AI is changing school, college admissions, and the workforce faster than most parents and students realize. In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Kiick (CEO of Revolution Prep) to talk about the skills that won’t get automated, and how to use AI without becoming dependent on it.

We get into the real danger of offloading thinking, why the most powerful way to use AI is to generate better questions (not just better answers), what happens to writing and the college essay in a post-ChatGPT world, and why executive functioning plus deep learning may be the biggest moat students can build.

If you’re a student, parent, or educator trying to stay sharp in the age of AI, this one is for you.

Guest: Ryan Kiick — CEO, Revolution Prep Find Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankiick/

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsors:

Zapier: Build Your Own AI Agent Today, Without Coding Link: https://bit.ly/4pI8Su2

Test Prep Gurus: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

🕒 Timestamps (Chapters): 00:00 – Cold plunges and bad circadian rhythms 01:10 – Justin’s background and why economics needs better communication 03:30 – Why AI is the biggest economic shift of our lifetimes 06:00 – From brawn to brains: how AI changes the equation 09:00 – The white-collar revolution: why AI threatens cognitive work 11:30 – Will AI drive wage stagnation for white-collar jobs? 12:50 – VCRs, substitutes, and complements: lessons for AI 14:50 – The NickBot 2000 thought experiment — who owns the robot? 17:00 – Why AI’s real issue is ownership, not capability 19:30 – The DeepMind vs. Meta contrast: altruism vs. profit 21:30 – The monopoly danger: what happens if one company wins 24:00 – Why competition (not regulation) is saving us, and Nvidia 25:54 – Sponsor: Zapier 28:17 – Are AI stocks a bubble—or just early? 31:00 – Dot-com lessons and humility in predictions 33:30 – $700 trillion in potential AI value? An economist’s math 38:00 – The global AI race: U.S., China, and everyone else 41:00 – Government policy, laissez-faire, and missing debates 45:00 – Manipulation, bias, and invisible influence in LLMs 46:00 – Education’s blind spot: universities aren’t adapting fast enough 52:00 – Why “prompting” is the new literacy 55:00 – How ChatGPT changes testing, grading, and learning 58:00 – Reinventing the Oxford tutorial—powered by AI 01:00:30 – Liberal arts, critical thinking, and the skills that endure 01:02:00 – “vibe coding” for the next generation 01:06:30 – How to future-proof your career in the age of AI 01:09:00 – Daily AI experiment challenge 01:10:30 – Final thoughts: curiosity, courage, and lifelong learning

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsor: Test Prep Gurus website: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

👉 Build your own AI Agent with Zapier (opens the builder with the prompt pre-loaded): https://bit.ly/4hH5JaE

Connect with The Nick Standlea Show: YouTube: @TheNickStandleaShow Podcast Website: https://nickshow.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-standlea-podcast/id1700331903 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YqBBneFsKtQ6Y0ArP5CXJ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/nickshow/feed.xml

Nick's Socials: Instagram: @nickstandlea X (Twitter): @nickstandlea TikTok: @nickstandleashow Facebook: @nickstandleapodcast

Ask questions, Don't accept the status quo, And be curious.

In this conversation with philosopher Dr. Philip Goff, we dive into one of the deepest questions in science and philosophy: what if consciousness isn’t produced by the brain—what if it’s fundamental to reality?

We explore panpsychism, the “hard-to-ignore” problem of subjective experience, why physics may describe what matter does but not what it is, and what it would mean if even the smallest building blocks of nature contain a spark of experience.

Philip Goff’s work: Website: https://philipgoffphilosophy.com/ Substack: https://philipgoff.substack.com/

• What consciousness is (and why it’s so hard to explain)

• Why brain scans don’t “find” experience

• The core argument for panpsychism

• Galileo’s legacy: how modern science set consciousness aside

• What physics really tells us about matter

• Implications for meaning, spirituality, and mystical experience

• AI and consciousness: are LLMs “aware” of anything?

If this topic hits for you, consider subscribing—more conversations at the edge of mind, science, and reality.

