Resonance – Episode 72
Verbatim Transcript
Speaker: Viktoria Levenberg
Guest Speaker: Art Turock
Art Turock: Your comfort in achieving your current success can limit your greater success.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: 77% of the world fears public speaking to some degree. You're performing. It's scary.
So you see, all of a sudden—
I see. This is enlightening. These are things that are—people are missing.
What would it be like to actually do what's required and start making that a habit?
Do what's required.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: What if your next breakthrough is on the other side of the discomfort that
you've been avoiding?
Well, in today's episode, you are gonna hear from Art Turock about what it takes to achieve high
performance in your work, life, and business so that you can stop sweeping your big dreams
under the rug and transform them into reality instead. Let's begin.
Viktoria Levenberg: Welcome to Resonance, the podcast for high performers and entrepreneurs
who wanna do life, work, and success differently. I am your host, Viktoria Levenberg, and I am
obsessed with efficiency, productivity, and planning in a way that harnesses your energy and your
natural rhythms while keeping you in alignment and integrity. Because I have figured out that
lasting success is not about the hustle. It is about being in resonance. Let's begin.
Viktoria Levenberg: Alright, so this week's guest on Resonance is Art Turock, and he is a public
speaker, author, executive coach, two-time medalist athlete who wakes up and starts his day with
push-ups every single day. Honestly, he is inspiring. He is a high performer himself. He also does
high-performance coaching with his clients, and honestly, from what I've heard today, it's led to
both extraordinary results in his life and his clients' lives. And it is such an honour and a privilege
to bring him to you this week because you actually get to experience a taste of what he has to
share for yourself, including him pointing out the red flags that have got you standing in your own
way of your next breakthrough. Let's dive in.
Viktoria Levenberg: Alrighty, and we are rolling as well. So I got a blast preparing for this, uh,
conversation and had some insights as well that—about my past that I hadn't even realised.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to hear about that as well.
Art Turock: Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: So as we dive in, for both my benefit and the benefit of our listeners, would
you be able to introduce yourself and give us a little bit of taste of Art and your background and
what it is that you help people with today?
Art Turock: That could take the whole time. Hahaha. Um, 'cause I've had two careers, and so it's
like, okay, and what I'm up to today. So that was my biggest dilemma of, you know, how I
introduce myself. Probably, hi, I'm Art Turock, breakthrough performance strategist.
And in giving thought to our conversation today that I knew was coming up, I suddenly realised
that Comfort Zone Demolition is the launching pad for your breakthroughs. It just got so clear to
me, and that that has been a piece to my entire life and the people I contribute to now.
Viktoria Levenberg: I love that. And that is—that realisation of your comfort zone demolition
being the launching pad to upcoming breakthroughs, is that sort of that recent insight that
you've just had in preparation for our conversation today that you alluded to earlier?
Art Turock: I have another one that we'll get in even deeper.
Viktoria Levenberg: Okay. I love it. And before we dive into that, I always have a little funky
question I love to ask my guests, which is: what's something about you that doesn't show up in
your official bio, so people wouldn't know this about Art unless they listen to this specific
episode?
Art Turock: Comfort Zone Demolition is—is a blessing, but I—I just think, well, my wake-up
routine. I get up at 4:30 in the morning and do push-ups.
Viktoria Levenberg: Okay.
Art Turock: And that's not publicised anywhere. It's certainly not in my bio.
Viktoria Levenberg: Amazing. Is that, like, the first thing you do? You wake up and it's the first
thing that you get into?
Art Turock: I'll do some back flexibility.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And within three or four minutes, I'm down on the floor doing push-ups.
Viktoria Levenberg: That's amazing. Like, and also speak to—
Art Turock: 103 today, consecutive.
Viktoria Levenberg: How many?
Art Turock: 103 nonstop.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow.
Art Turock: Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: That's definitely a way—and I think we'll get into that as well once you share
with us a bit more about your methodology—the kind of getting a big goal at the beginning of
the day almost makes everything else easier as you navigate through the rest of your day, right?
You've mentioned—you had to—
Art Turock: Precisely, precisely. It's also consistent with my identity.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: I'm living it from the moment I wake up.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, I love that. And so you mentioned that you've had two careers. So can
you tell us a little bit, like, in a nutshell, of your story and how you got to Comfort Zone
Demolition and what you share with your people today?
Art Turock: Sure. First career is as a public speaker, which is an interesting one because I was a—I
see so much fear about public speaking. You know, you look at—it's, it's the fourth largest fear in
the world in recent lists.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: 77% of the world fears public speaking to some degree. And me? No biggie. I couldn't
wait to be in front of groups.
And my starting point was really interesting. The starting point was workshops. So I was doing
workshops, which are really different. You know, you give a short talk and then most of it is
modelling and having the group practice. And then there came a point where I met, at a wellness
conference, Dr Ken Blanchard, the author of The One Minute Manager. And he said to me, "All
right, you gotta take up public speaking. You'll start speaking not just to Seattle department
heads and—ha ha ha—hospital people. You'll speak to corporate executives, have major impact
on companies, and make a heck of a lot more money."
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And I took Ken's words and I said, "I'm game. I'm gonna go play for it."
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. I love that. And the fact that, you know, you didn't have this fear of
public speaking is all holding you back, which is, to your point, I mean, 77%—that's the majority
of the human population—not being comfortable to have their voice be heard. Why do you think
that is?
