04 Apr Elevate Year 3 Reading List
So here we are in the third year of Elevate MMA’s existence. The gym has continued to grow and expand and as that has happened we have different perspectives and goals to all fit under one roof.
The original goal of the reading list was two-fold. First, to give some common ground of books, movies, and resources to discuss with teammates. Second, to create a mindset of pursuing knowledge and finding where passions lie in hopes that students would get in the habit of self directed learning processes and a growth mindset.
The original Elevate Reading List was pretty exhaustive. On it you will find 21 books, movies, articles, twitter and IG accounts to folllow, basically a one stop starter pack for knowledge acquisition. The Year Two List became more trimmed down 21 books got cut down to 16 as we tried to remove the unessential and get even more bang for your buck. In Year 3 we are going to take that idea to the extreme, but then I will talk about some of the other resources I’ve enjoyed this year.
READING LIST
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
This book to me is the starting point for everything we do at the Academy. It talks deeply about skill acquisition, building a competition mindset, and the endless pursuit of peak performance. $10 investment, huge ROI, I’ve probably read the book 10 times at this point and it always sets my brain on fire.
So that’s it, one book to rule them all. After that you can determine the next book based on your interests and Year 1 and Year 2 Lists will provide a lot of ideas for sure.
So what else have I been into this year learning wise. I’ve been big on Instagram use to find martial artists and coaches I want to check out further. Saenchai is a still a huge one. Ben Askren, Cary Kolat, and David Taylor are three wrestlers that I am watching all the time. I still read/watch anything that Jack Slack or BJJ Scout produce. For books I’ve read this year: I went back a re-read a lot of the Year 2 List, re-read Tribal Leadership, really enjoyed Nasem Taleb’s new book “Skin in the Game” probably my favorite in the Incerto, Sugar Ray Robinson’s Biography and both Dan Gable “A Wrestling Life” books were really inspiring.
As always I believe the key is to find books you can’t put down and read the right book at the right time.