excellence, actually

Latest Episodes:

049 - Diet, Exercise, and Performance Dos and Don'ts with Adam Bornstein Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

Adam Bornstein is a fitness and nutrition expert who has worked with LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger and who came to the world of wellness after breaking his back (twice!) at a young age. It was the 1990's and doctors told him he'd have to change his athletic lifestyle—except for one, who put him through exercises that involved strengthened his core and focused on on functional, load-bearing movement. The (ultimately effective) regimen was unusual at the time but is now considered foundational to most physical fitness routines. It gave Adam an early lesson in the power and strength of the human body—and the shortcomings of fitness and wellness "experts." Which is why he's an ideal source to help us wade through all the misinformation of today's health and wellness world. He discusses why he thinks the health industry is getting worse, the critical mindset shift that will help you change your behavior, a better and more sustainable way to eat, what he's learned from Arnold and LeBron, and a better way to think about goal-setting and to-do lists.

Adam Bornstein's book, "You Can't Screw This Up: Why Eating Takeout, Enjoying Dessert, and Taking the Stress out of Dieting Leads to Weight Loss That Lasts":

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/you-cant-screw-this-up-adam-bornstein?variant=41096256552994

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

048 - The Coach Up: JJ Redick on the Confidence of an NBA Sharpshooter Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

Over the course of his basketball career, JJ Redick carved out a reputation as one of the game's best shooters. (Not to mention one of its smartest minds, which is why he's currently an analyst for the NBA Finals, and rumored to be a leading candidate for the next L.A. Lakers head coaching position.) To be that kind of shooter, you need an unflappable confidence. In 2020, Clay spoked with JJ about how he earned that confidence, and how he maintained it even during sustained shooting slumps. It's a masterclass in self-belief, and it's a technique you don't have to be in the NBA to be able to use.

Original Interview:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nba-sharpshooter-j-j-redick-on-keeping-your-confidence/id1462693827?i=1000463893768

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

047 - How to think About Longevity and End-of-Life Health Jun 13, 2024

Show notes

In recent years, there has been a growing obsession with longevity and life extension: people interested in improving the quality of their health at the end of their lives (or extending their life altogether). Steve, Brad, and Clay use a recent story from The New Yorker—"No Time to Die" by Dhruv Khullar (link below)—to break down the quest to live longer. How worried should we be about longevity? How is it benefiting our societal health? How is it harming it? And, most importantly, how much should the quality of our end-of-life health concern us as we make choice about our health today?

"No Time to Die" by Dhruv Khullar (The New Yorker)

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/22/how-to-die-in-good-health

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

046 - The Coach Up: How (and Why) To Do A Digital Sabbath Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

Every week, Brad Stulberg spends either Saturday or Sunday practicing a Digital Sabbath: he goes the day offline and without any of his devices (phone, computer, tablet). It's not because he's anti-technology, but because he wanted to make sure he still had access to many of the aspects of life that tech use can hamper: presence, creativity, silence, and emotional regulation, to name a few. On today's episode, he discusses the benefits he's experienced, how it works (hint: flip phone), and how anyone interested in spending more time away from their devices (even if it's just for an hour or two) can develop a digital sabbath that works for them.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

045 - The Reason You Can’t Ever Get Through Your To-Do List (with Oliver Burkeman) Jun 06, 2024

Show notes

There’s a promise built into all the productivity and time management advice out there: that it’s possible, with the most efficient technique, to finally conquer that feeling that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it. But that’s a false hope, says today’s guest Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, which is about why time management strategies so often fail. “You cannot optimize your way to peace of mind in a world where supply of things that are incoming is effectively infinite,” he says. Today, Burkeman presents an approach that willingly accepts our limits and finite capacity. Doing so won’t just improve our productivity, he says—it will make our life more meaningful, fix our adversarial relationship to time, and help us, in his words, start *from* sanity, instead of trying to strive towards it through productivity hacks.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

044 - The Coach Up: Beginner's Mind and the Power of Pessimism Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

Rebecca Rusch is an athlete whose feats of endurance have included two self-supported, 350-mile bike rides on the Iditarod Trail and led a magazine to once dub her the "Queen of Pain." On today's episode of The Coach Up, Clay pulls from a conversation he had with her a few years ago where she shares her surprising approach to mastering her craft. You'll learn about the Zen concept of "Beginner's Mind," the power of pessimism, and the perils of over preparing.

Full interview here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-queen-of-pain-and-ultra-endurance-athlete/id1462693827?i=1000465927851

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

043 - Lessons from a 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat May 30, 2024

Show notes

Clay discusses his recent experience at a 10-day silent retreat, and the guys use it as a chance to go deep on the relationship between meditation and performance—including how Brad and Steve have changed their thoughts since first writing about the connection in their 2017 book, Peak Performance.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

042 - The Coach Up: Master These Soft Skills to Become a Great Leader May 27, 2024

Show notes

To be a coach, you have to have a level of expertise in your field. To be a truly *great* coach, though, you have to have so much more than technical knowledge. You need a deep repertoire of soft skills that allow you to get the best out of your athletes. On today's episode of The Coach Up, Steve Magness, who has spent his entire life coaching or being coached, explains the attributes shared by great leaders and culture-builders. Of course, these are skills useful to anyone who works with people, whether a "coach" or not, which means they're abilities we'd all be wise to cultivate. Plus: what matters most when it comes to youth coaching.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

041 - How Algorithms are Changing Our Identity & Culture (with Kyle Chayka) May 23, 2024

Show notes

Increasingly, algorithms are affecting the culture we consume (the news we read, the music we hear, the restaurants where we dine) and the culture that gets made (physical spaces are designed to be Instagrammable; art that can’t be marketed online may not be created). But, as you’ll hear Kyle Chayka, author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, explain today, the algorithms are also deeply influencing our identity. Instead of “exploring the weirdness of our own taste,” we just consume whatever is served to keep us most engaged and stimulated. In the same way that you need stress to experience growth, we need the friction of exploration to discern our preferences and develop a sense of self. Without that friction, how do we know who we are, or what we like? These are the important questions at the heart of the conversation today.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

040 - The Coach Up: Allostasis vs. Homeostasis, and the Science of Handling Change May 20, 2024

Show notes

Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable. In his book Master of Change, Brad cites research that the average human will undergo 36 major life changes in their time alive. Which means it's vital that we have the right tools to navigate disruption. Today, Brad explains how our understanding of and reliance on the concept of "homeostasis" has contributed to our inflexibility, and how a newer concept—allostasis—allows for a more adaptable version of stability.

Want to learn more tools for handling life's many changes? Grab a copy of Brad's book, Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing—Including You.

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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