You know Michael Phelps, the most successful and decorated Olympic swimmer of all time who won a record 28 medals, 23 of which were gold.Well today, meet the coach behind Phelps' legendary success. Bob Bowman is an Olympic swimming coach, the head coach of the Arizona State swim team, and the author of The Golden Rules: 10 Steps to World-Class Excellence in Your Life and Work. Today on the show, Bob shares what he calls "the method," a system of principles he's developed over the years to coach his athletes to elite-level success that can also be applied to setting and achieving goals in every area of life. We first talk about how Bob ended up working with Phelps, before turning to some of his golden rules. We discuss developing a "dream big vision" and all-in attitude; the importance of having a daily routine and what his own routine and the routine of his swimmers is like; the need to cultivate a passion outside your main pursuit; and much more.After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/goldenrulesResources Related to the PodcastAoM Article: Craft the Life You Want — Creating a Blueprint for Your FutureAoM Article: Visions Over GoalsAoM Article: Motivation Over DisciplineAoM Article: Get 1% Better Every Day"The Mundanity of Excellence" by Daniel F. ChamblissChampions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers by Daniel F. ChamblissThe Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen HanselmanThe Power of Now by Eckhart TolleConnect With Bob BowmanBob on TwitterBob on IG

Several years ago, the American Psychological Association issued a set of guidelines for psychologists working with boys and men. Guideline #1 says: "Psychologists strive to recognize that masculinities are constructed based on social, cultural, and contextual norms." Guideline #3 says: "Psychologists understand the impact of power, privilege, and sexism on the development of boys and men and on their relationships with others."My guest says that these guidelines miss the mark, and are just one indicator of the way in which the world of psychology misunderstands, and consequently underserves, men.Dr. John Barry is a psychologist, the co-founder of the Male Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society and the Centre for Male Psychology, as well as the co-author of the Perspectives in Male Psychology textbook. Today on the show, John unpacks the issues with thinking that masculinity is purely a social construct and that men's problems grow out of their power and privilege, and how these issues prevent men from getting the help they need. In the second half of our conversation, we discuss the surprising origin of the idea of toxic masculinity, what really defines masculinity, and what effect internalizing a negative or positive view of masculinity has on men. We end our conversation with what works for men's mental health and well-being if you don't want to go to therapy, and what you should look for in a therapist if you do.After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/malepyschResources Related to the PodcastThe Centre for Male PsychologyIntroduction to Male Psychology and Mental Health courseAoM series on the origins, nature, and imperatives of manhoodManhood in the Making by David GilmoreIron John by Robert BlyAoM Podcast #761: How Testosterone Makes Men, MenRational emotive behavior therapyMen's sheds associations in Australia and the USConnect With John BarryJohn's websiteJohn on Twitter

Kelly Starrett, a doctor of physical therapy, has trained professional athletes, Olympians, and military special operators, helping them unlock peak performance. But as he approached his fifties, he started to see cracks appearing in the health of the folks around him. What had worked for his peers in their 20s and 30s, wasn't working anymore; they were gaining weight, having surgeries, and just didn't feel good.So he and his wife and fellow trainer, Juliet, decided to write a book — Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully — that took all that they've learned from training elite performers and distilled it into the foundational practices that everyone, at every age, can use to develop lasting mobility, durability, and all-around health. Today on the show, Kelly unpacks some of those essential physical habits, sharing the "vital signs" — tests that will help you assess how you're doing in that area — as well as daily practices that will help you strengthen and improve that capacity.Resources Related to the PodcastKelly's previous appearance on the AoM podcast — Episode #213: Undoing the Damage of Chronic SittingAoM article on the Sitting-Rising TestAoM Article: 7 Simple Exercises That Undo the Damage of Sitting (including the Couch Stretch)AoM article on foam rollingAoM Article: The Benefits of Hanging for Strength and MobilityAoM Article: 12 Balance Exercises You Can Do on a 2×4AoM Podcast #638: How Changing Your Breathing Can Change Your LifeAoM Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every AgeMuscles and Meridians: The Manipulation of Shape by Phillip BeachVideo of Kelly demonstrating the Couch StretchVideo of Kelly demonstrating the squat testVideo of 90/90 sit/stretchGet yourself a pull-up barThe SlackBlockKelly's article on fixing shoulder pain, including a video on the Shoulder Spin-UpConnect with Kelly StarrettThe Ready State websiteThe Ready State on IGKelly on Twitter

