New relationships are hard for a reason – no trust. You’re starting from scratch with no common understanding, no established shared goals, or history of goodwill. Everyone’s feeling vulnerable. But also suspicious. It feels hard to take risks or even just relax and be yourself.    

So, how do we get past the awkwardness and start building trust? Or rebuild it after it’s been lost?   

This episode, we’re joined by Dr. Karen Mellum. She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and is a Human Resources Administrator and Executive leadership coach at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. And she’s here to help us stop waiting for others to prove themselves and start being the first mover.   

The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Mellum are:  

1.  What is trust? And why is it crucial for high performance teams?  

2. Why is trust so hard to build and maintain?  

3. How do we move from being "suspicious by default" to "trusting by design" while still maintaining healthy boundaries? 

 Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at: https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization

Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization
YouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTube
Email: [email protected]

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Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books. 

Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Everyone loves a good leader. But they’re often held up as these singular examples of success, vision, inspiration, and perseverance. And we struggle to learn from their stories and distill them into a practical, repeatable blueprint for good leadership.  

This episode, we’re joined by Dr. James Hebl, Medical Director for Leadership and Talent Development at Mayo Clinic and a certified executive coach for healthcare leaders. He’s here to break down the

The three big questions Dr. Hebl is going to help us tackle are:  

1. What is leadership really, and how can we move it from a vague concept into something concrete? 

2. Why do so many of us struggle to develop ourselves as leaders and to teach others about leadership? 

3. How can we use this framework to better lead ourselves and others?

Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization

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Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

Self-care is one of the most commonly used, but poorly understood concepts today. For some, it brings to mind indulgence, luxury, or performative wellness culture. For others, it feels selfish, soft, or unrealistic. However, self-care, when done properly, helps

Our expert guest for this episode is Dr. Amy Oxentenko. She’s the Vice Dean of Practice and Vice Chair of the People and Culture Committee at Mayo Clinic. She’s an educator, researcher, leader, and avid distance runner who credits much of her success to intentional self-care practices. 

The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Oxentenko are:

 Learn more about On Human Optimization

Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization
YouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTube
Email: [email protected]

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Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

 Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Life offers plenty of nice, concrete, mostly attainable goals for us to chase and boxes to check – good job, life partner, maybe a house, maybe kids. But that’s also the classic recipe for a midlife crisis: you work your butt off to get a bunch of those boxes checked only to find yourself exhausted and unfulfilled. Or wondering, “Now what?” 

So, how do we ground our goals to make sure we’re putting our energy into things that really matter? 

This episode, we are joined by Bridget Berkland, Manager of Employee Well-being at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She’s a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, and she’s here to help us learn to combat burnout by aligning our daily actions with our deepest

The three big questions we discuss with Bridget are: 

1. What are personal values and what role do they play in our daily life?

2. Why do so many of us struggle to define our values and put them into action?

Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization

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Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Imagine: you get yourself a sweet new sports car, hop in for your first drive, only to realize you have no idea how to drive stick. So you drive around town in first gear, going super slow, making tons of noise, stalling out at every stop sign. You finally make it home, hop out and proclaim, “This car’s a piece of junk!”

Well, that’s the challenge we face with talent development, where the ceiling of your potential — or your team's potential — isn't dictated by innate ability, but by your capacity to unlock it.

So to help us learn to shift out of first gear, this episode, we’re joined by Adam Thompson. He’s the Vice Chair of Administration for the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida.

The three big questions we discuss with Adam are:

Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions here.

Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization
YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube
Email: [email protected]

Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails. 

Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

 Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

 Why is it that the more we think about falling asleep, the harder it becomes? Our mindset around sleep plays a huge role in our ability to fall asleep, the amount of sleep we get and the quality of that sleep. So how can we use our mindset to our advantage?

This episode, we speak with Bhanu Kolla, M.B.B.S., M.D., the co-author of the Mayo Clinic Guide to Better Sleep. He’s also a professor of psychiatry and psychology with clinical appointments in the Center for Sleep Medicine and the Division of Addiction Medicine at Mayo Clinic

 The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Kolla are:

1. What is the connection between sleep and psychology, and how does that relationship affect our sleep?

2. What are the most common mental traps that negatively impact our sleep?

3. What steps can we take now to optimize our mindset to help us get the best sleep?

 Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize

Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization
YouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTube
Email: [email protected]

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Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

 Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Just having a title that sounds authoritative doesn’t make someone a leader. And you don’t have to be a CEO to lead, either. So what actually inspires people to take action?

