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    Athlete CEO

    Each week on Athlete CEO features select excerpts from interviews with trailblazers, the elite, those at the top of their field and the best at their craft with the goal to curate the best practices that you can leverage to unlock your human capital
    en104 Episodes

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    Episodes (104)

    Why You Forget 80% of What You Read | Josiah Igono | Athlete CEO #63

    Why You Forget 80% of What You Read | Josiah Igono | Athlete CEO #63

    Our daily life can often look like trying to drink from the firehose with billions of pieces of information available at our fingertips, notifications from multiple devices, and the ability to join millions of conversations around the world via social media. 

    We live in a world that rewards speed – how quick we think, react, and position ourselves, but thinking about more things – trying to speed up – can often lead instead to slowing down

    Despite today’s reality seeming like a dream just 20-30 years ago, we can often find ourselves bogged down by this information, and there’s a reason for that: Hick’s Law.

    This concept solidifies the idea of “analysis paralysis” and is the focus of today’s conversation between Erik and Josiah. They define Hick’s Law, how it impacts your performance, and what you can do to counteract it.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

    • (1:09) What is Hick’s Law and why does it matter for performance?
    • (4:03) “You don’t go to Target to buy something; you go to Target so they can tell you what to buy.” Josiah Igono
    • (4:56) Why you can’t go through the mental checklist of your biomechanics when you need to perform in the moment as an athlete.
    • (5:49) Implicit vs Explicit Memory
    • (7:42) What is your priority?
    • (8:48) Eugene Fama’s 3 factors that the highest outperforming companies share

    Building Resilience | Smaranda Lawrie | Athlete CEO #62

    Building Resilience | Smaranda Lawrie | Athlete CEO #62

    When people hear the term “positive psychology” it can often bring to mind the idea of “always staying positive” or trying to force yourself to never feel anger or pain, but Smaranda Lawrie says that’s B.S.

    Smaranda has a PhD in psychology and brain science from UCSB, is the founder of UCSB’s Resilience Summit, currently is an assistant professor at Providence College, and is a key researcher on positive psychology.

    As a child, Smaranda’s family were political refugees from Romania who – in fleeing the country – ended up in Hungary hiding in apartments and even an underground tunnel to a refugee camp in Austria. She shares some of the hardships she experienced as a kid, how she learned resilience to get through them, and how research shows the importance of building resilience through parenting.

    In this episode, Brandon and Erik talk with Smaranda about positive psychology actually is, leading research on how practicing it can improve your performance and overall outlook on life, what’s in the toolkit of positive psychology, and how to practice it with your kids.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

    • (2:15) How Smaranda’s experiences as a Romanian immigrant taught her resilience and influenced her decision to research positive psychology
    • (4:15) I think sometimes people think that it’s all about happiness and having this Pollyanna smile on your face all the time. And it’s really not.” -Smaranda Lawrie
    • (6:03) Positive psychology isn’t about ignoring pain and anger
    • (7:49) Who is positive psychology for?
    • (10:00) Smaranda’s experiences as a wife of a professional football player
    • (15:29) How to parent through times of uncertainty and change
    • (18:47) “We've become, in the past couple of decades, just increasingly more protective of our children. I know it's very well intentioned, but on one hand, we're telling them that they can do anything in the world and that they're their own person and they can reach for the stars and whatever. On the other hand, we're handholding them along the way.” – Smaranda Lawrie
    • (23:39) How to use the tools and skillsets of positive psychology in parenting to help teach kids to regulate emotions and decisions
    • (27:51) The simple gratitude exercise everyone from 2-year-olds to Fortune 500 CEOs should practice
    • (31:02) How does identity fit into the conversation?
    • (34:40) Why don’t we spend more time thinking about our values?
    • (37:21) The importance of relationships
    • (38:58) The PERMA theory
    • (44:02) What advice do you have for parents with older kids – is it “too late”?
    • (52:09) The research on aging well

    Feed the B.E.A.S.T. | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #61

    Feed the B.E.A.S.T. | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #61

    As athletes, we’ve all heard some variation of “You’ve just got to have confidence,” as if it’s just a switch you haven’t flipped on yet.

    But how? You can’t just create confidence out of thin air.

    And what does it look like? Is it simply just going out on the field with the belief that you’ll win? Is it carrying yourself with certain body language? Is it surrounding yourself with people who will tell you you’re great? 

    To build confidence, you have to first understand exactly what it is. Only then can you focus on building on your own confidence in all areas of your life.

    In this episode of Athlete CEO: Peak Performance, Josiah Igono and Erik Averill define confidence, why it’s important, and tangible ways to boost your own confidence level.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

    • (1:24) Defined: What exactly is confidence?
    • (3:33) Feed the B.E.A.S.T. to build your confidence
    • (5:08) “You don’t have to be the thermometer; be the thermostat.” – Josiah Igono
    • (5:25) “Your environment matters, because we don’t live in a neutral world.” – Erik Averill
    • (6:07) David Rock’s SCARF model of leadership
    • (10:44) More Athlete CEO: Peak Performances on B.E.A.S.T.

    B | Championship Body Language

    E | The #1 Skill to Peak Performance

    A | Find, Attach and Attack Your Way to Clarity, Countering Negativity with Thought-Stopping

    S | The 3 Keys to Mental Performance, The Science of Self-Talk

    T | Do You Spend More Time in Reflection or Strategy?, Capturing What’s Most Important

    The NBA’s Body Whisperer | Fabrice Gautier | ACEO #60

    The NBA’s Body Whisperer | Fabrice Gautier | ACEO #60

    We believe the best investment you can make is in yourself - your human capital. 

    Our guest, Fabrice Gautier, has created outsized returns for some of the world’s best athletes like Rudy Gobert, Giancarlo Stanton, Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker, and more, and he has served as the French National Basketball team’s osteopath since 2009.

    Described by Kevin Love as “the swiss army knife when it comes to optimizing your health and performance,” Fabrice is a licensed physical therapist and osteopath who has been particularly noteworthy for his approach of viewing an injury not just as an injury, but looking at the comprehensive solution to resolve the root issue causing that injury, which requires assessing the full person – body, mind, soul. Ultimately, the goal is to address the problem, not the consequence.

    Fabrice joins Erik and Brandon and covers a range of helpful topics from his experience discussing everything from how he’s seen some of the best athletes build out the teams that surround them, to finding the root of chronic injuries, and why he thinks a strength and conditioning coach and a chef are the two most important people to have on your team.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

    • (1:47) Seeing the person; not a patient
    • (6:07) The European vs American approaches to physical therapy
    • (10:11) When should someone show up in Fabrice’s office?
    • (14:28) How should an athlete handle building out the team that surrounds them?
    • (20:29) The importance of having a plan
    • (23:24) How should a new athlete just starting out approach building a core team that can help keep him or her healthy throughout their career?
    • (28:54) The importance of investing in yourself
    • (30:49) Why you need a chef – and maybe even a masseuse
    • (33:31) Is lifestyle assessment becoming more normal in the performance space?
    • (39:20) At the end of the day, it takes hard work
    • (42:35) Learning from other sports

    Is Perfectionism Good for Performance? | Josiah Igono & Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #59

    Is Perfectionism Good for Performance? | Josiah Igono & Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #59

    Perfectionism plagues so many high achievers. Perfectionism is not accepting anything short of perfection. 

    Is perfectionism good, or is it bad? 

    Research by Dr. Joachim Stoeber has shown that individuals who strive for perfection on the athletic field outperform and outclass their peers…until they don't.

    The problem therein lies in what happens when you don't reach perfection. It leads to the fear of failure, fear of criticism, stress, depression, and anxiety.

    How do you reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls?

    Peak Performance coach Josiah Igono teaches you to leverage an ancient military strategy to overcome perfectionism and reach your full potential.

    • Celebrate
    • All Out
    • Make Minor Improvements
    • Process
    • Separate 

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

    • (1:25) Paralyzing perfection
    • (1:49) Defining perfectionism
    • (3:01) Is chasing perfection good or bad for performance?
    • (4:44) C.A.M.P.S.
    • (7:54) Incorporating reflection with C.A.M.P.S.

    Name, Image, Likeness: What Collegiate Athletes Should Know | Doug Fillis | Athlete CEO #58

    Name, Image, Likeness: What Collegiate Athletes Should Know | Doug Fillis | Athlete CEO #58

    Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) is the first step for collegiate athletes to begin getting fairly compensated for their abilities and dedication to their sport. The last two months, we’ve seen headlines of athletes signing deals with national brands, local businesses, and creating their own personal trademarks.

    As a collegiate athlete, what are the most important questions and factors you should be considering before stepping into the world of NIL?

    Doug Fillis, founder of Accelerate Sports Ventures, an NIL education and consulting firm, joins us to answer important questions the athletes need to know. With Doug’s extensive background in sports marketing and commitment to advising on NIL, we find out the answers to what matters most to you as a student athlete.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHT

    • Staying eligible
    • Will marketing money ruin your financial aid?
    • How to find a good marketing agent
    • How to evaluate an agent’s track record and skill
    • Can a deal be for an entire sports team - i.e. the whole football team?
    • Cash flow, taxes and what’s important
    • Use of the school’s logos/brand
    • Is the team that’s advising you competent? 

    Building Your Brand | Evan Parker | Athlete CEO #57

    Building Your Brand | Evan Parker | Athlete CEO #57

    You are your own brand.

    Countless times we have all heard this. And now that amateur athletes are able to monetize their Name, Image, & Likeness (NIL) the message is being shouted from the roof top.

    Yet, the majority of advice is incomplete and misses the main point. The "brand" is only as valuable as the "business" that is built. Companies and people partner with brands (individual or corporate) because they believe those brands will help them become more valuable.

    What is your business and what value do you offer?

    On today's show, we have the privilege to hear from Evan Parker, Vice President and General Manager of The Athletic. Evan has led the Athletic to become the most valuable brand in sports journalism.

    Lessons From Evan In This Episode:

    • What goes into building a brand
    • What makes you value to a company
    • How to choose who to partner with
    • How athletes can create passive income
    • Who are the experts you need to build a business.

    Whether you are an athlete, entrepreneur or individual looking to increase your value (human capital) this episode is for you.

    Countering Negativity with Thought-Stopping | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #56

    Countering Negativity with Thought-Stopping | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #56

    You’re in a performance competition, on the field or court in the middle of a game, or about to give a big presentation and your brain starts running wild with self-defeating thoughts. 

    What do you do?

    For some, it can be hard to overcome these negative thoughts and their performance suffers. However, in today’s Athlete CEO: Peak Performance episode, Erik and Josiah discuss another way to combat these thoughts through the concept of thought-stopping.

    They discuss what thought-stopping is, why this topic is considered controversial by some experts, and ways to practice it to see if it’s helpful for you.

    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

    • (1:01) This month’s topic: Thought Stopping
    • (1:29) What is thought stopping and why is it controversial?
    • (3:27) Telling yourself not to think about pink elephants?
    • (5:16) There is no one size fits all
    • (6:31) How does positive psychology fit into this?
    • (7:41) Advice for athletes applying thought-stopping
    • (10:35) What you say to yourself is the loudest voice

    Are You Breathing? | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #55

    Are You Breathing? | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #55

    We have all been there. In high impact situations and high stress situations we forget to breathe.

    At the exact moment we need to be at our best, we cut off our brain’s lifeline to function. Shutting down our frontal lobe, which is responsible for high level thought, decision-making, executive functioning, being able to think backwards, think strategically, and being able to innovate. 

    “Be in control of your breathing, be in control of your performance.” Dr. Ken Ravizza

    The benefits are unmatched when you can really control your breathing:

    • Decreases stress
    • Decreases anxiety
    • Decreases muscle tension
    • Improves performance

    Listen in as Peak Performance Coach, Josiah Igono, PHD provides practical tools and resources to unlock the full power of breathing.

    Resources:

    Recommended Podcasts:

    Release Techniques | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #54

    Release Techniques | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #54

    Be present. Stay in the moment. One pitch/swing/snap at a time. The past is behind you.

    Simple concepts. Extremely difficult to execute. Yet, the ones that do separate themselves from the crowd. 

    The tool the high performers use to execute: Release Techniques

    When things starts to bubble up a release technique helps you to reset.

    Listen in as Peak Performance Coach, Josiah Igono, PHD breaks down everything you need to know about developing your own release techniques and unlocking your full potential.

