The Art of Asking Great Questions...(solo episode) | The Grateful Podcast Ep. 136

Navy SEAL Commander: What's Making You Better Probably Isn't

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/fan_mail/new] The Grateful Podcast with Jack Wagoner episode 137 What if most of what you're doing to grow yourself isn't actually growing you? Rich Diviney spent 20 years as a Navy SEAL commander. 13 deployments, 11 of them to Iraq and Afghanistan. He ran selection for one of the most elite SEAL commands in the world, deciding who was good enough to operate at the apex of human performance and who wasn't. He has written three books on optimal performance, trained leaders at Google, McKinsey, the 49ers, and McLaren, and built the SEALs' "Mind Gym" to teach operators how to train their attention as deliberately as their bodies. In this conversation, he laid out almost everything most people are doing to grow themselves that isn't actually working. The gym isn't growing you if you don't dread it. Optimism alone is inert without action paired to it. Faith and confidence are not the same thing. The narcissism that gets you to elite places gets ripped away the moment you arrive. And when you stop pushing into real discomfort, you don't plateau. You start dying. We go deep on what actually develops elite performers, why most leadership advice misses the layer beneath behavior, the neuroscience of the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, the trap of optimizing inside one domain, and why faith is belief without evidence and confidence is belief with evidence (and why both matter). If you've ever felt like you're working hard at the wrong things, this one's for you. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Cold open 1:45 — 21 years a SEAL. Where did this start? 2:15 — Twin brothers, Chuck Yeager, and the dream of flying jets 4:25 — Why he chose SEAL (the narcissism nobody admits) 7:30 — What replaces the narcissism once you arrive 8:21 — "Any narcissism that gets you to BUDS gets ripped away minute one" 11:24 — Victor Frankl, the choice point, and the duality of gratitude and ambition 15:30 — The neuroscience of feeling, thought, and action 17:07 — How founders and executives use this in everyday life 19:18 — Bob Proctor, paradigms, and the 97% of thoughts you repeat 22:00 — Driving, road rage, and the expectations we put on strangers 25:00 — "Don't be that guy" (the SEAL principle that travels) 27:30 — Sonder and radical empathy 30:33 — Why Simon Sinek's optimism alone doesn't work 32:37 — Realistic optimism, faith, and confidence 35:41 — Carl Sagan: faith is belief without evidence 38:06 — Trust is generative. What does that actually mean? 40:30 — The day I betrayed my own trust on a run 42:22 — The anterior mid-cingulate cortex (and the Andrew Huberman story) 43:54 — "When you stop growing, you start dying" 45:38 — Are you actually tickling the part of your brain that grows you? 47:38 — When your morning routine is making you weaker 50:14 — Looksmaxing, gym culture, and the trap of one domain 53:36 — A Maslow's hierarchy of hard things 55:30 — One question I should have asked 🔗 GUEST LINKS Book: The Attributes - https://www.amazon.com/Attributes-Hidden-Drivers-Optimal-Performance/dp/0593133943 Website: https://theattributes.com Instagram: @rich_diviney LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richdiviney Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/support] ☕ Magic Mind — My daily performance shot: → https://magicmind.com/wagoner20 Use code WAGONER20 for 20% off a package or 48% off a subscription. 🧠 More from Jack: ► Website: https://jackwagoner.co ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/ ► 1:1 Coaching: jackcwagoner@gmail.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner ⸻ 🎙️ About Jack: I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking.  My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Stay grateful, stay hungry.

The Art of Asking Great Questions...(solo episode) | The Grateful Podcast Ep. 136

