The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 434: Brad Stulberg - The New Science Of Peak Performance

Duration: 1h 6m
Broadcast on: 29 Aug 2021
Audio Format: other

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Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Brad Stulberg is the author of Peak Performance, The Passion Paradox, and The Practice of Groundedness. He coaches executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, and athletes. He is also co-creator of The Growth Equation, an online platform dedicated to defining and attaining a more fulfilling and sustainable kind of success.

Notes:

Build deep community over efficiency and optimization. It takes more time. It has a physical connection and a sense of belonging. Don't move so fast that you don't see people.
Keys to great leadership -- Look at the boundaries and create space for work to unfold. Don't be the helicopter parent or the micromanager. Don't neglect them, but ensure they have the space to grow and blossom.
Move your body to ground your mind - It's so important to have a physical practice. Make it part of your work. It needs to be in order to support your mental health.
The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship. Their MVP leader, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points and helped his team win. But he may have earned even more fans when he was asked during a press conference how he keeps his mind right. His three-part answer, in his own words: "Focusing on the past is ego. Focusing on the future is pride. Focusing on the present is humility."
The six principles of groundedness:
- Accept where you are to get where you want to go
- Be present so you can own your attention and energy
- Be patient and you'll get there faster
- Embrace vulnerability to develop genuine strength and confidence
- Build deep community over efficiency and optimization
- Move your body to ground your mind
Trying to be "balanced" does not work. When you care deeply about something it draws you in. That's the point. You don't need to force some kind of proportionate allocation of your life. Aim for the self-awareness to PRIORITIZE and CHOOSE how you spend your time and energy.
Wherever you are, the goal post is always 10 yards down the field. If you develop a mindset, "If I just do this, or just accomplish that, THEN I'll arrive," you're in for trouble. There is no arriving. The human brain didn't evolve for it. Enjoy the process. Be where you are.
Everyone wants to be SUCCESSFUL. But few people take the time and energy to define the success they want. As a result, they spend most, if not all, of their lives chasing what society superimposes on them as success. Define your values. Craft a life around them. THAT is success.
Stress + Rest = Growth. Too much of the former not enough of the latter you get injury, illness, burnout. Too much of the latter, not enough of the former you get complacency, stagnation. This equation is universal. It holds true for individual and organizational growth.
"Wouldn't this be rad?"
- The process of striving for ambitious goals is what brings fulfillment.
- The process is how you live your life.
"Your addiction to growth might be making you miserable." The human condition is oriented towards more.
Advice on building a business: Think less about building the business and more about building the life you want to live. Brad limits himself to 15 clients and they only meet on Monday and Friday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are days for creativity, reading, research.
- Brad optimizes for autonomy and freedom.
For the over-worked, over-scheduled VP: Find 2 hours a week for deep work. That's a start. Challenge the culture, test assumptions.
Think of your schedule as a moral document
Sustain excellence:
- Wise patience... Step back sometimes
When making a big decision, adopt the lens of a wise observer, what would your wiser self tell you to do?
Stimulus + your response = outcome
When you feel restless to do something, use that as an alarm. Force yourself to take three deep breaths. What will you regret less? No raising voices...
Your language shapes how you think and act...
The Good Enough Mother:
- Not helicopter
- Not each and every need
- Doesn't neglect
- Gives a safe space to grow and blossom
For the insecure leader... Approach them with curiosity
Musicians have intense periods of focused practice. People have breakthroughs when they have been on a sabbatical...
Embrace vulnerability to develop genuine strength and confidence with others... "The way to build trust is by being vulnerable."
- Don't be performative. It must be real.
Build deep community over efficiency and optimization
- It takes more time to meet in person.
Brad's tattoo sleeve: Mountains sit through it all. Trees = grounded, the roots support it. We need to tend to our own roots.

(dramatic music) There's this false notion that if you're content with what you have or you're content with where you are, that means that you'll become lazy or you won't strive to move forward. But in fact, the opposite tends to be true. If you have some level of contentment with what you have, gratitude, humility, then not only do you feel better, but you actually perform better. If you think about starting from a place of good enough, generally, people feel really free. Their shoulders drop, they feel open. If you think about a place of I need more, not good enough, kind of clasping for what's out ahead of you or being sad about something in the past, that tends to be really tight. Most people perform better from a place of openness, from a place of freedom, from a place of love, than from a place of compulsion or tightness or angst or I have to have this.

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