Toughness

As we start to wrap up our series of hot topics compilations, we are going over the essential pillar of what Toughness is all about: personal POWER - aka committed action - which is a combination of mental strength and psychological speed that makes people unstoppable in uncertainty. From a basketball legend to a business maverick, from an Olympic champion to multiple bestselling authors, you'll hear how these inspiring examples only managed to unlock their full potential when they decided to commit and stick to their vision, no matter how many road blocks stood in their way - and each one of them has advice for others who need to move past their feelings and stick to their plans.   FEATURED IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE: Jordan Belfort (Investor) - Bravery in Business Justin Kenna (CEO) - Bravery in Business Shaquille O'Neal (NBA) - Belief Is A Big Deal Dalilah Muhammad (Olympic Champion) - Running Towards the Hurdles Dan Coyle (Author) - Tough Cultures vs Tough Leaders Mike Erwin (West Point) - Tough Cultures vs Tough Leaders Freddie Stevenson (Football / Author) - Finding A Way Jon Gordon (Author/Speaker) - Public Speaking with Positivity and Purpose

What if you had a on/off switch that could instantly shutdown the negative emotions in your brain and just get you focused on the task at hand? That's exactly what today's episode is all about: developing Cognitive Speed. From baseball to the boardroom, e-sports to the olympics, from the police to the podium, all of these stories involve individuals who faced immense pressure and stress, but pivoted quickly to ensure success. Whether you're scared by an important decision that you have to make, or you have experienced deep traumas, or constantly battling "negative" emotions like anger, this selection of guests are going to show you how they manage to quickly accept the noise and flick their focus onto the now, as a result of that, get the most out of the moments that matter. FEATURED IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE: Keeping Calm When Life Throws You Curveballs - Kevin Pillar (MLB) Executive Function Under Fire - Mike Tannenbaum (GM) Executive Function Under Fire - Scott Goldman (PhD)  Police, Pressure & PTSD - Lane Douglas Hunt (Police) + Brian Willis (Training) Police, Pressure & PTSD - Brian Willis (Training) The Practice of Finding Power in Pain - Apolo Ohno (Olympic Champion) Gaming Your Mind - Emmalee ”EMUHLEET” Garrido (Esports) The Brain Is A Body Part - Alexi Pappas (Olympian + Filmmaker)

How do people deal with prolonged discomfort? How can you hang on when the going gets tough? How can you avoid cutting corners or getting lazy when the payoff seems forever away? At the halfway point of our series of specially curated episodes, a topic comes to mind that covers all of this - Emotional Endurance.  In this episode we hear how people that stand out in very different arenas manage to keep their emotions in check in high stakes situations. From gambling millions of dollars in World Series Poker, to driving and crashing a 200mph Nascar racing car, or living for 10+ in war zones, some guests had to learn not only how to deal with the pressure of being a World Champion, but also how to find balance within their teams. This is an episode that will definitely help you to put the weight, pressure and bullshit aside and hang in there through hard times. FEATURED IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE:  Margaret Coker (Journalist) - The Waiting Game Of War Jesse Iwuji (NASCAR Racing) - The Drive to Thrive Jorryt Van Hoof (Poker Player) - High Stakes? Poker Face

Here in the third episode of our series of hot topic compilations, you'll hear how some of the best in the world in a huge variety of fields - from Comedy to Coaching, in the NFL and the WNBA, from fashion shows to finance boardrooms - manage to stick to their vision and stay on course to their North Star, even when the waves get choppy and the vision might be blurry. Hear from people at the top of their game as they explore what can be termed "Spiritual Stability", but not in a religious sense: it's about what your heart & your spirit value most in life. Why do elite performers keep pushing forward when there's so many obstacles, and plenty of excuses to quit or change? Tune in to find out! FEATURED IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE: Ronny Chieng (Comedian / Actor) - How To Stay Strong, Even If You Bomb Kliff Kingsbury (NFL Head Coach) - Growth, Greatness & Attacking The Game Of Life Chasity Melvin (WNBA) - The Value of Vision Broderick Hunter (Model / Actor) - A Model Of Confidence, From Fashion To Film Joe Moglia (Business / Coaching) - The Courage of Leading With Love Jen Welter (NFL) - Tough Women Make History Justine Siegal (MLB) - Tough Women Make History

