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The bar for human performance is higher than it’s ever been. Accordingly, we all feel pressure to do more. At the same time, we are becoming increasingly aware of the value of sleep, rest, recovery, and wellness. Accordingly, we also feel that we need to do less. So how do we reconcile this pressure to do more, with the need to do less? That’s what “Human Optimization” is all about. We believe that you can accomplish more while simultaneously improving your wellness, and that’s why we are starting the Human Optimization Project.
In this project, we will talk about universal concepts centered around 10 key domains of human performance including: exercise, nutrition, sleep, physical health, wellness, productivity, leadership, social relationships, personal growth, and cognition. All of these domains are interrelated to one another, and your success in one domain impacts your success in another. We are going to cover a multitude of key topics across all of these domains with a focus on helping you improve your performance while simultaneously maximizing your wellness. We are on a mission to help as many people as possible become the best humans they can be. If that sounds appealing to you, come join us on this journey!
| Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: | How to start a Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project “Pod-Club”: |
Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast app below.
 Guest: Lisa R. Hardesty, Ph.D., ABPP, PCC, Board Certified Clinical Health Psychologist | Certified Executive Coach at PCC Level | Mayo Clinic | E41 Increase Your Somatic Intelligence: How to Listen to Your Body to Improve PerformanceDecember 3, 2025 In our hyperpaced and active world, we are constantly bombarded by external noise, signals, and messaging. Unfortunately, these external stimuli often distract us from listening to our own internal cues. In fact, many of us intentionally try to block out how we feel physically and try to keep pushing through. Well, what if some of these signals form our bodies we are blocking out are actually important for improving our performance? How can we use them for good? To help us with this, our expert guest today is Dr. Lisa Hardesty and the three big questions we are going to answer for you are: |
 Guest: Timothy I. Morgenthaler, MD, Sleep Medicine Specialist | Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine – Rochester, MN | E40 How to Fix Your Sleep Environment for Big Gains in Sleep QualityNovember 26, 2025 The benefits of high-quality sleep are nearly limitless as it improves our mood, brains, performance, increases our joy, reduces sickness, and increases longevity. Getting high quality sleep is one of the biggest levers we can pull in order to become our best selves. But many of us are self-sabotaging our sleep without realizing it! There are many small habits and things we get wrong with our sleep environment that can have large detrimental effects on our sleep over time. We must fix this! To help us with that, our expert guest today is Dr. Tim Morgenthaler, and the three big questions we are going to answer for you are? |
 Guest: Melanie J. Chandler, PhD, ABPP, Board Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist | Mayo Clinic – Florida | E39 Aging Well Socially: How to Remain Connected to People and Purpose Throughout Your LifeNovember 19, 2025 We all want to age well. This is true for our physical bodies, our mental sharpness, AND our social relationships. The social aspect of our lives is one that is often neglected, but this is a huge mistake. One of the greatest drivers of joy in our lives is having genuine and meaningful relationships with people we care about. So why is this often a challenge for us, and why does it get harder as we age? This is a question that we shouldn’t wait to answer until we are past our prime. Our expert guest today is Dr. Melanie Chandler, and the three big questions are going to answer are: |
 Guest: John Poe, Chair, Education Administration - Education Shield | Mayo Clinic | E38 How to Give Feedback: The Art of Being Candid, Clear, and ConstructiveNovember 12, 2025 Our world is fueled by FEEDBACK. Most people crave more, and it’s essential to helping others improve and achieve success. Despite this, most of us struggle to provide honest, meaningful, and actionable feedback to others. Accordingly, we are leaving a lot on the table by not getting the most out of one another. To help us improve at this, our expert guest is John Poe. |
| E37 Helpful vs. Unhelpful Thinking Patterns: How to Use the Mental Models in a Healthy WayNovember 5, 2025 How we think about ourselves and the world, is what shapes how we experience the world. Not only does it shape our experience, but our thinking is one of the main drivers that determines our success in every avenue of life. Much of our thinking can be helpful for propelling us forward towards our goals, but so much of our thinking is actually UNHELPFUL and prevents us from achieving our goals. To help us take charge of our thinking and use it for good, our expert today is Dr. Dona Locke. The three big questions we are going to answer are: |
