All Episodes

Six Books That Changed How We Think About Performance

How to Come Back, from the Greatest Playoff Run in NBA History

Longevity, Actually (with Brian Koppelman)

Lessons on Excellence: Caring, Doing the Work, and Being Antifragile

Dream Big, Start Small: Lessons from World Record Miler Jim Ryun

How to Get Small Wins out of Bad Days

The New Science of Pain (and What It Means for You)

The Cost of Keeping Your Options Open (with David Epstein)

How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon)

How to Save Your Brain (with Cal Newport)

What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners

How to Change, Actually (with Eric Zimmer)

Use the “Zero-Zero Reset” to Perform Under Pressure

How to Coach Anyone, Including Yourself

Stop Self-Sabotaging: How to Get Out of Your Own Way

Unstuck Yourself: The Art of Building and Keeping Momentum

Beautiful Suffering: How Elite Athletes Find Joy in the Grind

Back to Work: Navigating Success, A.I., and the Unknown

Olympics Review: Lessons in Pressure, Courage, and Going All the Way

The Olympian's Guide to Handling Pressure, with Lilah Fear

How to Pursue Excellence Without Sacrificing Your Values

How to Get Out of Your Head and Into the Zone

The Way of Excellence: Inside Brad's New Book

Why Your Routine Might Be Working Against You

New Year, Same BS: How to Build Habits That Actually Stick

26 Lessons on Excellence to Jump Start 2026

Best Of: Courtney Dauwalter — Inside the (Joyful) Mind of an Elite Ultrarunner

How to Push Your Limits, with World-Champion Climber Sasha DiGiulian

"It's Never All Bad:" How to Suffer (with Matt Fitzgerald)

The Talent Episode: Is Greatness Born or Built?

Q+A: On Bad Habits, Post-Race Fitness, and “Boring” Work

The Mental Fitness Playbook: Resilience, Regulation, and Flexibility

Doing it All: The CEO Who Ran a 2:29 Marathon (with Nick Thompson)

The Optimization Trap — and How to Escape It

The Marathon Mindset: How to Endure, Actually

Everything You Need to Know About Managing Fatigue

7 Lessons to Help You Unlock an Elite Competitor's Mindset

How Curiosity Can Take Your Performance to the Next Level

Is Self-Improvement Just Making Us More Selfish?

It's Time to Move Past Bullsh*t "Toughness"

The Sports Psychologist Who Taught MJ and Kobe How to "Manage the Moment"

Fall Performance Syllabus: 3 Ideas to Help You Thrive

How Hard Should You Be Working?

How "Narrative Values" Can Change Your Psychology & Biology

From Success to Mastery: The Art of Sustained Excellence

Build Better Work Habits, Manage Anxiety, & Quit Leaking Energy

Restless Exhaustion: What to Do When You Just Can't Turn Off

Tools for Navigating Discomfort and Difficulty

How to Avoid the Achievement Trap and Find Lasting Fulfillment

The Art of Doing Hard Things: Meaningful Challenge vs. Useless Suffering

Balance is a Myth: How to Build Healthy Obsession

How to Build a Meaningful Identity in a Status-Driven World

How to Be Excellent, Actually

How to Take Better Breaks: Mastering Rest & Recovery

How to Know When to Grit vs. When to Quit

9 Important Life Lessons We've Learned from Exercise

120 - A 66-Year-Old Powerlifter with 71 World Records on the Secrets to Long-Term Success (with David Ricks)

119 - How to Turn Your Inner Critic Into a Coach

118 - How to Build Discipline

117 - The Masculinity Crisis, and Why It Matters for All of Us (Part 2)

116 - The Masculinity Crisis, and Why It Matters for All of Us (Part 1)

115 - Mailbag: Daily Health Checklist, Rut vs. Burnout, & Taking Good Breaks

114 - Choke, Recover, Repeat: Mastering the Art of Resilience

113 - Playing the Long Game in a Quick-Fix World

112 - Building True Confidence: The Practical Path from Bravado to Belief

111 - How to Better Manage Stress

110 - Bracketology: Who is the World's Top Performer?

