The Undefeated Mind

Legions of self-help authors rightly urge personal development as the key to happiness, but they typically fail to focus on its most important objective: hardiness. Though that which doesn't kill us can make us stronger, as Nietzsche tells us, few authors today offer any insight into just how to springboard from adversity to strength. It doesn't just happen automatically, and it takes practice. New scientific research suggests that resilience isn't something with which only a fortunate few of us have been born, but rather something we can all take specific action to develop. To build strength out of adversity, we need a catalyst. What we need, according to Dr. Alex Lickerman, is wisdom—wisdom that adversity has the potential to teach us. Lickerman's underlying premise is that our ability to control what happens to us in life may be limited, but we have the ability to establish a life-state to surmount the suffering life brings us. The Undefeated Mind distills the wisdom we need to create true resilience into nine core principles, including: --A new definition of victory and its relevance to happiness --The concept of the changing of poison into medicine --A way to view prayer as a vow we make to ourselves. --A method of setting expectations that enhances our ability to endure disappointment and minimizes the likelihood of quitting --An approach to taking personal responsibility and moral action that enhances resilience --A process to managing pain—both physical and emotional—that enables us to push through obstacles that might otherwise prevent us from attaining out goals --A method of leveraging our relationships with others that helps us manifest our strongest selves Through stories of patients who have used these principles to overcome suffering caused by unemployment, unwanted weight gain, addiction, rejection, chronic pain, retirement, illness, loss, and even death, Dr. Lickerman shows how we too can make these principles function within our own lives, enabling us to develop for ourselves the resilience we need to achieve indestructible happiness. At its core, The Undefeated Mind urges us to stop hoping for easy lives and focus instead on cultivating the inner strength we need to enjoy the difficult lives we all have.

Legions of self-help authors rightly urge personal development as the key to happiness, but they typically fail to focus on its most important objective: hardiness. Though that which doesn't kill us can make us stronger, as Nietzsche tells us, few authors today offer any insight into just how to springboard from adversity to strength. It doesn't just happen automatically, and it takes practice. New scientific research suggests that resilience isn't something with which only a fortunate few of us have been born, but rather something we can all take specific action to develop. To build strength out of adversity, we need a catalyst. What we need, according to Dr. Alex Lickerman, is wisdom—wisdom that adversity has the potential to teach us. Lickerman's underlying premise is that our ability to control what happens to us in life may be limited, but we have the ability to establish a life-state to surmount the suffering life brings us. The Undefeated Mind distills the wisdom we need to create true resilience into nine core principles, including: A new definition of victory and its relevance to happiness The concept of the changing of poison into medicine A way to view prayer as a vow we make to ourselves. A method of setting expectations that enhances our ability to endure disappointment and minimizes the likelihood of quitting An approach to taking personal responsibility and moral action that enhances resilience A process for managing pain—both physical and emotional—that enables us to push through obstacles that might otherwise prevent us from attaining our goals A method of leveraging our relationships with others that helps us manifest our strongest selves Through stories of patients who have used these principles to overcome suffering caused by unemployment, unwanted weight gain, addiction, rejection, chronic pain, retirement, illness, loss, and even death, Dr. Lickerman shows how we too can make these principles function within our own lives, enabling us to develop for ourselves the resilience we need to achieve indestructible happiness. At its core, The Undefeated Mind urges us to stop hoping for easy lives and focus instead on cultivating the inner strength we need to enjoy the difficult lives we all have.

This novel is about people who struggle with mental illness and the stigma which haunts them. The triumph of the human spirit testifies to the aphorism that a man can be destroyed but not defeated.

