Wall Street Journal Bestseller
New York Times Bestseller
“A thrill ride of a book, empowering in its implications of what any individual can achieve.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A fascinating primer on how athletes of extreme sports use flow to accomplish what seem like impossible goals, such as skiing down cliffs or surfing 100-foot waves. But a close reading of the book also provides great insights into how everyday athletes can use flow in their workouts and the rest of their lives.” —Financial Times
“Kotler takes on the latest research on flow through the lens of action and adventure athletics…[Writing] primarily about flow in high-stakes sports like surfing—where focus and concentration can be the difference between a tubular ride and a watery death—but the concept could also have big implications for the business world.” —Fortune
“In this high-octane study, Steven Kotler explores ‘flow’, a neurochemically rich state in which cognitive and physiological processes mesh. The stupendous physical feats of the late ski-base jumper Shane McConkey and others are riveting. Equally surprising is what we know of flow science, such as how the brain’s superior frontal gyrus deactivates to speed decision-making” —Nature
“The Rise of Superman is full of scientific explanations about why flow helps athletes perform at their peak, why this is on the upswing in recent decades, and how almost anybody can better tap their ultimate potential.” —Surfer Magazine
“Kotler focuses on extreme sports for good reason. These athletes face a constant choice, “flow or die,” and his book contains some compelling characters…Flow is rooted in the brain, and Kotler does a good job of explaining that science.” —The Washington Post
“In Kotler’s riveting and beautifully written book, he explains the neuroscience behind the mystery of the flow state, and provides the key to unlock innovation, creativity and ultimate achievement for leaders, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in the big and bold.” —Peter Diamandis, New York Times bestselling author, founder of the X Prize, co-founder of Singularity University
“The Rise of Superman is an electrifying book about a potent state of mind. If you aren’t inspired to brainhack your way up to the next level, start again at page one.” —David Eagleman, Neuroscientist, New York Times bestselling author of Incognito
“The Rise of Superman is a page-turning, game-changing account of the secrets of ultimate human performance—a must read for anyone interested in seriously raising the level of their game.” —Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google, author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Near
“In The Rise Of Superman, Steven Kotler breaks down the elusive and ecstatic ‘flow state’ that so many high performance athletes, musicians, and artists refer to as indispensable to their creativity and virtuosity—and in doing so, offers us a map to achieve massive upgrades in our capacities and potential.” —Jason Silva, futurist, host of National Geographic’s Brain Games
“The Rise Of Superman is a tour de force. Rare the book that is learned, clever, fascinating, and useful. This book is all four. Inspiring, impeccably researched, and supremely practical, Kotler’s book is a must-read for everyone who wants in on the secrets on how to surpass their personal best.” —Ned Hallowell, New York Times bestselling author and Harvard Medical School psychiatrist
As Jeff Cummings convincingly intones, “We are our own revolution.” While not a primer on “flow,” this audiobook serves as a useful, and exciting, introduction to or refresher on the concept popularized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, using the experiences of adventure-sport athletes as a focus. Cummings's energetic performance embraces the gnarly without getting hung up on the preponderance of tragic loss. He fumbles accents occasionally, but his enthusiasm and inflections never waver. As a result, the discussion of flow becomes almost as addictive as the feeling of flow described by practitioners. Listeners may sense some ulterior motive when the Flow Genome Project, of which the author is a founder, is introduced, turning the message from science to business aims. But the rollicking, often shocking, vicarious adventure ride there is worth the listen. A.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
2014-01-12
Every kind of human performance—a record-breaking athletic feat, a major scientific breakthrough, a stunning jazz solo—is made possible by tapping into an elusive and extraordinary state of consciousness called "flow." In action and adventure sports, in particular, athletes can be described as "flow junkies." These men and women surf waves as tall as skyscrapers, climb sheer rock faces without equipment and parachute onto remote mountainsides for the thrill of skiing where no one has been before. All these pursuits are as dangerous as they are electrifying, and all of these athletes say that they rely on the "flow state" to succeed—even that, incredibly, the flow state itself may be the ultimate goal. Flow Genome Project co-founder Kotler (A Small Furry Prayer: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life, 2010, etc.) argues that flow is more than just the key to death-defying performance; it's also the secret to everyday happiness and fulfillment—and that mastering the state of flow is within reach for anyone. However, top action and adventure athletes may be the singular connoisseurs of the flow state: They have acknowledged the powerful effects of flow for years, and cultivating a flow state is a significant piece of their training. Kotler spent more than a decade interviewing and reporting on these athletes, analyzing their behaviors and motivations, as well as investigating how cutting-edge technologies enable a neurological breakdown of the flow state. The author describes a state where the fear of death disappears, blurring the line between possible and impossible. If a mastery of flow can be accomplished without an environment of extreme physical risk, a paradigm shift of enormous consequence may occur—even, as one high-performance athlete suggests, "the next stage in human evolution." A thrill ride of a book, empowering in its implications of what any individual can achieve.
