Executive Toughness: The Mental-Training Program to Increase Your Leadership Performance

First, the title, subtitle, and artwork are misleading. This is not a book about excelling at work. This book teaches you how to make life plans, convert them into day-to-day schedules, and evaluate if you are truly getting closer to making your plans a reality.Jason framed this book in business terms but you don’t need to even have a job for this system to change your life. You go from overwhelmed, discouraged, jaded, and even depressed to focused and in control. Transforming big, amorphous aspirations into shorter term goals and daily action plans is the way. The tools that get you there are laid out in a “build as you go” format and include visualization, prioritization, concrete specification, elimination of negative thought patterns, and more.There are way too many books out there that promise change but offer no tangible solutions, or they give you a rehash of good ideas but nothing to stick them all together into a life system. This is the only book I know of, including all of Jason’s other books, that covers all the bases and gives you a single source for transforming yourself into exactly what you want.This book is getting old… tools are changing to make goal tracking and statistics easier (such as the Productive app, amongst others). It is recommended to pair current technology with these concepts to truly live them and stay organized, focused, and positive no matter what.An absolutely crucial book and my number one secret weapon when I find myself straying into the weeds.

2015 was undoubtedly the hardest year of my professional life (so far). I was a newly hired Business Analyst on a small project team that launched a tool just ~3 months into my time in role that more or less disrupted or took down all HR functions across the entire company, and we spent the better part of the year recovering from a huge failure. Our team spent the ensuing months being used as the poster children for how not to run a project, being routinely publicly humiliated in front of our peers at org meetings. Nearly every leader between me and the CEO retired, resigned, or was fired in proximity of the fallout. By May of that year, I was burnt out and ready to quit. My family had a vacation on the books that had been planned well before I had even taken the role, and it felt irresponsible to go in the middle of such a crisis, but we couldn't get our money back and so we went. My own emotional and mental health had taken such an abysmal downward spike in 5 months that I drafted my resignation letter the week before my time off, with full intention of sending it before I left. Something made me pause, with the intention of sending it when I returned. I'm glad I waited.While I was on vacation, I picked up Jason Selk's book, Executive Toughness. I read it cover to cover twice, took copious notes, and when I returned to the office I immediately instated the practices he lays out -- everything from prioritizing my time (especially strategically and intentionally identifying the people I need to regularly connect with for maximum impact, rather than letting my calendar dictate my time) to scheduling a daily pause for 'RSF'. Seven years later, I'm a Senior Director in the same organization, and I unhesitatingly credit this book as a major turning point in my career. Thank you, Jason Selk, for sharing your wisdom and for literally changing my life.

After reading Dr Selk's 10-Minute Toughness. I set out to try to apply this to my business life. I could see how it applied to athlete's and gave it to friends of mine who are professional athletes. When I became aware of Executive Toughness I realized he had done what I was trying to do for myself! After reading it in 2 days, I was excited to develop the habits that were consistent with my athletic career and the success of my business career. It didn't hurt that I had been a fan of John Wooden's for many years. Dr Selk ties Psychology...Goals...Business...Habits...Attitudes...Beliefs...Expectations together with common sense examples of how to develop a Process to get the results that you are after! I was so moved by my own results...at home and at work, that I bought many copies for Christmas presents for colleagues. Interesting to note that the 10-minute Toughness examples used from the 2006 World Series were almost a duplicate to the 2011 World Series results. St Louis winning both of those titles as the unlikely come from behind underdog. The 2 things those teams had in common were...Tony LaRussa and Dr Jason Selk. Dr Selk taught them how to think...and Tony LaRussa coached them on what to do. A lot of books have been written on what to do...and how to do it....but how many have been written about how to think while you are doing what you do? Or better...how to think before you do it?!

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jason Selk. This single book changed the entire trajectory of my career in construction management.I purchased this book my senior year of college while making the transition from intern to full time professional. Managing infrastructure construction follows the truth of "It's simple, but not easy". Acknowledging that mental toughness plays a key role in the success of a project manager, I read this book hoping to gain an edge.Well, I gained much more than that. My life completely changed by relentlessly applying the rules Dr. Jason Selk laid out. I credit much of my ability to get ahead in industry to the principles that I was introduced to through Executive Toughness. It's been three years and I still wake up each morning and perform my mental workout and grade myself at the end of each do to find opportunities to improve.Thank you Dr. Jason Selk. Your work has undoubtably changed the entire course of my career and life for the better.

