books:

	Overachievement: The New Science of Working Less to Accomplish More John Eliot Portfolio Trade, 2006 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

According to John Eliot, Ph.D., ?Such self-improvement balderdash will do nothing but relegate you to a career in mediocrity.?

As Dr. Eliot has discovered through his cutting-edge research and real-world coaching, techniques such as goal-setting, relaxation, visualization, stress management, and flow just don?t work for most people. Relaxing when the pressure is on is the wrong way to go. Instead, to really ratchet up your performance, you?ll need to change the way you think about pressure?and learn how to welcome it, enjoy it, and make it work to your advantage.

Mixing scientific insights with entertaining and inspiring stories, Overachievement will help you achieve spectacular success in any situation that demands you rise above and beyond what you ever thought possible. BACKCOVER: ?The antithesis of every self-improvement guru.?
?Jim Pawlak, Chicago Tribune

?[Eliot?s] upfront conversational tone makes his advice not just palatable but convincing. Even if they don?t achieve superstar results right away, readers from all walks of life should find it easier to hone their concentration and work a little harder.?
?Publishers Weekly

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Learn to identify when mental focus handicaps you, why it handicaps you, and how to turn it "off" when it counts.

I am in awe with this book. I am at the very beginning but, being written in a style that is straight forward, it has already revealed itself to be amazingly unique in its content and, more importantly, extremely enlightening. So I couldn't resist but coming here to write a review and try to influence you to get this book sooner rather than later.

Why?

Because I think that whenever one of us gets better at what we do best, or at any other thing we do, the world becomes a better place. And also because I am thrilled to have found something that explains a lot of my own current "stuckness".

In essence, this book points out (scientifically) how there are ways in which the brain operates that are major obstacles to performance. The problem is, pretty much all of the popular "techniques" for better performance that we have inevitably acquired over time operate in that exact space. And thus we stopped performing. Or maybe never even got the pleasure to know what top performance means!

Here's something about one of my effortless performances. Growing up, I'd go to school and listen to the teacher's first lecture. After, as the teacher was reviewing the material (over and over), I would sit with an interesting book nested within the text book, lost in whatever was the novel du jour. Oh the fear of getting caught. Periodically, the teacher would point at me and ask me a question, and I would provide the (right) answer without having to think about it. I got a lot of great reading done that way. Today, with my work, as there are tons and tons of books and information available, and after having got a Masters degree in my field, I worry why I am not so much better at what I do, with all the information I "know", and being that I am constantly striving to be better.

It seems that I have found the answer. I have been believing it is all important to master "The Training Mindset", but being in that frame of mind completely excludes the possibility to be in the frame of mind that makes a top performance great and effortless for me: "The Trusting Mindset"!

Everyday has been a tug of war for me, especially since I have to constantly acquire new information to be able to do my job. It seems that no matter what I do, how much information I focus on, I am not the top performer I want to be. Unless there is a crisis, or fire under my bootay, or other pressing need that requires me to excel, then, no problem. But I can't sit around hoping for crisis just so I can excel. Right?

And here comes this book, pointing out, reminding, not only where the conflict lies, but also how to switch from one mindset to the other. At will. Sweet.

One quote from the book? "The Trusting Mindset is what you were in before you knew any better".

Here is hoping we all (re)connect with our inner squirrels.

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Maximize Your Potential

"Overachievement is aimed at people who want to maximize their potential. And to do that, I insist you throw caution at the wind, ignore the pleas of parents, coaches, spouses, and bosses to be "realistic." Realistic people do not accomplish extraordinary things because the odds of success stymie them. The best performers ignore the odds. I will show that instead of limiting themselves to what's probable, the best will pursue the heart-pounding, exciting, really big, difference-making dreams--so long as catching them might be possible." ~ Dr. John Eliot from "Overachievement"

If you're into achieving greatness and love to see the hero in action--whether it's Tiger Woods coming back for the playoff win or a great rock star performing live--you'll love this book.

