Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast excellence, actually
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bend, Don't Break: How to Stay Patient Through Setbacks | 05 Nov 2026 | 00:26:54 | |
If this past weekend's NYC Marathon taught us anything, it's that success often requires patience and flexibility. Jess McClain spent years away from running before taking second place (and during the race she barely held on, only to finish with a breathtaking final surge). Andreas Almgren missed years of running with stress fractures, and then won in his marathon debut, closing with a 4:30 mile. Whether it's in running or in life, most of what we want won't come right away, despite all the stories about overnight success. So today Steve and Clay explore the tools that can help you hold on through the hard miles, on and off the course. - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Care Deeply and Compete Fearlessly | 29 Oct 2026 | 00:33:05 | |
How do you want something very badly and still hold the result loosely? Detaching from the outcome is one of the most important skills in performance. It's also one of the hardest. On today's show, we talk about how to detach before, during, and after a high-stakes performance, discuss why it's better to think of detachment as a slider, not a switch, teach you how to match self-talk styles to the appropriate contexts, explain how to know when to trust the process and when to change it, and try to find the ideal performance sweet spot (90% Zen master, 10% Dog?). - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Is This The Most Underrated Skill in Elite Performance? | 22 Oct 2026 | 00:27:37 | |
One of the hardest and most important questions to answer if you want to do anything at a high level: Do I need to fix this feeling, or can I forget this feeling and perform anyway? For too long as a society, we pushed the "grind it out" mentality, which led to chronic burnout and exhaustion. Now we take feelings more seriously, but have maybe gone too far, increasing fragility and decreasing our collective ability to handle challenge. Today we talk about how to treat your difficult feelings, emotions, and thoughts as messengers, not dictators, and learn what they're saying so you can respond most wisely. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Recovery 101: Listener Questions on Rest, Aging, and Turning Off | 15 Oct 2026 | 00:30:38 | |
We've always been big on recovery. (After all, it is one half of the growth equation: stress + REST = growth.) But knowing how to recover, both physically and mentally, is a skill — and one that needs to be refined as we age and as our world becomes increasingly stimulating. So today we are answering four questions from dear listeners (you!) about how to handle physical changes, cognitive overload, and the sheer velocity of modern life. Plus: some emergency recovery tips for when you're going through a really tough stretch. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| A.I., Craft, and the Future of Human Excellence | 08 Oct 2026 | 00:34:11 | |
How we should (and should not) use artificial intelligence is a topic we have been frequently and furiously discussing in our group chat. (You too?) These days, it's impossible to avoid its presence in our lives. Nor would we want to! A.I. brings plenty of advantages. But, as always, a tool is only good if you know how to use it — and what trade-offs you're making when you do. On today's episode, we talk about the technology's benefits and its costs, with a particular eye to how it will affect craft, performance, and the future of excellence. So if you're struggling to figure out how exactly to incorporate it into your life — we are too! — this episode is for you. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Have More Agency | 01 Oct 2026 | 00:22:14 | |
"You can just do things" — but should you? The word "agency" has exploded in recent months, but what does it actually mean to be a high-agency person, and when does agency cross the line into recklessness? Today, we're tracing the concept from Aristotle to Nietzsche to Silicon Valley, exploring why agency is core to our humanity in an age of increasing automation. We unpack the tension between people who overthink and never act versus those who act without thinking, share stories of taking big swings (including 25 book rejections), and offer practical tools for building agency as a muscle — whether you need to take more action or learn to pause and reflect before just doing things. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Tame Your Demons: Healthy Passion vs. Obsessive Drive | 24 Sep 2026 | 00:28:23 | |
Today, we're fielding a listener question that every high performer eventually faces: where's the line between passion and obsession? The thing that makes you great can also be the thing that destroys you, and making sure that it doesn't is no simple matter. We'll talk about the research on dopamine, temperament, and addiction and chart the path from healthy drive to destructive spiral — useful for any athlete, entrepreneur, or high achiever trying to tame their demons. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Consistency Over Intensity: How to Show Up Again and Again (and Again) | 17 Sep 2026 | 00:33:10 | |
