A few years ago I began to take notice of the work of Brad Stulberg, an author and coach who’s done an extensive amount of research into the science of optimal health and human performance. Brad’s articles in Outside and New York magazines consistently introduced me to innovative and intriguing ideas about how to perform at higher levels in any number of domains, and I found myself eager to read more.
Then a few months ago I had an opportunity to meet Brad in person and truly appreciated his thoughtful perspective on coaching and personal effectiveness. Afterwards Brad was gracious enough to send me a copy of his book Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success, co-written with Steve Magness, an elite track coach. As eager as I was to read it, the press of other responsibilities (and an already-lengthy reading list) kept me from cracking Peak Performance until I took it with me on a recent cross-country flight. I found it so deeply compelling that I finished it by the time I returned to SFO, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
As an executive coach and someone who teaches MBAs at Stanford, I’m constantly exploring material that might be of interest to my clients and students, much of which pertains to improving performance in one way or another. Having been exposed to so much literature in this field, I can say with confidence that Peak Performance is one of the best books of its kind, an outstanding resource that's likely to provide each reader with thought-provoking ideas about how to approach life a little differently and improve their effectiveness as a result.
Peak Performance is comprised of three sections that interrelate but address distinct bodies of material. In Section 1, The Growth Equation, Brad and Steve explore the book’s foundational idea: Stress + Rest = Growth. This core concept is neatly articulated by these bullets in the conclusion:
Systematically grow by alternating between stress and rest.
- Stress yourself.
- Seek out “just-manageable challenges” in areas of your life in which you want to grow.
- Cultivate deep focus and perfect practice.
- Work in discrete blocks.
- Nurture a growth or challenge mindset.
- Have the courage to rest.
- Grow your mindful muscle with meditation so that you can more easily choose rest.
- Apply your growing mindful muscle in everyday life.
- Take smart breaks and let your subconscious go to work.
- Prioritize sleep.
- Take extended time off.
There are so many parallels to my own approach to coaching here: Growing by expanding our comfort with discomfort. The importance of deep work and self-care. The value of a growth mindset. The necessity of a mindfulness practice (and the specific benefits of meditation.) The ways in which boundaries and other limits on work actually support superior performance.
So perhaps it's no surprise that I find Brad and Steve's work so compelling. But what makes Peak Performance such a useful addition to my library is the balance that Brad and Steve strike between vivid examples that bring these ideas to life and in-depth discussions of relevant research findings from psychology, neuroscience, exercise physiology and related fields.
A few caveats: Brad and Steve write authoritatively about the parallels between physical performance and our experience in other domains of life, but if stories about athletes (and specifically runners) aren't your thing, this aspect of the book may eventually feel repetitive. Section 2 on Priming and Section 3 on Purpose are valuable in and of themselves and entirely consistent with Section 1's discussion of stress and rest (which comprises more than half the book), but they also feel less thorough and more subjective. Section 2, which addresses such topics as the power of routines, the impact of mood and environment on performance, and the social dynamics of motivation is persuasive but covers this vast swath of material relatively quickly.
And Section 3, which addresses the impact that a sense of purpose can have on our performance, draws heavily on the process of clarifying personal values developed by the founders of JoolHealth. I don't have any objection to this approach, but two others I've found even more useful are the VIA Survey of Character Strengths (developed by Martin Seligman, one of the originators of the positive psychology movement), and the Life Journey Map (developed by Scott Bristol, one of my mentors.) None of these caveats detract from the overall value of the book, but I found it helpful to assess each of the three sections on its own merits, rather than expect Sections 2 and 3 to replicate Section 1.
Shortly after finishing Peak Performance I had a conversation with a coaching client, a CEO who's in the process of realizing that compulsive overwork is undermining his effectiveness by preventing him from being at his best in important conversations, and that a more diligent commitment to rest and self-care will allow him to bring all of his intellectual and interpersonal skills to bear when the stakes are highest. It occurred to me that he would find this book of value, and I recommended it--and he had already started it. No coincidence.
