The award-winning author of eight books, Steven Kotler is considered one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. His latest book, , was published last February and has become a national bestseller. He’s also the co-founder and director of research for the , which aims to take flow state—that trance-like state of peak performance—mainstream. We asked Kotlerwhat he keeps near himfor inspiration and to help him get into his own flow state.
Water Bottle
“The links between hydration and performance are critical, so my water bottle, a aluminum water bottle, goes everywhere with me. Plus, it prevents more plastic from going into the waste stream and it ends up saving me a ton of money when I travel.”
Scientific ϳԹ Story
“If you’re interested in the unseen connections between everything in the world, Santa Fe Institute physicist and complexity scientist Geoffrey West is one of the very smartest thinkers around. is the culmination of a near lifetime’s worth of research and it’s staggering in both scope and implication.”
Non-Fiction
“The relationship between brain and behavior is one of the most interesting and underexplored mysteries around. Robert Sapolsky has been working on this problem for most of his life, both as a primatologist and as a neuroscientist. He brings it all together in and he does it in his brilliant, laugh-out-loud funny style.”
Short Stories
“ by Marvin Minsky has been on my shelf forever. It’s truly one of the most insightful looks at how the brain organizes information and how those organizational structures determine much of our reality. It’s also written in bite-sized one- to two-page articles so you can pop in, have your mind blown, and pop back out again.”
Journal
“Being able to capture ideas when they show up is just fundamental, so I’m always traveling with a . My preference is the pocket moleskin soft cover with lines.”
Earbuds
“Music is pretty important, so I tend to carry around earbuds everywhere, just because you never know. I need an earbud durable enough to survive skiing and mountain biking and lots of time being jostled in backpacks. Most can’t survive. But the have some secret coating on their wires and they can take a pounding and keep on going. Plus, style-wise, I like the old-school wood—it’s a nice touch.”
Beanie
“I’m always freezing, so I live in my beanie. is the warmest and most durable one I’ve found.”