Retired Navy SEAL, record-setting wingsuit base jumper, and author of Drownproof Andy Stumpf joins Andrew Huberman for a wide-ranging conversation on mindset and the specific small daily actions that compound into a successful life. They open with the 'influence versus concern' exercise — writing down what occupies your waking hours, splitting it into what you can control (essentially only yourself) versus what you can't — and a shared diagnosis of social media as a 'low resolution' addiction that you're aware of even while doing it. Stumpf recounts the appeal of wingsuiting as a mental reset that put him fully in the present and produced a months-long 'post-flow' calm, frames the Dunning-Kruger curve as what kills experienced jumpers, and candidly describes his hardest life experience — a contentious two-year divorce and an 18-month estrangement from his oldest son. The episode's spine is his repeated mantra: 'pick the choice, as often as possible, that is slightly more difficult,' illustrated by toilet paper, laundry, and dishes, which Huberman ties to growth of the anterior mid-cingulate cortex. They close with a frank, emotional discussion of the rising suicide rate in special-operations communities and beyond, the role of pre-service trauma and alcohol, and reflections on money, the price of success, and saying no.
Stumpf describes a tool from his book (which he says is not his own creation): draw a line down a page, list your concerns on one side and what you can influence on the other. The realization is that almost everything is concern and the only thing you can directly control is yourself.
Stumpf and a SEAL friend (Chad Wright) competed to cut phone screen time to under an hour a day, then both reverted within months. Huberman argues social media is uniquely addictive because it's low-resolution enough that you stay aware you're wasting time while doing it, unlike intoxication.
Stumpf is optimistic his three kids' generation is pushing back on both phones and alcohol. Huberman compares anti-smoking campaigns and weighs alcohol versus cannabis risk, flagging high-potency cannabis and psychosis in predisposed young males.
Huberman defends deliberate cold and heat as reliable, safe ways to learn to operate in a highly adrenalized state, with carryover benefits, while cautioning against cold immediately after resistance training.
Stumpf explains the mechanics of wingsuiting and base jumping and why he did it: not for adrenaline but for a months-long mental clarity ('post-flow') that made him a better father, husband, and businessman, until the risk no longer justified the reward.
Stumpf argues the Dunning-Kruger curve, not novices, is the most dangerous phase in wingsuiting — experienced jumpers who 'got away with it' rather than 'nailed it,' citing his friend Alex's death.
Stumpf names a contentious two-year divorce and an 18-month loss of contact with his oldest son as the hardest experiences of his life — harder than being a SEAL — and explains why he put them in the book: to show people they're not alone.
Stumpf and Huberman explore why intense flow experiences seem to LOWER (not raise) stress threshold and strip away meaningless stress for months afterward, and theorize it recalibrates time perception and the ability to make insightful connections.
Using his kids' toilet-paper habits, laundry, and dishes, Stumpf argues 'it always takes longer to do it wrong' and that micro-discipline — picking the slightly harder choice repeatedly — is the engine of success; Huberman connects it to anterior mid-cingulate cortex growth.
Stumpf recounts an intestinal blockage requiring emergency surgery — the worst pain of his life, worse than being shot — including a genetic abnormality that blunts opiate response, and concludes that being open about pain made it better.
A frank discussion of the rising suicide rate, the gap between how high performers view themselves and how others see them (via his friend Dave), pre-service trauma, alcohol, isolation, and the limits of current solutions including Ibogaine.
Stumpf shares his current life (coffee shop, podcast, jiu-jitsu) and excitement at not knowing what's next, his view that money buffers stress but doesn't buy happiness, and a warning that achieving every goal at all costs can net you 'everything and nothing.'
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