S2E330 How to Thrive Without Burning Out - a Conversation with Dr. James Hewitt

In today’s fast-paced culture, many of us push ourselves to the limit in pursuit of success—only to end up exhausted and burned out. Dr. James Hewitt knows this firsthand. A former elite cyclist, coach, and now renowned human-performance scientist, he has advised everyone from Formula 1 teams to Fortune 500 executives. His new book, Regenerative Performance: How to Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Well-Being, offers a practical framework for sustaining high performance without sacrificing well-being. In this inspiring conversation, Brian Buffini and Dr. Hewitt explore the power of recovery, the pitfalls of “high-performance theater,” and the freedom that comes from pursuing purpose over perfection. YOU WILL LEARN:  Why you should strive for healthy flexibility that incorporates hard work and recovery time over trying to achieve balance.  The importance of lifelong learning to your overall cognitive health. Practical strategies to recognize and move past burn out.  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:  Free Business ConsultationRegenerative Performance: How to Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Well-Being by Dr. James Hewitt The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:  “Hard work is required to achieve big results. But you need to balance that with really effective, proactive recovery.” — Dr. James Hewitt “It’s not actually possible to overtrain, but you can under-recover.” — Dr. James Hewitt “One of the number one signs of early burnout, to be honest, in myself and others, is I stop experiencing as much joy in the things that usually bring me joy.” — Dr. James Hewitt “People who commit to being a ‘learn it all’ rather than a ‘know it all’ have better cognitive and brain health long-term” — Dr. James Hewitt “We know that we can endure a huge amount if we feel it's purposeful and meaningful, sometimes to a fault, but continuing to reconnect with that sense of purpose is going to be absolutely key.” — Dr. James Hewitt itsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to listen to the full episodeCelebrated athlete Erik Weihenmayer is the first blind person in history to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. In this episode, he tells Brian how he lives a life of meaning and purpose by consistently breaking through barriers and helping others with special challenges to lead active and fulfilling lives.  YOU WILL LEARN:·     Why he never lives on the sidelines.·     How climbing Mount Everest changed him.·     Why he started a nonprofit.  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: erikweihenmayer.com No Barriers nonprofit National Federation of the Blind MasterMind Summit S1E043, What’s Your Everest? NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “When I went totally blind … it was like the gloves were off. I could do anything I wanted now. I was free.” – Erik Weihenmayer  “Wisdom gets beat into most of us, sadly.” – Erik Weihenmayer  “We're always sort of straddling this knife edge between limitation and possibility.” – Erik Weihenmayer  “When you have a really bad day there's nothing better than sleeping and waking up the next morning to say, ‘Today's a new day with new possibilities – I can do better than I did yesterday.’” – Erik Weihenmayer  “It's an ongoing, never-ending commitment to reaching and failing; falling short and bleeding a little bit; and reaching again and getting a little higher each day up the mountain. To me, that's what constitutes a good life.” – Erik Weihenmayer itsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So much of modern life rewards busyness, but busyness often crowds out what matters most. In this conversation, Elizabeth explains how a well-defined purpose moves you “from confusion to clarity” by serving as a daily filter for the 40,000 decisions we each make. She and Brian explore common roadblocks, practical building blocks, and how seasons of life shape the way we live our purpose. You’ll hear how Chick-fil-A’s corporate purpose anchored the company through crisis, how the Trillith Foundation serves “story makers” who shape culture, and why your purpose—written down and lived out—ultimately becomes your legacy.YOU WILL LEARN: The clearest way to define purpose, mission, strategy, and vision—and why confusing them derails teams and leaders.How purpose becomes your daily decision filter, moving you from “rudderless” to resolute in business and life.How to overcome the three roadblocks to purpose (discomfort, distraction, defeat) and build a purpose that lasts through every season.