excellence, actually

This week on The Growth Equation Podcast, Brad and Steve check in with NYC Marathon Champion, Olympian, coach, and friend Shalane Flanagan. The trio first discuss the challenges that come with transitions. Shalane candidly describes the hard and dark days she faced when transitioning away from being an athlete and how she struggled to see her purpose and meaning. Brad, Steve and Shalane then turn to how to cope with impostor syndrome. Shalane offers tricks such as finding your specific role and putting ego aside. Shalane also shares her thoughts on being one of the only female professional running coaches, what she’s learned about parenting in the past few months, and whether she would considering lacing up to compete at the master’s level.Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!You can find the podcast on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcherFind Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post Re-listen: Life with Shalane Flanagan, Marathon Champion, Olympian and Coach appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There have been many recent articles, essays, and books arguing against ambition—and some might even say the pursuit of personal excellence. In this episode of the podcast, Brad and Steve provide a counter argument and bring some much-needed nuance to this discussion. It is not ambition that is bad. It is the ways in which many people channel it, and the ways in which the culture encourages us to channel it. Understanding this empowers us to better self-direct our ambition as individuals, and for those of us in leadership roles, to change the game—whether it's sports, corporate, or education—in the same way.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!The post The Case for Ambition appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone experiences performance anxiety at some point. It's simply the cost of caring deeply about you are doing. In this episode, Brad and Steve dive deep on the mechanisms underlying performance anxiety and the various approaches to work with it: ranging from practices to diminish a strong stress response to those that help you channel anxiety and work with, not against, it.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Blog post on identity connected to achievement that is mentioned in the show is here.Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post How to Work With Performance Anxiety appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to strive for the utmost excellence without sacrificing your mental health? Can you care deeply about a pursuit without attaching your entire identity to it? Drawing from recent Olympic examples, these are the big questions, important, and timely questions that Brad and Steve wrestle with on this episode. This one is a must-listen for anyone serious about getting the most out of themselves in a healthy way, and also teachers, parents, coaches, and other leaders.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post Excellence, Mental Health, and the Olympics: Going Hard Without Falling Apart appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A must-listen for anyone currently pursuing (or considering) big goals in their life. Brad and Steve dive into one of their favorite topics: how to strike the right balance between internal and external validation in the pursuit of big goals, and the interplay between identity, ego, and achievement. They give examples of what happens when motivation goes awry. They touch on people like Elizabeth Holmes, Barry Bonds, and Lance Armstrong, and in a nuanced way. And they provide concrete strategies to cultivate the good kind of motivation while minimizing the bad.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post Good vs. Bad Motivation appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brad and Steve address all the people who seem to be losing their minds on the internet, and what they do (at their best) to stop themselves from going down this path. Hopefully you can apply some lessons to your own life and the people in it.(Warning: This podcast is full of rants. Love them or hate them or somewhere in between, we wanted to give you a heads up.)You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post People Are Losing Their Minds on the Internet appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Progress, continual growth, and development are all great, no doubt. But we all go through periods of life when it is wise to shift the goal from thriving to just getting through and surviving. What generally gets in the way: rigid expectations, fear of losing your rhythm, and the (false) entangling of how you feel (internally) with how you perform (externally). On this episode we dive into all that and more. Whether you currently feel like you are thriving or surviving, we're confident you'll find this week's discussion both interesting and practical, with concrete actions you can take starting now.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post When To Thrive vs. Simply Survive appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody likes to fail, but you can't get through life without failing at least a few times. On this episode, Brad and Steve discuss an evidence-based philosophy for thinking about failure—and also actually doing it. Topics include the interplay between self-discipline and self-compassion, finite versus infinite games, the short-term crappiness and long-term wisdom that comes with failing, and some of their own experiences with failure.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post All About Failure appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Good enough is usually good enough. Good enough over and over again—that's how you get to great. The culture loves heroic efforts. Heroic efforts are how you burnout. Great outcomes love consistency. Consistency is how you play the long game. This episode is all about how to make consistency a practice.You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post How to be Consistent appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brad and Steve discuss the latest science of goal setting, including the common pitfalls most people overlook and the concrete principles for setting goals that will drive the process and outcomes you want in life. They also give personal examples of how they take this knowledge and apply it to setting goals in their own lives. This episode is filled with practical, timely, and immediately applicable tips. Don't miss it! You can find the episode on:iTunes and Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidStitcher***Check out our exclusive community bonuses on Patreon.Get a copy of The Practice of Groundedness! It is currently over 40 percent off!Please write a review on Apple Podcasts and help new listeners discover the show!Find Brad and Steve on Twitter: @Bstulberg and @stevemagnessThe post The Science (And Philosophy) Of Setting Optimal Goals appeared first on The Growth Equation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.