Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Krisztina "Z" Holly is an MIT-trained engineer, tech entrepreneur, and pioneer. She was curator and host of the first ever TEDx (TEDxUSC) and founder of two university innovation centers at MIT and USC. Z hosts The Art of Manufacturing podcast and is Chief Instigator of MAKE IT IN LA, LA Mayor Garcetti's non-profit initiative to celebrate and support the nation's largest community of makers and ma...

Krisztina Holly is an MIT-trained engineer, tech entrepreneur, and pioneer. She was curator and host of the first ever TEDx (TEDxUSC) and founder of two university innovation centers at MIT and USC. She hosts The Art of Manufacturing podcast and is Chief Instigator of MAKE IT IN LA, LA Mayor Garcetti's non-profit initiative to celebrate and support the nation's largest community of makers and manu...

This conversation is with Jamie Wheal and Steven Kotler. Many of you will remember Steven from our conversation about flow state -- if you missed that, check out episode 16 on Ultimate Human Performance. Jamie and Steven are the co-founders of the Flow Genome Project, which is a collection of world-class academics, athletes and artists dedicated to taking flow from the extreme to the mainstream. I...

Dr. Brewer is the Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness and associate professor in Medicine and Psychiatry at UMass Medical School. He is also adjunct faculty at Yale University, and a research affiliate at MIT. He's at ground-zero when it comes to using science to explain how mindfulness is working -- For me, this was a fantastic conversation about his journey toward mastery -- and h...

In part one, Cal took us deep and he took us into many different parts of his life that were wonderful and surprising. We also had a banter back and forth about questions and responses to questions and the art of storytelling. In part two, he just takes us for a ride. There are so many wonderful stories that he shares with us and what I want to challenge us to do when we're listening is to listen...

This conversation, just like Cal Fussman, gets better as it goes. I really enjoy the conversations, that at the end, I walk away saying, man I'd love to spend more time him/her….This was one of those conversations. He's known for his skill of asking great questions -- yet his talent of storytelling is world class. Questions are to illicit responses and engagement -- and -- there is so much more be...

This conversation is with David Goggins. It's real. This podcast is not for kids -- it's for adults -- who want to understand toughness and authenticity. David is clear. Very clear. He lives in true alignment. He's figured out who he is -- and he lives accordingly. Period. The odds were stacked against David ever making anything of himself. He grew up in an abusive household, barely graduated high...

This conversation is with Soren Gordhamer and singer-songwriter, Jewel. This week’s podcast is a bit unique. It’s with singer-songwriter Jewel and also features a guest appearance from Wisdom 2.0 founder Soren Gordhamer. Soren’s brought tech leaders and wisdom leaders together to have a deep exchange of ideas and practices with one purpose: how to better impact the living and working environments...

Amy Hood is currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft Corporation — whose corporate mission is: “Empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.” This conversation is so good. It’s about so much more than her professional accolades and she’s got them: Harvard MBA, undergraduate degree from Duke in economics, being listed at the #44 spot on the Forbes World’...

Robert Greene is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, and his fifth book, Mastery, which takes a deep dive into the lives of historical figures such as Charles Darwin, Mozart, Paul Graham and Henry Ford. This conversation was on the recommendation from Ryan Holiday (if you haven't had the chance to listen t...

Anne Devereux-Mills is an incredibly accomplished human. She was the chairman and CEO of a number of ad agencies in New York City – which is a massive undertaking. She then transitioned from the corporate world to non-profit programs such as helping start a school in Uganda. She’s had a phenomenal life journey and faced many obstacles -- including being a single mom of two while battling cancer. A...

This conversation is with Mark Divine. Mark and I first met a number of years ago at a high performance camp (Elite11). Mark served 20 years in the Navy SEALs, retiring in 2011 -- and has taken his insights and best practices from the SEAL's candidate mentoring program to create a warrior-leader training model that involves physical, mental, and emotional, and intuition training -- the idea was to...

