Why I Get Up At 4am
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #143 with AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan, in which he shares why he gets up every morning at 4am. ...
Blog
The Balance of Being and Becoming
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #141 with co-founder of the Esalen Institute, Michael Murphy, in which he explains the importance of finding the right b...
Why Mindfulness Matters To Me
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #135 in which actor, producer, and comedian, Michael Rosenbaum, shares why mindfulness matters to him. Michael Rosenbaum: The key is being present. I mean, everyone talks about that and I didn't un...
Indecisiveness Will Cripple You
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #136 with co-founder of Impact Theory and Quest Nutrition, Tom Bilyeu, in which he explains why he believes a lack of de...
When the stakes are high, do you bet on yourself?
On a daily basis, our external world can be ridiculously noisy — our phones, computers, newsfeeds, social media accounts, notifications and emails fight for our...
How I Build Trust and Win Clients
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #124 with top wealth manager Rebecca Rothstein in which she shares how she builds trust and wins over clients. Michael Gervais: How do you build trust with them because this sounds like a relation...
Combatting Perfectionism
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #121 with plant powered wellness advocate Rich Roll in which he discusses how to combat perfectionism and self-critical ...
Stoking your inner fire for a more optimal way of living
Are you living completely optimized?I'm not talking about high productivity or output -- rather -- are you living consistently with a zest for life --...
The Mindset Required to Make it to the Pros
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #093 with Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton, in which he describes the mindset required to make it at the pro level in sports. Michael Gervais: Will you teach your children those same qua...
Creating Positive Imagery Experiences with VR
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #109 in which the founder of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson, shares how he cr...
Using Imagery to Train for El Capitan
This an excerpt from Finding Mastery #108 with adventure rock climber Alex Honnold in which he describes how he used imagery to train for free-solo climbing E...
Living in Alignment with your Personal Philosophy
People talk about “becoming” and “being” your best.What is someone’s “best?” Seriously, what is your "best?" It's incredibly difficult to get your arms around it, partly because it's a moving target that is influenced by dynamically moving compon...
The Four Tendencies
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #106 with best-selling author Gretchen Rubin in which she shares her four tendencies framework for how different peo...
Hidden (and subtle) dangers of multi-tasking
Long gone are the days where being a multi-tasker is a badge of honor for productivity. There are hidden dangers that can come from multi-tasking that are far g...
Artificial Intelligence: In mind and on time
Thanks to Brad Smith and Harry Shum at Microsoft for this and it got my wheels turning.The most significant change that might take place here, could be our relationship with time.With the automation of mundane tasks, what will you do with you...
The Mythical Ridgeline: Balance vs Being
This question comes up a lot: How do we help our employees find balance?Is the quest for balance the same as the quest for perfection or is it a mythical ri...
Learn to Let Go
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #101 with meditation expert Sharon Salzberg in which she explains why formal meditation training is so applicable to...
Be Humble & Be Confident
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #099 with USA Women’s Water Polo head coach Adam Krikorian in which he explains why being humble and confident are words that cut to the center of what he understands most. Michael Gervais: Is there...
What I Look For In A Leader
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #098 with Boeing Vice Chairman Ray Conner in which he shares the number one factor he looks for in a leader.
...
How I Help My Players Overcome Mistakes
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #097 with coach, mountaineer, and marathoner Anne Parmenter in which she shares how she helps her players recover fr...
Redefine Your Metrics For Success
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #096 with USC Dean of Religious Life Varun Soni in which he explains why he asks his students to redefine their metrics for success. Varun Soni: What I talk to my students about and what I have t...
Insight on Self-Discovery
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #095 with author David Epstein in which he shares what he’s found to be important for self-discovery. ...
Navigating My Relationship with Electronics
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #094 with Thrive Global CEO Arianna Huffington in which she shares how she navigates her relationship with electro...
Managing Your Inner Dialogue
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #090 with Victoria's Secret CEO Jan Singer in which she shares how she helps others manage their inner dialogue. Michael Gervais: How do you manage and help others manage the inner dialogue...
Kobe Bryant’s Mindset
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #093 with Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton in which he shares his experience playing with Kobe Bryant. ...
