Review: The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence

The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok, I read a lot of books in this genre - peak performance and optimized learning - but this one? It really is a standout. Why? Because through much of this book, Waitzkin literally takes the reader through his moment by moment thought processes, whether he is at the board with a dirty, cheating chess player or in the ring with a monster of a man ready to eat him alive. You, the reader, are directly experiencing a win (or a loss) as it is happening, inch by inch, move by move. Every bit of hard won wisdom, every time this masterful learner accepts and accommodates for a weakness in himself or in his opponent - his next move, his next decision - is shared with you and you learn with him. This is priceless stuff, it really is.

Waitzkin was a child chess prodigy who won several national team championships, becoming an international master at age 16. He was the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher, which was based on the book of the same title authored by his dad.

Oh, but that’s not all. Josh had cultivated a life of the mind, which led to an interest in meditation and Eastern philosophy. As a young adult, he transferred his laser focus from chess to the study of Aikido. He holds several US national medals and a 2004 world champion title in the competitive sport of TaiChi Push Hands. Oh, and he also became a championship coach. Oh, and he is a BJJ Black Belt studying under 9-time World Champion Marcelo Garcia.

This guy knows exactly what it takes to become proficient, really good, or the very best and you will learn the difference between these three states if you read the book.

As most books on performance are quick to point out, and which Waitzkin echoes:

The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.

And he says this on pain (this actually blows my mind): Mental resilience is arguably the most critical trait of a world-class performer, and it should be nurtured continuously. Left to my own devices, I am always looking for ways to become more and more psychologically impregnable. When uncomfortable, my instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to become at peace with it. When injured, which happens frequently in the life of a martial artist, I try to avoid painkillers and to change the sensation of pain into a feeling that is not necessarily negative. My instinct is always to seek out challenges as opposed to avoiding them.

I can fill in 40 more pages with Waitzkin quotes from this book, because he pours out page after page of power-thoughts, in between the real examples of being pushed to his limits.

He is not a dabbler; once he is interested in something, he digs deep. This guy is the Duke of Depth.
It is rarely a mysterious technique that drives us to the top, but rather a profound mastery of what may well be a basic skill set. Depth beats breadth any day of the week because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.

You don’t need to know chess or martial arts or even have an interest in these things to get great benefit from his experiences and his techniques on digging into yourself for the deep presence that begets superb performance.

Such a worthy read.


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