Consistency is one of the fundamental skills of any discipline. But what does it actually look like in practice? Today, we're answering five of the most common questions we get about the challenges of trying to be consistent in everyday life. You'll get a breakdown of how to stack good days both in the short- and long-term (and understand why those require different approaches), Steve's "build vs. maintain" framework, Brad's Sock'em Boppers analogy for beating internal resistance, ways to determine when consistency is actually holding you back, how to know when to take a zero, and learnings from Stephen King and Roger Bannister. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Donate at farmkind.giving/excellence and your monthly donation will get a 50% boost to help factory farmed animals - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Handling Change: "Find the Smallest Dose that Keeps You Sane" | 10 Sep 2026 | 00:33:46 | |
Change happens — sometimes when we expect, often when we don't. So how do we hold onto what matters amidst big shifts (injury, a lay off, moving cities, changing schedules)? That's what we're tackling today. We'll walk you through the process of (to use Steve's words) "finding the smallest dose that keeps you sane," knowing the important difference between adopting a "having" and a "being" mindset, and understanding when to stop fighting change and let it change you. Plus: one all-time story about an injured Steve getting rescued from the ocean by a lifeguard while doing water aerobics in jeans that will almost certainly leave you changed. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Survive Youth Sports Without Ruining Your Kid | 03 Sep 2026 | 00:43:40 | |
Youth sports are simultaneously a disaster and more important than ever. They remain one of the best places for kids to develop and, as we always say, do real things in the real world with real people. But they're also being hijacked by profit-driven leagues that exploit parental fears that their kid is getting left behind. We're exploring this conundrum today, unpacking how youth sports came to be a reportedly $40 billion (!) dollar industry, debunking the myth of the 10-year-old scholarship prospect, explaining what really matters (hint: it's not the 10-U championship), how to keep things fun in an age of hyper-competition and comparison, and how to think through these trade-offs for your own family. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Sports Psychologist Who Taught MJ and Kobe How to "Manage the Moment" (Rerun) | 27 Aug 2026 | 00:39:08 | |
(This week, we are revisiting a conversation from last year that Brad and Clay had with George Mumford. It's one of our most popular episodes and one we personally have come back to many times — so we believe you'll enjoy it, even on a second listen!) Before the 1993-1994 NBA season, coach Phil Jackson wanted to get his Chicago Bulls some help. They'd won the championship the previous year, but right before the season, Michael Jordan made a surprise retirement announcement. So Jackson called George Mumford—a meditation practitioner who was then teaching mindfulness in hospitals, clinics, and prisons—hoping he might be able to use the same techniques to help the Bulls deal with the stress of success and MJ's departure. Mumford would go on to work with Jackson through six NBA titles: the Bulls in '96, '97, and '98—after MJ returned—and the Lakers in '00, '01, and '02. He has since gone on to a long and successful career as a sports psychologist and performance consultant, teaching people how to stay mentally fit and resilient even amidst difficulty and uncertainty. We often discuss the importance of cultivating the ability to respond rather than react—and George Mumford has made a living out of teaching that skill to some of the world's best performers, including Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Today, he discusses how to make yourself "flow ready," silence your "negative committee," use his 4 A's framework to deal with difficulty or pain, and manage the moment. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Peptides 101: Evaluating Hype, Risk, and Reward | 20 Aug 2026 | 00:33:43 | |
Peptides! They're everywhere in the health and performance world (and, increasingly, outside of it, too). So... what is a peptide? Are they safe? Should you be taking them? We're going to get into all of that today, breaking down what the science says (and doesn't say) about the efficacy and safety of peptides, go over a "three-legged-stool" framework that will help you evaluate novel supplements or treatments in the increasingly wild world of wellness, and give you a better understanding of how to think through the trade-offs involved in incorporating new tools into your own health and performance routine. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Not Turn Into a Robot | 13 Aug 2026 | 00:34:08 | |
