Summary of Nate Zinsser's The Confident Mind

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 You can armor yourself against any unexpected turn of events and the difficulties of life by building a personal mental fortress. You start with some strong foundations, and naturally, because this is a mental bank account, your foundations are mental too. #2 The four pillars of a kickass confident attitude are the mindbody connection, human imperfection, the action of the autonomic nervous system, and the delayed returns of continued practice. #3 The mindbody connection was first established in the 1960s and 1970s, when many Westerners began paying attention to Eastern practices like yoga and meditation. The results were conclusive: when subjects changed how they thought and cultivated a peaceful, serene emotional state, their bodies responded with dramatic reductions in blood pressure, oxygen consumption, and heart rate. #4 The connection between your thoughts, feelings, and physical state is constantly working to either enhance or degrade your performance. If your emotional state is driven by a flood of worrisome thoughts, it produces an accelerated heart rate, higher blood pressure, increased muscle tension, tunnel vision, and a cascade of stress hormones.