Art Turock: I—embarrassment.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: I'll be judged.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Simple as that. People have opinions of me. They won't like what I'm saying.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Whatever.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: It's made up. You're performing. It's scary.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And what's helped you almost—I mean, you've mentioned you haven't
had this fear, but as, as humans, we always have that little monkey mind that tends to throw little
thoughts and ideas into our head. And so, in the moments where we have a little human
experience, what has helped you navigate through that fear? Maybe if it—you've noticed it start
to bubble up before, say, like a big expansion where maybe you're speaking in front of a group
that's much larger than you've ever spoken in front of before, or it's sort of up-levelled to a, an
audience that you haven't necessarily interacted and engaged with in the past.
Art Turock: It's a good one. Here's a good example. High school students. So I was outside
sprinting. So I sprint on the street outside, and I see a woman walking her dog, and we start
talking, and she says, "Wow, that's impressive. I've seen you sprinting out here for an hour." And
all of a sudden she says, "You know, you'd be a good speaker for my—this ed class."
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And—but I've never spoken to high school kids before. So before I said yes, I took—I
said, "Give me a couple of days." And I said, you know, the safe place to go would be
Toastmasters.
So I had been a Toastmaster 20 years ago when I first took up public speaking, and that's what
got me from being a workshop leader to a speaker. They break the skills of public speaking down.
You're in front of a safe group, other people who have fears of public speaking.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And they're all supportive. So when I look out into their eyes, it's people who are
leaning forward, focused eye contact with the speaker, caring about you. And that's how I look at
my audiences now. They care about me. Those kids wanna learn, and that's how I present to
them.
And so I field-tested my speech with Toastmasters, and then I walked in and did 45-minute
classes, one, two, three, just like that.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: It was a joy to do.
Viktoria Levenberg: Hmm. I love that real-life example because it is such a precious, like, lesson
that we can all take, no matter what area of life we are in. If it's like, okay, if you're on the
precipice of a big expansion, find the next doable step that is still expanding you beyond your
comfort zone, which we'll get into in just a moment. And at the same time, it's not necessarily
throwing you all the way into the deep end. So you get to explore and test and maybe make the
mistakes and get all that stuff out in a more safe environment before throwing yourself all the
way into that audience of high school kids, right?
Art Turock: There you go. Precise. You summed it up absolutely perfectly.
Viktoria Levenberg: Thank you. And so that takes us to your second part of your career, right? Is
that around, like, your Comfort Zone Demolition and the expertise that you have now? So tell me
a bit more, like, how that happened.
Art Turock: The second—the second career is a track and field.
Viktoria Levenberg: So—oh.
Art Turock: Oh, yeah, yeah. So I had—I've been exercising since I was 19 years old.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And I totalled it for the high school class.
9,500, roughly, hour-and-a-half workouts that I've had in my life.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And I said, okay, you start in an early age, the cumulative effects are profound.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And that's what I did. And then at age 55, I'm out. I've got, you know, I—I said I'm
gonna add sprinting to my workout instead of just jogging, weightlifting.
So I start sprinting, and my sprint coach says, "You know, you're pretty fast. You should go out for
Masters track."
So what is it, track for old guys?
Art Turock: Yeah. USA Track and Field Masters track.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow.
Art Turock: I said, "Wow, let me do it." I went out. I started sprinting. I did great at Washington
State meets.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: Won tons of medals. But I said, "I wanna do it at a national level. That's my real goal."
And I finished tenth. And a few weeks later, I went to Worlds, and I finished 32nd out of 34.
But to me, there was no medal around my neck. It wasn't good enough. And I said, "Darn, I'm not
gonna make it as a sprinter."
And my buddy Charlie Brocato said to me these words: "You've got a strong upper body. You
might be good at the throwing events. Javelin, discus. Let it rip. You might be good at
pentathlon."
I said, "Charlie, I don't even know the events in pentathlon."
"Well, there's javelin, discus, long jump, 15-meter, and 200-meter dash, and it all gets done in
five hours."
I said, "Wow. Blow me away."
And so here's a key point: do what's required. Okay, what's required is I'm gonna change my
profession in a way. Instead of giving speeches and flying over the country, I need to stay home
more. Okay, I'll do year-long projects with my corporate clients.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Oh, you don't know how to even hold a javelin or a discus? You better get coaches. So
the next step: do what's required. I went out with three coaches.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And turns out two were former Olympians. Two were all-time greats at the University
of Washington.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And if it meant to drive down to Portland, three hours away, on occasion, I'll do it.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And lo and behold, five years later, I won my first pentathlon medal, a silver. Six years
later, won a bronze. Do what's required.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: Forget the comfort.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: Revel in the joy of an accomplishment that blows you away. That's called a
breakthrough. A breakthrough is a result that goes beyond what would be predicted based on
your past history. You defy your past history.
Viktoria Levenberg: Hmm. And I really am curious what you would wanna say to that version of
you who did the very first round of nationals, did the very first round of worlds, and finished
32nd out of 34, where you've summed it up so perfectly, is these sort of thoughts of, "I'm not
good enough. This isn't enough," etcetera.
I think a lot of, you know, our listeners here on Resonance struggle with those thoughts as well.
