We're exploring why we can't maximize every goal at once, and how picturing life as a Frisbee balanced on a pencil - instead of a seesaw - changes the way we chase what matters.

By identifying the 20% of effort that drives 80% of the results across our health, work, and relationships, we build awareness of where we're overextending, intention around the handful of things worth our full focus, and action toward a life of health, happiness, and purpose - instead of the exhausting pursuit of having it all that leaves us drifting and dissatisfied.

Keep Going

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker App

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

Reach Out

✋🏼 What questions do you have for us?

📧 Got feedback? Send Patrick an email.

About the Hosts

Patrick Cummings is the author of two kids’ books and has been building and making things inside the health and fitness world for two decades. Find him on Instagram.

Ben Bergeron is the founder of CompTrain, a longtime gym owner and coach, and the author of the bestselling book, Chasing Excellence. Find him on Instagram.

About the Show

Chasing Excellence is a show dedicated to the daily pursuit of health, happiness, and living with our hearts on fire. Episodes drop Monday through Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're exploring how to pursue ambitious goals without making our identity dependent on the outcome.

By placing the person and the process ahead of the goal, we build awareness around what we can control, intention around the habits and character traits we want to practice, and action toward a life of health, happiness, and purpose - even when reality doesn't match our expectations.

Keep Going

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker App

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

Reach Out

✋🏼 What questions do you have for us?

📧Got feedback? Send Patrick an email.

About the Hosts

Patrick Cummings is the author of two kids’ books and has been building and making things inside the health and fitness world for two decades. Find him on Instagram.

Ben Bergeron is the founder of CompTrain, a longtime gym owner and coach, and the author of the bestselling book, Chasing Excellence. Find him on Instagram.

About the Show

Chasing Excellence is a show dedicated to the daily pursuit of health, happiness, and living with our hearts on fire. Episodes drop Monday through Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're kicking off an October Experiment, a shift from one longer weekly episode to short, daily episodes every weekday.

Today, we explore why this change matters: showing up with something short to think about each day keeps us focused on today's choices, instead of waiting for one big leap forward.

By building this habit of daily attention, we hope to help you build awareness around the small decisions that add up, intention around showing up consistently, and action toward a life of health, happiness, and purpose—instead of drifting through another week waiting for change to happen all at once.

Keep Going

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker App

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

Reach Out

✋🏼 What questions do you have for us?

📧 Got feedback? Send Patrick an email.

About the Hosts

Patrick Cummings is the author of two kids' books and has been building and making things inside the health and fitness world for two decades. Find him on Instagram.

Ben Bergeron is the founder of CompTrain, a longtime gym owner and coach, and the author of the bestselling book, Chasing Excellence. Find him on Instagram.

About the Show

Chasing Excellence is a show dedicated to the daily pursuit of health, happiness, and living with our hearts on fire. Episodes drop Monday through Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the problem with your diet isn't discipline — it's that you've never learned to think for yourself about food? In this episode, our friend EC Synkowski (author of A Good Nutrition Book) joins us to explain why calories, macros, and micros — not keto, paleo, or intermittent fasting — are the real levers that decide your results.

We break down her Three Pillars Method — the 800-gram fruit-and-vegetable challenge, a simple protein target, then a calorie baseline built from your real life instead of a calculator — and why it builds freedom instead of restriction. You'll also learn where cravings actually come from, and how to know when you've done enough and it's time to go learn guitar.

👉🏼 Get the full Listener's Guide here

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

👋 New to Chasing Excellence? Start here

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Plateaus, leaderboards, and the real reason most people stop making progress in the gym — we answer the questions you've been too afraid to ask.

In part two of our training Q&A, Jamison and Ben explore why fitness follows the stock market (not a straight line), how to use the leaderboard as a tool instead of a verdict, and why the law of diminishing returns is actually proof you're advancing — not stalling.

👉🏼 Get the full Listener's Guide here

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

👋 New to Chasing Excellence? Start here

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ever wonder whether that soreness means rest—or push through? If one bad night of sleep wrecks your training? Or whether all those YouTube influencers are right that rep ranges don't really matter?

In this episode, Jamison fires community questions at Ben, and the answers are exactly what coaches and athletes need to hear — clear, direct, and rooted in how the body actually works.

We dig into the frameworks behind recovery, pacing, and strength training that separate athletes who keep getting better from those who keep spinning their wheels. Health, performance, and the Awareness → Intention → Action cycle are all in play.

👉🏼 Get the full Listener's Guide here

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

👋 New to Chasing Excellence? Start here

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the single greatest predictor of your health at 80 isn't your cholesterol or blood pressure — but how satisfied you are in your relationships?

In this conversation, we sit down with Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development — the longest-running study of adult life ever conducted — to unpack what 85 years of research reveals about what actually makes a good life.

Good relationships don't just feel good — they're stress regulators that protect your body from chronic inflammation and cortisol overload, directly affecting your Health and Happiness. We explore the concept of social fitness, the powerful difference between hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, and how to take small, intentional steps to strengthen the connections that matter most.

👉🏼 Get the full Listener's Guide here

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

👋 New to Chasing Excellence? Start here

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the most important training you'll ever do happens nowhere near a barbell?

Annie Thorisdottir and her co-writer Christine Bald join Patrick to discuss their new book, Iceland Annie: The Evolution of a CrossFit Games Legend — five years in the making and built on a prologue Christine wrote before Annie ever agreed to write it.

You'll hear why Annie believes character is trained the same way fitness is: in private, repeatedly, often without immediate reward. And you'll hear Christine on the discipline required to prepare for moments you can't anticipate. Together, they make the case that what most people see on the podium is the smallest part of what it took to get there.

👉🏼 Get the full Listener's Guide here

🐾 Start your Free Trial of the ChaseTracker

❤️‍🔥 Free Newsletter & the Chase Club

👋 New to Chasing Excellence? Start here!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.