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEFree Business ConsultationThe Strength of Purpose by Elizabeth DixonTrillith FoundationMan’s Search for Meaning by Viktor FranklThe Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie WareBuffini & Company Leadership ConferenceNOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE“Purpose is why you exist. Mission is what you do. Strategy is how you win. Vision is where you’re going.” — Elizabeth Dixon“Purpose moves us from confusion to clarity.” — Elizabeth Dixon“The life we live is the legacy we leave.” — Elizabeth Dixon“Say ‘no’ more often so your ‘yes’ is intentional.” — Elizabeth Dixon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to listen to the full episodeExtraordinary hospitality is a powerful competitive advantage. In this episode, Will Guidara explains how he transformed his New York City restaurant into the best in the world by creating bespoke experiences for customers and shares how any business can succeed by being more intentional and creative to build meaningful relationships with those they serve. YOU WILL LEARN:·     The critical difference between hospitality and service. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: “Unreasonable Hospitality,” by Will Guidara www.unreasonablehospitality.com NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “Service is effectively fulfilling the base level promise. Hospitality is how you make the people feel when you provide that service.” – Will Guidara “Sometimes you just need to slow down to speed up; we shouldn't always try to multitask and be efficient.” – Will Guidara “It's not the cost of the gesture that matters, it's how it makes people feel.” – Will Guidara “It feels great to make other people feel good.” – Will Guidara “The only advantage that exists in the long term comes from hospitality, from consistently and generously investing in relationships because they take time to build and, if you build them in the right way, they take a long time to erode.” – Will Guidara Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this inspiring episode taped during Buffini & Company’s Peak Experience event, Brian Buffini shares how insecurity, conformity, anxiety, comparison and a lack of championing hold us back in life. Using a combination of insights from his own legendary career, as well as the wisdom gained from other thought leaders he has studied, Brian shares the strategic ways you can overcome those challenges. In doing so, you’ll be able to become the most authentic version of yourself and create the life and career you desire.    YOU WILL LEARN: How to move past the feelings of insecurity and envy that we all feel at times. The difference between ambition as a virtue and selfish ambition.  To create the best version of yourself, you need to be clear about who you are and what you stand for.   NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:  “Know yourself. Own yourself. Be yourself.” — Brian Buffini   “The authentic version of how you're designed — no matter the mistakes you've made, the things you wish you'd done over — is designed to be awesome. — Brian Buffini  “The person who is absolutely unwilling to recognize and verbalize their mistakes is doomed to repeat them out of insecurity.” — Brian Buffini “Being overly independent is a defense mechanism from being constantly let down.” — Brian Buffini “A personal mission statement becomes the DNA for every other decision we make. When your values are clear, your decisions are easy.” — Brian Buffini itsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to listen to the full episodeThe concept of story is a powerful way to dramatically improve how you connect with your customers and grow your business. Donald Miller, CEO of StoryBrand, helps thousands of companies clarify their message and grow every year. In this episode, the master storyteller explains why story is so important when talking about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.  Mentioned in this episode:Blue Like Jazz by Donal MillerBuilding a StoryBrand by Donald MillerInspirational quotes from today’s interview:“The more complicated and convoluted our world becomes…story still has the power to cut through all the nonsense.” — Brian Buffini“If you understand story, you understand a lot more about what’s going on in life.” — Donald Miller“People are looking to be invited into a story.” — Donald Miller“We need to find where our story and our customer’s story overlap.” — Donald Miller“If you’re selling a product, you’re solving a problem.” — Donald MillerItsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful episode, Brian Buffini sits down with Lauren Sisler, Emmy award–winning sports broadcaster, author, and keynote speaker, to discuss her inspiring new book, Shatterproof. At just 18 years old, Lauren, who was attending Rutgers College on a gymnastics scholarship, was dealt a devastating double blow — her parents died within five hours of each other, both to opioid overdoses. In this broadcast, Lauren shares how her faith in God, her background as an elite athlete and guidance from her aunt, helped her through grief, shame and denial and ultimately, to forgiveness, freedom and purpose. Now, as an in-demand keynote speaker, she shares her story, helping others facing their own challenges so that they too might find peace. You’ll be inspired to “jump scared,” push past discomfort, and create your own personal legacy.   YOU WILL LEARN: How leaning into adversity and discomfort can help strengthen you and give you permission to heal.  