The High Performance Zone

Alex Weber is an international keynote speaker and a professional entertainer who has appeared as both a host and a participant on the American Ninja Warrior TV series. As a student, Alex played lacrosse for the University of Pennsylvania and finished as a top scorer in the Lacrosse World Championships. He went on to become one of the youngest recipients of the US Lacrosse Coach of the Year award, and today he uses the lessons he’s learned from his sporting and entertainment careers to motivate and uplift others. Alex’s first book, Fail-Proof: Become the Unstoppable You, was released in November. 

In this episode, you’ll hear from Alex Weber on:

(00:18:31) Using humor as a tool for success. Alex recalls an incident from his time as a coach when he used a jocular and light-hearted approach to defuse the tension in a stressful situation and provide encouragement and reassurance to his team.

(00:28:52) Taking the initiative. Alex advises anyone who wants to bring their dreams to fruition to believe in themselves and find the courage and confidence to throw themselves headfirst into their projects.

(00:39:02) Learning to recover from failure. For Alex, the secret to success lies in developing the ability to accept that we will sometimes fail. He believes that learning to acknowledge failure and effectively process the emotions that accompany it makes us better able to succeed in the long term.

(00:43:31) Peak performance. Alex regards preparation and focus as the keys to success. Plus, he reveals that before competing in American Ninja Warrior, he liked to settle his nerves and lift his mood by moving his body to activate stress-relieving endorphins. 

(00:46:12) His morning routine. Alex describes his powerful daily routine, which includes 17 seconds of visualization, five cycles of breathwork, the repetition of several positive “I am” affirmations, and grounding.

Steve Leder is a husband, father, and the Senior Rabbi of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. He’s also a respected scholar and religious commentator and the author of several bestselling books, including The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things and More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us. His latest book, The Beauty of What Remains; How Our Greatest Fears Become Our Greatest Gifts, shows us how our fear of death can help us define what’s truly meaningful and bring more gratitude, value, and purpose to our lives.

In this episode, you’ll hear from Rabbi Leder on:

(00:15:10) The joy of hugs. As enthusiastic huggers, we talk about the power of human touch and its ability to connect and console people in a way that words can’t. Also, Rabbi Leder explains how hugs help us demonstrate trust, express empathy, and affirm each other’s humanity.

(00:31:18) Death as a teacher. Despite Rabbi Leder’s long experience of dealing with the dying and their grieving relatives, he admits that only the experience of looking at his own father’s body made him finally realize that he, too, was going to die. As a mourner rather than a rabbi, he reveals how his experience of bereavement changed his life for the better and helped make him a better husband, father, and human being.

(00:38:57) The transmigration of the soul. Rabbi Leder shares his stories of witnessing the sense of peace that comes over the dying as the energy of the soul leaves the body and is transformed into an unknown but continuing force.

(00:53:01) The indefinable nature of God. We discuss the meaning of God’s ‘ I Will Be Who I Will Be’ statement to Moses, and Rabbi Leder points out that the phrase is deliberately vague since the true nature of divinity and cosmic justice is just too powerful and complex for human beings to understand. 

(01:04:38) Gratitude. Rabbi Leder encourages us to count our blessings and keep going until we reach a hundred! In particular, he reminds us to be grateful for even the smallest of things and celebrate all the abundance and beauty in our lives.

Robyn Benincasa is a world-class adventure racer, top-50 motivational speaker, and author of the New York bestseller How Winning Works; Leadership Lessons from the Toughest Teams on Earth. She’s also the founder of the Athena Project, a nonprofit which enables survivors of serious illnesses and emotional trauma to take part in confidence-building multi-sport adventures and endurance treks. In 2014, Robyn was selected as a CNN hero in recognition of her outstanding work with survivors, and through her inspirational keynotes and epic adventure challenges, she continues to encourage others to emerge stronger from adversity and work relentlessly towards their goals.

In this episode, you’ll hear from Robyn Benincasa on;

(00:17:31) Cultivating courage. When it comes to courage, Robyn believes you’re either born with it, or you need to borrow it or build it by surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and setting yourself audacious challenges and goals that benefit others as well as yourself.

(00:21:47) Eight essential leadership lessons. According to Robyn’s ‘teamwork’ acronym, leadership is defined by total commitment, empathy, adversity management, mutual respect, ‘we thinking rather than me thinking,’ ownership of the project, relinquishment of ego, and kinetic leadership.

(00:27:17) Overcoming adversity. Robyn recalls an extraordinarily challenging situation where her teammates’ emotional support and encouragement helped her complete the seemingly impossible challenge of climbing to the top of a 20,000-foot active volcano in Ecuador.

(00:44:06) Fulfilling your dreams. We discuss the importance of goal-setting, and Robyn describes how she stays motivated and purpose-driven by always making sure to have a goal or a dream on her calendar to work towards.

(00:45:32) Expressing gratitude. Robyn explains how her diagnosis of end-stage osteoarthritis made her grateful for what her body is still capable of accomplishing and inspired her to create Project Athena to provide support and hope for others recovering from illnesses or traumatic experiences.

Doug “Smash” Yurovich is a former fighter pilot and the first Marine Colonel to be appointed as Commander of a Navy Carrier Air Wing Group. Doug is a graduate of the US Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and he served as a Test Pilot at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. After a long and distinguished military career, Doug continues to apply his leadership and aviation experience to civilian roles, and he currently works as a test pilot, flight instructor, and safety director. 

