Why You Can’t Stop Chasing the Next New Thing (Ft. Eric Athas)

David Stewart has spent much of his life looking closely at people.As a photographer, he worked around the world, shot his first Vogue ad in his twenties, and worked in New York during the Andy Warhol era. But as David got older, he began noticing something strange: while youth was marketed through aspiration, possibility and beauty, aging was increasingly framed through fear, decline and limitation.He decided to challenge that story.Today, David is the founder of SuperAge and AGEIST, building a new model around longevity that goes far beyond biomarkers or simply trying to extend lifespan.In this conversation, we explore what it actually means to stay fully alive as we age, why optimism may be essential to pursuing wellness, how social connection fits into longevity, the danger of turning health into an endless optimization project, and why David believes we need to move from consuming information to taking action.We also explore the creation of the Super Age Games, his personal practices for managing stress and mental fitness, and the simple morning ritual he uses to deliberately counter the negativity our minds naturally absorb.This is a conversation about making the life you have worth extending.EXCITING STUFF!My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom TeachersGet your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here!A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne Timestamps:00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?”01:12 — Building a life around values instead of internal dissonance04:22 — The photographer who turned down work that didn't align05:53 — Vogue, Paris and working around Andy Warhol07:34 — The realization that changed how David thought about aging10:03 — Why brands misunderstood people over 5013:17 — The health crisis that forced David to change his own life16:57 — How AGEIST evolved into SuperAge22:25 — Why information alone rarely changes behaviour24:30 — Building trust before building products26:26 — The spontaneous idea that became the Super Age Games29:42 — Why friendship and social connection belong in longevity32:38 — “I've been in a gym for 40 years. What am I training for?”33:06 — Why biomarkers aren't the destination34:37 — Turning longevity into something you can actually measure37:33 — The 78-year-old who became competitor number one40:43 — What David wants people to feel after the Games43:18 — Why pursuing wellness requires optimism45:49 — David's “battery” model for stress and energy46:58 — The morning “brainwash walk” that resets his mind49:45 — Counter-programming the brain's natural negativity bias51:59 — Why the journey itself has to be enjoyed*Special props 👇Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New York Times editor and Saying No to New author Eric Athas explores why our brains are drawn to novelty, how businesses remove the friction between desire and consumption, and why reclaiming a few moments to think could radically change the choices we make.From dopamine and social media to clutter, persuasion and the disappearing “new thing gap,” this conversation is ultimately about learning to say no to meaningless novelty so we can say yes to what actually matters.EXCITING STUFF!My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom TeachersGet your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here!A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne Timestamps:00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?”02:44 — Why opportunities for deep thinking are disappearing04:59 — Turning a childhood disadvantage into a strength07:39 — Inside Eric’s work at The New York Times10:09 — Navigating journalism, truth and trust in a chaotic era13:09 — Why Saying No to New is a work of journalism14:30 — The contradiction: an early adopter who learned to say no to new17:13 — When new things start creating more problems than they solve19:52 — Dopamine, discomfort and why our brains chase novelty22:23 — Thinking as a superpower in a frictionless world23:22 — The “new thing gap” — and why it has almost disappeared27:07 — The sophisticated influence machine behind what we buy30:52 — Decluttering as an audit of yesterday’s decisions32:20 — What clutter and constant task-switching do to our attention34:08 — Why saying no to new can help us discover the right kind of new35:33 — The surprising relationship between exploration and happiness37:24 — How to see novelty hiding inside familiar experiences39:46 — Finding joy in what was hiding in plain sight*Special props 👇Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After more than forty years working as a psychologist and executive coach, Dr. David Zelman has become fascinated by one question: how do we stop allowing the past to determine what we believe is possible next?In this conversation, David explores the internal dialogue shaping our decisions, why awareness has to come before another tool or technique, and how we can create conversations that pull us toward the lives we actually want.We also explore anxiety, meditation and self-awareness, why two competing conversations can't occupy the same mental space, and the remarkable story of how David transformed his relationship with his father by changing one deeply held interpretation.David also shares his definition of readiness—the moment willingness meets awareness—and why he believes asking "what?" and "how?" can sometimes move us forward more effectively than asking "why?"EXCITING STUFF!My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom TeachersGet your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here!A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne Timestamps:00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?”01:41 — From struggling student and college dropout to finding psychology04:33 — What becomes obvious about life when you reach your seventies05:10 — How our internal dialogue shapes our experience of life07:19 — The question David starts with: “Where do you want to wind up?”10:15 — Why we keep trying to build the future using information from the past12:36 — David's decades-long Transcendental Meditation practice14:33 — Asking: “What future does this action create?”16:01 — Why awareness needs to come before another technique17:35 — A simple demonstration of who's actually telling you what to do19:54 — How the listener participates in creating their reality21:52 — Possibility versus the certainty of already knowing23:40 — What riding a bicycle teaches us about psychological distinctions25:20 — Conversations from the past versus conversations for the future28:33 — Anxiety, specificity and getting underneath generalizations29:48 — The five-minute experiment David uses with stressed clients31:50 — Why two competing conversations can't occupy the same space34:20 — Changing the conversation during conflict with someone you love36:21 — David's difficult relationship with his father38:00 — The reframe that transformed “dominate and control” into “access and contribute”39:36 — How changing one conversation helped David recover his relationship with his father42:37 — Readiness: when willingness meets awareness44:29 — Why journaling and resolutions aren't always enough45:55 — Why another person can help us hear our real commitments47:45 — Integrity, contribution and the future you're actually trying to build50:32 — Why David prefers asking “what?” and “how?” instead of “why?”51:38 — David's books and where to go deeper*Special props 👇Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most 90-day plans die by week three, not because the practices were wrong, but because they were built as a new life stacked on top of the old one. In the final episode of the series, Marc walks through how to audit your existing routine for natural insertion points instead of carving out new time, how to set your minimum effective dose for travel weeks and high-pressure stretches, and how to let the people around you in on what you're doing so your environment supports the change instead of working against it. The episode closes by threading all seven pieces of the series — baseline, outcome and mantra, operating pattern, practice stack, blockers, and reset protocol — into one system. This is episode two of a 7-part series teaching you how to build your own 90-Day Mental Fitness Blueprint by hand. Start with episode one if you haven't yet — this one builds directly on your baseline scores. Have your plan built for you in 15 minutes → blueprint.mchampagne.com Use code POD50 for 50% off while this series airs. Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mandy Balak spent years being the founder, builder and person who could handle everything — until she began questioning what all that achievement was costing her. In this conversation, we explore the difference between chasing and choosing, why the leaders who pause may ultimately win, and how to keep your ambition without making your health, identity and peace the price of success. Mandy is the President of The Gathering and author of Chasing Enough: The High Achiever’s Guide to Sustainable Success, publishing September 22, 2026. EXCITING STUFF! My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom Teachers Get your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here! A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas   Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne   Timestamps: 00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?” 02:31 — Leadership starts with knowing what you stand for 03:38 — Mandy’s weekly ritual for staying aligned with what matters 05:42 — Why comparison can pull us toward someone else’s definition of success 07:39 — Who was “Mandy Pandy” before the world told her who to be? 09:05 — The best parts of Mandy’s father — and the complicated parts of their story 12:22 — Learning that she had to earn her place 14:29 — The pause that finally interrupted decades of survival mode 15:52 — Why Mandy deliberately sought out healthier models of success 17:20 — How The Gathering came back into Mandy’s life at exactly the right time 21:04 — Why “the leaders who pause win” 23:28 — The chasing leader vs. the choosing leader 25:19 — Why capacity may be the most important leadership metric 28:46 — How Mandy resources herself during an intense season 33:10 — Perfectionism, the lone wolf and learning to ask for help 36:05 — Forget the to-do list. Why we need “done lists” 37:45 — Why the person who can’t stop and the person who can’t start may have the same problem 40:05 — Notice. Release. Rise. 41:08 — What Mandy Pandy would say to her today * Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A plan that only works when you're feeling strong isn't a plan. In this episode, Marc builds out the reset protocol — Pause, Reset, Re-enter — a formalized version of "the power of the pause" from episode three, using your own operating pattern's restoration practice and your daily anchor from episode four as the actual tools inside it. Then he introduces the 90-day daily question: one reflection question, five days a week, for the whole season — the low-friction thread that keeps you in contact with the whole system, especially on the days you'd otherwise drift. This is episode two of a 7-part series teaching you how to build your own 90-Day Mental Fitness Blueprint by hand. Start with episode one if you haven't yet — this one builds directly on your baseline scores. Have your plan built for you in 15 minutes → blueprint.mchampagne.com Use code POD50 for 50% off while this series airs. Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if we succeed in building a future beyond Earth only to realize we forgot to bring the parts of us that make life worth living? Showmaker Natasha Tsakos is pioneering an extraordinary intersection of creativity, technology and space: developing performances for microgravity and imagining the role culture will play as humanity expands beyond Earth. But this conversation goes somewhere much more personal—into why imagination may become one of our most valuable skills in the age of AI, the power of suspending disbelief, our growing thirst for hope, and what it takes to keep pursuing a vision years before the rest of the world can see it. EXCITING STUFF! My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom Teachers Get your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here! A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas   Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne   Timestamps: 00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?” 