Ahead of the upcoming second season of Toughness, behold the second in our series of hot topic special episodes! In today's specially curated compilation, you'll hear how bad-ass performers in cut-throat environments - from Navy Seals to NASA, from Firefighters to First Basemen, even Cirque du Soleil acrobats and Olympic sprinters - flex their mental muscles in unique ways in order to withstand the fire. Listen to tales from the front lines as those who face the flames on a daily basis talk through how they adapt, adjust and overcome unexpected obstacles and unforeseen setbacks. Some of our guests also speak to coaches and the psychology behind training that flexible, "bend, don't break" mindset which is so crucial on stages when its make or break, where lives are saved or lost - including vital tips that could help you adapt while facing your own adversity. FEATURED IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE:  Coleman Ruiz (Navy SEAL) - Special Forces, Mental Agility & Elite Habits *Part 1* Ceci Craft (MLB) - Special Forces, Mental Agility & Elite Habits *Part 2* Holly Ridings (NASA) - Mission Critical Mindset Jason Brezler (FDNY) - Focus Through The Fire *Part 1* Steven Hayes (Psychology) - Flexibility Comes First: From Panic Disorders To Player Development Jonathan Fader (NFL / MLB) - Focus Through The Fire *Part 2* Veronica Campbell-Brown (Olympics) - The Stress Of Repeating Success Veronique Richard (Cirque du Soleil) - Cultivating Courage In Acrobats, Clowns & Coaches Darren Holder (Coaching) - Cultivating Courage In Acrobats, Clowns & Coaches

To celebrate our 40th episode and warm up for season 2 of the show, we are releasing a series of specially curated compilations approaching the pillars of Toughness. In today's episode, you're going to listen how elite performers from different areas manage to stay focused on their goals and fight distractions, aka how they tap into and even develop their own Mental Strength.

The coach of head coaches: that's the perfect way to explain how Cody Royle operates behind the curtains with the leaders of elite teams around the world. After some traumatic events in his own early coaching journey, Cody realized that there was nobody focussed specifically on how tough situations could impact the performance of head coaches - so he decided to start documenting his coaching philosophy in a series of books, podcasts, and blogs, which led to him becoming the trusted confidant of coaches across multiple sports. In this episode, Royle shares with us how toughness, optimism and a great culture can drive not only professional sports forward, but careers and life in general.

Dalilah Muhammad's career is filled with titles, medals and world records, but the Track & Field legend needed elite levels of toughness to overcome a lot of hurdles on the way to winning Gold in Rio's 2016 Olympics. By saying 'yes' to her inner voice, and then also to everything that led towards what she really wanted - even if it was hard - she was able to go all-in on her dreams, overcome injuries and other setbacks and write her name in history as the first American woman to win Olympic Gold in the 400 meter hurdles.

What's one thing that the stock market and football have in common? The answer is Joe Moglia. The former chairman of the board and CEO of TD Ameritrade decided to leave one of the most most lucrative fields ever to pursue his dream of working as a football coach. As the head coach of Coastal Carolina, Moglia quickly realized that toughness was an essential fuel for not only athletes and businessmen, but for every person with the guts to find out who they really are.

When 4 years of work can be undone in one moment, whats tougher than having to deal with your own stress? Having two people's stress combined. This week we dive in the mind of 2 Olympic silver medalists, Michael Hixon (2x silver in 2016 and 2020) and Sam Dorman (1x silver in 2016). The duo of divers represented Team USA in Rio in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event. By talking about how they deal with the pressure of having only 6 dives to focus on in an interval of 4 years of preparation, we dig into the counterintuitive truth that you can have 2 people who approach their mental game in a very different manner. You don't want to miss this one!

