Bryan Habana has achieved greatness while remaining solidly grounded and being a top quality human being. He soars - with his feet firmly on the ground.

His career included winning trophies in the Currie Cup, Super Rugby, Heineken Cup, European Championship, Tri-nations, Lions series and World Cup; being named South African Rugby Player of the Year on three occasions, as well as International (IRB) Player of the Year; amassing 124 Springbok rugby caps and scoring 67 tries for his country, including an equal world record of eight tries in a World Cup.

Mike Hussey is called ‘Mr. Cricket’ for good reason. He’s the consummate professional who never left a stone unturned in preparing extensively for every aspect of his game. He describes how this was largely driven by a deep-seated insecurity formed from school going experiences, which he openly shares.

‘Huss’ spent an incredible 10 years playing first-class cricket, where he accumulated over 15 000 runs before getting his international call up. He shares the professional and personal ups and downs of this long wait.

Once picked for Australia, in one of the greatest teams ever, he went on to be named International ODI Player of the Year. He discusses insightful lessons from this journey - which culminated in him retiring with an ODI average of 48, and being in the elite few who have a test average of over 50.

Listeners will quickly learn why Mike is known as Mr. Cricket, and why he is so loved by everyone who played with and against him.

Credentials and context 00.- 3.05

Who is Mike Hussey?  3.08

Overcoming weaknesses  7.21

Critical growth moments  9.15

Advice to younger self  14.40

Personal life  20.30

Patience in the wait  24.40

Mental skills  27.00

Playing for Australia  28.20

Pressure  38.05

Mindset  41.25

Confidence 46.00

Routines and preparation 50.50

Why Sydney Thunder? 1.03.30

Bio-bubbles 1.19.30

The big question 1.29.43

My promise is that there is very little superficial chit-chat or waffle in this nearly two hour conversation - it’s a high performance masterclass, relevant for sport and life, delivered by someone who has been there, failed and succeeded, against the odds.

Mark is one of the world's best Big Wave surfers. It’s a sport that’s reserved for only a special few who surf 30-50 foot waves that can seriously injure or drown the warriors that ride them. Yet Mark is not a ‘natural' fit for this sport. He is no adrenaline junkie or hell-man; is certainly not fearless and is not particularly powerfully built.

He ’suddenly’ appeared on the Big Wave surfing stage when he rode a wave so treacherous that other more experienced surfers wouldn’t. Following this success he had to figure a way to not only survive on this stage, but to become the world's best.

He learned the hard way. Extreme highs were followed by extreme lows. A string of global awards were followed by tearing every structure in his shoulder whilst a series of 40 foot waves crashed down on his broken body. Weeks after recovering from this year-long injury, he suffered an even worse one. This time he was one hour away from losing his leg - an injury which left him with permanent damage that should have ended his surfing career.

Against all odds, and with no movement or feeling in his lower leg, Mark is back surfing Big Waves.

He has an insatiable hunger for learning, which helped him survive and then thrive in the world of Big Wave surfing. Mark is a sought-after and captivating public speaker on the subjects of fear, resilience, adversity and high performance.

With openness, honesty and sometimes vulnerably, he shares all this and more.

Gary Kirsten (fondly known as Gazza) and I have been friends and colleagues in various capacities for over 30 years. Gazza played professional cricket for 17 years, 11 of them for South Africa, then went on to be a professional coach, which he has been doing for the last 18 years. Both careers are strewn with fascinating highs and lows as he played with and against, coached some of the world's best cricketers. Along the way he has accumulated a wealth of experience. He generously shares the lessons he’s learnt with us in this episode. Gary wasn’t even the most talented cricketer in his family, and by professional standards was a batsman of average talent. He began developing a game plan and mindset early on in his life that would see him leverage the best of his average talent, leading him to the top of the international game. He reflects on this and how he feels he could have done better. A deeply personal coaching conversation between him and I, towards the back end of his playing career, changed his perspective on life and on his game, and lead to his best season ever. At the time he wrote me a letter about the impact that it had on him. Gary opens up about this, and 16 years later, allows me to read you some of that letter. As head coach, Gary lead the Indian Cricket team to become world test champions and to win the 2011 ICC World Cup. He then went on to lead the South African national team to become the first team in the world to simultaneously hold the world number 1 ranking in all three formats of the international game. Throughout the five years with both teams, I was Gary's assistant, confidant, and the team's mental coach. Listen in as we talk about this journey, about what worked, what didn’t, and why. For the first time since it happened 12 years ago, we discuss my biggest ever professional f*#k-up, which negatively impacted Gary. We speak about what lead me to make such a big mistake, the impact it had on Gary personally and on our relationship, and how we dealt with it. We also explore how well (or badly) the sporting world is doing in relation to hiring, assessing and firing coaches - and how this could be done more effectively. This conversation is candid, free-flowing, and authentic. It’s packed with fascinating insights for coaches, leaders and anyone interested in learning from Gazza, an ordinary man who has achieved extra-ordinary things.