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/fan_mail/new] The Grateful Podcast with Jack Wagoner Most people think the person asking questions is the dumbest in the room. In this solo episode, Jack breaks down why the opposite is true, how he developed the skill of asking great questions through 130+ podcast episodes, and why curiosity might be the most underrated skill in business, relationships, and life. We go deep on why curiosity peaks at age 4 and declines from there, the moment Jack stopped reading questions off a script and started asking from instinct, what happened when he hired people based on their ability to ask rather than their ability to perform, and why human connection is dying in a world that has every answer at its fingertips. If you've ever sat in a room full of people and been afraid to raise your hand, this one's for you. Chapters: 0:00 — "Fools and Fanatics Are Always So Certain of Themselves" 1:41 — Someone Asked Me How I Ask Good Questions 3:28 — The Kid Whose Hand Shot Up Every Time 6:03 — Three Meetings in NYC Changed How I See This 6:45 — How I Went From Reading Questions to Asking From Instinct 9:59 — How You Can Get Better at This (Without a Podcast) 12:22 — Why Every Great Founder Starts With a Question 13:33 — Your Thoughts Are Questions (Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor) 16:49 — Why This Matters More Than Ever Right Now 17:11 — What I Looked For When I Hired Two People This Week 18:37 — Human Connection, AI, and Why Nobody's Coming to Save Us 21:15 — Go Ask Someone a Question Today Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/support] ☕ Magic Mind — My daily performance shot: → https://magicmind.com/wagoner20 Use code WAGONER20 for 20% off a package or 48% off a subscription. 🧠 More from Jack: ► Website: https://jackwagoner.co ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/ ► 1:1 Coaching: jackcwagoner@gmail.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner ⸻ 🎙️ About Jack: I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking.  My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Stay grateful, stay hungry.

Hormozi's 20-Year-Old: How to Engineer What You Want with Jay Yang | The Grateful Podcast Ep. 135

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/fan_mail/new] The Grateful Podcast with Jack Wagoner guesting Jay Yang Episode 135 Jay Yang is 20 years old. He cold-emailed his way into Beehiiv at 16. Sent a 19-page deck to Noah Kagan at 17 and became Head of Content at AppSumo. Wrote a bestseller at 19. Today he's the youngest Written Media Strategist on Alex and Leila Hormozi's media team at Acquisition.com, where he helped run the $100M Money Models launch that broke a Guinness World Record. He didn't go through the front door for any of it. He doesn't ask for permission. And in this conversation he walked me through, for the first time on any podcast, the actual mental models he's used to engineer the last four years. The North Star question. The probability mindset. The Four Pillar Framework. The mad scientist principle. The 70/20/10 split for an entire career. The Pyrrhic Victory chapter from the second book he's writing now. We go deep on why most 20-year-olds stay stuck even with all the information in the world, the only question to ask before you cold email anyone, the specific framework Jay used to decide between college and Hormozi, why quality is paved with quantity, and the closing line that compresses his whole thesis into one sentence. If you're building something and you want to think more clearly about how to engineer the next decade, this one's for you. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 — The mission 01:00 — The Cheshire Cat question (define your North Star first) 02:16 — Why we've been trained to seek permission 06:32 — The probability mindset: inputs that increase your odds 10:34 — The Four Pillar Framework (the decision that took him to Hormozi) 15:39 — Chapter two of his next book: The Pyrrhic Victory 17:21 — Leaving his twin brother for Las Vegas 26:13 — "Would you work with you?" 28:22 — Quality is paved with quantity (the mad scientist principle) 30:16 — A goals, B goals, C goals (the long game) 34:50 — Daily habits, idea compression, and the Picasso napkin 43:26 — Identity achievement and the 70/20/10 split for a career 49:08 — Where Jay is choosing to live next 52:32 — The line he wants to leave you with 🔗 Jay's Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayyanginspires/ Website: https://jayyanginspires.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayyanginspires/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Just-Things-Permissionless/dp/B0F3GPZL1C LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jayyanginspires Twitter/X: https://x.com/Jayyanginspires Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/support] ☕ Magic Mind — My daily performance shot: → https://magicmind.com/wagoner20 Use code WAGONER20 for 20% off a package or 48% off a subscription. 🧠 More from Jack: ► Website: https://jackwagoner.co ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/ ► 1:1 Coaching: jackcwagoner@gmail.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner ⸻ 🎙️ About Jack: I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking.  My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Stay grateful, stay hungry.

If You Think You're Self-Aware You're NOT with Allison Brenner | The Grateful Podcast Ep. 134

