Colin O’Brady Shatters The Explorers Grand Slam World Record: Ruminations On Risk, Limits, Fear & Giving Back

At the highest echelon of elite performance, all the athletes possess otherworldly talent. Their thirst for glory is equally preternatural. All of them train to the outer limits of physical possibility. And they are all extraordinarily adroit at focusing on almost inhuman, impossible goals. So what accounts for the distance between the Olympic gold medalist standing proudly atop the podium and the athlete watching the games on television at home? Is it luck? Talent? Support? Resources? Of course every result is significantly influenced by some combination of these important variables. But all things being equal, the difference between the champion and the also ran boils down to one distinct variable: The mind. Once the embarrassing last stop on a flailing athlete’s career, the world's top sports psychologists now enjoys a highly influential and respected role proactively honing the mental and emotional edge of today's most successful athletes, CEOs and creatives looking to elevate peak performance beyond the imaginable. Enter Dr. Michael Gervais — the go to high performance psychologist everyone is talking about. A key member of the Red Bull High Performance Program, Michael works in the trenches of high-stakes environments with some of the world's most prolific Olympic and professional athletes — rare air where there is no luxury for mistakes, hesitation, or failure to respond. Dr. Gervais' results are beyond impressive. If you follow the NFL, then you might recall Michael as the guy Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll credits as integral in their 2014 Super Bowl win for the meditation, mindfulness and other crucial team building techniques he helped foster and instill into the fabric of the Seahawks organization and team culture that paved the team’s path towards incredible success. You might also remember that Felix Baumgartner’s now-infamous Red Bull Stratos jump from an altitude of 128,000 feet almost never was simply because Felix simply could not overcome the high level of anxiety and claustrophobia he experienced every time he donned the jump suit. It was none other than Gervais who helped Baumagartner resolve the issue and get Stratos back on track. No Gervais, no history making jump. And more recently, Michael is the man behind Luke Aikins, who astonished the world this past July by becoming the first skydiver to jump from a plane at 25,000 feet without a parachute or wingsuit and live to tell the story. Dr. Gervais has also worked intimately with US Olympic Team members like beach volleyball superstar Kerry Walsh Jennings, as well as swimmers, snowboarders, golfers, basketball players, track and field athletes, an impressive array of top collegiate programs, and professional sports organizations including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and UFC. In addition, his work has played an integral role in the US Military, as well as several collegiate and high school programs. While Dr. Gervais’ roster includes some of the sports world’s most elite, this isn’t just about high performance athletes. Enjoy! Rich

24 Loka 20162h

Religion was never for me. Despite many a youthful hour spent kneeling on hardwood church pews, it just never connected. What do all those stained glass windows, depressing organ dirges, and uptight people have to do with art and beauty and meaning and love and purpose and mystery and ultimately what it means to be human? Nothing as far as I could tell. So I searched for answers elsewhere. In the bottom of a bottle. Prowling underground after parties in lower Manhattan. In a mental institution called rehab. In midnight conversations with skid row junkies. In the sound of my breath, lost on a mountain trail run at dawn. During afternoons spent undulating with dolphins in Hawaii. In the overwhelming love I feel simply watching my children sleep. My search didn't lead back to religion. But it did lead to faith. A deep faith of my own design. Faith in an undefined, unlimited power greater than myself. A faith that quite literally saved my life when I was utterly lost, completely broken and unconditionally beyond repair. A faith that has since infused my journey with meaning, purpose and satisfaction beyond my wildest imagination. Some call my version of faith God. Call it whatever you like. I don't care. What I do care about is what it really means to be a spiritual being having a human experience. This week's guest has a few thoughts on the subject — an anti-establishment pastor provocateur making an indelible cultural impact on how we think and practice divinity, faith, and religion in the modern world. Named one of 2011's 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine, Rob Bell has presided over mega congregations, toured with Oprah and been profiled in The New Yorker. iTunes named his podcast, The RobCast, one of the Best of 2015 and he has penned more than a handful of New York Times bestsellers, including Love Wins, the Oprah book of the month What We Talk About When We Talk about God*, and his most recent book, How To Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living*. To me, what makes Rob so undeniably captivating is his independent-minded, radically inclusive — almost punk rock — perspective on faith. Breaking ranks with entrenched, pedantic notions of antiquated Christian church doctrine, his message upends the divisive aspects of religious ideology, recontextualizing the canon as a highly relatable, welcome pallium for all — a comprehensive fiat that boils down to one central premise: Love wins. Always. Enjoy! Rich

