Episode 264: Motion Before Emotion: The Real Work Behind Peak Performance with Chris Vasami

GrowthReady Podcast

About the Guest: Chris Vasami is a former All-American baseball player turned elite performance coach and keynote speaker. With years of experience mentoring athletes, executives, and high-performing teams, Chris helps people build mental and physical resilience, navigate failure, and align daily actions with long-term goals. His personal journey, including an ongoing battle with cancer, adds depth and realness to his message about discipline, mindset, and showing up when it counts.

About the Episode: In this powerful episode of GrowthReady, host Steve Mellor sits down with Chris Vasami to explore what it truly means to perform at your peak, not just in sports, but in life. From the lessons learned through striking out in college baseball to coaching Olympic-level swimmers and challenging corporate leaders, Chris breaks down the mindset and habits behind sustainable excellence. He also opens up about his fight with cancer, how it reshaped his outlook, and why “motion before emotion” is the mantra that keeps him, and his clients, grounded. If you’ve ever wrestled with consistency, failure, or self-doubt, this episode will hit home and give you tools to recalibrate and recommit.

Key Takeaways:

• Why failure is feedback — and how to actually use it
• The difference between interest, commitment, and obsession
• How to raise your floor so your ceiling naturally rises
• The “personal operating system” for success in business, sport, and life
• Real talk on ego, identity, and detaching from outcomes
• The power of creating healthy obsession through simple, daily habits
• How Chris’s cancer journey reframed his approach to resilience and purpose
• Using routines to maintain momentum — even when life throws curveballs

Resources & Mentions:

• Follow Chris Vasami on Instagram: @chrisvasami
• Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: Chris Vasami
• Swim Across America: swimacrossamerica.org
• Host Steve Mellor on LinkedIn: Steve Mellor

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Chapters

1. Episode 264: Motion Before Emotion: The Real Work Behind Peak Performance with Chris Vasami (00:00:00)

2. [Ad] Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI (00:11:10)

3. (Cont.) Episode 264: Motion Before Emotion: The Real Work Behind Peak Performance with Chris Vasami (00:11:56)