    The True Competitive Edge: Mental Health | Jason Law, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #53

    The True Competitive Edge: Mental Health | Jason Law, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #53

    We love being a part of a community that is driven to win. A community where each of us are in pursuit of being the best in the world. To be masters of our craft. 

    Many begin the journey, but few arrive. It can be lonely, exhausting and filled with dangerous pitfalls that threaten your success.

    The biggest threat, your mental health. 

    Thankfully, this is not a path you have to travel alone. From Michael Phelps, to Kevin Love and Hayden Hurst we have professional athletes bringing the awareness and resources to the forefront to help us redefine what high performance truly means. 

    Listen in to this Athlete CEO Episode with special guest, Jason Law as we dive into bringing you the knowledge, tools and experts surrounding mental health.

    Capturing What’s Most Important | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #52

    Capturing What’s Most Important | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO #52

    It’s been estimated that the human mind is capturing anywhere between 10,000-60,000 thoughts per day, and that we scroll somewhere in the range of the Statue of Liberty’s to the Eiffel Tower’s height per day.

    We are inundated with information every day – how do you capture what’s most important to unlock your full human capital?

    By utilizing one of the most pivotal tools of performance: journaling.

    Through the frontal lobe, the brain has a built-in functionality to sift through the proverbial firehose of information we’re consuming throughout our days and makes executive decisions on what to store and what to sift out, so a constant barrage of information can actually tax the performance of that function. 

    So as Josiah puts it, “you cannot use what you can’t access.”

    With the habit of journaling, we unlock the ability to note the most important points from that recent book we’ve read, performance notes from our last training session, map out our big goals, and it even helps us address stress and anxiety.

    Our resident performance coach and founder of All Things Performance, Josiah Igono, joins Erik once again to discuss this topic and how to implement it in our lives to improve our performance in all areas of life.

    Episode Highlights

    • Stats of the daily firehose of information (1:34)
    • How journaling helps us use the information we gather daily to actually become actionable (4:07)
    • “You cannot use what you cannot access” – Josiah Igono (5:47)
    • How journaling helps us set goals and find clarity (8:27)
    • How journaling can help with stress and anxiety (11:47)
    • “A listening ear has a healing quality” – Josiah Igono (12:12)
    • What is stream-of-consciousness journaling? (13:02)

    Unlocking Human Performance with Phil Wallin – Diesel Fitness, Health & Recovery for Professional Athletes | Athlete CEO #51

    Unlocking Human Performance with Phil Wallin – Diesel Fitness, Health & Recovery for Professional Athletes | Athlete CEO #51

    On today’s episode, Phil Wallin, owner & CEO of Diesel Fitness & Health & Recovery shares how the revolution of wearable technology such as the Whoop is fueling performance like never before. 

    The world of sports and investing is driven by analytics because the numbers don’t lie. Analytics provide answers to the most important questions: 

    1. What is valuable?
    2. What drives performance?
    3. Can it be improved?

    Our community is constantly looking for the next edge. Yet, the one thing we have control over is still the most untapped: our human performance. 

    For the professional athlete, it is so important that your bank account is tied directly to your physical performance. 

    Yet, most athletes are still guessing when it comes to their health & performance.

    “If you are not wearing, you are guessing. If you don’t understand the data, we can teach you. Is your career not important enough?” – Phil Wallin

    Listen in as Phil breaks down the 3 Pillars of Health & Performance and the technology you need to gain the edge you are looking for. 

    #1 Skill to Peak Performance | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance #50

    #1 Skill to Peak Performance | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance #50

    The difference between a good performance and a great performance is the result of how you show up.

    Are you at your absolute best? Have you set yourself up for peak performance?

    Very few of the mental skills are designed to help us up-regulate. Most of the skills are focused on slowing down, being present, and calming yourself.

    But, what if you could wake yourself up, become hyper-focused, and create an edge at the right moment?

    Listen in as Josiah Igono, PHD Performance Psychology unlocks the powerful skill of Arousal Regulation.

