Today, I sit down with one of the top performing coaches who has worked with the San Francisco 49ers, is the a author of 3 books including today's subject The Happiness Handbook for High Achievers, and has a PhD in Computer-based optimization, Dr. Fergus Connolly.

I start our conversation by asking him what he does when taking a time-off, in which I discover his "secret" hobby, and he shares why it's also ideal to do other things aside from what you currently good at doing (or your career)

We discuss the influence of social circles and how they affect your life's trajectory. Given how important it is: I ask Fergus if he knows a good way to change your social circle and when it's necessary.

Fergus also tells me about how to deal with negative thoughts - even though we can't always control them there is definitely a way to deal with them.

Hit the play button to hear from Fergus on how to be not just an achiever, but a happy one at that.

Today I sit down with another high achieve guest, former D1 rower at Princeton who went on to coach there for 3 years. Eventually winding her way around to working at Hydrow like previous guest Aquil Abdullah. Today's guest is Hydrow's Director of Exercise Research & Innovation - Kristin Haraldsottir.

I start off with the question that comes to a lot of people's minds when it comes to rowing machines - how many calories am I going to burn? This simple question has a much more complicated answer than you might imagine.

One of the common themes of many of my guests stories is that they all seem to fit together well in hindsight. Kristin herself admits to getting a few lucky breaks along the way, but also feeling like the harder she worked the luckier she got.

After finish undergrad and coming back to coach with Princeton it gave Kristin a whole new and wider perspective on exactly what rowing is - what rowing means - and what athletes at each level of the sport can learn from it.

Listen to my chat with Kristin to get a better perspective on how we all have different paths, but success comes in many forms and can be achieved if we continue to try.

Today I sit down with a former Olympic rower who plays double duty in his day job at Hydrow as both athlete and software engineer - Aquil Abdullah.

Even before we get started I knew Aquil was going to be a really fun guy to hang out with and he didn't disappoint - starting our conversation after a day of skiing with his family his energy bursts through the screen.

As we get going I have to interject my own enthusiasm for seeing that his daughter is in martial arts before we move on to talk about how it's possible anybody gets into rowing in the first place.

Aquil was originally a Football and Track & Field guy - a classic combination. His reason for rowing was entirely selfish, but it ended up being a fateful decision which would eventually lead him to the Olympic stadium.

He tells me about the obvious - the lack of accessibility to rowing for a lot of people and his initiatives to make it more accessible to anyone.

I ask Aquil about his Olympic journey and his path was a wild ride including time spent sleeping on a Motel floor.

After it was time for him to retired Aquil found his way through the software engineering world to eventually end up in his unique position at Hydrow - a company that makes rowing equipment with social connectivity.

Because he failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympics and came back to qualify in 2004 - Aquil is the perfect person to answer my question for this season: How do you stay motivated after failiing to reach a goal?

My guest today, Eric Bell, brings a bunch of inspirational thoughts he gained from his past experiences. He's a former professional triathlete, has a Master's Degree in sports psychology, and, currently, is a medical device representative at Abiomed.

We begin our chat with Eric sharing his athletic experiences - from former D1 track athlete to pro triathlete and how he compares it to the industry where he's in now. There are a lot of life-changing scenarios you will want to hear especially if you are thirsty for motivation.

Eric, like many of us, is not a superhuman without the ability to ever do wrong. He's gone through struggles and he has one really important piece of advice for when you're struggling in life. This isn't just for prevention from possible issues in the future but a way that will lead to a successful path in the long run.

And when we are working on something we want to achieve, we cannot stop failures from happening. Eric mentions to me some ways he believes anyone can be great at what they're doing.

He also shares with me his incredible vision that most people need to have.

Let's hear more from Eric Bell and reflect on our actions!

My guest today, Chemical Engineer - Linh Le, left academia in the middle of his PhD to pursue a once in a lifetime opportunity to turn a novel scientific material - graphene - into a real life product.

After getting his startup going, like many of us, his business was turned upside down by the pandemic so it was time for another pivot.

