The Formula For Peak Performance with Steven Kotler, Chase Jarvis

There's a common misconception that artists have a monopoly on creativity… But the very act of making waves—no matter the career—is a creative one. The Chase Jarvis LIVE Show is an exploration of creativity, self-discovery, entrepreneurship, hard-earned lessons, and so much more. Chase sits down with the world's top creators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders and unpacks actionable, valuable insights to help you live your dreams in career, hobby, and life.

About this episode:

Parts of this episode are a bit headier than what you may expect from this show – we geek out a little and throw around some science buzzwords – but what’s important isn’t that you remember the buzzwords but understand the idea that there is a SYSTEM for this stuff, for unlocking your potential. I’ve seen a lot of people trying to kind of cobble together their own system by mimicking the habits of successful folks and while that’s not a bad idea per se, the more you understand the underlying concepts and framework, the more you’ll be able to create a system with intention. You know that this show is all about giving you uber practical, actionable stuff that you can put into practice TODAY and this episode is no exception – and this episode isn’t just for those who want to be hyper-achievers, it’s for literally anyone who wants to get shit done.

• We get deep into one of Steven’s signature themes which is “flow:” the optimal state of consciousness where we feel + perform our best – this is where our biggest creative breakthroughs happen. It turns out that there are some specific triggers that create flow and we dissect those in detail.
• Why mindfulness is a super important part of all this – Steven says that many of us live in a constant state of mild fight or flight that overtaxes our nervous system, and mindfulness practice is key to downregulating the nervous system and priming you for flow.
• The implications of all this specifically for creatives – what Steven learned from studying ravers, CEOs, SEALs is actually directly applicable to designers, photographers, and other creators and we go into exactly how creatives can apply it.

About Steven:

Steven is an entrepreneur and writer whose work has appeared in just about every publication you can think of—New York Times, Forbes, Wired, TIME, you name it—and was nominated for a Pulitzer for his book “A Small Furry Prayer.” I wanted to have Steven on because he has a unique focus in his latest book “Stealing Fire”: understanding peak human performance—not in an abstract sense, but the specific mechanisms that make people like world-class athletes, Navy SEALs, and entrepreneurs able to do the incredible things they do and more importantly, how that formula can be reverse-engineered and applied to YOUR life.