Finding Mastery: Conversations With Michael Gervais

Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey is the first female and first Polynesian to become an explorer for the National Geographic Society. She has made it her mission to find, preserve and share the knowledge and traditions of indigenous populations before they disappear. Show Notes: 8:43: Where she found her passion for understanding ancient traditions and ancient wisdoms "True masters have nothing to prove to anyone" 10:27 19:20: Determining whether your psychological model or the environment is off "The most powerful thing we can do, each of us, is to find stillness" 23:40 27:20: People who have influenced her and who she was able to learn from 37:47: The best place to bring yourself to when you're unraveling 43:42: How she was able to travel the world for six months without speaking and the tales of her journey 57:17: How to create depth within yourself "Whatever story we choose to tell, if we choose wisely, the story becomes the medicine for others" 1:01:46 1:04:00: How to define an explorer 1:08:20: Habits that are abso

The path toward mastery requires honoring what is true. Often times what is true can be intensely painful. Kevin Levrone walks us through his journey of loss, grief, turmoil, love, commitment, and risk -- which eventually lead to being inducted into the hall of fame for his craft. Kevin has much to teach. His humility, honesty, and courage to be vulnerable in this conversation is as refreshing and inspiring as you would hope. Kevin is former American IFBB professional bodybuilder and now entrepreneur. Show Notes: 12:03 When his path began to become the best in the world 21:15: Taking his pain out on bodybuilding 30:15: Why he wouldn't change anything in his life 37:05: Gift of faith "I'm willing to endure the pain for the results" 37:20 49:50: Steroids on the world stage 1:02:08 Mental aspect of weightlifting 1:11:41 How he kept himself mentally strong 1:20:04 Why he's hard on himself 1:28:53 Facing a terrible injury and responding 1:36:25 Most effective inner message that allowed him to recover 1:45:05: Deci

The origin of the word "compete" emphasizes the notion of striving together (as compared to striving against). Author Ashley Merryman takes a deep dive into the science of competition - and reveals practical strategies people can use to "become better." There's an art to bringing the mechanics of science to life, and Ashley uses storytelling to illuminate the application of good science. Show Notes: 12:11: The quest to always be better 16:27: How she became interested in what she does today 21:19: Extroverts vs. introverts 27:58: Different types of risk-taking "Women are really good at calculating their odds of success and men are really good at ignoring them." 32:36 "The benefit of competition isn't the win...the benefit of competition is improvement... it's improvement in the moment" 37:23 44:01: Why competition is important 50:58: Relevant neurotransmitters for competition "I always thought that motivation was sort of the gas in your car that got you to your goal" 53:12 1:03:43: Why trophies shouldn't be g

As the fable goes — there are three paths for each us, to become: The Old Fool: the person who chased external rewards and pleasures. The Bitter Old Fool: the person who chased external rewards, but didn’t get enough. The Wise: the person who searched for insight and wisdom. Likewise, the path of mastery captures deep understanding and insight -- it's not a path that is laying a bet now, by investing in a craft, for payment or recognition at some later time. The spoils of victory might just happen, but the orientation of the intent is paramount. Today we are becoming overwhelmed with the need for instant reward, immediate verification that we are significant -- as a misguided attempt to satiate our thirst for meaning and belonging -- rather, we are propelling ourselves toward an emptiness that can only be filled by temporary pleasures. Our need to belong, to understand, to explore, to connect to others and the world around us, to know safety and to know risk, to express and create are foundational to the hum

One of the accelerants to growth is surrounding ourselves with people that have insight…..another accelerant is going down the path of developing insight within yourself. Dave Phillips has done, and is doing, both of those. He has devoted the past 25 years to becoming a world-class coach. He is one of the most sought after golf instructors in the country and is rated one of the Top 100 Teachers in the country by Golf Magazine. Show Notes: 6:45: Coming to America at a young age and quickly getting a passion for golf "I found my way... just by watching other players and trying and learning and going to different teachers and so on and so forth" 9:17 "The very best players in the world, they know what they're good at" 9:38 12:22: How he was able to fit in as the new kid all the time "The ones that succeed the best, especially under pressure, they tend to be able to separate themselves from their situation. It's almost like they've got an outer body experience, where they can see things from a higher perspective

In this conversation we learn from Ariana Kukors, who is a USA Olympic Swimmer, current American Record holder and former World Record holder in the 200-meter individual medley (long course). A 2-Time World Champion, Kukors has won a total of seven medals in major international competition- two golds, three silvers, and two bronze spanning a 10-year national team career. After barely missing the 2008 Olympic Team, she set out to explore a deep understanding of her mind and craft. The result was a 2009 World Title and a berth on the 2012 Olympic Team. If you're wanting to better understand the nuances of a psychological framework that supports growth in the face of failure, you'll enjoy where this conversation goes. Show Notes: 5:16: Having everything you could want in a childhood and being active 9:42: How her upbringing made her an olympian “I was a competitive kid and I didn’t win a lot when I was little” 10:57 16:04: Impact of having a serious competitor when growing up “Eventually [Katie and I] ended up t

