HABIT ONE: SEEK CLARITY 1. Envision the Future Four. Have vision and consistently set clear intentions for who you want to be each day, how you want to interact with others, what skills you must develop to win in the future, and how you can make a difference and serve with excellence. Never enter a situation without thinking through these four categories (self, social, skills, service). 2. Determine the Feeling You’re After. Ask yourself frequently, “What is the primary feeling I want to bring to this situation, and what is the primary feeling I want to get from this situation?” Don’t wait for emotions to land on you; choose and cultivate the feelings that you wish to consistently experience and share in life. 3. Define What’s Meaningful. Not everything that is achievable is important, and so achievement is not the issue—alignment is. Look to upcoming months and projects and determine what might bring you enthusiasm, connection, and satisfaction—then spend more time there. Always be asking, “How can I make this effort personally meaningful to me?”

The Power of Habit : Book on how habits that turn great performers into extraordinary ones are created; and teaches you how to get it But we don’t know that. The unpredictable, unfolding unknown is exactly that. The framework of our past is not a great predictor of our future. Victor Frankl reminds us of that. He says, let me tell you and show you how I and my friends lived in the concentration camps. And if I can do it there, and suffer at that level, so you can you. Early in Indian-American author Kumar’s achingly au courant third novel, his writer-narrator muses from an artists’ retreat that “with the rise of ‘alternative facts’, what did ‘fiction’ even mean?” It’s a question this book grapples with as it navigates Trump, the pandemic and India-Pakistan tensions through the prism of an author battling against fake news. Perhaps deliberately, this makes A Time Outside This Time less successful as a traditional novel with compelling characters and more an involving, long-form literary opinion piece. Kumar’s gamble just about pays off.This means you don't have to wait for motivation, love, joy, excitement or any other positive emotion… You can choose to generate it, on demand, anytime you want through the power of habit.” Their competitor was working just as hard, was just as determined, just as focussed, just as ready, just as driven…. But on the day, they slipped into the obscurity of second place. How to Win Friends & Influence People : Written in 1936, walks you through navigating around people and getting to success He changed the industry of martial arts, and created a new form. In a deeply-steeped tradition, that’s not easy to do. He was able to disrupt and shift the game. They were not manufactured disruptions; they were authentic disruptions that came through insight and suffering. The combination of those two are very important. My biggest pause came with the quote: “The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe to it.” It’s a quote from Joseph Campbell, an American writer known for his work in comparative mythology. He’s probably most often remembered for the counsel, “Follow your bliss.” It’s a quote that is often misinterpreted but is a little too nihilistic for my taste.

So, a mark of somebody who has developed their inner capacity, as well as an external skill, is their ability to move freely in the world around them in any condition, any environment. One of the fundamental questions is: Who am I? That’s an ancient meditation that’s been around for thousands and thousands of years. What is my purpose? That’s also been around for thousands and thousands of years. I can’t say what somebody else’s purpose is. But I can say that one of the mechanisms to help get closer to understanding it is to listen. I read the book pretty much straight through although I have long practiced one of the tidbits of advice the author offers. I refuse to multi-task and believe it is the scourge of inefficiency and incomprehension. But I do believe in taking breaks, in changing the scene, and augmenting the primary objective (in this case, reading) with the indulgence of a good coffee or a piece of chocolate. Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual : The book that shows you how to instill discipline into your life and reach your objectives like a bossMindfulness is the ability to be where your feet are through awareness training. It involves training our mind to deeply focus in the present moment. The present moment is where wisdom is revealed, performance is expressed, and relationships are formed. In general, it is investing in your interior life, and organising your external life towards great challenge. The last pillar is the science and art of recovery. On this episode: a rare and poignant conversation on the life, aspirations, and motivations of chef and TV icon, Gordon Ramsay.

A power plant transforms and transmits energy. In the same way, you don’t have happiness. Rather, you transfer your thoughts into feelings that are or are not happy.” And when he writes, “There are only two narratives in the human story: struggle and progress,” my first thought was that Camus would disagree. But that’s too much of a digression to get into here. Our children are now saying, ‘Hey, listen. We’ve got to take care of our planet. We’ve got to organise our lives to have a deeper meaning rather than just working hard.’ So there’s great similarity between what Frankl saw for a purposeful life then and what’s considered a purposeful life now.High Performance will help you think clearly, act decisively and keep calm under pressure. If you want to stop making excuses and take responsibility for your life, I recommend you read this book. ANT MIDDLETON