The High Performance Podcast

Jake and Damian take on one of the biggest myths in high performance: that the best people feel no fear.

Almost every guest who’s sat in the chair has talked about playing without fear. The research says that isn’t how it works.
Pippa Grange shares her “see it, face it, replace it” approach
Lewis Howes explains why he wrote a list of every fear holding him back
Glenn Hoddle describes how surviving a cardiac arrest changed his relationship with fear for good
Brené Brown reveals how her coach called out her famous decisiveness as armour against uncertainty
James Clear asks you to let fear be the accelerator rather than the brake
Mel Robbins admits she still counts down from five to get out of bed every morning.

Jake opens up on the day Glenn collapsed and the broadcast that followed, and on the live TV moments where fear got the better of him. Damian unpacks the comfort, stretch and panic zones, why simply naming a fear turns the volume down, and the karaoke experiment that showed calling nerves “excitement” can transform how you perform.

They finish with a challenge for the week ahead: write your own fear list, pick one thing on it and walk towards it. Because fear and courage live in the same place.

Clips featured (full episodes linked below):

Dr Pippa Grange
Lewis Howes https://pod.fo/e/26ab4e
Gordon Ramsay https://pod.fo/e/1fa614
Bear Grylls: https://pod.fo/e/2a7aa6
Glenn Hoddle https://pod.fo/e/1249b3
Brené Brown https://pod.fo/e/3ca929
James Clear https://pod.fo/e/16868c
Mel Robbins https://pod.fo/e/ed46f

AG1 👉 Grab the Autumn Wellness bundle at http://drinkag1.com/highperformance - Get a free welcome kit and shaker, a month's supply of Omega 3 capsules, a bottle of Vitamin D3K2 and five travel packs, plus an extra £10 off

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning comedian, writer, and television host Jimmy Carr has made millions of people laugh by saying the things most of us wouldn’t dare say out loud. But behind the jokes is a mind constantly wrestling with confidence, anxiety, control and the pressure to keep performing.

He joins Jake and Damian for an unusually revealing conversation about what it actually takes to build confidence, why humour can give us perspective when life gets difficult, and how quickly our minds can spiral when we feel out of control.

Jimmy gets brutally honest about his own struggles with anxiety, why “self-confidence without competence is delusion”, and the simple things he’s learned to do when his mind starts working against him.

From the stage to the darkest moments in his own head, Jimmy offers a different perspective on what it means to live with uncertainty, handle discomfort and keep moving forward, without taking yourself, or your thoughts, too seriously.

AG1 👉 Grab the Autumn Wellness bundle at http://drinkag1.com/highperformance - Get a free welcome kit and shaker, a month's supply of Omega 3 capsules, a bottle of Vitamin D3K2 and five travel packs, plus an extra £10 off

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Jeremy Clarkson was sacked from Top Gear, Richard Hammond was offered something most presenters could only dream of: the chance to take control of the show. He said no. For Richard, Top Gear was never about one person, it was about the three of them, and he wasn’t prepared to step into Clarkson’s place alone.

Richard reflects on 26 years on the road and the personal cost of a life spent constantly somewhere else. After losing his father, his marriage and his home, he found himself confronting a question every broadcaster eventually faces: who are you when the cameras stop rolling?

Now, he’s poured his energy and own money into The Smallest Cog, his classic car restoration business. It may not have made him richer, but it has given him something more important: a life and a business built entirely on his own terms.

Richard Hammond’s Workshop, S6 is available on QUEST from Tuesday 27th October, and also streaming on discovery+

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dina Asher-Smith, Alex Albon, Nick Cox, Richard Osman and Phil Heath help Jake and Damian take on the struggle we hear about from you more than almost any other: comparing your real life to everyone else's highlight reel.

Even the people at the very top aren't immune. Dina explains why she deliberately avoids watching what her rivals do in training. Alex Albon opens up on how measuring himself against Max Verstappen at Red Bull pushed him to force it, and how that unravelled his confidence. Nick Cox, former head of the Manchester United academy, explains why comparison "cripples parents", and Richard Osman reminds us we judge other people's highlights against our own blooper reel. Marcus Wareing and Jameela Jamil also feature.

Jake admits that professionally he compares himself everywhere he looks, and argues that envy can be a useful energy source. Damian isn't so sure, and shares the school-fair penalty shootout that turned him into prime Peter Schmeichel. Along the way they get into why silver medallists tend to be less happy than bronze medallists, why we underestimate how much other people are struggling, and why it's what's on your screen, not how long you look at it, that does the damage.

They finish with practical ways to curate your feed, your inner circle and your environment, because knowing you shouldn't compare yourself doesn't make it any easier to stop.
If comparison is something you wrestle with, tell us what helps you. Your comment might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.

Clips featured (full episodes linked below):
Dina Asher-Smith https://pod.fo/e/2338d
Nick Cox https://pod.fo/e/138399
Richard Osman https://pod.fo/e/26ea40
Marcus Wareing https://pod.fo/e/132116
Alex Albon https://pod.fo/e/205b4f
Jameela Jamil https://pod.fo/e/225b9e
Phil Heath https://pod.fo/e/2313e6

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Red Bull Racing team principal and one of Formula 1’s most recognisable figures, Christian Horner spent 23 years building a life around winning. So when he lost the job he had done for two decades, his first feeling wasn’t anger. It was relief.

Christian opens up about the pressure of leading Red Bull through its most successful era, the emotional armour he built to protect his team, and the toll of always being the person who couldn’t show weakness, from the intensity of Abu Dhabi 2021 to the politics that eventually changed how he felt about the sport he loved.

But when the “Batman suit” finally came off, Christian had to confront a question he’d spent decades avoiding: who are you when the job that defined you disappears? What he found was a life beyond the pit wall, and a reminder that being on this earth isn’t a dress rehearsal.

DRIVE by Christian Horner will be published on 22nd October by Bantam: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1911754785

Christian will be sharing stories from the book on tour across the UK (Nottingham Mon 19th, Bath 20th, London 26th October). To book tickets visit:
https://www.nothird.co.uk/live-shows/christian-horner/

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.