Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast excellence, actually
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Pursue Excellence Without Sacrificing Your Values | 05 Feb 2026 | 00:24:33 | |
Why do so many people sacrifice their values to make it to the top? People in business who commit fraud; writers who plagiarize; athletes who dope — the list goes on and on. At the core of understanding why is a question that is useful for all of us to ask: How do we pursue excellence without losing ourselves along the way? In today's episode, we unpack the dangerous dynamics of optimization culture, where the drive for growth, status, and money can overtake basic integrity. We explore why the health and wellness industry is uniquely set up to exploit our deepest fears about performance and mortality, how people rationalize crossing ethical lines (from doping athletes to supplement-shilling influencers), why having the right people around you isn't just nice but essential, and why righteousness and purity often get in the way of decency. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter Join The Growth Equation Academy If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Get Out of Your Head and Into the Zone | 29 Jan 2026 | 00:32:27 | |
This past weekend, when Alex Honnold climbed Taipei 101's 1,667-foot tower without ropes, he wasn't thinking his way up; he was doing what elite performers across disciplines—from musicians to surgeons to mathematicians—do when they're operating at their peak: feeling their way forward. In this episode, Clay and Brad unpack two related concepts from psychology: situated cognition (thinking with your body rather than your mind) and positive felt sense (the bodily sensation that something is right before your brain can articulate why). You'll learn how to use them, as well as develop an understanding of the the fours phases of competence, get practical tactics for developing your own feel and intuition, learn why thinking can get in the way of optimal performance, and come to appreciate how the concept of "wu wei" can counteract the tendency to control or tense up. Whether you're an athlete, artist, or professional, this conversation reveals how to move from effortful thinking to effortless flow—and why that journey matters for all of us trying to know ourselves better. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter Join The Growth Equation Academy If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Q+A: On Bad Habits, Post-Race Fitness, and “Boring” Work | 27 Nov 2025 | 00:40:17 | |
As a thanks you to you on Thanksgiving week, we're answering a handful of listener questions. 1. How can I navigate periods of intense work where my life is out of balance without developing bad habits? 2. If I truly internalize that achievement won’t make me happy, won’t I lose my drive? 3. How can I manage the tedium of doing a job that’s meaningful but involves a lot of boring day-to-day work? 4. How can I distinguish between normal training fatigue and chronic exhaustion from overtraining? 5. After a race/performance, I often come back too quickly without being fully recovered, or wait too long and lose fitness. How should I think about timing my return to training? Thanks to everybody who has sent along a question — and thanks for being a part of the The Growth Equation and excellence, actually community. If you'd like us to answer something that has been on your mind, email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 646-893-9503. Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter Join The Growth Equation Academy If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 056 - The Coach Up: RPE (What It Is & How to Use It) | 15 Jul 2024 | 00:19:16 | |
We live in a data-heavy age, rife with smart watches and fitness trackers. But objective metrics have their limits (such as heat, fatigue, stress, technical difficulties, or when you forget your watch/tracker). In these cases, RPE can be a helpful metric to use, because it's based on feel. Today, Brad explains what it is, how to use it, and how it can be applied outside of physical exercise to life more generally. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 055 - Do You Need Meaningful Work to Have a Good Life? | 11 Jul 2024 | 00:42:35 | |
In a 2021 Pew Research survey, only 17% of Americans mentioned their work as a source of meaning. But a 2023 poll, also from Pew Research, said 71% of Americans thought that having a job they enjoy was an important element of a fulfilling life. This creates a big disconnect. If we believe meaningful work is important to a good life, but we're struggling to find meaningful work, where does that leave us? Brad and Clay discuss the role work should play in life, what makes something "meaningful," whether or not it's important to find meaning in your work, and how to find it outside of your job. "America's Crisis of Meaningless Work" by Molly Lipson (Business Insider): https://www.businessinsider.com/american-employees-disengaged-work-meaningless-fake-email-jobs-2024-6 "What Makes for a Fulfilling Life" by Kim Parker and Rachel Minkin (Pew Research): https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/14/what-makes-for-a-fulfilling-life/#:~:text=When%20asked%20what%20it%20takes,to%20live%20a%20fulfilling%20life. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 054 - The Coach Up: A Short but Effective On-the-Go Workout | 08 Jul 2024 | 00:07:02 | |
