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Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World’s Top Performers
Learn how to perform at your very best, from the psychologist who has advised elite military operators, Olympic medalists, big wave surfers, neurosurgeons, cliff divers, first responders, Cirque du Soleil acrobats, professional athletes and coaches, Fortune 500 business executives, and CIA analysts. Learned Excellence is a comprehensive and practical guide to the mental disciplines of high performance, from the expert who developed the US Navy SEALs mental toughness curriculum and has worked with thousands of top athletes, elite military personnel, business executives, and first responders. These stars perform across a wide variety of fields, but they all have something in when they are at work they know how to think clearly, stay focused, and shrug off setbacks under very high levels of stress. They may have superb physical and intellectual traits, but it is the stuff going on above the neck and between the ears that makes them excellent. The difference between settling and achieving, between good and great, between contentment and fulfillment, is based entirely on their mental approach. This approach isn’t innate; it is 100% learned. The world’s top performers aren’t born that way, they learn excellence. So can everyone else, and Dr. Eric Potterat can teach us. One of the world’s leading performance psychologists and a retired US Navy Commander, Dr. Potterat has spent over three decades helping thousands of top performers from the military, sports, first responder, and business worlds improve. He served as the lead psychologist for the US Navy SEALs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has consulted with the US Women’s National Soccer team, the Miami Heat, Red Bull athletes, NASA astronauts, and dozens of Olympic medalists. In Learned Excellence , Eric distills the insights he’s learned into five mental disciplines for high performance—Values & Goals, Mindset, Process, Adversity Tolerance, and Balance & Recovery. Illustrated with numerous stories and quotes, Learned Excellence features clear principles and practices that anyone can use to raise their game. We are all performers, at work, at school, at home, and at life. Learned Excellence provides the roadmap to help each of us perform at our very best.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published February 6, 2024
79 people are currently reading
2420 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 12, 2024
"Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World's Top Performers" by Eric Potterat and Alan Eagle offers a comprehensive guide to achieving sustained excellence through the mastery of specific mental disciplines. Drawing from insights gleaned from top performers across various fields, the authors present a roadmap for individuals seeking to excel professionally and personally. The book outlines five crucial mental disciplines that form the foundation of peak performance:
1. Values and Goals: The first discipline involves identifying and aligning with your core values and goals. By crafting a personal credo and setting short- and long-term objectives across different aspects of life, individuals create a roadmap for their journey towards excellence.
2. Mindset: Mindset is presented as a deliberate choice rather than a fixed trait. By adopting mindset traits conducive to their roles and focusing on attitude, effort, and behavior within their control, individuals can influence their chances of success across various domains.
3. Process: The third discipline emphasizes the importance of meticulously cultivating a consistent approach to performance. Through intentional planning and careful selection of information sources, individuals can maximize their time and ensure continuous improvement.
4. Adversity Tolerance: Mental toughness and resilience are highlighted as essential components of peak performance. Practices such as visualization, contingency planning, and the "black box" technique help individuals withstand challenges, learn from setbacks, and grow stronger.
5. Balance and Recovery: Finally, achieving sustainable peak performance requires balancing investment across different life domains and prioritizing recovery. By incorporating activities that promote physical and mental rejuvenation into their routines, individuals can ensure long-term success and well-being.
Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the importance of self-awareness, deliberate practice, and continuous improvement in the pursuit of excellence. By honing these mental disciplines, readers can unlock their full potential and create a life that is both meaningful and spectacular.
1. Values and Goals: The first discipline involves identifying and aligning with your core values and goals. By crafting a personal credo and setting short- and long-term objectives across different aspects of life, individuals create a roadmap for their journey towards excellence.
2. Mindset: Mindset is presented as a deliberate choice rather than a fixed trait. By adopting mindset traits conducive to their roles and focusing on attitude, effort, and behavior within their control, individuals can influence their chances of success across various domains.
3. Process: The third discipline emphasizes the importance of meticulously cultivating a consistent approach to performance. Through intentional planning and careful selection of information sources, individuals can maximize their time and ensure continuous improvement.
