Today, we unpack one of the most universal performance problems: getting in your own way. Drawing on the "Self 1 vs. Self 2" framework from The Inner Game of Tennis, neuroscience, and child psychology, we explore why caring too much can be the very thing that tanks your performance — and what to actually do about it. From fourth-grade Turkey trots to Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile, we cover the many forms of self-sabotage (before, during, and the night before the big day), how to be a "good enough parent" to yourself under pressure, and how coaches can help athletes quiet the inner critic without pretending it doesn't exist.

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What do success and failure have in common? They can both trap you. Success can lead to complacency or a plateau, and failure can render you so discouraged or apathetic that you don't feel ready to try again. That's not a fun place to be! So today we're discussing how you can build and keep momentum, no matter the reason you might get stuck. Drawing on wisdom that ranges from NBA star Steph Curry to the ancient Buddhist priest Takuan Sōhō, we about talk momentum killers (and how to avoid them), the importance of knowing how to both "go where the water's fast" and stop one rep short, and the rule that will help prevent you from wallowing in failure or basking in success for too long.

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How do you have fun while working really hard? For many elite athletes, figuring out how to balance joy and suffering is the key to a long and successful career. Today, we explore how they do it — and how you can, too. We dig into the psychology of "beautiful suffering," explain why joy is connected to agency, the important difference between authoritarian and authoritative coaching, and the steps you can take to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation, which is the ultimate competitive advantage.

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Today, for our monthly round-up, each of us shares a reflection from February: Brad explains what his chaotic book launch taught him about achievement, fulfillment, responding not reacting, and putting into practice other lessons we discuss regularly; Steve discusses using A.I. to help him do his work, and whether it can ever produce something truly great; and Clay shares a tool that has helped him keep things moving on big projects even when the roadmap isn't super clear. It's a new format with the same great insights.

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The Olympics are the ultimate laboratory for human performance. So today we're diving into some our favorite moments from the 2026 edition—and the lessons we can take from them. Between the bizarre "penis-gate" ski jumping scandal, Lindsey Vonn's downhill ski, and Ilia "Quad God" Malinin's ice skating performance, there are tough questions to tackle: When does dedication cross into dangerous territory? How does an athlete handle Olympic pressure — or recover from failure on the world stage? And what can we all learn for our own pursuit from these elite athletes?

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We're going to go ahead and say that today's episode is more densely packed with wisdom than any episode we've ever released. We are joined by Great Britain's Olympic ice dancer Lilah Fear (@thelilahjoshow), who, along with her partner Lewis Gibson, is currently competing in the Olympic games. You don't need to know anything about the sport to appreciate just how dialed-in Lilah's mental fitness is; nor do you need to be an elite athlete (or any kind of athlete) to find use in the strategies she talks about today: how she manages pre-performance nerves, takes feedback, turns every setback into a challenge, stays present, gets back to work after victory or defeat, and so much more. It's a masterclass on (unsurprisingly) Olympic-level resilience delivered straight to you from one of the world's best.

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Connect with Lilah on Instagram: @thelilahjoshow

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Why do so many people sacrifice their values to make it to the top? People in business who commit fraud; writers who plagiarize; athletes who dope — the list goes on and on. At the core of understanding why is a question that is useful for all of us to ask: How do we pursue excellence without losing ourselves along the way? In today's episode, we unpack the dangerous dynamics of optimization culture, where the drive for growth, status, and money can overtake basic integrity. We explore why the health and wellness industry is uniquely set up to exploit our deepest fears about performance and mortality, how people rationalize crossing ethical lines (from doping athletes to supplement-shilling influencers), why having the right people around you isn't just nice but essential, and why righteousness and purity often get in the way of decency.

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This past weekend, when Alex Honnold climbed Taipei 101's 1,667-foot tower without ropes, he wasn't thinking his way up; he was doing what elite performers across disciplines—from musicians to surgeons to mathematicians—do when they're operating at their peak: feeling their way forward. In this episode, Clay and Brad unpack two related concepts from psychology: situated cognition (thinking with your body rather than your mind) and positive felt sense (the bodily sensation that something is right before your brain can articulate why). You'll learn how to use them, as well as develop an understanding of the the fours phases of competence, get practical tactics for developing your own feel and intuition, learn why thinking can get in the way of optimal performance, and come to appreciate how the concept of "wu wei" can counteract the tendency to control or tense up. Whether you're an athlete, artist, or professional, this conversation reveals how to move from effortful thinking to effortless flow—and why that journey matters for all of us trying to know ourselves better.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.