The Key to Being Present
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #092 with author and speaker Robert Rabbin in which he shares why breathing is the key to being present. ...
How To Control Your Emotions
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #091 with Army Major, Mike Erwin, in which he shares why he believes the most important habit to cultivate is to control your emotions when responding to something you disagree with. Michae...
How I Build Confidence
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #090 with Victoria's Secret CEO, Jan Singer, in which she shares how she builds confidence. I think...
How to Identify Potential in Others
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #089 with Microsoft's EVP of Worldwide Commercial Business, Judson Althoff, in which he shares how to help other...
Curiosity as an Antidote For Fear
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #066 with Dr. Judson Brewer in which he describes why curiosity is an antidote for fear. Michael Gervais: We were talking about fear, like the thought of the fear being the contractor for m...
The Best Way to Grow
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #085 with Texas Men's Basketball Head Coach Shaka Smart in which he explains why being open to feedback is imper...
How I Train Confidence
This is an excerpt from Finding Mastery #003 with violinist Kai Kight in which he explains how he trains confidence. Kai Kight: How do I tr...
Why You Can Support The Military & Colin Kaepernick
This is a volunteer army where these young people stand up when a nation calls. They don't get into debates about the politics, how we are going to pay for it, who’s right or who’s wrong.They simply say, “send me, send me.”So I unders...
My Experience with a Young Steve Jobs
When I met Steve Jobs, he was 23 years old. He was making the Apple II. He and Wozniak just thought computers could be important someday.We started...
Why Self-Reflection is a Competitive Advantage
When I’m on a plane, if things are running well, I don't listen to music, I don't watch any movies. I'm pretty ok just staring into space.I've had a...
How You Win In Your Mind
One day, one life.
I love this saying.The notion is that every day is a lifetime of learning. It’s like the Buddha says, that you can find enlightenment in a single breath, if you're aware, if you're present.If you're present, then you...
How I Manage Ego & Challenge
How do I manage ego when it doesn't go my way? When it doesn’t go the right way for an engineer or a teammate?I don't think that there is a single a...
What Do You Stand For
Before I started my journey on trying to become hard and all this bullshit about David Goggins, I first had to master one thing, the fact that I had to...
Bringing Out the Best in Others
If you are going to change a person's behavior and their performance, the first thing you have to do is change the way they think.We've got to inspire them, we've got to enhance their vision of themselves, we've got to get them to reach f...
How World Leading Athletes Sleep
World leading athletes are well aware of the importance of sleep as it relates to high performance. Most of us would agree that elite athletes are required to c...
On-ramping Ecstasies
Any of these skills or techniques to reach ecstasies can be regressed so that there's an infinitely progressive on-ramp, no matter , no matter where you...
Learning to Trust
When I started to travel I was about 23 or 24.I would go to these train stations and buy a ticket to the next destination. I had very little money at the time - certainly didn't have enough to spend night after night in a hotel room.
“When I ...
Work on Your Weaknesses
The very first sentence on my nerdy notepad under the words finding mastery is “work on your weaknesses.”I think it is the hardest thing to do. I think ...
How to Develop Mental Toughness
How you develop mental toughness is becoming hard. How you become hard is doing shit that you don't want to do.
"Most people live in this nice comfortable ...
How I Tackled Self-Doubt
I had a decent ability to stay in my body and I'm feeling anxious even if I didn't know the cause of it.I would listen to my body cues and when I got anxious it was like having a neon sign saying, “Something's up, pay attention.”I woul...
Practicing Self-Love
When I talk about self-love, mindfulness is important but it goes a step further for me.
“It includes nutrition – 80% of how you feel on a day-to-day ba...
Perfection vs. Progression
My older daughter is a bit of a perfectionist not unlike her mother was at that age.I still am but less hard on myself about it.You have a choi...
The Allure of Zen Buddhism
I think a lot about Zen Buddhism because I meditate every day.I get up every morning and before I eat or do anything I meditate for 35 minutes. It's a very intense 35 minutes because you're emptying the mind. I've been doing it religiously ev...
