Win Today
Win Today is a performance enhancing podcast filled with actionable insights and inspiration to come out on top in life. Through captivating interviews and solo episodes, a powerful tool is created and given to listeners to be able to push through any situation in life.
Hosted by Ryan Cass, he delivers messages that align to his purpose of helping people establish a foundation for sustained success, break trends of adversity, and chart desirable courses for life. Win Today!
Win Today
#226 | Winning Is: Giving Your All & Living Your Values
What if winning isn’t the trophy, title, or PR—but how you show up for what matters most? In this episode, bestselling author and coach Brad Stulberg shares insights from his newest book and what winning means to him:
The Way of Excellence
Excellence is a journey, not a destination. Available for pre-order now and launching in January 2026!
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Winning is giving something your all, leaving it out there, laying it on the line in a way that aligns with your values.
SPEAKER_00:Hmm.
SPEAKER_01:In a way that you're proud of.
SPEAKER_02:Do hard things. Help one person. Be good and do good. Live a life of discipline, and you will always win. You have all the tools that you need to succeed. Welcome to Win Today.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Ryan Cass and I am your host. My purpose in this world is to help push people further and harder than they believe possible and become unshakable in what matters most to them in their lives. Every week you're gonna learn from either myself or a renowned expert in their field, and we're gonna unveil pieces of our playbook to help you win today. Please, if you love this show, subscribe and share it with somebody that will benefit from it. Let's dig in. Back with another edition of Winning Is. I'm so excited about this one because it is with one of my favorite authors, Brad Stahlberg, and we recently had an amazing interview for his upcoming book, The Way of Excellence. So the episode won't release and to the full episode won't release until the third week of January. But what we can do is put out this snippet of the discussion and also uh use it as a way to introduce Brad. He's been on the show before when his former most recent book, Master of Change, debuted in 2024. Brad is I believe best known for the nuances that he brings into his work, the meaning that he he introduces a lot of concepts such as excellence as an example, existing as a destination and a journey rather than a particular outcome or a particular stat. And he introduces a lot of non-dual thinking, meaning that two things that we may often believe cannot coexist, meaning that we can be rugged and flexible. That's one thing from Master of Change, the concept of rugged flexibility. He introduces a lot of non-dual thinking principles that allow us to open our minds more, I believe, to see how things can coexist in a world that would likely not take the time to understand that. And so with that, I really experience Brad's work as an avenue of possibilities. And his newest book, The Way of Excellence, is really going to dive into how we can build a better relationship with the process and the journey and all of the inner workings that get us there versus excellence is the new PR or excellence is the dollar figure in your bank account. So I was super excited to have this discussion about winning is because I know that a person like Brad wouldn't provide a traditional response and that winning is X. It's as you heard there in the very beginning, it's connecting to values, giving all that you can in something that is deeply meaningful to you. So here's the rest of it, but highly encourage that you check out Brad Stahlberg and get a copy of The Way of Excellence, which is on pre-order now, and it will be out in 2026. Add that to your list and win today. Brad, one thing that I've been very curious about this year, I I launched a newsletter called Winning Is. So win today. Now I'm curious, what does winning actually mean? And I'm gonna make that a point in every discussion that I have on the podcast. Because just like excellence isn't an outcome-driven destination, I don't believe that winning is either. In a former version of me would have, but if I ask you what is winning to you, how would you describe that?
SPEAKER_01:Winning is giving something your all, leaving it out there, laying it on the line in a way that aligns with your values, in in a way that you're proud of. And sometimes the scoreboard's gonna be in your favor, hopefully more often than not. Sometimes the scoreboard's not gonna be in your favor, but if you keep coming back and stepping to the arena and playing again, then ultimately you're winning the infinite game, which is you're becoming a better person.
SPEAKER_03:If I asked Brad one or two decades ago that same question, would that have been the response that you gave?
SPEAKER_01:Maybe one decade ago. Two decades ago, I'm not so sure.
SPEAKER_03:It's always interesting, especially those that that have a an athletic background that I'll ask that question too. I had a I had a sports psychologist on from Minnesota a few weeks ago. She's a performance coach for the Minnesota Vikings and a former track standout athlete. She mentioned that winning to her a decade prior, based off her current age now, would have been the time on the track and whether or not she won that race because at the time she was the top track athlete coming out of the state of Iowa. So I always love to see just what is it to somebody now. And and I've not found a single person that has mentioned an outcome-based response. It's pretty, it's pretty fun asking this question.
SPEAKER_01:It's a great question. I think that in high school, certainly, it would have been uh, you know, winning a state championship or getting a a scholarship to play football would have been winning. Um so I don't know, three decades ago, then yeah, it would have been something very different. Um I also think that back to things being able to coexist, you can have a secondary goal. So I answered what winning is, but then you could ask me, all right, well, then what are some outcomes that you want to see? And then I'd say, well, I want this book to be on the New York Times bestseller list. I want to deadlift 550 pounds. Um, I want to uh, I mean, those are really like the only two outcome goals, right? My goals around family and parenting. They're they don't have clear outcomes. And I still care deeply about those outcomes. But that's not how I define winning. Um and I think that oftentimes what happens in sports psychology is like the pendulum can shift so far away from outcomes to like process, process, process, become a better person. And yeah, like that's at the top of the hierarchy, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to have more points than the other person on the scoreboard or wanting to get the promotion or wanting to hit the bestseller list or wanting to break 100,000 downloads, whatever the number is. Like it's good to want those metrics. I think sometimes if you don't want those metrics, it's because you're scared to fail. And it's better to really want them and risk failure. However, again, that's not at the top of the hierarchy. The top of the hierarchy is about giving it your all, becoming a better person. That's a level underneath that.
SPEAKER_03:On the note of, and I appreciate that that you brought that up because at times I often wonder, should we even have so many outcome-driven, we'll call it secondary goals? Yeah. But I love that you mentioned, hey, that like if you you should. That means you care. That means it's really important. That's what I just heard. On the topic of failure, do you see failure for failure? Or is there an alternate definition in your mind for that as well?
SPEAKER_01:It's the shortest chapter in the book, is the chapter on failure. Um, because I think all this stuff has been written on failure, and much of it's very good on failing forward, on learning from failure, uh, on failure being necessary, um, on nobody getting away without failure. And and I agree with all of that. And I think that in the moment, failure hurts and it sucks, especially if you gave something your all. And it's okay to let it hurt, and it's okay to have it suck. And the love of the game, whatever the game may be, has got to be bigger than the pain of failure. And then you just keep going. And sometimes you keep going later that day, sometimes you keep going later that week. If it's a failure at game seven of the World Series or in the Olympic final, maybe it takes a month before you pick yourself up and get going again. But I think we over-intellectualize failure a lot. Instead of just saying failure sucks, it's inevitable. Learn from it if you can, let it hurt, let it sting, and then just get back to work.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, keep rolling. Brad, two more for you. One, what is the best way for us to support you, show you love, and be evangelist of your of your mission in in this coming year?
SPEAKER_01:The the best way is definitely to grab a copy of the the new book, The Way of Excellence. Uh, you can get it wherever you get books, get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble Bookshop, your local bookseller, um, and just to please enjoy it. Read the book, wrestle with it, try to apply it to your own life. Uh, if you find it resonant, share it with your colleagues, your teammates, your family, your friends. Um, I I really think that yes, there's the book is really kind of like a process goal, but the ultimate goal is redefining excellence and reclaiming excellence. Uh, and that's got to be a lot more than me and a lot more than this book. It's gonna be everyone reading it, engaging with it, and sharing it.
SPEAKER_03:Everyone get the book. And last one, Brad, as opposed to the three question rapid fire, one elevator question. What's how can how can we start our journey of excellence today? What's one step we can take?
SPEAKER_01:How many floors do I have in the elevator? You get you get one floor.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, but they're they're they're tall floors.
SPEAKER_01:That's quick. Um I think reflect on your values and reflect on your goals and see if they're aligned. And if they're not, ask yourself have my values changed or do I have the wrong goals? And if you don't have a goal that aligns with your values, don't freak out about that. The world is overwhelming, it's chaotic. The subtitle of this book is literally um a guide to true greatness and deep satisfaction in a chaotic world. Like, don't feel bad if you don't have a big goal, but maybe consider having one. Maybe consider what that would do for your physical health, for your mental health, for your spiritual health. Um, and in and try to find something that aligns with those values where you care about the outcome on the scoreboard, but even more so you care about being a different, better kind of person.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. Brad, as always, thank you so much, not only for the opportunity today, but thank you for how you serve the world and how you are redefining, helping redefine what excellence really means, and so that we can craft our own definition and build a meaningful relationship with it and win today. Thank you so much.
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