Advertise on podcast: Mayo Clinic On Human Optimization

For a lot of people, being “ambitious” is kind of synonymous with “doing more.” Work more hours, make more money, win more awards. But then, as we teeter on the edge of burnout, we also get this message to “do less” — make time for relationships, take care of your body, sleep. Which just feels like another “more.” So how are we supposed to achieve more, while also doing “less”? This episode, we’re digging into Human Optimization itself. And I’ve asked veteran journalist and host of Mayo Clinic Health Matters, Kristen Meinzer, to take over hosting duties so I can share my thoughts on how the human optimization framework helps us rethink success and perform at a high level without breaking ourselves. The three big questions we cover are: What is human optimization, and how does it help us think differently about the connection between performance and well-being? What is the audience’s struggle: Why do so many of us feel like we have to sacrifice our health, relationships, happiness or well-being in order to “achieve success”? What is the solution: What practical framework can we use to continue achieving at a high level while simultaneously becoming healthier, happier and better humans? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

People like easily quantified measures of success – money, degrees, awards, followers. They’re simple and straightforward. The more you have, the better you’re doing. At least in theory.    Reality is a little more complicated. You can be financially secure but lonely. Highly productive but purposeless. Successful but depleted.   So how do we go from looking good on paper to being good for real?   This episode, our guest is Dr. Renae Wilkinson, a sociologist and research associate with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. And she’s here to help us take a more holistic assessment of our lives and learn to flourish.   The three big questions we have for Dr. Wilkinson are:  1.   What is human flourishing and why do we need it in our lives?   2.  Why do we struggle to flourish and what keeps holding us back?    3.  What clear and distinct steps can people take to increase human flourishing across the major domains of life?     Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books. Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Modern workplaces love their KPIs, deadlines, deliverables — anything we can use to quantify success. And while shareholders might get all fired up when they see those numbers move in the right direction, for the people doing the work, it really isn’t enough. We need more than a number and a target to do our best work, stay motivated, and prevent burnout. (And no, a boss peering over our shoulder isn’t the answer either.)  So how do leaders go from managing metrics to truly inspiring others?   This episode, we talk to Prathibha Varkey, M.B.B.S., M.B.A., president of Mayo Clinic Health System. She’s a practicing clinician and professor of preventive medicine who leads 14,000 employees serving 16 community hospitals and 40 clinics across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.  The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Varkey are:  1. What does it mean to inspire others, and why is inspiration so important for performance and human flourishing?   2.  Why do we fail to inspire others well, and what happens when we live without inspiration?  3.  How can we inspire others practically and effectively, regardless of our role?  Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Ambitious people often credit their success to a strong inner critic. They take pride in “staying hungry” and talk about complacency like it’s an existential threat. But that same voice can steal the joy from our happiest moments – moments in life where we should feel proud and accomplished, but all we can see are the little missteps we took along the way. Or the things we haven’t yet accomplished.    So how do we make room for joy and positivity without eroding our motivation and ambition?   This episode, we’re joined by two experts from the Compassion Institute – Program Director Aproteem Choudhury, and Executive Director Stephen Butler – to talk about how mastering the art of self-compassion can fight burnout, increase satisfaction, and propel sustained achievement.    The three big questions we have for Apro and Stephen are:   1.  What is self-compassion, and why is it important?   2.  Why do we tend to be our own harshest critic, and why is it so hard to be kind to ourselves?   3. How can people develop more self-compassion while maintaining high standards and fueling growth?  Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books. Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Do you feel that you’re creating the future for yourself and your team? Or are you spending your time just reacting to the crisis of the day? While it’s critical to keep the ship from sinking, we also need to do some work to ensure that we’re steering the ship in the right direction. This requires forward-thinking. This episode, we’re joined by Coen A. Wijdicks, Ph.D. He holds a Ph.D. in biomedical science and an executive MBA with a focus on strategy and leadership. He now serves as the VP of research at Gillette Children’s, where he actively manages more than 100 research studies, many clinical trials, and multisite academic partnerships. The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Wijdicks are: What is forward-thinking leadership, and why is it essential for leading yourself and your team? Why do so many leaders and teams struggle to think forward in a proactive rather than reactive way? What practical steps can we all take to become more forward-thinking to develop ourselves and our teams? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimization YouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTube Email: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Everyone knows that our health is fundamental to our whole experience of life. So why does it always seem like it’s the first thing to get deprioritized when life gets busy? And when we do try to make it a priority, why does it feel like our efforts don’t lead to meaningful change?  This episode, we’re joined by Dr. Darshan Shah. He’s a surgeon, author, entrepreneur, and host of his own podcast, Extend. And he’s here to help us learn to take control of our health, form healthy habits, and increase our health span.  The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Shah are:  1.  How much of our health is shaped by our own actions, mindset, and decisions?  2.  Why do so many of us fail to take ownership of our health, and what beliefs or habits are keeping us stuck?  3. What practical steps can we take to assume more ownership of our health and start making better decisions? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at: https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

You don’t need anyone to tell you that working out is hard. That’s the whole point. But for many of us, the hardest part isn’t physically lifting the weights or running the laps. It’s getting to the gym in the first place. It’s knowing that we can do hard things. It’s staying motivated to keep working at it, even when day to day progress feels hard to measure.   So how do we work on our mental fitness with the same dedication we bring to our physical fitness?   This episode, we’re joined by Jonathan Jenkins, Psy.D., CPMC, a clinical and sport psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He’s also the Team Clinical and Performance Psychologist for the New England Patriots, and Behavioral Sport Psychologist for the Boston Red Sox. And he’s the author of the book “Mentality Wins: The Athlete’s Playbook for Thriving in Sport and Life.”    The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Jenkins are:   1.  What is the "mental game" of fitness, and why is it just as important as physical training?   2.   Why do so many people struggle with the psychological friction of staying physically fit?   3.  How can we actively train our minds to overcome these blocks and elevate our physical fitness?   Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

New relationships are hard for a reason – no trust. You’re starting from scratch with no common understanding, no established shared goals, or history of goodwill. Everyone’s feeling vulnerable. But also suspicious. It feels hard to take risks or even just relax and be yourself.     So, how do we get past the awkwardness and start building trust? Or rebuild it after it’s been lost?    This episode, we’re joined by Dr. Karen Mellum. She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and is a Human Resources Administrator and Executive leadership coach at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. And she’s here to help us stop waiting for others to prove themselves and start being the first mover.    The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Mellum are:   1.  What is trust? And why is it crucial for high performance teams?   2. Why is trust so hard to build and maintain?   3. How do we move from being "suspicious by default" to "trusting by design" while still maintaining healthy boundaries?   Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at: https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Everyone loves a good leader. But they’re often held up as these singular examples of success, vision, inspiration, and perseverance. And we struggle to learn from their stories and distill them into a practical, repeatable blueprint for good leadership.   This episode, we’re joined by Dr. James Hebl, Medical Director for Leadership and Talent Development at Mayo Clinic and a certified executive coach for healthcare leaders. He’s here to break down the somewhat nebulous concept of leadership into something that we can define, measure, and get better at.   The three big questions Dr. Hebl is going to help us tackle are:   1. What is leadership really, and how can we move it from a vague concept into something concrete?  2. Why do so many of us struggle to develop ourselves as leaders and to teach others about leadership?  3. How can we use this framework to better lead ourselves and others? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.

Self-care is one of the most commonly used, but poorly understood concepts today. For some, it brings to mind indulgence, luxury, or performative wellness culture. For others, it feels selfish, soft, or unrealistic. However, self-care, when done properly, helps fuel us to be our best selves and will maximize performance gains and achievement.   Our expert guest for this episode is Dr. Amy Oxentenko. She’s the Vice Dean of Practice and Vice Chair of the People and Culture Committee at Mayo Clinic. She’s an educator, researcher, leader, and avid distance runner who credits much of her success to intentional self-care practices.  The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Oxentenko are: What exactly is “self-care” and why do we need it? What do we commonly get wrong when it comes to taking care of ourselves?  What practical strategies can we use to take care of ourselves amid our crazy busy lives?  Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Life offers plenty of nice, concrete, mostly attainable goals for us to chase and boxes to check – good job, life partner, maybe a house, maybe kids. But that’s also the classic recipe for a midlife crisis: you work your butt off to get a bunch of those boxes checked only to find yourself exhausted and unfulfilled. Or wondering, “Now what?”  So, how do we ground our goals to make sure we’re putting our energy into things that really matter?  This episode, we are joined by Bridget Berkland, Manager of Employee Well-being at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She’s a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, and she’s here to help us learn to combat burnout by aligning our daily actions with our deepest personal and professional values.  The three big questions we discuss with Bridget are:  1. What are personal values and what role do they play in our daily life? 2. Why do so many of us struggle to define our values and put them into action? 3. What practical steps can we take to clearly articulate our values and then use them to drive meaning and inform behavior in our lives? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/content/mayo-clinic-human-optimization Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books. Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Imagine: you get yourself a sweet new sports car, hop in for your first drive, only to realize you have no idea how to drive stick. So you drive around town in first gear, going super slow, making tons of noise, stalling out at every stop sign. You finally make it home, hop out and proclaim, “This car’s a piece of junk!” Well, that’s the challenge we face with talent development, where the ceiling of your potential — or your team's potential — isn't dictated by innate ability, but by your capacity to unlock it. So to help us learn to shift out of first gear, this episode, we’re joined by Adam Thompson. He’s the Vice Chair of Administration for the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida. The three big questions we discuss with Adam are: What is talent, and what are we talking about with “talent development?” Why do people and teams fail to develop talent well? What can we do to maximally develop our own talent, as well as that of everyone on the team? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions here. Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Why is it that the more we think about falling asleep, the harder it becomes? Our mindset around sleep plays a huge role in our ability to fall asleep, the amount of sleep we get and the quality of that sleep. So how can we use our mindset to our advantage? This episode, we speak with Bhanu Kolla, M.B.B.S., M.D., the co-author of the Mayo Clinic Guide to Better Sleep. He’s also a professor of psychiatry and psychology with clinical appointments in the Center for Sleep Medicine and the Division of Addiction Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  The three big questions we discuss with Dr. Kolla are: 1. What is the connection between sleep and psychology, and how does that relationship affect our sleep? 2. What are the most common mental traps that negatively impact our sleep? 3. What steps can we take now to optimize our mindset to help us get the best sleep?  Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions at https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: On Human Optimization - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Just having a title that sounds authoritative doesn’t make someone a leader. And you don’t have to be a CEO to lead, either. So what actually inspires people to take action? In this episode, we’re joined by Thom Mayer, M.D., to explore how to stop waiting for authority and start leading. Dr. Mayer is medical director for the NFL Players Association and author of the book Leadership Is Worthless, but Leading Is Priceless. Here are three questions we explore with Dr. Mayer: What’s the difference between being in charge and being a leader—and why does it matter? Why do so many people struggle to move from boss to leader, and where do they fall short? How can you move beyond managing and start leading, regardless of your title? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod-Club questions here. Instagram: @MayoHumanOptimizationYouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTubeEmail: [email protected] Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails.  Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

Hopefully, you’ve experienced getting so absorbed in work or an activity you enjoy that you lose track of time. We tend to be most productive in what is often called a “state of flow.” When harnessed effectively, flow can act like a superpower for personal fulfillment and progress. To help us better understand and maximize moments of flow, we’re joined by Biju Samkutty, chief operating officer of international and enterprise automation at Mayo Clinic. Known for aligning people, processes and technology, Biju leads Mayo Clinic’s global expansion efforts, including managing international patients, building strategic collaborations and establishing new international entities. In this episode, we explore three key questions: What is the state of flow, and why is it critical for performance and well-being? Why do we struggle to access flow consistently, and how does that impact productivity and happiness? What proven methods can help us maximize flow in daily life and work? Learn more about On Human Optimization and access Pod Club questions here. Sign up to receive Mayo Clinic Press emails. Find us online at Mayo Clinic Press for more health and wellness articles, podcasts and books.  Do you have feedback, questions or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected].