The Inner Game of Tennis is not about tennis.

It never was.

10 quotes that prove it: “Anxiety is fear about what may happen in the future, and it occurs only when the mind is imagining what the future may bring. But when your attention is on the here and now, the actions which need to be done in the present have their best chance of being successfully accomplished, and as a result the future will become the best possible present.”

Every podcast I listen to kept mentioning this guy. I finally gave in and read The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin.

Chess champion.
Martial arts world champion.
Obsessed with mastery.

Here are 10 quotes I saved: “In my experience, successful people shoot for the stars, put their hearts on the line in every battle, and ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence mean much more than the immediate trophies and glory.”

We lost Scott Adams this week.

Before he created Dilbert, he failed at more businesses than most people ever try.

He wrote about all of it in "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big."

11 of his best insights: First of all, in the book he made a list of skills in which every adult should gain a working knowledge:

“Luck has a good chance of finding you if you become merely good in most of these areas.”

Public speaking
Psychology
Business Writing
Accounting
Design (the basics)
Conversation
Overcoming Shyness
Second language
Golf
Proper grammar
Persuasion
Technology ( hobby level)
Proper voice technique

You don't care about back pain right now, I get it.

You will when you can't get off the couch without holding your breath.

Bookmark this thread. When that day comes (and it will), you'll have simple drills that actually work, not random stretches from Google.​🧵 First rule: stop attacking your spine directly

Back pain is usually irritated pathways, not a “weak back.”

The real fix is building stability around the spine without compressing nerves.

Think: stronger core, hips, feet, and neck so your spine can finally chill.

James Clear sold 25 million copies of Atomic Habits.

Here's everything you need to transform your life without reading 320 pages:

(The lazy person's guide to 10x-ing your existence) Forget motivation. Forget discipline.

The single biggest lesson from those 25 million copies: Making it easy to START is what matters most.

Not finishing. Not being perfect. Just starting.

Chris Williamson has a concept that explains a lot of modern suffering: we don’t just feel afraid, we feel stupid for being afraid.

If you’ve ever thought 'other people have it worse, so why am I like this?', read this: 1/
The shame of small fears is this: because your life is comfortable, you decide your panic must be ridiculous, so you add judgment on top of an already activated nervous system.

Everyone’s posting their Spotify Wrapped.

Chris Williamson (@chriswillx) just dropped a life wrapped: 23 lessons from 10,000+ minutes of Modern Wisdom in 2025.​​

If you want a cheat sheet for 2026, read this 🧵: 1/ Parental Attribution Error

“The traits you're most ashamed of are often just the dark side of something light.”
​
People blame parents for flaws and claim strengths as their own.

Reckon with the whole inheritance, not just the parts that fit the victim story

A Navy SEAL, a Fortune 500 CEO, and a chess grandmaster all read the same book.

None of them play tennis.

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey is the best performance psychology book ever written.

Here are 10 best quotes: “The concentrated mind has no room for thinking how well the body is doing, much less of the how-to’s of the doing. When a player is in this state, there is little to interfere with the full expression of his potential to perform, learn and enjoy.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Man’s Search for Meaning pop up on podcasts, book lists…

Every time I reread it, I find something new to underline.

Here are a few lines (20,lol) that always hit hard, maybe one will find you when you need it most: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

🧵 @naval ignores 99% of podcast requests

But he personally reached out to @ChrisWillx because "their conversations were already happening in his head"

I dug through this 3+ hour monster episode for the 22 harshest truths about human nature 👇 2/ "If you want to be successful, you have to be choosy about your desires."

We collect unnecessary desires from everywhere. Knowing desires = unhappiness helps you be choosy.

You can't be great at everything - it's a waste of time and energy

Most people think being rich solves all problems.

Here's 10 things no one tells you about wealth 🧵 #1. Finding purpose after early retirement

Many people are prepared financially to retire early, but not prepared for identity struggles that come with it

If your self-worth throughout your career has been dependent on how hard you work or how many hours you put into something, you must find other hobbies or interests to direct that energy toward

There's no magic cure for depression.

But there are some things that actually help when you feel like you're drowning.

No hype, just science:

🧵 1/ Depression isn't just sadness. It's a biological state where:

• You wake up at 3-4 AM and can't fall back asleep

• You lose the ability to feel pleasure (anhedonia)

• Your brain creates negative thoughts that feel completely real

• Basic tasks become overwhelming

Your brain chemistry is literally altered.