And, of course, it's amazing that you then pursued the goal and you got the medal. And yet,
what's something that you would say to that past version of you now, with everything that you've
learned? Is it—
Art Turock: Yeah. I—I have a precise phrase.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Yeah. And this is the one that came to me in preparing for your show.
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh, okay. Tell me more.
Art Turock: Your comfort in achieving your current success can limit your greater success.
I could have stayed a workshop leader locally and never met Fortune 100 and 25 Fortune 500
companies who became clients.
Viktoria Levenberg: Hmm.
Art Turock: I could have been fine at the state level.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: But I would never would have known my full capacity. I don't want your listeners to
have regrets about never having tested themselves, taken an experiment, and discovered their
full performance capacity. And they go, "Oh my."
And then the profound satisfaction that exists and carries you day after day. You realise you didn't
succumb to comfort. You pressed on and had breakthroughs.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And that's who you are. And that's who the people around you can, well, become
when you lead.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm. And as you say, it's sort of almost that your current level of
success and achievement becomes the springboard for the next. And there's a lot of danger in
when we sort of just say, "Okay, well, I guess this is as good enough as it gets," because, to your
point, you're a limitless potential. There's no one can put a cap on your achievements.
And I think you're definitely—your story and how you've gone from speaking into your athletic
career and everything that you're doing now and bringing that wisdom to the world to today is a
true testament to that as well.
And so I have heard that you have developed a really comprehensive framework that helps
people, step by step, understand how they can demolish their comfort zone. Would you be open
to sharing a little bit more about that?
Art Turock: Oh yeah. It's already out in a book called Demolish Your Comfort Zones: 6 Practices to
Crush Your Hidden Limitations.
So awareness is the first step. You gotta discover, what are my limitations? This is why I wrote this
book. It occurred to me that the conventional performance improvement methods that are well
publicised, that we all use, they're actually not full strength.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: They're all shaded by comfort. So, for instance, time management. Well, yeah, time
management, great. Um, one of the steps of time management is delegate. And then someone
goes, "Oh, it's quicker and easier for me to just do it myself." And they keep doing it and doing it
and doing it, and suddenly time management gets wiped away because it was a comfort zone to
take instead.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Uh, good luck with that. Accountability. Holding people accountable. And people say
questions like, um, "Why didn't you do this? You know, you're accountable for this." You know, it's
holding people accountable, pointing out their flaws.
I said, no. You ask them different questions, like, "What's the short-term payoff you get when you
don't follow through on what you said, what we agreed was your desired result? What's the
short-term payoff, and what's the long-term cost?"
And so they look at the colossal deception that they've been playing on themselves. That's a key
phrase: colossal deception. We put short-term comfort foremost and ignore, deny, and negate
the long-term impact.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: So you see, all of a sudden—
Viktoria Levenberg: I see. This is enlightening. These are things that are—people are missing.
Art Turock: Yeah. I gotta write a book, and I've got to position my coaching approach to bring
people their maximum possibility.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so you're saying awareness, accountability are some of
those key levers. What are some of those other levers that you speak about in your book?
Art Turock: The actual one, you know, start with conceiving goals versus goal setting.
Viktoria Levenberg: So tell me the difference.
Art Turock: Oh, big difference. Goal setting, typically, conventionally, we set up, what, five or six
areas, like health, family, financial, you know, the usual stuff, right? And then write down what
occurs, what pops into our heads, and then tweak it year after year.
Really? Really?
No. There are powerful questions for conceiving goals that I share, such as intolerable regrets.
What's a goal you've given up on, but you will feel regrets later in life?
Viktoria Levenberg: Hmm.
Art Turock: Crazy dreams. What's a crazy dream you want to accomplish if you knew you could
not fail?
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: One more. Superior productivity. If a time management expert tracked your daily
performance, what favourite distractions and low priorities would she tell you to stop?
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Undelivered communications. Who's a friend or a colleague that you're afraid to
share with and keep putting off the conversation? I have 21 questions like that.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: That's how you conceive goals.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes. Yeah. It's almost like going from the inside out rather than the surface-
level kind of—
Art Turock: Yes.
Viktoria Levenberg: —hyperbole is that so many people speak about. And that's what I, you
know, we were kind of speaking earlier, and it's like, this is why I wanted to hear your perspective
on the podcast, because my take on productivity is also very different to the conventional
methods and models that are out there, because it is so one-size-fits-all and surface-level.
And—and it's one thing to read a productivity management book that's gonna tell you, "Here, go
delegate." But if you don't dig deeper into the surface and actually uncover the fear of control,
the perfectionism tendencies, the inability to trust others, the, um, superiority that comes with
thinking that you can do it better than anyone else, and they're never gonna delegate, right?
So it's sort of—and, and this is what I love about what you're talking about. Like, you evoke a lot
of the deep things that might be scary for some people to look at, and yet they're the things, to
your point, that actually propel you to your next breakthrough. Is that right?
Art Turock: Exactly. Exactly.
Do you start demolishing comfort zones, and suddenly you see new capacity emerges, and you
can actually use some of the techniques I'm talking about. So the first one is conceiving goals.
Another is declaring commitment.
Now, commitment is so rarely talked about. It's used as a phrase, not as a step-by-step approach.
Now, my quote about commitment appeared on 8 million Starbucks cups.
Viktoria Levenberg: I love that.
Art Turock: Remember when they had the "The Way I See It" series?