There are many reasons why your workout routine might get disrupted. Maybe you're traveling, maybe something comes up and you have less time than expected, or maybe you just can't get yourself to drive to the gym. In these moments, it's better to try to do something rather than nothing (if you can). So next time you're in a pinch, try the workout from today's Coach Up. It's something you can do in a tight window, it's customizable to all fitness levels, and the only gear it requires is your body and a deck of cards. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 053 - Everything You Need to Know About the "Second Wind" | 04 Jul 2024 | 00:42:35 | |
You're probably familiar with the phenomenon of the "second wind." You're doing something difficult, going all out, giving max effort, and just when you feel like you've hit your wall—BOOM—you get an unexpected surge of energy to push you to the finish line. It's great when it happens, which begs the question: why does it happen? And how can we make it more likely to occur again? Today, the guys break down the physiology and psychology behind the phenomenon, what we still don't know about it, and how we can increase our chances of catching it. (Hat tip to Mike, who emailed in a question about the second wind!) Plus: a George Orwell quote sparks a debate about the importance of ego and egolessness when it comes to excellence and performance. George Orwell Quote: https://x.com/oldbooksguy/status/1805650757502583096 If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 052 - The Coach Up: How to (Deep) Read More Books | 01 Jul 2024 | 00:17:59 | |
Reading is a skill that we may not spend a lot of time trying to improve. But in an age of constant noise and distraction, being able to focus and go deep on a good book isn't just one of life's great pleasures, it's also a way to improve your attentional fitness (not to mention a great way to learn). On a year when he's not writing his own book, Brad can read 50 to 100 books. He shares his tips for starting (or restarting) and maintaining a deep reading practice: his note-taking process, why he always keeps a pad nearby (but no devices), and his one rule for quitting books. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 051 - Does Being a Good Person Make You a Worse Competitor? | 27 Jun 2024 | 00:43:36 | |
Steve, Brad, and Clay discuss a question posed by the writer and runner Sabrina Little in a recent article (link below) from Aeon titled "Performance-Enhancing Vices:" How do the personality traits that make for better competitors impact moral character? Is it possible that things like envy, selfishness, and pride—traits we'd likely label as "vices"—make us more competitive? Does good character hurt our performance? Using contemporary examples and drawing on their own experiences coaching, competing, and working with elite athletes, the guys explore the relationship between athletic performance and moral character. When does selfishness help and when does it hurt? Do you have to singularly obsessed to be great? How should we think about balancing life with ambitious goals? "Performance-Enhancing Vices" by Sabrina Little (Aeon): https://aeon.co/essays/does-it-take-a-bad-person-to-be-a-good-athlete If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 050 - The Coach Up: The Visual Tool to Win Hard Workouts (or Days) | 24 Jun 2024 | 00:09:50 | |
We all have hard workouts and hard days. Often, what makes them hard is there's a problem we need to solve. On today's episode, we're going into the FAREWELL archives to pull one of the great problem-solving tools from ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter's killer toolbox. As you might imagine, many problems creep up when you're running 100+ miles, and Courtney has one visual tool that's proven particularly effecting at helping her win races. Plus: her favorite mantras, and the trick to unlock confidence and self-belief. Full Episode: Spotify -- https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RG8qJFrtmX9pbibmuQzHi?si=667003bf0d5144f7 Apple -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/001-inside-the-joyful-mind-of-elite-ultrarunner/id1505257676?i=1000640521579 If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 049 - Diet, Exercise, and Performance Dos and Don'ts with Adam Bornstein | 20 Jun 2024 | 01:05:03 | |
Adam Bornstein is a fitness and nutrition expert who has worked with LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger and who came to the world of wellness after breaking his back (twice!) at a young age. It was the 1990's and doctors told him he'd have to change his athletic lifestyle—except for one, who put him through exercises that involved strengthened his core and focused on on functional, load-bearing movement. The (ultimately effective) regimen was unusual at the time but is now considered foundational to most physical fitness routines. It gave Adam an early lesson in the power and strength of the human body—and the shortcomings of fitness and wellness "experts." Which is why he's an ideal source to help us wade through all the misinformation of today's health and wellness world. He discusses why he thinks the health industry is getting worse, the critical mindset shift that will help you change your behavior, a better and more sustainable way to eat, what he's learned from Arnold and LeBron, and a better way to think about goal-setting and to-do lists. Adam Bornstein's book, "You Can't Screw This Up: Why Eating Takeout, Enjoying Dessert, and Taking the Stress out of Dieting Leads to Weight Loss That Lasts": https://www.harpercollins.com/products/you-cant-screw-this-up-adam-bornstein?variant=41096256552994 If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 048 - The Coach Up: JJ Redick on the Confidence of an NBA Sharpshooter | 17 Jun 2024 | 00:10:56 | |
Over the course of his basketball career, JJ Redick carved out a reputation as one of the game's best shooters. (Not to mention one of its smartest minds, which is why he's currently an analyst for the NBA Finals, and rumored to be a leading candidate for the next L.A. Lakers head coaching position.) To be that kind of shooter, you need an unflappable confidence. In 2020, Clay spoked with JJ about how he earned that confidence, and how he maintained it even during sustained shooting slumps. It's a masterclass in self-belief, and it's a technique you don't have to be in the NBA to be able to use. Original Interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nba-sharpshooter-j-j-redick-on-keeping-your-confidence/id1462693827?i=1000463893768 If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 047 - How to think About Longevity and End-of-Life Health | 13 Jun 2024 | 00:38:23 | |
In recent years, there has been a growing obsession with longevity and life extension: people interested in improving the quality of their health at the end of their lives (or extending their life altogether). Steve, Brad, and Clay use a recent story from The New Yorker—"No Time to Die" by Dhruv Khullar (link below)—to break down the quest to live longer. How worried should we be about longevity? How is it benefiting our societal health? How is it harming it? And, most importantly, how much should the quality of our end-of-life health concern us as we make choice about our health today? "No Time to Die" by Dhruv Khullar (The New Yorker) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/22/how-to-die-in-good-health If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Mental Fitness Playbook: Resilience, Regulation, and Flexibility | 20 Nov 2025 | 00:41:00 | |
Elite performers know: mental fitness needs the same intentional training as physical fitness. In this episode, we break down mental fitness into three trainable components: resilience (your mental strength), emotional regulation (your psychological endurance), and psychological flexibility (your mental mobility). Drawing from meditation research, disaster psychology, and ultra-running wisdom, we explore what often gets confused for mental toughness (toxic positivity or stoic repression) and discuss what it actually takes to respond skillfully to life's inevitable storms. Learn practical tools for processing difficulty, the critical role of community in resilience, and why your values become the roadmap when emotions narrow your world. Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript If you have a question for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at (646) 893-9503. Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 046 - The Coach Up: How (and Why) To Do A Digital Sabbath | 10 Jun 2024 | 00:14:58 | |
Every week, Brad Stulberg spends either Saturday or Sunday practicing a Digital Sabbath: he goes the day offline and without any of his devices (phone, computer, tablet). It's not because he's anti-technology, but because he wanted to make sure he still had access to many of the aspects of life that tech use can hamper: presence, creativity, silence, and emotional regulation, to name a few. On today's episode, he discusses the benefits he's experienced, how it works (hint: flip phone), and how anyone interested in spending more time away from their devices (even if it's just for an hour or two) can develop a digital sabbath that works for them. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 045 - The Reason You Can’t Ever Get Through Your To-Do List (with Oliver Burkeman) | 06 Jun 2024 | 01:09:32 | |
There’s a promise built into all the productivity and time management advice out there: that it’s possible, with the most efficient technique, to finally conquer that feeling that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it. But that’s a false hope, says today’s guest Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, which is about why time management strategies so often fail. “You cannot optimize your way to peace of mind in a world where supply of things that are incoming is effectively infinite,” he says. Today, Burkeman presents an approach that willingly accepts our limits and finite capacity. Doing so won’t just improve our productivity, he says—it will make our life more meaningful, fix our adversarial relationship to time, and help us, in his words, start *from* sanity, instead of trying to strive towards it through productivity hacks. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 044 - The Coach Up: Beginner's Mind and the Power of Pessimism | 03 Jun 2024 | 00:13:46 | |
Rebecca Rusch is an athlete whose feats of endurance have included two self-supported, 350-mile bike rides on the Iditarod Trail and led a magazine to once dub her the "Queen of Pain." On today's episode of The Coach Up, Clay pulls from a conversation he had with her a few years ago where she shares her surprising approach to mastering her craft. You'll learn about the Zen concept of "Beginner's Mind," the power of pessimism, and the perils of over preparing. Full interview here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-queen-of-pain-and-ultra-endurance-athlete/id1462693827?i=1000465927851 If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 043 - Lessons from a 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat | 30 May 2024 | 00:48:31 | |
