excellence, actually

With the NBA finals here, Brad and Steve use the championship series as a jumping off point to discuss the power of well-oiled teams, where there is both dependence and independence. They contrast this with so-called “super teams” that are made up of all-star individuals. While the duo starts out with a discussion on sports, they end with two universal principles for developing and leading great t...

It is mental health awareness month, and it is a topic near and dear to our hearts. Mental health and its opposite (mental illness) affects just about everyone at one point or another. On this episode, we detail eleven key concepts for mental health, all based on evidence and with concrete applications and practices. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher N...

The episode title says it all. Brad and Steve investigate the connection between the wild west of supplements and the wild west of ideas and politicians. They propose some big-swing theories that make a whole lot of sense, and they also provide a very concrete list of what supplements tend to work for what type of people in what situations. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Sp...

You asked. We answered. This week's episode is a listener AMA, including: 1. What are some recent good books that you’ve read? 2. I know you two are both concerned with social media, how do you manage your own use currently? 3. What do you think of Elon Musk buying Twitter? 4. What projects are you working on? 5. Sleep is something that you say is paramount. How do I balance this with being a new...

The NFL draft just went down last week. For football fans it is a very exciting time. For everyone else, it is a fascinating look at just how hard identifying talent can be. In this episode, Brad and Steve use the NFL draft as a starting point for a broader discussion on what we choose to measure in work and life and why. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitc...

In light of the news that Elon Musk might actually buy twitter, Brad and Steve explore how they use social media in their own lives and they offer some new and interesting ideas about owning your energy and attention in an increasingly frenetic and commercialized world. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher Notes and Resources: Here is the Jonathan Haidt a...

This week we are joined by Michelle Segar, who is a researcher at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, studying sustainable behavior change. The discussion revolves around when and why habits fail, and how you can still make the right choice in those moments. It is a great and actionable conversation on a framework for progress that is different than and complementary to the power of habits. You...

Brad and Steve share a framework for “minimum effective dosing” of habits for health and performance. They provide a menu of evidence-based health and performance habits with the biggest bang for the buck, and then discuss how to harmoniously integrate these habits with everything else you have going on. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher *** Check out...

Many people are experiencing a chronic low-grade fatigue. It can manifest as multiple snooze-button taps, mid-day crashes, struggling to find motivation for things that once made you tick, or some combination of all these things. This episode explores the two big reasons underlying this sort of low-grade chronic fatigue and what you can do about it in order to regain and reclaim your energy. You c...

How do we handle uncertainty in life? In this episode, Brad and Steve take on what to do when your world seems a bit out of whack. They dive into how to make better decisions , whether you should rely on intuition or rational thought processes, how to take care of your body during crazy times, and why there is no such thing as a bad decision. If your life feels a bit chaotic, this podcast is for y...

This is a conversation for the ages. Brad and Steve are joined by a special guest, Eric Zimmer, a former heroine addict now successful coach, entrepreneur, and podcast host. You'll immediately sense that Eric is a kindred spirit to everything the Growth Equation Podcast stands for. The trio go deep on what addiction thinks and feels like, how Eric worked his way into recovery, and the key lessons...

In this episode, Brad and Steve get personal and discuss what is top of mind for them when it comes to their own health and longevity, including why Brad has decided to lose some weight (and how he's going about it), why Steve is changing his relationship with sport performance, and how so many controversial and polarizing topics (such as weight loss) need not be. You'll be sure to enjoy this inti...

This week on The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve check in with NYC Marathon Champion, Olympian, coach, and friend Shalane Flanagan. The trio first discuss the challenges that come with transitions. Shalane candidly describes the hard and dark days she faced when transitioning away from being an athlete and how she struggled to see her purpose and meaning. Brad, Steve and Shalane then turn...

There have been many recent articles, essays, and books arguing against ambition—and some might even say the pursuit of personal excellence. In this episode of the podcast, Brad and Steve provide a counter argument and bring some much-needed nuance to this discussion. It is not ambition that is bad. It is the ways in which many people channel it, and the ways in which the culture encourages us to...

Everyone experiences performance anxiety at some point. It's simply the cost of caring deeply about you are doing. In this episode, Brad and Steve dive deep on the mechanisms underlying performance anxiety and the various approaches to work with it: ranging from practices to diminish a strong stress response to those that help you channel anxiety and work with, not against, it. You can find the ep...

Is it possible to strive for the utmost excellence without sacrificing your mental health? Can you care deeply about a pursuit without attaching your entire identity to it? Drawing from recent Olympic examples, these are the big questions, important, and timely questions that Brad and Steve wrestle with on this episode. This one is a must-listen for anyone serious about getting the most out of the...

A must-listen for anyone currently pursuing (or considering) big goals in their life. Brad and Steve dive into one of their favorite topics: how to strike the right balance between internal and external validation in the pursuit of big goals, and the interplay between identity, ego, and achievement. They give examples of what happens when motivation goes awry. They touch on people like Elizabeth H...

Brad and Steve address all the people who seem to be losing their minds on the internet, and what they do (at their best) to stop themselves from going down this path. Hopefully you can apply some lessons to your own life and the people in it.(Warning: This podcast is full of rants. Love them or hate them or somewhere in between, we wanted to give you a heads up.) You can find the episode on: iTun...

Progress, continual growth, and development are all great, no doubt. But we all go through periods of life when it is wise to shift the goal from thriving to just getting through and surviving. What generally gets in the way: rigid expectations, fear of losing your rhythm, and the (false) entangling of how you feel (internally) with how you perform (externally). On this episode we dive into all th...

Nobody likes to fail, but you can't get through life without failing at least a few times. On this episode, Brad and Steve discuss an evidence-based philosophy for thinking about failure—and also actually doing it. Topics include the interplay between self-discipline and self-compassion, finite versus infinite games, the short-term crappiness and long-term wisdom that comes with failing, and some...

Good enough is usually good enough. Good enough over and over again—that's how you get to great. The culture loves heroic efforts. Heroic efforts are how you burnout. Great outcomes love consistency. Consistency is how you play the long game. This episode is all about how to make consistency a practice. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher *** Check out o...

Brad and Steve discuss the latest science of goal setting, including the common pitfalls most people overlook and the concrete principles for setting goals that will drive the process and outcomes you want in life. They also give personal examples of how they take this knowledge and apply it to setting goals in their own lives. This episode is filled with practical, timely, and immediately applica...

Brad and Steve let loose recapping the six biggest ideas in performance and wellness from 2021. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher *** Check out our  exclusive community bonuses  on Patreon . Get a copy of  The Practice of Groundedness!  It is currently over 40 percent off! Please  write a review on Apple Podcasts  and help new listeners discover the sh...

Brad and Steve are joined by world-class sculptor Emil Alzamora to discuss his work, the idea (and life) of being a craftsperson, physical versus digital art, the creative process, the role of lightening inspiration versus hacking at it every day, and so much more. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher *** Learn more about Emil here . Check out our  exclus...

On this episode, Brad and Steve dispel some recent trends in the health, fitness, and high-performance space, delving into how they came into existence, why people follow them, and what, if any,  benefit they may have. Then, we go into what actually works for improvement and why it's so easy to focus on fluff and fads and so hard to focus on fundamentals.(Note: We call out a few particular trends....