    Episode Highlights

    • (01:24): What is Arousal Regulation
    • (03:46): What is Catastrophe Theory
    • (04:21): 4 Tactics to upregulate
    • (08:28): The Danger of Stoicism
    • (08:55): How to spike your HRV
    • (09:45): When to use Arousal Regulation
    • (11:34): What does it mean to be fully human?
    • (12:27): The importance of individualization
    • (14:40): Owning your development and performance

    More resources at awmcap.co/aceo50

    Championship Body Language | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance

    Championship Body Language | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance

    Your presence is everything – it dictates your performance, how you’re viewed, how other respond to you, and even how you feel about yourself.

    Our brains are wired to protect and to predict, so the way we comport ourselves – whether it’s on the mound, in the boardroom, or in daily interactions – makes a difference in how others will respond, think, and feel.

    As athletes, the truth is that we want to have a dominant presence on the field. We want to be confident and take up space. We want to be big. This comes from a confidence that you can actually do what you set out to do – beat your opponent and win.

    Ultimately, as Josiah shares in this episode, confidence begins by adopting championship body language as there is a measurable reaction occurring at a neurochemical level. In today’s episode, Josiah and Erik discuss this concept and the science that ties confidence and body language together.

    Episode Highlights

    • (1:12) What is championship body language?
    • (2:21) The science behind presence
    • (3:33) The difference between having a strong presence and being domineering
    • (5:28) Being a dominant athlete
    • (6:37) Your reaction as an athlete to committing an error on the field
    • (9:50) Where to find the best research on body language
    • (10:49) Having confidence in your teammates and coaches
    • (15:09) Is it in you?

    Pushing Against Perfection | Coach Dar | Athlete CEO #48

    Pushing Against Perfection | Coach Dar | Athlete CEO #48

    As an elite performer you’ve worked hard to get where you’re at. The work to stay at the top comes with immense pressure and a grind to continually improve. Also, success can make it hard to get clear, direct feedback, and it can attract people who don’t have your best interests in mind.

    How do you continue to reach for greatness without folding to the pressures of perfectionism? How can you work to build an inner circle of people with your best interests in mind – who can give you direct and candid feedback that will help you get better at what you do?

    Today we’re joined by Darleen Santore – also known as Coach Dar. She is a board-certified occupational therapist, business owner, and performance coach for professional athletes and executives.

    Coach Dar was recently named a senior fellow at PathNorth, an organization comprised of leaders and CEOs of fortune 100 companies, the WNBA named her the Most Inspiring Woman of 2017, she is the U.S. Ambassador for Pay It Forward Day, and she recently launched her own social platform called Kindli, which puts the focus squarely on kindness and positivity with a goal to generate over a billion acts of kindness around the world.

    Coach Dar discusses with Erik and Brandon about how to define greatness, what it means to be a pro, dealing with the pressures of perfection, and surrounding yourself with people who will help you grow.

    Episode Highlights

    • (00:08) More about Coach Dar
    • "The thing about greatness and being great, everyone has the ability to reach greatness within them with the God-given talent they have, but few are willing to truly do what it takes to be that truest and best version of themselves." – Coach Dar
    • (4:22) How to define greatness
    • (5:14) “Being a pro does not mean perfection. It means 1% progress. Every day you’re back – being consistent and disciplined to do what you need to do to be the best.” – Coach Dar
    • (5:49) What holds people back from greatness? 
    • (7:36) What are the practical steps to committing to the process and implementing a plan
    • (9:42) Finding the right help
    • (11:49) The science of occupational therapy
    • (18:27) Why aren’t people working with performance coaches?
    • (20:25) How Tom Brady and LeBron James got where they are
    • (21:09) Why working with a peak performance coach doesn’t mean something is wrong with you
    • (24:00) Dealing with the pressure of perfection
    • (26:11) “I'm going to help you find your whypower over willpower. Your willpower is going to give up when you're going through a tough season, right? You can't lean on willpower every day, but I'm going to remind you - why'd you get up?” – Coach Dar
    • (27:27) The importance of reframing
    • (30:06) Getting direct feedback
    • (32:52) Building your trusted inner circle
    • (38:32) Cutting down your circle
    • (41:35) One of the key questions to ask in close relationships

    Do You Spend More Time In Reflection or Strategy? | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance

    Do You Spend More Time In Reflection or Strategy? | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance

    Do You Spend More Time In Reflection or Strategy? | Josiah Igono, Erik Averill | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance

    Living in an “always on” and “permanently connected” world, our everyday experience is littered with a proverbial fire hose of information. We can get any question answered in the blink of an eye on Google, learn how to build a house on YouTube, and keep up with the daily activities of our friends and family on apps like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or TikTok.

