Mental Training Lab

Don’t Let Optimization Hold You Hostage

Pete Kadushin, PhD

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0:00 | 25:50

In this solocast, I’m exploring a paradox I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: the more optimized a system becomes, the more fragile it can get.

We start with sleep, but this applies to performance routines, recovery, leadership, training, and the way we prepare for just about anything. When everything has to go exactly right in order for us to feel ready, we end up narrowing the window for success.

So I’m breaking down the difference between fragile, resilient, and anti-fragile systems, and how we can build habits that don’t just work when conditions are perfect, but can actually hold up when life gets messy.

The goal isn’t to stop improving your systems, it’s to make sure your systems can survive contact with reality.

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This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.