109 - How (and Why) to Spend Some Time Alone in Your Head

108 - Musk, Chalamet, and Real vs. Fake Greatness (with Cal Newport)

107 - Wise Words: 16 of Our Favorite Quotes to Live By

106 - Mastering Mental Performance with Sports Psychologist Alex Auerbach

105 - Building Resilience and Finding Resonance: How to Embrace Life's Chaos

104 - How to Win the Inside Game, and Move from Surviving to Thriving (with Steve Magness)

103 - Steve's 5 Essential Rules for Training Physical Fitness

102 - The Art of Attention: Breaking Free from Digital Distraction

101 - From Solitude to Social Fitness: Rethinking Connection in the 21st Century (with Derek Thompson)

100 - Badwater 135 Finisher on Lessons from "The World's Toughest Foot Race" (with Kelaine Conochan)

099 - 25 Lessons (in 25 Minutes) for 2025

098 - Farewell, 2024: The Year's Best Tools, Lessons, Performances, & Books

097 - Healing Internet Brain Rot: Tips for a Healthier Information Diet

096 - "Go See God" Workouts and How to Stop Procrastinating

095 - Strategies for Overcoming Bad Days

094 - Hard Conversations & Gratitude That (Actually) Works

093 - How We Can ACTUALLY Make America Healthy Again

092 - How to Get Off the Achievement Treadmill

091 - Keep Calm and Practice On: Buddhist Lessons on Performance (with Stephen Batchelor)

090 - Use the Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) to Simplify Your Life

089 - Marathon 101 with Steve Magness: Insights & Strategy

088 - Flow: The 8 Factors of Optimal Experience

087 - Training Tips for the Aging Athlete

086 - The Coach Up: Should You Do "All-Out' Workouts?

085 - Quitting: When to Give Up (and When to Push On)

084 - The Coach Up: How to "Practice Your ABC's"

083 - The Science, Art, & Mystery of Hot Streaks

082 - Thinking Beyond the Brain: Exploring the "Extended Mind" (Part 2)

081 - Picking Goals, Pushing Through Plateaus, and Navigating Post-Race Blues

080 - Thinking Beyond the Brain: Exploring the "Extended Mind" (Part 1)

079 - Supplements 101: A Sports Dietician Goes Deep (with Meredith Parmley)

078 - The Coach Up: Don't Be a Day Trader

077 - Peak Performance: 10 Rules for Sustainable Excellence

076 - The 3 P's: A Simple Tool to Be More Optimistic

075 - Mastering the Mind: Layne Norton on Pain, Motivation, and Success

074 - The 85% Rule and the Art of Hard Effort

073 - Sleep Science: What Actually Matters

072 - Navigating Our Inner Selves: A Lesson from George Saunders

071 - Debunking Masculinity Myths & Redefining Modern Manhood

070 - "Don't Shoot Yourself with The Second Arrow"

069 - What Dying Can Teach Us About Living (with Dr. BJ Miller)

068 - A Mindset Shift to Make Your Life Easier

067 - How to Stay Motivated for the Long Haul

066 - The Coach Up: 5 Rules for a Better Routine

065 - The (Underrated) Mental & Physical Benefits of Walking

064 - The Coach Up: How to Exercise in the Heat

063 - A World-Class Violinist's Tips for Peak Performance (with Hilary Hahn)

062 - How Elite Performers Turn Anxiety Into Fuel

061 - The Difference Between Greatness and Fake Greatness

060 - The Coach Up: A Tool to Help with Prioritization

059 - Olympics Preview: Inside the Olympian's Mindset

058 - The Coach Up: Use the 4 P's to Respond Not React

057 - BIG NEWS: Introducing The Growth Equation Academy

056 - The Coach Up: RPE (What It Is & How to Use It)

055 - Do You Need Meaningful Work to Have a Good Life?

054 - The Coach Up: A Short but Effective On-the-Go Workout

053 - Everything You Need to Know About the "Second Wind"

052 - The Coach Up: How to (Deep) Read More Books

051 - Does Being a Good Person Make You a Worse Competitor?

