The Elite Performance Podcast

"The story you tell yourself about what you've been through defines your identity. It’s not the event but how you interpret and grow from it that shapes your future... We are all capable of much more than we imagine"

Glenn Cohen, former chief psychologist of the Mossad and Air Force pilot, shares raw insights from working with Israeli hostages and their families. Drawing from his experience debriefing over 117 released hostages, Glenn reveals powerful lessons about human resilience and mental fortitude that apply to business and life.

Key Topics:

• The key to not letting trauma turn someone into a victim
• “The three circles of resilience”
• Why celebrating small wins matters - even in hell
• Strategic vulnerability as a leadership tool
• Balancing mission focus with emotional release during stressful times

To connect with Glenn go to https://www.glenn-cohen.com/

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“Remember, success isn't just about knowing where you're going - it's about being prepared for the journey ahead.”

In today’s quick episode, I share the one thing people forget to do when setting goals that makes all the difference between success and failure. 

Key topics cover:

• Why most goal-setting systems fail
• Inspired January vs. Year long resilience
• How to properly cut down overly ambitious goals 

If you’d like to share what price you are willing to pay for your biggest goal in 2025 please send it to me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear it!

“The guilt. It never ends. And it's true for everybody. It's part of the human condition that there are always new levels of guilt. But guilt and shame in and of themselves, without driving positive action, are unhelpful. They don't help you, and they definitely don't help anyone else.”

In today’s episode, I recap 2024. I open up and share my 3 main lessons, 3 things that excite me about 2025, 1 fitness hack, 3 questions for you to achieve more in 2025.

Key topics cover:

• The 1 frame that puts guilt or shame in their place
• How to deal with fear and pressure
• Itamar’s main challenges this year

To make sure you crush 2025 you can apply to The Arena here:

https://itamarmarani.com/apply 

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Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“This summer I ended up getting second place for over 400K, and then another 220K score a week later. The summer was just full of scores… When you put yourself first in an unselfish manner, you’re able to give everyone else your best version. You have to give yourself permission not to feel guilty about it.”

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Farid Jattin, a professional poker player who openly shares the mindset system he used to crush the last summer in Las Vegas and rise from #27 to #6 in the world.

Key topics cover:

• How to avoid playing off tilt
• A system for dealing with high stress situations
• The 3 main tools for driven individuals to focus on what matters and shut out the rest

To connect with Farid you can go to:

https://www.faridjattinpoker.com/ or

https://www.instagram.com/farid_jattin/ 

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“I started using this reframe in the biz and hit my Arena goal (+20k rev per month) 10 days later. I did the hard (not really that hard even) things that I've been putting off for years.”

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Brendan Tully to talk about why sometimes overcoming plateaus can be simpler than we think.

Why it’s sometimes not about overcoming fear or some deep seeded self-sabotage, but about finding a reframe that can shift everything

Key topics cover:

• The 3 steps to overcoming self-sabotage
• How to know what general great advice is bad for you personally
• The key components to working less while making more

To connect with Brendan you can go to: https://robotmediaonline.com/

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“Your job is to command your emotions, not foolishly try to eliminate them.”

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Dr. William Jaworski to talk about his book “Ask Aristotle” and break the myth of Stoicism. 

We cover why stoicism has become so trendy and why it’s dangerous to follow it to a T. 

Key topics cover:

• Self-discipline vs. Self-denial
• Why people fell in love with stoicism despite its faults
• How to avoid the pitfalls of stoicism and be more effective

You can order your copy of “Ask Aristotle” on Amazon or at:

https://altamira.studio/ask

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“It’s like you said, an identity can shatter a thousand beliefs”

What if the next time you thought to yourself “This is hard,” you also thought to yourself, “So what? I love challenges, so LET’S GO!”

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Hursh Dodhia-Shah, an Arena alumni, as he shares how he was able to tap into an identity that overpowered any self-doubt or overwhelm while he was exiting the 7-figure agency he grew.

Key topics covered:

• How to tap into a powerful identity
• When to watch out for micro victimhood and what to do instead 
• The effective way to look at challenges

Connect with Hursh on Instagram:

@hurshdodhiashah

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

“It doesn't matter if you feel uncomfortable as long as you know you've made the right choice.”

