The Art of Impossible - Book Notes

How much I recommend this book: 6/10

Read: August 2024

Three type of goals:

1. Massively Transformative Purpose (MTP): This is your most important, lifelong, almost-impossible goal. Think Elon’s “get to Mars”
2. High-Hard Goals (HHG): Goals that get you out of your comfort zone and push you closer to your MTP
3. Clear Goals: Short-term actionable goals that focus you and provide direction. Should be specific, measurable, and achievable within a short time frame, building toward accomplishing your HHG.

Why reading is the best form of learning:

- When writing a book, authors condense years, sometimes decades of knowledge, into something that takes 8 to 10 hours to consume. It’s the most knowledge dense form of learning, bar none.

How to get started learning something with Five Books on the topic:

• Develop a baseline understanding in the field with a structured progression of reading
• Begin your deep dive into mastery by picking the following five books on that topic:

1. Most Popular, Best-selling Book on the topic
   1. Begin with the most popular book in that field. By nature of it’s popularity, it’s going to be more surface level but the most entertaining. This will get you interested and excited in the field.
   2. Goal is FUN and to pique your interest in that subject while beginning to understand the basic concepts and learning the terminology and context for your topic.
2. The popular but more technical book
   1. Closely related to or more technical book on the subject
   2. Goal is to fire up your imagination and keep you interested but not all-the-way in the geeky details yet
3. The semi-technical book
   1. Next, something readable and interesting but maybe not a page turner
   2. More precise language and detail
   3. Should provide a wider view/macro view on the subject
4. Hard, technical book
   1. Detailed, technical, discusses the problems in the field
   2. Where does contemporary thinking on the field begin and end
5. Future of the topic
   1. Something that discusses the cutting edge of the field and where it’s headed and when it’s headed there

Four Pillars of Peak Performance:

1. Motivation: you must have passion, purpose, autonomy, and mastery in your given pursuit
2. Learning: you must be continuously learning and acquiring skills and knowledge in your field
3. Creativity: to do something previously thought “impossible” requires innovation in your field. something must be done differently than how it’s been done up to now.
4. Flow: the state of optimal performance where you’re full immersed in a given activity