Clay discusses his recent experience at a 10-day silent retreat, and the guys use it as a chance to go deep on the relationship between meditation and performance—including how Brad and Steve have changed their thoughts since first writing about the connection in their 2017 book, Peak Performance. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 042 - The Coach Up: Master These Soft Skills to Become a Great Leader | 27 May 2024 | 00:17:46 | |
To be a coach, you have to have a level of expertise in your field. To be a truly *great* coach, though, you have to have so much more than technical knowledge. You need a deep repertoire of soft skills that allow you to get the best out of your athletes. On today's episode of The Coach Up, Steve Magness, who has spent his entire life coaching or being coached, explains the attributes shared by great leaders and culture-builders. Of course, these are skills useful to anyone who works with people, whether a "coach" or not, which means they're abilities we'd all be wise to cultivate. Plus: what matters most when it comes to youth coaching. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 041 - How Algorithms are Changing Our Identity & Culture (with Kyle Chayka) | 23 May 2024 | 01:13:46 | |
Increasingly, algorithms are affecting the culture we consume (the news we read, the music we hear, the restaurants where we dine) and the culture that gets made (physical spaces are designed to be Instagrammable; art that can’t be marketed online may not be created). But, as you’ll hear Kyle Chayka, author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, explain today, the algorithms are also deeply influencing our identity. Instead of “exploring the weirdness of our own taste,” we just consume whatever is served to keep us most engaged and stimulated. In the same way that you need stress to experience growth, we need the friction of exploration to discern our preferences and develop a sense of self. Without that friction, how do we know who we are, or what we like? These are the important questions at the heart of the conversation today. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 040 - The Coach Up: Allostasis vs. Homeostasis, and the Science of Handling Change | 20 May 2024 | 00:18:39 | |
Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable. In his book Master of Change, Brad cites research that the average human will undergo 36 major life changes in their time alive. Which means it's vital that we have the right tools to navigate disruption. Today, Brad explains how our understanding of and reliance on the concept of "homeostasis" has contributed to our inflexibility, and how a newer concept—allostasis—allows for a more adaptable version of stability. Want to learn more tools for handling life's many changes? Grab a copy of Brad's book, Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing—Including You. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 039 - Roundtable: Intuitive Eating, Using Fear as Motivation, and Internet Culture | 16 May 2024 | 00:44:09 | |
This week's roundtable is a hodgepodge of good stuff. Brad and Steve share their thoughts on (and criticisms of) last week's interview with Evelyn Tribole on intuitive eating. The crew reacts to a clip of the actor Jesse Eisenberg talking about how he learned to use his fear and anxiety as motivation. And there's a discussion of the recent Apple iPad ad, and how to best protect our humanity from the ever advancing grasp of technology. (All of the referenced material is linked below.) Intuitive Eating episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/037-a-saner-way-to-eat-with-evelyn-tribole/id1505257676?i=1000655032745 Jesse Eisenberg interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO-6iqCum1w Apple iPad ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 038 - The Coach Up: The Two Types of Attention | 13 May 2024 | 00:08:38 | |
We live in an age where attentional well-being is more important than ever. In our increasingly noisy world, there are an infinite number of things vying for our attention—which means it's more important than ever to have some control over how we direct it. In order to be able to do that, we have to have a deeper understanding of how attention works. Today, Clay, with the help of Oliver Burkeman's book, Four Thousand Weeks, breaks it down, explaining why we're so easily distracted and how we can train to deepen our concentration. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 037 - A Saner Way to Eat (with Evelyn Tribole) | 09 May 2024 | 01:04:37 | |
Our diet has one of the biggest influences on how we feel and how we perform. But, particularly in the U.S., eating has become rather complicated, given that we have unbelievably easy access to ultra-processed foods and toxic, misleading fad diets (and all the disinformation that comes with them). So on today's episode, Clay talks to Evelyn Tribole, a dietician and one of the co-founders of Intuitive Eating, a framework for eating that is much more a mind-body practice than it is a diet. At its core, it is a system based on using awareness to get in touch with your body's intuition—what it finds nourishing, what it doesn't—after years of it being drowned out by the noise of diet culture. It's something we could all use help with, whether you subscribe to Intuitive Eating principles or not. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Doing it All: The CEO Who Ran a 2:29 Marathon (with Nick Thompson) | 13 Nov 2025 | 00:46:36 | |
