excellence, actually

Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, & Clay Skipper
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"excellence, actually" is a podcast from The Growth Equation, hosted by Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, and Clay Skipper. Drawing on their years of working and corresponding with Olympians, coaches, executives, world-class physicians, and other elite-level achievers in their coaching practice and professional careers, they give you the mental and physical tools, practices, habits, and frameworks used by the best in the world in the pursuit of excellence. Each episode will give you concrete ideas and tips to use in your life immediately to help you become more meaningfully engaged in the pursuits that support your goals and your values. This is not the performative nonsense that is peddled online by grifters and influencers, but the evidence-based systems that work for the best in the world. This is excellence, actually. (This podcast used to appear under the name FAREWELL.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 15 hr ago

    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 come back to many times — so we believe you'll enjoy it, even on a second listen!) Before the 1993-1994 NBA season, coach Phil Jackson wanted to get his Chicago Bulls some help. They'd won the championship the previous year, but right before the season, Michael Jordan made a surprise retirement announcement. So Jackson called George Mumford—a meditation practitioner who was then teaching mindfulness in hospitals, clinics, and prisons—hoping he might be able to use the same techniques to help the Bulls deal with the stress of success and MJ's departure. Mumford would go on to work with Jackson through six NBA titles: the Bulls in '96, '97, and '98—after MJ returned—and the Lakers in '00, '01, and '02. He has since gone on to a long and successful career as a sports psychologist and performance consultant, teaching people how to stay mentally fit and resilient even amidst difficulty and uncertainty. We often discuss the importance of cultivating the ability to respond rather than react—and George Mumford has made a living out of teaching that skill to some of the world's best performers, including Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Today, he discusses how to make yourself "flow ready," silence your "negative committee," use his 4 A's framework to deal with difficulty or pain, and manage the moment. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  2. 20 Aug

    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 them? We're going to get into all of that today, breaking down what the science says (and doesn't say) about the efficacy and safety of peptides, go over a "three-legged-stool" framework that will help you evaluate novel supplements or treatments in the increasingly wild world of wellness, and give you a better understanding of how to think through the trade-offs involved in incorporating new tools into your own health and performance routine. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  3. 13 Aug

    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-optimization movement. Both hint at something nefarious happening in the health and wellness industry—and, as always, we're hoping to inject a bit of sanity and wisdom. We talk about weighing the costs and the benefits of tracking everything (including your baby), why following the example set by elite performers can sometimes backfire, how athletes use (and, more importantly, don't use) data, and what we lose when we outsource our intuition to devices. "Aw, It's Baby's First A.I. Surveillance System:" https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/business/smart-baby-monitors-nanit-owlet.html "My Reaction to the Anti-Optimization Trend:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi2WGB1Zdws - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  4. 6 Aug

    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 you're feeling frazzled, foggy, or unable to concentrate, you're not alone—so are we!) Then we get into the practical ways you can begin to build both back. We talk about the four key pillars of focus (and how to train them), what the "baseline aerobic capacity" for your brain should be, and offer a scuba diving metaphor that just might change how you think about pushing through the discomfort that sustained attention requires. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Get free shipping and 365-day returns when you shop at quince.com/excellence - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  5. 30 Jul

    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 more than 30 years of sports and performance coaching experience between them—share their ten commandments for transformative coaching (you won't be surprised to hear it overlaps with great teaching, parenting, and leading, too). Whether you're leading individual athletes, teams, or just coaching yourself, this is one you don't want to miss. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  6. 23 Jul

    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, and then went and did it, fueled entirely, he says, by consistency and stacking days. Then: the World Cup. Brad and Steve dig into the moments that stuck: Haaland's cowboy boots and Katz's Deli pastrami as a lesson in competitive joy; Cape Verde's 40-year-old bus-driver-turned-goalkeeper as a lesson in belief; England's collapse as a lesson in what happens when you stop playing your game and start playing prevent. And a bigger question underneath all of it: why is a country of 330 million people still getting outplayed in soccer by nations the size of Buncombe County, North Carolina? There was a lot to learn from this last month of elite sports. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  7. 16 Jul

    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 levels have figured out a way to beat it. The bad news is that we can't just rid ourselves of anxiety. It's part of the human condition. The good news is that, despite the common misconception, elite performers experience anxiety all the time—they've just learned how to manage and even channel it in skillful and adaptive ways. So today's episode is all about providing you ways to accept anxiety (which, ironically, helps mitigate it, since resisting anxiety only makes it worse) and giving you the tools to make it work for you rather than against you. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  8. 9 Jul

    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-present threat of a violent peloton crash? Brent Bookwalter did it four times, including the 2011 race that Cadel Evans won — one of the great team performances in the sport's history. He did it clean, in arguably the dirtiest era cycling has ever seen. Now retired after a 16-year career and working as a commentator and a mental performance coach, he joins us for a conversation that moves from the fascinating details of being a pro cyclist — the salaries, the eating, the four-hour hurt box, the 30ish hours on the bike a week— to the deeper questions of why anyone does it at all. He talks about overcoming a fractured tibia in the beginning of his career, the mental skills that got him through — breaking a 200-kilometer stage down to one kilometer at a time — and how he's navigating the hardest transition of his life — from an existence where every minute was optimized and accounted for, to figuring out who he is without the bike. One of the more honest conversations we've had about what excellence actually costs, and what it gives back. - Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay - Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter - Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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About

"excellence, actually" is a podcast from The Growth Equation, hosted by Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, and Clay Skipper. Drawing on their years of working and corresponding with Olympians, coaches, executives, world-class physicians, and other elite-level achievers in their coaching practice and professional careers, they give you the mental and physical tools, practices, habits, and frameworks used by the best in the world in the pursuit of excellence. Each episode will give you concrete ideas and tips to use in your life immediately to help you become more meaningfully engaged in the pursuits that support your goals and your values. This is not the performative nonsense that is peddled online by grifters and influencers, but the evidence-based systems that work for the best in the world. This is excellence, actually. (This podcast used to appear under the name FAREWELL.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, & Clay Skipper
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    368
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Growth Equation Podcast
  • Show Website
    excellence, actually

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