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/fan_mail/new] The Grateful Podcast with Jack Wagoner episode 134 Guesting Allison Brenner She left therapy after a patient on the child unit took their own life. That moment sent her on a 25-year journey into the science of why people can't see themselves clearly, and what it actually costs them. Allison Brenner is an IO psychology consultant, certified professional coach (PCC), and founder of InnerVue, a 360-degree anonymous feedback platform built to give everyone access to what only Fortune 500 executives used to get. Research shows 95% of people believe they are self-aware. The real number is closer to 10%. This conversation is about that gap, and what to do about it. We go deep on why self-criticism is not the same as self-awareness and is actually keeping you stuck, why the people around you already know what's in your way and nobody's telling you, what senior leaders consistently get wrong about their own impact, and why insight without action is one of the most dangerous illusions a high achiever can hold. If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right but the results still aren't there, this one's for you. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Introduction 0:10 — Why Self-Awareness Has Never Mattered More 3:08 — The Psychiatric Hospital That Changed Her Career 8:04 — What Senior Leaders Get Wrong About Their Own Impact 11:04 — Curiosity: The Foundation of All Growth 13:43 — The Leadership Paradox: Why Caring What Others Think Actually Matters 18:16 — How to Find What You Actually Want and Value 20:23 — Building Introspection as a Skill 25:49 — Why She Built InnerVue 27:55 — Insight Without Action Is an Illusion 32:25 — She Had This Idea in 2007. Why Did She Wait? 35:14 — What Happens When the Rater Learns About Themselves 40:52 — Identity Continuity and Happiness 43:22 — Self-Criticism vs. Self-Awareness: The Distinction That Changes Everything 47:33 — Gratitude Gives Ambition Direction and Meaning 51:37 — One Action to Take Today 🔗 GUEST LINKS Allison K. Brenner Website: yourinnervue.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/allisonbrenner 💬 When did you last ask someone how you actually come across?  Drop your honest answer below. 👇 Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/support] ☕ Magic Mind — My daily performance shot: → https://magicmind.com/wagoner20 Use code WAGONER20 for 20% off a package or 48% off a subscription. 🧠 More from Jack: ► Website: https://jackwagoner.co ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/ ► 1:1 Coaching: jackcwagoner@gmail.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner ⸻ 🎙️ About Jack: I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking.  My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Stay grateful, stay hungry.

Why the Most Productive People Work Less (Not More) with Joe O'Connor | 133

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/fan_mail/new] Joe O'Connor pioneered the global 4-day work week movement. He's coached governments, Fortune 500s, and pilot programs across three continents. But in this conversation, he says something every founder, employee, and student needs to hear: the way we're thinking about AI in the workplace is broken, and most people are about to sleepwalk into the same mistake we made with digitalization 30 years ago. We go deep on why 65% of knowledge workers say responding to messages matters more than their actual top priorities, the productivity gap that's quietly redistributing trillions of dollars, why "work life integration" is a trap, and the one shift every ambitious person needs to make before the next wave of AI hits. If you've ever felt like you're working harder than ever and somehow falling further behind, this one's for you. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Introduction 00:40 — Why the 5-Day Work Week Was Built for a World That No Longer Exists 07:03 — Parkinson's Law and Why You're Wasting Your Best Hours 12:21 — The Atlassian Study That Should Terrify Every Founder (65%) 19:45 — The Cost of Always Being Available (For Founders Especially) 22:14 — Work Like a Lion, Not a Cow 22:40 — Jack's France Story: When Your Body Forces You to Stop 31:10 — Why 23 Minutes Is Killing Your Best Work 35:34 — How AI Could Bring Human Connection Back (The Customer Service Reframe) 38:55 — The Productivity-Wages Gap Nobody Talks About 41:52 — The Two Paths AI Will Take Us Down (One of Them Is Bad) 48:00 — What Universities Got Right (And Where They're Failing You) 51:58 — Give Every Hour a Mission 53:18 — The Two Skills That Will Matter Most in the Age of AI 55:18 — What Joe Is Grateful For 🔗 GUEST LINKS Joe O'Connor Work Time Revolution: worktimerevolution.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joseph-l-o-connor Book: Do More in Four (Harvard Business Review Press, January 2026) Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2302168/support] ☕ Magic Mind — My daily performance shot: → https://magicmind.com/wagoner20 Use code WAGONER20 for 20% off a package or 48% off a subscription. 🧠 More from Jack: ► Website: https://jackwagoner.co ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_wagoner_/ ► 1:1 Coaching: jackcwagoner@gmail.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jack_Wagoner ⸻ 🎙️ About Jack: I moved to France alone at 16, started my first business at 17, and launched this podcast because I kept meeting people who had the answers to questions I didn't even know I was asking.  My philosophy: you can set massive goals while being deeply fulfilled right now. That's the duality of gratitude and ambition. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Stay grateful, stay hungry.