 Guest: Carly Anderson, Ph.D., LP, CMPC, Owner/Founder | Sport Psychologist - Premier Sport Psychology | E36 Developing a Growth Mindset: How to Grow Beyond Your Fixed ThinkingOctober 29, 2025 Are you someone who tends to think improvement is too difficult, not achievable, or often out of your control? Do you tend to fear mistakes before you make them, and then loathe them afterwards? Those may be signs of a fixed mindset, and that can really be stunting your progress, confidence, and overall joy. We need to change that. |
| E35 How to Build Muscle & Get Stronger: What Everyone Needs to Know and DoOctober 22, 2025 Improving strength and gaining an appropriate muscle mass is critical for our overall health and function. And our strength and muscle mass are two of the greatest predictors of longevity. For those reasons, everyone is wondering, how do I get stronger and gain muscle in the most efficient and practical way? Whether you are brand new to strength training or are a muscle-bound weightlifting maniac, this episode is for you. We are going to cut through the hype and misinformation to give you practical tips and knowledge, so you can become your strongest self. Our session is titled: “How to Build Muscle & Get Stronger: What Everyone Needs to Know and Do.” Our expert guest is Eric Cressey, co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance and host of the “Elite Baseball Podcast”, and he is going to help us answer the following big questions: |
 Guest: Chrissy Holm Haider, Ed.D., MSc, MS, LPCC, CMPC, Athletic Counselor, Certified Mental Performance Consultant | Premier Sport Psychology | E34 Self-Management: The Second Step in Improving Your Emotional IntelligenceOctober 15, 2025 We all need to improve our emotional intelligence, and one of the main pillars of that is learning to manage ourselves. We’ve said before that first step of Emotional Intelligence is “Understanding Ourselves.” After that, the next step is “Managing Ourselves.” This concept of self-management is critical to improving our emotional intelligence and interacting with the world. Our expert here to help us with this today is Dr. Chrissy Holm Haider. The three big questions we have for her are: |
 Guest: Erica Martin, PhD, SPHR, Development Programs Director – Department of Development – Mayo Clinic | E33 Managing Conflict: Sorting Facts and Feelings to Turn Disputes into ProgressOctober 8, 2025 Conflict is a universal experience. Anywhere two people are present, conflict is likely to occur at some level. This conflict can be devastatingly harmful, but it can also foster growth and progress. Given how ubiquitous conflict is, it’s critical for us to learn how to identify it, work through it, and use it for good. To help us get started in this process, our expert guest is Dr. Erica Martin. The three big questions she is going to answer for us include: |
 Guest: Dennis E. Dahlen, Chief Financial Officer – Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E32 How Your Physical Surroundings are Impacting Your ProductivityOctober 1, 2025 We are all busy and have a lot of tasks that need to be accomplished. And those tasks need to be accomplished somewhere! Whether you are working at home, in an office, or on the road, your physical surroundings play a surprising large role in how you do your work, how much you get done, and the level of quality of that work. In this episode, we are going to talk about some of the science behind how your surroundings impact you, and what you can do to optimize them. Our expert guest here to teach us more is Dennis Dahlen, and the three big questions we are going to work through are: |
| E31 The Art & Science of Positive Influence: Practical Steps for Inspiring Yourself and OthersSeptember 23, 2025 If you interact with others, then you influence others. Whether you like it or not, we all influence the people around us. Hopefully this is mostly in a positive way, but if you aren’t thoughtful and intentional, that may not always be the case. Knowing that you are going to have an impact on the people around you, you might as well invest the time to figure out how to influence them positively. This is obviously true for leaders, but it really applies to all of us in all relationships, no matter our position. Our expert here to discuss this topic with us is Roshy Didehban, and the three big questions we are going to tackle are: |
 Guest: Peter Rhee, DO, MSc, Orthopedic Hand Surgeon, Assistant Dean for Trainee Well-Being, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E30 How to Manage Your Stress: Name It, Control It, and Use It for GoodSeptember 17, 2025 In a world of increasing pressure and growing demands, our stress levels continue to climb. When it seems like everyone is spinning out of control, having the ability to appropriately manage our stress can be a real superpower. To continue to be high performers, we must develop appropriate ways for viewing, understanding, managing, and overcoming stress. Our expert guest today is Dr. Peter Rhee. The three big questions we have for Peter are: |