In this episode, we’re joined by Thom Mayer, M.D., to explore how to stop waiting for authority and start leading. Dr. Mayer is medical director for the NFL Players Association and author of the book Leadership Is Worthless, but Leading Is Priceless.

Here are three questions we explore with Dr. Mayer:

Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions here.

Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization
YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube
Email: [email protected]

Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails. 

Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books. 

Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Hopefully, you’ve experienced getting so absorbed in work or an activity you enjoy that you lose track of time. We tend to be most productive in what is often called a “state of flow.” When harnessed effectively, flow can act like a superpower for personal fulfillment and progress.

To help us better understand and maximize moments of flow, we’re joined by Biju Samkutty, chief operating officer of international and enterprise automation at Mayo Clinic. Known for aligning people, processes and technology, Biju leads Mayo Clinic’s global expansion efforts, including managing international patients, building strategic collaborations and establishing new international entities.

In this episode, we explore three key questions:

Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod Club questions here.

Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.

Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

 Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Today, we are sharing an episode from our sister podcast Tomorrow’s Cure. Produced by our Mayo Clinic colleagues, this chart-topping and Ambie Award-finalist podcast explores the future of medicine – from the rise of chronic disease and autoimmune disorders to innovations in AI, 3D bioprinting, and cancer research.

In this specific episode, you’ll hear from Mayo Clinic physician leader Dr. Anjali Bhagra and human centered AI expert Dr. Ravi Bapna about how automation and AI are changing the way care teams work, how patients access care, and what it takes to keep people at the center of these advances. Featuring real stories from clinic and hospital settings, this conversation tackles the hard questions around trust, bias, and burnout.

You listen to other episodes of Tomorrow’s Cure here: https://play.megaphone.fm/uk0u00jeqjandeotmblt0a

How often do you feel that your brain is functioning at its highest level? If you are like most of us, it’s not as often as you would like. Given the high-pressure world we live in, it’s critical for us to ensure our brain is firing on all cylinders, as often as possible. To make that happen, we need to help our brains be more efficient. Just like mileage on a car, we want to optimize the mileage we get out of our brains. To help us do that, our expert guest today is Dr. Amit Sood, the creator of the Resilient Option program and executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Wellbeing.

The three questions he is going to walk us through are:

1. What does it mean to "get more mileage" out of our brain, and why are we currently so inefficient?

2. Why is it so hard to stay in "Focused Mode" as our brain tries to pull us towards distraction?

3. What is the solution and what are the specific steps we can take to get the most out of our brains?

How to start a Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project “Pod-Club”:

Step 1: Find 2-30 friends who want to get better

Step 2: Choose your episodes (can be focused on specific themes or random)

Step 3: Listen to/watch the episodes

Step 4: Meet with your group to work through the provided discussion questions for each episode, and feel free to add your own!

Step 5: Celebrate the fact that you are turning passive knowledge into action!

Discussion Questions for this Episode:

1. The podcast defines "getting more mileage out of your brain" as accumulating more experience, learning, insights, and making a difference, rather than just increasing intelligence. How does this broader definition of "brain mileage" resonate with your personal goals for growth and impact?

2. Dr. Sood states that our biggest challenge is our "inability to influence our attention and emotions." In what specific areas of your life do you feel this lack of influence most acutely?

3. The discussion highlights that we spend 60-80% of our time in the "default/automatic mode," which is linked to unhappiness and anxiety. What are some common triggers that pull you into this default mode?

4. The podcast explains that our negativity bias, while once crucial for survival, now often protects our "emotional body." What emotional "threats" do you find yourself constantly guarding against?

5. The concept of "willpower depletion" is linked to poor sleep, nutrition, and lack of exercise. How do your daily lifestyle choices impact your ability to exercise self-control and stay in a focused, intentional mode?

6. Dr. Sood suggests that overthinking occurs when "thinking is happening to you" rather than you choosing your thoughts. What strategies do you currently use, or could you commit to trying this week, to regain control and choose your thoughts more intentionally?

7. The "rum" analogy (Rest, Uplifting emotions, Motivation) is presented as a way to be kind to your mind. Which of these three elements do you find most challenging to incorporate into your daily routine, and why?

8. The podcast suggests that progress in brain optimization can be measured by feeling lighter, less cynical, and experiencing deeper connections. What specific indicators would signal to you that you are successfully "getting more mileage out of your brain"?