How do you give feedback that actually changes behavior — without damaging the relationship? In this episode, Jake breaks down the TAG framework for effective leadership feedback: Thank them specifically, Accelerate their growth, and Ground them in the team.

He covers why vague praise ("good job, great energy") trains your team to ignore feedback entirely, and how to balance accountability with connection so you build a culture of performance instead of fear or complacency. Whether you're a new manager or a senior leader managing former peers, this episode delivers a usable framework you can apply in your next 1:1.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

Mental performance coach Charlie Smith spent 25 years building over $1 billion in retail developments while battling alcoholism and addiction behind the scenes — a double life he says nearly killed him before he got sober in 2008. In this episode, Charlie and Jake unpack the concept of "owning the pen to the story of your life," the science behind identity statements, and why the most important real estate in the world is the six inches between your ears.

Charlie walks through how to build an identity statement that's directive (not deceptive), the difference between outcome-driven and purpose-driven identity, and the daily practice that keeps high performers from drifting back into old patterns. Whether you're a leader, athlete, or anyone feeling stuck, this conversation delivers a usable framework for rewriting how you see yourself — starting tomorrow morning.

Connect with Charlie:

• Website
• Instagram @CharlieSmithSpeaks

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

You're not in the role you want, so you stop pouring into your team. You don't have the relationship you want, so you stop growing inside it. Jake calls this the permission slip we keep signing for ourselves — and in this episode, he uses a modified Memorial Day Murph workout to show you the way out. The box-squat version of your effort still counts. Here's how to start it today.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

Three and a half weeks out from a mountain climb he's not sure he can finish, Jake records this episode mid-ruck to talk about the excuse you're already building for the goal you haven't started. Psychologists call it self-handicapping — pre-loading reasons why you didn't give your best so you never have to admit you didn't. It shows up in the workout you half-commit to, the promotion you don't really go after, the job switch you sabotage before you start.

This episode is about what changes when you stop protecting your ego and start owning your starting position. Plus: why looking back at the road you didn't take costs you the road you're actually on.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

Tom Brady never defended a championship. He pursued the next one. Jake Thompson explains the loss aversion math that pulls every winner toward defense — and why the champions who keep winning have already trained themselves to ignore it. Listen for the language test that reveals whether you're stuck in defending mode without knowing it.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

You haven't made a real new friend in four years. Your circle hasn't changed. Neither have you. Jake Thompson connects the two using research showing that behaviors and outcomes spread through social networks up to three degrees. Three moves to update the room without losing the friendships.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

Is your performance determined by your own personal standards - or by who your audience is? Jake dives into how drift can trick us into allowing others' expectations to create a false sense of performance when great Competitors are holding themselves to their highest standards every time.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

4. 📩 Get 1:1 Coaching with Jake. ⁠Apply here⁠.

Climbers spend 60–90 days on an Everest expedition to earn 15 minutes at the summit. That ratio isn't a problem - it's the whole point. In this episode, Jake breaks down why the summit was never designed to sustain you, what Cooper Kupp's "process over results" philosophy tells us about chasing wins, and three immediate actions to find more meaning in the journey rather than just the destination.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Busy Drift is the most deceptive performance trap because it looks like effort. Packed calendars. Long hours. Checked boxes. But none of it is actually moving you forward. In this episode, Jake shares how Busy Drift almost derailed Compete Every Day in its early days, why high performers are especially vulnerable, and three actions you can take this week to diagnose your own drift and start competing on the work that actually matters.

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Order Brad's new book, Way of Excellence, here.

In this insightful interview, New York Times best-selling author Brad Stulberg shares his journey from athlete to author, exploring the concepts of excellence, commitment, and meaningful struggle. Discover how to pursue mastery without falling into perfectionism and learn practical strategies to align your pursuits with your core values.

Key Topics discussed include:

• The difference between excellence and perfectionism
• The importance of commitment and values in pursuit of mastery
• The role of meaningful struggle in growth
• Balancing outcome and process in performance
• The concept of worthy rivals and healthy comparison

Next Steps to Continue Competing:

1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.

3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.