He took that cutting edge material which is both hydrophobic (water repelling) and anti-viral to create a very unique and potentially much more effective mask than the run-of-the-mill cloths masks which are everywhere. Have you seen this kind of mask yet?

As the pandemic started, Linh shares with me how their team was affected and how they were able to continue operating to come up with a new product.

There's more "smart" innovation we talk about which I'm sure you'd be interested to hear as well.

Play the video to learn more.

My guest today, Dr. Andrea Becker, who has a PhD in Sports Psychology shares thoughtful and useful information how coaches help their athletes to perform at their best. She's also an associate professor at Sacramento State and a sports psychology coach.

As we begin our talk, I ask her how being a sports psychology coach works and how exactly they work with athletes. More importantly, she manages to tell me how they treat their athletes.

She tells me about the differences between what it means to be a good coach and a great coach. Andrea goes on to tell me the number 1 thing every coach must do if they want to be in the "great" category.

Lastly, I ask her how she makes athletes overcome being uncomfortable when they first interact with their coach.

Ready to hear more from her? Hit the play button now!

Today I sit down with Marcelo Bravo who's a scientist entrepreneur, author of Dream Design Surf, and a triathlete.

We start our conversation with a Marcelo's take on how he manages his day and where you may get an inspiration too (if you are struggling). He also shares how he came up with writing his book which talks about life realizations and designing the life you want.

As we talk about his career, he tells me what made him change his path from being an employee for years at Proctor & Gamble to an entrepreneur. And being an entrepreneur in familiar surroundings to a business where he doesn't have any experience.

Through Marcelo's meaningful conversation with other people, he was able to change a person's life whom he met 10 years ago! This shows how he really empowers people and gives them a chance to be successful.

Let's hear more creative ideas from Marcelo and discover what they are working on in their clinic.

Our guest today, Dr. Mike Ormsbee, is an associate professor at Florida State University, is the Associate Director for FSU's Institute of Sports Sciences & Medicine and has his PhD in Bioenergetics. He has over a decade of experience in endurance competitions.

As we start our talk, he shares with me how he does his duty in their lab and how the students he handles work on their case studies.

Doing research is a challenging task especially if we want to compare it to real-life results. Dr. Mike explains to me how they perform their research both in lab and field and stresses how being "statistically significant" isn't always the hold standard for knowing something is really having an affect on athletes.

We touch on one of the most talked about topic when it comes to sports: nutrition timing. I also find out the interesting truth about how nutrition should be handled by every athlete.

If you are ready to hear more about the facts about what Dr. Mike does and his recommendations for nutrition timing and more - hit the play button!

It's full on motivation today with our guest, Kon-ick MacFarlane-Hunt. He's a triathlete, mental health advocate, entrepreneur and wellness coach (that's why you'll hear some positivity you may need).

Due to the tough times we are experiencing, sometimes we tend to lose that "energy" we need to strive harder for our goal. Kon-ick has a lot to say to everyone who needs that "energy" back on track.

It was a productive talk with him as he shares what realizations he had as an adult. That sometimes we forget how to live our lives and give importance to things or people close to us. He stresses one reason why it happens that may make us think again about how we want to live.

He also tells me what exercise he created for himself that helps how to construct his day (it might be "perfect" for you too!).

Before I get to my season 3 question "how to stay motivated after failing to reach a goal" Kon-ick turns the tables on me and I get to be a guest on my own show for a bit - answering his questions to help along our discussion of discovering your "why."

Want to hear more from him? Watch this video and join us!

Today, I sit down with Steve Davis who is an entrepreneur, certified yogi, professional engineer, and triathlete. A man after my own heart with all his interests.

I initially ask him about the cult of engineering - whether it's real and if he's on the inside. . We also talk about how people see a person based on his/her current career and how that person sees himself/herself.

Steve shares with me how he has transitioned from one career to another and how he successfully manages them regardless of whether he's in a startup of 10 people or a large corporation of thousands.

I also ask him how he started his company and he shares different issues he has been through. And there's one thought he mentions that I believe is really important for every business owner to hear.

Ready to get more inspiration? Hit the play button to watch my full interview with him.