17 Loka 20161h 56min

Some people exude a calm, confident quietude. Others exuberantly burst with exciting ideas. But it's the rare individual that combines understated self-assurance with a spark so powerful, it incites lasting positive change in all who enter his orbit. Jonathan Fields is one such human. His mission? To humanize and empower the process of creation. To help people and organizations conceive and build better, more conscious businesses, art, and lives in less time, with more joy and less effort. On a personal level, Jonathan is guy I can deeply relate to – a dad and husband who (like me) decided to leave the gilded, protective hallways of mega-law firm life and risk everything in search of a life path of greater meaning for himself and others. Reinventing himself as a socially conscious, serial entrepreneur and mindful innovation strategist, today Jonathan is an A-list blogger, award-winning author, speaker, and founder of Good Life Project –empowering people to live more engaged and connected lives via a global education and multi-media venture that encompasses video projects, his wildly popular podcast and super cool events like Camp GLP, his annual 3 1/2- day retreat that blends friendship, adventure and deep-learning with strategies and tools for accelerated personal and business growth. Beneath it all, Jonathan is a teacher. Brimming with empowering wisdom, I love his focus on process over results. His emphasis on the journey over the destination. His deep understanding that authenticity is everything. And that mindfulness lays forth the path. This powerful ethos is reflected in everything Jonathan does, from his writing and advocacy to most importantly, how he conducts his life down to the smallest details. Jonathan has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, FastCompany, Inc., Entrepreneur, Forbes, USA Today, CNBC, CNN.com, PBS Nightly Report, Elle, Self, Fitness, Vogue, O, People and thousands of other websites that sound cool, but (in Jonathan's words) don't impress his daughter all that much. His first book, Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love*, was named a Top 10 Small Business Book by Small Business Trends and a Top 5 Summer Read by MSNBC. Fields’ second book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance*, was lauded as the #1 Personal Development book of 2011 by 800-CEO-READ. This week marks the release of Jonathan's highly anticipated new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom*. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy (one of the perks of hosting a podcast) and ...

10 Loka 20161h 51min

Two British ex-pats walk into a room. One, a writer and filmmaker. The other, a global adventurer and environmentalist. Upon cursory glance, it's an odd pairing — two exceedingly talented and accomplished yet very different people with little in common beyond their homeland of origin. But peer just beneath the surface and you'll quickly discover certain common passions unite them. A zeal for chasing dreams. An appreciation for cultivating imagination. And a deep understanding that a story well told holds the potential energy to change the world. My very good friend for over 16 years, Sacha Gervasi is the hyper-charismatic screenwriter behind the Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks vehicle The Terminal and the director of 2012's Academy Award nominated Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johannson. But Sacha is perhaps best known for Anvil! The Story of Anvil — his critically acclaimed rockumentary about an also-ran Canadian heavy metal band. A true-to-life Spinal Tap the London Times dubbed possibly the greatest film ever made about rock and roll, it took independent cinema by storm at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and would go on to win both an Emmy and Independent Spirit Award. But behind the film's can you believe this is actually real? narrative and comedically endearing head-banger protagonists is a powerful, indelible dissection of what it truly means to never give up on your dream. Equally charismatic is Sacha's brother-in-law, David de Rothschild. A world adventurer, passionate environmentalist, entrepreneur and provocative storyteller, David spearheads more conscious causes, mind-boggling expeditions and well deserving non-profits than you can possibly count. In between writing books and graphic novels, David has traipsed the Arctic from Russia to Canada, is one of only 14 people to have traversed the continent of Antarctica and was part of the team that broke the world record for the fastest-ever crossing of the Greenland ice cap. Named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic, a Climate Hero by the United Nations and Man of the Year by GQ Magazine, David is perhaps best known for sailing from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot catamaran forged from 125,000 intact, reclaimed plastic bottles. Dubbed Plastiki — an homage to Kon-Tiki, legendary explorer Thor Heyerdal's epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft in 1947 — the hair-raising odyssey was a successful effort to captivate awareness around the 73.9 million pounds of plastic currently floating in our oceans. David's latest obsession? The Lost Explorer — his recently launched line of stylish, sustainably sourced and manufactured garments, grooming products and travel accessories. The three of us convened in David's spectacular, airy Venice live-work loft for a proper chat and spot of tea. Between witty barbs, this conversation pivots on a central theme: the power of storytelling to lift the human spirit, speak truth to power, incite positive change and elicit indelible, eternal verities about who we are. And how, together, we can leverage imagination to cultivate a better relationship with nature and a brighter future for ourselves, our children and the planet at large. Enjoy! Rich

