Breaking Out of Homeostasis: Achieve Mind-Body Mastery and Continue Evolving When Others Stagnate

428 Pages·2017·2.98 MB·English

by  Ludvig Sunstrom

BREAKING
OUT OF
HOMEOSTASIS
Achieve Mind-Body Mastery And Continue
Evolving When Others Stagnate
© 2017 Ludvig Sunström
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or
used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
What is Homeostasis And How Do You Break Out of
it?
Homeostasis is the body’s autopilot for survival. It is the brain and body's
mechanism for staying the same and saving energy. It’s also the oldest and most
powerful biological force.
The brain did not evolve to think or change, but to maintain homeostasis.
Homeostasis no longer works as it should because our biology has not kept up
with technology.
Most people never achieve their potential because they are trapped in
homeostasis.
Homeostasis is caused by biology and reinforced by society.
You can Break out of Homeostasis by mastering the influences of biology and
society.
The way to master these influences is the eightfold path:
1. Right Cognition
2. Right Habits
3. Right Discipline
4. Right Learning
5. Right Stimulation
6. Right Addictions
7. Right Reward System
8. Right Risk Taking
About the Author
Ludvig Sunström is an entrepreneur and author. Together with hedge fund
manager Mikael Syding, he hosts the popular business podcast “25 Minuter,”
which has been ranked #1 on iTunes several times. His content has been read
and listened to by millions of people.
Read his blog is at: www.StartGainingMomentum.com
Contact email: [email protected]
Say hi on Twitter: @LudvigSGM
7 Things This Book Will Help You Achieve: “This
book is dangerous. It will make you think painful
thoughts about things you could (and should) do
differently. But it will also make you explore powerful
new frontiers of the mind. So, if you can hang in there
—and follow through on these ideas—you will be
amply rewarded.”
—Mikael Syding, European Hedge Fund Manager of the Decade “This book primes you for
progress. It reminds us that conformity is regression.”
—Martin Berkhan, Intermittent Fasting innovator You will learn how to:
1. Remain adaptable in old age and continue evolving when others stagnate.
2. Get out of a depressing downward spiral and thrust yourself into a winner
effect by removing bad habits and rewiring your brain’s reward system.
3. Double your willpower and curiosity by using your prefrontal cortex
more.
4. Distinguish between when to trust your gut feeling and when not to.
5. Join the cognitive elite by developing your neocortex for higher order
thinking.
6. Annihilate fear and unlock the genius of boldness by taming your
amygdala.
7. Become a master of your craft by attaining expert pattern recognition.
Table of Contents
Preface
Foreword by Mikael Syding, European Hedge Fund Manager of the Decade
The Top 13 Takeaways
Book Summary
Take the Test
The Multi-Tier Strategy
Part 1: Body-Mastery
1: Homeostasis, Homeostasis Dwellers, and Homeostasis Breakers
2: Pushing Through the Plateau
3: Breaking out of Homeostasis
4: Allostasis: The Stretch Zone of Adaptability
Part 2: Mind-Mastery
5: Metacognition: The Key for Unlocking the Gap Between Stimulus and
Response
6: An Overview of the Human Brain
7: The Prefrontal Cortex: How to Increase Concentration, Willpower and
Decisiveness
8: The Neocortex: How to Practice Higher Order Thinking and Join the
Cognitive Elite
9: Perfecting Your Pattern Recognition: How to Go From Novice to Expert
10: Throw Off the Chains of Amygdala Slavery and Unlock the Genius of
Boldness
11: Rewire Your Reward System and Thrust Yourself into a Winner Effect
Part 3: Addendum and Bonus Content
12: The 14 Fundamental Differences Between HDs and HBs
13: The Most Important Career Advice For People Under 30
14: Free Bonus Content
15: Glossary
Foreword by Karl-Mikael Syding, The European
Hedge Fund Manager Of The Decade
Finally: A Resolution to the Age Old Debate on Choosing
Happiness or Success
I met Ludvig in 2014. I had worked in high finance as a sell-side analyst, buy-
side analyst; and a hedge fund manager, managing director and partner, but I felt
something was missing. I wanted to broaden my perspective and share my
insights with others.
Before finishing that story, I want to tell you that this book deals with a super-
important concept.
You must learn about homeostasis—and how to break out of it—because it’s
what determines how well you adapt to change. It will determine whether you
can become future-proof in a world that’s changing faster than ever. This book
will give you the tools to stay young at heart and mind longer.
I’m often asked what my best advice would be for a young and ambitious
person. Well, if you want to be productive and wealthy, yet happy and healthy,
THIS is the book you should read; and the book I wish I had read many times
over in high school and college.
I never really identified the underlying reasons for why I received a physics
award from the King of Sweden. Or why I was poached from a small bank to
head the IT-research team at Sweden’s largest bank during the IT boom in the
second half of the 1990s. Or how I became partner and Managing Director at
arguably Europe’s best performing hedge fund between 1999 and 2010. Ludvig,
however, did connect the dots.
Chances are you’re already well versed with Ludvig’s work through his website.
If not, prepare to be amazed. Familiar as I am with his ideas by now, I still
underlined something on almost every page in this book.
I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts about the brain and body. I’ve
read dozens and dozens of books about philosophy and psychology, and I have
followed many blogs about self-improvement. I am not a novice in these areas.
followed many blogs about self-improvement. I am not a novice in these areas.
But this book is different. Sure, it is about those things, and Ludvig neatly
synthesizes the big ideas from all those fields, but he also brings something new
to the table: a powerful and practical framework that (almost) anyone can use to
become smarter and stronger, regardless of age.
The question is: Will you use it?
*
I was born in 1972. My generation had it easier in many ways than the
Millennials. Attention disruptors like MTV, Internet, social media, and smart
phones didn’t exist in my world, and calling out of state was prohibitively
expensive.
I was fortunate enough to be a loner and an avid reader (starting early as a
bullied 4-year old outsider). I got a computer for my tenth birthday in January
1982. From that day onward, I spent all my waking time programming, reading
computer magazines in English, and playing intricate text based games.
My being less socially inclined than most people thus proved a blessing in
disguise, as it led me to spend hours upon hours in deep concentration and a state
of flow, learning to decipher both English and coding at the same time, while my
brain was still young and at its most malleable.
I had no idea of it at the time, but I was laying down a solid infrastructure in my
brain; consisting of the habit of deep work and getting into flow as I was
learning math, coding, logic, English, responsibility and discipline at the same
time (if you’ve ever debugged a not-so-structured program you know what I
mean).
Had I been born 20 years later, I’m sure I would have gotten lost among the
siren calls from social media. I probably would have wasted away my life on
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Without the skills I acquired early in life—more or less by chance—I would
have been left irrelevant in today’s economic landscape. I would have been
doomed to eking out an almost vegetative subsistence in routine jobs, with no
future, and an inability to concentrate and learn fast enough to propel myself
forward, like a Homeostasis Dweller.
Reading this book might just be the thing that gives you the tools to avoid such a