4. Adversity Tolerance: Mental toughness and resilience are highlighted as essential components of peak performance. Practices such as visualization, contingency planning, and the "black box" technique help individuals withstand challenges, learn from setbacks, and grow stronger.
5. Balance and Recovery: Finally, achieving sustainable peak performance requires balancing investment across different life domains and prioritizing recovery. By incorporating activities that promote physical and mental rejuvenation into their routines, individuals can ensure long-term success and well-being.
Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the importance of self-awareness, deliberate practice, and continuous improvement in the pursuit of excellence. By honing these mental disciplines, readers can unlock their full potential and create a life that is both meaningful and spectacular.
August 9, 2024
I may be biased (@David) but this was an awesome read with clear takeaways and engaging stories. The margins of my copy are covered in notes (and lots of “!!!!yes!!!”) and I’m looking forward to working through the exercises.
December 26, 2025
This is the part of the review where I'd introduce the book with some witticism or anecdote but it's just a damn good book. And I'd recommend it!
Performance psychology books are in no short supply, so knowing which ones to read can be the toughest part of treading water through this category. Potterat brings credibility and a great deal of experience that speaks to being a good source of information. He has earned a PhD in the field, has done decades of work, including with the Navy SEALs (developing some of their rigorous mental training in SERE programs) and the Los Angeles Dodgers as a performance psychologist (as part of one of their World Series winning years), among other roles. In other words, he's a trusted resource, as is the co-author Alan Eagle who helped him write the book to life.
I'm admittedly a bit obsessed with excellence (project management, time management, and process analysis or implementation make me swoon hard). When it comes to competing with others, I don't understand it, but I will crush my own personal bests every single time. In other words, I don't define excellence as being the de facto best at something. I define it as being my best, but my standards are so high that it can mean success. I am therefore skeptical of books that throw around the words excellence. It seems that many self-help applaud esteem without doing esteemable work, or they encourage confidence on the basis of existing, rather than from efficacy and personal standards. Potterat and Eagle however, bridge the gap between feel good and actually getting things done, without devolving into nonsensical advice that entitles someone to an outcome or achievement they haven't worked for. sweat equity isn't everything but in books on leadership it ought to still count for something. For what it's worth, this is a book I would've loved to read when I was struggling with undiagnosed ADHD and in the aforementioned roles in my 20s, learning what it meant to take pride in the work I did by tending to success. It could be great for leaders, but is just as fantastic a gift for high school graduates or post-secondary graduates headed into their respective fields.
I envisioned each chapter as a blueprint for major topics one would need to overhaul or examine in their life in order to cultivate excellence: knowledge acquisition, mindset development, processes that make it stick, resilience through setbacks, and finding time to downshift into far less intense mental gears. There are suggested tools one could use in each chapter, and to use one as an example that I found outstanding (because I am as steadfast about my calendar, schedule, and routine as the author), was the example of making use of your calendar beyond just knowing when things are occurring. Building on, but also in a bit of coordination with what the author talks about, I saw justification for the way that I build my schedule based on what my brain is likeliest to be doing, to help me maximize what tasks I do and when. I used a time blocking calendar recently for example, to minimize time spent decision making and prioritizing (the death knell for ADHDers at times) what to do. Each day I anticipated about where I would be and what I would be doing, and wrote down a menu selection of activities I could do that would make the most of some days where I only have about 15 minutes between a program, meetings, and time doing customer service at work. You better believe however, that those are the most productive 15 minutes of my day! I don't want to waste time trying to figure out what the best task should be so I figured out ahead of time what the most common categories were and can look at my schedule and see a task that fits with the category and optimize decision making and cognitive load utilization. My process is very similar to the one Potterat recommends, and I was validated in my own (at times) stubbornness about my routines. I was equally excited for readers because of it, and generally speaking how much good quality information is in this little tome on excellence as a way of life.
