Learn how to beat stress and burnout, break bad habits and perform better under pressure with neuroscience-based strategies, not hustle. In this episode of The BAD Podcast, Georgios Stathousis sits down with neuroscientist Jon Wegener to break down what really drives performance under pressure: your nervous system, not just your muscles or your brain.You’ll learn how to train your brain and regulate your nervous system with wearable tech like Garmin or Whoop, use brain breaks and mindfulness, deal with self-doubt, negative emotions and burnout to get better results, build good habits and protect your long-term health and wellbeing.If you’re an ambitious person who wants to get better or an athlete, executive, founder or professional who feels stressed or burned out, this conversation gives you a science-based blueprint to perform better under pressure.What You Will Learn✓ Learn why performance under pressure is not about “true character” but how well you regulate your nervous system✓ See how wearables synced with your calendar reveal hidden pressure moments in your day✓ Discover your brain desperately needs regular “brakes” to avoid burnout.✓ Understand the optimal brain state for high performance and why chasing hype and adrenaline quietly destroys your focus.✓ Use AI and tech the right way: from de‑stressing and breaking email “freeze”✓ Hear how chronic stress and hustle culture damage health, immunity and decision-making—especially for CEOs and high achievers—and what to do instead.✓ Find out why you must decouple your identity from results to stay resilient long term, with examples like Elon Musk’s mission-driven focus.✓ Explore gender differences in stress and decision-makingTimestamps00:00 Teaser01:41 Performance Under Pressure With Jon Wegener02:21 Learning to perform Better Under Pressure is Relevant to Everybody, not just Athletes03:49 Pressure Doesn't Reveal Character, It Shows A Well Regulated Nervous System05:35 Practical Tips to Regulate Your Nervous System To Perform Better Under Pressure & Improve Your Well-Being06:48 How To Do A Pressure Audit Using Wearables like Garmin or Whoop09:55 Mindfulness, Meditation vs. Mindlessness For Stress Management11:18 Why Your Brain Needs Breaks & How to Do It13:14 Measuring Your Recovery Is a Goldmine To Unlock Performance14:07 Pressure Audit in Everyday Life: Moments, people, environment16:43 Are Health Wearables Becoming Medical Devices?17:12 Is the Battle for Data Privacy & Security Lost?17:49 Why Men & Women Feel Pressure Differently & How It Affects Their Performance21:40 Chronic Stress, Health and Longevity22:55 Corporate Wellness, Burnout & Bad Financial Decisions24:23 The Detrimental Impact of Enforced Corporate Gender Diversity27:06 Do Successful Women Feel Less Happy?32:03 The Paralysis & Freeze Response Sabotaging Your Performance33:53 How Tech & AI Can Help You Decompress35:14 Don't Let Fear Ruin Your Performance36:54 Discussing "Free Solo": Analysing Fear vs. Focus, Habits40:32 What is the Optimal Brain State for Focus and Performance?43:16 How To Build Neural Synchrony44:24 Brain Plasticity & Learning Through Repetition & Habits48:29 The A-Player Blueprint for High Performance50:11 How to Harness Your Emotions For Better Performance55:10 Redesign & Protect Your Environment56:20 Habit Formation & The Myth of Building Habits in X Days59:15 Why Tying Your Identity To Your Success is Dangerous01:02:33 Handling Success & The Case of Elon MuskAbout Jon WegenerJon Wegener is a neuroeconomist, author, and lecturer who studies how emotions, attention, and the brain shape financial decisions. He co-authored The Caffe Latte Rule (in Danish), focusing on practical ways to design better money habits, avoid emotional traps, and build long-term wealth through realistic, brain-based strategies.https://www.jonwegener.dk/www.linkedin.com/in/jonwegener/www.instagram.com/wegenerjonwww.facebook.com/jon.wegener/

In this episode of The BAD Podcast, Georgios hosts performance neuroscientist Sabina Funk to debunk myths and misconceptions about bad habits and help transform them into our assets with science and learnings from high performers.

Georgios and Sabina discuss the importance of the environment and social connections in shaping behaviour, good or bad, the role of context and what traits entrepreneurs, scientists and other top performers share with psychopaths.

Sabina explains how our brain actually builds discipline and habits and what to avoid when making behavioural change.