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And it—there's a difference between interest and commitment. That's called a
transformational distinction. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when
circumstances permit. When you're committed to doing something, you accept no excuses, just
results.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: So I take that and then break it down into steps for commitment. So that's another
one.
Then another one of the practices is mindset disturbance rehearsal. So every day I have a—a
little log here. And so I write down, "What is the comfort zone you're gonna demolish today?" On
the podcast, or whatever I'm up to that day.
And then I write down, "What's your guy on the couch or gal on the sofa going to say to you?" So
that's the excuses. And there are four basic excuses now that you listen for. One is your feelings,
your circumstances that are unfavourable to you, your past history, or you haven't done this
before, and your identity, and that doesn't sound like me.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And you write that down as your next step. Okay, that's your guy or gal on the sofa
speaking. And then you start saying, "Okay, what do I need to do? What's the required action that
really will fulfil this goal?" Do what's required. You write that down.
And then at the end of the day, you get down and say, "Okay, follow—what was your follow-
through?" Mindset disturbance rehearsal.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. I am so curious now. Obviously, you can say no because this is always
very personal information, but I would be so curious. I would be open to sharing an example. It
doesn't have to be from today, but an example of how you go through this kind of in your own
life.
So what's sort of the comfort that you committed to demolish? What is the guy on the couch
that you were aware of? And then perhaps how you closed out that day, kind of giving us a real
tangible leading by example from your life.
Art Turock: Well, I'm laughing a bit because, uh, this one is really wild. Cleaning my desk and
floor.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Keeping a clean desk.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: You know, it's like, for me, it's like I'm—I'm, I've—it's a habit that I always just toss
things. And so, okay, then said, no, for you, this is a breakthrough, and you're going to move to
clean desk as part of your procedure.
So I now have put into my day timer, the end of the day, clean desk as part of it, and I follow
through. And I have a distinction called keep your word. Keep your word. And so that's what I'm
doing.
So I do an after-action review at the end of the day, and that builds the consistency.
Viktoria Levenberg: Thank you so much for sharing that. And I'm so glad that I asked this question
because I think, um, you know, maybe some of our listeners here, it can often be quite
intimidating. You know, we're like, here you are, this incredible speaker, and you've had so much
exposure to Fortune 500 companies, winning medals, and yet also, like, the commitments that
we make to ourselves, they're not pedestalized.
Yes.
Winning a silver or a bronze medal is just as equally important as keeping a tidy desk and floor
day in, day out. So thank you for using that example because, as someone who has that habit
ingrained in me, I can tell you that your external environment is a reflection of your internal
environment.
And so, for people who are habitual, um, I can't remember the word you use specifically, but just
that their habit is to throw things just wherever, that alone can create a profound shift.
And any habit, whether it's movement, whether it's putting yourself out there, whether it's
tidying up at home, whether it's having a challenging conversation with a loved one, it is just as
hard because it's still beyond your comfort zone.
And so I think we need to kind of reframe this perception of high performance and success, of
just the gold star medals that kind of us as high achievers tend to chase after. Sometimes it's the
really, dare I say, boring everyday things that actually have the greatest impact because they
create consistency and commitment to your word. Be your word, as you say.
Art Turock: That's it. And the more you be your word, the more you're blown away.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: My wife gave me the idea to do push-ups in the morning. She said, "You love
exercise," and I was in a phase of my life where I was kind of dull and not excited about getting
up. Short-lived.
And that's where that whole thing began. And I demolished that comfort zone. 4:30, doing push-
ups. Nobody does that. Great, you do it. And she empowered me, having that belief. So it's huge.
It's huge.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And let's talk about that for a second because I think, um, it's also
something that's so vastly underestimated in the performance space, in the productivity space,
in, be it in leadership as well, is the importance of a supportive person, whether it's your spouse,
whether—I, I like to call them your supporters and your way showers.
So kind of your supporters being the people that will lovingly hold up a mirror to you and also
just be your cheerleader, so to speak. And then your way showers being the people who kind of
can lead the way and do something that you want to do, and you can follow in their footsteps.
So can you speak a little bit about how in your life, be it your wife or other influential people,
have played a role in the success that you've been able to achieve?
Art Turock: Sure. Um, empowering any coach that you use, whether it be an athletic coach or a
mindset coach.
So I, again, I'm a breakthrough expert. I'm a breakthrough performance strategist. So I have
clients who empower me. Part of their empowerment is they actually do summaries of notes of
our sessions. They're the ones who do the writing. They're the ones who have it on Zoom, who
tape it.
And we go through my six practices with them. So they are learning them, practising, adapting
them. And our goal, you know, we set up for 30-day breakthroughs, and many of them will say,
yeah—I'm sorry, 90-day breakthroughs.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: They'll say, 90? Let's keep going. Let's do something more than this.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: And so I think that's it. I invite my clients to empower me as a coach. Now, that's an
unusual phrase.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And yet, that's the standard that I think more and more coaches need to invent for
their clients.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Create that. Allow them to empower your practices, your distinctions, whatever you
bring to the table.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm. And in your kind of, um, career and development as well, and in
the last few decades, like, who were some of the people, whether they're coaches or leaders,
influential speakers, that empowered you to become the version of you that you are today?
