Speaking & Interviews
I'm Chad Herst, a mind/body coach and the author of The Performance Trap: The Ache No Success Will Ever Fix. I talk about what happens when achievement becomes a way to earn your worth, and what it is like to begin relating to that pressure differently.
For a podcast or event invitation, tell me a little about your show, audience, and what you would like to explore.
In this short excerpt from the Finding Harmony Podcast with Harmony Slater and Russell Case, I talk about a moment when my career was going well and I kept pushing through exhaustion. Watch the full Finding Harmony conversation.
So, it’s COVID. I’ve moved from San Francisco. All of my work has gone online, and finally having all the success I always imagined that I wanted. So much of my life, and you’ll hear if you read my book, is my story of proving myself. And here I am, I’m finally having great success in my career. And I’m sitting across from one of my clients, and I haven’t slept for maybe two or three days. My gut is a wreck. So he says to me, my client on the other line, he says, ‘Everything okay?’ And it was clear that not everything was. And my first response is, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. It’s all good.’ And I just kept going.
These are areas we could explore together. They are starting points, and I would want to hear what matters to your audience.
For people who have achieved a great deal and still feel they have to prove themselves.
For conversations about family roles, grief, and how a child learns that not being a problem keeps things safe.
For audiences interested in the body, stress, and the gap between understanding a pattern and living differently.
For conversations about people-pleasing, self-abandonment, boundaries, and difficult relationships.
For conversations about perfectionism, self-judgment, and shame.
For audiences interested in meditation, yoga, therapy, or self-improvement who recognize the pressure to get those practices right.
Chad Herst founded Herst Wellness in 2006 and has centered his work on coaching since 2008. His work draws on more than thirty years in embodied practices and healing arts, including yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Performance Trap brings his personal story together with the ways he has worked with clients.
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Book details and purchase formats
Chad Herst is a mind/body coach, licensed acupuncturist (LAc), and writer who helps high performers work with the ache beneath achievement — to stop overriding themselves and stay connected without losing who they are. He is the author of The Performance Trap: The Ache No Success Will Ever Fix.
Chad Herst is a mind/body coach, author, and licensed acupuncturist (LAc). He works with people caught in the cycle of achievement and disconnection. Some are founders, executives, or attorneys. What they share isn't a profession. It's a drive that has carried them far, often at a cost. In The Performance Trap, he draws on mindfulness training, body-based practices, and years of client work to help people stop overriding their own signals and find what's underneath the drive to prove themselves: the ache no success will ever fix.
This work began with a phone call in 1991 that changed everything: the loss of his brother, Scott, to suicide. That moment exposed the cost of performance and started a decades-long search to understand the ache beneath success.
Chad holds a BA in religious studies from Columbia College, where he graduated cum laude, a Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine (MSTCM), and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC). He lives in Northern California with his wife, Melissa, and their Labradoodle, Disco.
Tell me about your podcast or event. An invitation can start with an idea that is still taking shape.
You can also email Chad about an invitation.
