The Rise of Superman

I stumbled across this Steven Kotler book at my library when I was looking for a copy of Tomorrowland. As a person who has coached high school distance runners and with children who play football, downhill ski, and mountain climb, I was interested in what I could learn about improving human performance.

In The Rise of Superman, Kotler wonders why the boundaries of extreme/adventure sports have been pushed so far, so fast. Perhaps you read the stories of Laird Hamilton surfing at Teahupoo or Alex Honold climbing in Yosemite. (Both of these videos have allusions to the ideas that Kotler is exploring.) Kotler provides some insight into how these amazing athletes are able to do this.

This is not a book on the training you will need to do to become the next Dean Potter. If nothing else you need to know up front that the stories of what the best are doing all have a level of commitment to their individual endeavors which is nothing short of unabashed focus and determination.

The most interesting takeaway for me had to do with the Flow Genome Project and how to begin to recognize what we can do to enter into Flow, a mental state where a person is completely in the moment and experiencing things Neo-like as we enter the Matrix. Some of it comes down to recognizing how we are wired and then putting ourselves in positions to experience that mental state.

For me, that has more to do with being in the moment in the mountains and connects to why I enjoy hiking, climbing, trailrunning, and mountaineering. I could say before reading this book that those are the times when I was fully present to the world around me and not encumbered by distractions which would bother me in other places.

This is a good read a a great place to begin understanding Flow. To take this idea further a person would want to read Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.  One question I have as a teacher is how to create an environment where students can have an easier time entering into flow in the classroom. As a parent, I am interested in how to help my kids recognize what kinds of situations they will experience flow and how to support and encourage them in this.

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