    It can be overwhelming to sort through this information overload to actually learn something, and even more daunting to carve out space to reflect and grow in this age of constant noise.

    We return again this week with another Peak Performance edition of the Athlete CEO podcast with Josiah Igono, founder of All Things Performance. Our Peak Performance episodes with Josiah are all about helping you develop skills that will drive your human capital and performance, as well as help you achieve the life you envisioned.

    In this episode, Erik and Josiah look at this problem of improving, growing, and learning in an era of information overload by discussing the importance of reflection, the questions to ask yourself while reflecting, and how practicing this skill set can improve our overall performance trajectory.

    Episode Highlights

    • (00:57) What is reflection?
    • (1:49) Do you spend more time in reflection or in strategy?
    • “One of the interview questions that I would always ask was, ‘do you spend more time in reflection or in strategy?’” - Josiah Igono
    • “Reflection is the mental review” – Josiah Igono
    • (3:07) Drowning in information overload
    • (4:41) The differences between reflection and strategy
    • (5:17) The questions for reflection
    • (6:44) Reflection is not Mindfulness
    • (8:13) How a cow chewing is similar to reflecting throughout your day
    • (10:47) What are tangible ways to build the habit of reflecting?
    • “Clumsiness is actually a sign of growth” – Josiah Igono
    • (13:18) How toddlers are actually better than us at approaching new tasks
    • (14:57) The scientific benefits of journaling

    Avoiding Burnout and Finding Wholeness | Andy Maurer | Athlete CEO #46

    Avoiding Burnout and Finding Wholeness | Andy Maurer | Athlete CEO #46

    It’s often said, “it’s lonely at the top.”

    As venture capitalists, business executives, and professional athletes at the highest level, there can often be a mentality that you should just focus on performing and avoid feelings of burn out, toxic stress, or loneliness. 

    However, we’ve all seen examples of - or felt ourselves - this mentality not being sustainable over the long term.

    In this episode of the Athlete CEO, Erik is joined by Andy Maurer, licensed therapist and emotional wellness coach specializing in leadership, trauma and emotional health. Andy utilizes cutting edge clinical research paired with therapeutic best practices and strategies to help high performance leaders - including CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs - operate at a higher caliber and in healthy and sustainable ways.

    Erik and Andy discuss pursuing wholeness and avoiding fragmentation while leading and give practical steps to starting work on your inner game.

    Episode Highlights

    • 95% of cognition happens at the subconscious level (2:33)
    • Can we overcome our subconscious? (3:40)
    • Two kinds of processing (4:13)
    • Logic vs Emotion (5:29)
    • Demystifying “emotional wellness” (7:31)
    • “With emotional wellness coaching, what I'm really trying to get across is I'm trying to help people live an integrated whole life as a leader. So, I focus a lot less on how to get rid of problems and I focus more on how to bring about something in the leader's life. Oftentimes, I see that they're fragmented, they're disjointed, they're lost internally, they don't know what they feel, they don't know who they are in a lot of ways, and my job is to help them reclaim that or rediscover that.” – Andy Maurer
    • The difference between therapy and emotional wellness (9:37)
    • The stats on entrepreneurs (12:17)
    • The big issue that the top business editorials miss (12:45)
    • The external vs internal (13:16)
    • Fears about addressing your inner game (17:06)
    • Defining “wholeness” (18:57)
    • Battling imposter syndrome (23:43)
    • Tools and tactics in pursuing wholeness (26:12)
    • How burnout happens (28:44)
    • When dialing in fitness and nutrition isn’t enough (29:53)
    • Taking first steps toward emotional wellness (31:57)
    • Practicing reflection (36:53)
    • The impacts of toxic stress (42:45)
    • How the body deals with stress (46:06)

     

    Resources

    The Science of Self-Talk | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance | Josiah Igono & Erik Averill

    The Science of Self-Talk | Athlete CEO: Peak Performance | Josiah Igono & Erik Averill

    How can some players overcome mental hurdles and self-doubt to hit that game winning home run, make that difficult catch, or sink the perfect putt? Why do we see so many first-round draft picks ending up a bust? 