As with all performance psychology books that dip a toe into the Business and Leadership category, many of the principles in this book are meant to be immediately applicable. But it's not a set of tactics with an expiration date based on an author's brand. It is more of a perspective shift which makes it "shelf stable" in leadership/management literature (generally speaking, sports psychology and performance psychology are hardier like that). If you're looking for a definitive guide, I don't know that this is the book for you. The malleable world of leadership, and cutting edge psychology can laugh in the face of absolutes apart from academia's theoretical foundations. Learned Excellence is not a hack, quick fix, or textbook but an excellent companion for those looking to sharpen skills, and think critically about how to learn what excellence means to them, then execute on that. Potterat and Eagle answer the question of "what do I read now?" for readers and fans of Atomic Habits (among others). You read this book. No inaccessible formula, industry jargon, or proprietary method. Just knowing what you want to achieve and being willing to put in the work to become the better angel of your habits.
Rinse, read, and repeat (and recommend to others of course).
Performance psychology books are in no short supply, so knowing which ones to read can be the toughest part of treading water through this category. Potterat brings credibility and a great deal of experience that speaks to being a good source of information. He has earned a PhD in the field, has done decades of work, including with the Navy SEALs (developing some of their rigorous mental training in SERE programs) and the Los Angeles Dodgers as a performance psychologist (as part of one of their World Series winning years), among other roles. In other words, he's a trusted resource, as is the co-author Alan Eagle who helped him write the book to life.
I'm admittedly a bit obsessed with excellence (project management, time management, and process analysis or implementation make me swoon hard). When it comes to competing with others, I don't understand it, but I will crush my own personal bests every single time. In other words, I don't define excellence as being the de facto best at something. I define it as being my best, but my standards are so high that it can mean success. I am therefore skeptical of books that throw around the words excellence. It seems that many self-help applaud esteem without doing esteemable work, or they encourage confidence on the basis of existing, rather than from efficacy and personal standards. Potterat and Eagle however, bridge the gap between feel good and actually getting things done, without devolving into nonsensical advice that entitles someone to an outcome or achievement they haven't worked for. sweat equity isn't everything but in books on leadership it ought to still count for something. For what it's worth, this is a book I would've loved to read when I was struggling with undiagnosed ADHD and in the aforementioned roles in my 20s, learning what it meant to take pride in the work I did by tending to success. It could be great for leaders, but is just as fantastic a gift for high school graduates or post-secondary graduates headed into their respective fields.
I envisioned each chapter as a blueprint for major topics one would need to overhaul or examine in their life in order to cultivate excellence: knowledge acquisition, mindset development, processes that make it stick, resilience through setbacks, and finding time to downshift into far less intense mental gears. There are suggested tools one could use in each chapter, and to use one as an example that I found outstanding (because I am as steadfast about my calendar, schedule, and routine as the author), was the example of making use of your calendar beyond just knowing when things are occurring. Building on, but also in a bit of coordination with what the author talks about, I saw justification for the way that I build my schedule based on what my brain is likeliest to be doing, to help me maximize what tasks I do and when. I used a time blocking calendar recently for example, to minimize time spent decision making and prioritizing (the death knell for ADHDers at times) what to do. Each day I anticipated about where I would be and what I would be doing, and wrote down a menu selection of activities I could do that would make the most of some days where I only have about 15 minutes between a program, meetings, and time doing customer service at work. You better believe however, that those are the most productive 15 minutes of my day! I don't want to waste time trying to figure out what the best task should be so I figured out ahead of time what the most common categories were and can look at my schedule and see a task that fits with the category and optimize decision making and cognitive load utilization. My process is very similar to the one Potterat recommends, and I was validated in my own (at times) stubbornness about my routines. I was equally excited for readers because of it, and generally speaking how much good quality information is in this little tome on excellence as a way of life.
As with all performance psychology books that dip a toe into the Business and Leadership category, many of the principles in this book are meant to be immediately applicable. But it's not a set of tactics with an expiration date based on an author's brand. It is more of a perspective shift which makes it "shelf stable" in leadership/management literature (generally speaking, sports psychology and performance psychology are hardier like that). If you're looking for a definitive guide, I don't know that this is the book for you. The malleable world of leadership, and cutting edge psychology can laugh in the face of absolutes apart from academia's theoretical foundations. Learned Excellence is not a hack, quick fix, or textbook but an excellent companion for those looking to sharpen skills, and think critically about how to learn what excellence means to them, then execute on that. Potterat and Eagle answer the question of "what do I read now?" for readers and fans of Atomic Habits (among others). You read this book. No inaccessible formula, industry jargon, or proprietary method. Just knowing what you want to achieve and being willing to put in the work to become the better angel of your habits.