This week, we're reacting to an article about the rise of souped-up A.I. baby monitors, and a video from popular podcast host Chris Williamson responding to the anti-optimization movement. Both hint at something nefarious happening in the health and wellness industry—and, as always, we're hoping to inject a bit of sanity and wisdom. We talk about weighing the costs and the benefits of tracking everything (including your baby), why following the example set by elite performers can sometimes backfire, how athletes use (and, more importantly, don't use) data, and what we lose when we outsource our intuition to devices. "Aw, It's Baby's First A.I. Surveillance System:" https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/business/smart-baby-monitors-nanit-owlet.html "My Reaction to the Anti-Optimization Trend:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi2WGB1Zdws - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Reset Your Focus | 06 Aug 2026 | 00:41:50 | |
Why is it so hard to focus these days—and what can we do about it? On today's episode, we talk about the science behind our collapsing focus and fractured attention. (If you're feeling frazzled, foggy, or unable to concentrate, you're not alone—so are we!) Then we get into the practical ways you can begin to build both back. We talk about the four key pillars of focus (and how to train them), what the "baseline aerobic capacity" for your brain should be, and offer a scuba diving metaphor that just might change how you think about pushing through the discomfort that sustained attention requires. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Ten Commandments of Coaching | 30 Jul 2026 | 00:45:44 | |
Coaching is one of the most meaningful and valuable jobs out there. Which is why it's all the more important that it's done the right way. Today, Steve and Brad—who have more than 30 years of sports and performance coaching experience between them—share their ten commandments for transformative coaching (you won't be surprised to hear it overlaps with great teaching, parenting, and leading, too). Whether you're leading individual athletes, teams, or just coaching yourself, this is one you don't want to miss. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| World Cup & Mile World Record: Consistency, Joy, and Calling Your Shot | 23 Jul 2026 | 00:41:04 | |
Brad and Steve are solo for a throwback episode. First, they discuss Josh Kerr's mile world record: Kerr called his shot four months ago, named the time, named the meet, and then went and did it, fueled entirely, he says, by consistency and stacking days. Then: the World Cup. Brad and Steve dig into the moments that stuck: Haaland's cowboy boots and Katz's Deli pastrami as a lesson in competitive joy; Cape Verde's 40-year-old bus-driver-turned-goalkeeper as a lesson in belief; England's collapse as a lesson in what happens when you stop playing your game and start playing prevent. And a bigger question underneath all of it: why is a country of 330 million people still getting outplayed in soccer by nations the size of Buncombe County, North Carolina? There was a lot to learn from this last month of elite sports. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Don't Get Rid of Anxiety. Use It. | 16 Jul 2026 | 00:38:16 | |
It's natural to want to get rid of anxiety. It's uncomfortable, we worry that it holds us back from being our best, and we believe that those who perform at the highest levels have figured out a way to beat it. The bad news is that we can't just rid ourselves of anxiety. It's part of the human condition. The good news is that, despite the common misconception, elite performers experience anxiety all the time—they've just learned how to manage and even channel it in skillful and adaptive ways. So today's episode is all about providing you ways to accept anxiety (which, ironically, helps mitigate it, since resisting anxiety only makes it worse) and giving you the tools to make it work for you rather than against you. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Endure, According to a 4-Time Tour de France Cyclist | 09 Jul 2026 | 00:46:05 | |
What is it like to race 21 days across France wearing little more than underwear, going over 50 miles an hour, burning 8,000 calories a day, in the shadow of the ever-present threat of a violent peloton crash? Brent Bookwalter did it four times, including the 2011 race that Cadel Evans won — one of the great team performances in the sport's history. He did it clean, in arguably the dirtiest era cycling has ever seen. Now retired after a 16-year career and working as a commentator and a mental performance coach, he joins us for a conversation that moves from the fascinating details of being a pro cyclist — the salaries, the eating, the four-hour hurt box, the 30ish hours on the bike a week— to the deeper questions of why anyone does it at all. He talks about overcoming a fractured tibia in the beginning of his career, the mental skills that got him through — breaking a 200-kilometer stage down to one kilometer at a time — and how he's navigating the hardest transition of his life — from an existence where every minute was optimized and accounted for, to figuring out who he is without the bike. One of the more honest conversations we've had about what excellence actually costs, and what it gives back. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| You Can't Have It All: A Guide to Making Sacrifices | 02 Jul 2026 | 00:43:23 | |