My Method for Writing
The first thing I think people overlook when it comes to writing is the distinction between the research and the thinking and then the writing.A lot of ...
Learning vs. Memorizing Information
From a young age, I found that I was pretty good at memorizing but it was just seemingly not related to anything that I felt was actually accumulating ...
How Power is Acquired
I’ve been studying how people get power.How do you get power in the U.S. Senate or on the basketball court or in social groups?At the same time my lab was looking at what happens if you randomly give people power or people feel like they're...
Surviving in Challenging Environments
What was it about my youth that set up a way for me to be able to capture the opportunity to become a CEO of an international firm, deal with single mot...
Why the Apple Genius Bar Was Created
I think the totality of what I do is storytelling. It's the ability to tell a brand story in a way that people will love it, trust it, and be interest...
Behind the Nike Freestyle Campaign
On my computer, I always have “light bulbs.” Stuff that is written on there that doesn't mean anything at that particular time, but I’ll have an idea and think “yeah that could be something’ so I put it in the “light bulb folder.”
"In the l...
The Ship Must Move Forward
Up until maybe a couple of weeks ago my whole mantra was “Run To The Roar, ” which is the title of my book.It essentially meant go at the problem, deal...
The Benefit of a Sabbatical
What’s helped me tremendously is this 4-1-4 model, in which I work for four years and then take a year off.It's not about working for four years and t...
The Impact of an Animal-Based Diet
There is an environmental impact that comes with consuming an animal-based diet. The United Nations said over ten years ago that climate change is from carbon footprints.When we think of a carbon footprint we think about the energy sector - f...
Has Power Corrupted You?
During his Finding Mastery conversation, social psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner shared a few specific signals that indicate power has corrupted someone....
The Power of Stillness
National Geographic explorer Elizabeth Lindsey explains the value in finding stillness on an everyday basis.Over the years she’s had the fortunate oppor...
Do the Hardest Thing First
Author Steven Kotler shares a strategy he recommends for entering the flow state. Kotler insists that it’s not necessary to build your life around flow.The first step is to understand that flow only happens during moments of uninterrupted con...
The Heart of Deliberate Practice
Psychologist Anders Ericsson explains that the heart of deliberate practice starts with having an awareness of which activities are catalysts for improvem...
Methods to Train Breathing
Social psychologist Dacher Keltner explains why he believes breathing is the most important things people can do for wellbeing.
“I believe is just as imp...
Valuing Culture Over Talent
John Donahoe discusses how he balances talent and culture within an organization. He believes it's possible to get key people to "buy in" and align the team's goals with their own, even if they haven't shown that ability in the past.
"My expe...
Creating a Relationship-Based Culture
Pete Carroll explains why creating a relationship based culture in Seattle is vital to their success. He believes his job is to help others become their be...
Surrendering to the process of meditation
During his Finding Mastery conversation, ABC’s Dan Harris described how to best surrender to the process of meditation.
Dan explained that you can get in...
The Process for Atomizing Thoughts
Neuroscientist Caroline Leaf describes the process for atomizing one’s thoughts and building successful habits.As our mind responds to the incoming and outgoing, we are going to now start thinking about the new information. That new informa...
Asking the Right Questions
Leadership executive Liz Wiseman explains some of her favorite questions she asks to identify the "native genius" in others...
"What does this perso...
The Mechanics of Imagery
On Saturday, September 17, the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team completed its historic Paralympic Games with the team’s first-ever gold medal on...
What It Takes to Win an Election
Congressman Tim Ryan describes his mindset during the early campaigning days and how it took grit that he learned from playing sports.He remembered one day where it was raining really hard and his guys said we can’t go out today but he said: ...
The Inability to “Turn It Off”
Ryan Holiday explains why the cost of mastery for him is not being able to “turn it off." He thinks it extends to many successful people in their respecti...
Why Curiosity and Intent Lead to Mastery
Classical violinist Kai Kight believes mastery comes down to two concepts: curiosity and intention. In Kai’s Finding Mastery conversation, he explained ...
Becoming a Better Risk Taker
Pete Carroll discusses how he helps others take a shot.He believes great performers dwell in the moment of risk. They look for it because they have become comfortable with it and they trust and have confidence that they can function. A big pa...
