I loved this book. The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance by Steven Kotler is all about Flow States – aka being in the zone. The actual book is about high performance athletes (skiers, rock climbers, kayakers, surfers, skateboarders, base jumpers, etc), but it’s not written in an exclusionary way. It’s actually incredibly inclusionary. His introduction to the book ends with a sentence I had to read twice – “please try this at home.” I definitely would have thought that, with a book about high performance athletes, he’d be saying the opposite. His argument: the world needs more people willing to be extraordinary.

I’ve always been interested in reading books about athletes, or about what it physically and mentally takes to be an athlete. Not only does it inspire me to work harder toward the actualization of my own dreams, but many of the tools they learn and use are actually applicable to my own work as an actor and writer: The discipline, the mental toughness, the use of visualization.

Flow is the other commonality. It’s something that, to me, has always felt a little bit magical. I didn’t realize that there was a physiological change happening in my body that they could actually track. Incredible. Since reading this book I’ve started asking many of my creative friends about their experiences with flow. Almost everyone I talk to has a flow story – it’s enough to give you goosebumps.

Kotler brings these flow states to a different level entirely by talking about athletes who’s sport of choice are both risky and perilous. If they don’t have an understanding and ability to enter a flow state every time they not only compete but practice, they – to put it bluntly – will probably die. Risk, it turns out, is one of the three flow triggers (there are 3 external and 3 internal).

“To reach flow you have to risk… If you don’t want to take physical risks, take mental risks. Take social risks. Emotional risks. Creative risks. Especially creative risks… The artist must be willing to be scorned and despised by critics and the public and still push on.” [excerpt from the book]

The book is FILLED with absolutely incredible stories about individuals who are breaking through perceived limitations and doing the impossible. In addition to the stories, Kotler actually breaks down the stages of the flow cycle (there are four stages). The first is struggle, which makes a lot of sense to me. It’s all valuable information that you can apply to the way you live your life. Knowing that struggle – that period of time when you’re working your ass off to master a skill – is actually the first stage in this cycle was fairly comforting.

The last section of the book is about the dark side of flow. There are many dark sides: it’s addictive, many of these high performance athletes end up dying, and living a life where you consistently enter flow states will require sacrifice.

“Flow forces you to evaluate life through a different lens. It gives you a reason to live – but live this way long enough and those reasons become more than dying. This is what the self-help books don’t tell you. Fully alive and deeply committed is a risky business. Once you strip away the platitudes, a life of passion and purpose will always cost, as T.S. Eliot reminds us, “’Not less than everything.’” [excerpt from the book]

The conclusion seems to be that despite the risk, it’s all worth it in the end. After reading the book, I think I agree.

Kotler is incredibly personable and even funny in his writing style. There are not too many books that I’d say this for, but I’ll say it about this one. The Rise of Superman is a book that everyone should read, at least once.

“The data is clear. Flow is the very thing that makes us come alive. It is the mystery. It is the point.” (the last excerpt I’m sharing from the book – that one makes you inhale deeply doesn’t it?

A few of the athletes mentioned in the book (full list here):

• Dean Potter (climber)

• Sam Devro (kayaker)

• Shane McConkey (skier and BASE jumper)

• Doug Ammons (kayaker, soloist)

• Mandy-Rae Cruickshank (free diver)

• Jimmy Chin (free soloing rock climber)

• Danny Way (skateboarder)

• Laird Hamilton (surfer)

• Tom Schar (skateboarder)

• Tony Hawk (skateboarder)

Resources mentioned in the book:

Steven Kotler’s Blog: Rise

Videos

Danny Way Documentary – Waiting for Lightening

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – TED TALK

Books

Bone Game – Rob Schultheis

Present Shock – Douglas Rushkoff

War – Sebastian Jungers

Occupation: Skateboarder – Tony Hawk

Remarks on Fatal Falls – Heim (essay)

Creativity – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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