Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Latest Episodes:

John Brenkus, Producer, Director, TV Personality Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with John Brenkus, who has spent the last decade studying and popularizing the unique characteristics of the world’s greatest athletes.

A co-founder of BASE Productions, he is best known as the on-air host, co-creator and executive producer of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning show Sport Science, appearing in and producing over 1500 segments that have been featured on ABC and ESPN's enormous sports platform.

John has been featured in coverage of The Super Bowl, Monday Night Football, the NBA Finals, Sunday Night Baseball, and The Masters just to name a few.

Through Sport Science, John has appeared before 80 million people annually for the last decade, has won 6 Emmys, and has written a New York Times Best Seller "The Perfection Point."

When John has an idea he goes for it.

It makes sense then, that his philosophy is to: “Make something out of nothing.”

In this conversation we discuss what gives him the confidence to go for it and not let a fear of failure get in the way of pursuing his dreams.

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Dr. Daniel Chao, Halo Neuroscience Co-Founder Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Daniel Chao, co-founder of Halo Neuroscience.

Dr. Chao’s whole life has been dedicated to understanding the brain and its function — specifically, how electrical stimulation can help the brain more rapidly improve performance, cognitive function, and overall happiness.

As some of you are already probably aware, we recently partnered with Halo Neuroscience because I’m bullish on their technology, Halo Sport, which accelerates movement based learning through transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS).

I wanted to have an in-depth conversation with Daniel to learn more about how scientists are using brain stimulation to optimize neurological function and go deeper into what’s possible with this technology.

I think this technology is right on the frontier, backed by about 15 years of research and currently used by the best athletes in the world – US Olympic teams, players in the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA Tour, and more.

In a previous Finding Mastery podcast (#045), psychologist Anders Ericsson argued that expert performers acquire their skill through deliberate practice.

In deliberate practice, it's a full and deep, possibly nauseatingly deep focus, on whatever skill you are working on learning. This involves minimizing distractions and practicing just outside one's comfort zone.

Well what if adding a layer of technology to deliberate practice could accelerate the rate of learning by up to 50%?

That’s something we discuss in this conversation and Daniel believes we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.

As someone who’s always been captivated by the power of the mind, this conversation was such a treat for me so I can’t wait for you to learn from Daniel.

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John Donovan, AT&T Communications CEO Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications.

He’s responsible for the bulk of AT&T’s global telecommunications and video services businesses, including AT&T’s Business, Entertainment, and Technology & Operations groups.

AT&T is a global leader in telecommunications with 100 million U.S. consumer connections and millions of businesses, from the smallest companies to nearly all of the Fortune 1000.

John manages over 250,000 people. Think about that for a second.What’s the key to running an organization this large?

For John, it starts with knowing his values and what he stands for.

This creates a certain space that allows him to be grounded and present more often.

In this conversation, John shares how he got so clear on who he is and what he’s striving for.

It took some difficult, lonely work to sort it out and I hope you are currently embracing that same process.

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Matt Jacobson, Facebook Head of Market Development Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development at Facebook.

In this role, he focuses on strategic partnerships that connect people to some of the world's most recognized brands.

Facebook may be one of the world’s largest companies today, but it wasn’t when Matt joined as employee number 8 over 13 years ago.

He took a leap of faith at the time – he believed in their mission and their founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and began working for no salary, only equity.

You could say that bet paid off.

What gave Matt the confidence to join Facebook?

His intellectual curiosity has been a driving force for him for since he was young.

In this conversation, we discuss how that intellectual curiosity has allowed him to stay ahead of the curve, take risks and opened up new opportunities.

Matt understands, values, and invests deeply in relationships so it’s no surprise that his philosophy is: “To be the best part of another person’s day.”

What a cool thought.

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Michael Murphy, Co-Founder of the Esalen Institute Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Michael Murphy, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the board of the world famous Esalen Institute, tucked away on the coast of Big Sur, in California.

Michael and Esalen have been ground zero for the human potential movement: exploring everything from consciousness, Eastern philosophies meeting Western frameworks, the birth place of Gestalt therapy, to generating scores of mind body interventions.

In 1950, Michael was a premed student at Stanford and wandered into a class discussing Eastern and Western philosophies and religions.

The miscue changed his life.

Soon he was meditating and, after earning a bachelor of arts in psychology and serving in the U.S. Army, he lived on an ashram in India for 18 months.

Upon returning to the United States, he and the late Richard Price started Esalen on property the Murphy family owned.

Over its 50-plus years of existence, it has been described as a “personal growth think tank.”

The organization is focused on personal growth, meditation, massage, ecology, yoga, psychology, spirituality — there was nothing quite like it at the time.

Michael is also an author.

His work includes:

· The Future of the Body: Explorations into the Further Evolution of Human Nature, Golf in the Kingdom

· The Life We Are Given: A Long-Term Program for Realizing the Potential of Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul

· In the Zone: Transcendent Experience in Sports

· An End to Ordinary History

It's a gift to laugh with him and learn from Michael, and I'm honored to share our conversation.

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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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Javier Gómez, Champion Triathlete Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Javier Gómez, a Spanish triathlete.

