Performance Intelligence

Elite athletes and Special Forces do not eat like you do....and the reason you fade in the afternoon is usually something you did that morning.Jessica Spendlove will tell you exactly what. She will also tell you what to eat when you have 4 minutes and no time to think, whether the supplements you bought are doing anything at all, and why she rarely recommends that a woman fast.Jessica is a performance dietitian with more than 15 years behind her, a decade of it in elite sport across 7 professional teams, Olympic medallists, world champions and premiership-winning sides, plus 7 years with Special Forces Command. Jessica has heard every version of "I'm already doing everything right" and she has never met anybody whose nutrition she could not improve. And she is happy to be challenged on that!The reason it lands is that she got it wrong herself. Jessica spent years feeding elite athletes while running on adrenaline, cortisol and caffeine, and it took her own data to stop her arguing with herself.If you have been telling yourself you will sort your nutrition out when things calm down, start here.00:00 The day we took nutrition off the table 03:44 Seven professional teams at once, running on adrenaline, cortisol and caffeine 06:12 The reply-all email that got her roasted at the Christmas party 11:46 The keynote she nearly pulled out of, and the data that made the call 17:19 The three hour morning window where it all comes apart 20:14 The domino habit has to survive your worst day 31:41 You can't ice bath your way out of chronic sleep debt 39:25 Why she almost never recommends fasting for women 55:25 Same meal, different order, different result 01:04:00 Walking into a room of commandos and getting it wrong 01:14:42 How to work with Jessica SpendloveContact Jessica through her website, Linkedin, or Instagram. Buy Jessica's new book "For The Long Run" here.-High performance is not about pushing harder. It is about building the capacity to perform when it matters and sustain it over time.Hosted by Andrew May, one of Australia’s leading experts in human performance, leadership and mental skills, the Performance Intelligence Podcast explores how leaders, athletes, coaches and researchers think clearly, manage pressure and consistently perform at their best.Drawing on more than 20 years working with senior executives, elite sporting teams and the Australian Defence Force, Andrew combines candid conversations with evidence-based performance insights and practical strategies you can apply.Episodes span leadership capacity, performance psychology, mental skills, energy management, strategic recovery, productivity and wellbeing. Listen to think more clearly, lead more effectively and perform at your best for longer.Get in touch through:Our websiteBook AndrewFollow us on Instagram, Linkedin, FacebookWatch this episode on YoutubeIf you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.

Some people get sharper when the pressure lands. The meeting turns hostile, the plan collapses, the number comes in wrong, and they are still thinking clearly while everyone around them has gone quiet or gone hard.That is Mental Agility. The capacity to move between demands, tasks, roles and relationships while staying grounded and effective when conditions change. It is trainable, and it is the capability every organisation is now asking for without ever having taught it.PQ founder, Andrew May, PQ COO, Angela Poon, and Sports Psychologist, Jacqui Louder, spent 6 months building mental agility into six layers. What your brain does to you under pressure. Why your body sets the ceiling on your thinking. How your identity decides what an event means before conscious thought gets a say. The six seconds that stop you saying the thing you regret. How to actually retain what you learn. The hardiness that has you growing through pressure instead of surviving it.Now, they are walking you through all six layers here, with one strategy from each you can use this week. Andrew brings you into his real life test of mental agility with a gripping story of being upside down, underwater, strapped inside a helicopter fuselage in the dark, with an instructor offering him a way out. But what he does next is where mental agility shows up...00:00 The word everyone uses and nobody can define04:12 Your brain under pressure is not a character flaw07:21 What AI can't give you11:10 Elite sport, clinical psych, actual clowns14:24 Why an insurer is training this17:51 Leaving KPMG for a startup23:43 The three zones28:18 The brain runs on the body35:03 Why the same words land differently on different people39:14 Hanging up the bad day jacket46:55 Upside down, underwater, offered a way out52:25 How to work with usLearn more about a Mental Agility program for your team here or email us at [email protected] Jacqui Louder here

You're probably treating recovery as the reward for hard work, when elite sport treats it as part of the work.Andrew May has spent more than two decades coaching in sport and business, and Andrew thinks we have misdiagnosed a generation of exhausted leaders. Call it burnout and you go looking for rest. Andrew says the shortfall is usually capacity, and the first move is measuring it rather than resting on it.Pod O'Sullivan had Andrew on Don't Let The Old Man In podcast and asked him the things he does not get asked on his own show. It was too good to leave over there, so we are bringing it to you here.00:00 The plan you don't have01:11 Burnout is not what you think it is04:25 Vitamin FLPJ: fun, laughter, play, joy06:52 The CEO who has never burnt out09:45 Train hard, push hard, recover hard12:25 What executive blood profiles show16:17 Your father, your son, and you18:45 The waterfront house and the crash23:47 The five metrics worth tracking30:17 You'd spend a year planning a renovation38:55 Wearables: who they help, who they wreck44:38 Why sauna beats cold50:21 The toast that explains burnout54:05 Three things to start this week01:00:25 What your 75 year old self would ask01:01:24 I've burnt out almost twiceListen to the original episode: https://pod.fo/e/5543c9Watch the original episode: https://www.youtube.com/@DontLetTheOldManInPodcast/videosFollow Pod on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/padraigbosullivan/Follow DLTOMN: https://www.instagram.com/dltomipodcast/

What do you do when the version of yourself that's winning is also the version that's breaking?You know the feeling, hitting every number, saying yes to everything, and still walking away from the day feeling like you performed it rather than lived it. Now imagine finding the exact moment that stopped working, and the one small shift that got you back.Most high performers don't burn out overnight. It happens one performance at a time, right up until the body forces the stop, mid show, mid meeting, mid life.Christian O'Connell has hosted the #1 breakfast radio show in 2 different countries, the only person to do it. He built that success on a persona so complete he stopped recognising himself underneath it, until panic attacks started hitting him minutes before airtime. Christian walks you through the exact mental skill that pulled him out of it, the same one he now teaches others to use before they hit their own breaking point.You can keep performing until something forces you to stop. Or you can borrow the skill that saved someone who'd already won twice.0:00 — The reflection he didn't recognise 5:40 — The epiphany behind a show built on being unscripted 9:12 — "F**k off home": Australia's brutal welcome 19:49 — The morning his mother-in-law nearly died on air 21:03 — The radio tuner dial: shifting from fear to joy 32:12 — The woodshed: never running out of things to say 35:32 — What Jerry Seinfeld taught him about mastery 46:19 — Bruce Springsteen: "thank you for being my purpose" 1:02:18 — Running on clean fuel instead of dirty fuel 1:04:41 — Ricky Gervais, and the courage to admit you're not okay 1:09:56 — Why storytelling is the most underused skill in business 1:22:48 — How to work with Christian O'ConnellYou can find Christian at his website: https://christianoconnell.com/Buy a copy of Christian's book: https://christianoconnell.com/unscript/#pre-orderListen to the Christian O'Connell Show: https://www.thechristianoconnellshow.com.au/Connect with Christian on LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/christian-o-connell-8615a6314?trk=people-guest_people_search-card

When did you last actually let yourself feel hungry? Not the "due for a snack" kind. Properly, deliberately hungry, on purpose. If you can't remember, you're not alone. Now imagine using that discomfort as a lever instead of avoiding it.Every reflexive snack, every meeting that runs straight into the next, every bite you take before your body even asks for it keeps you running on one setting. You never give your body the signal to switch fuel sources, sharpen your focus, or clean house at a cellular level. The fog, the afternoon slump, the stubborn weight that won't shift: that's the bill for never stopping.Dr Tom Buckley has spent more than 22 years reading the bloodwork of Performance Intelligence's executive clients, translating what's happening inside hundreds of high performers into how they eat, train, and lead. He's back on the podcast to explain what fasting actually does inside your body, why the meal you were told never to skip has a cereal company to thank for that reputation, and how two nights a week without dinner might be the highest-leverage habit in your week.You could keep running on constant fuel and wonder why your energy never settles. Or you could learn to use hunger as a lever instead of an enemy.03:35 The fat that's easiest to shift, and where it sits 05:41 Ghrelin, leptin and the people who never feel full 09:03 Three fuels, one easy habit: why carbohydrate wins by default 10:27 Metabolic flexibility: the skill Western living has trained out of us 16:08 The story that's driven Dr Tom for 35 years 21:47 What fasting switches off first 22:47 Ketones: the fuel that skips the insulin queue 25:13 Fasting and the new GLP-1 drugs are chasing the same biology 27:33 The shortcut risk: trading discipline for a jab 28:17 What decades of fasting research actually agree on 31:16 The benefits nobody puts on the label 33:21 Andrew's own Tuesday and Thursday fast, and why it finally clicked 36:01 The worst thing we do as humans, and the second worst thing 41:20 Autophagy: the cellular housekeeping everyone's talking about 44:22 Marvellous mitochondria, and why the name always gets a rerecord 45:00 The 18:6 protocol Dr Tom and Andrew actually live by 46:37 Why 6pm to midday captures most of the benefit 48:49 The client who fasted every day and undid his own progress 50:06 Why Dr Tom says don't pull this lever before your late 30s 51:39 David Sinclair's one-meal-a-day experiment 53:06 The 24-hour fast Dr Tom takes on international flights 54:50 Why women need a different rulebook entirely 58:29 Dirty fasting and dirty keto: the shortcut that costs you later 60:47 Dr Tom's cliff notes for the time-poor listenerWatch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/iiDAwpx78yoThe resource Dr Tom referenced for women's fasting protocols: Fast Like a Girl by Dr Mindy Pelz: https://fastlikeagirl.com/You can find Dr Tom at his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-buckley-06a76b98/Listen to Dr Tom and Andrew talk GLP-1s: https://performanceintelligence.com/the-science-of-ozempic-and-what-happens-after-you-stop-dr-tom-buckley/

What goes through your mind when you're trapped underwater by a 50-foot wave? For Matt Formston, it's not fear. It's making an omelette.After losing 97% of his vision at just 5 years old, Matt has become a Paralympian, world champion, world record holder, and the first blind athlete to conquer the legendary waves of Nazaré. But today isn't about the achievements...it's about the process behind them.Matt shares the 8 hard standards that have shaped every part of his life, from elite sport and leadership to parenting and business. Matt believes standards matter more than goals, explains why your "glass ceilings" are often self-imposed, and the mindset you can learn that turns perceived risk into opportunity.Whether you're leading a team, chasing a personal goal, or simply trying to perform better when life gets hard, Matt offers a tried, tested, and successful framework for building trust and lasting high performance. 00:00 37 seconds under a 50ft wave 02:41 One word for every achievement 06:32 Blind at five, and the story everyone gets wrong 10:05 Nearly dead or in jail 11:23 Perfect process, not perfect vision 13:41 The eight hard standards 14:37 Values in a mahogany case 15:24 Standards without consequences are just wishes 18:56 Five minutes early or you're late 21:00 Andrew's team rate him live 27:35 The standards meeting nobody runs 29:15 Why high standards make people feel safer 32:51 He refused to learn what the best in the world could do 35:16 Making an omelette while being held under 39:26 The flap of skin costing him 100 feet 44:24 The only standard that matters: coming home 48:09 The bullshit audit 01:07:49 The list of 12, and the six he wasn't 01:10:38 Why most people never set a goalBuy a copy of Matt's new book: https://www.mattformston.com/books-hubVisit Matt's website: https://www.mattformston.com/You can find Matt at his LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/matt-formston-am-gaicdOr at his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattformston/?hl=enListen to our first episode with Matt: https://shorturl.at/ICL5l

What do people say about you when you're not in the room? How are they introducing you, summing up your work, your professionalism, your brand? Now imagine you had control over that.Because here's the reality: you already have a brand. You're building it whether you like it or not, and right now it's either working for you or quietly costing you.Maz Farrelly has spent 30 years creating and articulating some of the biggest names and biggest shows on television. The producer behind Big Brother, The X Factor, Celebrity Apprentice, Q&A: Maz is back on the podcast to hand you the exact strategies she's used to make the most famous brands and people unforgettable.You could leave your brand to chance and risk being misunderstood. Or, you could take control and build a brand people buy. 00:00 The sentence people say when you're not in the room 02:50 Maz's brand framework: know who you are, know what they want 03:34 Stop selling, start being bought 06:08 The man who wore white every day 07:31 Say it until other people say it for you 09:53 What's your "white coat"? 10:28 Your one line is harder than your wedding vows 13:02 The room full of CEOs who wrote her off 14:52 The reframe: your brand is about them, not you 18:14 Speak backwards: how to find your oddity 22:44 Inside the room with the most famous people on earth 24:09 Why Trump didn't waste energy on her, and why it's smart 26:32 How to work with MazWatch the full interview with Maz: https://youtu.be/SB4TALfDVpw?si=qKrCZ2qOh1_5oR4w Find Maz at: https://www.mazspeaksglobal.com/Connect with Maz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maz-speaks/Download Maz's Speaker Kit: https://www.mazspeaksglobal.com/#speakerkitView the branding model: https://performanceintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Personal-Branding-Model.pngWhy You Should Book Maz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maz-speaks/details/recommendations/?detailScreenTabIndex=0

Have you ever finished a presentation, race, meeting or performance and someone asked, "How did it go?" only to realise you can barely remember it? Not because you failed but because you were completely immersed.Dr Sue Jackson is one of the world's leading researchers on flow and co-authored the defining book on the subject alongside the man who first named it, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.Sue takes you inside one of the most sought-after and least understood states in human performance.Why do some moments feel effortless while others feel like a grind? Why can pressure elevate performance one day and destroy it the next? And why do some of our best performances seem to happen when we stop trying so hard to force them?Using examples ranging from Olympic athletes to Wallabies captain Harry Wilson's match-winning moment against Argentina, Sue explores why some performances feel effortless, why pressure can either sharpen or derail us, and why trying harder isn't always the answer.This is about attention, confidence, pressure, preparation and the hidden conditions behind extraordinary performance.Because flow isn't something you find. It's something you allow.00:00 Why your best performances can be the hardest to explain02:14 The psychological state that fascinates elite performers05:58 What athletes mean when they say "everything just clicked"10:08 Flow vs clutch: two very different ways to perform under pressure13:09 Harry Wilson's match-winning Wallabies moment, and what it reveals about performance19:27 The letter that changed Sue Jackson's career26:51 The hidden ingredients behind a flow state28:00 The challenge-skill balance that can make or break performance32:00 Why anxiety might be closer to flow than you think39:03 The attention crisis nobody is talking about42:18 Are we losing our ability to focus?45:40 The coaching habit that can pull athletes out of the moment48:53 Why flow feels energising instead of exhausting50:32 Can you perform brilliantly without being in flow?52:18 The mistake people make when they try to force flow54:31 What extreme athletes understand about being fully present57:19 The surprising connection between deliberate practice and effortless performance59:00 How to experience more flow in everyday lifeDr Sue Jackson Website: www.drsuejackson.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drsuejackson Instagram: @suejackson_flow Facebook: drsuejacksonflowView the 8 channel flow model: https://performanceintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/8-Channel-Flow-Model_Jackson-scaled.jpgBooks: Flow in Sports (with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1999): drsuejackson.com/flow-in-sports-book Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom and Anxiety (2024): drsuejackson.com/new-book-experiencing-flow