551: Greg Harden - How To Control The Controllables and Stay Sane in an Insane World (Tom Brady's Mentor)
Oct 29, 2023
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Greg Harden, mentor to Tom Brady, discusses keys to success like self-analysis and handling negative self-talk. They explore sustaining excellence and continuous improvement, Tom Brady's upbringing, improving mental health support for athletes, self-evaluation for personal growth, overcoming negative self-talk in public speaking, and hiring for leadership roles.
Commit to continuous improvement to sustain excellence over time.
Reframe fear as excitement and turn negative self-talk into empowering self-talk.
Pursue your passion and purpose in life, even if it means finding it outside of work.
Deep dives
Commitment to Continuous Improvement
One of the main ideas explored in the podcast is the importance of having a commitment to continuous improvement. The speaker emphasizes that the key to sustaining excellence over an extended period of time is to constantly push yourself and strive for growth. This involves being hungry and humble, open to learning, and always looking for opportunities to improve, even when you are at the top of your game.
Handling Fear and Negative Self-Talk
Another key point discussed in the podcast is how to handle fear and negative self-talk. The speaker highlights the importance of recognizing that fear is a normal part of being human and that it is okay to feel anxious and nervous. The key is to reframe fear as excitement and passion, and to turn negative self-talk into empowering self-talk. By shifting your mindset and focusing on solutions, you can overcome fear and self-doubt and achieve success.
Pursuing Your Passion and Purpose
The podcast emphasizes the importance of pursuing your passion and purpose in life. The speaker encourages listeners to identify what they would do for free if they had to work every day for the rest of their lives without getting paid. By finding a career or a path that aligns with your passion, you can find fulfillment and success. If it's not possible to find a job that aligns perfectly with your passion, the speaker suggests finding a well-paying job that can support your passion outside of work.
Building Self-Awareness and Self-Evaluation
The podcast highlights the value of building self-awareness and engaging in self-evaluation. The speaker recommends taking the time to understand yourself better, identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This can be done through exercises like self-reflection, SWOT analysis, and seeking feedback from others. By gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, you can make more informed decisions and work towards personal and professional growth.
Turning Fear into Fuel
One of the main insights shared in the podcast is the importance of turning fear into fuel. The speaker advises embracing fear and using it as a source of motivation and excitement. Rather than letting fear hold you back, the speaker encourages listeners to see fear as an opportunity for growth and transformation. By reframing fear and channeling it into passion and determination, you can overcome challenges and achieve success.
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Greg Harden is best known for working with 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. He also worked with Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard, and 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. Brady, Howard, and other athletes credit Harden with inspiring them to overcome obstacles and achieve success in their professional and personal lives. He’s the author of Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive. The book debuted at #1 on all of Amazon and is a New York Times bestseller.
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The Learning Leader Show
“You need to become the world’s greatest expert on one subject. Yourself.” We need to do the work to better understand who we are, what we’re scared of, why we say the things to ourselves that we do, and how to improve. It’s hard, but very necessary work. And the fun part about it is it never ends…
Courage is not about being fearless. Courage is about facing your fears. It’s about turning that fear into fire and passion. For people to say that they are fearless… That isn’t realistic. We all have fears. It’s about how we handle them and the courage we show in the face of fear.
Commonalities of people who sustain excellence: commitment to continuous improvement, humble, hungry, coachable, and they continue to push. They are driven and it never stops.
“My real obsession is to convince an individual that they have to determine for themselves what sort of man, what sort of woman they want to be. The goal is to make people experts on themselves.”
Control the controllables... "Tom Brady turned his haters into a source of motivation."
"Surrender the ego."
Do a SWOT analysis on yourself:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Identify 2-3 people in your life that you trust to also do a SWOT analysis on you...
Miles Miller had a boss who fired him and an ex-girlfriend do a SWOT analysis on him and it was one of the most useful that Greg had ever seen...
Create an accountability partner for yourself
Identify self-defeating attitudes, behaviors, and language you use. They can sabotage you.
Self-Talk:
We all talk to ourselves. We need to change the internal dialogue from negative to positive.
"The greatest competition is between your ears."
Mastery:
Capture your negative self-talk on paper. You'll be surprised how much you do it and how it impacts you.
Instead of beating yourself up about it, be amused by it. Be critically conscious of it though...
Separate the behavior from the person... It's not, "You're a bad person." It's, "You made a poor choice."
Public speaking:
Understand your audience and what they need to hear
Memorize your first 2 minutes cold
There is a thin line between anxious and excitement... "Turn your feat into fire and passion."
"Courage is not about not having fear. Courage is about facing your fears."