Compete Every Day with Jake Thompson | For Leaders Who Refuse to Drift

Top Dog co-author Ashley Merryman joined the show in 2017 to talk about the science of competition. Jake revisits that conversation to show why losing gives you the data you need and why avoiding competition makes you worse. Learn how to compete in a way that builds you instead of breaking you.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Research shows bronze medalists are often happier than silver medalists, and Hall of Fame pitcher Cat Osterman has lived both sides of an Olympic podium. Jake explains why comparison turns real wins into losses and how to pick the scoreboard that keeps you improving. A practical reset for high performers who never feel satisfied.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

In December 2016, the first guest on this show was performance coach Dawn Fletcher. Jake goes back to that conversation about building mental toughness and asks what happens to your toughness on the days when nothing is hard. You'll leave with one daily rep that keeps you sharp when life gets comfortable.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Shane Parrish of Farnam Street says "feedback tolerance predicts trajectory better than talent," and in this episode Jake breaks down why. You’ll hear why tough feedback feels like a verdict on who you are, what the research says happens when your attention goes to yourself instead of the work, and two ways to separate who you are from what you did.If you’re driven and want to keep getting better, this is how you fight the drift that starts when you stop listening.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has every player write down five things they want to accomplish that season, then holds them accountable to their words, not his. In this episode, Jake breaks down why accountability lands differently when it’s tied to a goal your people set for themselves, and how to turn a vague goal into something clear enough to check every week. You’ll get two real examples from a team Jake coached and a challenge to sit down with your people and revisit their goals this week.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

If you feel like you’re perpetually late to your career, your finances, or your life, you’re caught in what Jake calls Always Behind: measuring where you are against someone else’s race. In this episode, he breaks down why “when I get there” never arrives, even for coaches who won championships, and why comparison keeps you chasing a finish line that isn’t yours. You’ll walk away with a different question to ask yourself this week: where am I ahead of yesterday?Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

If you care about your people, telling one of them they’re falling short can feel like a personal attack you’re the one delivering. In this episode, Jake shares what he told an empathetic leader who was struggling with accountability: the conversation is hard because the standard was never made clear, and a clear line takes the judgment call off of you. You’ll hear the research on why tough feedback costs caring leaders more, how skipping that conversation turns into Comfort Drift, and one exercise to run with your team before Friday.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

That worst-case thought on a loop in your head has a name: the what-if. It keeps your focus on everything you can’t control and never hands you a single thing to do. In this episode, Jake shares the travel fear he still feels before every keynote, and the two-word shift from “what if” to “even if” that turns anxiety into a game plan, for you and for the team you lead.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Your one-on-ones are on the calendar every week, and a year from now nobody on your team may be any better for it. In this episode, Jake breaks down the status trap, where the meeting turns into a report for the leader instead of coaching for the person, and why someone who only gets inspected learns to manage your perception. Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins says his career took off when he stopped comparing himself to other great players and started creating his own definition of greatness. Jake connects Dawkins' approach to the Imitation Game from his book Beat Yesterday, and he shows how to study the best in your field without becoming a copy of them.Next Steps to Continue Competing:1. 📈 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how I can help your leaders & organization compete every day ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.2. 👉 Let's connect on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠.3.👕 Save 15% off motivating apparel with code: PODCAST ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.