Since 2006, Javier has accumulated one of the best records in triathlon history.

Javier is a 5x International Triathlete Union (ITU) World Champion, 2x Ironman 70.3 World Champion, a 9 time world ITU number 1, and won a Silver medal for Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in men's triathlon.

Simply put, he is a legend in the sport.

Javier is currently in the final stages of training for the Ironman World Championship, which will take place on October 13 in Kona, Hawaii. You can learn more about Javi's pursuit to win Kona here.

For those unfamiliar with the Ironman, it consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile marathon run.

No matter how you slice it, this endurance event is rugged, and that’s why I was so excited to talk with Javier about his experience preparing and training for it.

Last year’s winner completed the race in just over 8 hours.

That’s a lot of time for your mind to wander if you aren’t disciplined - and it’s something we discuss in this conversation.

Javi shares how he manages positive and negative thoughts, his process for remaining calm, and how he overcomes intense pain during competition.

So much of what goes into training and succeeding in endurance sports is applicable to other aspects of life.

It requires persistence, an appreciation for the process, and a willingness to play the long game.

_________________

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

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Dr. Mark Goulston, Suicide Prevention Expert Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Mark Goulston, a Board Certified Psychiatrist, a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a former UCLA Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry.

Mark has specialized in psychotherapy for more than thirty years focusing on suicide prevention, death and dying, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, PTSD and marital therapy.

After a recent string of high-profile suicides in America, death by suicide is a topic that's on a lot of our minds. Most of us are likely to know or love somebody who has been affected by a suicide.

Since September is Suicide Prevention Month, this is a good time to seek understanding about these tragic experiences.

You might be surprised by the global rate of suicide:

According to the World Health Organization, "Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Many more attempt suicide. For every person who commit suicide, there's another 20 who attempted."

My family has been impacted by suicide - I lost my uncle to this way of dying. Everyone who loved him dearly wishes we could have helped, but we couldn't.

This conversation is about learning how to better connect with those in need - through listening, empathy and compassion.

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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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Mark Healey, Professional Big Wave Surfer/Waterman Sep 12, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Mark Healey, a professional big-wave surfer, award-winning spear-fisherman, free-diver, photographer, filmmaker, and part-time Hollywood stuntman.

Mark’s made no shortage of major achievements in his career as a waterman.

Earning his first surf sponsorship at age 13 and going pro at 17, the 31-year-old has racked up victories at big-wave events like Todos Santos and—in 2008—nabbed the Spearfishing World Cup.

While he’s encountered his share of close calls—from shark attacks to blackouts—Mark thrives on the elements of danger inherent to his work.

And that is a central part of this conversation.

We discuss embracing challenges and why it’s important to face adversity head on rather than run from it.

When you get to that edge, that point where you’re uncomfortable, that’s where you really learn what’s possible for yourself.

Mark is wise beyond his years and I can’t wait for you to learn from him.

_________________

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.

The Process: Assessing the Founder/Company Fit (Ep. 5) Sep 07, 2018

Show notes

After taking a break for summer, “The Process” is back!

Alex and Mike discuss the latest with Kairos: how their recent investments have fared and what’s in store for their upcoming K50 event in late November.

The K50 program is a global recognition of the 50 most-innovative startups from around the world, with young founders tackling global challenges. Companies are awarded at the top of the World Trade Center in front of 100 of the most influential CEOs, investors, media, and leaders of today.

Alex then invites on Michael Wong, founder of Homevest, a company they are considering investing in.

Alex wants Mike to get a chance to meet a founder pre-investment and assess whether he has what it takes to execute on his ambitious vision.

Homevest is a service helping homebuyers purchase their first home by contributing to the down payment. They don’t lend money - instead they invest with you in a new home, sharing ownership, the mortgage and expenses proportionately.

Homevest creates a halfway point between buying and renting. Partnering with Homevest means you just pay what you can afford for the down payment, and buy part of a home first, instead of waiting and saving for years. Homevest buys the other part of the home and rents it back to you. As a co-investor, you can repurchase home equity at any point, and you alone control when to sell.

_________________

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.

Aaron Bruno, AWOLNATION Founder and Lead Singer Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Aaron Bruno, best known as the founder and lead singer of AWOLNATION.

Formed in 2010, AWOLNATION crafted one of the most influential songs in years with the chart-topping, record-breaking track “Sail.”

The first single off the gold-certified full-length debut Megalithic Symphony, “Sail” was certified 6x platinum in the US and holds the record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by an independent artist, the second longest for any artist.

Sail had a profound impact on me.

We talk about that in the podcast - how his music helped me get the vibe right for a mindset training project that I was working on

It’s amazing how music can do that. The same song can mean so many different things to so many different people.

Different emotions, feelings, memories - and that’s something we discuss - why music means so much to Aaron and why he’s so passionate about it coming from an authentic place.

It’s clear how much Aaron loves music, but he wasn’t always destined for stardom.

He was a member of multiple bands that never made it and reached the point where others around him thought he should give it up.

Think about that as you listen to this conversation.

How well are you connected to what matters most to you - to the inner ache, that burning ache - and if you are - are you willing to give up just about everything else for it?

_________________

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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