excellence, actually

A quick story about the 2021-2022 Golden State Warriors, a conversation with then General Manager Bob Myers, and how to apply some wisdom from finance to any of your ambitious, long-term pursuits. Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time! https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/ If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so the...

Drawing on a recent talk that Brad gave to his hometown Detroit Tigers of the MLB, the guys discuss 10 of the core principles that have come out of years of studying and working with elite performers on how to achieve peak performance and sustain excellence over time. Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time! https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/ If you are enjoying FAREWEL...

The stories we tell ourselves about what happens to us are powerful. Today, drawing on the work of psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman, we discuss a simple reframing tool that will allow you to interpret the events of your life in a way that leads to more optimism and less negativity. Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time! https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/ If you are en...

Layne Norton, a successful powerlifter, coach, nutritionist, and respected performance expert, joins Brad and Clay to talk about his evidenced-based approach to health and fitness. He talks about what he's learned about motivation, resilience, spotting misinformation, mental toughness, pain science, and managing discomfort as an athlete, coach, and student, with five national powerlifting titles a...

Getting the most out of yourself isn't about simply going all out. Performing your best requires an ability to give maximum effort while still staying relaxed and not tensing up. This is where the "85% Rule" can come in handy. Use it the next time you need to give it your all. Steve's original thread on the 85% rule: https://x.com/stevemagness/status/1813955100676915235 Join The Growth Equation Ac...

Not that long ago, it was considered a badge of honor to "hustle" or "grind" off of only four or five hours of sleep a night. Thankfully, we've come to a better understanding of the importance and value of a good night's sleep—maybe too much so, however. Sleep has become the latest obsession among the optimization set, with an entire cottage industry of supplements, gadgets, and trackers meant to...

On today's episode of The Coach Up, Clay revisits a conversation he had with the award-winning author George Saunders, about navigating the different parts and versions of our identities that show up at various moments in our days and lives—and how we can create the conditions that allow our best selves to be most reliably present. Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time...

In recent years, the idea of masculinity has undergone a cultural and societal shift. Though the evolution was much needed and long overdue, it has left many men uncertain of where to turn for positive models and definitions of masculinity. Some have turned to fitness and performance personalities or gym bros who celebrate physical suffering, bio-hacking, and even a return to more primitive or pri...

"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." You've probably heard that one. It's not the most useful phrase. There are a lot of really difficult or tragic situations where your pain is going to be accompanied by some suffering. However, the intellectual idea behind that phrase is sound: we can, in moments of more lower-case p pain, pile on all sorts of mental anguish and worry to an already painf...

We're all going to die. (Gulp.) We know this—and we all share it—but death remains taboo, as do so many of its accompanying experiences: grief, suffering, vulnerability, and loss of mental and physical faculty. But by ignoring death, we not only deny ourselves the opportunity to have a good death; we also deny ourselves the chance at a better life! Because, as you’ll hear from today's guest, a pal...

The psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm argued that there are two fundamental orientations we can bring to the world: a having orientation and a being orientation. The difference between the two—which Brad lays out today, and in his most recent book, Master of Change—is the difference between getting stuck in your identity, and being durable, flexible, and versatile over the course of one's l...

When times get difficult, people often turn to sport and fitness to help. It's a way to build confidence and mental strength, and an outlet for frustration. But if that's why you get into athletics, what happens when you get your life back on track? Can you still have the same drive? That's the opening question of today's episode, but it leads into a broader discussion about how to navigate change...

There's plenty of information out there about the "best" routine for your morning, your night, and every time in between. Of course, as we always say, there is no "best" anything. What works for one person may not work for another. That being said, there are some general guidelines that can help you think through how to build the daily routines that are most effective for you. Here, Brad shares hi...

We all know walking is good for us—but just how good is it, exactly? Today we go deep on running's more leisurely and oftentimes less celebrated (dare we say underrated?) cousin. What are the aerobic benefits of walking? If you're a regular runner, is there a case for why you should mix in more walking? Why is everyone so obsessed with 10,000 daily steps as a metric, and should you be? What is the...

If you’re someone who lives in a place with seasons (or decided to travel somewhere especially warm) you might be slogging through heat and humidity during your workouts these days—particularly if you’re training for a fall marathon. Lucky for you, Steve Magness deals with this problem nearly year round since he lives in Houston. So today he offers his best tips for adjusting your workouts and sur...

Hilary Hahn first picked up a violin when she was 3, and made her major orchestral debut at 12. Now in her forties, she has spent four decades playing, and more than thirty of those years playing with some of the best orchestras in the world. Over that time, she has gathered some—actually, A LOT of—wisdom about what goes into an elite performance. Though her experience is in music, her tips are ac...

Studies have shown that elite performers—like those we're watching in the Olympics right now—experience the exact same feelings of nervousness and anxiety that we all feel before an important event. But they're experts at turning that anxiety into fuel using a specific psychological tool. Today, Brad breaks down what that tool is and how it can help you next time you have pre-performance jitters....

Nike recently released an ad for the Olympics whose message is that you have to be a "bad person"—in the ad's telling, a competitor who lacks empathy, compassion, and respect—to be a winner. So Brad, Steve, and Clay debate: Is this true? Is it possible to be a ruthless competitor and still be a good person? What separates true greatness from pseudo-greatness? And what do we get wrong, culturally a...

When it comes to being productive, there’s nothing more important that prioritization. You don't just want to get things done; you want to get the right things done. Unfortunately, when life (and our to do list) gets overwhelming, we can resort to just getting through what’s loudest and latest, which means we ignore our important, long-term projects to tend to what’s urgent. That can keep us from...

The Olympics kick off tomorrow, so the guys share the events they're most excited for, and discuss the mindsets that the world’s top performers use to gain a mental edge. You’ll get Steve’s breakdown of what to watch for in this year’s most compelling track races, what we expect to see from Simone Biles, thoughts on how the USA’s men’s basketball team will stack up against the international compet...

"Respond, not react." It's easy to say and extremely difficult to do, especially in the heat of the moment. Luckily, Brad has an actionable, four-step plan that will help you respond thoughtfully rather than react emotionally next time you find yourself in a stressful situation. Plus: how you can use affect labeling, self-distancing, and physical exercise to help put the 4 P's into practice. If yo...

This week, we discuss Brad's recent article in The New York Times, and announce some exciting news: On Monday, we launched "The Growth Equation Academy for Human Performance." The Academy is something we created after readers and listeners continue to ask for a place to go deeper on performance and well-being. We couldn't find a program out there that we liked, so we created our own, filled with c...

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 lif...

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 lea...

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...