excellence, actually

In this special bonus episode, Brad and Steve delve into the process of becoming authors, starting from their early days writing hardly-read blogs to landing book advances with large publishing houses. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who has ever wondered how to write a book, the difference between self-publishing and traditional-publishing, or what goes into turning an idea on the back o...

To foam roll or not to foam roll? Force yourself to endure an ice-bath after a grueling workout, or sit it out? Cardio or weights, or perhaps even more pertinent, will doing cardio hurt your weights (and vice versa)? Sure, “diets” are no good, but neither is being opposed to all weight loss, right? What matters more, training frequency or duration or intensity? The list goes on and on. In today's...

Anxiety, in the broadest of terms, is discomfort with uncertainty. In the words of psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author Judson Brewer, “it's a severe condition; that is, it's the human condition.” On this week's episode of The Growth Equation  podcast Brad and Steve are joined by Judson for a wide-ranging conversation on anxiety. They touch on anxiety's evolutionary roots, historical evolution...

Sleep. It's a topic that affects everyone, and it's particularly timely coming off of daylight savings time, which doesn't do much other than make an entire country of people groggy. Against that backdrop, Brad and Steve figured it'd be a perfect occasion to dive deep into sleep. They discuss the fundamental and sometimes surprising habits that set you up for a good night's sleep, the role of mela...

A phenomenon that just about everyone is familiar with goes like this: You are striving hard to reach the next level at your given craft or pursuit. After loads of hard work, you finally reach it. When you do, you vacillate from feeling in over your head to feeling like you belong. Sometimes your ego may be too big; other times, too small. It's a wild and uniquely human ride. Someone who knows it...

Do you dislike email, or at the very least, the amount of time, energy, and attention your inbox demands? If so, you aren't alone. In this episode of  The Growth Equation Podcast,  we welcome Cal Newport, bestselling author of  Deep Work , Digital Minimalism ,  and most recently,  A World Without Email . We dive deep into Cal's new book. But we also explore Cal's journey to becoming an author who...

Coaching has long been a foundation of sport, but only more recently is it spreading into other industries. From business, to health care, to creativity, more people are seeking coaches to help them boost their performance and longevity, and the flip side of that coin, to help them avoid burnout too. On this episode of the Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve are joined by Sarah Milby, founder...

Hack culture—or the general idea that there are specific products, services, or supplements that will quickly make you healthier, happier, fitter, and more productive—has taken off in the last decade. In this episode of the Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve explore how and why this has happened. They discuss what, if any, “hacks” may be worthwhile, and why so many people fall for the myriad...

COVID-19 has often been compared to a marathon (by us, too! Brad wrote a piece in  The New York Times back in May of 2020 saying as much). A big part of this analogy relies on the importance of pacing; and not just physically, but how you frame the pandemic in your mind, too. Yet it's not just COVID-19 that a framework of pacing is helpful for; it's all the big projects in our lives. In this episo...

A few weeks ago, a team of Nepali climbers made history, summiting K2 for the first time in winter, a feat that represents mountaineering's last crowned jewel. In this episode of the Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve delve into how the impossible was made possible. In particular, they focus on the role of teamwork, pride, and purpose in a sport that is often very individualistic and egocent...

This past weekend, in the NFL playoffs, one game featured quarterbacks aged 37 and 43. The other game featured quarterbacks aged 24 and 25. Quite a stark difference, huh? In this episode of the Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve dive into the relationship between peak performance and age. They draw upon the latest research and their own coaching experience to introduce a simple framework for...

Resilience is the capacity to bounce back when you get knocked down and to persevere during challenging times. It is a timeless quality, but also one that feels particularly timely. In this episode of the Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve discuss what they refer to as the factors of resilience , or the attributes and practices that help people to cultivate this important quality. Per the us...

Over 70 percent of New Year's resolutions fail in the span of just a few weeks. Yikes. In this episode of the  Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve discuss what the latest science says on making change that sticks. They touch on the habit-forming cycle of trigger, behavior, reward, and discuss why so many people follow it and still fail. They offer additional frameworks and practices that are...

