Episode 73: Steve Magness on Doing Hard Things

Creative projects are rewarding, but let’s be honest: they’re also hard. Today’s guest, Steve Magness, is an expert on doing hard things and he has some good advice on how to break through. Steve discusses the benefits of a quiet ego, how to feed and reward the positive voices in your head, how shifting to talking to yourself in second or third person can help you quiet negative self-talk, and how spending time alone and practicing boredom can foster creativity.Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on performance. He is the author of the new book Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and The Surprising Science of Real Toughness. He’s also coauthor of Peak Performance. The Passion Paradox, and the author of The Science of Running. Magness has served as an executive coach and a consultant on mental skills development for professional sports teams, including some of the top teams in the NBA. Steve’s writing has appeared in Outside, Runner’s World, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, Men's Health, and a variety of other outlets. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston and a graduate degree from George Mason University. He currently lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Hillary. Once upon a time, he ran a mile in 4:01 in high school, at the time the 6th fastest high school mile in US history.Steve’s website Steve on Twitter https://twitter.com/stevemagnessEmerging Form is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new bonus episodes and help us make this podcast sustainable, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe