Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Broadcaster, journalist and endurance athlete Charlie Webster details her near death experience, her process of post-traumatic growth, and how it shaped her perspective on perseverance, mental health and the motivation to keep pushing forward. Charlie is incredible, and her body of work is… extensive, to say the least. She was the first woman to host a televised Boxing World Heavyweight Title Figh...

Violence and virtue. The Goodness Paradox. Why are humans capable of being the nicest, but also the nastiest, of all species? Join host Dr. Michael Gervais as he sits down with Richard Wrangham, biological anthropologist and author of "The Goodness Paradox," to discuss the intricate relationship between violence and virtues, and how understanding this connection can lead to a more compassionate an...

Dr. Mike sits down with actor Michael Rosenbaum to answer YOUR questions on psychological safety, therapy, motivation, passion, and so much more. I’m really excited about this one. Michael Rosenbaum - a friend of Finding Mastery - has dropped in for today’s AMA. Michael is an actor, comedian, podcaster, and all-around incredible human. He’s famously known for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman...

Former Navy SEAL Command Master Chief, Pete Naschak, details what it means to be a resilience shepherd, how high performing teams operate, and the importance of an adaptable mindset. More: Pete served for 21 years as a Navy SEAL, where he held various operational & leadership positions and participated in military contingency operations around the world.  Now, Pete has taken what he learn...

Paralympic athlete and 17-time medalist Oksana Masters shares her extraordinary journey of perseverance and triumph - from a life-saving adoption to winning Paralympic gold - offering insight and inspiration for anyone seeking to overcome obstacles and discover their own superpowers. More: Oksana Masters is a 17x Paralympic Medalist. Oksana has competed in each of the last six Paralympic Games (bo...

Baseball America’s MLB Coach of the Year, Donnie Ecker, shares his heart-forward approach to coaching and leadership. Donnie Ecker is a highly respected and accomplished Major League Baseball (MLB) coach who is entering his second season as bench coach and offensive coordinator for the Texas Rangers.  Before his tenure with the Rangers, Donnie was recognized as Baseball America’s 2021 MLB Coa...

"I learned how to live, at a death camp." Dr. Edith Eger, a Holocaust survivor, clinical psychologist, and best-selling author shares the powerful lessons she learned from surviving Auschwitz and how she inspires individuals to live a life of fulfillment, happiness, and freedom. More on Dr. Eger: At the age of 16, Edie and her family were sent to Auschwitz – Edie’s parents were killed not long aft...

This week, we’re really excited to share another installment of our Ask Me Anything series. In this episode, we cover confidence, anxiety, resilience, self-talk, the art of feedback, and much more. For this AMA, we brought in a friend of Finding Mastery’s to help facilitate the conversation — O'Neil Cespedes. O’Neil is an actor, an improv artist, a former member of the Groundlings Sunday Company,...

This week’s conversation is with Dave Asprey , an entrepreneur & tech innovator, four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and pioneer of the Biohacking movement.  For those of you who have listened for a while, you know I’ve had issues with the term “hacking” – and at the same time, I’m fascinated by folks who create and disrupt. Having devoted decades of h...

This week, we’re doing something a little different – we are excited to re-release a fresh version of our 2019 conversation with the US World Cup and Olympic soccer legend, Abby Wambach.  So – why are we re-releasing an episode? And why this conversation in particular? Because transitions are an increasingly prominent part of modern life. As the pace of change accelerates, so does our need to...

Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries, Father Greg Boyle, guides us through the Homeboy Way - a life full of love, clarity, and unshakable goodness. More on Father Greg: Father Greg Boyle is an American Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world. Each year over 10,000 former gang members and previou...

Paul Rabil is back! (on the podcast) In this week's conversation, legendary professional lacrosse player Paul Rabil opens about his mindset, his inner critic, starting the PLL, and what it takes to be the best in the world at your craft. More on Paul: Paul Rabil is a former professional lacrosse player and co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).  You might remember Paul from his firs...

In this week's episode, author and journalist Anne Helen Petersen covers some of society’s most pressing workplace trends - like the burnout epidemic and the transition to hybrid work - and how we can all thrive in the modern workplace. This is a conversation for employers, employees, and managers alike on how we can optimize remote work – and re-examine what “work” means in the first place. More...

The Grandmaster of Memory, Nelson Dellis, details why memory is an important skill to hone in on, and how to do just that. More on Nelson: This week’s conversation is with Nelson Dellis, a competitive memory athlete who is widely recognized as one of the world's leading experts in the fields of memory and mental fitness. Nelson is a 5X USA Memory Champion, a Grand Master of Memory, and holds sever...

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Michael Rucker, an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Mike for about two decades and I’m stoked to introduce him and his work to you.  A former corporate executive, Michael found himself burnt out, unfulfilled in his career, and as...

Here's the final Ask Me Anything (AMA) of 2022 with Dr. Michael Gervais! A couple weeks back, we took questions from our community on how to best support your life ambitions, resolutions, habits, and goals as you move into 2023. Your questions rocked. Dr. Mike was excited to jump into the studio to film this and we hope this supports your new year. Stay tuned as we'll be back in 2023 with more hig...

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker, a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Sheila’s work and research interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, psychology and social science, with a focus on how we can create c...

This week’s conversation is with Paul Assaiante, one of the most decorated coaches in college sports history.  For those unfamiliar, Paul is a legend – he is a two-time Olympic coach of the year, the “winningest coach in college sports history”, an inductee of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame, and has won 17 NCAA championship titles at Trinity College where he is still the head coach of the Men’s...

This week’s conversation is with Yogi Roth – Yogi is a dear friend of mine, and I’m really excited to finally introduce him to the Finding Mastery community.  At his core, Yogi is a storyteller with a unique focus on seeking and uncovering humanity in sports around the globe. His professional work has ranged from a college football analyst to an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, New York Times be...

This week’s conversation is with Elizabeth Pitcairn, a world-renowned classical violin virtuoso. After making her orchestra debut at age 14, Elizabeth has gone on to travel the globe with her violin, performing as a soloist in various highly acclaimed orchestras at some of the most prolific classical music venues on the planet.  Elizabeth is also known for performing with one of the world’s m...

This week’s conversation is with Tony Fadell, an entrepreneur, designer, engineer, and investor with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing some of the most influential products of the 20th century.  Over his remarkable career, Tony has become best known as the inventor of the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Thermostat (which eventually sold to Google for $3.2B).  Tony has...

We got some really excellent questions from our community last week. I love the deep thought, curiosity, and authenticity you all brought to the table. In our second AMA, I answer questions like: When things go sideways at work—and I still have a business to run and bills to pay—how do I think clearly? How do you put a high performance mindset lens on forgiveness? When something's been wrongfully...

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Jeffrey Bland, an accomplished and highly respected thought leader who has spent more than four decades studying the improvement of human health. Due to his groundbreaking contributions the field, Jeff is known worldwide as “the founder of the Functional Medicine movement”, which represents his vision for a care model that is grounded in systems biology and inf...

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pendulum Therapeutics. Colleen’s extensive background includes a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and over 20 years of experience managing and leading teams in biotech, pharma, and academia. In 2013, Colleen left her position as Senior Manager of Biology at Pacific Biosci...

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Marc Brackett , the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. Marc’s research focuses on the role of emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance.  Over his extensive career, Marc has developed a systemic, evidence-...