John Eliot, relative of T. S. Eliot and a long line of Harvard Presidents is brilliant. He's one of the world's leading authorities on peak performers and isn't afraid to challenge the status quo of high performance. He's also a great writer. And, this book is an incredibly fun, inspiring read--with John Eliot's articulate and brilliantly blunt explanations of what makes the great performers perform greatly.

The book has two parts: 1. The "what" of Overachievement where we get "Inside the Minds of the Overachiever"; and, 2. The "how" on "Becoming an Overachiever."

You'll learn to kick the deep breathing relaxation habits during pressure situations and, instead, to eat the stress like a Power Bar. You'll learn how to turn your cerebral cortex off like a squirrel scurrying across a high wire (who doesn't want that, eh?! :) and a bunch of other tricks of the Overachieving trade.

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Finally: The Most Basic, Fundamental Tools For Success

I came upon this book via a search on Amazon while actually looking for a different book. The subject matter intrigued me, and as a result, I decided to go for it.

What a wise decision on my part. Part of my problem has always been over-thinking, over-analyzing, and an excessive amount of over-planning. The results? Things got done, but not nearly (!) as many as would/could have had I simply trusted my abilities and allowed myself to immerse myself in my daily activities.

Light bulb on!!!!!!

I won't attempt to summarize an entire book in one review, but for those of you trying to decide whether or not to purchase and read this book and apply its core philosophies: Eliot has hit the home run that no one else has even attempted to hit. He (Eliot) is not merely rising above many others who offer the same ideas; he is all alone in that arena.

The message is simple: THINK like those who overachieve, and your chances of success increase dramatically. In some cases, don't even think at all (Eliot makes a reference to Yogi Berra, my favorite in this book, which quotes Yogi as saying "I can't think and hit at the same time."). Focus only on what you are doing - not its potential end result, how you did last time, or what you might do in the future. It's all about peaking at this precise moment, because that's all that matters, and that's all you've got right now. Eliot uses the example of a golfer who, to some, plays 65 games of golf - one hole each - when shooting a 65. On each shot, no thought is given to the prior shot or to future shots - just the one at hand.

I realize that my words likely do not suffice in explaining how practical and extremely helpful this fabulous book is; that's hard to do in limited space. Having said that, there's no doubt in my mind that anyone would benefit from "Overachievement," and as a result, I give this book my highest rating. Just Do It.

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The Neurobiology of High Performance

If normalcy is your aim in life, this is NOT the book for you.
If great performance is your aim in life, this MIGHT be the book for you.
If you aim for unrealistic results in your life, this IS the book for you.

John Elliot has been working with many top performers and says there is nothing normal with those people. Well, almost the same can be said about this book. Many many techniques go against conventional self-improvement and performance techniques. For example;

- realistic people do not accomplish extraordinary things
- the importance of 'unrealistic' dreams
- the problems associated with goal setting
- confidence is one of the most misunderstood aspects of high performance
- visualisation and relaxation are overused (and overrated)

Do those techniques feel strange? Wrong? Unconventional? If yes, remember that by definition, striving to be exceptional puts you outside 98% of people.

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fair to middling

Eliot's book has some good advice, mostly in the "get used to pressure" area, but it also contains far too many errors of fact that should have been caught by copy editors, if not by the author himself. One of the worst is referring to Jack Kemp as Bob Dole's running mate in the 1988 presidential campaign (it was 1996). Errors like this make one wonder how reliable Eliot's other advice can be.

It is good to urge people to get away from their comfort zones and embrace the pressure that true achievement requires, but all behavior requires a basis in fact and not just in some rah-rah cheerleading that will fade as soon as the excitement of the moment passes. This is what keeps Eliot's book and advice from being as great as it could be.

As the ancient wisdom says, Physician, heal thyself. First, fix all the problems in your own book. Then tell the rest of us how to fix our lives.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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