We've been sold a lie: that with the right systems, mindset, and tools, you can have it all — great career, present parent, devoted partner, thriving social life, passionate hobbyist. You can't. But that's not a bad thing! It's the sacrifices that give meaning to our lives. So today, we're exploring how to make hard choices with clarity and honesty. We discuss why we don't even like the word "sacrifice" to begin with, why your values are shaped more by your ecosystem than by you, how to figure out what you actually want (as opposed to what you've been told to want), two simple frameworks for navigating career and life trade-offs, what to do when two things you love are competing for the same time and energy, and why regret might not be such a bad thing after all. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Six Books That Changed How We Think About Performance | 25 Jun 2026 | 00:39:26 | |
Brad and Clay Skipper first became friends over books — specifically, a DM about Brad's bookshelf. Today, they return to that origin with a show-and-tell on six books that have genuinely changed how they think about performance: a poet-philosopher on the tension between work, self, and relationships; a Buddhist nun on learning to stop fighting the inevitable; a tennis coach who figured out the mind-body problem 50 years ahead of everyone else; the psychologist who named flow; a philosopher who quit his tenure to fix motorcycles; and an artist who wrote a book about dropping out of the stream of productivity and did just that. Think of it like the world's most useful book report: we do all the reading, but you still get all the tools (and a handful of good summer book recommendations should you want to go deeper). - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Come Back, from the Greatest Playoff Run in NBA History | 18 Jun 2026 | 00:36:50 | |
Last Saturday night, the New York Knicks won the NBA Championship. It was an improbable, remarkable run, one of the best in NBA history. After going down 2-1 in the first round, they won 15 of their next 16 games, beating the Spurs 4 to 1 to win the title. Their point differential over that stretch was 283, the biggest in the history of the league. Most incredibly, the Knicks trailed all five games in the NBA finals by double digits. They lost the first five quarters by a total of 57 points. They won four of those five games, including a 29-point comeback in Game 4. Today, we're talking about not just what they did, but, more importantly, how they did it. It was a masterclass in excellence, with at least five tactical, concrete lessons that you can start applying in you own life right away. This one's a celebration—but it's also one of the most practical episodes we've ever done. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Longevity, Actually (with Brian Koppelman) | 11 Jun 2026 | 00:43:47 | |
Brian Koppelman has been writing great films and shows for 30 years — Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, and Billions, to name a few. Now 60, he's working with as much energy as ever. He'll be back in the role of "Computer" on the hit show The Bear when it returns later this month, and he's three years into a powerlifting journey he began at 57 after almost fainting on a tennis court. When we think about the type of longevity worth aspiring to, we think of Brian Koppelman. Today, he talks about how his undiagnosed ADHD and curiosity shaped his successful career, tells the story of discovering Tracy Chapman while still a college student, and discusses making it through the painful writer's block that almost kept him from writing Rounders. Plus: what Michael Jordan can (and can't) teach us about greatness, separating success from external validation, and staying creative — and excellent — for a lifetime. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Lessons on Excellence: Caring, Doing the Work, and Being Antifragile | 04 Jun 2026 | 00:41:42 | |
Today, we discuss three moments from the past week that highlight a few of the key habits of truly excellent performers: what Victor Wenbanyama teaches us about caring deeply and being yourself; how the failed Enhanced Games highlights the importance of showing up to put in the work; and why a three-glasses-of-wine hangover proves being antifragile trumps optimization. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - To learn more about Jim Ryun's running camps, visit ryunrunning.com - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Dream Big, Start Small: Lessons from World Record Miler Jim Ryun | 28 May 2026 | 00:56:03 | |
Jim Ryun couldn't make his junior high basketball team, track team, or even his church baseball team. Two years later, he was the first high schooler to run a sub-four-minute mile. He'd go on to run a world record mile in 3:51, and compete in three Olympics. Now 79, he shares with us some of the best stories and wisdom: the time he ran a workout of four sets of 10x400 (doesn't recommend it), how he trained his mental discipline, how he handled the spotlight and media criticism, the best lessons he took from legendary coach Bob Timmons, why everyone needs "balcony people," and what he learned from being unfairly disqualified from the 1972 Olympics. It's a masterclass in excellence—actually. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - To learn more about Jim Ryun's running camps, visit ryunrunning.com - 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! 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 Small Wins out of Bad Days | 21 May 2026 | 00:30:16 | |
