Your guide to maintaining health and fitness on the go for busy executives.
mental altitude
Perspective is power. Train it daily.
Mental Altitude is where mindset gets its reps.
This is your space to sharpen clarity, confront stress, and build the kind of internal resilience that travels with you... no matter the schedule, city, or challenge. Because strength isn't just physical. It's perspective, composure, and the ability to stay above the noise.
Here, you'll find cliff-note style breakdowns of key concepts from thought leaders in mental health, positivity, and discipline... all curated to help you live stronger from the inside out.
true and false magic by phil stutz
🔑 Top 10 Key Ideas from True and False Magic
By Phil Stutz & Elise Loehnen
- True Magic is rooted in action, not illusion.
Real transformation happens when we confront pain, uncertainty, and resistance — not when we chase shortcuts. True Magic invites us to earn progress through effort, not fantasy.
- False Magic is the seductive voice of avoidance.
It promises instant results, easy fixes, or perpetual comfort — but it robs us of meaning and growth. The book defines False Magic as any belief or behavior that keeps us from the work required for lasting change.
- The “Field of Forces” governs your life.
Stutz emphasizes that we’re always in a dynamic interaction with invisible forces — positive and negative. Understanding how these forces influence your mood, behavior, and choices is the foundation of awareness and agency.
- Pain is a portal to personal power.
Most people run from discomfort, but True and False Magic reframes pain as an initiator — a necessary experience to build strength, clarity, and self-respect. Pain doesn’t block the path; it is the path.
- Patterns are more important than problems.
Don’t just focus on solving individual issues — notice the recurring emotional and behavioral loops you fall into. Transformation begins by identifying and interrupting these patterns before they run the show.
- The “X Factor” is your willingness to show up again and again.
True growth is not about grand breakthroughs, but about consistent engagement with your tools, rituals, and practices. Your X Factor isn’t talent — it’s commitment.
- Energy is everything — and it’s your responsibility to generate it.
Motivation doesn’t just arrive. The book challenges you to create forward motion even when you don’t feel like it, knowing that action produces energy, not the other way around.
- The Shadow can’t be eliminated, but it can be integrated.
Stutz and Loehnen revisit this classic Jungian idea, arguing that your hidden shame, insecurity, or fear becomes fuel when you stop hiding from it. Bringing the Shadow into the light makes you whole.
- You must choose between control and connection.
False Magic clings to certainty, perfection, and control — but at the cost of vulnerability and depth. True Magic arises when you surrender control and open yourself to truth, people, and the unknown.
- All real change begins in the present.
You can’t fix your life by ruminating on the past or obsessing about the future. True and False Magic insists that the present moment — with all its discomfort and opportunity — is your only real access point to growth.
📚 Final Takeaway:
If you're done with empty promises and surface-level fixes — and you’re ready for the hard, rewarding work of inner transformation — True and False Magic is a direct, practical guide. It’s not soft or fluffy. It’s a wake-up call for anyone who wants to stop circling the same problems and start living with power, presence, and purpose.
👉 True and False Magic is available now at Amazon.com or PenguinRandomHouse.com
counter Clockwise by Ellen langer
counter Clockwise by Ellen langer
🔑 Top 10 Key Ideas from Counter Clockwise
By Ellen Langer
- Mindfulness isn’t meditation — it’s moment-to-moment awareness.
Langer defines mindfulness as the simple act of noticing new things. It’s about staying engaged with your environment and avoiding autopilot — not sitting silently on a cushion.
- Our beliefs shape our biology.
What you believe about aging, illness, and ability can actually alter your body’s response. The mind and body are connected in real-time — mindset becomes physiology.
- Context drives health more than we think.
Small changes in environment or framing can trigger significant shifts in how we feel, heal, and perform. Perception is often more powerful than medication.
- Language creates possibility — or limits it.
The labels we use influence our physical experience. Saying “I’m old” or “I can’t” reinforces decline, while language rooted in potential can enhance function.
- Aging is more mental than physical.
Langer’s famous 1979 experiment showed that older adults placed in a youthful setting actually reversed signs of aging. Beliefs about age accelerate or slow biological change.
- Certainty is an illusion — and it’s harmful.
When we assume limits are fixed (“This won’t improve”), we stop exploring options. Questioning certainty can unlock change in health, performance, and mood.
- Illness is not identity.
Accepting a diagnosis as identity (“I’m diabetic”) can make the condition feel permanent. Langer encourages people to see all conditions as dynamic — never set in stone.
- You can reframe reality by noticing.
When you notice novelty in the familiar, you reignite your brain’s engagement. This small habit strengthens mental flexibility, energy, and creativity.
- Health is enhanced by choice and control.
When people feel they have agency, their bodies respond with better immune function, mobility, and cognitive clarity. Autonomy drives vitality.
- The future can be reversed — starting in your mind.
Decline isn’t inevitable. Counter Clockwise shows that conscious awareness and reframing can slow, stop, or even reverse the physical effects of aging and stress.
📚 Final Takeaway:
If you’ve accepted decline as normal, Counter Clockwise is your challenge to think again. It offers proof that your mindset isn't just powerful — it's physiological. Read it if you're ready to change not just how you think, but how you age, heal, and live.
👉 Counter Clockwise is available now at Amazon.com or PenguinRandomHouse.com