Episode 472: Brad Stulberg The Pursuit of Excellence
Human Performance Outliers Podcast with Zach Bitter
Zach Bitter
4.8 • 622 Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Brad Stulberg researches, writes, and coaches on health, well-being, and sustainable excellence. He is the bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness and co-author of Peak Performance. Stulberg regularly contributes to the New York Times, and his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine, Forbes, and other outlets. He also serves as the co-host of The Growth Equation podcast and is on faculty at the University of Michigan's Graduate School of Public Health. In his coaching practice, he works with executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, and athletes on their mental skills and overall well-being. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Excellence is not perfectionism, so it's not doing everything great all the time. |
| 0:05.0 | Excellence is not winning at all costs. |
| 0:08.0 | Excellence is not a standard. |
| 0:10.0 | It's not getting a gold star or straight A's or running a sub-230 marathon. |
| 0:15.0 | Excellence is a process. |
| 0:17.0 | The mix of caring deeply about something and doing it in a way with integrity to your values. |
| 0:24.9 | Forget excellence. That's human flourishing. Yeah, the only zen on the top of the mountain is the zen that you bring up with you along the way. Like, you've got to find the Zen along the way. |
| 0:29.5 | The Zen is in the process. Now, the only thing that fills the hole inside is the satisfaction |
| 0:34.8 | that you get from the process. So it's very non-dual. Yeah, try to win. |
| 0:39.1 | Get that outcome. And you better find the Zen along the way because it's not going to be there at the top. |
| 0:46.8 | Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Human Performance Outliers podcast with Zach Bitter. |
| 0:54.0 | Welcome, everyone. If you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing on your |
| 0:58.0 | favorite podcast listening platform and YouTube. You can now also check out the full |
| 1:02.7 | video episode on X. Please also consider sharing your favorite episodes and leaving a review. |
| 1:07.9 | If you do that and tag me or send me a screenshot, I will enter you in a |
| 1:12.4 | monthly raffle for a free 30-minute consultation with me. For full episode details, including |
| 1:17.7 | notes, timestamps, transcripts, and the show Patreon page, and other ways to support the show, |
| 1:23.0 | please head over to my website at Zachbitter.com. There you can find all my coaching services, including |
| 1:29.3 | some new offerings for 2025. You can also sign up for my substack newsletter where I have been |
| 1:34.9 | publishing my training journal weekly, as well as other topic-based posts. If you have any |
| 1:40.4 | questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on my website or at HPO podcast at gmail.com. |
| 1:48.2 | A big thanks to Element Electrolites, Delta G ketones, Probionutrition, and Training Peaks for supporting the podcast. |
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