050 - The Coach Up: The Visual Tool to Win Hard Workouts (or Days)

049 - Diet, Exercise, and Performance Dos and Don'ts with Adam Bornstein

048 - The Coach Up: JJ Redick on the Confidence of an NBA Sharpshooter

047 - How to think About Longevity and End-of-Life Health

046 - The Coach Up: How (and Why) To Do A Digital Sabbath

045 - The Reason You Can’t Ever Get Through Your To-Do List (with Oliver Burkeman)

044 - The Coach Up: Beginner's Mind and the Power of Pessimism

043 - Lessons from a 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat

042 - The Coach Up: Master These Soft Skills to Become a Great Leader

041 - How Algorithms are Changing Our Identity & Culture (with Kyle Chayka)

040 - The Coach Up: Allostasis vs. Homeostasis, and the Science of Handling Change

039 - Roundtable: Intuitive Eating, Using Fear as Motivation, and Internet Culture

038 - The Coach Up: The Two Types of Attention

037 - A Saner Way to Eat (with Evelyn Tribole)

036 - The Coach Up: Steve's Best Strategies for Handling Pressure

035 - Tools to Move More, Eat Better, & Boost Productivity

034 - The Coach Up: Why "Live Your Best Life Now" is Bad Advice

033 - How to Change Your Behavior and Make Better Decisions (with Katy Milkman)

032 - The Coach Up: Use this Pyramid to Organize Your Life

031 - Let's Make Work — and Technology — Less Insane (with Cal Newport)

030 - The Coach Up: 3 Mantras for Work, Anxiety, and Exercise

029 - How to Lose Well & Age Gracefully

028 - The Coach Up: The 4 Levels of Competence

027 - The Case for Less Technology & More Boredom (with Manoush Zomorodi)

026 - The Coach Up: How to Tap Into the Power of Ritual

025 - Caitlin Clark & The Cost of Greatness

024 - The Coach Up: Make Friends with Your Fatigue

023 — When Does Exercise Become Unhealthy? (And Other Voicemails)

022 - The Coach Up: Instead of Toxic Positivity, Try Tragic Optimism

021 - Are Our Cravings and Comforts Holding Us Back? (with Michael Easter)

020 - The Coach Up: 6 Tips for Building (& Breaking) Habits

019 - VO2 Max and Other Things You Don't Need To Know

018 - The Coach Up: (How to) Fly Into the Danger Zone

017 - Rethinking Toughness with Ironman World Champion Chelsea Sodaro

016 - The Coach Up: Getting Started When You Don't Want to Get Started

015 - How to Be Productive in a World of Infinite Noise

014 - The Coach Up: Why Bad Days Matter More Than Good Days

013 - Knowing How to "Winter" Is a Year Round Skill (with Katherine May)

012 - The Coach Up: A Magness Masterclass on Feedback

011 - Is Our Happiness Obsession Making Us... Unhappy?

010 - The Coach Up: We're Talking About Practice(s)!

009 - Mental & Physical Skills of the World's Best Athlete (with Damian Warner)

008 - The Coach Up: This Concept Will Change How You Think About Motivation

007 - Be Yourself and Go All the Way

006 - The Coach Up: 5 Lessons on Focus, Leadership, and Greatness (with NFL coach Andy Reid)

005 - How the Cult of Wellness is Failing Us (with Kate Bowler)

004 - The Coach Up: Why You Should Stop Your Workout (Just) Short

003 - Fantasy Draft: Our 12 Favorite Movies & Shows About Performance

002 - The Coach Up: How to Set Better Goals

001 - Inside the (Joyful) Mind of Elite Ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter

Welcome to FAREWELL, Premiering January 4th (Trailer)

203 - Is Motivational Speaking a Scam?

