#427 – Neil Adams: Judo, Olympics, Winning, Losing, and the Champion Mindset

**Lex Fridman** (0:00)
The following is a conversation with Neil Adams, a legend in the sport of judo. He is a world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist, five-time European champion, and often referred to as the voice of judo, commentating all the major events, world championships and Olympic games, highlighting the drama, the triumph, the artistry of the sport of judo, making fans like me feel the biggest wins, the biggest losses, the surprise turns of fortune, the dominance of champions coming to an end, and new champions made. Always speaking from the heart. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got Zip Recruiter for hiring, Ace Lee for napping, MasterClass for learning, Element for hydration, and NetSuite for business management software. Choose wisely my friends. Also, if you want to work with our amazing team or just want to get in touch with me, go to lexfridman.com/contact. And now on to the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make these interesting, but if you skip them, please still check out the sponsors. I enjoy their stuff, maybe you will too. This episode is brought to you by Zip Recruiter, a site that connects employers and job seekers. Filling your life with people that bring out the best in you is difficult, challenging, it's a puzzle, but it's a deeply worthwhile one. Because the experience of the minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, month to month, year to year of life surrounded by people you like, who inspire you, who help you notice the beauty of life, but also challenge you such that through the struggle, you become a better version of yourself, the best version of yourself, hopefully. All of that is one of the most beautiful ways to live life. So, if you're hiring or looking for a job, ZipRecruiter is great for that. See why four out of five employees who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Go to ziprecruiter.com/lex to try for free. That's ziprecruiter.com/lex, the smartest way to hire. This episode is brought to you by the bringer of Naps, called Eight Sleep, and it's pod three cover. I've talked to a lot of Olympic athletes, CEOs. I think it's kind of fascinating to discuss with them because they've already accomplished, in many cases, they've already accomplished a really grand big things, the Olympic gold medals or running, starting, scaling, running and winning at the game of business. And then when they look back, the big lesson in terms of health they often go to is the value of sleep. Now, it's hard to know whether that lesson is supposed to be learned. You're supposed to fail and then you learn it. Meaning, you spend your 20s or your 30s or some stretch of time sacrificing sleep. And it's not actually a sacrifice. It's a gift to the gods of excellence. So it's not like, it's not supposed to be that way. It's not a mistake, it's not a failure. But when they do look back in a kind of offhand way, they'll say, I learned the value of sleep. That I'm just a better thinker, better performer, more efficient, wiser, all those kinds of things when I get a full night's sleep. But anyway, the moments you get with your bed, use them wisely. So I love 8 Sleep. It allows you to cool the bed down, warm blanket, it's heaven. Check it out and get special savings when you go to 8sleep.com/lex. This episode is also brought to you by MasterClass, where you can watch over 180 classes from the best people in the world in their respective disciplines. I watched many of them, loved many of them. Let me bring up Martin Scorsese. He has a MasterClass on filmmaking. He made a lot of incredible, incredible films. Goodfellas, I know you're not supposed to give an Oscar for that kind of thing, but why not? Give the man an Oscar. Raging Bull, Casino, Taxi Driver, Genius. Then Shutter Island, The Irishman, the new one with the Killers of the Flower Moon. I mean, just genius, genius. By the way, I got a chance to recently meet and shake hands with Leo DiCaprio. I went out to nature with him. It's just the depth of curiosity he has about the world, about ideas, about the natural world, about the visual world, that beginner's mind forever still there, burning bright. It's good to see. Anyway, Martin Scorsese really breaks down simply the way he thinks about filmmaking. And that really is the only way to learn about geniuses like him. It's to hear from them, to see the genius in the words and the spaces between the words. Get unlimited access to every MasterClass and get an additional 15% off an annual membership at masterclass.com/lexpod. That's masterclass.com/lexpod. This episode is also brought to you by Element. It's an electrolyte drink, that's sodium, potassium, magnesium, that I think is foundational to the way I approach diet and life. When I eat once a day, which is what I mostly do these days, or if I fast for even longer than 24 hours, getting the electrolytes right is a big part of that. And what is it about fasting that brings clarity to the mind? I mean, some of it is physiological, I'm sure. But some of it is just that feeling of longing, this physical longing for satiation.