How does someone become CEO of The Atlantic, run a 2:29 marathon at age 44, write books, make music, and still be present for their family? For the answer, we turned to Nick Thompson, who, conveniently (and impressively), does all of those things. On today's episode, we use the release of Nick's new book, The Running Ground, to discuss his systematic approach to productivity and running, including how he organizes his day for maximum impact, why he has "non-goals", the best lessons running and writing have taught him, and how he pushes past limits, in running and in work—including the revelation that helped him break through a decade-long performance plateau after cancer. Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript If you have a question for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at (646) 893-9503. Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 036 - The Coach Up: Steve's Best Strategies for Handling Pressure | 06 May 2024 | 00:20:27 | |
Over many years of evolution, we've been wired to have very trigger happy alarm systems. Unfortunately, those alarms tend go off most loudly right before a big performance, creating a cascade of nerves that can derail our ability to run a race, deliver a presentation, or nail the interview. Today, Steve offers some of the best strategies he’s used (and coaches his athletes to use) for turning down the alarm and marshaling the energy of your nerves to work for—not against—you. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 035 - Tools to Move More, Eat Better, & Boost Productivity | 02 May 2024 | 00:38:33 | |
Today's roundtable is all about building a more robust and more effective toolbox for handling the challenges life throws at you. After years of studying and writing about performance, Steve, Brad, and Clay highlight the practical tools that they have found most helpful when it comes to exercise & working out, productivity & work, diet & nutrition, and managing anxiety & mental health. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 034 - The Coach Up: Why "Live Your Best Life Now" is Bad Advice | 29 Apr 2024 | 00:08:57 | |
On the fifth episode of FAREWELL, Kate Bowler joined the show to talk about the ways in which the cult of wellness is failing us—namely, by making unrealistic promises about how limitless we are. We revisit that idea on today’s Coach Up, as Kate shares some thoughts on why the mandate to constantly live your “best life now” is particularly harmful, and why it’s okay to accept that, many days, we’re probably not feeling our best or making it through all (if any) of the things on our to-do list. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 033 - How to Change Your Behavior and Make Better Decisions (with Katy Milkman) | 25 Apr 2024 | 00:37:54 | |
We humans have a tendency to get in our own way. When it comes to starting new habits, changing our behavior, or making big decisions, we create all kinds of complications for ourselves. Fortunately, we’ve got Katy Milkman, a Wharton professor and expert on the science human behavior. Today, she gives strategies for beating our impulsivity (which she calls the “granddaddy” of obstacles to behavior change), making hard decisions, and why sometimes the best solution involves subtraction not addition. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 032 - The Coach Up: Use this Pyramid to Organize Your Life | 22 Apr 2024 | 00:09:14 | |
Brad has been a performance coach for some time now, working with executives, physicians, founder, attorneys. Today, we're going to get a little insight into what that work looks like. Brad shares one of the strategies he uses with his clients to help them organize and more effectively mange their lives, and achieve their goals: his three-tiered coaching pyramid. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 031 - Let's Make Work — and Technology — Less Insane (with Cal Newport) | 18 Apr 2024 | 01:10:02 | |
For the last couple decades, Cal Newport has been thinking about how to do quality work productively, effectively, and sustainably. His latest book Slow Productivity, a New York Times bestseller, presents a refreshingly sane idea: that we might be able to do more work and not be completely burnt out or exhausted doing it. Today, Clay and Brad sit down with Cal to talk through how that’s actually possible. Plus, as a computer scientist and productivity expert, Cal lays out his most effective work strategies and best practices for good digital hygiene. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 030 - The Coach Up: 3 Mantras for Work, Anxiety, and Exercise | 15 Apr 2024 | 00:07:26 | |
Mantras are a good tool to have in your toolkit when life inevitably gets frustrating and difficult (to wit: in their FAREWELL interviews, ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter and triathlete Chelsea Sodaro both shared how mantras have helped them become world-class athletes). Today, Clay shares three of his favorite mantras, phrases that have helped him manage anxiety, work, and exercise over the years. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 029 - How to Lose Well & Age Gracefully | 11 Apr 2024 | 01:05:42 | |
