Meet Steve Magness
Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on human performance. He’s worked as a consultant on mental skills development for professional sports teams, including some of the top NBA teams. He co-authored the books “Peak Performance” and “The Passion Paradox” with our former guest Brad Stulberg. He also wrote “The Science of Running” and now he has a new book called “Do Hard Things.”
Why Steve Magness Is Mentally Strong
Steve can run a mile in just over four minutes. Clearly, he can push his body well past the point of when his brain tells him to slow down or stop. But he also knows how to avoid pushing himself so hard that he injures himself. That’s a true sign of mental strength.
What You’ll Hear on the Show
Why our brains work so hard to keep us inside our comfort zones What we learn when we push ourselves to do hard things Why it’s important to accept that failure is always an option Steve’s favorite strategy for changing the way you talk to yourself The most helpful ways to change your inner dialogue Why it’s so important to learn how to manage your emotions (and the skills you can use to do that) Why you shouldn’t put yourself in a harsh environment just to toughen yourself up (and what you should do instead) What it really means to be mentally tough
What You’ll Learn About Mental Health and Mental Strength
Some people think they’re mentally strong because they don’t have much anxiety. But, a lack of anxiety isn’t exactly the hallmark of mental strength. Instead, it might indicate someone is living really far inside their comfort zone because they’re afraid of doing things where they might fail. That’s why Steve talks about doing hard things. You can create a nurturing environment for yourself that will prepare you to tackle healthy challenges for yourself.
Quotes From Steve
“Real toughness is acceptance, right? It’s, it’s accepting the difficult thing. It’s accepting that you might fail. It’s accepting that you might even struggle or have doubts. And that’s OK. Once you have that acceptance, you can actually navigate it. When you deny reality, you can’t really navigate it.““Emotions are just a way for our body to communicate, right? It’s to tell us, ‘Hey, you might wanna pay attention to this’ or ‘Hey, this might be a dangerous situation.’ Now the thing is, our body sometimes gets it wrong, right? It hits the alarm button, the panic, the anxiety button when we don’t need that. It’s like a protective mechanism.”
More About the Podcast
The Verywell Mind Podcast is available across all streaming platforms. If you like the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Reviews and ratings are a great way to encourage other people to listen and help them prioritize their mental health too. If You Liked This Episode, You Might Also Like These Episodes
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