If you've ever waited, and perhaps are now currently waiting, to hear whether or not you've tested positive for a disease, passed medical boards, or got the job you interviewed for, you know that this period of uncertainty can be filled with tension and anxiety.My guest today — Kate Sweeny, a professor of psychology — has studied the dynamics of this human experience and how we can best deal with it. We first discuss why the stress of waiting for uncertain news feels particularly uncomfortable and what types of people are more likely to worry while waiting. Kate then shares tactics that can help alleviate some of the worry of waiting, including leaning into being a pessimist as you approach the moment of truth and finding flow, even by doing something like playing Tetris. She also explains at what point the social support for people who are waiting for news tends to wane, so you can better support those around you who are currently stuck in this state of mind-burdening limbo.Resources Related to the Podcast5 Tools for Thriving in UncertaintyThe Best Books to Read in Uncertain TimesAoM Podcast #287: The New Frontier of FlowThe One Question NOT to Ask for Healthy Introspection (And What to Ask Instead)The Right and Wrong Way to JournalConnect with Kate SweenyKate's website 

Whether you see some deer, have a fox cross your path, or spot a moose, there’s something disportionately delightful about encountering wildlife. Even seeing something pedestrian like a possum feels really fun.If you’d like to have more of these kinds of encounters, and a deeper experience with nature as a result, my guest has some tips for making them happen more often. His name is Dave Hall, and he’s an outdoor educator and guide, as well as the author of The Naturalist’s Companion: A Field Guide to Observing and Understanding Wildlife. Today on the show, Dave and I first talk about the safety and ethical considerations around observing wild animals. We then discuss the best places to spot wildlife (and how it could be in your own backyard), whether there’s a best time of day to encounter animals, and the approach to take so that the animals don’t know you’re there, or if they do, feel comfortable with your presence. Dave shares the gaze to adopt to spy more animals and the signs that will help you find them. We end our conversation with how to practice what Dave calls “spontaneous acceptance,” which may allow you to chill with a beaver.Resources Related to the PodcastField guides and nature-related books that Dave recommends:Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking by Tom Brown Jr.Peterson Field GuidesTimber Press Field GuidesTracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign by Paul RezendesWhat the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon YoungTouching the Wild by Joe HuttoBeaversprite: My Years Building an Animal Sanctuary by Dorothy RichardsDave’s previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #157 — Primitive Pursuits & Winter SurvivalAoM Article: A Primer on Identifying Animal FootprintsAoM Podcast #739: Rewild Your LifeAoM Podcast #194: The Field Notes of Theodore RooseveltConnect With Dave HallDave’s website

We live in a chatter-filled world. People will talk your ear off when you see them in person and everyone is constantly sharing their thoughts online. But my guest would say that all this chatter may be hurting us more than we know, and it would be better to close our pieholes and sit on our typing fingers a lot more often than we do.His name is Dan Lyons, and he's the author of STFU: The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World. Today on the show, Dan unpacks how being quiet and speaking with greater intention can improve your life. We discuss why some people tend to overtalk more than others and the six types of overtalkers out there, from the blurter to the most extreme case, the talkaholic, for whom overtalking is practically an addiction. We then discuss not getting sucked into spouting off online, avoiding conversational narcissism, the argument for spending less time working on your personal brand and more time doing quality work, how silence is power, how the best way to deal with issues in a marriage may be by not talking about them, and more. Resources Related to the PodcastAoM Article: The Virtuous Life — SilenceAoM Article: The Spiritual Disciplines — SilenceAoM Article: The Quiet Man’s PowerAoM Podcast #389: What It Means to Be a Quiet ProfessionalAoM Article: How to Avoid Conversational NarcissismAoM Article: Why the Secret of a Happy, Successful Marriage Is Treating It Like a Bank AccountAoM series on becoming a better listenerJonathan Haidt on how social media is causing a mental illness epidemic in teenage girls "Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, 'It's Unreliable'"International Listening Association Connect with Dan LyonsDan's website

