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. 3 DAYS AGO

    Is Self-Improvement Just Making Us More Selfish?

    Is personal development and self-improvement making us better—or just more self-absorbed? In today's episode, we wade into the debate sparked by a recent New York Times article (link below) about whether the world of betterment is actually helping with personal growth, or just creating inward navel-gazing? We discuss how to think about the role of individual agency in a world of structural challenge, the pitfalls of hyper-optimization, and why nuance (and community) matter more than ever. We explore how to use self-help as a tool—without letting it take over your life. Whether you’re a self-improvement skeptic or a die-hard devotee, this conversation will give you new ways to think about growth, agency, and what it really means to be excellent, on both an individual and collective level. "Is Today's Self-Help Teaching Everyone to Be a Jerk?" by Emma Goldberg: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/style/self-help-books-columns-readers.html Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mzKxdG-NcdRbzUsKH6IEMLGt3z5Z7Fln00AN1T4hN3U/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    34 min

  2. 25 SEPT

    It's Time to Move Past Bullsh*t "Toughness"

    Forget everything you’ve been told about toughness. On today's episode, we're taking on many of the macho myths that dominate sports, business, and social media. Is “pushing through the pain” just stupidity in disguise? Are Instagram’s chest-thumping “tough guys” actually the weakest of all? We'll unpack the lies we tell ourselves about grit, reveal why real resilience is nothing like what you’ve been sold, and give you the tips and strategies to build a toolkit that facilitates true toughness. If you’re ready to ditch the clown show and discover what toughness really takes, this episode is for you. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-BVoxHDP06B6-gQSQftn8eD5iVfCkQol3gVedHF0waY/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min

  3. 18 SEPT

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

    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. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LeQur4snw3Qe6IPSuhG597DQwPx_9kdVhxYw94xFOWA/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min

  4. 11 SEPT

    Fall Performance Syllabus: 3 Ideas to Help You Thrive

    As we transition into Fall, we've got a few ideas and strategies that we're trying to implement into our lives. Today we're sharing those with you, with the hope that they might also help give you some good momentum heading into the last quarter of the year. You can think of it as your Fall Performance Syllabus. We'll break down the importance of thinking through "set and setting" when beginning a task, how to nail transitional moments of your day (and overnight) with as few energy leaks as possible, and how to master the art of letting go by recognizing when you've got more work to do and when you just need to let things flow. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tEoqmZ2Y_FCFWV1eoDTOnrTbLTW-j1g8i4tPCPGWA4Q/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  5. 4 SEPT

    How Hard Should You Be Working?

    What role should work play in your life? How hard should you be working? And how can you do it in a way that's sustainable over years, or even decades? These aren't simple questions to answer, even if both the "grind like crazy to get ahead" and the "find your bliss" sets tell you that they are. Today, we've enlisted the help of Cal Newport to discuss healthy ways to think about how hard, meaningful work might fit into your life. You'll learn the difference between hard work and work that’s hard to do, why taking lessons from exceptional outliers might hurt more than help, a three-question heuristic that’ll help you evaluate tradeoffs between work and life, and how knowing your maximum effective dose can change how you think about exertion. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ztEstpIhcaz7tCYne9QRxa4rtXH6kVnnCQEDx8rtIU0/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  6. 28 AUG

    How "Narrative Values" Can Change Your Psychology & Biology

    The stories we tell ourselves shape our reality, heavily influencing our decision-making, behavior, and ability to bounce back from challenges. Which is why it's important to identify the "narrative values" that help frame the story of your life. These are the words that will impact how we show up in the world, and how we interpret what happens to us, affecting both our psychological and biological responses. Today, we discuss simple ways to identify the narrative values that are most important to you, the relationship (and important differences) between values and goals, and how to use values to help you navigate everyday life. Plus: the fascinating science showing how your brain is a prediction machine, and why acting on our values is even more important during times when we're feeling apathetic about them. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ItRYor3-fvXuMW6bFY_oqT2A4kHxFdyS8Ibrzl3Eoy0/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  7. 21 AUG

    From Success to Mastery: The Art of Sustained Excellence

    We spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about how to achieve success in your own personal pursuit of excellence, but we don't spend all that much time talking about what happens after that: how do you sustain it? That's the question facing Cooper Lutkenhaus, a 16-year-old who recently ran a blazing 1:42 in the 800-meter race at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, who provides the launching pad for today's discussion. But it's a question relevant to any of us, whether you've already reached some heights of success or you're still climbing to get there. (And we've even got some thoughts for those who feel like they've been climbing, without success, for too long.) Today’s episode is all about the strategies and habits of turning a moment of greatness into long-term excellence. We discuss structuring practice (and play) to facilitate encouragement and engagement, navigating both short-term and long-term feedback loops, staying true to intrinsic motivation rather than external rewards, and much more. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NDKG39rLl64NR8jU0SBWbXTkaLdvJOmJjEyC13s2ioM/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    41 min

  8. 14 AUG

    Build Better Work Habits, Manage Anxiety, & Quit Leaking Energy

    Since we launched "excellence, actually," we've gotten a bunch of questions from listeners and members of The Growth Equation Academy. So today we're answering four of your most pressing questions. (1) Where is the line between productive preparation and preparation that is done purely to curb anxiety about an upcoming event? (2) How should we transition between important tasks or deep work periods without leaking energy or focus? (3) How to turn down an overactive mind-body threat or alarm system? (4) What role does the efficiency of A.I. have in our pursuits of excellence? As always, we're giving you the most effective, time-tested strategies and practices we've found to deal with each of these issues. Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16x-xU0RrAIx8PhBBlNWJb6RndmYnZLvjjsSjGajhWvs/edit?usp=sharing If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬. Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/ If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min
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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 - 2025
  • Episodes
    321
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Growth Equation Podcast
  • Show Website
    excellence, actually

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