We've all got those days: you can't seem to get started, your motivation is low, or something comes up and throws you off track. It happens to all of us! It only becomes a problem when a bad start to the day becomes a bad day, and then a bad couple of days, and then a bad week, and then a bad month... on and on. High-performers who have sustained success over many years are elite at getting something out of days when they're not at their best. Today is all about building your capacity to do the same. Because if you can squeeze a small win out of a day that might otherwise be a zero, those little victories add up into something big over time. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The New Science of Pain (and What It Means for You) | 14 May 2026 | 00:46:37 | |
We're all going to experience pain in some form or another. Unfortunately, our long accepted model for what pain is — and how to treat it — has been wrong. Today, we're breaking down the biopsychosocial model of pain, which presented a recent change in how researchers, doctors, psychologists, and performers think about why we feel what we feel. We discuss an important distinction between hurt and harm from pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness, discuss why two people with identical injuries can have very different experiences of pain, present a taxonomy of three different types of discomfort, and give you a practical toolkit for dealing with your own pain (including a balloon metaphor that might change how you think about recovery). Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Cost of Keeping Your Options Open (with David Epstein) | 07 May 2026 | 00:56:40 | |
In 1960, A publisher at Random House bet a writer $50 that he couldn't produce a children's book using just 50 distinct words. That writer was Dr. Seuss, and the resulting book was Green Eggs and Ham, which has gone on to sell more than 200 million copies. Sometimes, limits aren't a bad thing. In fact, they often lead to unexpected breakthroughs in creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. This is the message at the heart of David Epstein's new book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. This is something elite performers know well. They aren't adding more and more or keeping their options open; they're whittling down to what matters most. So we wanted to ask David on to give us the lessons from his book and from his research that can most effectively help us do that too. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon) | 30 Apr 2026 | 00:40:55 | |
Not just one, but two (!) men finished this past weekend's London Marathon in under two hours, a time that has never before been beat and was once largely thought to be impossible. Today, we unpack how it happened: the advances in running shoe and fueling technology that made this moment possible, the giant elephant on the podium (the ever present question of doping), and what we can all learn about harnessing the power of belief, confidence, and competition to push past our own perceived limits. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Save Your Brain (with Cal Newport) | 23 Apr 2026 | 00:52:35 | |
There's a good reason you can't concentrate. That's not just a statement; it's also the title of a viral piece that our friend Cal Newport (author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism) recently wrote for The New York Times. Cal argues that we're at a precarious moment in the history of thinking. The ease and convenience of technology and digital media (think: junk food for your brain) have negatively impacted our cognition, which means we need to start taking our cognitive health as seriously as we take our physical health. So today we're talking about what that means for all of us: what this change in thinking portends for the future of society and culture, and, perhaps more importantly, how to design an effective workout program for the brains of adults and children. We think it's one of the most important episodes we've ever done. "There's a Good Reason You Can't Concentrate" by Cal Newport: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/opinion/technology-mental-fitness-cognitive.html Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners | 16 Apr 2026 | 00:45:48 | |
Today, Clay taps into Steve's wisdom as a long-time running coach—which doesn't mean you have to be a runner to get something out of it. The episode covers the most efficient type of aerobic training for any athlete (hint: it's not Zone 2 or HIIT), the mindset and mentality that sets elite runners apart, what makes for a great coach-athlete relationship, how much mileage you need to maximize your performance, super shoes, and, yes, even running influencers. Plus: Steve talks about his truly unhinged high school treadmill workouts. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Change, Actually (with Eric Zimmer) | 09 Apr 2026 | 00:46:25 | |