Anyone can choose to be a hero in a videogame, but who has the privilege to be one in the real world as well? Emmalee "EMUHLEET" Garrido is best know as the captain of 5x World Champion e-sports team Dignitas, but she's also a life & death nurse on her day-to-day-job. In this episode she shares why the mental game is crucial on both high stakes areas of her life, how she keeps cool as a leader in the game as well as in the Emergency Room, and the secret way she uses her favorite emotion - ANGER - to level up when the stakes are the highest.

If it wasn't already taken, the Olympic creed could easily be a motto for this show: “The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.” In this special episode to celebrate Tokyo 2021, we pull together the advice of 4 Olympians - 2 summer, 2 winter, with multiple medals and records to their names - around how the Olympic motto can be used for anyone to go higher (goal setting), faster (sticking to long processes) and stronger (focus under pressure) in any walk of life.

When you could be captured, tortured or killed any moment as a part of your work, only the tough can hang in there and make a career out of it. Margaret Coker lasted two decades as a foreign correspondent across thirty-two countries on four continents, including some of the worst warzones on earth in the Middle East. In this chat she takes us behind the scenes not only of the job but also her inner coping strategies, showing us how she hung in there to shine light on issues that have led to criminal trials of global banks and investigations of corrupt police officers, as well as freedom for three people wrongly convicted and incarcerated - proving that the wait can be worth all the worry in the end.

If you had your eye dislocated from its socket during the course of your work, would you go back and do it again? Chasity Melvin is one of the few people who can answer that question definitively, literally damaging her visual system while pursuing her larger purpose in life, playing in the WNBA. While she recovered her physical injuries, the vision for her life never wavered, and here she shares how that vital source of strength has acted as both a motivator and a guide - from her 12 year career as a player in the WNBA, to her journey as an international star, and then a coach for both men's and women's pro teams that has led her back to the league, now on the coaching staff at Phoenix Mercury.

In this episode - the second of a two-part special on NASA and the critical teams that drive Mission Control and the International Space Station - we take it to another level by talking about the leadership of out of this world teams. Join Holly Ridings (Chief Flight Operator at NASA) and Preston Cline (Founder of the Mission Critical Teams Institute) as we dig into how anyone can help build their team up to this standard of vulnerability simply by asking for it, as well as other responsibilities of leader when you're asking for elite performance under extreme duress. 

As the Chief Flight Director at NASA, Holly Ridings knows a thing or two about managing big moments. Not only has she overseen rocket launches & missions to both the International Space Station and the moon, she has piloted her own career to heights no-one had done before when she became the first female ever installed in her position. She's joined here by Dr Preston Cline - an international expert on the psychology of Mission Critical Teams as diverse as the FBI, surgical teams and NASA - for a chat about the methods, mindsets and motivations of those who do things that are literally out-of-this-world.

For all that Alexi Pappas knew about her body in 2016 - enough to push it to setting records in the 10,000m event at the Olympics in Rio - she knew very little of her mind back then. What followed gave her a crash course in the critical role our brains play in any performance: suffering severe depression, she began to think of suicide, only saved by the intervention of her father. Now on the other side of her darkest days, she uses her filmmaking, writing and acting to show how mental health and wellbeing are inseparable from sustainable high performance, especially for those trying to climb their own Mt Olympus.

When leading a team at the top, where do you look to find an untapped edge? Mike Tannenbaum - a longtime NFL executive who led both the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins for more than a decade - found ways of quantifying toughness in talent that was already highly scrutinized in other ways. One of the key elements of that was the work of Scott Goldman, a performance psychologist who has worked with elite players and coaches at teams like the Golden State Warriors, and the founder of AIQ - a revolutionary way of testing athletic intelligence & executive function in high performing populations.