What exactly is happiness that we spend our lives pursuing it more fiercely than anything else? The answer, Drs. Lickerman and ElDifrawi argue, is that happiness isn't just a good feeling but a special good feeling—in fact, the best good feeling we're capable of having. Enduring happiness is something we all want yet many of us fail to achieve. Look around you. How many people do you know who would say they feel a constant and powerful sense of satisfaction with their lives? How many people do you imagine wouldn't find their ability to be happy impaired by a significant loss, like the death of a parent, a spouse, or a child? How is it possible to be happy in the long-term when so many terrible things are destined to happen to us? In this highly engaging and eminently practical book—told in the form of a Platonic dialogue recounting real-life patient experiences—Drs. Lickerman and ElDifrawi assert that the reason genuine, long-lasting happiness is so difficult to achieve and maintain is that we're profoundly confused not only about how to go about it but also about what happiness is. In identifying nine basic erroneous views we all have about what we need to be happy—views they term the core delusions—Lickerman and ElDifrawi show us that our happiness depends not on our external possessions or even on our experiences but rather on the beliefs we have that shape our most fundamental thinking. These beliefs, they argue, create ten internal life-conditions, or worlds, through which we continuously cycle and that determine how happy we're able to be. Drawing on the latest scientific research as well as Buddhist philosophy, Lickerman and ElDifrawi argue that once we learn to embrace a correct understanding of happiness, we can free ourselves from the suffering the core delusions cause us and enjoy the kind of happiness we all want, the kind found in the highest of the Ten Worlds, the world of Enlightenment. The Ten Worlds: Hell Hunger Animality Anger Tranquility Rapture Learning Realization Compassion Enlightenment

A companion book to the National Geographic TV series uses brain teasers and optical illusions to shed light on the workings of the human brain.

Most of us live with the stubborn idea that we'll always have tomorrow. But sooner or later all of our tomorrows will run out. Each day that you postpone the hard work and succumb to the clutter that chokes creativity, discipline, and innovation will result in a net deficit to the world, to your company, and to yourself. Die Empty is a tool for individuals and companies that aren't willing to put off their best work. Todd Henry explains the forces that keep people in stagnation and introduces a three-part process for tapping into your passion: Excavate: Find the bedrock of your work to discover what drives you. Cultivate: Learn how to develop the curiosity, humility, and persistence that save you from getting stuck in ruts. Resonate: Learn how your unique brilliance can inspire others. Henry shows how to find and sustain your passion and curiosity, even in tough times.

In AGAINST THE GRAIN, Bill Courtney shares his convictions on the fundamental tenets of character, commitment, service, leadership, civility, and others that, in his decades of success as an entrepreneur and educator, have proven to be the keys to a winning and meaningful life and career. Each chapter tells the story of one of these tenets through compelling anecdotes of the colorful characters in Bill's life, leading to a deeper understand of the meaning of each and how to employee these fundamentals in all aspects of one's life. Against the Grain intertwines inspiring and thought-provoking anecdotes, lessons, and amazing real life examples. Bill's passion for us all to reconsider our own approach to life and constantly improve upon it comes across on every page. About the Film: Set against the backdrop of a high school football season, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin's documentary Undefeated is an intimate chronicle of three underprivileged student-athletes from inner-city Memphis and the volunteer coach trying to help them beat the odds on and off the field. Founded in 1899, Manassas High School in North Memphis had never seen its football team, the Tigers, win a playoff game. In recent decades, the last-place Tigers had gone so far as to sell its regular season games to rival schools looking to chalk up an easy win. That began to change in 2004, when Bill Courtney, former high school football coach turned businessman, volunteered to lend a hand. When Courtney arrived, the Tigers were accustomed to timeworn equipment and a sorry patch of lawn as a practice field. Focusing on nurturing emotional as well as physical strength, Courtney helped the Tigers find their footing and their confidence. The 2009 Summer/Fall football season promised to be the Tigers' best ever — perhaps the season that finally breaks the 110 year-old playoff jinx. It was the senior year for the team's star player, O.C., a left tackle blessed with power, size and speed. With football scholarships hanging in the balance, O.C. juggles practice with the study sessions he needs to pass crucial exams. Also playing his last season is undersized offensive lineman Montrail – known to all as “Money” — an earnest honors student hoping to score an academic scholarship. For Chavis, a talented linebacker in his junior year, the challenge of 2009 lies in keeping his explosive temper in check — something the willful teenager isn't always interested in doing. For players and coaches alike, the 2009 season was not only about winning games — it was about grappling with the unforeseeable events that are part of football and part of life. After debuting to critical acclaim at South by Southwest in 2011, The Weinstein Company won a fierce bidding war to acquire distribution and remake rights to the film. The film's wide release was met with widespread critical and popular acclaim, culminating in the 2011 Academy Awards, where Undefeated won the Oscar for Best Documentary. Plans for a feature film remake are currently in motion.

Unfettered Mind is a Kodansha International publication.