Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Latest Episodes:

The Key to a Better Night's Sleep | The Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist, better known as the “Sleep Doctor.”

Michael is both a Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

He was one of the youngest people to pass the Board at age 31 with a specialty in Sleep Disorders.

Michael was also recently named both the Top Sleep Specialist in California by Readers Digest, and one of the 10 most influential people in sleep.

Sleep is critical to just about everything we want to do with our lives and I feel like we’re at a point where more people are starting to realize its importance.

The thing is, there’s a lot of information currently circulating on sleep and it can be tricky sorting out which is the right research to follow.

Michael believes the key to sleep is not necessarily about getting 8 hours a night, but rather understanding how much sleep your body needs and more importantly, what hours of the day your body is primed to function optimally.

This is a fascinating conversation on something every single one of us can relate to.

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Be A Champion in Victory and Defeat | Olympic Gold Medalist Swimmer, Missy Franklin Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Missy Franklin, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FINA World Swimmer of the Year.

Missy retired from swimming in December of 2018 after an incredible career.

In 2011, she established herself as one of the top swimmers in the world when she won five medals – three of them gold – at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Missy won four gold medals and one bronze medal.

Missy’s performance in the 200-meter backstroke broke the world record in the event and also marked the first time that an American had won the event in 40 years.

Missy was named “World Swimmer of the Year" and "American Swimmer of the Year" by Swimming World Magazine and earned the ESPY for "Best Female Olympian "in 2013 and "Best Female College Athlete" in 2015.

Missy brought home another gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics for her performance in the 4 x 200 relay but viewed those Olympic Games as one of the most challenging experiences of her life.

A shoulder injury leading up to the games derailed her both physically and mentally and continued to hamper her in the years after those Games.

And that’s something we touch on in this conversation.

Missy shares how she dealt with the first real adversity she faced in her life and the depression that followed it.

In Missy words:

“It’s not about whether or not someone's gone through more than you or whether or not someone's lost more or gained more, it's just about being human together and knowing that we all experience these emotions based on so many different things.”

And I think that's something really important to think about-- regardless of our upbringing, status, or fame, we all go through something, we all experience adversity.

No one lives a "perfect" life but it's how we learn from those moments and help each other get better at managing them.

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Authenticity, Risk, and Adjusting | Recording Artist and Composer, Stephan Moccio Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Stephan Moccio, a producer, composer, recording artist and musician behind some of music’s most massive, inescapable global hits.

In 2013, Stephan co-penned the quintuple-platinum song “Wrecking Ball” with Miley Cyrus.

Following the song’s success, Stephan quickly became one of the industry’s most sought-after and in-demand producers and songwriters, going on to co-write and co-produce the two end credit songs for the film Fifty Shades of Grey: the quintuple-platinum "Earned It" with The Weeknd and "I Know You" with Skylar Grey.

Stephan also co-wrote the Celine Dion come back hit “A New Day Has Come” and produced/co-wrote the quintuple-platinum song “I Believe” for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

I really enjoy getting a chance to speak with artists on Finding Mastery because there is this tension that exists between art and commerce, and it’s something I want to continue exploring.

Art is subjective – yet commerce is not.

We live in an era where data driven decisions have become the norm.

For some lines of business this can be great, but it also can limit creativity and stifle innovation.

Many of us experience these same pressures – whether you work in the corporate world, entertainment, or sport.

So while Stephan’s craft is music, I really think this applies to all of us.

In Stephan’s case – his conundrum is centered on the type of music he chooses to make. Make music he know will sell? That the labels will love? Or music that he connects with? Music that touches his heart.

That’s at the center of this conversation – Stephan shares how he’s gone about navigating that tension between selling out and making music true to him, why he’s been willing to take risks, and how’s he gone about adjusting as the music industry has rapidly evolved.

Authenticity. Risk. Adjusting.

Three components that I think are at the foundation of mastery.

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Exhausting Every Moment | NFL Legend, Ronnie Lott Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott.

Ronnie has been a champion and a leader his entire life.

After graduating high school in 1977, Ronnie went on to the University of Southern California where he helped his team win the 1978 national championship. He was a unanimous All-American and team captain in 1980 and graduated in 1981 with a degree in public administration.

Shortly thereafter, he became the first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers.

