In our last little sequence of +1s (here, here, and here), we spent some time hanging out with Alden Mills, chatting about some great ideas from his great book, Unstoppable Mindset.
As it turns out, after drafting those +1s, I spent some time connecting with Alden in a 1-on-1 interview. You can check that out here. It was awesome.
As it ALSO turns out, as I was reading Alden’s book, I got another book he recommended called The Confident Mind by Dr. Nate Zinsser.
Alden referenced Dr. Zinsser and wisdom from his book a bunch of times so, midway through reading Alden’s book, I Amazoned Dr. Z’s book.
Thanks to the miracle that is our modern world, The Confident Mind arrived the following evening. I started it the next morning and finished it that day.
It’s FANTASTIC.
In fact, I think it’s now at least tied for first as THE best mental toughness book I’ve ever read.
The first three chapters in particular are MIND-BOGGLINGLY (and life-changingly) good. I HIGHLY (!) recommend it. (Check out the Notes here and get a copy of the book here.)
As per the inside back flap of the book, Dr. Nate Zinsser is a “renowned performance psychology expert who has taught three generations of soldiers, athletes, and executives to master the art of confidence and mental toughness.”
For over three decades, Dr. Zinsser was the director of the Performance Psychology Program at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
He’s also worked with world-class performers including two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, as well as many Olympic and NCAA champions.
As per the inside front flap: “Dr. Zinsser has come to understand that one single trait above all others makes peak performance possible: confidence, or the belief in oneself. … you perform best when you are so certain of your abilities that your flow of fear, doubts, and confusion slows to the barest minimum. … Confidence is a skill that can be taught, improved, and applied by anyone to enhance nearly every aspect of our lives and careers.”
Now…
The book is PACKED with Big Ideas.
We’ll define confidence and chat about how to get more of it soon.
For Today…
I want to briefly chat about the VERY FIRST quote with which Dr. Z starts his book and the VERY LAST quote with which Dr. Z ends his book.
It’s the same quote.
It’s from Sun Tzu.
Here it is…
Sun Tzu says: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
I repeat…
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
That’s the “First Victory.”
We need to win in our own minds before we enter the arena.
Do you?
We’ll talk about how in our next +1.
For now…
What’s your most important WIN for Today?
See that target. 🎯
See yourself hitting that target.
And…
Go do what needs to get done to hit it.
NOW!
🏹 🎯
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