No Limits: The Art and

Science of High Performance

By Mukesh Bansal
The Author’s Profile
and Journey
• B.Tech in computer science from IIT Kanpur
• Worked in four different startups between 1999 and 2006 in the Bay
Area, two of which failed
• Started Myntra in 2007
• Co-founded Cult.fit in 2016
• Some Learnings:
+ A lot goes into building a successful company - people and
culture are critical to the whole process
+ Learning is at the core of growth, and it is a skill that can be
systematically cultivated
+ How the entire team works together is a much powerful driver of
performance, than individual “Talents”
+ People grow at dramatically different paces
+ Building a company is like Test Cricket
Questions the book seeks to answer
• Why people with comparable academic backgrounds and similar levels
of intelligence, end up with dramatically different capabilities and
achievements in just a few years?

• What is the secret of performance, if not innate ability?

1. Talent: It’s not in
your genes
• Genius are not born – but trained. Every child is a
potential genius.
• Example of László Polgár
+ Hungarian chess teacher and educational
psychologist
+ Decided to put this idea to the test
+ All three daughters homeschooled from an
early age, focused on multiple languages and
advanced maths, ample exposure to chess
+ All three sisters started participating in age-
appropriate chess competitions at the age of
five and started defeating grown-ups
1. Talent: It’s not in your genes

+ Susan became the first woman to qualify for

the Men’s World Championship in 1986 and
became a grandmaster at the age of twenty-
one.
+ Judit, youngest daughter, earned the
grandmaster title at the age of fifteen,
becoming one of the youngest grandmasters
ever
+ Went on to become eighth ranked player
among both genders
1. Talent: It’s not in your genes
• Example of Williams sisters

• Deliberate practice makes you perfect

+ Breaking down what you are trying to learn into smaller elements and specifically focusing on each
step
+ Public Speaking - research, preparation of notes, opening remarks, body language, closing remarks
2. Body, use it or lose it
• The more we push our bodies, the more they adapt to the new challenge and grow the capabilities to get
the job done.

• What the body has got to do with the science of performance ?

• Feedback loop between the mind and the body

• Fitness: the only magic pill

+ Example of Rich Roll- former college swimmer, 22 KG overweight, struggled with alcohol and drug
abuse for a decade, on verge of a heart attack.
+ Two years later, roll finished eleventh in an ultramarathon, and a few years later, he completed five
Ironman-distance triathlon across Hawaii within one week—an exceptional feat!
3. The Plastic Mind
• Popular belief – we stop growing new brain cells after the age of thirty

• Reality - brain’s ability to make new connections is much faster when young, but the ability is retained
even in old age

• Brain Muscle - brain responds to training, and increases its strength when exercised, just like any other
muscle

• Example of Joshua Foer - intrigued by the abilities of memory athletes who can memorize an entire deck
of shuffled cards in under thirty seconds
+ The current world record stands at 12.74 seconds
+ Met with many practitioners and memory players
+ After just one year of intense training, he ended up becoming the US National Memory Champion in 2006
4. Excellence is a Habit
• Superhuman Athletes
+ Dedication towards habits cultivated over a period - a routine that they wouldn’t compromise on.
4. Excellence is a Habit
• Sleep as a keystone habit
+ Profound impact of sleep on both the body and the mind
+ A skill, affected by a series of small cues and routines
+ For some it’s easy, for others it’s difficult

• Making the bedroom conducive to sleep

+ No ambient light, no blinking electronic lights, comfortable and clean bed, as well as the right
temperature and humidity.
+ Keeping it free of gadgets and screens
+ Meditation
+ Going to bed around the same time every night to regulate your body clock
+ Night ritual
5. It’s all in the mindset
• Mental state varies but mindset remains constant

• It’s critical - mindset drastically affects the choices you make and the amount of effort that you
are willing to put in your goals

• When someone completes a seemingly ‘impossible’ task others follow as well - Example of Sir
Roger Bannister - the first man to run the four-minute mile

• The myth of IQ
+ Studies have shown very weak correlations between IQ scores and performance
+ EQ or emotional intelligence seems to have a higher correlation with performance
+ Almost all high-impact work requires support from and interaction with a large group of people
5. It’s all in the mindset
• Growth vs Fixed Mindset - Dr Carol Dweck
• Fixed Mindset
+ Think that capabilities are fixed at birth and can’t be changed even with effort
+ Obsessed with proving their intelligence or achievements
+ Afraid to risk any kind of failure
+ Attempt something new only if the results are predictable
+ Result - less ability to grow, as growth requires experimentation, failure, course correction and
adjustments

• Growth Mindset
+ See current capabilities as transitory and believe that they will continue to evolve over a period
+ Failure or success is not a lasting event but a new data point
+ Take on difficult assignments with elements of risk and challenge
+ Keenly observe what works and what doesn’t and keep getting better at it
5. It’s all in the mindset
• Mindset at work
+ Employee with the growth mindset will approach every feedback cycle as an opportunity to learn
+ Sometimes feedback can be very harsh, but they don’t reject it outright
+ Example of growth mindset at work – taking initiative
+ Initiative might be rejected, or outcome subdued – shouldn’t be considered as personal failure

• How to change one’s mindset

+ Awareness coupled with idea of plasticity
+ Pay attention to the self talk
+ Don’t blame other people or the circumstances
+ Make plans, seek feedback, explore what went wrong, and how you can perform better in the future
The Hero’s Journey - A Roadmap
• Concept given by Joseph Campbell

• Part of every successful entrepreneur’s

journey

• By being familiar with the stages of the

hero’s journey, one can be prepared for
each stage when it appears in their life