 Guest: Kimberly D. Collins M.A., ACC, Owner/Founder, Executive Coach, Enneagram Consultant | Enneagram Reflections | E29 Self-Awareness: The First Step in Improving Your Emotional IntelligenceSeptember 10, 2025 If you don’t first understand yourself, you’ll never be able to understand and interact with the world around you. We’ve talked about the concept of emotional intelligence a lot on the Human Optimization Project, with the four main components being 1) Self-Awareness; 2) Self-Management; 3) Social-Awareness, and 4) Social-Management. Today, we are going to focus on all things related to “Self-Awareness.” Our expert to help us with this is executive coach, Kimberly Collins. The three big questions we have for her are: |
 Guest: Heidi L. Dieter, M.B.A., Chief Research Administrator | Mayo Clinic | E28 Servant Leadership: How Serving Creates Winning Teams in Work and LifeSeptember 3, 2025 If you lead a group, team, family, or set of friends in any way, I’m sure you’d like to be able to boost morale, increase engagement, decrease turn over, and improve creativity. Well, one scientifically backed way to do that is to become a “servant leader.” Multiple studies show substantial improvements for groups who are directed by servant leaders; and data also suggests that it improves the joy of the leaders themselves. Our expert guest for this topic is Heidi Dieter, Chair of the Department of Research Administration at Mayo Clinic. The three big questions we are going to work through are: |
 Guest: Natalie Caine, Chief Administrative Officer | Mayo Clinic in Rochester | E27 Compliment People: The How and Why of Giving Praise to OthersAugust 27, 2025 In a world that sometimes bends towards negativity, complimenting and giving praise is may seem like a lost art. But this is exactly why we need to be giving praise now more than ever! The impact that praise has (on both the receiver and the giver) is massive, so it is something that we should all be doing more frequently. To help us understand why, our guest today is Natalie Caine, Chief Administrative Officer of Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The three big questions we have for Natalie are: |
 Guest: Dawn Mussallem, DO, DipABLM, Lifestyle Medicine & Integrative Oncology Medical Director, Humanities in Medicine | Mayo Clinic – Florida | E26 The Power of Gratitude: What It Is and How it Can Transform Your LifeAugust 20, 2025 You’ve all heard the term “gratitude” recently, and it was most likely from someone telling you that you need more of it in your life. What if we told you that if you were able to increase your gratitude, it could improve your sleep, improve exercise gains, reduce depression/anxiety, increase your lifespan, improve job satisfaction, and make you more productive? All that is true. Now, we are going to show you how you can increase your gratitude to start reaping these benefits with our expert guest, Dr. Dawn Mussallem. The three big questions we are going to work through with Dawn are: |
 Guest: Maneesh Goyal, Chief Operating Officer | Mayo Clinic Platform | E25 The Power of Focus: How to Lock In, In an Increasingly Distracted WorldAugust 13, 2025 In our world of constant stimulation and distraction, the ability to focus deeply is becoming a lost art. Although it may be more challenging to focus these days, this doesn’t mean that it’s less important. In fact, being able to focus on the task at hand is one of the most critical skills needed for success. If you can master your ability to focus, it can be an absolute game changer for you in our modern society that struggles so much with this. Our expert guest today is Maneesh Goyal, COO of Mayo Clinic Platform. The three big questions we have for Maneesh are: |
 Guest: Joshua B. Murphy, Legal Counsel | Mayo Clinic - Rochester, MN | E24 How to Run a Meeting: Make Your Meetings Effective, Efficient, and EnjoyableAugust 6, 2025 Current knowledge workers are spending an average of 15 or more hours per week in meetings, and for many of us, that number can be doubled. What’s with the meeting mania? With the amount of time we are spending in meetings, it’s critical that we make these meetings meaningful. Let’s face it, many of them are far from that. So how do we fix this? To bring clarity to this issue, our expert here to help us with this is Josh Murphy. The three big questions we are going to work through are: |
 Guest: Andrew Danielsen, Chief Business Development Officer | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E23 The Art of Decision Making: How to Make the Right Call at the Right TimeJuly 30, 2025 It has been estimated that the average adult makes over 30,000 decisions per day. Which is a mind-blowing number. While some of these may be small or boring, the majority of these decisions shape who we are and the impact we have on this world. Given how impactful these decisions are, it’s critical that we get as many of them right as possible. Not only do we need to try to make the right decisions, but we need to make them quickly. So how do we make the right decision at the right time, well, that is what we are going to tackle in this session titled: The Art and Science of Decision Making: How to Make the Right Call at the Right Time. Our expert guest today is Andrew Danielsen, the Chief Business Development Officer for Mayo Clinic. The three big questions we have for Andy are: |