Why owning your story is key to breaking free from shame. How to find purpose and identity no matter the circumstances beyond your control.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Shatterproof by Lauren Sisler  NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “The greatest stories that I've witnessed aren't the championship moments, the game winning drives, the buzzer beaters, the walk off home runs. It's the stories that happen in the calm and the quiet when the stadium lights are off and nobody is watching. — Lauren Sisler “You’ve got to be willing to have the tough conversations with people, even though they can be extremely difficult, they can be sticky, they can be hard.” — Lauren Sisler “Adversity can be the very thing that strengthens you and gives you permission to heal.” — Lauren Sisler “God does not promise to deliver us from hardships, He promises to deliver us through hardships.” — Lauren Sisler “You can run so hard and so fast towards that next thing that you forget to be where your feet are,” — Lauren Sisler  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to listen to the full episodeWhen your connections with people deepen, your influence, impact and income increase. In this episode, bestselling author and speaker Vanessa Van Edwards outlines how to best communicate to create meaningful engagement with others.YOU WILL LEARN:·   Three questions to elevate elevate your connection   NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:“We need more than ever to be connected, to be turned on, to be engaged.” – Vanessa Van Edwards   “We are able to gift people dopamine in conversation.” – Vanessa Van Edwards   “We love people who gift us dopamine and we create mental markers for those people.” – Vanessa Van Edwards   “The biggest mistake that we make is we think that social skills or connection will happen by osmosis, or naturally, the more we work with people. That could not be further from the truth.” – Vanessa Van Edwards   “If you decide you're going to change your victim mindset into a redemption mindset, your world will change.” – Vanessa Van Edwards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you listen to much of the media, you might feel the real estate market is on the precipice of another catastrophic crash, similar to 2008. In this podcast, Brian Buffini, founder and chairman of Buffini & Company, shares the real truth. Using well-researched data and stats, Brian discusses how the market is not crashing but is actually rebalancing back to numbers seen in 2019. He shares his forecast for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, including home prices, median sales prices and mortgage rates.   Brian also offers practical, strategic tips that agents can use when working with buyers and sellers, many of whom also have been led to false beliefs by doom scrolling, to help them understand the true housing market. He also introduces a major new campaign for Buffini clients, “Just 1,” that will help them use the power of working by referral to transform their business.    YOU WILL LEARN: • The real data on the housing market including current stats and a forecast for 2025 and 2026.  • How real estate agents can help their clients past doom scrolling and navigate them to successfully buying or selling a home.    • How the “Just 1” campaign, based on Buffini’s proven, repeatable system of working by referral, can transform your business and your life.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:  Just1 Campaign  NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “We’re back to 2019 now and by the way, a 2019 agent was far more skilled than a 2025 agent. They were far more professional called back on time, far more detailed and knew how to negotiate.” - Brian Buffini  “If rates go from 7 to 6%, 5.5 million additional households in the United States will be eligible to buy a home including most importantly, 1.6 million renters.” - Brian Buffini  “The key to this market for buyers is choice and for sellers it's about competition.”  - Brian Buffini  “Mortgage rates are going to hover between 6.25 and 6.5%.” - Brian Buffini  “Just one referral can change everything.” - Brian Buffini   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to listen to the full episodeIn today’s hectic world, it can feel like there’s never enough time to achieve what we want to. In this episode, time management and productivity expert Laura Vanderkam explains how to bring calm to the chaos and make time for what matters most. YOU WILL LEARN:·     Tools and tips to help you become more tranquil. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:lauravanderkam.comTranquility by Tuesday, by Laura Vanderkam Free business consultation  NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “When things are truly important to us, we tend to make space for them.” – Laura Vanderkam “We can build the lives we want in the time that we have.” – Laura Vanderkam “A good morning starts the night before.” – Laura Vanderkam “Move by 3pm.” – Laura Vanderkam“Each week, you want to have one big adventure and one little adventure.” – Laura Vanderkam itsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.