    At AWM Capital, we believe one of the greatest drivers of your wealth is your human capital and one of the goals of the Athlete CEO podcast is to help you learn new ways of tapping into your full potential. That's why each month we’re joined by Josiah Igono, Ph.D. of Performance Psychology and founder of All Things Performance for our Peak Performance edition of the podcast to discuss concepts and tactics to help us improve our performance in all areas of our life. 

    In this episode, Josiah and Erik discuss how we can redirect our words and emotions to improve performance through a practice called reframing. Josiah shares the science behind reframing, the power of hearing your own voice, and achieving one of the major keys to success: self-awareness. 

    Episode Highlights

    • What is reframing? (1:38)
    • How is this different than just “think happy thoughts”? (2:52)
    • Finding what you can do vs what you can’t do (4:32)
    • The power of your voice (5:42)
    • Don’t lie to yourself (7:30)
    • Defining psychology (8:00)
    • Evaluating your current frame (9:45)
    • The importance of self-awareness (11:01)
    • “Everything boils down to self-awareness. Once you become self-aware, that is when change can happen because you know now that the problem exists.” – Josiah Igono
    •  Insightfulness during COVID (13:14)
    • “I think that reverts back to your previous conversations: clarity, who do I actually want to become? Who do I want to be? How do I want other people, not to perceive me so that I can have some facade or to attain approval, but to genuinely have healthy relationships? How do I do that?” – Erik Averill
    • The limbic system response (15:08)
    • “When you look at an individual and you see their performance, you see how they live. It's like seeing an apple or a fruit on a tree. When you see an apple or a piece of fruit hanging on a tree, that is not telling the full story. The full story is the root system, right? What is the root system? The root system can be things like beliefs. It can be things like memories, reactions, actions. It can be words. It can be memories. These things all feed into the trunk of that tree.” – Josiah Igono
    • Modeling during childhood development and its impact today (16:46)

    Resources Mentioned

    Building Culture in Critical Times | Athlete CEO #44 | Brandon & Erik Averill

    Building Culture in Critical Times | Athlete CEO #44 | Brandon & Erik Averill

    “2020 was a little crazy.”

    That is the understatement of the year.

    A global pandemic, volatile markets, athletic seasons paused then modified. Many companies who had set their “20/20 in 2020” vision campaigns ended up having to scrap much of their planning and pivot in what looks to be a new normal moving into 2021.

    Yet despite the volatility, AWM Capital, as Managing Partner Brandon Averill puts it, has “grown from an organization to a company.”

    In this episode of the Athlete CEO, we get the opportunity to turn the focus around to the two who typically ask the questions – Erik Averill, CFP®, CPWA®, CKA® and Brandon Averill, CFP®, CPWA®, CIPM.

    As two of AWM’s three co-founders, Erik and Brandon look back on 2020 – the lessons learned, challenges navigated, and vision for the company as we move into 2021 and beyond – and share some of the best practices they’ve picked up along the way as business founders and operators.

    Episode Highlights

    • Year in review (00:15)
    • Summing up the year for AWM Capital (1:23)
    • Growing from an organization to a company (2:37)
    • Making the decision to go all in (3:31)
    • Building a company that outlasts its founders (5:14)
    • “Hire on culture, fire on culture” (6:26)
    • Defining and developing culture (7:08)
    • Building the super-charged team bus (8:53)
    • The passion to serve the client (10:48)
    • Knowledge vs Expertise (13:24)
    • “If you waste wealth, all you’re doing is wasting impact.” – Brandon Averill
    • Refinement over the long term (16:13)
    • “The truth is if you have multi-generational visions and timeframes, you can out perform. You can make an impact.” – Erik Averill
    • Leading teams through challenging times (18:26)
    • Always learning and developing (22:20)
    • Thinking about agility and adaptability (24:11)
    • Reimagining the family office (27:23)
    • AWM’s 2021 vision (28:20)

    Resources Mentioned:

     

    Athlete CEO
    enDecember 31, 2020