The Art and Science of Thriving
Welcome to The Art and Science of Thriving, the podcast where high-achieving professionals unlock the secrets to living a fulfilling, balanced, and high-performing life.
Through evidence-based insights in neuroscience, psychology, and high-performance strategies, we’ll explore how to achieve success without burnout, create clarity and purpose, and thrive in every area of your life.
Michael Schiel, a high performance coach and transformation consultant, hosts the podcast. Michael helps overwhelmed people and teams find their purpose, achieve their goals, and reach peak performance while creating well-being, balance and fulfillment in their lives
The Art and Science of Thriving
Episode #98: Why Tenacity Matters More Than Talent with Steven Puri
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What actually separates the people who continue growing, succeeding, and reinventing themselves from those who stop after setbacks, rejection, or failure?
In this episode of The Art and Science of Thriving, I sit down with Steven Puri for a fascinating conversation about resilience, reinvention, high performance, failure, identity, and what it really takes to keep moving forward when life does not go according to plan.
Steven is one of the few people in the world who has been both a senior executive at major Hollywood film studios and also raised more than $20 million in venture capital.
He produced the digital effects for Independence Day, which won the Academy Award for Visual Effects, worked on films including Braveheart, founded multiple technology companies with both successful exits and failures, and later served as a VP at 20th Century Fox and an EVP at DreamWorks Pictures.
But what makes this conversation so powerful is not just Steven’s success.
It is his perspective on rejection, persistence, failure, reinvention, and learning.
Throughout this episode, we explore:
- Why tenacity often matters more than talent
- How high performers learn from failure instead of being defined by it
- The psychology of rejection and why most setbacks are not as personal as we think
- How to know when to keep pushing forward versus when to pivot or reinvent yourself
- The role of timing, luck, and preparation in success
- Why being around elite performers accelerates growth and learning
- How identity, mindset, and emotional regulation shape long-term performance
We also discuss the neuroscience and psychology behind failure, learning, resilience, and sustainable high performance — including why the brain is naturally wired for adaptation and growth if we approach setbacks the right way.
This episode is packed with practical insights for leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, creators, and anyone navigating uncertainty, pressure, transition, or growth in their own life.
If you have ever struggled with failure, questioned whether to keep going, or wondered how high performers continue moving forward through setbacks and reinvention, this is an episode you will not want to miss.
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