How to become an elite cognitive performer (Cal Newport Interview)

Cal Newport is a best selling author, a tenured professor at Georgetown University, and has accomplished more in his 35 years of living than most have the courage to make their goal. In this interview, we dive into the mechanics, the mindset, and the strategy behind eliminating distractions and becoming a peak performer. He breaks down specifically how he approaches planning, why he doesn't have social media accounts, and why the advice to "follow your passion" is horrible advice and what you should do instead.

 

 

Time Stamps:

 

 

(1:22) Welcome back to the Sports Motivation Podcast

(2:33) Welcome, Cal!

(3:16) Ability to say no greatly attributed to Cal’s early success

(5:55) Cal’s cognitive fitness

(6:38) Extreme actions get extreme results

(7:34) Cal’s temptation with social media

(9:51) Stoicism 101 and losing your phone

(11:44) Cal’s definition of passion

(14:58) Mastery becomes a great source of passion

(17:14) What it means to be a craftsman

(19:18) Stretch and destroy

(21:20) Cal’s explanation of Deep Work

(24:16) Can you hit a wall with Deep Work?

(28:09) The process of finding the goals

(30:56) Lag versus Lead measures

(35:00) Why most college students aren’t killing it

(39:20) Cal’s flow state

(42:07) Cal’s type’s of goals

(45:01) Where you can find Cal- www.calnewport.com