Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

In this week's episode, author and journalist Anne Helen Petersen covers some of society’s most pressing workplace trends - like the burnout epidemic and the transition to hybrid work - and how we can all thrive in the modern workplace.

This is a conversation for employers, employees, and managers alike on how we can optimize remote work – and re-examine what “work” means in the first place.

More on Anne Helen:

Anne Helen Petersen is a journalist, author, and cultural critic known for her writing on celebrity culture, feminism, the future of work, and media.

Anne’s career took off as a senior Culture Writer at BuzzFeed where she wrote several viral articles on pop culture and celebrity analysis – however, in 2020 she left the mainstream to start up her wildly popular Substack newsletter, Culture Study.

In some of her more recent work – including her latest book Out of Office – Anne thoughtfully covers some of society’s most pressing workplace trends like the burnout epidemic and the transition to hybrid work.

Anne and I were lucky enough to share the stage as speakers at a Microsoft event last year and after meeting her, I knew I had to have her on the podcast to dive deeper into her insights about the future of work.

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The Grandmaster of Memory, Nelson Dellis, details why memory is an important skill to hone in on, and how to do just that.

More on Nelson:

This week’s conversation is with Nelson Dellis, a competitive memory athlete who is widely recognized as one of the world's leading experts in the fields of memory and mental fitness.

Nelson is a 5X USA Memory Champion, a Grand Master of Memory, and holds several world records for memorization – including memorizing the most decks of cards in 30 minutes (9.02 decks), the most digits in 30 minutes (907 digits), and the most names in 15 minutes (235 names). 

Nelson is also an accomplished mountaineer – having summited Everest in addition to many of the world’s largest peaks – and is the founder of Climb For Memory, a non profit raising awareness for Alzheimer’s research by organizing mountain climbs around the world.

As many of us are focused on the habits and changes we want to implement heading into the new year, I was really excited to learn more from Nelson about how memory, well-being, and performance are related – and specifically, what we can all do to enhance our mental fitness.

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This week’s conversation is with Dr. Michael Rucker, an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Mike for about two decades and I’m stoked to introduce him and his work to you. 

A former corporate executive, Michael found himself burnt out, unfulfilled in his career, and as he states “over-optimized in the pursuit of happiness”. So, he decided to make a change. He quit his job and set out on a journey to rediscover the joy of play and fun – and to help others do the same. 

This January, Michael will be publishing his first book, The Fun Habit, an action-based approach that helps you critically examine your pursuit of happiness and make adjustments using evidence-based practices to invite more fun and joy in your life.

This is a fun conversation, about fun – how we can invite more of it into our lives, and why it is an essential piece to high performance, corporate cultures, and a life well-lived.

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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Here's the final Ask Me Anything (AMA) of 2022 with Dr. Michael Gervais!

A couple weeks back, we took questions from our community on how to best support your life ambitions, resolutions, habits, and goals as you move into 2023.

Your questions rocked.

Dr. Mike was excited to jump into the studio to film this and we hope this supports your new year.

Stay tuned as we'll be back in 2023 with more high-performance and wellbeing content. Let us know—what questions would you like Dr. Mike to answer? Leave your questions for the next AMA in the comments below or email [email protected]

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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This week’s conversation is with Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker, a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education.

Sheila’s work and research interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, psychology and social science, with a focus on how we can create contexts in sport, school and nature settings that unlock the potential of our youth.

A former professional tennis player, Sheila knows first-hand the power sport has to build life skills that transfer into careers, and embed wellness habits that foster health and holistic well-being. She knows that adults, through the relationships they form, can activate passion, possibility and a sense of purpose in young people.

Accordingly, in this conversation we discuss the science of child development, and how to equip coaches, teachers and parents with the knowledge, skills and mindsets that promote flourishing in young people across life.

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Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

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This week’s conversation is with Paul Assaiante, one of the most decorated coaches in college sports history. 

For those unfamiliar, Paul is a legend – he is a two-time Olympic coach of the year, the “winningest coach in college sports history”, an inductee of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame, and has won 17 NCAA championship titles at Trinity College where he is still the head coach of the Men’s Squash team today. 

You might also recognize Paul’s name from his first appearance on Finding Mastery back in 2016 – that’s episode #47 if you want to check it out.

Paul has spent more than four decades coaching, motivating, and mentoring top athletes from around the world – and with how rapidly our culture is shifting, I was excited to have him back on to explore some of the changes he has observed over the last several years.

The wisdom Paul displays is abundant, and I hope you’ll find as much value in this conversation as I did. We discuss how to prepare our children to succeed in a competitive world, the importance of failure, what it really means to win, and so much more.

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get 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/morningmindset

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This week’s conversation is with Yogi Roth – Yogi is a dear friend of mine, and I’m really excited to finally introduce him to the Finding Mastery community. 

At his core, Yogi is a storyteller with a unique focus on seeking and uncovering humanity in sports around the globe.

His professional work has ranged from a college football analyst to an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, New York Times bestselling author, media personality, world-traveler, and accomplished coach.

Yogi has lived a full life and I always appreciate the unique perspective and insights he brings to the table. In this conversation, we cover a lot – the changing landscape of college sports, parenting, youth development, what he’s learned from some of the world’s best athletes, and so much more.

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get 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 

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This week’s conversation is with Elizabeth Pitcairn, a world-renowned classical violin virtuoso.

After making her orchestra debut at age 14, Elizabeth has gone on to travel the globe with her violin, performing as a soloist in various highly acclaimed orchestras at some of the most prolific classical music venues on the planet. 

Elizabeth is also known for performing with one of the world’s most legendary instruments – the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius violin of 1720 – said to have inspired the Academy Award–winning film “The Red Violin”. 

In addition to her acclaimed solo career, Elizabeth is a passionate advocate of music education, and serves as the President and Artistic Director of the Luzerne Music Center in upstate New York, which provides world-class music instruction for gifted young musicians.

At its core, this is a conversation about developing a relationship with mastery – the standard of perfection, being a conduit to the music, and the ups and downs of truly loving your craft.

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter 

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This week’s conversation is with Tony Fadell, an entrepreneur, designer, engineer, and investor with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing some of the most influential products of the 20th century. 

Over his remarkable career, Tony has become best known as the inventor of the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Thermostat (which eventually sold to Google for $3.2B). 

Tony has authored more than 300 patents and was named one of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World". In 2016, Time also named the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Learning Thermostat as three of the “50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time".

Tony also recently published his first book, Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making, which quickly topped charts as a bestseller. 

Tony is a legend, and it was a joy to learn from him in this conversation. I think everyone will find significant value from the insights Tony shares as he outlines his journey from devastating failure to unbelievable success, and some of the lessons he learned along the way.

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get 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/morningmindset

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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We got some really excellent questions from our community last week. I love the deep thought, curiosity, and authenticity you all brought to the table.

In our second AMA, I answer questions like:

When things go sideways at work—and I still have a business to run and bills to pay—how do I think clearly?

How do you put a high performance mindset lens on forgiveness? When something's been wrongfully done to you, how do you let go of it?

What are the most interesting or unexpected ways you've seen leadership evolve over the past two to three years?

And more... :)

We're excited to be filming these AMAs more frequently. What questions would you like Dr. Mike to answer? Leave your questions for the next AMA on the YouTube comments section or email [email protected].

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Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get 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/morningmindset

Follow 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.