When you don't know where your next meal is coming from, how can you still dream big? Freddie Stevenson has lived the answer to that question - he went from growing up in a family of 5 that couldn't afford to eat some nights, to winning a national championship with Florida State Seminoles, which led to a brief career in the NFL, which led to becoming a published author and motivational speaker. Thanks to his experiences as a Fullback (a relatively unheralded position in football) Freddie became a specialist at finding a way through when you can't see what's on the other side.

What do the best in the world of commerce have in common? Jordan Belfort - better known as the Wolf of Wall St - has lived the highest highs and the lowest lows in the world of finance, and now shares what he's learned along the way about what separates the best from the rest in business. Joining him is Justin Kenna, CEO of GameSquare, a pioneering e-sports brand that's a perfect case study of the type of competitive advantage that comes from bravery, being bold, and the "ruthless pursuit of short term goals".

After a traumatic event or devastating loss, can people ever get back to their previous levels of performance? Lane Douglas-Hunt is proof that you can actually be even better. Picking up where we left off in part 1 of this 2 part special, former police officer Brian Willis dives into how we can all help if we suspect someone close to us is “mentally injured” like Sergeant Douglas-Hunt was following her attack, and the steps she took to not just ‘return to work' but go to a whole new level. 

When a day starts like any other but almost ends your life, you can pretend it doesn't affect you - but some trauma won't go away by ignoring it. Lane Douglas-Hunt, a Sergeant with decades of experience in multiple roles across the Victoria Police Department in BC Canada, survived a near fatal attack while on street patrol - only to discover down the track that hidden scars don't heal by themselves. Thankfully she crossed paths with Brian Willis, a former policeman who now specializes in training officers to prepare for, deal with, and recover from critical incidents in chaotic environments, and this is their story. In this first of a 2 part special episode, we talk about the incident that started it all, the unspoken trauma that it led to, and the definition of what a hero can really mean, to anyone in any situation.

There are few bigger personalities than Shaquille O'Neal, and even fewer performers with a list of achievements as long as his: his 4x NBA Champion status speaks for itself, but he stood alone as one of the most dominant athletes in history during his prime, at one stage winning the regular season MVP, All Star MVP, and Finals MVP all in the same year. It wasn't always like this for Shaq though: in this exclusive interview he openly admits he's got lots of practice at overcoming challenges, having found himself as the low man on the totem pole in different arenas - from sports to music to business - multiple times along the journey. Recounting his childhood growing up in a military family, from the projects of New Jersey, and then through Germany and Texas, this chat goes deep into the Big Aristotle's philosophies on learning, leadership and living your best life.

What does it mean to go "all-in" on something important, whether it's a high stakes hand in poker, or a big decision in life? Professional poker player Jorryt Van Hoof knows both examples well: he went all-in on his career early - selling his business and dropping out of school - but it more than paid off given he's finished 3rd in the World Series of Poker, and amassed career earnings totaling over $5 million so far. Jared Tendler, a performance coach in poker, e-sports and finance, joins us for this in depth chat about the intense psychology of competition when life changing money is on the table, and how these same skills and approach can help navigate those times - at work or in life - when you're dealt a bad hand. 

When a surface-to-air (SAM) missile is tracking your aircraft in hostile territory, its tough to stay focused, calm and connected with your wingman - but you need to if you want to stay alive. Waldo Waldman knows, having been shot at multiple times over a span of 65 combat missions, and he has some incredible stories and unique perspective to show for it. A retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who overcame massive claustrophobia and a fear of heights to become a decorated fighter pilot, he shares some simple but powerful lessons he's taken from the cockpit of his F-16 fighter jet that he now applies to business, his work as an author and speaker, and life as a husband and father.

Well before he began to climb the ranks within NASCAR it was clear for all to see: no matter what challenge he takes on, Jesse Iwuji leaves nothing in the tank. From achieving his dream of playing D1 college football, to becoming a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, to being one of only two African Americans competing at NASCARs national levels of racing, he's the living embodiment of the racing truism “what's behind you doesn't matter” as he attacks every new challenge in front of him. In this fast paced chat he talks about some of the unexpected turns on his journey so far, and shares with us all how he ensures he's ready to go when the rubber meets the road - putting him in pole position to make his dreams come true in any arena.

