The Art of Learning

Josh Waitzkin, who won his first National Chess Championship at nine and whose father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer became a film, later took up Tai Chi Chuan and earned a world champion title. He argues that his real skill is neither chess nor Tai Chi but learning itself. Mixing chess matches and martial arts bouts with lessons on method, he lays out a principled approach to growth: triggering intuitive breakthroughs, refining techniques until they become potent, handling performance psychology and turning defeats and mistakes into progress. Waitzkin treats championship results as the product of a lifestyle that feeds creative, resilient growth, and he dwells on his everyday method more than on big wins.

Tools of Titans lists it among the picks of Bryan Callen, co-host of The Fighter and the Kid. GoRails founder Chris Oliver called it excellent for programmers and founders, who must keep learning new things.