 Guest: Anjali Bhagra, MD MBA FACP, Professor of Medicine; Medical Director, Enterprise Automation and Belonging | Mayo Clinic | E22 Improving Your Resiliency: How to Thrive When Life Gets MessyJuly 23, 2025 Data shows that being more resilient can decrease our stress, improve productivity, decrease burnout, enhance our relationships, and even reduce mortality in some situations. However, when we are in the thick of struggling through life’s challenges, someone just telling us to “be more resilient” may feel more like gas lighting than true inspiration. So, how do we become our most resilient selves when many of us feel like we are already being pushed to the edge? That’s what we hope to answer for you in this session. To help us with this topic, our expert is Dr. Anjali Bhagra who is Medical Director of Enterprise Automation and The Office of Belonging at Mayo Clinic. The three big questions we plan to tackle with Dr. Bhagra are: |
 Guest: Edward R. Laskowski, M.D., Sports Medicine Physician | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E21 Exercise as a Prescription for Life: Why Exercise is the Best Medicine Everyone Should be TakingJuly 16, 2025 We all know what exercise is (or at least we think we do). We are familiar with many of it’s benefits such as getting stronger, improving flexibility, and losing weight. However, there are a number of benefits that most of us may not be aware of and don’t commonly think about when it comes to exercise. These benefits are essential knowledge that can be inspiring and motivating for both the beginner just trying to get off the couch to get started and the super fit that is already committed to a fine-tuned routine. In some cases, those benefits are literately life changing. To help us understand why exercise is the best medicine everyone should be taking, our expert is internationally recognized exercise and fitness expert, Dr. Ed Laskowski. The three big questions we are going to answer with Dr. Laskowski are: |
 Guest: Griffin Jax, Professional Baseball Pitcher | Minnesota Twins Baseball Club | E20 Forming Habits for Success: Creating Productive Consistency in Everyday LifeJuly 9, 2025 Most of what we are today (our happiness, position, relationships, health, etc.) has come about as a direct consequence of our habits. Good or bad, these habits largely determine who we are, what we do, and how successfully (or unsuccessfully) we navigate life. With habits being such a critical contributor to our lives, why do we struggle so much to consistently do the things we already know we need to do? To help us understand how to form healthy habits and make them a part of our default routine, our expert today is Griffin Jax, Major League Baseball pitcher and Air Force Academy Graduate. The three big questions we are going to work through with Griffin include: |
Guest: Sara L. Bonnes, M.D., M.S., Medical Director, Healthy Longevity Clinic | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E19 Beyond Lifespan: The Pursuit of Healthspan and VitalityJuly 2, 2025 There is increased attention being paid to the concept of longevity recently. People are living longer than they ever have, and the desire to continually extend our lifespan is at an all-time high. While much of the attention is being directed at how LONG we live, it is easy to overlook the importance of how WELL we live during those years. So how can we ensure that our years are not just long, but that they are healthy? How can we optimize both the QUANTITY, as well as the QUALITY of the years we have here on earth? To help us with this session, our expert is Dr. Sara Bonnes, the Medical Director of the Healthy Longevity Clinic at Mayo Clinic. The three big questions for Dr. Bonnes are: |
Guest: Tara M. Schmidt, M. Ed., RDN, LD, Lead Registered Dietitian – Mayo Clinic Diet | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E18 The Truth About Weight Loss: Breaking Down Misunderstandings and Setting You Up for SuccessJune 24, 2025 Today, we are discussing weight loss and weight management. This is one with relatively universal application as we all would love to optimize our weight for a number of reasons. The potential benefits and upsides of maintaining a healthy weight are clear to all of us, so why is it often challenging for us to hit our ideal weight goals? To give us a better understanding of the problem and potential solutions, our expert for this topic is Tara Schmidt M.Ed., RND, LD. She’s the lead dietician for “The Mayo Clinic Diet” and host of the “Mayo Clinic On Nutrition” podcast. The three big questions we are working through with her are: |
Guest: Chris Stephenson, M.D., M.H.P.E., M.S., Internal Medicine Physician, General Internal Medicine, Vice Chair of Practice | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E17 Finding Balance in Emotions: Regulating Your Emotional Flexibility and RigidityJune 18, 2025 Our emotions drive so much of what we think, say, and do. For many of us, our emotions are in the driver’s seat, and we often feel like we are just along for the ride. However, given how important emotional regulation is to our productivity, relationships, and joy, it truly is in our best interest to take control over our emotions and understand them in a more thoughtful way. Specifically, we need to learn how we can use our emotions to help us stay flexible and keep up with the rapidly changing world around us. To help us with this issue, our expert guest today is Dr. Chris Stephenson, the Vice Chair of Practice for Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic. The three big questions we have for Chris include: |