202 - End of Year Roundtable: Habits We Started, Goals We Have, Trends We're Buying/Selling

201 - This Book Changed How We Think About Performance and Anxiety

200 - Strategies to Maximize Your End-of-Year Health

199 - The Arrival Fallacy: Why Chasing (and Achieving) Success Doesn't Always Lead to Happiness

198 - How to Strike the Balance Between Self-Compassion and Self-Discipline

197 - Why we're on the Internet (but not of the Internet)

196 - How to Stay Healthy (and in a Routine) on the Road

195 - Motivation (Philosophy is happening)

194 - Editing and Publishing Books (with Anna Paustenbach)

193 - Playing Games (even ones we don’t like)

192 - We're Expanding the Team (with Clay Skipper)

191 - Deion Sanders and The Contribution Trophy

190 - Why Exercise Should be a Part of your Job (even if you’re not an athlete)

189 - Reflections on Launch Week

188 - Competition and The “Win at All Costs” Mentality

187 - Master Of Change

186 - Four Types of Recovery

185 - The Mental Health of Endurance Athletes

184 - Hitting “The Plateau”

183 - How and Why We Choke

182 - A Master Interviewer on How to Ask Great Questions

181 - How We Use Technology

180 - Taking It Easy

179 - 7 Mindset Shifts that will Change your Life

178 - Cheap Dopamine

177 - The Internet has gone a little Crazy

176 - Relational Flexibility (with Yael Schonbrun)

Special Episode: Big Pharma vs. Big Conspiracy

175 - Nurturing Our Relationships (with Yael Schonbrun)

174 - The Impact of Youth Sports

173 - "You Can’t Screw This Up” (with Adam Bornstein)

172 – Diet Extremism and the Trigger Happy Contrarian

171 – Steve Magness Gives a Masterclass on Exercise

170 – Interpreting Failure

169 – Kate Courtney

168 – Men and Masculinity (Part 2)

167 – Men and Masculinity (Part 1)

166 – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

165 – A Message for Coaches

164 – The Impact of Artificial Intelligence

163 – Examine Your Supplements (with Gregory Lopez)

161 – Cold Plunges, Coffee, and Alchohol

160 – The Attention Economy

159 – Startling Rates of Mental Illness in Teenagers

158 – Who’s the Greatest Basketball Player of all Time?

157 – Navigating Intimate Relationships (with Yael Schonbrun)

156 – Sahil Bloom

155 – How NOT to fail your New Year’s Resolution

154 – The Athlete’s Psychology (with Stu McMillan)

153 – Coaching Olympic Athletes (with Stu McMillan)

152 – The Digital Sabbatical

151 – Quick Thoughts Before the Holiday Break; We’ll be Back Jan 04

150 – The Twitter Premortem

149 – Sustainable Progress

148 – Top 15 Books of 2022

147 – Analyzing Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX

146 – Internet Brain

145 – How to Work, Parent, Thrive (with Yael Schonbrun)

144 – Life is Hard, How Philosophy can Help (with Kieran Setiya)

143 – Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

142 – Finding Your Endurance (with Chris Douglas)

141 – Balancing Progression with Consistency

140 – Rest and Recovery

139 – Top 9 Documentaries

138 – How Awe Impacts Us

137 – Groundedness: One Year Later

136 – Quiet Quitting

135 – When Fun Becomes Work

134 – “The Medium is the Message”: Part Two on Today’s Media Landscape And How It Changes All Of Us

133 – Part One: Today’s Media Landscape and How it Changes All of Us (The Pitfalls of Audience Capture, And How to Avoid Them)

132 – How to Rethink Talent Development

Can You Be a Massive Success Without Being a Narcissist?

The 24 to 48 Hour Rule

BONUS: Sink or Swim, Survive or Thrive

A Better Way to Think About Coaching, Parenting, and Leading

Consistency Over Intensity

When To Grit And When To Quit

Resilience, Grit, Toughness and Learning How to Do Hard Things

7 Key Guidelines for Health and Longevity

Re-Listen: CAL NEWPORT on The Moral Weight of Working, Not Working, and Bragging About Both

Truly Great Teams Versus “Super Teams”

11 Concepts for Mental Health

The Connection Between Crazy Supplements, Crazy Conspiracies, and Crazy Candidates

Listener Mailbag: Books, Sleep, Practicing What You Preach, and More!

What the NFL Draft can Teach Us About Talent Identification

The Current State of Social Media and Attention Economics

Habits Aren’t the Only Path to Health Behavior Change

Daily Habits for Health and Performance

Everyone Is Tired All The Time. Here’s What You Can Do About It.