Art Turock: Well, obviously Ken Blanchard did when he told me, no, I speak to Fortune 500
companies. Uh, Charlie Brocato became a coach of me in—in, in track. And then I empowered all
of my coaches in my five events. So those are the ways I've typically, um, been an empowering
agent to my coaches.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And that is quite, um, an important distinction because I do genuinely
believe that how you show up is what you get. And so it's one thing to work with a coach, but
then it's a whole different thing to empower them to have that relationship with one another
and, um, know that that person is here to actually, with your best interest at heart, to help you
achieve the greatest things that—that you set out to achieve.
And—
Art Turock: Absolutely.
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Now, let's get back to the episode.
Viktoria Levenberg: There was something I wanted to kind of come back to on the notion of
commitment and being your word, cause I think especially today in 2026, with the—the world
that we live in, with all the technological advancements and distractions and information
overload, I don't know about you, Art—But I'm seeing people be more flaky than ever. And so,
what word of advice would you have to someone listening to us here today who's really
struggling with consistency? Like, I hear this from my people all the time, like, "I just have a hard
time being consistent." What would be the simplest place to start, in your experience?
Art Turock: The simplest place is probably where we've covered already. It's just looking at the
power of commitment and saying, "No matter what," and keeping my word. And I'm gonna show
up differently from the rest of the world.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: I mean, that willingness to be alone and different and stand out and have unusual
habits and practices.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: I think that's really at the heart of it.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, especially when no one's watching, right?
That's the—right. That's the big part. Right.
Art Turock: Now let me give you an example of trying new things. So when I'm doing workshops, I
will toss red flags at people.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Now, in the US, the National Football League coaches can throw red flags when they
think that a official in the game has made a bad call, and then it gets reviewed on videotape.
Speaking of the technology world, right?
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And so I said, "Huh, I'm gonna call out people who I meet any place and toss red
flags."
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And contribute to them. So picture this. Now, I'm on an aeroplane flight from Kansas
City to Seattle. It's a long flight. Sitting next to me is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army, and
he's—he allows me to use his name—Dave Folley.
And Dave's talking to me. We're having a great conversation, and all of a sudden he says, "You
know what? I, uh, I'm not creative."
That's an identity. And I said to him, "Sir," with my best military bearing, "former jet engine
mechanic Turock request permission to offer high-performance coaching, sir."
He starts laughing and beckons me, "Okay, bring it on."
And I pull out my red flag, and I said, "Sir, I need to toss a red flag on you."
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: "You just said—use the victim phrase—'I'm not creative,' which sounds like you've
had a genetic defect."
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: "I think a more rational and effective way of saying it is, 'In the past, when I've had
creative projects to do, my results haven't met my expectations.'"
And his jaw dropped.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And suddenly we're in a whole different conversation, and he's talking about bringing
innovation to the base. We got off the plane, and he started doing just that.
And I was invited to two of his change-of-responsibility ceremonies on the base. Twice. And the
third time, it was to become general. Lieutenant colonel became general as he administered
major change and innovation on that base. It began with a single red flag.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. That's it. Mike, drop that red flag, because we are all carrying them.
And these—I refer to them as limiting beliefs. I refer to them as, like, that little monkey mind that
just chitter chatter. I think you said the gal or the guy on the couch that's just giving you excuses
and stories that are a safety mechanism, a safety net.
Um, and that's why a lot of people don't want to demolish their comfort zone, because they're
comfortable for a reason. And especially today, we live in the age of comfort. Like, never in the
history of mankind has life been more comfortable. You can get food with the click of a button.
You can get entertainment with the click of a button. You can hop on a call like this with the click
of a button.
So, you know, you—you have had a 10-year career, and I love that you now help people with high
performance coaching. What are some of the biggest shifts that you've seen in the last few years
where your unique methodology and approach is probably more important now than ever
before?
Art Turock: Well, I think you've just laid out the groundwork. But there's so much pretension
about comfort. Lighten up. But I go back to just the Classic 4, which I began long, but long ago.
So the Classic 4, again, are your feelings, your circumstances, your past history, and your identity.
And we don't need a lot more trappings of comfort.
Now, what we have in other places around us is circumstances have been made more
comfortable. That's the one that really has, of that list I just dictated, that's the one that has
changed the most. And so you've got to say, "Didn't matter. What is the key? What are the
actions I must take to succeed in this particular result?" And if it's bypassing, you know, various
forms of tangible comfort, so be it.
Viktoria Levenberg: And the more you do it, the easier it gets as well, right?
Art Turock: And you start seeing the payoff. You start seeing that you have this capacity to do so.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And lo and behold, anything's possible.
Now, the key mental trick here, I—I just need to say it explicitly, is the colossal deception. Okay?
That's that mental trickery where we look at short-term comfort and ignore the long-term
impact. And it affects putting off habits.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: Not delegating.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: Putting off conversations that are important.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Um, not keeping your word.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: So your ability to handle the colossal deception is so key. And toss a red flag on
yourself when you're at the brink of caving. That's it. Make the—make, you know, start speaking
to yourself about keeping your word. What did you say was required?
And this is one that gets—I began with corporate groups, tossing red flags at managers and
rooms. And now I'll toss it at generals, or generals-to-be on the aeroplane.
Hahaha. And that's it. And anyway, and the kid—the kids in the high school class.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And ourselves, because it all begins with us as well. We've got to walk
the talk, right? And so, um, you know, one of the ways that I see—
Say that again.