This week, NCAA March Madness wrapped up, and two teams were crowned National Champions—which means 134 other teams lost. This is the hard reality of any type of competition: the vast majority of people who compete will lose. But it's those who know how to lose well that can best set themselves up for a future win. On today's episode, Steve, Brad, and Clay discuss the best way to cope with the acute loss in a competition, and the more general loss of ability that comes with age: how can we learn to adapt as our bodies and skills change, and not chase the ghost of who we once were? If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 028 - The Coach Up: The 4 Levels of Competence | 08 Apr 2024 | 00:15:59 | |
Any time we are developing a new skill, hobby, craft, or practice, we have to go through various stages of development—these are called the four levels of competence. At the first level, you're learning and everything can feel difficult. At the fourth, you're in flow. By knowing what they are, you can identity where you're at on the progression, which, in turn, will help you figure out the tools you need to continue to grow, improve, and move to the next level. Today, Brad breaks down the four levels of competence, how you can move from novice to master, and ways to stay curious and playful even after you've reached a level of mastery. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 027 - The Case for Less Technology & More Boredom (with Manoush Zomorodi) | 04 Apr 2024 | 00:48:05 | |
Good news, bad news. The good news: in our modern world of endless entertainment, we have essentially solved the problem of boredom. The bad news: turns out boredom wasn't a problem, but a skill. The ability to do deep, creative work, to complete a long cardio workout, to avoid mindlessly falling into social media doom scrolls—these all require an ability to be bored. As Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR's TED Radio Hour, lays out in her book "Spark: How to Free Your Brain From Technology and Ignite Your Creativity," boredom affords us the patience we need to get to our most generative ideas, to process difficult emotions, and to work towards our long-term goals. On today's episode, Manoush tells us why (and how) we should build some boredom back into our lives. Plus: What else she has learned about having a healthy relationship to technology after years spent studying how it affects our mental, physical, and cultural health. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Optimization Trap — and How to Escape It | 06 Nov 2025 | 00:44:38 | |
This week, we use the L.A. Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s gutsy back-to-back World Series appearances in Game 6 and 7 to discuss what we’re calling the optimization (or protocol) trap. This is when you become so tethered to a specific routine or “optimal zone” of performance that you become fragile. You trade self-efficacy for hyper-control or neuroticism. There are plenty of times when you have to perform and you’re not at your best, or the external conditions aren’t ideal. Being able to send it anyway—much like Yamamoto did in Game 7—is the sign of a truly elite performer. So today’s episode is all about training and building anti-fragility. We discuss how to differentiate between wisdom and fear when you hear the voice telling you to pull back; how to use “safe-to-fail” experiments to train self-efficacy; how to distinguish between faith-based confidence and delusion; and how to build routines that are flexible rather than rigid. Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript If you have a question for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at (646) 893-9503. Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 026 - The Coach Up: How to Tap Into the Power of Ritual | 01 Apr 2024 | 00:14:21 | |
"A ritual is routine with intention," says Katherine May (author of Wintering and Enchantment) on today's episode of The Coach Up. Whereas routines are a set of steps you don't have to think about, a ritual is about performing an action that consciously allows us to work in harmony with the various rhythms of the day, month, and year. In this way, rituals can become important ways to mark the passage of time and keep us on track as the days fly by. Since we're already three months deep into 2024, now is as good a time as ever to create rituals that will allow you to work towards your goals, and show up more consciously and with more intentionality. Katherine May helps explain how. Full FAREWELL Episode with Katherine May: "Knowing How to 'Winter' is a Year Round Skill" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/013-knowing-how-to-winter-is-a-year-round-skill/id1505257676?i=1000645443337 Article referenced: "How to Set Yourself Free with Ritual" (Psyche) https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-live-free-and-in-harmonious-ease-with-confucian-ritual If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 025 - Caitlin Clark & The Cost of Greatness | 28 Mar 2024 | 00:46:48 | |
Last week, ESPN's Wright Thompson wrote a wonderfully reported profile of Iowa's Caitlin Clark (link below), who is playing in her last NCAA tournament and capping off a career as one of college basketball's greats and it's all-time leading scorer. At the heart of that piece was a compelling question: What is the cost of greatness? How does someone like Caitlin Clark balance relentless hustle with joy and rest? Obsessional devotion with relaxation and play? Hyper competitiveness with teamwork and development? These are the questions that anyone trying to be great has to navigate, whether you're trying to set the NCAA scoring record or not. Today, Steve, Brad, and Clay use ESPN's Caitlin Clark story to try to better understand greatness and what it takes to get there. "Caitlin Clark and Iowa Find Peace in the Process" by Wright Thompson (ESPN) https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39740282/caitlin-clark-iowa-2024-ncaa-women-basketball-tournament-ready-march If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 024 - The Coach Up: Make Friends with Your Fatigue | 25 Mar 2024 | 00:12:38 | |
