The High Performance Podcast

Episode: Why Your Brain Feels Overloaded and How to Fix It

Guest: Dr. Tara Swart
Host: Jake Humphrey
Date: December 19, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode tackles the modern epidemic of mental overload, stress, and information fatigue, featuring neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart. The conversation unpacks why so many feel constantly exhausted, overweight, and overwhelmed—despite doing everything “right”—and explores the neuroscience behind chronic stress. Most importantly, it offers actionable hope through the concept of neuroplasticity, showing listeners how to rewire their brains for greater resilience, well-being, and lasting performance through microhabits and lifestyle tweaks.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Resilience in a Modern World

• Ancient vs. modern resilience: In the past, resilience was physical—now it's psychological and emotional due to information overload and constant connectivity.
• The average person today receives more information in a single day than someone a century ago did in their whole lifetime ([01:24]).
• Chronic stress, “being always on,” and our inability to fully rest have tipped us into maladaptive stress responses ([01:24–04:05]).

Quote:

“We have this amazing adaptive stress response, which means that we can meet a challenge, but we do need to rest afterwards. But we're not really allowed to rest now. We're constantly stimulated.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [02:22]

2. The Drawbacks of Perpetual Connectivity

• The smartphone isn’t the problem; our relationship to it is. The choice to engage or disengage is personal ([05:47]).
• Our attention spans are shrinking, and both adults and children experience changes in memory and attention centers due to constant information drip ([09:57–10:51]).
• For children, early and lasting exposure to fast-paced digital content can rewire brains, potentially fueling the rise in ADHD and attention difficulties.

Quote:

“The phone isn't the problem, you're the problem … I prefer to do it like I'm making a choice in every moment.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [06:14]

3. The Science of Chronic Stress and Its Bodily Effects

• Repeated high cortisol (stress hormone) triggers the body’s ancient “starvation response,” causing fat retention, especially around the abdomen.
• Chronic stress also leads the brain into “low power mode,” cutting resources for creativity, emotion regulation, and immune resilience ([14:07–17:24]).

Quote:

“Cortisol drives fat being held in your abdominal fat cells … Those things that normally work [like eating less or exercising more] don't work if cortisol is opposing that action.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [14:07]

• Stress can become addictive—not to the stress itself, but to the stimulating, “cortisol-inducing” activities. Mental resilience is the ability to recover and rebalance ([17:29]).

4. Building Mental Resilience Through Microhabits

• Connection of mind and body practices is essential: journaling, meditation, yoga, gratitude lists, time in nature, and gentle exercise ([19:16–20:34]).
• Dr. Swart advocates structuring the year around “12 microhabits”—introducing 3–4 at a time, gradually internalizing 8–10 healthy routines.

Quote:

“If you're not really doing any of those … try 12 microhabits for a year. That was a game changer for me … By the end of the year I would have at least eight or ten habits that were just things I didn't even think about anymore.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [19:51]

• For stress management, practices like expressing gratitude tip brain chemistry toward oxytocin (“love hormone”) and away from cortisol ([21:07]).

5. Purpose, Social Connections, and the Power of Nature

• Beyond diet, exercise, and sleep, deep, positive social relationships, meaningful purpose, and regular nature exposure are critical for resilience, mental health, and even longevity ([24:42]).
• Trees, especially cedars, pines, and cypresses, emit compounds (“phytoncides”) that literally boost immune function ([25:04–25:53]).
• Sensory cues in nature, such as birdsong, reassure the brain of safety at a primal level.

Quote:

“Phytoncides … trigger the release of natural killer cells in our immune systems. So it basically boosts our immunity.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [25:52]

6. Neuroplasticity: The Brain’s Capacity for Change

• Neuroplasticity underpins all personal growth—synaptic “rewiring” is possible at any age.
• The key ingredients: repetition and emotional intensity ([12:45]).
• Real change requires focused, demanding effort: learning a language, new experiences, travel, and social connections stretch and maintain brain flexibility ([29:21–33:16]).

Quote:

“I say neuroplasticity is hope—the opportunity to improve your brain, to change the way that you think, to have lifelong learning. It's all there.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [33:09, also at 00:04]

7. Confronting Negativity and Emotional Baggage

• The impact of negative imagery and news: repeated exposure (even with no personal connection) can cause real trauma and chronic negativity ([33:50–36:13]).
• The “ghosts” from our upbringing (family beliefs, negative phrases, roles) stay with us, unconsciously driving adult behaviors ([33:58–35:39]).