With a track record of graduates that include multiple presidents, astronauts and other leaders, West Point Military Academy is considered one of the top leadership development centers in the world. But is it the individuals themselves - or the culture around them - that lead to such consistently outstanding performance over time? Mike Erwin should know as a graduate himself, having gone on to serve on three combat tours and now as Assistant Professor in Leadership at West Point. He's joined here by bestselling author Dan Coyle, whose books on culture and talent development have redefined entire industries. From one of the simplest definitions of what defines a tough culture - "a set of connected people who can do shit together" - through to tips for how to grow one of your own, this is a must-listen for leaders at any level.

In this second part of an extended conversation with two leaders in their respective arenas - with so many takeaways that we had to split the conversation over two separate listens - we call out the old-school BS and jump straight into the real questions about what's most important: does training our mental performance impact our FAMILY? If so, are there things we can do that will help us improve both at work AND in day to day life? Jason Brezler knows this type of training intimately, not only from his current role as FDNY Lieutenant in the 1st Division of New York City, but also as an officer in the U.S. Marines leading combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He's joined here by Jonathan Fader, a psychologist who drew on his years of experience with pro sports teams in New York - the Mets (MLB) and the Giants (NFL) - to help shape the FDNY's approach to mental performance.  **Note - if you haven't listened to Part 1 of this conversation (literally the previous episode of this series) do that first!**

For some people, "facing the fire" isn't just a slick corporate metaphor - it's a real life part of their daily work. Jason Brezler knows this experience intimately, not only from his current role as FDNY Lieutenant in the 1st Division of New York City, but also as an officer in the U.S. Marines leading combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He's joined here by Jonathan Fader, a psychologist who drew on his years of experience with pro sports teams in New York - the Mets (MLB) and the Giants (NFL) - to help shape the FDNY's approach to mental performance. We talk about how the work started with some of the toughest performers in one of the toughest cities in the world - in a conversation so good we split it over two episodes! - and simple ways they learned to make it stick when the pressure was at its highest.

When the decisions you make each day are literally the difference between life or death for a stranger, a bad day at work takes on a whole new meaning. Imagine carrying that weight into an Emergency Department at one of the biggest cities in America, where anything can (and does) happen without any warning. As a critical care nurse in the Stanford Emergency Department, Sara Marrello knows this scene all too well, and has learned to operate effectively amidst the chaos - she was named Nurse of the Year in 2019 - while making sure others on the team doesn't skip a beat. Alongside her both in the ER and also on this episode, Dr Al'ai Alvarez - Assistant Residency Program Director (APD) at Stanford - shares his insights on how he develops those same skills in young doctors, in ways that can be applied across any teams that have to deal with high stakes consequences.

When Steven Hayes was struck by a crippling panic attack decades ago, little did he know one of the ripple effects of that incident would shape the careers of future hall of fame athletes. A clinical Psychologist and the mind behind one of the most popular "third wave" approaches in psychology, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, he shares the mic with Ben Freakley - who has been a mental performance coach for elite operators in both the military and Major League Baseball - as we dig into the concept of psychological flexibility. Drawing on examples from military, business and sport we talk about how it applies with such success across so many domains, and break down the six skills that are vital for any individuals dealing with pressure or stress.

Even when you're an eight-time Olympic medalist, and only the second woman in history to win gold in two consecutive 200 m events, the competition still forces you to evolve or fade away. But throughout Veronica Campbell-Brown's life - from racing against boys as a child on the dirt roads in Jamaica, to Olympic glory on the fastest tracks around the world - that's just part of the journey. In this incredible chat she's joined by long-time performance coach Dr Erik Korem - who's also headed up programs in NCAA and NFL football - to talk about what toughness means to those who reach the top & stay there, and why being deliberate about what you pay attention to can pay you back in gold.

