EFR 917: Nervous System Mastery: The Secret to Elite Performance and How to Perform Under Pressure (Without Burning Out) with Natalie Hummel

This episode is brought to you by Timeline, Strong Coffee Company and Fatty15.

In this episode of Ever Forward Radio, performance coach Natalie Hummel reframes what it truly means to be a high performer—arguing that excellence isn't built through discipline, talent, or mindset alone, but through nervous system mastery. Natalie explains how fear, pressure, and self-sabotage are not problems to eliminate but sensations to build capacity for, and why separating sensation from story is the key to performing with ease under stress. Together, we will explore identity, upper limits, resilience, flow states, and what high performance looks like in everyday life. This conversation offers a grounded, practical, and deeply human approach to performance—one rooted in presence, self-mastery, and the courage to feel what most people avoid.

Follow Natalie @nataliehummelcoaching

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

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00:00 – What Is High Performance, Really?

01:10 – Pressure, Purpose, and Choosing Your Arena

03:40 – Is Life Happening To You or For You?

05:40 – Performance Mastery vs. Self-Mastery

07:50 – Fear, Ego, and the Nervous System

10:50 – Why Competition Really Means "Striving Together"

12:30 – Identity, Ego, and the Default Nervous System

14:50 – How Your Past Sets Upper Limits on Success

17:15 – Why Discipline Eventually Stops Working

20:10 – Revisiting the Places That Formed Your Nervous System

23:00 – Freedom From vs. Freedom To

28:45 – Signs of Nervous System Dysregulation

31:20 – Separating Sensation From Story

33:20 – What Resilience Actually Is

36:20 – How to Train Resilience (The Nightly Practice)

40:30 – Parenting as a High-Performance Practice

45:10 – Giving Up Discipline for Presence

47:50 – Expanding Capacity Under Stress

49:30 – Reframing Failure Without Identity Collapse

53:00 – Why You Must Acknowledge the Past (But Not Live There)

57:30 – Nervous System > Mindset

01:01:00 – Spiritual Bypassing and Wellness Culture Pitfalls

01:06:20 – Flow State, Ease, and Pressure

01:10:20 – Why Pressure Is a Privilege

01:14:15 – High Performance for Non-Athletes

01:18:30 – The One Practice That Changes Everything

01:20:20 – Ever Forward

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Episode resources:

• FREE 3-day sample of MitoPure longevity gummies at https://www.Timeline.com/everforwardsample
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• Extra 15% off 90-day starter kit of C15:0 essential fatty acids at https://www.Fatty15.com/everforward
• Watch and subscribe on YouTube
• Learn more at NatalieHummelCoaching.com