This conversation is with Peter McLoughlin - the president of the Seattle Seahawks. When most people think of professional franchises, they think of the athletes, coaches, or general managers. I wanted to better understand what goes into running the business of an elite sport franchise and to better understand how someone switches careers after 21 years of success in one industry to another. Curre...

Nic Lamb surfs very large waves. He’s a professional surfer on the Big Wave Tour, and was ranked number 4 in the world last year. A native to the Santa Cruz area in California, Nic is no stranger to a wave called Mavericks. It’s legendary for how heavy the conditions are. At 14 years old, Nic Lamb became one of the youngest surfers to ever charge Mavericks and was one of the youngest competitors i...

George Raveling, referred to by many as “Coach”, is Nike’s Director of International Basketball and has been inducted into numerous hall of fames, including the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. In This Episode -Parents both passing away at a young age and heading to Catholic boarding school -Surrounding yourself with the right...

Lieutenant Colonel Jannell MacAulay is currently the Commander of the 305th Operations Support Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. She leads a joint team responsible for supporting rapid global mobility to missions ranging from in-flight refueling to combat operations to humanitarian relief. In This Episode: -Why she chose to go to the Air Force academy -Parents instilling...

Karan Bajaj is a #1 bestselling Indian novelist with more than 200,000 copies of his novels in print, both optioned into major films. Karan has also worked in senior executive roles at companies like Procter & Gamble and the Boston Consulting Group and was named among Ad Age's "Top 40 Under 40 executives" in the US. This Episode: -Growing up in foothills of the Himalayas -Value of an individua...

Dacher Keltner is a social psychologist who focuses on the prosocial emotions, such as love, sympathy and gratitude, and processes such as teasing and flirtation that enhance bonds. He is Co-Director of The Greater Good Science Center and the author of Born to Be Good. In This Episode: -Parents enabling to him search for what he loved -The cost of a passionate life -Utilizing your imagination to t...

Michealene Risley is an award-winning writer, director and human rights activist. In This Episode: -Being a “master” of empathy -Why she’s hesitant to include dominance in the definition of mastery -Growing up with dark secrets that she wasn’t initially prepared to face -How slamming her hand in a car door proved to be a life altering moment -Why her childhood experiences have given her a keen eye...

Max Baumann is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of The Chill Group, Inc., makers of JUST CHILL® beverages as well as the Founder & President of BASEMAKERS, LLC, an outsourced sales management company in the food and beverage industry. In This Episode: - Philosophy behind his company Just Chill - Why he dropped out of college - The moment when he realized he needed to give up a dream -...

Drew Bledsoe was a star quarterback at Washington State University before he skipped his senior year to go professional. In 1993, he was the No. 1 NFL draft pick and joined the New England Patriots. After nearly eight years he was traded to the Buffalo Bills, then moved to the Dallas Cowboys, before retiring in 2007. Post NFL, Bledsoe pursued a longtime aspiration of owning a winery, which would a...

Vern Gambetta is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world-class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. In This Episode: -Learning to control his temper growing up -Being impacted by his dad’s strong worth ethic and mom’s appetite for learning -Not wanting to be labeled anything but “a coach” -Being fascinated by what it takes...

Lee Clow has been making this thing called “advertising” for more than 40 years. He started at Chiat Day in Los Angeles when there were 10 people and 2 accounts and has been there ever since. In This Episode: -Growing up adopted post WWII -Identifying his passion for art early on -The meaning of “applied art” -How the advertising agency shifted to mavericks leading the way -Looking for the things...

Paul Assaiante, current coach of the Men's Squash team at Trinity College, is known for his unique achievement as the “winningest coach in college sports history”, winner of 15 NCAA Championships titles, and 22-year dedication as squash coach. In This Episode: -Obsessing over the outcome at an early age -Identifying his calling.. to be a college coach -Why he’s more fascinated by losing than winni...

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology. Since the early 1980‘s she has studied and researched the Mind-Brain connection. In This Episode: -The difference between the mind and the brain -Why it mattered that people believed in her growing up -How to increase awareness of thoughts -The mind as an iceberg: explaining the c...