His legendary football career included four Super Bowl titles and 10 Pro-Bowl appearances.

He is one of only five 49ers to play on all of the team’s 1980s Super Bowl wins. He retired from professional football in 1994 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

Post-football, Ronnie has found success as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and also has a long history of philanthropic involvement.

So what has allowed Ronnie to be successful at pretty much everything he’s done in his life?

It starts with a commitment to excellence, a determination to be great, and his relentless will to keep trying.

For Ronnie it really comes down to “exhausting every moment.”

What I hope you pick up on in this conversation is that Ronnie’s thoughts and actions reflect a man who’s had the courage to go for it, a man who hasn’t feared the consequences of coming up short.

In Ronnie’s words: “You’ve got to dare at moments to see that you can do certain things. Sometimes you fail and sometimes you win. But the most important part of it is, did you try? Did you try to do something that maybe nobody thought you could do? “

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

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Hard Work, Resiliency, and Sacrifice | Surfer, Mick Fanning Nov 15, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Mick Fanning, a professional surfer from Australia, regarded as one of the best surfers ever.

Mick won the ASP World Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2013 and is the living embodiment of professional surfing.

He’s spent the better part of two decades as one of the biggest gravitational forces on the Tour, racking up 22 Tour wins, 11 Top 5 finishes in addition to those three World Titles.

For over 20 years Mick’s schedule has been dictated by event dates and locations — and in the past few years, his gut told him it was time to step away, officially retiring in 2018.

This conversation isn’t so much about surfing as it is about Mick’s will to be great, his unflappable resiliency, and the cost of this pursuit.

Mick has been through it all — the highs and the lows.

Catastrophic injuries have sidelined him multiple times during his career and he’s also had to deal with the passing of not just one, but two his brothers, and other close friends.

Some of you may be familiar with Mick from an incident in July of 2015 when he was attacked by a Great White shark during the finals of the J-Bay Open in South Africa.

It was broadcasted on a live webcast, where you can actually see Mick punch the shark and survive unscathed.

For some people that type of trauma could keep them out of the water for a lifetime, but not Mick.

He made three finals in 2015 and went into a historic world title race to finish the year in the No. 2 slot.

And trauma is something we definitely touch on in this conversation.

As a refresher, Big “T” traumas are the events most commonly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including serious injury, sexual violence, or life-threatening experiences.

Little “t” traumas are highly distressing events that affect individuals on a personal level but don’t fall into the big “T” category.

What is highly distressing to one person may not cause the same emotional response in someone else, so the key to understanding little “t” trauma is to examine how it affects the individual rather than focusing on the event itself.

You may not even realize how a Little “t” in your life is impacting your thoughts and actions.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

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

Self-Discovery and Acceptance | Triathlete, Angela Naeth Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Angela Naeth, currently ranked among the top triathletes in the world with 3 sub 9-hour Ironman performances.

Angela is a multiple 70.3 and Ironman Champion and has 30+ podiums at the 70.3 and Ironman distances.

If you're not familiar with the 70.3, that's the total distance in miles for what's considered a half-ironman. A full ironman triathlon is 140+ miles (consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.22-mile marathon run, raced in that order).

In 2018, Angela, while battling Lyme disease, placed 8th at the Ironman World Championships with a time of 8:57, which is just remarkable.

So why compete with Lyme disease – why put her body through something that intense?

For Angela, it’s about using sport as a means to help her better understand herself and discover what she’s capable of, what she’s made of.

It’s about doing it for her own satisfaction rather than trying to appease others, which is something she’s had to work on.

And that’s really what this conversation is all about: discovery and acceptance.

Self-discovery involves testing yourself; that feedback, that information, is part of the process for figuring out who you are.

Self-acceptance involves taking that information and embracing the true nature of it; it’s about getting comfortable in your own skin.

They go hand in hand and Angela has a very eloquent way of describing her process for it— I hope you find ways to apply those lessons.

_________________

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Following Your Intuition | Comedian, Brian Volk-Weiss Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Brian Volk-Weiss, the founder and president of Comedy Dynamics.

Brian stands at the forefront of comedy’s evolution in the 21st century.

