Leaders Read#92

👋 Hello everyone,

Lao Tzu said, "Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power."

Here are a few resources you might have missed:

• Book notes: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

• All 192 Book notes for your enjoyment

• Catch-up: #1 - #91 Leaders Read Newsletters

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📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is "Growth by Choice" by Haresh Khoobchandani.

The book shares the author's life events around fear and developing a growth mindset. I know the author from Autodesk, where he was one of my mentors during the Leadership Development Training. His insights, support, and his guidance have helped me grow.

One of my favorite takeaways from the book is this:

A TV anchor once asked tennis star, Martina Navratilova, "How do you maintain your focus, physique and sharp game even at the age of 43?" She gave a humble reply, "The ball doesn't know how old I am." You need to stop yourself from stopping yourself. Every game in life is actually played on a six-inch ground—the space between your two ears. we don't live in bungalows, duplexes, or flats. We live in our minds which is an unlimited area. Life is great when things are sorted and uncluttered there. Keeping the mind messy with hatred growing on the table, regrets piling up in the corner, expectations boiling in the kitchen, secrets stuffed under the carpet and worries littered everywhere ruin this real home. The key factor to performing well in life and in every arena is the ability to control the quality and quantity of your "internal dialogue."

✅ Actionable advice:

The best athletes, like Navratilova, maintain a calm and focused mind to succeed. To win in the biggest game, they stay centered. This is the opposite of what most people experience, as author Ryan Holiday describes: "Most people wake up to face the day as an endless barrage of bewildering and overwhelming choices, one right after another. What do I wear? What should I eat? What should I do first? What should I do after that? Should I scramble to address this problem or rush to put out this fire? Needless to say, this is exhausting." As an athlete and a leader, focus on decluttering your mind by actively managing your internal dialogue. Start by establishing a strong morning routine—perhaps including exercise, meditation, or planning your day. Then, follow Peter Drucker's advice to concentrate only on the next most important task. Remember to be kind to yourself; you can't control everything around you, but you can follow Navratilova's advice and take control of the six-inch ground between your ears.

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Have a great week!