If you've had some contact with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, there's a good chance you found it abstract, heady, and hard to understand. But my guest would say that it's full of rich, usable insights on how to become better people, and, fortunately for us, she's got a true knack for making Kant's wisdom really accessible.Karen Stohr is a professor of philosophy and the author of Choosing Freedom: A Kantian Guide to Life. Today on the show, she brings Kant's ethical system and categorical imperative down to earth and shares how it can be applied to our everyday lives. We discuss Kant's belief in our great moral potential and duty to improve ourselves, and how his insights can help us make right choices. Karen explains Kant's ideas on the difference between negative and positive freedom, the importance of treating people as ends and not just means, the tension between love and respect, why ingratitude could be considered a "satanic vice," how practicing manners can make us better people, and more.You Kant miss this episode. Sorry, I had to do that.Resources Related to the PodcastAoM Article: Freedom From…Freedom ToAoM Article: Practical Wisdom — The Master VirtueAoM Article: Via Negativa — Adding to Your Life By SubtractingAoM Podcast #292: The Road to CharacterAoM Podcast #421: Why You Need a Philosophical Survival KitAoM Podcast #535: The Problem of Self-Help in a Liquid AgeSunday Firesides: Embracing the Coin of CharacterSunday Firesides: Manners Develop Self-Control (And May Preserve Democracy)AoM Article: Are You a Contemptible Person?MLK's "Loving Your Enemies" sermonOn Manners by Karen StohrOxford's Guides to the Good Life series of booksConnect with Karen StohrKaren's faculty page

You get really excited about an idea to start an exercise program, or become a better partner, or get organized. And then you do . . . nothing. Absolutely nothing.It's said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Even if they don't send you straight to Hades, good intentions, that go unfulfilled, can lead to real suffering. When you fail to act on your perennial plans for progress, you end up feeling frustrated, demoralized, and stuck.My guest is a clinical psychologist who has spent his career obsessed with how to tackle this stubborn issue of human existence. His name is Steve Levinson, and he's the co-author of Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start. Steve first explains the unhelpful ideas we have about why we don't follow through and that its real cause comes down to a tension between two different systems within us. He then shares the ah-ha moment he had as to how to reconcile these systems in order to consistently follow through on your intentions and offers strategies on how to put his follow-through method into practice. We end our conversation with the idea that the greatest strategy for increasing your follow-through is treating your intentions with a seriousness that borders on the sacred.Resources Related to the PodcastAoM Article: Stop Procrastinating Today With Behavioral ScienceAoM Podcast #444: How to Use the Procrastination Equation to Start Getting Things DoneAoM Article: What Gandhi and a 19th-Century Prussian Prince Can Teach You About Making Unbreakable ResolutionsSunday Firesides: Lash Yourself to the MastAoM Article: The Power of Temptation BundlingSunday Firesides: Do You Take This Habit . . . ?Connect With Steve LevinsonFollowingThrough websiteSteve on LinkedIn

Many a man has been impressed by the ingenuity of secret agent operations, and intrigued by the subterfuge, gadgets, and disguises required to pull them off. Much of what we think about when we think about spies got its start as part of the Office of Strategic Services, the American intelligence agency during World War II.Here to unpack some of the history of the world of cloak and dagger operations is John Lisle, author of The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare. Today on the show, Lisle explains why the OSS was created and the innovations its research and development section came up with to fight the Axis powers. We talk about the most successful weapons and devices this so-called “Dirty Tricks Department” developed, as well as its more off-the-wall ideas, which included releasing bat bombs and radioactive foxes in Japan. We discuss the department’s attempt to create a truth serum, its implementation of a disinformation campaign involving “The League of Lonely War Women,” and its promotion of a no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat fighting system. We also talk about the influence of the OSS on the establishment of the CIA and controversial projects like MKUltra.Resources Related to the PodcastWilliam “Wild Bill” DonovanOffice of Strategic ServicesWilliam FairbairnTime pencil“Aunt Jemima” explosiveLimpet mineThe bat bombJohn’s article on Operation Fantasia’s radioactive foxesAoM Article: 15 Cool Spy ConcealmentsAoM Podcast #225: The Real Life James BondAoM Article: The History of Invisible InkAoM Article: Why Men Love the Story of the Great EscapeConnect With John LisleJohn on TwitterJohn’s website 

Dr. Judson Brewer, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, discusses anxiety as a habit loop and shares strategies for breaking it. He explains the role of reward in anxiety, the impact of uncertainty, and the digital world. Dr. Judson emphasizes the importance of approaching anxiety objectively and scientifically. Strategies for breaking the habit loop include reflecting on lack of reward, getting curious about anxiety, and shifting focus. He also discusses how this approach can work for depression and anger.