Well, 2020 was a long and challenging year. It's over! But just because the calendar flipped doesn't mean everything is suddenly fine. In this episode of the  Growth Equation  podcast, Brad and Steve discuss an interesting behavioral science concept called the “fresh start effect,” which says people tend to start aspirational behaviors on Mondays, the first day of a new month, and certainly at the...

In this episode of the Growth Equation podcast, Brad and Steve discuss the evidence-based, do-it-yourself methodologies to improve day-to-day mental health and well-being. They explore movement, meditation, and other ways to create space between a situation and your response to it. There is a whole lot of noise when it comes to this sort of stuff, and in this episode, Brad and Steve focus in on si...

Taylor Swift just released her latest album,  Evermore . It is wonderful. It is also the second album she's released this year, following  Folklore , which is also wonderful, and was released back in July. The crazy thing is this: Swift didn't start working on either of these albums until April of this year. This means that she averaged writing a song about every 7 days for 225 days. Originally, F...

A few weeks ago, Zappos founder and CEO Tony Hsieh tragically died in a house fire . It is unclear whether the death was accidental, if Hsieh was intoxicated at the time, or if he locked himself in a room. What is clear is that during the last few months of his life, Hsieh was spiraling downward into substance abuse (nitrous oxide) and biohacking (starvation and nonsensical sleep schedules), while...

In 2010, the writer Katie Arnold welcomed her second daughter into the world. Three weeks later she lost her father, also her best friend. Dealing with the grief was discombobulating. As she told us in this week's podcast, “I could not talk my way out of it. People could not reassure me the fears I was facing about my own mortality were not true…I tried lots of different healing and therapies, som...

Earlier this week, the  New York Times  broke a story detailing how the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey and Company “proposed paying pharmacy companies rebates for Oxycontin [a popular opioid] overdoses.” Worse, partners at McKinsey allegedly tried to cover the evidence of their recommendation. In this episode of The Growth Equation podcast , Brad, a former McKinsey consultant himself, and St...

In this episode of the Growth Equation podcast, Brad and Steve dive into an underground classic from the 1980's: Amusing Ourselves to Death,  by Neil Postman . The main premise of the book is that the medium via which we consume information is a metaphor for the culture; our brains, both as individuals and as a collective, become what we pay attention to and how we pay attention it. At the time Po...

Rich Roll is a globally renown ultra-endurance athlete, wellness advocate, bestselling author, husband and father of four.  He also hosts the wildly popular Rich Roll Podcast, one of the top 100 podcasts in the world with over 100 million downloads.   On this episode of The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve welcome Rich.  He shares how his experiences in competitive swimming, law school, and...

A wise professor once told Brad, “Trust is the most important thing there is and all inefficiencies at their core are created by a lack of trust.”  On this episode of The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve discuss the importance of trust and what it means to trust yourself and to trust others.  They consider what it means to “trust your training” and review the research and science behind how...

In this raw, uncut, and immediately uploaded episode, Brad and Steve explore the still-unfolding chaos around the 2020 US presidential election, how we got into this mess, and how we can get out.   For the two articles we reference in the podcast: Driven Apart or Coming Together: It's Our Choice The Simple Reason that the 2020 Polls were Wrong You can find the podcast on: iTunes and Apple Podcasts...

It infiltrates every aspect of our lives and deserves the time for a thoughtful discussion. On this episode of The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve welcome back friend of the podcast Jojo McDuffie to discuss the topic of race. The three share their different experiences with race growing up in Michigan, Texas and Virginia. They discuss the convergence of racism and mental health and talk ab...

This month Lebron James won his fourth NBA Championship and once again spurred the question: who is better, Lebron James or Michael Jordan? On this episode of The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve tackle the question, but go beyond the championships and MVP awards and consider performance and success more broadly. They discuss their differing paths to greatness and how they each managed to s...