I have dozens of books of this type. I ordered Selk's previous book, 10-Minute Toughness, without any enormous expectations, but I found it superb for anyone who has any kind of performance or sports career or events to aim for. Consequently, I bought this book as soon as I saw it was available, but with a slightly sinking heart, because of the title and the picture on it. I was concerned that it would simply be his first book re-written for American office workers.However, Selk has taken his experience of working with people in sports and business and has produced a book which can easily be read and used by the general public. Most of the books in this genre either fall into the 'How to make billions of dollars and attract the partner of your dreams while asleep in your armchair dribbling slightly' (e.g. The Secret), or 'How to make your life so boring that you'll wish you'd cut your throat instead' (e.g. the works of Brian Tracy, bless him, and yes, I have read most of them and listened to the audio).The revelation for me with both books, was the emphasis on process goals rather than product goals. Decide what you want (product), figure out what it'll take to get you there, take the actions (processes). Simple, obvious? Yes, however most other books focus on the product goals, i.e. the result you want, and then leave you hanging. Selk's aim is to get you doing the processes, in other words taking the necessary actions on a consistent basis. If you were setting out on a journey to a new place, deciding where you were going would probably be the easy bit. If you didn't plan your journey, buy the tickets, and make your connections on time, you'd be pretty unlikely to get there. Also simple and obvious, but the problem for most of us is taking the actions and that's what Selk recognises and has strategies to deal with.This is a book that is focused on achieving results, and the responsibility for that rests squarely on the reader. Selk gives you the tools, and some solutions to the obstacles he's found along the way. The worst thing about the book is probably the title.

I would go further than the excellent and accurate review of 9th February 2012 and confirm that this is definitely the best book I have read on setting and achieving goals.At the time of writing, the book has 19 five-star reviews out of 19 on Amazon.com. (This increased to 97 all-five-star reviews as at 6th April 2013.)I found the following aspects of the book to be particularly helpful -1) The emphasis throughout on focus and accountability2) The guidance on defining one's own purpose in life and from this deriving product goals (to be achieved over 12-months) and daily process goals3) The advice to concentrate on a limited number of goals (3 being the magic number)4) Effective use of a daily planner5) Tracking progress towards achieving goals and conducting a personal performance evaluation (including when the evaluation should be conducted)6) Controlling your arousal state, in other words knowing when to speed up and when to slow down7) Scripting for important conversations8) The importance of daily rehearsal9) How to relentlessly focus on solutions10) Gable discipline: getting done what you have set your mind to do11) The concept of discipline being a limited resource and the importance of choosing how to allocate that resource12) Over-delivering on what you are capable of delivering.The book contains no obvious weaknesses.

Read Dr Jason Selks 10-Minute Toughness and really enjoyed it having spent a number of years competing in various sports at various levels it really many pieces of the jigsaw together and gave me rituals that I would practice if i took up any sport to compete in again. After thoroughly enjoying his first work and having read the reviews on Amazon I had to pick up this book.Whilst I didn't expect a whole lot of difference between both books I was counting on the visualisations being easier to follow for the world of business. Now it has been a couple of months since I read this book, which reminds me that after I write this review I'm going to pick it up and go through it again. The value I received on going through this book just once was amazing I can only imagine what further insights I get going through the second time.Whilst I must confess I still sometimes forego/forget my 100 seconds I honestly can't remember any self help book that has provided me with ideas that have enabled me to notice such vast improvements in multiple areas of my life as this book. I've had a number of fantastic days since reading this and often I can attribute much of them days to that 100 seconds of dedication on the morning of or evening before.The practices I've picked up from Executive Toughness I will continue for the rest of my life, shining the light on my process goals and celebrating their completion brings me closer to my dreams everyday.I am deeply thankful to Jason Selk for putting this work out there enabling so many to benefit from it.

It's probably the best self-help book I have ever read.It contains incredibly useful techniques and they are delivered in a clear, to-the-point style, so you get the goods without having to go through lots of waffle.Really, this book is so head and shoulder above the others, that it should have 7 stars, not merely five.I felt compelled to write a review, even if I usually don't, because it is such a pity that it has only 2 reviews, this book should be more widely known.As someone else pointed out, the "worst" thing about this book is the title and cover: this NOT a book for executives, or about the workplace, I am a stay-at-home mother, and this book as been a massive help to me.I really, really don't think you'll regret buying this.

Excellent template of the steps necessary to achieve true success in life.By absorbing and applying the lessons of executive toughness/ self image, accountability, focus and optimism \ one can be sure of having the best possible outcome,Undoubtedly one of the best books on getting yourself to succeed in your objective.Highly recommended.