Quote:

“There is a residual effect that you might not even notice if you’re allowing yourself to see and hear this negativity.”
— Jake Humphrey [36:08]

8. Diet, Gut Health, and Brain Performance

• The gut-brain axis is immediate: your microbiome shifts within days of a dietary change ([36:47–37:54]).
• 30 plant varieties per week support brain and gut health; dark-skinned foods (e.g., purple asparagus, black beans, dark chocolate, coffee) are neurogenic (promote new brain cell growth).
• Signs of mental overload (e.g., skin issues, ulcers) may be physical indicators of psychological stress ([40:21]).

9. Making Changes & Allowing Time

• Lasting change follows four steps: awareness, focused attention, deliberate practice, and accountability ([42:11]).
• Brain rewiring is real, hard work—patience is essential. Expect weeks to months before new pathways outcompete old habits ([43:38–44:12]).

10. Men, Modern Masculinity, and Emotional Health

• The “rules” for men have shifted—regulating emotions and vulnerability are crucial skills, despite cultural taboos ([44:24–47:47]).
• The importance of positive male role models and opening space for real, emotionally supportive male friendships ([46:22–47:18]).

Quote:

“For men to be able to regulate their emotions is really, really key … it means understanding your emotions and kind of being able to keep them within a narrower range than tipping over into anything like too sad or too angry.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [45:49]

11. Quickfire Takeaways

• Non-negotiables: Honesty, generosity, being loving ([47:49]).
• Great leadership: Trustworthiness ([48:01]).
• Strength/Weakness: Resilience is Tara’s strength; tendency to “over-care” is her weakness ([48:05]).
• Golden Rule:

  “Your brain is so much more amazing than you think it is. And you have so much potential. And you know there are tiny things that you can do that can really unleash that potential.”
  — Dr. Tara Swart [49:08]

Notable Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "When people say, I can just about hold it together at work, but when I get home ... then I can snap. Now, that means that you're only one unit away from snapping in the workplace." — Dr. Tara Swart [04:47]
• "Go home this evening and listen to your child for five minutes without looking at your phone and without interrupting them ... my child told me things they've never told me before." — Dr. Tara Swart [05:16]
• "Birdsong reduces our blood pressure and our breathing rate and our stress levels ... because if there was a predator around, birds wouldn't sing." — Dr. Tara Swart [27:38]

Key Practical Tips (with Timestamps)

• Microhabits: Build small, sustainable wellbeing habits, 3–4 per quarter ([19:16–20:34]).
• Gratitude Practice: Start your day with gratitude, before any other thought ([21:07]).
• Nature: Spend regular time in nature (trees like cedar, pine, cypress for added immune benefits) ([25:04]).
• Diet: Target 30 plant varieties/week, focus on dark produce for neurogenesis ([36:47–37:54]).
• Break Digital Loops: Consciously choose when to check your device ([06:14]).
• Emotions: When stressed, ask “Is this a fact?” or “What advice would you give a friend?” to gain perspective ([23:21]).
• Allow Time: Changes in brain wiring require patience—expect real change after weeks or even months ([42:11, 43:38–44:12]).
• Accountability: Use tools or friends/coaches to keep you on track ([44:11]).
• Rest: Permit yourself adequate rest and recovery, not just constant effort ([01:24, 02:22]).

Final Message

Dr. Tara Swart leaves listeners with a profound, optimistic reminder about human potential:

“Your brain is so much more amazing than you think it is. And you have so much potential. And you know there are tiny things that you can do that can really unleash that potential.”
— Dr. Tara Swart [49:08]

Useful Timestamps

• Introduction to information overload and neuroplasticity: [00:04–01:24]
• Chronic stress & always-on culture: [02:48–04:05]
• The smartphone dilemma: [05:47–06:51]
• Digital habits and effect on kids/adults: [09:57–11:55]
• Habits, microhabits, resilience: [19:16–20:34]
• Purpose, nature, and social connections: [24:36–27:46]
• The science of neuroplasticity: [29:21–33:16]
• Negativity, childhood conditioning: [33:50–35:39]
• Food, skin, and gut-brain axis: [36:47–41:49]
• How to make and sustain change: [42:11–44:12]
• On men & emotions: [44:12–47:47]
• Quick fire: [47:47–49:08]
• Closing golden rule: [49:08]

Summary in a Nutshell

This conversation reveals how ancient stress responses are sabotaged by modern lifestyles, but—crucially—it’s not hopeless. Through small, manageable changes (“microhabits”), time in nature, gratitude, and a conscious relationship to technology, anyone can recalibrate their brain and life. Neuroplasticity means real, lasting change is available at any age—the brain truly is as remarkable as we let it become.