Are You Playing to Win, or Playing Not to Lose in Your Business? with Dr. Angela Kerek

Most founders I talk to already know what they need to do — they just aren't doing it. In this episode, I find out why.Dr. Angela Kerek is a former professional tennis player, big law finance partner, and now founder of Active Giving — and her framework for sustainable performance completely reframed how I think about fear, self-sabotage, and what it actually means to give your all.We talked about the difference between playing to win versus playing to avoid losing, and how that same psychology that showed up on the tennis court follows us into every pitch, every client call, and every revenue goal we set. Angela shared how she realized she'd never truly given 100% in her entire career — not because she couldn't, but because if she gave everything and still lost, she'd have no excuse left. We dug into how to build a value system that's truly your own, why movement is one of the most underrated tools for mental resilience, and what it really looks like to live a sustainable, high-performing life without burning out. No books or external resources were mentioned in this episode. Find Angela and Active Giving at angelakeriek.com and activegiving.de.Build your founder brand with Mylance: https://mylance.co Bradley Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-r-jacobs/ Connect with Angela Kerek: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelakerek/00:00 Welcome & guest intro00:44 Angela's background02:39 Learning to succeed without losing yourself06:38 Winning in business vs. winning in sport07:35 Defining success on your own terms11:04 Process focus & planning the night before12:48 We know what to do — so why don't we?13:59 Self-sabotage: the fear beneath the avoidance14:53 Playing to win vs. playing not to lose19:58 Fear of giving your all — and still failing20:14 What we can and can't control21:23 What to actually do about it23:27 Building your own universe25:00 Blocking out the noise — from everyone26:27 Training the mind to come back to itself29:42 Why building a business is so hard30:16 Uncertainty and the hardest part of founding32:02 Closing thoughts & last advice32:18 Never stop following your dreams34:10 Where to find Angela & Active Giving34:49 Wrap-up