In this episode of the Elite Performance Podcast, I interview a 1 on 1 client, Jason Barnard on how he overcame a fear of growth, starting closing 6-figure deals and graduated from being a savvy marketer to a powerful CEO.

We covered how to identify when emotions negatively impact decision making, how to overcome that… but more importantly when it’s helpful vs unhelpful to put emotions aside.

Topics covered:

• Viewing Your Brand as an Investment Changes Everything: Jason’s most significant shift came when he started presenting his services as an investment, not a cost. He gained this conviction only after making a significant investment in his own coaching and seeing it deliver a multifold return. This genuine belief now makes his sales conversations more powerful and authentic.
• A Calm Demeanor Closes Deals: Jason directly attributes over $150,000 in new deals signed over the previous weeks to his ability to remain calm and separate emotion from pragmatic decision-making. By not getting over-excited, he projects a calm confidence that builds trust with potential clients and has dramatically improved his sales effectiveness and he expects that to bring in $400,000 additional revenue in the last quarter of 2024.
• Structured Communication Normalizes Difficult Conversations: Implementing structured, weekly meetings with a dedicated format for feedback transformed the company’s dynamics. It created a safe, normalized environment for having difficult conversations, which broke down fear barriers between Jason and his team, leading to greater honesty and employee autonomy.
• Don't Expect Your Team to Work Like You: Jason shares a key leadership lesson: it was a "huge mistake" to expect his team members to operate with his same work style and motivations. He learned that everyone works their own way and that effective management requires adapting to their styles rather than imposing his own
• You Must Confront the Fear of Scaling: Many entrepreneurs are subconsciously held back by a fear of growth, often due to a past negative business experience. Jason confronted this fear directly, and by building a reliable team and systems, he gained the confidence that his company could get bigger without failing.
• Consistency from Leadership is Non-Negotiable: For new systems to work, the leader must demonstrate unwavering commitment. Jason emphasizes that he never misses his weekly team meetings, even if it means rearranging his entire day. This consistency signals the importance of the process to the team and ensures they take it seriously.
• Use Physical Tokens to Manage Personas: To effectively manage his different roles, Jason uses a system of colored shirts. The red shirt is for his public-facing "The Brand SERP Guy" persona during public performances and client meetings. A green shirt is for internal team management, and other colors are for his personal life. This tangible practice helps him consciously shift his mindset to be most effective in any given context.
• The "SEO to CEO" Transition Requires Trust: A significant part of Jason's growth involved graduating from a hands-on marketer to a true CEO. This required learning to trust his team, delegating daily responsibilities, and letting go of the need to be involved in every detail, which freed up his mental space to focus on high-level strategy.

To learn more about Jason and what he does:

https://kalicube.com/

Guides to help you manage your brand online: https://kalicube.com/guides/

The Google search result for Jason Barnard: https://www.google.com/search?q=jason+barnard

Jason's personal website: https://jasonbarnard.com/

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

"A prisoner cannot free himself from his own prison."

In this episode of the Elite Performance podcast, I'm joined by Alex as we discuss how certain parts of us actually want to limit our success and what we can do about it.

We explore why people hold on to these limitations, even when they know they hurt their ability to succeed.

If you feel held back by doubts or self-sabotaging behaviors and want practical tips to overcome them, this episode is for you.

Key topics covered:

• Understanding what positive things you get from your limiting beliefs
• The role of safety and stability in self-sabotage
• Overcoming the fear of growth and success

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/

Ever find yourself doing a lot but not getting the results you want? 

In this episode of the Elite Performance podcast, Alex and I talk about one key question to shift your mindset into elite performance mode: 

“Are you problem-focused or emotion-focused?” 

Key topics covered:

• How to make sure you keep your eyes on the prize and don’t get distracted by random emotions along the way
• Understanding the difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused mindsets and why we often focus on the wrong things
• How to anticipate and overcome emotional reactions to address actual problems

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If you’re ready to get unstuck and take both yourself and your business to the next level, apply to The Arena here: https://itamarmarani.com/apply

Get the Extreme Clarity Tool To Uncover The #1 Action To Grow Your Business: https://itamarmarani.com/clarity

Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3-ideas/