She unveils how top performers intentionally structure their time by leveraging the power of less to maximise performance. and shares a blueprint anyone can actually use to build discipline, habits and drive lasting change.

• Follow Sabina here: www.linkedin.com/in/sabina-funk1
• Follow Georgios here: https://www.instagram.com/georgios.stathousis/

Sabina is a neuroscientist specialising in cognitive enhancement, productivity and wellbeing. She translates cutting-edge research into actionable strategies that transform how people work, lead, and thrive. Her current research focuses on time – not time management, but something more fundamental: how our relationship with time quietly, yet profoundly, shapes our lives and the people we turn out to be.

Timestaps

• 0:00 The BAD Podcast | Self-Discipline Behind Transformation
• 02:31 Sabina Funk's Journey into Neuroscience
• 03:10 Questioning What's Real - Naive Realism
• 04:14 Why Focusing on Time-Management is Wrong
• 05:25 My Goal: Transform Bad Habits into Assets
• 05:50 How To Re-Wire Psychopathic Traits for Good
• 07:05 Entrepreneurs, Surgeons & Other Elite Performers Have This in Common With Psychopaths
• 09:10 The Role of Environment in Shaping Behavior and Re-Wiring The Brain For Change
• 10:40 Neuroscience Behind Discipline: How Our Brain Builds Habits
• 12:05 You Don't Lack Discipline, You Don't Have Systems
• 12:37 High Performers Understand the Power of "Less"
• 13:41 Mistakes To Avoid When Making Change
• 14:49 Hustle Culture vs. Disciplined Work
• 15:09 How A Players Cut Through Complexity for Better Performance
• 15:29 Your Friends & Environment Are Literally Rewiring Your Brain
• 17:14 Perfectionism Is Sabotaging Your Discipline
• 17:25 The Myth of Perfectionism
• 17:55 The Real Reason Why Your Goals Fail Based on Neuroscience
• 18:35 Stop Adding More (Additive Bias) - Start Subtracting
• 19:00 Puritan Work Ethic Exhausts Our Mental Capacity To Change
• 19:27 Are You Procrastinating, or Are You Burned Out
• 19:56 Experimenting With Subtraction For Peak Performance
• 21:50 How Emotion Shapes Behavioral Change: Fuel or Saboteur?
• 22:56 Overcoming The Craving Monster of Addiction (Brewer)
• 23:54 Neuroplasticity - The Magic Of Believing & Creating Yourself
• 24:55 Discipline Starts With Visualizing Who You Decide To Be
• 25:29 Creating an A-Player Blueprint For Discipline & Performance
• 26:18 Focus On Subtraction
• 26:39 Patience is Your Most Underrated Performance Booster
• 28:21 High Performers Don't Have Super-Discipline; They Have Systems
• 29:53 The Power of Experimentation To Boost Performance

The BAD Podcast helps you build Behaviours that drive Achievement through Discipline.Listen to unfiltered conversations with scientists, athletes, founders and leaders to understand the science, habits, and mindset behind discipline and high performance. You’ll gain real-world knowledge and easy-to-follow blueprints to become your best, smartest, fulfilled self. New episodes on Wednesdays.

Discipline as Your Operating System to Achieve Your Goals

Too often, we listen to podcasts and watch videos that offer incredible advice and motivate us to make a change, but they don’t provide clear steps to turn advice into action.

What’s more, motivation is temporary. You need discipline to turn action into habits and temporary results into lasting change.

That’s where the BAD Podcast steps in.

The BAD Podcast helps you become more disciplined with your time, money, health, and well-being, with systems backed by

• science (neuroscience, behavioural psychology, neuro-economics)

• and High-Performers in business (CEOs, Founders), sports, science, and art.

Why Listen?

This podcast isn’t just about listening; it’s about building the muscle of self-discipline within a community, which is great for accountability and the personal connection!

• We bust myths & misconceptions about “bad” habits with science & expert insights. We flip what you think is bad into your best asset.
• We break down a real-world case study or an achiever’s strategy, from triggers and behaviours to the feedback loops that drive lasting change.
• We invite listeners to share daily check‑ins on a specific platform.

Build powerful behaviour.

Achieve more.

Live with discipline.

That’s the BAD Podcast.

👉