It All Comes Down to Grit | Journalist, Shea Serrano

Shea Serrano (0:01)

I'm gonna read some of the names. I'm gonna read some of the names. I'm gonna read some of the names. I'm gonna read some of the names.

Doing that, my dad has been driving a city bus at this point for 33 years.

Same thing, he's up every morning, three o'clock to be down there by 3.45 to do whatever. Like you, I'm watching my people do that, my uncles do that, my aunts do that. And it's like, oh, like I don't have to get up and go dig a fucking trench. You're telling me I just gotta send 45 emails today? Like I can do that, no problem.

Michael Gervais (0:49)

All right, welcome back. Or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. I'm Michael Gervais, and by trade and training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist, as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create.

The whole idea behind these conversations, behind this podcast, is to learn from people who have committed their life efforts towards mastery. We want to better understand, how do they organize their inner life? How do they use their mind to build and refine their craft? And how do they use their mind to build and refine their understanding of what's possible for them?

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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Now, this week's conversation is with Shea Serrano. He's an author and a journalist, and how he's become is incredible. His books include The Rapier Book, Basketball and Other Things, and Movies and Other Things. And all three were New York Times best sellers. And two of them were number one on the list, and one was picked by Barack Obama. That's one of his favorite books of the year. Now, how cool is that?

Shea's a legend, and this conversation, it's real. And Shea used to be a teacher. He loved it. He couldn't afford to take care of his family, so he had to figure out some kind of way to figure that out, and it led him to writing.