Guest: Carlos Coto, MA., CMPC., Head of Mental Performance | San Diego Football Club | E16 How to Define and Live Out Your Purpose: Key Steps to Finding Meaning in Life and WorkJune 11, 2025 Right now, we are all living our lives, striving for progress, and generally trying to improve ourselves, others, and the world around us. But how many of us have stopped to think about WHY we do this? What is the purpose behind our actions? What drives us to want to be better? Even if you have stopped to think about your purpose, do you know it so well that you could clearly articulate it to someone if they stopped you on the street and asked you “What is your purpose?” Probably not. But defining our purpose is absolutely critical to making progress and living a fulfilling life. Our expert guest for this session is Carlos Coto, Certified Mental Performance Consultant and Head of Mental Performance for the San Diego Football Club. The three big questions we have for Carlos are: |
Guest: Pablo Lopez, Professional Baseball Pitcher | Minnesota Twins Baseball Club | E15 Motivating Others: How to Connect With, Inspire, and Motivate the People Around YouJune 3, 2025 If you’ve ever been a part of a team, group, organization, or family, it’s obvious that much of your progress, success, and happiness in heavily influenced by the people around you. This can be a major blessing if you are surrounded by the right kind of people. But if you aren’t, it can be a major challenge and roadblock to success. One of critical elements to ensure success of the group is having the ability to appropriately motivate those around you. This is a critical element to group success, but it isn’t easy. That’s what we are going to focus on in this session as we sit down with Major League Baseball player, Pablo Lopez. The three big questions are working through with Pablo are: |
Guest: Stuart J. McCarter, M.D., Sleep and Cognitive/Behavioral Neurologist | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E14 Understanding the Basics of Sleep: What Everyone Should Know about Sleep Needs and StagesMay 27, 2025 In the past, we’ve discussed the circadian rhythm and how it sets your clock for the day. Both when you are awake, and when you are asleep. Today, we are going to focus in on what happens to us when we go to sleep. We all know that for sleep to be truly restorative, we need a certain amount of it, and that sleep needs to be high quality. So, it’s a problem that concerns both quality and quantity. But if you want to optimize the quality and quantity of your sleep, you need to start by understanding what sleep is and what happens to our bodies while we are snoozing. This knowledge is foundational to you becoming the best sleeper you can be. Our guest this week is Dr. Stuart McCarter, who is a Neurologist and Sleep Expert from the Mayo Clinic. The three big questions Dr. McCarter is going to answer for us this week are: |
Guest: Katherine A. Zeratsky, RDN, LD, Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Registered Dietitian | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E13 Unwrapping the Truth About Processed Foods: Impact on Your Health and How to Overcome the TemptationMay 21, 2025 Would you describe yourself as someone who is busy, wants to save money, and likes things that taste good? That describes a lot of us, and those are some of the most common reasons many of us rely on processed foods. However, these foods can have a major impact on us in ways that are obvious, and others that are not so obvious. Not only does what we eat impact our weight, but overconsumption of processed foods impacts nearly every domain of human performance. To tell us more about this topic, our quest this week is Mayo Clinic Registered Dietician and Nutritionist, Kate Zeratsky. The three big questions she is going to walk us through include: |
Guest: Anni Shandera-Ochsner, Ph.D., ABPP-CN, Clinical Neuropsychologist & Medical Director of Joy at Mayo Clinic | Mayo Clinic Health System – La Crosse, WI | E12 The Art and Science of Personal Change: Overcoming Barriers to Become Your Best SelfMay 14, 2025 We all have areas of our lives that we’d like to improve. In fact, many of us have been at this for years…with varying levels of success. If you’ve been able to transform your life in a positive way, that’s worth celebrating. But transformation doesn’t come easy to most of us. Why is this process of self-improvement such a challenge? How can we better position ourselves for success in our journey to become the best humans we can be? These are some of the things we will discuss on this episode with Dr. Anni Shandera-Ochsner, who is the Medical Director for Joy for the Mayo Clinic Enterprise. The three big questions we have for her in this session are: |