3 Loka 20161h 55min

There is extreme. Then there's Charlie Engle – a man who has run across deserts, summited ice-covered volcanoes, swam with crocodiles, overcome crack addiction and survived a stint in federal prison. The story goes like this: after a hair-curling, decade-long love affair with booze and crack cocaine that culminated in a near-fatal six-day binge and a hail of bullets, Charlie finally gets sober. For solace, he turns to running, which becomes his lifeline, his pastime, and his salvation. He begins with marathons, but it wasn't enough. Ultramarathons soon became the focus of his affection, a new love affair that takes him to stunning heights and accolades. During this second act, Charlie would clock a handful of impressive top-10 finishes at prestigious races like Badwater, a 135-mile jaunt across Death Valley widely considered to be the toughest footrace on Earth. But his athletic zenith is an unprecedented, absolutely astonishing 111-day, 4,500-mile run across the Sahara Desert — a feat chronicled in the Matt Damon narrated documentary entitled Running the Sahara. Life was pretty good. Then came quite possibly the most bizarre and improbable challenge Charlie could ever imagine facing. A bad B-movie narrative that involved an obsessed IRS agent with an axe to grind. Wire taps and garbage probes. Even the requisite wily enchantress dispatched to entrap. A saga that culminates in an unjust conviction for mortgage fraud. A poster child for everything awry with the mortgage-backed security crisis, Charlie serves 16 months in a West Virginia federal prison – what Charlie jocularly refers to as his federal holiday. He could have played the victim. Instead, he spends his days pounding the small prison track, running endlessly in circles. Soon his fellow inmates were joining him, struggling to keep their spirits up in dehumanizing circumstances. A prison hero by the time his sentence concludes, Charlie now embraces his third act as a more fully actualized version of his pre-shackled self — armed with newfound perspective and a grateful appreciation for what matters most in life. Charlie is one-of-a-kind. A world class talker and master storyteller, I knew Charlie's new memoir would be a page-turner. But I didn't expect the book to be so well written. Running Man: A Memoir* is every bit the gripping, raw, honest, funny, emotional, at times cringe-inducing, but ultimately inspiring story I hoped it would be – and then some. I'm thrilled to bring you my second conversation with Charlie. Picking up where episode 67 leaves off, (a must listen if you're new to the show), this is an intimate discourse about high highs and low lows. It's about addiction, sobriety, service and spirit. It's about perspective. Nine lives and third acts. What it means to touch the threshold of human endurance. And then transcend it. Enjoy! Rich

26 Syys 20162h 42min

In the mid-1800's, this radical dude living alone in the woods famously wrote, the mass of men lead lives of quite desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. As set forth in the enduring Walden, the words of Henry David Thoreau were revelatory for the time. But it's an idea that more than holds up. Not only do I consider it daily, I would contend it perfectly encapsulates what has become the unfortunate, yet defining affliction of modern man. This week's guest has devoted his life to helping others avoid Thoreau's foreboding lament – a self-experiment in purposeful living he calls The Art of Non-Conformity. Ripe with wanderlust after a 4-year stint as a NGO volunteer executive in West Africa, Chris Guillebeau embarked on a multi-year quest to travel to every country in the world, all 193, before his 35th birthday. Along the way, he decided to share his adventures on a newly hatched blog. But what began as a rather ignored and somewhat turgid travelogue soon morphed into a globally revered portal chronicling the personal experience, lessons and wisdom earned and learned not just by Chris, but by a dynamic multitude of unconventional people overcoming conventional social mores around work, life and travel to achieve personal goals and greater life satisfaction. The blog exploded, capturing the intrigue, trust and fascination of people all across the world thirsty for the brass tacks steps and inspiration required to pursue more adventurous and personally fulfilling means of working and living outside traditional paradigms. With the success of the blog, it's not surprising that books soon followed. The Art of Non-Conformity* was translated into more than twenty languages. His second book, The $100 Startup*, was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide. His third book, The Happiness of Pursuit*, was also a New York Times bestseller. His most recent book, Born for This*, will help you find the work you were meant to do. When he's not writing bestselling books or traveling to parts unknown, you're likely to find Chris diligently working on his World Domination Summit — an annual gathering he founded six years ago that brings thousands of creative, remarkable people together. Everybody loves a good travel hack. The basic steps to launch a new business. Or the path to overnight success. If you're looking for Chris' answers to those questions, you're in the wrong place. I'm more interested in the man behind the work. What makes Chris tick. How he sees himself in the world. Enjoy! Rich

