excellence, actually

We're all going to experience pain in some form or another. Unfortunately, our long accepted model for what pain is — and how to treat it — has been wrong. Today, we're breaking down the biopsychosocial model of pain, which presented a recent change in how researchers, doctors, psychologists, and performers think about why we feel what we feel. We discuss an important distinction between hurt and harm from pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness, discuss why two people with identical injuries can have very different experiences of pain, present a taxonomy of three different types of discomfort, and give you a practical toolkit for dealing with your own pain (including a balloon metaphor that might change how you think about recovery).
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In 1960, A publisher at Random House bet a writer $50 that he couldn't produce a children's book using just 50 distinct words. That writer was Dr. Seuss, and the resulting book was Green Eggs and Ham, which has gone on to sell more than 200 million copies. Sometimes, limits aren't a bad thing. In fact, they often lead to unexpected breakthroughs in creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. This is the message at the heart of David Epstein's new book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. This is something elite performers know well. They aren't adding more and more or keeping their options open; they're whittling down to what matters most. So we wanted to ask David on to give us the lessons from his book and from his research that can most effectively help us do that too.
Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay
Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling)
- Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter
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- If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!
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Not just one, but two (!) men finished this past weekend's London Marathon in under two hours, a time that has never before been beat and was once largely thought to be impossible. Today, we unpack how it happened: the advances in running shoe and fueling technology that made this moment possible, the giant elephant on the podium (the ever present question of doping), and what we can all learn about harnessing the power of belief, confidence, and competition to push past our own perceived limits.
Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay
Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling)
- Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter
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- If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!
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There's a good reason you can't concentrate. That's not just a statement; it's also the title of a viral piece that our friend Cal Newport (author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism) recently wrote for The New York Times. Cal argues that we're at a precarious moment in the history of thinking. The ease and convenience of technology and digital media (think: junk food for your brain) have negatively impacted our cognition, which means we need to start taking our cognitive health as seriously as we take our physical health. So today we're talking about what that means for all of us: what this change in thinking portends for the future of society and culture, and, perhaps more importantly, how to design an effective workout program for the brains of adults and children. We think it's one of the most important episodes we've ever done.
"There's a Good Reason You Can't Concentrate" by Cal Newport: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/opinion/technology-mental-fitness-cognitive.html
Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay
Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling)
- Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter
- Join The Growth Equation Academy
- If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, Clay taps into Steve's wisdom as a long-time running coach—which doesn't mean you have to be a runner to get something out of it. The episode covers the most efficient type of aerobic training for any athlete (hint: it's not Zone 2 or HIIT), the mindset and mentality that sets elite runners apart, what makes for a great coach-athlete relationship, how much mileage you need to maximize your performance, super shoes, and, yes, even running influencers. Plus: Steve talks about his truly unhinged high school treadmill workouts.
Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase: drinkLMNT.com/Clay
Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling)
- Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter
- Join The Growth Equation Academy
- If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!
iTunes and Apple Podcasts
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.