PS: If you work for a company/organization and you're interested in bringing the competitive edge of mental fitness to your team, flip me a message. I've integrated these strategies into teams at Google, LinkedIn, KPMG, Pfizer, and Procter & Gamble — and I'd love to bring it to yours.

- Marc Champagne

Many executive teams would describe themselves as stretched but performing.

Targets are being hit, calendar’s are full, and important decisions are being made.

But when we actually measure what’s happening underneath — the mental patterns driving decisions (sleep, stress, focus, rumination…) the number that keeps showing up is this: most leadership teams are operating at roughly half their actual mental capacity.

And almost nobody knows it until it’s measured.

I was recently interviewed by an executive magazine (will share once published) which pushed me to put language around something I’ve watched play out for a while: you likely have a business plan, a financial plan, maybe even a physical fitness plan.

But no mental plan.

The Worse Thing You Can Do

You treat mental load as a willpower problem instead of a systems problem.

When the thinking gets foggy, you push harder. More coffee, more hours, and more grit. It works — right up until it doesn’t. I know because I lived it. I built an app that Apple featured in over 145 countries, and when the company collapsed, the hardest truth to accept was that my mind was too fogged to see the path forward.

The person who helped others think clearly couldn’t access that clarity when it mattered most.

You can’t willpower your way out of a fog. You need a system that keeps the fog from settling in the first place.

Three Protocols You Can Use Immediately

These are three interventions I install with executive teams. None of them requires a retreat, an app, or a new morning routine. They fit inside the calendar you already have.

1. The 90-second reset.
Before any high-stakes meeting, take 90 seconds to clear the cognitive residue from whatever came before. You wouldn’t start a workout mid-sprint from the last one. Don’t start a decision that way either.

2. Two decision-quality prompts.
Before committing to anything significant, ask: What are we pretending not to know? and Is this a decision from clarity or from depletion? The second question alone has stopped more expensive mistakes than any spreadsheet I’ve seen.

3. The 24-hour rule.
Major decisions get made from a clear mental state — even if that means waiting a day. Urgency and importance are not the same thing. Most “urgent” decisions can survive 24 hours. Most bad ones can’t survive a clear mind.

Everyone around you is trying to outwork the problem. Almost nobody is trying to outthink it.

When you learn to outthink your own fog first, you start outthinking everyone who hasn’t. That’s a massive competitive advantage and the opportunity it unlocks compounds with every clear decision you make.

So, one last time:

Are you deciding from clarity — or from depletion?

— Marc

If this resonated, forward it to someone who’s about to make a big decision. And if you want to go deeper on building a mind that outthinks the fog — before it outthinks the market — that’s exactly what lights me up, flip me a message.

No Paywalls. Just Shared Growth.

All content here is free. I believe we all benefit when we reflect together, ask better questions, and build a society anchored in clarity, health, and purpose. Mental fitness shouldn't be a luxury; it’s a foundational tool for both personal and collective evolution.

That said, if you’re moved to support my work, there are a few meaningful ways to do so:

🧠 Get Your Blueprint — You Don’t Need to Try Harder. You Need to Understand the Patterns Running Your Mind.

🎤 Book me to speak — I’ve led thousands through keynotes and mental fitness workshops that help high-performing teams thrive personally and professionally. The latest three topics I’m covering:

• The Competitive Edge: The Formula for Better Questions and Better Outcomes

• AI / Human Advantage: Asking the Human Questions AI Can’t Answer

• Thriving in Change: The Formula for Clarity and Courage in Times of Massive Change

📘 Pick up a copy of Personal Socrates — A bestseller and guide to asking better questions and designing a life of clarity and meaning.

🎙️ Behind the Human (Apple | Spotify) — A top-ranked podcast that’s been running for nearly a decade, exploring what it means to live and perform with intention. Each episode features raw, insightful conversations with world-class thinkers, authors, athletes, spiritual teachers, and entrepreneurs.

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