career and essentially of our lives. Sometimes, we feel so helpless and its okay to feel that way, there is always a way to bounce back, focus on your strengths, be optimistic. It’s important that you have emotional, social and spiritual fitness. Reach out and develop your signature strengths, it will help you lead though setbacks.
  Cognitive fitness – this one is my favorite, cognitive fitness is equally important as physical fitness, sometimes in a situation where you have to take a decisions or you are dealing with conflicts it is must. Both physical fitness and cognitive fitness are complementary to each other. Many of us follows a regime for physical fitness, but very less people focuses on building cognitive fitness. There are few great ideas stated in this book – if you are under stress - start walking, read funny books, play games, find out what you are not learning, take notes and go back and read them, learn new things, indulge in hobbies and exercise, exercise and exercise.
  The more cognitively fit you are, the more you will be able to solve the problems, take business decisions and deal with the stress and change.
  The making of the corporate athlete – if there is one quality that executives seek for themselves and their employees, it is the sustained high performance in the face of ever increasing pressure and change. The books has great example on performance management and how one can improve by addressing different aspects of the body, the emotions, the mind and the sprit.
  Physical capacity – helps build endurance and promotes mental and emotional recovery, take break, go out on walk, hit the gym.
  Emotional capacity – create the internal climate that drives the ideal performance state, - find value, learn to recognize negative emotions and engage yourself with positives.
  Mental Capacity – focus physical and emotional energy on the task at the hand, don’t limit yourself by defining mental boundaries, challenge to do more, set small targets and continue working towards it. Visualize the success, it generates positive energy and help you push beyond.
  Spiritual capacity – provides powerful source of motivation, determination and endurance.
  You can increase spiritual capacity by tapping into deepest value and defining strong sense of purpose.
  A great example could be - how Satya Nadella and his SLT team are inculcating and thriving on our responsibility towards each and every person on the earth and the environment we live in.
  Dealing with extreme negotiation – we go through negotiations all the time, be it your pay raise discussion, promotions, getting feature committed or bring everyone to the same page. The key points are to understand the big picture, uncover hidden agendas and collaborate with other side, get genuine buy-in, build relationship that are build on trust, pay attention to the process as well as desired outcome. Few example in the book during Afghan war is great.
• 
  Gregory Williams

  For years, I've been discussing, writing about and teaching on the subject of resilience because, as I see it, it's something that seemed to be slipping, particularly in western culture. What I mean is, when you look back through history, difficulties are fairly predictable, and to expect only the best, most positive outcomes, you begin to forget this reality. Forgetting makes us shocked, surprised and ill-prepared when bad things happen. In the past several years, as we've undergone a worldwide pandemic, many people are learning their own degree of adaptability to catastrophic events.
  
  There are many avenues to building resilience, or mental toughness. It's not what many people believe it is. I recall reading Norman Vincent Peale's book, "The Tough Minded Optimist" and finding it highly enlightening, decades ago. In fact, here's a link to an article I wrote about it:
  https://discover.hubpages.com/educati...
  
  Another great book I found and absorbed on this topic is "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron, which approaches the subject with compassionate understanding from a Buddhist perspective.
  
  That said, I consider the Harvard Business Review a pretty reputable source to go to in order to provide a scientific and respected set of articles on the subject, and bought copies of this collection of articles for myself and my children, because, as I told them, the world can be a difficult, uncaring and even evil place at times, and to expect that you'll be treated with kindness, compassion and respect at all times is to put yourself in peril.
  
  Integrating an understanding of resilience and mental toughness into your life is giving yourself armor.
  
  Because it's a collection of different articles over a broad span of time, some articles are more useful than others. I'm definitely more favorable toward stories of people, particularly when someone tried approach A, which didn't work, and then tried approach B, which worked better, and then cites examples. The article on Extreme Negotiations, focusing on army negotiators in Afghanistan was particularly insightful in that regard. Martin Seligman writes a compelling article on Building Resilience and then in an interview at the end also talks a lot about post-traumatic growth, contrasting it with contemporary understandings of PTSD.
  
  Good resource, which I'll keep on my bookshelves and will likely use as reference in the future.
• 
  Stacy

  Good grief this was awful. I read far more than I wanted to because there was a nice cat sitting on my lap and we all know not to mess with such a rare event, so even though I wanted to put this book down early on I stuck it out.
  