Whether you're performing death-defying feats or rebounding from defeat, the stakes go up when lives (or careers) are on the line - and along with that comes even more pressure and stress. Véronique Richard coaches some of the worlds most talented artists at Cirque Du Soleil to handle those moments, and Darren Holder has spent more than a decade now preparing coaches in a number of sports to do the same - including those in charge of one of the world's leading cricket teams, Australia. In this wide-ranging chat we not only cover the different types of courage shown by clowns and coaches, but our guests share some proven ways to train adaptability and creativity in any learner, leader or high-stakes performer.

Before both Jen Welter and Justine Siegal were hired as coaches for the Arizona Cardinals (NFL) & Oakland A's (MLB) respectively in 2015, there had been a grand total of zero female coaches in either league. While they had to endure tough times - from being spat on and tackled, to dealing with verbal abuse - they not only persevered to achieve their own dreams, but paved the way for those who followed too: 4 women were part of the Tampa Bay staff that won Super Bowl LV in 2021, and major market teams like the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox now boast females as part of their coaching team. In this Women's History Month special, we talk about their journeys from outsiders to part of the game, the mental strengths you must have as an outsider or minority, as well as what they learned along the way about how to forge a path when one doesn't exist yet.

In this second part of an extended conversation with two of the best practitioners in their respective industries - with so many insights that we had to split the conversation over two separate listens! - we jump straight into the big questions: how do you train mental agility & toughness at the elite levels? And are there behaviors or actions we can all take that will help us improve in our own battles, at work and in life? Coleman Ruiz & Ceci Craft should know - not only did Coleman take lead hundreds of operations and dozens of sensitive military programs as part of the SEAL teams, he then went on to serve as an advanced training officer in Naval Special Warfare. Ceci, the recently appointed Director of Mental Performance for the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB, also has 6 years experience coaching US Army & Special Operations personnel, and at the time of recording was the Lead Mental Performance Coach for the program overseeing the mental conditioning of US Army & Special Operations soldiers. **Note - if you haven't listened to Part 1 of this conversation (literally the previous episode of this podcast) do that first!**

When lives are on the line and people are pushed to their limits, what do the elite Special Forces of the US military lean on to find that extra gear? As a former officer in the U.S. Navy SEALs, with 13 years on active duty, during six (6) combat deployments in both the Afghanistan and Iraq, Coleman Ruiz should know - not only did he take part in and lead hundreds of operations and dozens of sensitive military programs, he then went on to serve as an advanced training officer in Naval Special Warfare. Joining him for this 2-part episode is Ceci Craft, the recently appointed Director of Mental Performance for the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB, who has 6 years experience coaching US Army & Special Operations personnel, and who at the time of recording was the Lead Mental Performance Coach for the program overseeing the mental conditioning of US Army & Special Operations soldiers. In a conversation with two of the best practitioners in their respective industries - with so many insights that we had to split the conversation over two separate listens! - we dig into the concepts of mental agility & emotional stability, and how the best of the best train them to prepare for their toughest battles.

As a player for some of the biggest teams in Major League Baseball - from the Toronto Blue Jays to the San Francisco Giants, on to the Boston Red Sox and now the New York Mets - Kevin Pillar's baseball career has played out under the brightest lights. His journey has had it's share of time in the shadows however - he had to force his way into the starting lineup as a walk-on at a Division II college, and then play that same underdog role again when was drafted in the 32nd round of his draft, at pick 979 overall. In this rare glimpse behind the scenes of life in The Show, Kevin shares the new challenges he now faces despite having made it in the big leagues - and talks us through exactly how he manages those battles and occasional dark times, both on and off the field.

