excellence, actually

Consistency Over Intensity: How to Show Up Again and Again (and Again)

Consistency is one of the fundamental skills of any discipline. But what does it actually look like in practice? Today, we're answering five of the most common questions

Handling Change: "Find the Smallest Dose that Keeps You Sane"

Change happens — sometimes when we expect, often when we don't. So how do we hold onto what matters amidst big shifts (injury, a lay off, moving cities, changing schedule

How to Survive Youth Sports Without Ruining Your Kid

Youth sports are simultaneously a disaster and more important than ever. They remain one of the best places for kids to develop and, as we always say, do real things in t

The Sports Psychologist Who Taught MJ and Kobe How to "Manage the Moment" (Rerun)

(This week, we are revisiting a conversation from last year that Brad and Clay had with George Mumford. It's one of our most popular episodes and one we personally have c

Peptides 101: Evaluating Hype, Risk, and Reward

Peptides! They're everywhere in the health and performance world (and, increasingly, outside of it, too). So... what is a peptide? Are they safe? Should you be taking the

How to Not Turn Into a Robot

This week, we're reacting to an article about the rise of souped-up A.I. baby monitors, and a video from popular podcast host Chris Williamson responding to the anti-opti

How to Reset Your Focus

Why is it so hard to focus these days—and what can we do about it? On today's episode, we talk about the science behind our collapsing focus and fractured attention. (If

The Ten Commandments of Coaching

Coaching is one of the most meaningful and valuable jobs out there. Which is why it's all the more important that it's done the right way. Today, Steve and Brad—who have

World Cup & Mile World Record: Consistency, Joy, and Calling Your Shot

Brad and Steve are solo for a throwback episode. First, they discuss Josh Kerr's mile world record: Kerr called his shot four months ago, named the time, named the meet,

Don't Get Rid of Anxiety. Use It.

It's natural to want to get rid of anxiety. It's uncomfortable, we worry that it holds us back from being our best, and we believe that those who perform at the highest l

How to Endure, According to a 4-Time Tour de France Cyclist

What is it like to race 21 days across France wearing little more than underwear, going over 50 miles an hour, burning 8,000 calories a day, in the shadow of the ever-pre

You Can't Have It All: A Guide to Making Sacrifices

We've been sold a lie: that with the right systems, mindset, and tools, you can have it all — great career, present parent, devoted partner, thriving social life, passion

Six Books That Changed How We Think About Performance

Brad and Clay Skipper first became friends over books — specifically, a DM about Brad's bookshelf. Today, they return to that origin with a show-and-tell on six books tha

How to Come Back, from the Greatest Playoff Run in NBA History

Last Saturday night, the New York Knicks won the NBA Championship. It was an improbable, remarkable run, one of the best in NBA history. After going down 2-1 in the first

Longevity, Actually (with Brian Koppelman)

Brian Koppelman has been writing great films and shows for 30 years — Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, and Billions, to name a few. Now 60, he's working with as much energy as

Lessons on Excellence: Caring, Doing the Work, and Being Antifragile

Today, we discuss three moments from the past week that highlight a few of the key habits of truly excellent performers: what Victor Wenbanyama teaches us about caring de

Dream Big, Start Small: Lessons from World Record Miler Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun couldn't make his junior high basketball team, track team, or even his church baseball team. Two years later, he was the first high schooler to run a sub-four-mi

How to Get Small Wins out of Bad Days

We've all got those days: you can't seem to get started, your motivation is low, or something comes up and throws you off track. It happens to all of us! It only becomes

The New Science of Pain (and What It Means for You)

We're all going to experience pain in some form or another. Unfortunately, our long accepted model for what pain is — and how to treat it — has been wrong. Today, we're b

The Cost of Keeping Your Options Open (with David Epstein)

In 1960, A publisher at Random House bet a writer $50 that he couldn't produce a children's book using just 50 distinct words. That writer was Dr. Seuss, and the resultin