Art Turock: We can be playful with this.
Viktoria Levenberg: That's it.
Yeah. We don't need to take ourselves so seriously, right?
And so I think one of the ways in which I see colossal deception really show up in—in my clients
and in—in my world is when life gets really overwhelming, and the urgent, seemingly important
things that are just screaming the loudest in front of their face tends to then have previous
commitments slip away.
Maybe it's, "Okay, well, today I'm going to log off at a reasonable hour," or, "I'm gonna hit the
gym today," or, "I'm finally going to eat better today," or, "I'm gonna be present with my partner."
And then all of a sudden, all these things are the first to come off when, like, there's fires to put
out, whether it's at corporate or with the team or within the business.
And tell me, like, in your own life and your experience, how do you manage your energy and your
calendar when life gets overwhelming? And how do you stay in alignment with those
commitments that you made to yourself, even when, to your point, they're inconvenient because
circumstances have changed?
Art Turock: I think the ability to do three things. One, plan long term. So I look at my goals for the
year. I'll have 10 major goals. I'll then break those goals down into components.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Then those components become quarterly.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And I'll pursue them for all the goals in a quarterly fashion, so I'm making steady,
steady, steady progress.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And then the next quarter comes up, and I'll look at what got done, what didn't get
done, and there's a flow and a follow-through.
So there's a systematic approach to being able to do that. Now, each day, of course, gets broken
down. I have three top goals for the day. I prioritise them. I put in the times they'll be done, and I
keep my word and follow through.
If something comes up, I do an adjustment and make it for the next day or whatever. But because
it's in writing, there's greater credibility as well.
So having a system that, um, is calendar-based, that also has a variety of timelines, that allows
you to do writing, keeps you engaged. So it's not something that you keep in your head or even in
a—a planner that's not with rigorous detail.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: I think you need a level of detail so that you're constantly able to make course
correction.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: And make adjustments, and that you can take that detail—
Quarter to quarter to quarter.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes. Yes. And there's an—a delicate balance between—I, I agree with you—
sort of the big picture being a little bit too wishy-washy, that is just, like, so lofty or whatever. It's
so far away, I can't even see how I'm gonna achieve it.
And then, exactly, in—in my world, my perfectionists have a tendency to go into a level of detail
that's actually almost constricting, where it feels like it's keeping them hostage. And so it is a fine
balance.
And the fact that you've just named this system is, like, music to my ears, because it's what I work
with. And that's kind of a lot of my expertise around nested planning and really helping people
design a plan that actually works and set you up for success.
And seeing someone like yourself, who is also in the high-performance space, like, that is your go-
to, and that's what keeps you in alignment. And knowing that, yeah, life's gonna keep on lifeing.
Things are gonna come in unexpectedly. Does that mean that you just throw the whole plan out
the window? No. You course correct, you readjust, and you make informed decisions that, again,
keep you in alignment with those big goals that you set out for yourself.
I'm—I'm very pleased that—that we share this in common because it is—it's like, what's the
secret to success? It's—and just plan for it. You know, plan and follow through is really as simple
as it is. And just because it's simple maybe doesn't mean it's easy.
Art Turock: Yeah. And, you know, it's—it's just a joy to me to see my clients adopt these methods
and habits and apply them and have breakthroughs in their own life.
You know, I've got a one client in a financial services industry. Again, he could with me sharing his
name, is Landon Vic. And he's done amazing things. He came to me being scared to ask his
clients for referrals, even after you've done good jobs with them, or early on.
And he's made so many advancements from that beginning in terms of other areas of his life and
his ability to be able to, um, adopt these techniques. And so you see breakthrough after
breakthrough after breakthrough after breakthrough. And does my heart good to see that kind of
impact.
Viktoria Levenberg: Right. That's—that's what it's actually about, is the—the ripple effect, the
impact that people get to make in the world when they have their own breakthroughs. Because
it's not just you and me and your clients. It's the people in their life. It's their families. It's their
colleagues. It's the person at Starbucks who hands them their coffee.
Like, there is so much bigger at play here than really just our little self. And I'm so curious, Art,
what's, like, the most profound client breakthrough that you have experienced since you started
working with people directly as a high-performance expert?
Art Turock: I mean, there are a couple that are on my—my brain. One is Margie Warrell.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Who's an author and has written some wonderful, wonderful books. And, uh, she's
also a speaker. And she got word of my work, in particular that I was also an athlete, and we got
together. And she wanted to run the New York City Marathon.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh. Huh.
Art Turock: And she never done much running before.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And she started building up, building up, got to her own place and said, "Yeah, I need
to get a coach who can take me closer and closer to the Marathon completion." And that was the
whole thing. We didn't care much about time. Could she finish?
Viktoria Levenberg: Mmm-hmm.
Art Turock: And when she finished, I was just delighted.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mmm-hmm.
Art Turock: To cross the finish line. That's a huge one for me.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: And—and then I've, of course, Ken Blanchard.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: When I met Ken, 1 Minute Manager, he got me to go into public speaking.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: My return gift for him is he was overweight.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: Obvious. And we're at a wellness conference.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And so there was a ripple effect where I said, "Ken, let me let you know, I'd like to do
some coaching with you."
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm.
Art Turock: And so we began coaching, and lo and behold, he's losing weight over and over again.