In this episode, you’ll hear from Doug on:
(00:11:52) Meeting the challenge. Doug explains his decision to join the Marines and describes how he viewed it as a personal challenge as well as an opportunity to build an exciting and purposeful career.

(00:19:28) Leading by example. He emphasizes the importance of setting a good example, taking care of your people, and continually seeking self-improvement. Plus, he shares some of the techniques he used to motivate his recruits.

(00:24:47) Sticking with your brief. Doug talks about the time he was forced to eject from his airplane at 380 ft and explains how his decision to stick to his brief and execute the agreed plan saved his life. 

(01:13:09) Coping with adversity. Doug believes we learn much more from our failures than our successes, and he encourages everybody to have the courage to face adversity, confront challenges, and carry on until they accomplish what they set out to achieve. 

(01:18:39) Doug’s ‘glad to be here’ statement. After a career full of incident and fraught with danger, Doug describes how happy he is to have lived to tell the tale. He also shares some of the lessons he learned from surviving a series of life-or-death situations. 

David Giersdorf is a business consultant and author with decades of experience as a leading figure in the cruise and travel industry. David grew up in Alaska and worked in his father’s pioneering cruise company, which offered adventurous travelers the opportunity to explore the remote and beautiful Pribilof islands. Later, David established Windstar Cruises and served as the Chairman of the Global Cruise Industry Association. In his recent book, Hard Ships: Navigating Your Company, Career, and Life through the Fog of Disruption, David shares his six protocols for survival, stability, and success and uses the example of the impact of the Covid pandemic on the cruise industry to illustrate how to survive and thrive in difficult times.

In this episode, you’ll hear from David Giersdorf on:
(00:13:07) Knowing your waypoint and staying afloat. David shares his first two protocols for navigating through disruption. These involve taking stock of where you are, recognizing what sort of disruption you’re dealing with, and ensuring you’ve got the necessary resources to survive and emerge stronger and more successful from the crisis. 

(00:28:21) Finding your first first and getting flexible. The next steps on David’s list are identifying the most immediate and important course of action to aid recovery and coming to terms with the need to do things differently and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.

(00:31:30) Becoming collision-proof and protecting your value. When everyone else is panicking, David recommends learning lessons quickly to minimize risk and avoid repeating costly mistakes. He also advises business owners and entrepreneurs to concentrate on adding value rather than damaging their brand by offering heavy discounts.

(00:45:40) Building an endurance mindset. David describes his life as a recovering Iron Man and talks about his commitment to consistent training to maintain his emotional resiliency and physical vitality.

(00:48:26)  David’s personal mantra. He reveals his powerful “I am a bridge” statement and explains the sense of responsibility he feels to pass on the knowledge he learned from his predecessors and share his own insights and expertise with the world.

A.J. Jacobs is an author and journalist who has earned the nickname ‘The Human Guinea Pig’ due to his willingness to partake in grueling lifestyle experiments designed to improve his physical and emotional wellbeing. In the pursuit of personal development, A.J. has read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, embarked on a quest to achieve bodily perfection, and trained himself to turn fear and negativity into courage and gratitude. A.J.’s bestselling book, Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey, tells the story of his journey from New York to Colombia to thank all the people involved in the production of his morning cup of coffee.

In this episode, you’ll hear from A.J. Jacobs on:

• (00:06:50) Overcoming the brain’s negative bias
• (00:15:41) A.J.’s gratitude hacks
• (00:27:02) Effective altruism
• (00:32:50) What A.J. learned from the Encyclopedia Britannica
• (00:49:45) His pursuit of perfect health

Sara Auster is a sound therapist and meditation teacher who uses sound to help people relax and release tension. Sara first became aware of the restorative power of sound as a young child when she used music to communicate with her seriously ill sister. Later, she forged a successful career as an artist but, after an accident left her traumatized and in severe pain, she turned to music and meditation to help her heal. Today, Sara is an internationally recognized sound therapist who has collaborated with global brands such as Google and Microsoft and whose work has been featured in the New York Times. She’s also the author of the best-selling book SOUND BATH. Meditate, Heal, and Connect through Listening.

Tommy Baker is a writer and philosopher whose latest book, Seekers & Hustlers, How to Crush It and Find Fulfillment Without Losing Your Mind, aims to help people achieve a sustainable balance between professional success and personal happiness. As the creator of the Resist Average Academy, Tommy doesn’t believe in settling for second-best. Instead, he encourages people to excel, and through his podcast, books, and coaching work, he examines what it means to live a thriving life.

Robbie Bach is an author and public speaker who spent many years working in leadership roles for Microsoft. His first book Xbox Revisited: A Game Plan for Corporate and Civic Renewal, focuses on the lessons he learned from his role as Chief Xbox officer. His latest book, The Wilkes Insurrection, marks Robbie’s first foray into fiction writing and is a fast-paced thriller set in contemporary America. In addition to his professional and literary achievements, Robbie is a committed family man who believes in positivity, doing the right thing, and giving back to his community. He serves on the boards of numerous nonprofits, including the national board of governors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and his purpose is to inspire and empower an army of civic engineers who care about their communities and are committed to building a better future. 

In the final of the best of series, we feature Errol Doebler. Errol is a former Navy SEAL, an entrepreneur and an expert in what it takes to become a next level leader. Errol is one of the few people in the world who has had the distinction of serving as a Surface Warfare Officer, a Navy SEAL and as an FBI Special Agent. Now, with the founding of his consulting firm, Leader 193, Errol is sharing his wisdom with companies around the world. 

This is a re-air of episode 15  which was originally released December 16th, 2020.