Managing Uncertainty

From Opioid Addiction to Enlightenment

Longevity, Diet, and Changing Your Relationship with Excellence

Re-listen: Life with Shalane Flanagan, Marathon Champion, Olympian and Coach

The Case for Ambition

How to Work With Performance Anxiety

Excellence, Mental Health, and the Olympics: Going Hard Without Falling Apart

Good vs. Bad Motivation

People Are Losing Their Minds on the Internet

When To Thrive vs. Simply Survive

All About Failure

How to be Consistent

The Science (And Philosophy) Of Setting Optimal Goals

Recapping the Six Biggest Performance and “Wellness” Ideas from 2021

The Creative Process with Sculptor Emil Alzamora

Fundamentals Not Fluff

What Does it Mean to be Courageous in Daily Life, With Ryan Holiday

Top 10 Books of 2021

Grit and Exploitation vs. Exploration

Activity (And Other) Trackers

Do More Real Things in The World, Be Better, and Feel Better

Dave Pell: Managing Editor… Of The Internet

Everyone Can Benefit From Coaching

SUBTRACT: The Power of Less

Productivity vs. Productive Activity and Time Management

Closing the Empathy Gap

Focusing on the Process When Results Matter

Finding Stability in a Frenetic World

The Mind Outside of Your Head

Determining the Greatest of All Time

How to Spot Guru Syndrome (And What to Do About It)

Olympic Lessons For All of Us

Ask Me Anything (AMA) — It Depends!

How to Get Going When You Don’t Want To But Know You Should

Unpacking The Best Press Conference Ever

Growth Academy #10: Transitions

Growth Academy #9: Self-Awareness (And Self-Distancing)

Growth Academy #8: Harmonious Passion

Mental Health in Athletes (And Beyond)

Growth Academy #7: Obsessive Passion

Growth Eq Academy #6: Motivation and Drive

CAL NEWPORT on The Moral Weight of Working, Not Working, and Bragging About Both

Growth EQ Academy #5: Purpose

Growth EQ Academy #4: Routines

Growth EQ Academy #3: Rest and Recovery

Growth EQ Academy #2: Stress Yourself

Growth EQ Academy #1: Stress + Rest = Growth.

Fascinating Insights About Aging and Performance

The Instagram Filter Theory of Life and Doing Real Things in the World

Load Management (In Sport, Work, and Life)

Divorce in High Performers

How to Read More and Read Better

Right Thinking

Hero Worship and Performative Everything

Skill vs. Luck vs. Hard Work

An Honest Rant on College Admissions

Inside Baseball: Book Publishing

Slaying Sacred Cows in Health and Fitness

Unwinding Anxiety

What “Good Sleep” Really Means and How to Get It

Why Practicing Humility is the Key to True Confidence and Belonging

A World Without Email (And a More Optimal Life) With Cal Newport

Coaching Beyond Sport

Getting Beyond Hack Culture

The Science of Pacing (And Not Just For Sport, But All Big Projects In Life)

Teamwork, Flow, and Peak Performance on K2

Tom Brady and the Relationship Between Peak Performance and Age

Factors of Resilience

The Secrets of Lasting Change

We Finally Made it to 2021—Now What?

How to Make Your Brain a Better Place

Taylor Swift and the Principles of Hot Streaks

The Trappings of Unchecked Striving: Zappos and Tony Hsieh’s Tragic Death

The Zen of Running and Writing

McKinsey, Opiods, and The Dark Side of High Performance

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Rich Roll: The Art of Meaningful Conversation

Trust: The Most Important Thing There Is

Special Episode: Election Madness

A Discussion About Race with Jojo McDuffie

Defining Success: Lebron vs. Jordan

The Social Media Episode

Listener Mailbag with Brad and Steve: Diet, Motivation, and Home Office Design

How to be Clutch (and Avoid Choking)

Listener Mailbag with Brad & Steve: Routines, Reading, and Suffering

Amelia Boone: Obstacle Racing and Mental Health Warrior

She’s Back! Life with Shalane Flanagan, Marathon Champion, Olympian and Coach

Growth EQ Principles: Self-Compassion

Six Hot (and Thoughtful) Takes on Performance

Growth EQ Principles: Patience

The Pandemic and the Burnout Epidemic

Growth EQ Principles: Process over Outcome