Once an addict, Eric Zimmer is now 26 years sober. He has made that one huge change through a series of many small, daily changes, or what he calls "low resistance actions done consistently over time in the same direction." His theory of behavior change is at the heart of his successful coaching practice, his wonderful podcast, The One You Feed, and his great new book, "How A Little Becomes A Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life." Today, he joins Brad and Clay to share the three practices that have most helped him in 26 years of recovery, how to pursue change without becoming self-obsessed, how to stop looking for answers on how to change and actually get down to the work, advice on updating your limiting stories and beliefs, and what healing from addiction can teach us about smartphone use. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Use the “Zero-Zero Reset” to Perform Under Pressure | 02 Apr 2026 | 00:28:57 | |
This past weekend, in the men's NCAA tournament, Duke led UConn by 19 points and had a 99% chance to win and advance to the Final Four. Instead, Duke improbably blew their lead, and UConn stormed furiously back to win on a last-second shot. We analyze both sides of that performance, answering two questions that apply not just to basketball but to life: How do you stay focused and maintain effort when the odds of success seem insurmountable? And how do you stay aggressive and not get defensive when you have a big lead? We detail how to actually embody a next-play mindset (easy to say, hard to do, but useful for when you're behind or up big), how to take a promote rather than a prevent mindset (or: playing to win, rather than playing not to lose), and why the "zero-zero reset" can keep you calm under pressure. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How to Coach Anyone, Including Yourself | 26 Mar 2026 | 00:40:46 | |
March Madness has given us some incredible moments between coaches and their players. Today, we use one in particular — the viral moment between Maryland's coach Brenda Frese and star player Oluchi Okananwa (you can watch it at the link below) — as a jumping off point to talk about leading and motivating more broadly. What can all of us learn from the moment between Frese and Okananwa? How should we use and distribute validation? When does intensity help and when does it hurt? When might negative self-talk actually be a good tool to use? This episode is for everyone, because whether you're coaching others or simply trying to better lead yourself, you've got to know how to light a fire without burning down the house. Link to video of Frese-Okananwa: https://x.com/sportingnews/status/2035769026308162041 Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Stop Self-Sabotaging: How to Get Out of Your Own Way | 19 Mar 2026 | 00:43:50 | |
Today, we unpack one of the most universal performance problems: getting in your own way. Drawing on the "Self 1 vs. Self 2" framework from The Inner Game of Tennis, neuroscience, and child psychology, we explore why caring too much can be the very thing that tanks your performance — and what to actually do about it. From fourth-grade Turkey trots to Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile, we cover the many forms of self-sabotage (before, during, and the night before the big day), how to be a "good enough parent" to yourself under pressure, and how coaches can help athletes quiet the inner critic without pretending it doesn't exist. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Unstuck Yourself: The Art of Building and Keeping Momentum | 12 Mar 2026 | 00:34:53 | |
What do success and failure have in common? They can both trap you. Success can lead to complacency or a plateau, and failure can render you so discouraged or apathetic that you don't feel ready to try again. That's not a fun place to be! So today we're discussing how you can build and keep momentum, no matter the reason you might get stuck. Drawing on wisdom that ranges from NBA star Steph Curry to the ancient Buddhist priest Takuan Sōhō, we about talk momentum killers (and how to avoid them), the importance of knowing how to both "go where the water's fast" and stop one rep short, and the rule that will help prevent you from wallowing in failure or basking in success for too long. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Beautiful Suffering: How Elite Athletes Find Joy in the Grind | 05 Mar 2026 | 00:49:05 | |
How do you have fun while working really hard? For many elite athletes, figuring out how to balance joy and suffering is the key to a long and successful career. Today, we explore how they do it — and how you can, too. We dig into the psychology of "beautiful suffering," explain why joy is connected to agency, the important difference between authoritarian and authoritative coaching, and the steps you can take to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation, which is the ultimate competitive advantage. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Back to Work: Navigating Success, A.I., and the Unknown | 26 Feb 2026 | 00:29:56 | |