Guest: Colin West, M.D, Ph.D., Medical Director of Employee Well-Being | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN | E11 Burnout Decoded: Strategies for Individuals and Organizations to Understand it, Prevent it, and Overcome ItMay 7, 2025 This week, we are focusing on a topic that many don’t like to discuss, but we all need to understand better. You may have experienced it firsthand, and it has major implications for all of us at home and in the workplace. The topic is Burnout. Even though we all hear about it regularly, there is still a lot of confusion about what it is, how to spot it, how to prevent it, and how to overcome it. To help us sort through these issues, we have one of the world’s foremost experts on burnout joining us this week, Dr. Colin West. Dr. West is the Director of the Program on Physician Well-Being at Mayo Clinic, and here are the three big questions we have for him on this session: |
Guest: Carlos Correa, Professional Baseball Shortstop, Minnesota Twins Baseball Club | E10 Dealing with Failure: A Discussion About Processing, Understanding, and Growing From SetbacksApril 30, 2025 Failure is tough, and if we are honest with ourselves, we all experience some level of failure on a near daily basis. Some of these failings are small, while others are substantial and can have real impacts on our lives. Given how commonly failure occurs, we need to figure out how to deal with it in a health way. To give us a unique perspective on how we overcome our fear of failure, work through it an effective manner, and come out stronger on the other side, our guest for this episode is Major League Baseball Player, 3 time All-Star, Gold Glove Winner, and World Series Champion…Carlos Correa. Here are the three big questions we are going to tackle with Carlos: |
Guest: Justin Anderson, Psy. D., LP, CMPC | E9 Cognitive Overload: Overcoming the Modern Epidemic of Mental ExhaustionApril 23, 2025 In our modern, hyper-connected world, our brain is subject to a non-stop barrage of noise, information, stimuli, and inputs. While much of it is necessary and meaningful, a large portion is just unnecessary distraction. With this heavy burden of constant stimuli, it’s easy for us to experience “cognitive overload” where our brain is overwhelmed by all the incoming signals. How do we sort through this noise to determine what is critical and really deserves our attention? Can we sharpen our minds so that we can continue to thrive in these times of information overload? Those are some of the issues we are going to tackle in this episode. Our guest for this session is Dr. Justin Anderson, Psy.D., LP., founder and CEO of Premier Sport Psychology. In this episode, he is going to help us answer the following three big questions: |
Guest: Dustin Morse, Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, Minnesota Twins Baseball Club | E8 The Power of Connection: How to Communicate Effectively with AnyoneApril 16, 2025 Connection with other people is the one of the most essential elements to a happy and fulfilling life. In order to connect with others, you MUST COMMUNICATE with others. However, in our hyper-electronic and busy world, effective communication has become a lost art for so many of us. We have to change this. To help us get started on this journey of improving our communication, our guest for this session is Dustin Morse, Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. In this episode, he is going to help us answer the following three big questions: |
Guest: Michael Howell, M.D. | E7 Understanding Your Circadian Rhythm: The Foundation for Healthy, Quality SleepApril 9, 2025 You’ve likely heard of the concept of the “Circadian Rhythm,” but you may not fully understand it. Most people have no idea what their personal circadian rhythm is or how to determine it. Similarly, most of us don’t understand just how our circadian rhythm impacts our energy, sleep, mood, and productivity on a daily basis. Developing a better understanding of your circadian rhythm is a key to optimizing your health, energy, productivity, and joy. Our guest today is Dr. Michael Howell, who is a Sleep Medicine Physician at the University of Minnesota and an expert on all things related to the circadian rhythm. In this episode, he is going to help us answer the following three big questions: |
Guest: Jason Ewoldt, M.S., RDN | E6 Understanding Calories: What They Are, What They Do, and How to Get Them RightMarch 20, 2025 There aren’t many words out there than can conjure up emotions, confusion, and frustration quite like the word we are discussing today, and that word is “calories.” However, a discussion on calories doesn’t have to be so complex and loaded with this unnecessary baggage. Today, we are going to bring clarity to the topic by focusing on what you really need to know from both a scientific and practical perspective. In addition to better understanding what they are, we will discuss ways to help you know what your body’s caloric needs are for losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight. Finally, we will discuss practical strategies that help you achieve your fitness and health goals. The three big questions we will tackle in this episode are: To help us answer these questions, my guest today is Jason Ewoldt M.S., RDN, who is a registered and licensed dietician and certified sports specialist dietician at Mayo Clinic. |