Minutes on Mastery Introduction
Welcome to Minutes on Mastery -- simple and applied insights from those on the path to Mastery. This has been designed to be an adjunct to the full Find...
Practicing Gratitude
In Dan Harris’ Finding Mastery conversation, he discussed how it’s easy to take for granted all the good things we have in our respective lives.
This is ...
Importance of Having a Philosophy
James Bond believes in sharing his philosophy up front with his colleagues. The key is both communication and trust.“This is how I need it to be. I’m going to give you my piece. I’m going to give you my thoughts. And from that I want you t...
Overcoming Pressure at the Olympics
I am obsessed with watching the Olympics right now – there are so many lessons to learn. It’s funny, I used to watch the Olympics when I was a kid with admira...
Thriving in Uncomfortable Environments
Legendary volleyball player Karch Kiraly discusses how he was able to focus deeply and perform in uncomfortable environments.Challenging practices wer...
Rio Olympics x Finding Mastery
The Summer Olympics kick off in Rio De Janeiro today and Finding Mastery plans on celebrating past and present Olympians over the next two weeks.
This week's guest, Canadian soccer goalkeeper, Stephanie Labbé, helped the Canadians get off to...
Failure is Just Data
Green Monday founder David Yeung believes failure is a very useful and positive thing. He experienced failures and setbacks with the first company he foun...
Putting Others First
Green Monday Founder David Yeung's family motto is centered around looking out for others. David describes a story his dad told him about the his g...
Inviting Stress to Grow
In the conversation with Katie Holloway, she discussed how she's been able to turn the pain of being bullied throughout her childhood into a positive.She believes protecting your heart doesn't get you anywhere. Rather, only when you have ...
Team vs. Tribe
Former Navy SEAL Clint Bruce made it clear in his Finding Mastery conversation that there are two things he cares deeply about: relationships and having a...
Finding Your Optimal Mindset
NHL great Pat LaFontaine speaks to incoming NHL rookies on how to consistently perform at a high level and maintain success in the league. He believes it ...
Nike Passing on Space Jam
Advertising legend Jimmy Smith shared a story on the podcast about Nike passing on the Space Jam movie and how it applies to risk taking.Nike had run a Space Jam commercial during the Super Bowl that had blown up.Warner Brothers went to Phi...
Wisdom on Appreciating Time
Elizabeth Lindsey has traveled around the world and learned from some of the wisest elders from indigenous societies.She has gained priceless insights a...
The Concept of Stresswood
In the conversation with advertising legend Jimmy Smith, he discussed why embracing the concept of "stresswood" helped him endure tough times with his b...
Where Confidence Comes From
In the conversation with Nicole Davis, she discussed where confidence comes from. She believes confidence doesn't come from preparation, but rather from the things that you say to yourself.
“You can shoot a shot 10, 000 times in a row, bu...
Mindset of a Multiplier Leader
Liz Wiseman explains how she helps leaders bring out the best in other people.The "diminisher mindset" is nobody is going to figure it out without me ...
The Importance of Being Present
Being where your feet are at is a skill. Pete Carroll talks about why being present is vital to the success of the Seattle Seahawks.
“When we’re at our best...
The Moment He Knew He Thought Different
Pete Carroll describes the first time he noticed he had a unique approach to coaching football.It was one precise moment.He was an assistant coach at the University of Pacific. He had just finished a night meeting with the defensive...
Becoming a Better Risk Taker
Kayt Sukel explains how to help a child become a better risk taker. A key is to let them explore and experiment.
"We need to let them mess up, which is ...
Merging Vets and Players
In Part 2 of the conversation with Nate Boyer, he discussed his latest endeavor -"MVP"- in which he teamed up with NFL Insider Jay Glazer to create a program ...
Mastering the Mental Game
Pete Carroll and Michael Gervais recently spoke at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference about "Mastering the Mental Game."
"You can't be at your best if you're not totally in the moment." - Pete Carroll
In the video, some topics discussed include:Wh...
