The High Performance Podcast

Pressure shows up at the front door in broad daylight, stress lurks in the shadows of your own mind. One is the world’s expectation. The other is your own resistance to it.

In this episode, Jake and Damian unpack the crucial difference between pressure and stress, and why understanding it can transform how you handle challenges. Drawing insights from guests like Tom Aspinall, Steve Hansen, Barry Hearn, and Alistair Campbell, they explore how top performers prepare for pressure, ground themselves in high-stakes moments, and reframe fear into freedom. 

With practical tools and powerful stories, this episode is a guide to staying centred when life speeds up, listen in as Jake and Damian share how to turn pressure into progress and stress into strength.

Listen to episodes mentioned:

Tom Aspinall:https://pod.fo/e/2d3d2e

Steve Hansen: https://pod.fo/e/1ecdda

Barry Hearn: https://pod.fo/e/157c60

Alistair Campbell: https://pod.fo/e/f40aa

Sam Allardyce is one of English football’s most seasoned and straight-talking managers, known as much for his no-nonsense attitude as for his deep understanding of the game. With a career spanning decades, he’s led clubs like Bolton, West Ham, and Everton, and even had a brief but infamous spell as England manager.

In this episode, Big Sam opens up about what it really takes to build a football club from the ground up. From keeping your job long enough to make lasting changes, to scouting better players and improving performance fast, he lays out the reality of trying to grow while constantly under pressure. 

He also reflects on his time in charge of England and the regret over how that chapter ended, showing a more reflective and human side to his story. The conversation also dives into Allardyce’s more forward-thinking strategies, like bringing cryotherapy into football before it was cool, and using player data to back up tough decisions. 

This episode offers an honest, behind-the-scenes look at what football management is really like, tough, complex, and full of lessons you won’t find in a textbook.

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You don’t have to be who the world tells you to be, and sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is step outside the box others have put you in.

In this episode, Jake and Damian dive into the idea of breaking free from the labels others place on us, and the ones we place on ourselves. Through compelling reflections and lessons from guests like Rio Ferdinand, Fearne Cotton, Tom Kerridge, and Lee Child, they unpack how we can reclaim our identities and live more purposefully.

From Rio’s determination to be more than a footballer, to Fearne’s courageous shift away from mainstream TV, and Tom and Lee’s decisions to redefine their lives in the face of challenge, this episode uncovers what it means to live beyond expectation.

Listen in as they offer practical insights into redefining yourself on your own terms, and why embracing multiple identities may be the key to a more fulfilled, high-performance life.

Listen to the full episodes featured:

Rio Ferdinand: https://pod.fo/e/15914

Fearne Cotton: https://pod.fo/e/1021d8

Tom Kerridge: https://pod.fo/e/22356e

Lee Child: https://pod.fo/e/10a24a