Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

This week’s conversation is with Forrest Griffin, a retired mixed martial artist and a UFC Hall of Famer.A former Georgia Police Officer, Forrest got his shot at UFC Stardom on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter.He won the first season in a fight against Stephan Bonnar that helped put MMA on the map.The Ultimate Fighter Finale was a wild success and brought a lot of new attention to the UFC at a time when the sport was at a make or break point.Forrest went on to become a UFC Light Heavyweight World Champion and eventually was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.I had the pleasure of meeting Forrest for the first time at an event this past July - “Evel Live,” where motorsports icon Travis Pastrana honored legendary daredevil Evel Knievel by attempting three of his most dangerous feats in Las Vegas.We had a great conversation around what it takes to be mentally prepared inside the Octagon and I knew we needed to follow up with a podcast.Fighting can be a great metaphor for life.You get hit, you get knocked down, mistakes are made, but as Forrest makes clear, it’s all about how you react, how you adjust in those moments.Are you going to focus on the mistake or figure out how to survive and flourish from that point forward?Forrest has a unique perspective on life - while fighting can be an intense and violent sport, he’s light-hearted at his core and that definitely stands out in this conversation._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the 6th episode of "The Process," Alex shares how Mike's interview on the last episode shaped their investment decision and why creating the right culture at a company is vital to its longterm success.Alex and Mike also discuss Kairos' upcoming K50 event and what to look for when assessing if an entrepreneur has the right mindset to go the distance._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with Brendan Kane, a business and digital growth strategist for Fortune 500 corporations, brands, and celebrities.Brendan’s greatest strength is unlocking value. He transforms complexity into simplicity with tools and methods that amplify growth and enable execution.He thrives on helping his clients systematically find and engage new audiences.Brendan's success stories include massive global brands like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Jason Statham, Katie Couric, MTV, Vice, Lionsgate, and Yahoo.This conversation has something for everyone: whether you own a business, are considering starting one or are just thinking about your personal brand.The power of social media allows you or your organization to impact many, to get your message in front of the right people, but in today’s world capturing someone’s attention is not an easy feat.More than 60 billion online messages are sent into the world every day, and only a select few companies can succeed in the mad scramble for customer attention.This means that the question for anyone who wants to gain mass exposure for their transformative content, business, brand or connect with audiences around the globe is no longer if they should use social media but how to best take advantage of the numerous different platforms.How can you make a significant impact in the digital world and stand out among all the noise?That’s at the core of what we discuss in this conversation.Brendan shares his methods for gaining an authentic, dedicated, and diverse online following from scratch; create personal, unique, and valuable content that will engage your core audience.He just published a book that’s jam-packed with these insights- One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with Marty Callner, an award winning Producer and Director.His diverse resume includes specials starring Chris Rock, The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Jerry Seinfeld, Will Ferrell, Garth Brooks, Diana Ross, Britney Spears, and Robin Williams, to name a few.He is also the creator of the immensely popular and Emmy award winning HBO series, Hard Knocks, which gives viewers a look into the inner workings of NFL training camp.Marty has directed over 200 music videos, including such classics as Aerosmith’s ‘Crazy’ starring Alicia Silverstone and Cher’s ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ filmed aboard the historic USS Missouri.He’s earned five MTV Music Awards including ‘Video of the Year’ and forty-three Emmy nominations including Callner’s back-to-back directorial nods for “Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas” and “Garth Brooks: Live From Central Park”.For Marty it all started with his learning to “dream big.”His mom taught him that, “A man who doesn’t build castles in the air doesn’t build them anywhere.”How cool is that thought?Marty is a risk taker, an innovator, and to this day he’s looking for ways to reinvent himself._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work.She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness and her latest book Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadershipBrené’s TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views.The relationship between vulnerability and courage is a focal point of our conversation.In Brené’s words: “You cannot get to courage without walking right through vulnerability.”So what is courage all about and when is it the right time to be vulnerable?Whether it be with a loved one or in the corporate world, do you have the courage to say or do the difficult things?And if you’re a leader, do you have the courage to create a culture that actually allows for people to fall on their face and get back up?Brené has an amazing way of putting her researching into action with simple and applied strategies so I can’t wait for you to learn from her._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with