Luke Tyburski has designed the past three years of his life to push the limits of what “we” think to be possible. He’s designed an event to test his mental and physical skills over the course of 12 days, which has been named the Ultimate Triathlon. He’s trained for it for 3 and half years. On October 20, Luke will be taking on a never before attempted challenge- a 1250 miles in 12 day swim, cycle, and run adventure from Morocco to Monaco; The Ultimate Triathlon. Show Notes: 8:15: Life as a journeyman in soccer 12:41: Reasoning for doing the ultimate triathlon "Once I've made up my mind that I'm going to do something, that's it, I'm like a steamroller, I just go for it and do everything I need to do to be able to achieve that." 15:44 24:15: Why he feels what he is doing just needs to be done "During endurance sports...your legs and bodies and shoulders are always going to be in pain...but for me, it's...being comfortable with being uncomfortable" 25:54 28:54: Finding the limits and why he wants people to join

Imagine working to optimize the human performance strategies and outcomes for an entire nation’s elite sport efforts. It’s challenging enough to do so for an elite sport franchise, let alone an entire country. In this conversation with Keith Power, he shares with us how he’s structuring his efforts on high performance for Malaysia. He provides insights on how to align groups of people to pull in one direction. He breaks down his understanding of the art and science of human optimization. Show Notes: 3:27: Growing up in London and how sport influenced his early life "My passion has always been trying to be the best I can possibly be" 5:51 8:15: Getting offered to coach bobsled for the UK and becoming youngest coach at Olympics 13:04: How to get an athlete to balance external motivation "I coached myself most of the time [since] I was 18 years old" 13:58 "I don't think it's about teaching, it's about creating an environment in which people can learn and can make good choices for themselves" 17:29 21:46: Why con

Shownotes: 4:30: Reasoning behind not choreographing his dancing 7:15: Trusting your instincts and creating an organic experience for the audience 11:05: Why instincts are the necessary choices 15:20: Type of legacy he wants to leave 18:00: How dancing is like playing a game and you're trying to get the highest score possible 20:48: Manipulating the crowd and controlling their emotions 25:54: Why true perfection doesn't exist 29:20: Living in his head in his early life 34:00: Competitiveness fueling growth 40:15: How to take inspiration from those who are better and worse than you 49:40: Defining doubt 58:29: How to learn from different outlooks 1:03:40: How he'll know when he's truly made it

Sport is a way to learn more about who we are — how we handle success, failure, pain, loss, friendships, challenges and opportunities. In this upcoming conversation, sport becomes the initial “handshake” that has allowed us to talk about the deeper experiences in life — freedom, love, risk, and family. Popularly known as Baggio, Adis Husidić was born in Velika Kladuša, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina). Baggio and his family fled Bosnia in the mid-1990s to escape the Bosnian War, spending time in a refugee camp in southern Croatia, and living in Hamburg, Germany for several years, before eventually settling in Libertyville, Illinois in 1997. Husidić was drafted in the second round (20th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the Chicago Fire, and signed a Generation Adidas contract. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy, In this conversion he shares his love for life, his unique path, and his search for meaning and mastery.

While in graduate school, a psychology professor asked the class to draw a line across the middle of the paper. He asked us to write down, above the line, three people that have helped shape who we are — that have helped us feel good about who we are. He also asked to list three names below the line, that have negatively contributed to how we see ourselves. The purpose of the exercise was to reflect on the way that people “coached” us from an “above the line” perspective. Coach Tom Osborne is an above the line coach — for tens-of-thousands of men and women. His deep care for others is apparent in the way he conducts his life — and his life efforts. Thomas William “Tom” Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska football team for 25 years, from 1973 to 1997. Osborne was one of the most successful coaches in American college football history, with a

Some conversations will be with those who summit the pinnacle of their profession —or break molds attempting to scale untold peaks. In this conversation, I was fortunate to sit down with a contemporary composer & innovator, Kai Kight. His background is anything but typical. Sports, Design, Stanford, Violin, Composing. He holds an engineering degree from Stanford University’s d. school where he was introduced to the innovative culture of Silicon Valley. As a Kleiner Perkins Design Fellow and Mayfield Fellow, Kai got an early start in entrepreneurship. Kai began playing the violin when he was 3 years old, was classically trained, and studied under the concertmaster of Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. His music has brought him to perform in venues such as the White House and the Great Wall of China. Today Kai composes his own music using an innovative style on the violin which blends classical technique with rhythms and textures from popular genres such as hip hop and jazz. His favorite composer is Bach

Volleyball legend and three-time Gold Medalist, Karch Kiraly joins the show to discuss his path to Finding Mastery. The ‘winningest’ player in the history of the sport, Karch Kiraly is considered the “Michael Jordan” of pro beach volleyball as he is the oldest player to compete in the sport and continues to perform at the highest level — beating competitors literally half his age. He has won at least one tournament in 24 of the 28 seasons he has played, spanning four different decades.

Dr. Michael Gervais is fascinated by the psychology of high performance, in rugged environments. Throughout the past 15 years, Michael has been in the trenches with some of the best performers in the world – some who shift how we conceive what’s possible — others who have pushed their own boundaries — ranging from hall of fame athletes to action sport game-changers, entrepreneurs, Mixed Martial Artists, to musicians who influence the rhythm of the world. He’s excited to share the many paths toward mastery and provide very applied practices that we can all use to be and do more in our time together.