Pushing the Mind
Nate Boyer talks about the importance of controlling one's thoughts - while there may be limitations on physical ability, the same cannot be said for th...
Making a Difference
Nate Boyer wanted to make a difference.He decided he wanted to go help people in Darfur, yet getting over there wasn't as easy as he initially imagine...
Embracing Adversity + Finding Your Calling
In the conversation with John Donahoe, he discussed why facing adversity is imperative to growth...
That's when you learn, that's when you grow. That's when you develop character as a person, as a leader, as a team, as an organization."
He ...
The Importance of Connection
In this week's edition of "Ask Mike, " previous guest of the show, Jon Gordon, had a question for Mike...
Jon Gordon:What did you learn most from our po...
No Place for Shame
Clint Bruce has no place for shame in his life. He measures shame in time- there's the event and then the period of time after where you're unwilling to d...
Letting Go of the Uncontrollable
Each week going forward, Michael will be answering questions on Facebook and Twitter. In the debut session, there were some great questions asked.
One question came from Scott Enyeart.Scott Enyeart:What tips do you have for letting go of...
Refusing to Stay Comfortable
Since Finding Mastery launched in September, a common theme among guests has been a willingness to become uncomfortable in order to grow.
Carli Lloyd ech...
Pain Drives Change
Rich Roll discusses how quitting his corporate law job was one of the most frightening moments in his life...(click for audio)
"I knew in my heart of he...
Externalizing Your Database
In the conversation with Steven Kotler, he talks about the value that comes with making lists for both what you've been successful at and what's caused you trouble.
"I have a list on a piece of paper that says, shit to understand when every...
Deep Focus and Challenge Lead to Flow
In my conversation with Steven Kotler, we got right into strategies to enhance both flow (one of the most optimal states a human can be in) and creativity. Be...
Fik-Shun Takes the Stage
Finding Mastery guest, Fik-Shun, recently took the stage at World of Dance in Las Vegas and his performance was powerful, yet again.
He understands mus...
6 Questions with Kevin Levrone
Pressure comes from…
The outside world, from the expectations of others.
It all comes down to…
Me
What do you do to cultivate the ability to be present?
When I’m by myself, things become really visual for me mentally, I can see things reall...
Channeling Pain Towards Mastery
A major theme of the conversation with Kevin Levrone, was how he channeled the pain of losing those closest to him- his father, mother, and aunt - to beco...
What Separates the Elite?
Ashley Merryman on what separates the elite from the rest of the pack..
"Shouldn't everyone perform at the same level if they already have the skills?"
Ca...
Importance of Sleep for Recovery
The Huffington Post recently published a video featuring Dr. Michael Gervais and Coach Pete Carroll discussing the importance of sleep for recovery.
"The science is really clear," Gervais said. "We've got five cycles of sleep, each one being 90 ...
Effect of Gender on Competition
Ashley Merryman on the differences between how men and women approach competition..
"Women are really good at calculating their odds of success and men ar...
Follow Along the Ultimate Triathlon
Recent guest, Luke Tyburski, completed the Ultimate Triathlon journey from Morocco to Monaco. Every day Luke shared video footage from his adventurers via t...
Staying Confident and Overcoming Failure
Dr. Gervais discusses the value in creating practice environments that welcome "progressively made mistakes." Rather than avoiding failure, it's important to structure opportunities where they might fail, as part of the sting that comes with failure ...
Kai Kight inspires Seahawks
What do people do who are interested in learning? They search for people and experiences that offer different perspectives, sometimes unconventionally so. On ...
How to Be a Great Coach
Coaching is such a powerful role in people's lives. It takes up so much space. And the things that go into making a great coach are first being a really compass...
How to Build Self-Confidence
Michael Gervais, PhD High Performance Psychologist for the Seattle Seahawks, NBA Players, Olympians, and more, shares advice on the best method for building self-confidence.
...
Michael Gervais and Pete Carroll Talk Sports Psychology
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sits down with WinForever's high performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais to discuss some of the behind the scenes ...
Michael Gervais Speaks at USC
Michael Gervais sits down with Dave Belasco, professor at USC's "Taking the Leap" Entrepreneurship Class....