excellence, actually

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....

Brad and Steve are joined by author Ryan Holiday for a wide-ranging discussion on courage: how it relates to self and society, and the big and small acts in our lives. They also discuss Ryan's routines, how he sticks to them, adhering to a process-mindset vs. an outcome one, and why physical practice is such an integral part of Ryan's job as a writer. For those who don't know him personally, Ryan...

Brad and Steve discuss their top 10 books of 2021. Fun banter, and a great reading and holiday gifting recommendations. You don't want to miss out on this one. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher *** Get a copy of  The Practice of Groundedness!  It is currently over 40 percent off! Check out our  exclusive community bonuses  on Patreon . Please  write a...

An interesting discussion on when grit is useful versus when grit gets in the way, and the value of exploration (going wide) before exploitation (going deep). Between the extremes of generalization and specialization there is quite a bit of nuance, and this podcast explores that in-between, using a few recent and large studies as a foundation for confidence in the assertions. You can find the epis...

From Whoop to Fitbit to Oura, activity trackers are on the rise. On this episode of The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve dive into these wrist, finger, and chest worn devices. They discuss various types of trackers and their applications, and when these sorts of things work versus when they get in the way, or worse, cause harm. If you wear an activity tracker or have ever considered wearing...

On this episode of the Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve discuss the vast benefits of doing real, concrete activities in a modern world that is increasingly complex and full of subjective measures. They argue that everyone, especially knowledge workers, should have a “real thing” craft to which they dedicate at least some time, energy, and focus.  Doing real things keeps you humble and it ke...

We are lucky to be joined by Dave Pell, the reader, writer, and all-around creative behind the internet's longest running big-time newsletter, Next Draft . In this far-reaching conversation, we talk about how Dave shows up consistently to do high quality work, his daily routines, mental health and news consumption, running your own little internet empire, getting addicted to relevance, the future...

On this episode of the pod, Brad and Steve talk about all things performance coaching, including in fields outside of sport. They discuss everything from who can benefit from having a coach, to the value of credentials, to strategies you can use to separate hucksters from excellent professionals, to the nuts and bolts of their own individual performance and executive coaching practices. You can fi...

Less is not more. More is more. Less is less. But sometimes—no, even often—less is better. In this episode, Brad and Steve talk to Leidy Klotz, a professor at the University of Virginia with appointments in engineering, architecture, and business. They focus on his new seminal work, Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less . The trio discuss why subtracting is not second nature, why minimalism sound...

A fun and wide-ranging conversation on the entire notion of productivity and time-management. We start from a 30,000 foot view of what's the point of all this anyways? and then go all the way down to the ground floor, where we cover common pitfalls and concrete practices that can help you right now to get the most out of your limited stay on this planet we call Earth. You can find the episode on:...

We use a recent exploration of the NFL's empathy gap as a doorway into a broader conversation about the tradeoffs between analytics and the human side of things in organizational and individual life. Steve also coaches Brad through a challenge he's having in sticking to his own physical practice. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher If you haven’t yet, pi...

We dive into what it was like to launch the Growth Eq's latest book,  The Practice of Groundedness . In particular, we focus on our struggles trying to practice what we preach during a frenetic, hectic, and results focused week. Plus, if you've ever wondered what it is like to launch a book, you won't want to miss this. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitche...

In this behind-the-scenes podcast, Steve interviews Brad on his new book The Practice of Groundedness . Where did the idea for the book come from? How do you go from an idea to a fleshed-out framework? Will groundedness help you run a faster 5k? All of those questions and more are answered in this week's podcast. You can find the episode on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher It's...

People often think of the brain and the mind as the same thing. But they are not. The brain is an organ inside your skull. The brain contributes to the mind — or your thoughts, feelings, and general consciousness — but it is only a small part of it. Your mind is also made up of your body, and the people, places, and objects around you. On this episode of the pod, we explore the benefits of getting...

We take a slight divergence from our usual topics to dive into one of those perennial questions with no possible answer: Who is the greatest of all time? To give ourselves at least some constraints, we narrow down into the world of sports. Our goal for this discussion was to entertain and, perhaps more practically, to help you think through the various criteria you use to evaluate performance and...

With conspiracy theories—on everything from diet, to exercise, to a global pandemic and vaccines—flying left and right, we wanted to devote some time to understanding the tendencies behind the people who spread these ideas. The goal is not to dunk on them (though we definitely do some of that) but more importantly, to use these folks as a model to help all of us spot the same tendencies in ourselv...