Humans are hard-wired for peak performance. And much of what the best of the best have figured out is how to get their neurobiology to work for them, and not against them. This isn’t entirely new information. A century ago, Harvard psychologist William James wrote, “The great thing then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.” How to do that is what The Art of Impossible is all about. Steven Kotler has been studying the science of performance for his entire career and he has learned what makes the impossible possible. His point: those who tackle the impossible are not just innovating in matter, but also in mind. This is all the stuff that’s never been done and—we believe—never will be done. (Break the 3-hour marathon, surf 90-ft waves, travel to Mars...) The Art of Impossible looks to lessons learned from people who have accomplished Capital “I” impossible, and meant to be helpful to anyone interested in accomplishing more personal, small “i” impossible. Based on recent research in high performance, Kotler unlocks what it takes to perform with extreme innovation by looking at the rule books of paradigm-shifting accomplishments of top performers and what we can learn from them. The Art of Impossible is a practical playbook for extreme innovation. History teaches us that the impossible is a moving target. Every generation has a few brilliant archers whose arrows fly true. Often, it’s upon their achievements that the future is built. This is a book about how they do it, and maybe, how you can too. Steven Kotler is the perfect messenger to help us accomplish the impossible, His thirty years on the cutting edge of high performance; first as a journalist, next as an author, finally—as the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. As a researcher studying the neurobiology of peak performance, he brings it all to us in his inimitably engaging style that will have readers laughing out loud while reaching for the stars.