He's developing better lifestyle habits.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: And these habits are wonderful. Now, of course, he might have had his own in-house
trainer, and at times he did. But the point was, we had to get Ken with the mindset of
commitment. And he just blast that phrase over and over again.
And in one of my books early that I wrote called Getting Physical: How to Stick With Your Exercise
Program—
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: Ken Blanchard quote, "I promise it works." In my latest book, Demolish Your Comfort
Zones, he's all—he wrote the foreword to the book. This is a 40-year relationship that began with
helping him lose that weight and the breakthroughs he's had as a writer.
And, again, it just grabs me, the impact that—
Viktoria Levenberg: Hmm.
Art Turock: —I've had on his life.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and vice versa.
Art Turock: Exactly. Yeah. So that's the way life should be. Dual impacts. Dual impacts.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: Profound dual impacts.
I'd like to have the same impact with you.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, and we're already in it as we speak. You know, like, we're just
conversing and—and speaking and sharing insights and wisdom. This is energy exchange at its
finest.
And this is what I love about life, is that you just never know where these little connections and
moments of true vulnerability and authenticity take you, and also who—who in my audience is
going to hear your story and the exact nugget that you drop at the exact right time for them to
hear what it is that they need to hear.
Like, I genuinely trust on that divine synchronicity. And so, for someone listening who wants to
learn more about you, maybe they even wanna work with you, what's the best way to connect
with you, Art?
Art Turock: I would go to my website, Art Turock, T-U-R-0-C-K dot com. ArtTurock.com. And look
through the website, but in particular the coaching page. And the coaching page is going to
describe my coaching approach and really give you a sense of what it's like to work with a
breakthrough performance strategist.
And the headline is, "This is not life coaching. This is not business coaching. This is breakthrough
performance coaching," and gives a distillation of how that's different.
So what I'm offering is these six practices. I'm offering breakthroughs in 90 days. So it's time-
limited only to create urgency, like each call counts.
And so you may pay for a package of three at a time, three calls, and then three calls, and then
three calls. And that's the 90 days. And so they're staggered around a week or every couple of
weeks. And that's what we do.
Uh, phone, Zoom calls like that, that lead to teaching the skills of my book, Demolish Your
Comfort Zone, and also the practicality of it. And then I have a list of psychological distinctions,
transformational distinctions, like commitment versus interest, or other kinds of distinctions that
are—let's say, I got a great list here. Let me pull a couple here.
Um, realistic goals versus breakthroughs. Reasonable effort or do what's required. Unrealistic
goals or perceived impossibilities.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: So you have these psychological distinctions. So the combination of all of those
ingredients give you a very differentiated type of breakthrough performance specialisation. And I
just love doing it.
So that's the way to begin. There are places on the page where you can sign up, uh, and I do a
complimentary coaching call. One complimentary hour, so you can taste fully, not guess, what it'll
be like with this character.
Might throw a red flag at me. Hahaha.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah.
Art Turock: But you actually have a live conversation with me, and then we can both decide, is
this a fit based on real-life experience? So it—it just makes it very smooth, and we both know
that there's likely to be success here.
And we should have a breakthrough happen in the first free session, and then decide to play on.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And that is so generous of you as well. I can tell that when people enter
your world, it's a time of, "Alright, now we're getting serious. This is actually happening."
And so, if anyone listening right now, you're like, "Oh, I think he's—he's my guy," then we'll make
sure to link up all of your details in the show notes as well.
So that it's easy for our listeners to access. And so, as we wrap our conversation—
Art Turock: The only other thing I would mention is that also on that—on the—in the—on my
website, there's a link. There's a book trailer, so they can see a videotape about the book, in
addition to the write-ups they might seen on—on Amazon, and a place to go to Amazon to order
it, Demolish Your Comfort Zone.
Viktoria Levenberg: Perfect. We'll link up the book as well in the show notes so that people can—
can grab a copy, cause I know a lot of, um, people in my audience love a good high-performance
book. And that might also be kind of just the next little nudge before they book that, um,
complimentary coaching call with you as well.
And so, as we wrap our incredible conversation today, that so many insights you've shared,
you've been so generous with your experience and your story. And I also, like, really value your
real-time examples of you and high performance in real life.
What's one thing that you hope will resonate with the listeners for a long time after this episode
ends today?
Art Turock: The colossal deception. I want them to examine their life, like, as soon as they're done
listening to the podcast. That perhaps even, how did I listen to the podcast? Was I totally full
attention, start to finish? Or was I hunkering around doing other things? Huh?
Stop that, and you start doing an examination of colossal deceptions that you perpetuate. Where
are you pursuing unconsciously short-term comfort in this moment? And then say, what would it
be like to actually do what's required and start making that a habit?
And that is life-altering. That's the thing I'd like them to take away. And it's becomes a practice, a
habit ingrained, and breakthrough after breakthrough after breakthrough flourishes.
Viktoria Levenberg: That's it. And as you say, the breakthroughs compound, because yesterday's
breakthrough is today's normal, and it is only the launching pad for the next breakthrough that
lies ahead.
Art Turock: That's the thing. And the term I wanna say is cumulative effects. If I've said it once, I
wanna close with it as well, because you have no idea what the cumulative effects of your life will
be.
People see what I'm capable of, and as a senior citizen, he's a what? He's throwing discuses. He's
sprinting in the street here in Kirkland. And the jaw drops.