  What did I learn? Nay... What did this book state? That business is like being a pro athlete, or in the military. That some of the ways you think and feel, especially after a significant event, are wrong. That you can reposition your trajectory for the better - first mentally, then for others to witness.
  
  Eeeehhhh... no, no, no, and maybe, respectively. I think overall the problem with this book is it's underlying assumptions of what a positive outcome would be - that next career title, validation in the form of corporate progress. That managers and those in higher titles are always right. That there are always alternatives to the present situation. All of those things are debatable at best. Yet one must buy into all of these for the essays to have value.
  
  I'm going to give another one of these HBR books a chance but I don't hope for much, after this one.
• 
  Robert Montalbo

  This is a great book on leadership, strategy and tactics. I especially enjoyed the section entitled, " Play The Game." To be more specific, how to play the long game. The game of building relationships. Why its important to do so, even if we do not want to, or see the immediate benefit.
  There are different approaches to building relationships, certainly the heavy handed approach might produce short term results, but for long term success, its best to develop meaningful and healthy relationships, especially with your boss. To do this, one has to play the long game. Building relationships not for personal gain, but building relationships to better the organization and help the overall cause. This is the measure of true success.
  I plan to read this book again in two weeks as I'm sure I will find it useful long term. I highly recommend this read for those who want to lead others. It just makes sense.
  
  Robert
• 
  Przemek Kotowski

  One of the main factors distinguishing between successful and unsuccessful leaders is how one responds to adversity. We live in times of unprecedented hardship that will put leaders to the extreme test. These leaders do not know how to react to a global pandemic and what the post-Covid world will look like. This collection of articles is a timely and very relevant read reminding us of the need to view challenges as opportunities and helping us understand the physiological and emotional toll hardships have on us and our organizations.
  This is also a great source of inspiration, strategies, and case studies originating from professional sports, military, and business that can be easily applied. For example, how to change post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth, what is the role of crucibles of leadership and what is their role in leadership growth, how to manage stress, and how to apply professional athlete’s regimen in business.
• 
  Yordanos

  This is a must read book for anyone. You don’t have to be a leader/manager to get value out of the insights packed in the book — they’re generally applicable and the frameworks/tools presented can be effective for all.
  
  I read this book slowly because there was much to digest and synthesize. Most of the pages of my copy are filled with underlined lines, margin notes, exclamation marks, reminders to look up/read further upon an author/idea, etc. The point being that the material in this book requires active and deliberate engagement, and follow through and practice to truly get the intended value from it.
  
  I’ll certainly be revisiting chapters in the future and practicing + sharing the frameworks outlined.
• 
  Omar Mohamed Alaa

  So this was one of these books that had a halo about it even before I started reading it, I felt that this book will have an impact, and it didn’t disappoint.
  
  This is a selection of articles from Harvard Business Review discussing the concepts around being more resilient and mental toughness. The book is stock jammed with fascinating insight and data and helpful advice.
  
  Yet one of the key messages I came out with, was that it’s all in our minds, the way we choose to view struggles is up to us and we can change it, and you will be amazed by the positive impact on your life they will have if you choose to see them in a different light.
  
  Definite Read,
  Definite Buy.
  
  Thanks to the walking school of knowledge Karim Mamdouh for lending me this amazing read. Love u Bro.
• 
  Ashwin Prasad

  An ensemble of amazingly written pieces pertaining to topics ranging from elite performance, cognitive fitness, adversity, setbacks, stress and pressure. This is a short read, and all of these essays can be found online. However, I find a lot of joy out of reading these powerful words on paper, rather than through pixels. There’s a lot of reflection that this set of reading material set off within me, whether it was connecting personal experiences to concepts in the reading or thinking about practices or areas I could improve on moving forward.
  
  My favorite quote: “Your critical task as a leader is to promote the highest levels of organizational performance by creating environments where people can achieve their brains’ full potential.” - Gilkey and Kilts
• 
  Gaurav Bansal

  Good wisdom through collection of articles about mental resilience, coping with adversity, and extremis negotiation. The bonus article covers a good and practical framework about turning a traumatic experience head-on into a growth propelling phase. The model is about creating mental toughness, leading with strength, and social skills in the leadership. I consider the framework has applicability beyond extreme traumatic by opening doors in dealing with stages of regular anxiety and depression. Overall a good read but the value of this knowledge will only com if one commits to apply these learnings in everyday life.