Today, for our monthly round-up, each of us shares a reflection from February: Brad explains what his chaotic book launch taught him about achievement, fulfillment, responding not reacting, and putting into practice other lessons we discuss regularly; Steve discusses using A.I. to help him do his work, and whether it can ever produce something truly great; and Clay shares a tool that has helped him keep things moving on big projects even when the roadmap isn't super clear. It's a new format with the same great insights. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Olympics Review: Lessons in Pressure, Courage, and Going All the Way | 19 Feb 2026 | 00:32:42 | |
The Olympics are the ultimate laboratory for human performance. So today we're diving into some our favorite moments from the 2026 edition—and the lessons we can take from them. Between the bizarre "penis-gate" ski jumping scandal, Lindsey Vonn's downhill ski, and Ilia "Quad God" Malinin's ice skating performance, there are tough questions to tackle: When does dedication cross into dangerous territory? How does an athlete handle Olympic pressure — or recover from failure on the world stage? And what can we all learn for our own pursuit from these elite athletes? Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Olympian's Guide to Handling Pressure, with Lilah Fear | 12 Feb 2026 | 00:52:18 | |
We're going to go ahead and say that today's episode is more densely packed with wisdom than any episode we've ever released. We are joined by Great Britain's Olympic ice dancer Lilah Fear (@thelilahjoshow), who, along with her partner Lewis Gibson, is currently competing in the Olympic games. You don't need to know anything about the sport to appreciate just how dialed-in Lilah's mental fitness is; nor do you need to be an elite athlete (or any kind of athlete) to find use in the strategies she talks about today: how she manages pre-performance nerves, takes feedback, turns every setback into a challenge, stays present, gets back to work after victory or defeat, and so much more. It's a masterclass on (unsurprisingly) Olympic-level resilience delivered straight to you from one of the world's best. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay Connect with Lilah on Instagram: @thelilahjoshow 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 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. | |||
| The Way of Excellence: Inside Brad's New Book | 22 Jan 2026 | 00:51:34 | |
Clay interviews Brad about his new book, The Way of Excellence, which releases January 27th and is a culmination of 15 years of research, reporting, and coaching on what it means to live a truly excellent life. Brad shares the remarkable story of how his book landed a blurb from Steve Kerr, how this idea originated on a trip to the Himalayas almost two decades ago, and breaks down the biological, psychological, and philosophical foundations of excellence, as well as the mindsets that will allow you to practice it. Featuring insights from world-class performers—including chess grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Olympic bobsledder Kaillie Humphries, and master furniture maker Peter Korn—this conversation reveals how excellence isn't about perfection, but about pouring your all into what matters while accepting the heartbreak that comes with caring deeply. Whether you're an athlete, artist, parent, or professional, this episode offers a roadmap for reclaiming excellence in your own life—one focused day at a time. CLICK HERE TO ORDER Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book" 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. | |||
| Why Your Routine Might Be Working Against You | 15 Jan 2026 | 00:37:32 | |
Routines are powerful tools for peak performance—until they become the performance itself. In this episode, we explain the important difference between routines that serve you and routines you serve. You'll learn why elite athletes keep their warmups simple, how to avoid turning routines into superstitions, the "training wheels" theory of routines, Brad's 3-3-3 daily, weekly, and monthly practice system that he uses in place of routine, how to bulletproof your routine by developing multiple pathways to the same mental state, and what to do when your routine falls apart (hint: it's a learning opportunity, not a catastrophe). Whether you're an athlete preparing for competition, a creative trying to do deep work, or just someone drowning in productivity advice, this episode will help you build routines that actually work—and know when to let them go. 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. | |||
| New Year, Same BS: How to Build Habits That Actually Stick | 08 Jan 2026 | 00:34:58 | |
91% of New Year’s Resolutions fail. That’s because behavior change is really hard. Which means that the only real way to make new habits stick is to build them in the right way. Today, we’re giving you a few ideas on how to do just that, exploring why values-driven goals beat outcome-based ones, how to design your environment for success rather than relying on motivation or willpower, and why starting small (really small) is the secret key to radical reinvention. We’ll talk using your phone less, moving more, and allowing yourself to keep procrastinating (sometimes). 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. | |||