🧵 Michael Easter spent years figuring out why we're more anxious than ever despite living better than kings.

His latest @hubermanlab breakdown will change how you see comfort forever.

What he discovered: 1/ Your brain treats fewer problems as more problems

Easter explains "prevalence induced concept change" - as we encounter fewer real threats, we don't become happier. We just lower our threshold for what counts as a problem.

Modern result: We have the same stress levels, but over increasingly trivial things.

What no one tells you about peak performance:

It's not about willpower or motivation.

It's about listening to signals your body sends every second.

Here's how:🧵 1/ BREATHING HACK: Control Your Energy State

Want instant calm?
- Emphasize long exhales
- Try "physiological sigh": 2 quick inhales + 1 long exhale

Want instant alertness?
- Deep inhales, short exhales
- Just 2-3 breaths = energy boost
- 25-30 breaths = espresso-level alertness

The latest @hubermanlab is all about how to make a perfect excercise routine to boost brain health, longevity and performance

Here are 5 things everyone should include in their weekly exercise routine: (1) Long slow distance (LSD) / zone 2 cardio:

• At least one session weekly (45–75 minutes)
• Improves cerebral blood flow and cardiovascular health
• Activities: jogging, swimming, rowing, cycling, or any steady, non-injurious movement

He finally got him to do the podcast!

Get ready to hear the amazing story of Dr. Bernardo Huberman, one of the discoverers of chaos and @hubermanlab's dad.

Here are some of the best parts: What is the quantum internet that Bernardo is working on at the moment?

•The basis of all secure interactions in the internet on computers are based on the idea that some mathematical equations or functions are very hard to resolve.

• They can still be broken, but it takes a lot of time.

• Quantum mechanics provide security that is not given by mathematics but by the laws of physics so they cannot be broken.

• What happens in quantum, stays in quantum: “In quantum, when you send you a quantum message, the act of touching it, trying to look at it, destroys it.” – Bernardo Huberman

• A quantum computer could decode any mathematical function of the ones used in encryption in hours so whoever gets this ability first can read all the information that’s being sent around the world.

• The Chinese are ahead of almost everybody: “They have two satellites already in orbit that are sending these qubits.”

How to write a book that sells?

@charliehoehn, the editor behind bestselling books by Tim Ferriss, Ramit Sethi, Codie Sanchez, and Noah Kagan can help.

And @ShaneAParrish asked all the right questions every writer wants to know...

Here are the best parts: The fastest way to kill a book: Write as though you are speaking to a huge general audience.

If you're dating right now, this is the most valuable podcast of the year for you

Blaine Anderson is a dating coach who has taught tens of thousands of men how to meet the woman of their dreams

Here's everything you need to know: 1/ Women want to be pursued — data from 1,300 single women in the U.S. and U.K. shows:

• 97% of women would rather meet a man in-person rather than online

• 95% of women wish they were approached more often by men in real life

900+ hours of health and wellness podcasts in 10 posts:

🧵 1/ Incorporate physical activity into your day – here’s how:

• Take frequent walks/breaks
• Use a standing desk at work
• If you use public transportation, get off a stop or two before your destination to force yourself to walk a bit
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Only take walking meetings

You can experience health benefits from doing a “disgustingly small” amount of exercise...

You do NOT need to go to the gym for 1-2 hours per day to experience exercise benefits.

Four minutes of vigorous exercise per day has been shown to decrease the risk of cancer incidents by 20%:

• Just 10 minutes of vigorous exercise per day showed a 30-40% decrease (!!)
• “Vigorous exercise” as in getting your heart rate +150 beats per minute for that period

Online dating 101 by Blaine Anderson (the #1 dating coach for men)

The bar is so low for profiles on dating apps.

A little optimization will get you many more matches — see how: High-quality photos are crucial

• Up-to-date, relevant, and how you look today
• Blaine has all her clients work with professional dating app photographers

If you are a single guy, this may be the most valuable podcast of the year for you.

Blaine Anderson (the #1 dating coach for men) explains how to feel more confident dating + attract awesome girlfriends:

(🧵) 1/ Women want to be pursued — data from 1,300 single women in the U.S. and U.K. shows:

• 97% of women would rather meet a man in-person rather than online

• 95% of women wish they were approached more often by men in real life