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsor: Test Prep Gurus website: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

Connect with The Nick Standlea Show: YouTube: @TheNickStandleaShow Podcast Website: https://nickshow.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-standlea-podcast/id1700331903 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YqBBneFsKtQ6Y0ArP5CXJ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/nickshow/feed.xml

Nick's Socials: Instagram: @nickstandlea X (Twitter): @nickstandlea TikTok: @nickstandleashow Facebook: @nickstandleapodcast

Ask questions, Don't accept the status quo, And be curious.

#Consciousness #Panpsychism #PhilipGoff #Philosophy #Neuroscience #Science #AI #Mind

Fear of other people’s opinions quietly shapes how we perform, how we speak, and who we allow ourselves to become.

In this conversation, Michael Gervais—performance psychologist to Super Bowl champions, Olympic gold medalists, and Fortune 50 leaders—breaks down why the fear of judgment is one of the greatest limiters of human potential.

We explore why winning and losing can become distractions, how identity gets tangled with performance, and why mastery isn’t about outcomes—but about learning to be at home with yourself, even under pressure.

This episode is a deep dive into presence, self-trust, and the inner skills that matter more as the world gets faster, louder, and increasingly driven by external validation.

Topics we cover:

Why fear of judgment pulls us out of the present moment

How performance becomes identity (and why that’s dangerous)

The “messy edge” where growth actually happens

Signal vs. noise in high-pressure environments

Flow, mastery, and learning to work with your inner world

Why elite performers train the mind—not just the body and craft

What still makes us great in an AI-accelerated world

Finding Mastery Course: Michael also offers a structured course called Finding Mastery, designed to train the mental skills that drive elite performance—confidence, clarity under pressure, recovery, trust, and self-regulation. You can learn more and get $75 off the retail price using the dedicated code NICK75 at: 👉 https://findingmastery.com/course/?afmc=NICK75 You can learn more about Michael’s work, podcast, and programs at: www.FindingMastery.com Mike’s book First Rule of Mastery: https://findingmastery.com/book/ YT: @FindingMastery IG: @michaelgervais

If this conversation resonates, consider subscribing to The Nick Standlea Show for long-form conversations on performance, purpose, and becoming more fully yourself.

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsor: Test Prep Gurus website: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

Connect with The Nick Standlea Show: YouTube: @TheNickStandleaShow Podcast Website: https://nickshow.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-standlea-podcast/id1700331903 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YqBBneFsKtQ6Y0ArP5CXJ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/nickshow/feed.xml

Nick's Socials: Instagram: @nickstandlea X (Twitter): @nickstandlea TikTok: @nickstandleashow Facebook: @nickstandleapodcast

Ask questions, Don't accept the status quo, And be curious.

Timestamps: 00:00 Why fear of others’ opinions quietly controls us 02:20 Michael Gervais’ background and early influences 05:45 Winning vs. losing a Super Bowl—and what actually matters 08:50 Outcomes as noise vs. present-moment inputs 11:00 Best vs. your best (the identity trap) 13:00 Survival instincts and why pressure feels life-or-death 14:45 The three things you can train: craft, body, mind 16:20 Flow and the ever-unfolding present moment 18:00 Fear of judgment as a constrictor of potential 19:40 Mastery of craft vs. mastery of self 21:00 Why approval-seeking fractures attention 23:00 Performance-based identity explained 26:00 The “messy edge” where breakthroughs happen 29:45 Emotional danger lines vs. physical danger 30:15 Emotions vs. feelings (and why it matters) 33:10 Anxiety, excitement, and regulating activation 35:50 Breathing and self-talk under pressure 39:15 Trust as a performance accelerator 40:30 Who do you want to become? (inputs vs. outcomes) 46:30 Excellence as being at home with yourself 50:05 Why people struggle to sit alone with their thoughts 54:30 Practical ways to build self-awareness 58:10 Meditation, flow, and mental training 1:01:40 Mastery of self in an AI-driven world 1:06:20 Purpose, work, and human performance 1:09:10 Mortality, impermanence, and aliveness 1:13:30 Where to find Michael Gervais and Finding Mastery