Why do so many people sacrifice their values to make it to the top? People in business who commit fraud; writers who plagiarize; athletes who dope — the list goes on and on. At the core of understanding why is a question that is useful for all of us to ask: How do we pursue excellence without losing ourselves along the way? In today's episode, we unpack the dangerous dynamics of optimization culture, where the drive for growth, status, and money can overtake basic integrity. We explore why the health and wellness industry is uniquely set up to exploit our deepest fears about performance and mortality, how people rationalize crossing ethical lines (from doping athletes to supplement-shilling influencers), why having the right people around you isn't just nice but essential, and why righteousness and purity often get in the way of decency.

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This past weekend, when Alex Honnold climbed Taipei 101's 1,667-foot tower without ropes, he wasn't thinking his way up; he was doing what elite performers across disciplines—from musicians to surgeons to mathematicians—do when they're operating at their peak: feeling their way forward. In this episode, Clay and Brad unpack two related concepts from psychology: situated cognition (thinking with your body rather than your mind) and positive felt sense (the bodily sensation that something is right before your brain can articulate why). You'll learn how to use them, as well as develop an understanding of the the fours phases of competence, get practical tactics for developing your own feel and intuition, learn why thinking can get in the way of optimal performance, and come to appreciate how the concept of "wu wei" can counteract the tendency to control or tense up. Whether you're an athlete, artist, or professional, this conversation reveals how to move from effortful thinking to effortless flow—and why that journey matters for all of us trying to know ourselves better.

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Clay interviews Brad about his new book, The Way of Excellence, which releases January 27th and is a culmination of 15 years of research, reporting, and coaching on what it means to live a truly excellent life. Brad shares the remarkable story of how his book landed a blurb from Steve Kerr, how this idea originated on a trip to the Himalayas almost two decades ago, and breaks down the biological, psychological, and philosophical foundations of excellence, as well as the mindsets that will allow you to practice it. Featuring insights from world-class performers—including chess grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Olympic bobsledder Kaillie Humphries, and master furniture maker Peter Korn—this conversation reveals how excellence isn't about perfection, but about pouring your all into what matters while accepting the heartbreak that comes with caring deeply. Whether you're an athlete, artist, parent, or professional, this episode offers a roadmap for reclaiming excellence in your own life—one focused day at a time.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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Routines are powerful tools for peak performance—until they become the performance itself. In this episode, we explain the important difference between routines that serve you and routines you serve. You'll learn why elite athletes keep their warmups simple, how to avoid turning routines into superstitions, the "training wheels" theory of routines, Brad's 3-3-3 daily, weekly, and monthly practice system that he uses in place of routine, how to bulletproof your routine by developing multiple pathways to the same mental state, and what to do when your routine falls apart (hint: it's a learning opportunity, not a catastrophe). Whether you're an athlete preparing for competition, a creative trying to do deep work, or just someone drowning in productivity advice, this episode will help you build routines that actually work—and know when to let them go.

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Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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91% of New Year’s Resolutions fail. That’s because behavior change is really hard. Which means that the only real way to make new habits stick is to build them in the right way. Today, we’re giving you a few ideas on how to do just that, exploring why values-driven goals beat outcome-based ones, how to design your environment for success rather than relying on motivation or willpower, and why starting small (really small) is the secret key to radical reinvention. We’ll talk using your phone less, moving more, and allowing yourself to keep procrastinating (sometimes).

Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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We're ringing in 2026 by bringing you 26 lessons that will help you achieve excellence in whatever it is you do. These are the the habits, practices, and mindsets that we revisit so often in our work and that have proven effective in creating a foundation for high-level achievement. Consider this your cheat sheet: Give yourself credit for the things you're doing well, notice areas you might like to improve, and then come along with us for another year of trying to help you perform your best at the things you care about most.

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Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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Merry Christmas! We're taking a little break, so we're bringing you an episode with an all-time great athlete, Courtney Dauwalter, whose interview, two years later, still delivers some all-time great advice on excellence. Here's the original intro...

01/04/24: Last summer, ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter did something that had never been done before. She ran three of the sport's most iconic 100-mile races... within 10 weeks of each other... and won all three. (She also set the women's course record on two of them.) It was an incredible achievement, even for someone who has long established herself as one of the greatest ultraunners of all-time. How does she do what she does? Through a rare mixture of joy, curiosity, and intensity that will change how you think about competition and ignite your own self-belief. Here, she talks about what she calls "the triple," why she goes in search of the pain cave, the unique visualizations and mantras that she uses to help her solve problems on the trail (like the time she went 98% blind), and how she manages to always keep "joy in the front seat."

Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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Just last month, Sasha DiGiulian completed only the fourth ever free climb (and the first by a woman) of "Platinum," a route on El Capitan—a 23-day feat that tested her physical and mental boundaries, including nine days of being stuck in a hanging portaledge 2600 feet above the ground to wait out inclement weather. Sasha opens up about overcoming fear, handling adversity with grace and patience (she underwent five hip surgeries to reconstruct both her hips that kept her out of climbing for a year), and the mindsets that have fueled her success both on and off the rock. She discusses why she climbs, how she uses fear and risk, and what she's learned about finding "an attitude of gratitude" for the intense pain that accompanies rock climbing.

Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript

Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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At some point, we're all going to suffer. So what if you treated it as a practice—something to be done skillfully? This was the question Matt posed to himself when he came back to running in his late twenties, after quitting the sport following his senior spring season of high school track. He said he'd become fearful of the pain of racing. He was scared to suffer. He's spent the last two and a half decades mastering his mind. In the time since, he's become a successful run coach, an endurance athlete, and a writer. And he's learned many valuable lessons about what it is to suffer. (Most recently, while dealing with a particularly bad bout of long Covid that left him incapable of exercise for long periods of time, he suffered through a 100K in 90-degree heat on minimal training.) Today, he talks about the mantra he uses to get himself through difficult moments, the most common mistakes he sees athletes making over and over again throughout his years of coaching, why never being satisfied is a good thing, and his practice of what he calls "benevolent shaming."

Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript

Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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Today, we dive deep into the age-old debate of talent acquisition versus talent development, using the contrasting blueprints of top college basketball teams as a springboard. We discuss the complex interplay of genetics, opportunity, motivation, and grit—not just in sports, but in every domain of life—as well as challenge the binary of nature vs. nurture, discuss the pitfalls of applying the "talent" label at too young an age, and offer practical advice for parents, coaches, and anyone looking to harness or develop talent. Whether you’re a late bloomer, a prodigy, or just looking to get a little better every day, this conversation will challenge how you think about talent.

Click here for an AI-generated, unedited transcript

Click to pre-order Brad's new book, "The Way of Excellence," which Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion, is calling "an absolutely beautiful book"

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