FAREWELL

Today we're breaking down confidence. We discuss what it is (earned self-belief) and what it isn't (bravado, arrogance, positive thinking, or the absence of doubt and insecurity); how to build and maintain it; the cons (and some surprising pros!) of delusional confidence; how to keep from tipping over into complacency or arrogance; and practical steps to get your mojo back after a slump.Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

Today, we talk about how to navigate life and athletic performance amidst stress. We discuss the impact of mental and emotional stress on physical performance, and share personal anecdotes and scientific insights on the interplay between cognitive stress and physical endurance, including effects on the immune system and cortisol levels. We've also got some practical advice on adjusting training intensity, work tasks, and daily routines during high-stress periods, and break down how to set realistic expectations about what you can do, prioritize what's important, and best apply stress management tools.Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

March Madness is back! In honor of its return, we put together a special edition FAREWELL bracket with sixteen of the world's best performers, across sports and entertainment. Following a random seeding, we broke down each matchup until we had our lone champion. So give it a listen and find out who took home the title of World's Top Performer. And then please let us know what we got right, and what we got very, very wrong. Email us at clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at (646) 893-9503.Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said this in 1654. A study published in 2014 found this to be true: many subjects chose to administer an electric shock to themselves rather than sit alone with their thoughts. It's a universal difficulty being with the discomfort that sometimes bubbles up out of our own brains, be it boredom or anxiety. But it's often on the other side of this difficulty that we find our most creative breakthroughs. Plus, achieving excellence in any craft requires an ability to negotiate with the negative voice in your head. So today, we go deep on strategies for mastering the art of solitude, detailing our own struggles with it and the tools we use when we feel the urge to short-circuit mental discomfort by reaching for a distraction.Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/Now offering up to $5 for ideas, questions, or guests that make it onto the show. Email Clay at the clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503If 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

A couple of recent events—Elon Musk parading onstage with a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference and bragging about DOGE's 120-hour work weeks, and Timothée Chalamet saying he wanted to be one of "the greats" in an acceptance speech at the SAG Awards—ignited a conversation on the Growth Equation text thread about what role work should play in our lives. In a society that sometimes overly valorizes busyness or performative productivity, and also sometimes overly critiques the type of obsessive work that excellence demands (lauding "balance" instead), what does the actual hard work of greatness look like? For help, Brad and Clay tapped in Cal Newport, friend of FAREWELL and host of the podcast Deep Questions with Cal Newport, who writes and thinks (deeply, as you might've guessed) about productivity, work, and how they intersect with a meaningful life."Elon Musk Is the World's Richest Man. Why Is He Sleeping on an Office Floor?" (The New York Times)https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/opinion/elon-musk-billionaire.htmlJoin The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/Now offering up to $5 for ideas, questions, or guests that make it onto the show. Email Clay at the address above or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503If 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

Today we're sharing our all-time favorite quotes we've collected over the years. These are words about everything from performance to spirituality to decency that we keep coming back to when we need inspiration, a thought-provoking prompt, or a tidy bit of wisdom. Message us at clay.growtheq@gmail.com with a few you liked from today's episode, or some favorites of your own.Join The Growth Equation Academy today. 40% off for a limited time!https://the-growtheq-academy.mn.co/Now offering up to $5 for ideas, questions, or guests that make it onto the show. Email Clay at the address above or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503If 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCasts

From years of experience working with NBA players, CEOs, para jumpers, and Olympians, performance psychologist Alex Auerbach has learned about the most effective strategies for giving some of the world's most elite performers a mental edge. Today, he walks us through how to use those tools in our own life: how to manage pressure, performance anxiety, and impostor syndrome; how to think through setting goals (including the difference between outcome, performance, and process goals—and which you should focus on); how to master the art of self-regulated learning through deliberate practice; and how to stay present and focused despite not being at full capacity.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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsGot a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

Two topics for you today. On the back of the Super Bowl, Brad shares a message of resilience inspired by Eagles' quarterback Jalen Hurts. Then, a discussion, inspired in part by Hartmut Rosa's book "The Uncontrollability of the World," about the role of technology in helping us achieve peak performance and live a meaningful life. How can we use devices in such a way that they aid our objective performance without becoming so obsessed with control that we lose touch with our subjective experience? How do we know when the tools we're using are helping, and when they're hurting, the pursuit of our goals? 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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsGot a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503

When we think of "choking," we usually think of a field goal kicker missing a clutch kick, or someone freezing up during an important speech. In those moments, the mind is overcome with fear, doubt, and anxiety, and the body, sensing danger, shuts down, overriding ability and preparation. In his newest book Win the Inside Game, Steve Magness makes the case that many of the aspects of modern living make us feel similarly threatened and frozen. It can underlie why we feel burnt out at work, stuck in a creative rut, or unfulfilled in our relationships. On today's show, he discusses his newest book, providing a deeper understanding of how we got here and sharing his three-step framework for moving from surviving to thriving: figuring out who you are, why you do what you do, and how to belong.Buy the book: https://www.stevemagness.com/win-the-inside-game/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 PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPocketCastsGot a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email clay.growtheq@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503