Rinse, read, and repeat (and recommend to others of course).
March 18, 2024
Learned Excellence teaches the skills, mindset, and process needed to manage pressure and improve performance, not just in a career, but as a hobbyist, parent, and person. I found it to be an easy read and I enjoyed doing the excercises.
Early on, it encourages you to list your personal values/credo (compassion, endurance, leadership, goodness, learning, family, etc.), what values you need to grow to be better in each of your roles though they might not be one of your core values (firmer leader), and then set goals in the main areas of your life.
Next, it gets into the best way to tackle individual stressors, from visualization, controlled breathing exercises, contingency planning, and pregame routines, to post game reviews with a focus on the process not the result and how to relax post game as well.
I think this would be a good book for anyone to help their personal growth, students, athletes, leaders, parents, or anyone else.
Skills from this book that I use regularly now are 4444 breathing, pregame visualization, and scheduled free time.
I recieved an advanced reading copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
Early on, it encourages you to list your personal values/credo (compassion, endurance, leadership, goodness, learning, family, etc.), what values you need to grow to be better in each of your roles though they might not be one of your core values (firmer leader), and then set goals in the main areas of your life.
Next, it gets into the best way to tackle individual stressors, from visualization, controlled breathing exercises, contingency planning, and pregame routines, to post game reviews with a focus on the process not the result and how to relax post game as well.
I think this would be a good book for anyone to help their personal growth, students, athletes, leaders, parents, or anyone else.
Skills from this book that I use regularly now are 4444 breathing, pregame visualization, and scheduled free time.
I recieved an advanced reading copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
May 12, 2024
Summary:
It has to be learned and earned. The good news is that by honing the mental disciplines of values and goals, mindset, process, adversity tolerance, and balance and recovery, anyone can achieve excellence. The less desirable news is it takes conscious, constant work, day in, day out. That's what makes excellence so impressive.
But what could possibly be more rewarding than dedicating yourself to realizing your true potential, professionally and personally? Indeed, it's the things we didn't try or only half-heartedly tried that we'll most regret on our deathbeds, not that we strove to give our all. By following the five disciplines framework, you can create a life that's as meaningful as it is spectacular.
It has to be learned and earned. The good news is that by honing the mental disciplines of values and goals, mindset, process, adversity tolerance, and balance and recovery, anyone can achieve excellence. The less desirable news is it takes conscious, constant work, day in, day out. That's what makes excellence so impressive.
But what could possibly be more rewarding than dedicating yourself to realizing your true potential, professionally and personally? Indeed, it's the things we didn't try or only half-heartedly tried that we'll most regret on our deathbeds, not that we strove to give our all. By following the five disciplines framework, you can create a life that's as meaningful as it is spectacular.
May 12, 2024
It has to be learned and earned. The good news is that by honing the mental disciplines of values and goals, mindset, process, adversity tolerance, and balance and recovery, anyone can achieve excellence. The less desirable news is it takes conscious, constant work, day in, day out. That's what makes excellence so impressive.
But what could possibly be more rewarding than dedicating yourself to realizing your true potential, professionally and personally? Indeed, it's the things we didn't try or only half-heartedly tried that we'll most regret on our deathbeds, not that we strove to give our all. By following the five disciplines framework, you can create a life that's as meaningful as it is spectacular.
But what could possibly be more rewarding than dedicating yourself to realizing your true potential, professionally and personally? Indeed, it's the things we didn't try or only half-heartedly tried that we'll most regret on our deathbeds, not that we strove to give our all. By following the five disciplines framework, you can create a life that's as meaningful as it is spectacular.