And that's the thing. As you said earlier, our society is catering to comfort.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh-huh.
Art Turock: I'm singing a different song. And the stark difference in the cumulative effects of how
your life turns out is, you can fit in and look like everybody else, or you can emerge and stand out
in a way that's stark, different, and energising and exciting and blows people away, and they get
the sense, this is what's possible.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes.
Art Turock: Yes, it is.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes, this and so much more. Thank you so much, Art, for sharing your wisdom
and your story. And I genuinely believe that this is gonna be groundbreaking and
transformational for our listeners. It's—it's been a pleasure having you on the show and to get to
know you closer a little bit as well.
And I am so excited to see what next breakthroughs you have in your life, and that you also help
co-facilitate for your future clients. Thank you so much for coming on to Resonance. I really
appreciate it.
Art Turock: My privilege. Thank you.
Viktoria Levenberg: I love the notion of goal conceiving versus goal setting. I mean, that is, like,
one of my biggest takeaways from this episode, because goal setting is so 1990. You know, it's
sort of—it was this big revelation where no one knew what a SMART goal is and how to achieve
success.
But, like, as a society, we have evolved so much. We need to dig deeper because it's one thing to
just set some SMART goal and put it on the calendar and be like, "Yeah, this is what I'm gonna
do," when, if it doesn't truly align with the core essence of who you are, it doesn't evoke your
biggest dreams, it doesn't actually show you a Black Mirror of the fears that are standing in your
way, then chances are it's just gonna be, like, a little wishy-washy goal that gets forgotten in
about three days.
And so, the way that Art described conceiving goals versus goal setting, I found really powerful.
And what really resonated with me at the end of our episode was when Art shared how he
manages his own work, his day, his commitments, and the fact that he also sees that planning is
the crucial prerequisite for you to be able to follow through and commit to what you said you
would do.
Like, you heard it from the man himself. He has his annual plan. He chunks that up into doable
sub-projects. He has the quarterly plan. And then he has the daily rhythms that keep him
grounded.
Now, obviously, if you've been around my neck of the woods, you'll know that in my nested
planning framework, I also talk about the monthly, weekly rituals in between as well, which really
help you kind of stay on course. So I'll make sure to link that episode up in the show notes if this
is something that you want to learn a little bit more about.
And lastly, what really stood out to me from our conversation is the notion of colossal deception.
And, you know, Art spoke about how there's certain ways in which we deceive ourselves, be it
through our feelings, be it through our circumstances, you know, the excuses that we tell
ourselves, and how unconscious most of that is.
It's just running on autopilot. It's this behaviour that, until you stop and gain awareness, is
completely happening, kind of you're—you're blind to it. And that's why we need coaches in our
lives. Like, that is literally what they're there for, to call out your blind spots. Otherwise, they
wouldn't be blind spots if, you know, we could see them ourselves, right?
And so I would really invite you to take Art up on his invitation of, like, right now, as you're
listening to this podcast, can you check in with yourself? Where are you? What are you doing?
Are you cleaning the bathroom? Are you on a walk? Are you driving to work? Are you doing
something else, maybe cooking dinner? I don't know.
Like, how present have you been? How much have you actually taken in of what Art had to
share?
I think those are some really sobering moments when we get real present with ourselves. And,
like, I'll be the first to put my hand up that that's something I've been doing lately too. I'm like,
wow, I've—I've become so efficient that I've almost become too efficient for my own good.
Um, and so now I'm actually playing with downgrading that a little bit and be like, can I just be
fully present in the moment with just what is right here in front of me right now?
And for a high performer who's used to juggling a lot of balls, that can be quite scary sometimes.
But remember, no matter how big or small the transformation, your biggest breakthrough is on
the other side of what you've been avoiding.
And maybe, like in Art's example, that might just be cleaning up your desk today. I don't know.
Only you can answer that question.
Either way, thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of Resonance. I hope that you
found it just as inspiring as I have. In the meantime, have a beautiful week, and I'll see you soon.
Bye for now.
Viktoria Levenberg: If you're a high performer or entrepreneur who's got big dreams, and you've
developed strategies to get you closer to those dreams, but you feel like there are also parts of
you self-sabotaging your success, I built something just for you.
It is my signature Achievement Archetypes Quiz that is absolutely free, takes less than 2 minutes,
and it will give you instant feedback as to where your Achilles heel is. That is your natural self-
sabotaging behaviour when it comes to productivity, planning, efficiency, and organisation.
And it gives you your next right step and the solution you didn't know you needed. You'll find the
link in the show notes just below. Make sure you find your achievement archetype and let me
know what it is.
As a fellow achiever, I will be the first to put my hand up that I have now mastered my Achilles'
heel, and I can't wait for you to do the same.
Viktoria Levenberg: The views and opinions expressed by guests on Resonance are their own and
do not necessarily reflect the views of me, Viktoria Levenberg, LVNHealth, or anyone working
within the LVNHealth brand.
This space welcomes a diversity of ideas, experiences, and stories, and part of Resonance is
learning to take what aligns and gently leaving the rest.
Also, while I am a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach and deeply passionate
about well-being, this podcast is intended for educational and inspirational purposes only.
Resonance does not substitute for personalised medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice.
Always seek guidance from qualified professionals for any physical, emotional, or mental health
concerns.