Knowing how to be tired is a skill. If you don't know how to work with fatigue, you won't be able to push yourself when things get hard. On the other hand, if you only know how to push and can't understand your body's warning signals when it's overdoing it, you might find yourself injured or burnt out. On this episode of The Coach Up, Steve Magness explains how to better walk that tightrope by getting to know—and making friends with—your fatigue. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 023 — When Does Exercise Become Unhealthy? (And Other Voicemails) | 21 Mar 2024 | 00:38:06 | |
We’ve got voicemail(s)! On the last roundtable, we opened up our phone lines a you all answered the call with some great questions. So today’s episode is dedicated to answering three of the issues raised: how to know when a relationship to exercise becomes unhealthy; (2) the psychological downsides to gamifying your movement practice, and how to know when to use intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation; (3) how to think about exercising and fitness as you age. Enjoy—and thanks for the great questions. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 022 - The Coach Up: Instead of Toxic Positivity, Try Tragic Optimism | 18 Mar 2024 | 00:10:08 | |
The world can be pretty wonderful. It can also be pretty terrible. So we need a mindset that works for both of these circumstances. Unfortunately, these days, we often live on the extremes. On the one end of the spectrum, there's toxic positivity, which means remaining upbeat in the face of something that's really difficult, or hard, or sad, and needs to be experienced and processed as such. On the other , there's straight up hopelessness or nihilism, a sense that everything is so bad, we might as well just give up. We need something in between, a Goldilocks fit that accounts for difficulty but still allows for hope. That is where tragic optimism comes in. Brad writes extensively about this in his book, Master of Change. So today he joins the podcast to talk us through it. To learn more about tragic optimism, and other tools to help you to live in an ever-changing world, buy Brad's book, Master of Change. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 021 - Are Our Cravings and Comforts Holding Us Back? (with Michael Easter) | 14 Mar 2024 | 00:48:31 | |
In his books The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain, Michael Easter explores two of the major complications of living in our modern world. The world is rife with comfort and convenience, which is great some of the time, but not all of the time since we need to discomfort to grow and become resilient. The world is also abundant, but humans have evolved to have a scarcity mindset, meaning that no matter how much we have, we're wired to crave more. This means we often struggle to do the necessary hard things, and can have a tendency to consume (foods, social media, substances) beyond the point of enoughness. These conditions are only exacerbated in a world that has made comfort more easily accessible than ever before, and that has been largely engineered to push us past the point of overconsumption. Enter Michael's work and wisdom: By bringing awareness to this reality, and to the mismatch between the world and our wiring, we can move towards embracing discomfort and finding lasting satisfaction. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 020 - The Coach Up: 6 Tips for Building (& Breaking) Habits | 11 Mar 2024 | 00:09:46 | |
In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the point that it's your habits, multiplied over time, that create the person you become. That's because habits compound. The difference between the person who reads 20 minutes a day and the person who doesn't may not seem that big on a day-to-day basis. But over the course of a year, the person with the reading habit will likely have read 30 to 40 more books than the person without that habit. So building the habits that are going to get us closer to what we want—and breaking the ones that hold us back—is a crucial skill. On today's Coach Up, Clay pulls six tips on building better habits from a conversation he had with James Clear, including why habits are more useful than goals, which of the four steps in habit formation is easiest to leverage to break a bad habit, and the "two-minute rule" for sticking with your habits on a busy day. Link to full interview: https://www.gq.com/story/how-to-break-bad-habits If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 019 - VO2 Max and Other Things You Don't Need To Know | 07 Mar 2024 | 00:37:43 | |
Health and fitness is in a weird place these days. On one hand, there’s a lack of foundational health literacy in society (as evidenced by a recent Exercise I.Q. Quiz in The New York Times that left us with more answers than questions: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/27/well/move/fitness-workout.html). On the other hand, we’re overloaded with fancy-sounding jargon that can leave even high-level exercise enthusiasts feeling like they need to do and learn more. Today, Steve, Brad, and Clay unpack how we got here and how we can get back to a more reasonable, attainable, and sustainable idea of wellness. Plus, the guys discuss a high-stakes hypothetical: Would you take part in a race against a person selected at random from the U.S. population, where the stakes are as follows: you win, you take home $1 million; you lose, you die? And listen to the end of the show to learn how to make the easiest $20 of your life. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 018 - The Coach Up: (How to) Fly Into the Danger Zone | 04 Mar 2024 | 00:09:05 | |