March 28, 2024
ARC from publisher
This is the first book I've read about becoming a great leader that I enjoyed! It lays out a framework for 3, 6 and 9 month activities to assist in improving leadership skills. It encourages you to explore yourself, your personal values first and foremost and then delves into extrinsic factors. I'm hoping to work through the methods in this book with my entire leadership team in hopes of making us all better leaders both as a team and individually.
This is the first book I've read about becoming a great leader that I enjoyed! It lays out a framework for 3, 6 and 9 month activities to assist in improving leadership skills. It encourages you to explore yourself, your personal values first and foremost and then delves into extrinsic factors. I'm hoping to work through the methods in this book with my entire leadership team in hopes of making us all better leaders both as a team and individually.
April 12, 2025
HIGHLY Recommend to anyone who is trying to better one's self. The book is written by a clinical psychologist and goes over mindset, strategies and other tips that olympic athletes, navy seals, first reponders use to become the best version of themselves and have the best results. Some of the strategies I do unconciously but I definitely picked up a few tips that I want to incorporate into my practice
Read
May 21, 2024Interesting that this book placed achievements and fulfilment in the same category. Gets 3/5 stars for me because it seemed to generic to give a 4/5. It's not bad but it's nothing new.
Action:
- A great place to kick things off is with the introspective process of crafting a personal credo – a clear statement that encapsulates your core values. This short, curated maxim acts as a compass, guiding decisions and actions, ensuring they are aligned with what truly matters to you. That’s why a credo is more than just a vision statement; it’s a declaration of your identity and how you want to live your life.
Notes:
- the five crucial mental disciplines that form the backbone of peak performance: identifying and aligning with your core values and goals; choosing and cultivating a productive mindset; meticulously planning and refining your process; developing a tolerance for adversity; and embracing the principles of balance and recovery
- Each discipline builds upon the previous, creating a comprehensive framework for not only achieving success but also for sustaining it.
- staying in the circle – focusing on the three sole elements within your control: attitude, effort, and behavior.
- No one is born with the peak performance mindset. It has to be learned and earned.
Action:
- A great place to kick things off is with the introspective process of crafting a personal credo – a clear statement that encapsulates your core values. This short, curated maxim acts as a compass, guiding decisions and actions, ensuring they are aligned with what truly matters to you. That’s why a credo is more than just a vision statement; it’s a declaration of your identity and how you want to live your life.
Notes:
- the five crucial mental disciplines that form the backbone of peak performance: identifying and aligning with your core values and goals; choosing and cultivating a productive mindset; meticulously planning and refining your process; developing a tolerance for adversity; and embracing the principles of balance and recovery
- Each discipline builds upon the previous, creating a comprehensive framework for not only achieving success but also for sustaining it.
- staying in the circle – focusing on the three sole elements within your control: attitude, effort, and behavior.
- No one is born with the peak performance mindset. It has to be learned and earned.
June 2, 2024
Few have worked with more exceptional performers than Dr. Potterat. The tips in this book can help anyone be better in life, no matter the goal. I’ve had the chance to see him speak and to talk with him about these concepts. They work and they aren’t difficult to implement. It just takings knowing and practicing them.
November 15, 2024
Highly recommend. Even if you think you have things figured out and dialed in, you can always improve. This book combines thoughts from the world’s top performers and distinguishes what makes them great.
September 1, 2025
Wow what an impactful book. The author makes many simple facts so amazingly relatable and impactful.
This is one which touches upon various aspects to make you more effective holistically. A must read.
This is one which touches upon various aspects to make you more effective holistically. A must read.
May 16, 2024
Nothing new here. The resume of the author is impressive but nothing groundbreaking was offered in the book. Not bad, but was not overly intriguing to me
August 22, 2024
Worth reading again within the next year if not sooner. Wealth of ideas all in one place. Need to break down and implement step by step. Start with Breathe 4444
October 9, 2025
Great and insightful book about emotional toughness, strategies on managing habits and mindset.
very interesting to see this in BUDS and how extends to so many fields of excellence.
very interesting to see this in BUDS and how extends to so many fields of excellence.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews