Steve Hansen: Building The Greatest Team In History

More from The High Performance Podcast All episodes →

1. 

   16 Sep 2026 · 30 min

   Why High Performers Wish They'd Enjoyed It More

   What do you actually feel when you win? Jake and Damian explore one of the strangest patterns they've noticed across more than 400 High Performance conversations: so many people reach the top of their mountain, only to wish they'd enjoyed the climb a little more. Damian unpacks the hedonic treadmill and arrival fallacy, and asks what we're actually optimising our lives for when every achievement simply moves the goalposts. Because if the next win is always more important than the one you've just achieved, when do you ever get to enjoy where you are? Along the way you'll hear Rio Ferdinand on…

2. 

   E438 · 14 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 7 min

   How I Rebuilt After Losing Three Limbs: Army Veteran Josh Boggi (E438)

   Former British Army paratrooper Josh Boggi’s life changed in 47 minutes when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan, losing both legs and his right arm. But surviving was only the beginning of learning who he was going to become. Josh opens up about the five-minute conversation with a fellow triple amputee that gave him a new roadmap for life, and how sport helped rebuild his confidence, identity, and sense of purpose. He also reflects on surviving a second near-fatal accident years later, an experience he describes as mentally harder than Afghanistan. From competing at the Invictus Games to…

3. 

   E437 · 11 Sep 2026 · 55 min

   The Accidental Cancer Discovery That Saved Anastacia (E437)

   Global music icon Anastacia has faced breast cancer twice, first diagnosed at just 34 at the height of her career and again ten years later. In this special episode, created in partnership with Postcode Lottery, she joins Jake to share how those experiences shaped her outlook on life. Anastacia opens up about taking back control, the optimism that has carried her through difficult moments, and why early detection remains so important to her. The conversation also highlights the work of Breast Cancer Now and the difference funding raised by Postcode Lottery players helps make. Anastacia kicks…

4. 

   9 Sep 2026 · 33 min

   9/11 - 25 Years Later: The Company That Lost 700 People and How They Rebuilt

   On the morning of 11 September 2001, Sean Windeatt was a 28-year-old in Cantor Fitzgerald's London finance department, fifteen minutes into his usual morning call with a colleague in New York, when the line went dead. That colleague was inside the North Tower. By the end of the day the firm had lost 658 people alongside 61 Euro Brokers employees— around two thirds of its New York workforce, and more than any other company in the tragedy that morning. The next day Sean was called downstairs, offered a job he'd turned down two years earlier, and handed a blank piece of paper. He asked what the…

5. 

   E436 · 7 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

   My Life Fell Apart After 50: Lawrence Dallaglio Gets Brutally Honest (E436)

   England Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio built his career on an extraordinary ability to create belief under pressure. But behind that drive was a deeply personal source of motivation: the loss of his sister Francesca when he was just 16. Lawrence opens up about turning grief into fuel, finding the family he needed through rugby, and why the mental and emotional side of performance is so often underestimated. He also reveals how great leaders build belief before the biggest moments and find what truly motivates the people around them. This conversation is a candid exploration of…

6. 

   3 Sep 2026 · 24 min

   Why You Attack Monday And Crumble By Friday

   Why does a weekly to-do list feel so overwhelming on a Sunday night? Jake and Damian argue it's not because of your workload, it's because your capacity . Sleep, energy, confidence, clarity, control: when any of these drop, the same list of tasks stops looking like separate, manageable jobs and starts looking like one overwhelming message — everything, now. In this episode, Jake and Damian hear from: Steve Peters on the "chimp" that hijacks you in traffic, and why recognising it isn't you is the first step to managing it. Ash Dykes on preparing for the worst before it happens, so it arrives…

7. 

   E435 · 31 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

   Dina Asher-Smith: Why Britain's Fastest Woman Feels Unaware of Her Achievements (E435)

   Dina Asher-Smith has just made history as the most decorated athlete in European Championships history. An MBE, multiple major titles and four Olympic Games within reach, but at 30, one of Britain's greatest ever sprinters is still asking how much better she can become. In this episode, Dina opens up about the realities behind those 10 seconds on the track, from how her menstrual cycle affected her performance to competing through grief. She also reflects on leaving her coach of 20 years, rebuilding her career, and why bronze can sometimes mean more than gold. With the 2027 World…

8. 

   28 Aug 2026 · 54 min

   Fernando Alonso: The Real Pain of Losing

   We revisit our conversation with Fernando Alonso - two-time Formula 1 World Champion, 437 Grand Prix starts, 32 wins - recorded in a rare moment where the visor comes off completely. Jake and Damian get behind the "robot" Alonso becomes the second his helmet goes on, and into the boy who started racing a homemade go-kart at three years old, in a family with no money, no expectations, and no competitive gene to explain where his came from. Fernando is disarmingly honest about the cost of that competitiveness: the two championships with Ferrari he came agonisingly close to and still can't…

9. 

   26 Aug 2026 · 25 min

   Why Fewer Options Make Better Ideas

   What do you do when every option is on the table and you still end up with the same idea you always have? Jake and Damian tackle one of the quiet traps of creative work, and land somewhere counterintuitive: freedom doesn't make ideas bolder. Constraints do. Damian unpacks David Epstein's Inside the Box and the psychology behind why unlimited time, unlimited method and unlimited scope send the brain straight to its safest, most familiar answer and the three tools for building a better box: the Fake Deadline, the One Rule, and the Small Box. Along the way you'll hear Shane Parrish on the Henry…

10. 

    E434 · 24 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 13 min

    Michael Owen: Ballon d'Or at 22, Retired at 33 - The Mentality That Nearly Broke Him

    Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen became one of the world's best footballers by developing an extraordinary ability to turn doubt, mistakes, and setbacks into self-belief. He joins Jake and Damian to reveal how that mindset was built, and why it eventually became one of his greatest challenges. Michael reflects on the injuries that took away the explosive pace that defined him, and the painful eight-year gap between the player he believed he was and what his body could still deliver. He also opens up about retiring at 33, losing his sense of purpose, the strain it placed on his marriage, and…