Ep 50: Elite Cognitive Performance - NFL, esports, and Boardroom Lessons with Taylor Johnson

Episode Summary

Taylor Johnson made what colleagues called "career suicide" when he left the NFL for esports, but that decision revealed something most people miss: elite performers across all domains face the same cognitive demands. Whether you're a 17-year-old gamer competing for millions or a C-suite executive making high-stakes decisions under pressure, your brain is your moneymaker. In this conversation, we explore how Taylor brought traditional sports performance principles into cognitive domains, why meditation is actually training for real-world pressure, and the specific habits that separate good performers from great ones. This is about treating your brain with the same intentionality athletes treat their bodies, from periodization and recovery to the surprising impact of that nightly drink before your big meeting.

 

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Guest Bio

Taylor Johnson's diverse background spans performance coaching in the NFL, mentoring elite cognitive athletes in esports and gaming, helping redefine DoD cyber operator development, and partnering with CEOs, sales executives, and leadership teams to unlock their potential. As a Partner at The Liminal Collective, they create bespoke, transformative experiences for high performers across business, sports, military, and the creative arts.

 

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Links

• Taylor Johnson's Website: taylorjohnsonperformance.com

• Connect with Taylor on LinkedIn

 

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Three Actionable Takeaways

1. Self-awareness drives performance. The more you know about yourself, how you think, and how you operate, the better opportunity you're giving yourself to perform when it matters most. Start developing this awareness by paying attention to when you're at your best and what conditions create that state.
   
   

2. Play your own game. Life is the most badass game you'll ever play, so you might as well play all out in a way that aligns with your values and allows you to access the best of yourself. Think about the arena you're stepping into and how you can show up authentically rather than copying someone else's playbook.
   
   

3. Start small with one meaningful change. It doesn't need to be a massive overhaul. Look at all the factors in your life and ask: what's the one area where spending a little more time might help everything else sort itself out? Whether it's sleep, a cognitive skill, or your weekly routine, pick one thing and run the experiment.
   
   

 

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Key Insights from the Conversation

• The transition from NFL to esports revealed that high performance principles transcend physical domains when you ask the right questions about organizational structure, training, practice, and recovery

• Cognitive burnout in esports athletes happens not from physical breakdown but from sustained cognitive load without proper coping skills, tools, or understanding of baseline regulation

• Business executives are cognitive athletes playing in high-stakes arenas with long hours under pressure, facing the same demands as esports competitors

• The similarity between positions in football and roles in esports extends beyond body types to personality characteristics, levels of aggression, communication styles, and how individuals think

• Dysregulation under stress leads to communication breakdown where everyone talks over each other and floods the comms, missing critical opportunities in both gaming and business contexts

• Your brain is your moneymaker, and the clearest, calmest thinking happens when you can maintain baseline regulation rather than getting tilted or dysregulated

• Meditation is only 50% of the equation because reaching calm on your mat means nothing if you can't access that state in real-time when the world demands it

• Self-awareness is what drives performance, and understanding your durability, resiliency, and capacity allows you to build the right scaffolding for sustained output

• Periodization applies to cognitive work just as it does to physical training, with intentional variation in volume, density, intensity, and frequency preventing burnout

• The chaotic schedule can be valuable training for maintaining baseline regulation, similar to how scrimmage days in sports prepare athletes for live game chaos

• Feeling suboptimal has become normal for most people because the decline happens gradually, and they don't realize how much better they could feel with foundational changes

• Building foundational habits takes three to six months before layering in supplements and advanced optimization strategies

• Alcohol eliminates your competitive advantage by degrading sleep quality and cognitive performance the following day, particularly before high-stakes meetings

• Peak performance is fleeting and unsustainable, while optimal performance focuses on being at your best consistently with what you have

• Longevity isn't something to think about later in life but rather the sustainability of high performance for as long as you choose to maintain it