| 26 Lessons on Excellence to Jump Start 2026 | 01 Jan 2026 | 00:44:18 | |
We're ringing in 2026 by bringing you 26 lessons that will help you achieve excellence in whatever it is you do. These are the the habits, practices, and mindsets that we revisit so often in our work and that have proven effective in creating a foundation for high-level achievement. Consider this your cheat sheet: Give yourself credit for the things you're doing well, notice areas you might like to improve, and then come along with us for another year of trying to help you perform your best at the things you care about most. 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. | |||
| Best Of: Courtney Dauwalter — Inside the (Joyful) Mind of an Elite Ultrarunner | 25 Dec 2025 | 01:00:32 | |
Merry Christmas! We're taking a little break, so we're bringing you an episode with an all-time great athlete, Courtney Dauwalter, whose interview, two years later, still delivers some all-time great advice on excellence. Here's the original intro... 01/04/24: Last summer, ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter did something that had never been done before. She ran three of the sport's most iconic 100-mile races... within 10 weeks of each other... and won all three. (She also set the women's course record on two of them.) It was an incredible achievement, even for someone who has long established herself as one of the greatest ultraunners of all-time. How does she do what she does? Through a rare mixture of joy, curiosity, and intensity that will change how you think about competition and ignite your own self-belief. Here, she talks about what she calls "the triple," why she goes in search of the pain cave, the unique visualizations and mantras that she uses to help her solve problems on the trail (like the time she went 98% blind), and how she manages to always keep "joy in the front seat." 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. | |||
| How to Push Your Limits, with World-Champion Climber Sasha DiGiulian | 18 Dec 2025 | 00:46:58 | |
Just last month, Sasha DiGiulian completed only the fourth ever free climb (and the first by a woman) of "Platinum," a route on El Capitan—a 23-day feat that tested her physical and mental boundaries, including nine days of being stuck in a hanging portaledge 2600 feet above the ground to wait out inclement weather. Sasha opens up about overcoming fear, handling adversity with grace and patience (she underwent five hip surgeries to reconstruct both her hips that kept her out of climbing for a year), and the mindsets that have fueled her success both on and off the rock. She discusses why she climbs, how she uses fear and risk, and what she's learned about finding "an attitude of gratitude" for the intense pain that accompanies rock climbing. 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. | |||
| "It's Never All Bad:" How to Suffer (with Matt Fitzgerald) | 11 Dec 2025 | 00:45:03 | |
At some point, we're all going to suffer. So what if you treated it as a practice—something to be done skillfully? This was the question Matt posed to himself when he came back to running in his late twenties, after quitting the sport following his senior spring season of high school track. He said he'd become fearful of the pain of racing. He was scared to suffer. He's spent the last two and a half decades mastering his mind. In the time since, he's become a successful run coach, an endurance athlete, and a writer. And he's learned many valuable lessons about what it is to suffer. (Most recently, while dealing with a particularly bad bout of long Covid that left him incapable of exercise for long periods of time, he suffered through a 100K in 90-degree heat on minimal training.) Today, he talks about the mantra he uses to get himself through difficult moments, the most common mistakes he sees athletes making over and over again throughout his years of coaching, why never being satisfied is a good thing, and his practice of what he calls "benevolent shaming." 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. | |||
| The Talent Episode: Is Greatness Born or Built? | 04 Dec 2025 | 00:47:50 | |
Today, we dive deep into the age-old debate of talent acquisition versus talent development, using the contrasting blueprints of top college basketball teams as a springboard. We discuss the complex interplay of genetics, opportunity, motivation, and grit—not just in sports, but in every domain of life—as well as challenge the binary of nature vs. nurture, discuss the pitfalls of applying the "talent" label at too young an age, and offer practical advice for parents, coaches, and anyone looking to harness or develop talent. Whether you’re a late bloomer, a prodigy, or just looking to get a little better every day, this conversation will challenge how you think about talent. 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. | |||
| 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. | |||