Learned Excellence

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Quentin Tarantino once said “I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent. I want to really test it out and say, ‘Okay, you’re not that good. You just reached the level here.’ I don’t ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate.” This bold and farsighted perspective is a key ingredient that Eric Potterat and Alan Eagle highlight in their work with and observation of a wide-ranging group of elite performers across business, extreme sports, and the militarily.

In their book - Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World’s Top Performers - they share the five principles that anchor their approach towards perpetual excellence. While the principles themselves may not surprise you, the discipline and execution prowess of the outliers we discuss will inspire you to reimagine your own pursuit of greatness. Here’s a glimpse of the topics we explore:

• The distinguishing characteristic that makes elite performers singular.
• The role that biology and/or genetics plays in achieving excellence?
• The five principles of Learned Excellence.
• How negative self-talk can be a performance multiplier?
• The myth of one’s potential.
• Why ‘Growth Mindset’ is an incomplete discipline?
• The role your breath plays in helping you embrace adversity.