"You need to feel like a pot of water on the stove that's just about to start boiling over," says Molly Seidel, in describing what it feels like to run the marathon pace that won her the bronze at the last Olympics. "You just hold it there, right on that line." This is as draining mentally as it is physically, she says. In fact, Seidel says so much of what holds athletes back is their brain telling them to pull back because their going into the danger zone. The antidote? Learning how to be with discomfort. So, on today's Coach Up, Clay revisits a conversation with Molly Seidel, where she gives insight into how she trained her brain to willingly go into the danger zone where it's uncomfortable and "learning to stay mentally strong when it just sucks." It's a skill we all need not just for our workouts, but for our lives. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 017 - Rethinking Toughness with Ironman World Champion Chelsea Sodaro | 29 Feb 2024 | 01:01:27 | |
In October 2022, many people witnessed triathlete Chelsea Sodaro, in her first time running the race, become the first American woman to win the Ironman World Championship in Kona. What they didn't see was that, in the months leading up to the race, she was learning how to balance motherhood and training, and struggling with intense OCD and anxiety. Today's episode is about that: the things we don't see. Because, in the world of performance, a lot of the focus goes to success and achievement—and not so much the difficulties high-performers are working through to accomplish those successes and achievements. We celebrate the "toughness" and not so much the vulnerability. But today, Chelsea goes deep not just on the things you might expect to hear from an Ironman World Champion - how she thinks about setting goals, the mantras she writes on her mirror, what her pain cave is like - but on the pains and mental health struggles that an Ironman World Champ might just as easily keep in the dark. By doing so, she shows what real toughness looks like. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Marathon Mindset: How to Endure, Actually | 30 Oct 2025 | 00:59:08 | |
In anticipation of the New York City Marathon this weekend, we (well, okay, mostly Steve) discuss the ins and outs of how to have your best race, building you a complete toolkit to help you get through 26.2 miles. BUT! It’s not just for runners. As the legendary marathoner Eliud Kipchoge once said, “Marathon is life, and life is marathon.” So we're explaining how each of the tools you can use for the marathon—and the lessons we’ve learned from running them—apply to life. This is about expectations, handling nerves, goal-setting, doing hard things when they get hard, working through difficulty, managing disappointment, learning how to surrender, letting go and much, much more—in running and in life. Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript If you have a question for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at (646) 893-9503. Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 016 - The Coach Up: Getting Started When You Don't Want to Get Started | 26 Feb 2024 | 00:08:57 | |
"You probably grew up with motivation being super important: 'Think positive. Get hyped. Find inspiration. Ride your bliss,'" says Brad Stulberg, on this week's Coach Up. "And that's great—except for the 98 percent of days where you're not super hyped and motivated." On those days, when you need a little extra oomph, you might want to use a psychological tool known as behavioral activation, which Brad details on today's episode. Plus: how to know when you have the type of fatigue that will respond to rest, and when you have fatigue that will respond to action. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 015 - How to Be Productive in a World of Infinite Noise | 22 Feb 2024 | 00:31:06 | |
Do you ever feel like you've got too much to do and not enough time to do it? Welcome to one of the enduring sensations of existing and working in a very noisy world . (We feel it, too.) On today's roundtable, Brad, Steve, and Clay discuss how we got here, why the sense of task overwhelm is a particularly modern affliction, and the strategies they use to deal with it, like prioritizing, doing good enough work, and understanding what's truly urgent (versus what just seems urgent). If you are enjoying FAREWELL, the best way you can support us so that we can keep doing what we're doing is to leave a review or share the show with a friend. Thanks! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 014 - The Coach Up: Why Bad Days Matter More Than Good Days | 19 Feb 2024 | 00:09:29 | |
"The sky's the limit." "Shoot for the stars." When it comes to success, we often think in terms of being our absolute best. On today's episode of The Coach Up, Brad Stulberg explains why, if you want to get better, you should focus on your bad and average days—not the good or great ones. Listen and subscribe to FAREWELL now! Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||