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excellence, actually

excellence, actually

By: Steve Magness Brad Stulberg & Clay Skipper
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About this listen

"excellence, actually" is a podcast from The Growth Equation, hosted by Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, and Clay Skipper. Drawing on their years of working and corresponding with Olympians, coaches, executives, world-class physicians, and other elite-level achievers in their coaching practice and professional careers, they give you the mental and physical tools, practices, habits, and frameworks used by the best in the world in the pursuit of excellence. Each episode will give you concrete ideas and tips to use in your life immediately to help you become more meaningfully engaged in the pursuits that support your goals and your values. This is not the performative nonsense that is peddled online by grifters and influencers, but the evidence-based systems that work for the best in the world. This is excellence, actually. (This podcast used to appear under the name FAREWELL.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Growth Equation Podcast
Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • From Success to Mastery: The Art of Sustained Excellence
    Aug 21 2025

    We spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about how to achieve success in your own personal pursuit of excellence, but we don't spend all that much time talking about what happens after that: how do you sustain it? That's the question facing Cooper Lutkenhaus, a 16-year-old who recently ran a blazing 1:42 in the 800-meter race at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, who provides the launching pad for today's discussion. But it's a question relevant to any of us, whether you've already reached some heights of success or you're still climbing to get there. (And we've even got some thoughts who feel like they've been climbing, without success, for too long.) Today’s episode is all about the strategies and habits of turning a moment of greatness into long-term excellence. We discuss structuring practice (and play) to facilitate encouragement and engagement, navigating both short-term and long-term feedback loops, staying true to intrinsic motivation rather than external rewards, and much more.


    Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NDKG39rLl64NR8jU0SBWbXTkaLdvJOmJjEyC13s2ioM/edit?usp=sharing


    If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬.


    Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/


    If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

    • iTunes and Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • Android
    • PocketCasts


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    41 mins
  • Build Better Work Habits, Manage Anxiety, & Quit Leaking Energy
    Aug 14 2025

    Since we launched "excellence, actually," we've gotten a bunch of questions from listeners and members of The Growth Equation Academy. So today we're answering four of your most pressing questions. (1) Where is the line between productive preparation and preparation that is done purely to curb anxiety about an upcoming event? (2) How should we transition between important tasks or deep work periods without leaking energy or focus? (3) How to turn down an overactive mind-body threat or alarm system? (4) What role does the efficiency of A.I. have in our pursuits of excellence? As always, we're giving you the most effective, time-tested strategies and practices we've found to deal with each of these issues.


    Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16x-xU0RrAIx8PhBBlNWJb6RndmYnZLvjjsSjGajhWvs/edit?usp=sharing


    If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬.


    Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/


    If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

    • iTunes and Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • Android
    • PocketCasts


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • Restless Exhaustion: What to Do When You Just Can't Turn Off
    Aug 7 2025

    It's the end of the day and you're finally ready to shut down, unplug from work, relax, or go to sleep—except your mind won't stop racing. You're wiped, but your brain and body are still vibrating. Maybe this doesn't just happen at the end of the day, but during breaks throughout it, or maybe you notice it when you've finally gotten to the weekend or a vacation and still can't turn off. This is restless exhaustion, and it seems to be the status quo of our modern world. It's a disconnect between your energy (which is low) and your activation (which is high). So the usual solution of being told to "relax" doesn't work. What you need are a set of tools and changes to your environment that help you downshift your nervous system. That's what we're giving you today. We talk about how restless exhaustion came to be and why it's triggered by the modern world, differentiate between type 1 and type 2 restless exhaustion, and give you the actionable strategies to help you navigate both and get to a state where you can actually rest.


    Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r1LCdHT0Lq49LVrEMlAHukxcDXzWktu4Y5puScv5Tfg/edit?usp=sharing


    If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬.


    Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/


    If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

    • iTunes and Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • Android
    • PocketCasts


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
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