In this episode we go deep into the high performance habits of the worlds top performers, look at the only place confidence truly comes from, dig into why we struggle to perform when the pressure is on, examine the habits, routines, and strategies the world’s absolute best use to perform at their peak, and much more with our guest Dr. Michael Gervais. 

  

 Dr. Michael Gervais is a high performance psychologist who has worked with some of the world’s top performers including the Seattle Seahawks, Felix Baumgartner (The Red Bull Athlete Who Completed the Stratosphere Jump) Olympians, musicians, and champions! His work has been featured on ESPN, CNN, The New York Times, and much more!

  

 

We love to put some of the world’s top performers on a pedestal - but there are extraordinary things that take place every day that aren’t capture on the cameras 

Are extraordinary performers born that way? No.

Why do we struggle to perform “when the lights are on”/ “when there is pressure”

Top performers have fundamentally organized their lives around growth and improvement

What does it mean to have your life organized around performance and growth?

There are only 3 things we can train

We can train our body

We can train our craft

We can train our minds

When we look at the best in the world across domains - they are more similar to each other than dissimilar 

Relentless dedication to building and refining their craft

Relentless dedication to building the right body / carriage 

Ability to adapt and be strong from a mental perspective

Provide opportunities to stress the system (mind & body) and to recover the system 

Feedback loops are both internal and external 

The importance of having consequences - both natural/physical consequences and man made consequences

Lessons from working with coach Pete Carroll from the Seattle Seahawks 

Ask yourself: Who in your life helps you be better and what are the characteristics of those people?

Internal feedback loops

How am I doing? How does it feel? Am I executing at the right level?

What is going on in my body?

Being aware of the energy, tension in your body, your thoughts, etc 

External feedback loops - having people in your life who can help you get better

At any given time we can have our attention focused internally or externally - but we can’t spend too much time focused on the internal

To do extraordinary things in life - NOBODY does it alone. We need other people. You have to invest in the true connection with other people. 

The greatest wayfinders, when they set sail, they don’t pray for calm waters, they pray for rugged seas, moving through the rugged seas is what forges strength - that is where you get made, that is where you find your true nature

The brain’s job is to scan the world and see what’s dangerous - but you can’t let the brain have too much control

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