Since the launch of Comedy Dynamics in 2008, he has guided the award-winning brand to becoming the nation’s largest independent producer and distributor of one-hour comedy specials, while initiating innovative partnerships with Amazon, ROKU, and HULU—where it ranks as one of the platform’s top three most popular comedy channels.

The company has worked with a wide range of established and emerging comedic talent including Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Jim Gaffigan, Ali Wong, David Cross, and many more.

17 Comedy Dynamics releases have been Grammy-nominated (with three wins), including the unprecedented all 5 nominations in the Comedy Album category for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

And while comedy is Brian’s passion, this conversation is about intuition and risk.

It’s about having a tolerance for failure and being willing to take a chance when you see there’s an opportunity on the table.

It’s about having a vision for what’s possible and chipping all in.

I found this conversation to be super inspiring – there’s something in it for all of us, regardless of your craft.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

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Living with Alignment | NFL Player, Tyler Lockett Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Tyler Lockett, a football player who currently plays Wide Receiver for the Seattle Seahawks.

Tyler was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and played college football at Kansas State, where he broke multiple records.

This is the first time I’ve had a current member of the Seahawks on the podcast and it was a special conversation.

Both Tyler’s father, Kevin, and uncle, Tyler, were star football players at Kansas State and went on to play pro ball.

Tyler shares how he dealt with the pressure of living up to their legacy and the anxiety and stress it initially caused him – even driving him to a panic attack at one point.

Tyler has a strong faith based framework that allowed him to overcome these challenges and become the man he is today.

Now, I realize many of you may not aspire to play professional sports and some of you may live a life separate of any faith based denomination, but this conversation is really about living with alignment.

It’s about finding the right framework for you – the framework that allows you to be your best in any environment.

For Tyler, his belief in God is a big part of that – and his poetry.

He began performing at open mics and poetry slams in high school, and he has written poems to work through personal issues, inspire his teammates, and give young people an opportunity to reflect on their lives.

Tyler just released his first book – an inspiring collection of original poetry addressing topics such as identity, sports, race, relationships, and how to live a purposeful life.

I definitely recommend checking his book out!

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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Seizing the Moment | Director and Photographer, Corey Rich Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Corey Rich, a director and photographer.

Corey has built a life and career around his passions for travel, adventure, and telling stories with his camera.

With a background in rock climbing and photojournalism, Corey’s work spans a range of genres, from iconic still imagery for leading editorial publications, to television spots and films, to directing high-production-value commercial projects for Fortune 100 companies.

Corey recently released “Stories Behind the Images,” a photo essay book about his reflections on becoming a master photographer, working with high profile subjects including Tommy Caldwell, Bear Grylls, Kelly Slater, Ashima Shiraishi, and Alex Honnold.

He was the official photographer for Tommy Caldwell’s The Dawn Wall film and his image of Tommy on the cover of his Stories book was a Time Magazine cover image.

This conversation though, isn’t just about what makes a great photo – it’s about Corey’s process for making the most of opportunities – and – his presence of mind, his ability to string together moments.

And while Corey loves what he does, it doesn’t come without a cost. There are serious risks associated with his craft.

In Corey’s words: The irony of the mountains, of climbing and adventure sports, is that it can give us so much. The greatest joys in my life have been in the mountains, have been in these rad, wild adventures but those same mountains can take it all away instantly.

There is much to learn from people who push right up against that edge.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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Pete Carroll on The Art of Coaching (Live) Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation comes from the Finding Mastery Live that we recently hosted in Seattle with Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll.

In 2009, a mutual friend put Coach Carroll and I together for dinner and instantly, I knew it was right.

We were talking about ancient principles, we were talking about modern science, we were talking about really collectively, how do you help people pursue their potential?

It was stimulating and we knew much of the same research. We're interested in some of the ancient traditions the same way.

We discussed giving back: How do we give to the next generation?

At the end of the conversation he said, "Hey, why don't you come up and see what we're doing at the Seahawks?" And I thought, "Yeah, I'd love to see what you're doing."

It's everything that I had hoped for.

The environment was electric, people were switched on, and they were reporting on day one that it was just different than anywhere else they've ever been.

Here we are, 10 years later.

I've spent about eight years with the Seattle Seahawks now and I couldn't be more excited to introduce Coach Carroll as a friend, as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and a business partner in Compete to Create.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindset

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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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