00:33 — Natasha’s answer: “Dreams and determination” 03:36 — Why the next chapter may belong to creatives 03:59 — The problem is no longer purely technical—it’s imagination 06:40 — “Being human is an art form” 09:42 — Creating theatrical experiences for space 12:05 — The unexpected power of suspending disbelief 13:50 — How The Little Prince shaped Natasha’s imagination 15:00 — The moment she decided: “We’ve got to create shows for space” 16:11 — Pursuing an idea nobody else can see yet 17:51 — Theatre as a muscle for world-building 19:33 — Why Natasha believes we’re thirsty for hope 23:51 — The two Natashas: “There are challenges every day” 25:40 — Turning inspiration and relationships into an actual business 32:23 — Permission to stop following the expected path 35:15 — What happens when we stop forcing things 36:47 — How close are we actually getting to performing in space? 37:51 — Turning microgravity performances into experiences on Earth 39:49 — Training artists to move and perform without gravity 43:11 — Why Natasha deliberately looks for the “misfits” 46:26 — When Natasha’s mind becomes quiet enough to dream 48:18 — Her response when overwhelm creates paralysis 50:33 — Why culture must come with us into humanity’s next frontier * Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every blocker you have is trying to protect you from something — it's just not the protection you need right now. In this episode, Marc walks through three common blockers — the need for validation, the fear of effort not leading to results, and overthinking — what each one looks like from the outside, what it's actually protecting underneath, and the specific reframe that lets you stop fighting it and start working with it. The episode also connects the dots back to your operating pattern from episode three: your blocker usually isn't a new problem, it's the same pattern wearing a different name. This is episode two of a 7-part series teaching you how to build your own 90-Day Mental Fitness Blueprint by hand. Start with episode one if you haven't yet — this one builds directly on your baseline scores. Have your plan built for you in 15 minutes → blueprint.mchampagne.com Use code POD50 for 50% off while this series airs. Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ainslie MacLeod spent much of his life as a skeptic and professional illustrator before an extraordinary encounter with his deceased uncle in a Hawaiian bookstore changed the direction of his life. Today, Ainslie works as a psychic and spiritual teacher exploring past lives, reincarnation, purpose, intuition, and what he describes as the soul’s journey. In this conversation, we explore Ainslie’s belief that some of our unexplained fears, talents, relationships, and deepest callings may have roots beyond our current lifetime. We also unpack why so many people feel an increased urgency around purpose as they approach 40, how overthinking can drown out intuition, why journaling creates space to hear what we already know, and why community and belonging matter deeply during uncertain times. Whether you believe in past lives or simply remain curious about the mysteries behind who we become, this conversation asks a fascinating question: How much of who you are can actually be explained by the life you remember? EXCITING STUFF! My second book now available for pre-order! You're Invited: A Life-Changing Conversation with History's Greatest Wisdom Teachers Get your MENTAL FITNESS BLUEPRINT here! A special thanks to our mental fitness + sweat partner Sip Saunas   Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne   Timestamps: 00:00 — The question that opens every interview: “Who are you?” 05:43 — The bookstore encounter that divided Ainslie’s life into “before” and “after” 08:37 — From illustrator and atheist to exploring psychic abilities 12:46 — The eerie coincidence minutes before Ainslie saw his deceased uncle 16:07 — What Ainslie believes past lives can reveal about who we are 17:36 — Could unexplained fears originate in another lifetime? 22:30 — The astral plane, life review, and what happens between lives 24:14 — Young souls, old souls, and the journey from “me” to “we” 28:11 — How Ainslie says his system was revealed to him 29:09 — Ainslie reads Marc’s soul age and life pattern 32:59 — The surprising connection between premature death and fear of failure 35:32 — Why purpose can suddenly feel urgent around age 40 37:36 — Past-life talents, healing, creativity, and meaningful work 42:52 — How do you trust an inner knowing when the outside world remains uncertain? 43:25 — Why modern life can make it harder to become who we actually are 49:01 — Is humanity going through another shift in consciousness? 53:29 — How Ainslie navigates uncertainty and what still keeps him curious 57:41 — A practical exercise for strengthening intuition 58:57 — Why journaling clears the mental noise 60:10 — Community, belonging, and navigating a stressful world together 63:22 — The ripple effect of choosing to follow an unexpected calling * Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most self-improvement plans fail from the wrong structure, not a lack of discipline — too many generic habits with no connection to what actually works for you. In this episode, Marc breaks down the difference between daily anchors and weekly rituals and why you need both, then walks through how to pick your three practices by pulling directly from your lowest pillar (episode one), your operating pattern's restoration list (episode three), and your outcome and mantra (episode two). The episode closes with Mental Nutrition — auditing what you're listening to, watching, and reading, and making one deliberate swap in each for the next 90 days. This is episode two of a 7-part series teaching you how to build your own 90-Day Mental Fitness Blueprint by hand. Start with episode one if you haven't yet — this one builds directly on your baseline scores. Have your plan built for you in 15 minutes → blueprint.mchampagne.com Use code POD50 for 50% off while this series airs. Special props 👇 Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.