What questions are tugging at you right now, and how might sitting with the answers help unlock your potential?
On today’s episode, we’re doing something we’ve never done before on Finding Mastery. Mike is turning the microphone around for an Ask Me Anything, joined by co-host Victoria Garrick Browne, Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, former Division I volleyball player, mental health advocate, and founder of the nonprofit The Hidden Opponent. Victoria knows this territory from the inside. She lived through performance anxiety and depression as a college athlete, then turned that experience into work that now helps student-athletes everywhere.
The questions our community sent in are thoughtful and vulnerable, and nearly all of them lead back to one thing: identity. Mike and Victoria talk about why the world so readily hands a young person a performance-based identity, and what it takes to build something sturdier underneath it. They get into the small moments that matter more than we realize, like how a parent talks about their kid to other people, and how the child is always listening.
They also go somewhere personal. Mike shares a part of his own story he doesn’t tell often, a zero on his PSAT and a path through junior college, and why he refuses to treat any setback as final. Victoria opens up about her own darkest stretch and the way back. It’s an honest, useful conversation for anyone who competes, coaches, parents, or is simply trying to figure out who they are.
In this conversation, we explore:
- How to build an identity rooted in who you are, not only in how you perform
- Why the way you talk about your child is quietly shaping their sense of self
- How to tell healthy competitiveness from unhealthy pressure, and spot burnout early
- Whether being open about your mental health can cost you in a competitive space
- How to feel confident without needing external validation
- The difference between formal instruction and guided discovery
- A grounded, honest way to work with imposter syndrome
If your sense of who you are has ever felt a little too tied to what you do, this one is worth your time.
“For you to flourish and be your most full self in this lifetime, you should be attracting the things that want you as you are.” — Victoria Garrick Browne
“One of the most important things about being a leader is giving yourself thinking time. Allow yourself, whatever it is, however you do it, whether it be at night, whether it be morning, whether you do it regularly each month, give yourself some clear thinking time.” – Eddie Jones
Resources + Links
Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more conversations at the intersection of high-performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery
Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/
Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter
Download Dr. Mike’s Morning Mindset Routine!