What happens when your goals don't go according to plan? Or when you're told "NO" 30+ times? Broderick Hunter, a pioneering black male model & actor, dug deep and eventually turned his bad breaks into gold. Despite humble upbringings and being an outsider to the industry when he began, he's now been the face of campaigns for global brands like Ralph Lauren & Tommy Hilfiger, featured in Vogue, GQ and Cosmopolitan, and been labeled People Magazine's "Hottest guy to follow on Instagram". But he isn't only known for his looks - he's gone on to feature as an actor in multiple hit TV series for HBO, NBC and FOX, and with roles in two films coming up his star only continues to rise. His story highlights the importance of persistence & doing the "inner work" while you wait, and explains his passion for supporting mental programs for youth.

Billions. Bitcoin. WallStreetBets. With more people than ever interested in trading - traditional stocks, options and even cryptocurrency - the psychology involved in high stakes decision making has never been more relevant to the wider community. Denise Shull - perhaps best known as the basis for the character of performance coach Wendy Rhoades in the show Billions - has had her head in the game for decades now, starting as a trader herself before diving into psychology and becoming a coach of people who handle hundreds of millions of dollars every day. In this show she's joined by John Burns, who has spent decades as a trader himself, and they discuss how feelings drive every move we make - and why we should ignore traditional advice of "take the emotion out of it" when we are making decisions under pressure or stress.

Growing up as the son of a high school football coach in Texas, Kliff Kingsbury may have seemed destined for a life in football. But it hasn't been a smooth road: on the journey from an elite college career to disappointment in the pros, through regular coaching up and downs, to the personal tragedy of losing his mom, Kliff shares with us what he's learned working with household names like Belichik, Brady & Mahomes, as well as the lesser known heroes in his life - including his dad, a Vietnam Vet - who helped shape his approach to attacking every day like it's your last play.

Comedian, actor & writer Ronny Chieng has lived a life full of change - born in Malaysia, raised in both Singapore & USA, schooled in Australia, and now dealing with the bright lights in both New York City and Hollywood. In this show he shares what he's learned on his unique journey about the balance between fitting in & standing out, as well as his tips for how to transform "ignore the haters" from an Instagram quote to real life action, and go after what you love.

One of the most decorated Olympians of all time has made it his life's work to understand what drove him - and other greats - to smash the expectations set before them, even as the pressure continued to rise on the back of their early success. Taking us through his journey from teenage phenom, to failure in his fathers eyes, and eventually to 8x Olympic medalist and 8x World champion, Apolo Ohno shares the surprising secrets he uncovered on pushing boundaries in practice, and using pain to turn himself into an unbeatable "man on fire".

Despite being a mega-successful author of 22 books - 8 of which are bestsellers - and motivational speaker to some of the top sports teams and business organizations in the world, Jon Gordon still admits he gets nervous every time the lights go on. In this show, Jon shares his very personal journey that led him to discover the power of positive psychology in practice, and shares his most impactful tips for focusing on what matters even when things don't feel good.

Before she became the WWE Superstar she is today, Lacey Evans overcame a troubled childhood to make it to the top in not just one, but multiple fields - having joined the US Marines and built her own business along the way. Justin Su'a has coached a variety of elite performers, currently the Head of Mental Performance for MLB's reigning American League Champions, where he's seen a similar against-all-odds tale play out - and in this show they talk about the most common challenges faced by those at the top of their game in fields as diverse as the military, pro wrestling and pro sports.

As the most decorated American skier in history, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn has a resume that speaks for itself - highlighted by a record 82 World Cup event victories, 20 more than any other woman in history. Angela Duckworth's academic record is perhaps the closest comparison - with highlights such as bestselling author of the book Grit: The Power of Passion & Perseverance, and recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Genius Grant - and their conversation overachieves too: funny, curious and yet still on-point, they share their stories and what they've learned about how the greats deal with stress and pressure in different arenas.

As an undrafted free agent, Raheem Mostert was cut by 7 teams before finally making it in the league - but that was nothing compared to the unimaginable tragedy and drama he went through away from the field before he even began. Despite now being the starting RB for the San Francisco 49ers, and the only player ever to rush for over 200 yards and score 4 touchdowns in a Championship Game, he is still as humble and driven as ever as he shares his story and described how he handled his toughest times.