19 Syys 20161h 58min

There are people that run. There are others who run fast. But few people on Earth run like the remarkable Shalane Flanagan.  Over the course of her distinguished 16-year professional career, Shalane has made 4 consecutive Olympic teams, won an Olympic medal and set a variety of American records across a wide array of distances on both the track and the road. To put her excellence in perspective, consider this: in 2010, she finished second at the prestigious New York City marathon — her very first 26.2 ever — clocking the best finish by an American female at that race in 20 years. She's also run the fastest time ever by an American woman at the Boston Marathon and in 2014 set her personal best in Berlin with a blazing 2:21.14, the second-fastest time ever by an American woman. But what’s truly unique about this assassin in compression socks is the extraordinary extent to which Shalane has distinguished herself across a multitude of distances & disciplines. On dirt, she's won collegiate national championships in cross-country. On the track, she's set American records at both the 3000 & 5000 meter distances. And on the road she's broken American records in both 10K & 15K and achieved two Olympic marathon berths, including her recent 6th place showing in Rio. Beyond her extraordinary accomplishments and amidst all her obligations as the world's greatest running polymorph, Shalane finds herself today embarking on a new chapter — as a foster parent to twin teenage girls along with her husband Steve Edwards (a badass runner in his own right). And yet somehow, she still mustered the time to write a cookbook with her lifelong friend Elyse Kopecky – a former college cross-country teammate who left a career in digital marketing at Nike to become a chef, food writer, nutrition educator, and mom after studying culinary arts in New York and abroad. The result of Shalane and Elyse's beautiful collaborative partnership is the newly minted New York Times' bestselling Run Fast Eat Slow*. Part culinary primer and part lifestyle manifesto, it's a beautiful whole foods, flavor-forward cookbook packed with nourishing and delicious recipes, nutritional wisdom and inspiring stories from two accomplished women you can't help but love. Women who believe and prove that you can be healthy and perform at your peak without counting calories, obsessing over protein, or restricting yourself to diets that do more harm than good. As a quick aside to all my fellow passionate vegan friends (I love you), a disclaimer: Run Fast Eat Slow is not a 100% plant-based cookbook. Notwithstanding, the cookbook does contain plenty of great plant-based dishes as well as heaps of wisdom relative to cultivating a more conscious and deliberate relationship with the food we source, prepare and consume — subjects I think we can all get behind, irrespective of specific dietary preferences. In this conversation, Shalane and Elyse impart loads of practical, experience-based advice, including: Shalane’s specific training protocols, race day rituals, fueling strategies (her take on supplements might surprise you), recovery routines, mindset tactics and some of the common mistakes most runners make. Enjoy! Rich

12 Syys 20162h 4min

Humans love duality. But there is great beauty in the grey that lives between the lines. Black and white. Good and bad. Evolution and regression. We are hard wired to categorize. To pick a team and stick with it. It’s our way of making sense of the world. But too often this inclination to self-identify only serves to isolate and divide — working at cross-purposes with our competing desire to more deeply connect with our fellow humans. So what happens when we resist the urge to judge another? This week on the podcast Julie and I peer beyond dogma, belief systems and categories to embrace the grey. Consider it a thought experiment in forsaking judgment for empathy as a path to better understand others and the environments we co-inhabit. Specific topics include: * creating and cultivating community * the difference between discernment and judgment * enhancing sustainability in consumer choice * finding your authentic voice We end the episode with a rendition of the Hedy West song 500 Miles by Julie (aka SriMati) and our boys' band Ana Leimma. I sincerely hope you enjoy the conversation. Peace + Plants, Rich

5 Syys 20161h 6min