Credentials and Context  00.- 4.22

Podcasts thoughts  4.23

Gazza and Paddy's history  5.18

Coaching the Indian team 08.15

Talking talent  09.35

Impact of team mates  19.20

Impact of coaches  25.00

Careers lows  29.50

Lessons from Covid  34.70

Fear of failure 37.00

From player to coach  45.40

Ego and results  48.05

Coaching criteria  55.00

Sex dossier scandal 1.13.50

Dale Steyn started as a young wannabee professional skateboarder from a small bush town, who didn’t even know the game of cricket existed, and went on to become the world’s best bowler, a position that he held for just nine days short of seven years. Inaugurating this very first episode of Lessons From The World’s Best, Dale shares generously about his first professional contract playing overseas, and how he first needed to “do his apprenticeship” and learn the simple lessons in life. Things like washing his clothes and learning to cook before he could focus on his bowling. He discusses, without filter, how he managed himself around the pressures of hate on social media, and how players are not adequately mentally prepared to ‘not win’ at a world cup; which is statistically the most likely outcome. He shares, for the first time, about bowling the final over of the 2015 world cup semi-final where he had six balls to secure South Africa’s first ever final appearance, only to fail. Dale describes what the true impact of that moment was on him and how it moved him to tears in the middle of 2021, six years later. You will get to meet the persona that he adopted and hear how he transformed from his natural friendly nature, to the warrior that intimidated opponents – even when the real Dale was exhausted and felt far from intimidating. Among other things, he shares the truth about his confidence, about how off-field relationships can impact performance and the difficulty of speaking up about difficulties. 10 years into our friendship, Dale surprised me by some of what he shared. The fascinating thing about him is that, on the field he was famous for his fierce and uncompromising assault on the world’s best batsmen, yet off the field, he is genuinely one of the most down-to-earth, relaxed and humble people you could wish to meet. Please enjoy this heartfelt conversation with my friend, Dale Steyn.

Credentials  00.- 4.22

Context  4.23

Podcast history  5.45

Life before cricket  8.10

Career begins 11.20

Life lessons 12.24

Social media 17.23

2015 WC Loss 20.05

Defeat/disappointment 26.35

Career difficulties 28.40

Athlete vulnerability 34.12

Freedom in retirement 42.40

Mental health 44.07

Self confidence 49.40

Being in the Zone 52.20

Vulnerability 54.00

Off field distractions 56.10

Low form advice 1.03.10

Disappointment/failure 1.05.42

The Good Question 1.09.20

Coaching characteristics 1.18.10

Red flags of coaching 1.20.20

Welcome to Lessons From The World’s Best; created to entertain you and to offer practical, relevant and maybe even life-changing lessons for your journey in sport, work and life.

Paddy Upton interviews some of the world’s best athletes, in open, honest and vulnerable conversations about the story behind their stories. These are never-before-heard, courageous conversations about the uncomfortable truths about their fears, doubts, failures and personal experiences, both on and off-the-field.

Paddy has spent over 20 years working as a mental coach to professional, international and Olympic athletes from five continents and across 11 different sporting disciplines. It is in this role that he is and was instrumental in helping the world’s best athletes process their deeper and hidden truths, which, in these profound conversations, he now invites them to reveal.

He has worked as a fitness coach, performance director, mental coach and head coach in international sport. Paddy played an essential role in helping lead two international cricket teams to become the world’s number one team in Test Cricket, and helped lead the Indian National team to win the 2011 ICC cricket World Cup. He is also a professor, business coach and a best-selling author, with a passion for sharing simple, practical knowledge that makes sense and adds value.

Whether you’re an avid sports fan, in business, a professional sports person or simply interested in what it takes to be someone who performs at the highest level, this may be of real value to you. Please enjoy as you listen in to Lessons From The World’s Best with Paddy Upton.