No post body was provided.
Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#2Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is a favorite of mine.
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#3The Enchiridion by Epictetus (and basically every other book on stoic philosophy).
http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html
My own opinion is that a lot of mental toughness can be developed simply by realizing what you can control and what you can't. This is known in stoic philosophy as the "dichotomy of control", and is put this way in the Enchiridion:
“Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing.”
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#4Commentarii de Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar
By far my favorite example of any individual human's mental (and often physical) toughness. There's a thousand examples where he displayed herculean mental strength in the face over overwhelming situations.
Some that come to mind:
1. He took groups of cavalry out on attacks during a heavy winter, letting each group of soldiers take a turn resting, while he went out on every mission.
2. He grabbed a shield an went to the front of the lines when the Nervii were about to slaughter his entire force. Turning the tide in a situation almost no one else could have survived.
3. Instead of giving up the siege of Alesia when a massive relieving army was inbound, he went double or nothing by enclosing himself in a double wall investment.
4. He attacked a beach full of unknown numbers of enemy soldiers with chariots, in D-day style amphibious assault.
He did a hundred major things like this in his life, and a thousand minor ones we know about.
An excellent audiobook version is available free https://archive.org/details/Commentaries_Gaius_Julius_Caesar
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#5I think mental toughness comes with knowing yourself and how to deal with the world around us. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a great starting point. It's a favorite of General Jim Mattis the US Secretary of Defense. The biggest badass we would all be lucky to know.
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#6"Extreme Ownership" was popular this year: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1...
My personal favourite is called /Winning Through Intimidation/ , I think it is much more relevant to our capitalistic and legalistic society than military memoirs or the ancients, as much as I enjoy them. https://www.amazon.com/Winning-through-Intimidation-Victor-B... . It is not prescriptive because it is a bit dated and specific to real estate, but the core ideas are rock solid.
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#7I read The Obstacle is the Way last year and I liked it. Also, Man's Search Meaning is a very interesting book about the personal experiences of Viktor Frankl surviving 4 concentration camp during World War. His outlook on enduring suffering and overcoming it is very deep and enlightening.
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#8I never thought of mental toughness as something that can be learned from a book. Has anyone had a transformative change from reading a book on the subject?
I learned mental toughness from physically grueling experiences (wrestling, digging holes, mixing cement). Experiences where I put myself in a mindset where I didn't have a choice but to persevere. After doing that for years, dealing with most mental/emotional struggles are manageable.
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#9It’s not directly focused on mental toughness but I think it indirectly explores the themes of mental toughness: Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations”.
Really any text that explores Stoicism by it’s very nature also explores the different aspects of your mind that people traditionally refer to as “mental toughness”
Re: Ask HN: Which are some of the best books on Mental Toughness?
#10I never thought of mental toughness as something that can be learned from a book. Has anyone had a transformative change from reading a book on the subject? I learned mental toughness from physically grueling experiences (wrestling, digging holes, mixing cement). Experiences where I put myself in a mindset where I didn't have a choice but to persevere. After doing that for years, dealing with most mental/emotional st…
It's funny you mention digging holes and mixing cement! I spent a year as a labourer working on the M25 motorway. It did wonders for my mental (not to mention physical) toughness. Four years working in seismic and then on oil rigs in absolutely horrible conditions seemed to help too! {grin}