Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Trauma Expert

Bessel van der Kolk (0:00)

Two geniuses in the world have all been traumatized.

These extraordinary solutions come from people who have grown up under circumstances where it's extremely stressful, where they had to find their own way. That was not the way of the people around them. I think that people growing up in perfectly safe and predictable surroundings probably can save predictable brains in a way.

Michael Gervais (0:35)

Okay, welcome back to the Finding Mastery Podcast. And if you're new, welcome to the community and these conversations. My name is Michael Gervais, and by trade and training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist, as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create. And the whole idea behind these conversations is to learn from people who have committed their life efforts to the path of mastery, to the nuances of their craft, to understanding themselves, the mastery of craft and mastery of self. And we want to dig to understand how they organize their inner world, how they relate and connect to other people, how they explain events that take place. We really want to understand, that's all fancy for their psychological framework. We want to know their mental skills that they use to build and refine their craft. And we want to understand what they are searching for.

I want to take a minute here to announce a really exciting event that we have coming up. As you continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2024, I want to pose a question. What are you doing right now to be great with stress? How are you working with stress on your pursuit towards your most important ambitions and goals? And I just want to get right to the heart of the key elements, one in particular, for what it takes to excel in today's high heat, high stakes world. Because stress is not the problem that we think it is. Stress is a synonym for change. And our ability to be agile with change, that is the real opportunity at hand. So if you're wanting to unlock extraordinary results and sustainable performance in your life, it's not about avoiding or reducing stress. And as simple as that sounds, it's very tricky to do, but it is about fundamentally changing your relationship with it.

And that's why I'm so thrilled to invite you to a special event. It's a free virtual event that we're offering, and it's called The Power of Embracing Stress. It's on Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. So to sign up, just head over to findingmastery.com/training, whether it's advancing in your career or improving your health or cultivating stronger relationships, I think a new approach to stress can be one of the most powerful unlocks for you in your life. So join us for this free virtual training, The Power of Embracing Stress, on Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. Go to findingmastery.com/training to sign up. Once again, that's findingmastery.com/training. And I'm really excited to see you there.

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