John Brenkus, who has spent the last decade studying and popularizing the unique characteristics of the world’s greatest athletes.A co-founder of BASE Productions, he is best known as the on-air host, co-creator and executive producer of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning show Sport Science, appearing in and producing over 1500 segments that have been featured on ABC and ESPN's enormous sports platform.John has been featured in coverage of The Super Bowl, Monday Night Football, the NBA Finals, Sunday Night Baseball, and The Masters just to name a few.Through Sport Science, John has appeared before 80 million people annually for the last decade, has won 6 Emmys, and has written a New York Times Best Seller "The Perfection Point."When John has an idea he goes for it.It makes sense then, that his philosophy is to: “Make something out of nothing.”In this conversation we discuss what gives him the confidence to go for it and not let a fear of failure get in the way of pursuing his dreams._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Daniel Chao, co-founder of Halo Neuroscience.Dr. Chao’s whole life has been dedicated to understanding the brain and its function — specifically, how electrical stimulation can help the brain more rapidly improve performance, cognitive function, and overall happiness.As some of you are already probably aware, we recently partnered with Halo Neuroscience because I’m bullish on their technology, Halo Sport, which accelerates movement based learning through transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS).I wanted to have an in-depth conversation with Daniel to learn more about how scientists are using brain stimulation to optimize neurological function and go deeper into what’s possible with this technology.I think this technology is right on the frontier, backed by about 15 years of research and currently used by the best athletes in the world – US Olympic teams, players in the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA Tour, and more.In a previous Finding Mastery podcast (#045), psychologist Anders Ericsson argued that expert performers acquire their skill through deliberate practice.In deliberate practice, it's a full and deep, possibly nauseatingly deep focus, on whatever skill you are working on learning. This involves minimizing distractions and practicing just outside one's comfort zone.Well what if adding a layer of technology to deliberate practice could accelerate the rate of learning by up to 50%?That’s something we discuss in this conversation and Daniel believes we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.As someone who’s always been captivated by the power of the mind, this conversation was such a treat for me so I can’t wait for you to learn from Daniel._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications, discusses the importance of self-discovery, clarity in values, undivided attention in relationships, reading a room, and asking the right questions. They explore the balance between personal growth and impact on family and society, as well as finding balance, building confidence, and the journey to peace and humility.

This week’s conversation is with Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development at Facebook.In this role, he focuses on strategic partnerships that connect people to some of the world's most recognized brands.Facebook may be one of the world’s largest companies today, but it wasn’t when Matt joined as employee number 8 over 13 years ago.He took a leap of faith at the time – he believed in their mission and their founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and began working for no salary, only equity.You could say that bet paid off.What gave Matt the confidence to join Facebook?His intellectual curiosity has been a driving force for him for since he was young.In this conversation, we discuss how that intellectual curiosity has allowed him to stay ahead of the curve, take risks and opened up new opportunities.Matt understands, values, and invests deeply in relationships so it’s no surprise that his philosophy is: “To be the best part of another person’s day.”What a cool thought._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s conversation is with Michael Murphy, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the board of the world famous Esalen Institute, tucked away on the coast of Big Sur, in California.Michael and Esalen have been ground zero for the human potential movement: exploring everything from consciousness, Eastern philosophies meeting Western frameworks, the birth place of Gestalt therapy, to generating scores of mind body interventions.In 1950, Michael was a premed student at Stanford and wandered into a class discussing Eastern and Western philosophies and religions.The miscue changed his life.Soon he was meditating and, after earning a bachelor of arts in psychology and serving in the U.S. Army, he lived on an ashram in India for 18 months.Upon returning to the United States, he and the late Richard Price started Esalen on property the Murphy family owned. Over its 50-plus years of existence, it has been described as a “personal growth think tank.”The organization is focused on personal growth, meditation, massage, ecology, yoga, psychology, spirituality — there was nothing quite like it at the time.Michael is also an author.His work includes: ·     The Future of the Body: Explorations into the Further Evolution of Human Nature, Golf in the Kingdom·     The Life We Are Given: A Long-Term Program for Realizing the Potential of Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul·     In the Zone: Transcendent Experience in Sports·      An End to Ordinary HistoryIt's a gift to laugh with him and learn from Michael, and I'm honored to share our conversation._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.