The Art of Learning

Josh Waitzkin uses his journeys through championship chess and Tai Chi Push Hands to explain an incremental approach to mastery, resilient responses to failure, technical compression, performance routines, and sustained growth under pressure.

9 sections ยท 40 lessons

Course outline

Mindset Foundations

  1. Intelligence is Developed
  2. Fixed Beliefs Limit Growth
  3. Surrender Ego to Learn
  4. Seek Strong Opponents

Technical Mastery

  1. Condense Techniques
  2. Refine Fundamentals
  3. Automate Techniques
  4. Free Your Mind
  5. Depth Over Breadth
  6. Extract Principles

Psychological Flexibility

  1. Relaxed Intensity
  2. Bend Don't Break
  3. Brittle Concentration
  4. Imperfect Conditions
  5. Maintain Humility
  6. Return to Beginner

Embracing Challenges

  1. Struggle Signals Learning
  2. Uncomfortable Emotions
  3. Obstacles Into Fuel
  4. Setbacks as Catalysts
  5. Lean Into Discomfort
  6. Breakthrough Through Discomfort

Performance Psychology

  1. Interrupt Error Cascades
  2. Physical Resets
  3. Channel Emotions
  4. Direct Emotional Energy

Stress and Recovery

  1. Oscillate Between Extremes
  2. Recovery Determines Capacity
  3. Physical Recovery Training
  4. Mind-Body Recovery

Peak Performance

  1. Build Relaxation Routine
  2. Condense Your Trigger
  3. Expert Pattern Recognition
  4. Cognitive Space

Process Over Outcome

  1. Strategic Losses
  2. Compete Above Level
  3. Evaluate Learning Quality
  4. Detach Identity From Results

Integration

  1. Master Learning Process
  2. Transfer Principles

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