Guest: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. | E5 Moving From Stress to Joy: How to Cultivate Happiness and Joy at Home and WorkMarch 18, 2025 We would all be open to the idea of a little less stress in our lives, especially if we can fill that with joy and happiness. For most of us, this holds true for both our personal and professional lives. But in this age of increasing pressure, demands, expectations, and deadlines, is that even a realistic expectation? Today we are going to dive deep into the meaning of joy, why so many of us don’t get enough, and how that is impacting our overall lives. In addition to that, we will discuss some intentional strategies for replacing stress with joy to help us become our best selves. The three big questions we will tackle in this episode are: To help us answer these questions, my guest today is Darryl S. Chutka, M.D., General Internal Medicine Physician at Mayo Clinic and the host of the Mayo Clinic Talks Podcast. |
Guest: Christina K. Zorn | E4 Creating Winning Cultures: Building and Maintaining an Optimal Culture for Teams and IndividualsMarch 13,2025 “Culture” is a word that gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so! It is often thought of as the lifeblood of an organization. However, many of us don’t think about the fact that “culture” doesn’t just exist at the level of large organizations. Culture exists for smaller groups, teams, families, and even individuals. In today’s episode, we will work to define “culture”, discuss its impact on groups (large and small) and individuals, provide real world examples of the impact of culture, and discuss ways of optimizing culture in both the workplace and at home. The three big questions we will tackle in this episode are: To help us answer these questions, my guest today is Christina K. Zorn, who is the Chief Administrative Officer of Mayo Clinic. |
Guest: Mary Ann Djonne, M.Ed. | E3 Emotional Intelligence Explained: How to Recognize, Understand, and Use Your Emotions to Be a More Effective HumanMarch 11, 2025 Most of us have heard the term “Emotional Intelligence,” and we understand that it’s generally important to our happiness and interpersonal relationships. However, most of us aren’t able to define it precisely or understand the key components that make it up. While many may think they do a good job of evaluating the emotional intelligence of others, it can be quite difficult to objectively evaluate our own levels of emotional intelligence. Once we better understand our own emotional intelligence, then comes the very challenging task of trying to improve it in a meaningful way. All of this can seem quite daunting, so we are going to help with that. The three big questions we will tackle in this episode are: To help us answer these questions, my guest today is Mary Ann Djonne, Professional Certified Executive Coach and Senior Advisor in Work Force Learning at Mayo Clinic. |
Guest: Andrea Hayden MS, RSCC | E2 Exercise Simplified: Essential Components of the Ideal Workout PlanMarch 6, 2025 The amount of “exercise” information, recommendations, plans, and opinions out there is greater than it’s ever been. Although our increasing knowledge is generally helpful, it’s easy to get lost in the rapidly evolving sea of information. This is particularly true because much of the information we hear is contradictory, and many people claim to have the perfect (and only) answer for us. Our goal for today is to help you cut through all of this noise and focus on what you really need to know to establish a successful workout routine for yourself. The three big questions we will tackle in this episode are: To help us answer these questions, my guest today is the Head Sports Performance Coach for the Minnesota Lynx WNBA Basketball Team, Andrea Hayden MS, RSCC. |
Guest: Christopher L. Camp, M.D. | E1 The Challenging but Achievable Quest for Accomplishing More While Also Improving WellnessHost: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. March 4, 2025 Being a healthcare clinician is an extremely rewarding occupation, but it can be stressful. Every year, we’re asked to do more and more, the patients seem to get more challenging, and we get less time to spend with each one. A significant number of clinicians report emotional and psychological distress, and burnout remains a major problem in healthcare providers. This increased stress and pressure is not just unique to physicians, and these struggles are common for all of us, regardless of career or position. How do we remain in an optimally functioning state? Does our physical health affect our cognitive function? Given the obstacles we face, how do we continue to achieve joy and happiness in our work and our life while continue to meet the ever-growing demands of the world? These are questions my guest is hoping to answer in a project he’s about to undertake on “Human Optimization”. My guest for this podcast is Christopher L. Camp, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic. We’re going to discuss his project and why he decided to tackle this important topic. |
