The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Most people run from stress. The world’s highest performers run toward it.
Sébastien Page manages over $500 billion in global assets. He’s the CIO of one of the world’s largest investment firms, and he wrote The Psychology of Leadership while living under relentless pressure. His secret? He doesn’t avoid stress—he uses it as a tool for performance, clarity, and control.
But here’s the twist: this isn’t just about boardrooms or billion-dollar trades.
Whether you’re running a company, chasing a deadline, or just trying to stop procrastinating on your goals—this conversation will flip what you think you know about pressure, performance, and productivity.
You’ll learn why trying to “relax your way to success” doesn’t work—and how to harness discomfort to create better decisions, higher output, and more resilience in every part of life.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• The psychology of stress and why zero stress leads to burnout
• How procrastination can boost creative performance
• What astronauts, athletes, and leaders have in common
• Why the key to better decisions is strategic patience, not speed
• The stress-performance curve no one taught you in school
• Why losing is the real path to mastery (and what Roger Federer can teach you)
• The difference between being nice vs. being kind—and why it matters
It's time to start turning stress into strategy.
SPONSORS
-fatty15 | Go to https://fatty15.com/dave and save an extra $15 when you subscribe with code DAVE.
-BodyHealth | Go to https://bodyhealth.com/ and use code DAVE20 for 20% off your first order of PerfectAmino.
Resources:
• Dave Asprey’s New Book - Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/
• Sébastien’s New Book –The Psychology of Leadership – https://www.psychologyofleadership.net/
• 2025 Biohacking Conference: https://biohackingconference.com/2025
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com
• Dave Asprey’s Website: https://daveasprey.com
• Dave Asprey’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveasprey
• Upgrade Collective – Join The Human Upgrade Podcast Live: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Own an Upgrade Labs: https://ownanupgradelabs.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen – Neurofeedback Training for Advanced Cognitive Enhancement: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
• 00:00 Intro
• 02:00 Book Launch & Setup
• 02:45 Buy or Sell? Market Insights
• 03:20 Stress and Performance
• 04:28 Sports Psychology Breakdown
• 09:48 Federer & the Power of Losing
• 26:42 Rethinking Feedback
• 31:32 Stress as a Tool
• 44:10 Listening as Leadership
• 44:17 Traits of Great Leaders
• 44:54 Psychology for Entrepreneurs
• 45:37 Leading Beyond Work
• 46:09 Sleep Tracking Anxiety
• 47:39 Channeling Stress
• 49:04 Extreme Pressure Moments
• 50:42 The Corporate Athlete
• 59:08 Vulnerability & Leadership
• 01:05:23 Goal-Induced Blindness
• 01:12:34 Finding Meaning at Work
• 01:18:08 Leadership at Home
• 01:20:27 Final Takeaways
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