009: Zach Fucale – The Importance of Creating a System and How to Live Sisu (Pro Hockey Player)

Episode Notes:
In this episode, Zach shares his strategy to achieving and sustaining high performance, the significance of improving 1.5%, his personal nutrition journey, and how “Sisu” applies to everything in life.

Topics:
[4:00] What constitutes high performance: “Being a high performer, you deliver”
[6:53] The number one pillar to high performance is to create a system
[12:11] 1.5% can make or break your career
[15:33] Why sleep is Zach’s top performance habit
[21:32] Better than biohacking: Listen to your body
[32:10] Experimenting with nutrition: From vegan to carnivore
[40:36] Forget vegan vs carnivore: The enemy is processed foods
[44:00] Lifelong learning and Living Sisu
[52:53] Getting in touch with Zach and Living Sisu
[55:09] Zach’s advice for optimizing health, happiness, and performance

A Champion On and Off the Ice
Zach Fucale is a professional hockey goaltender currently under contract with the Washington Capitals of the NHL. At just 25 years of age, Zach has already had an illustrious hockey career, appearing in nearly 200 professional games since being a second round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2013. Prior to being drafted, Zach was among the winningest goalies in QMJHL history while winning QMJHL and Memorial Cup Championships. Internationally, Zach has also won gold medals with Canada in three different tournaments, the Ivan Hlinka U18 (2012), World Junior Championships (2015), and Spengler Cup (2016, 2019).

Off the ice, Zach is equally impressive. He is a co-founder of Living Sisu, a company dedicated to educating people about the importance of daily physical activity and making it more accessible to all. In addition to the company, he has been an active voice in the community and podcasting, using his platform to spread positive messages and share valuable information. He epitomizes the values of Learn II Perform: He’s an avid reader, high performer, great personality, and a wealth of knowledge.

Systemizing High Performance
‘High Performance’ looks a little bit different for everyone. Regardless if you are an professional athlete, a lawyer, a teacher, or a stay at home parent, we can all seek to optimize how we perform our required duties. When asked for a personal definition of high performance, Zach’s answer was clear: “Being a high performer, you find a way.”

Much like Tim Grover’s description of a cleaner – the ultimate performers such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant – Zach believes that despite the unexpected challenges in life, a high performer will deliver when needed most.

This leads to the ultimate question: What does it take to be a high performer. When asked, Zach responded with conviction:

“The number one pillar in high performance – you have to have a system.” Ultimately, the most important thing is to establish a foundation to fall back on when chaos ensues, a set of guidelines or rules that will allow you to consistently perform. Perhaps most importantly, this system can be effective at eliminating stupid mistakes and improving consistency. And once this system is in place, high performance habits can be introduced to optimize performance. For Zach, the big three are sleep, stretching, and nutrition.

The Difference Between NHL All-Star and the Minors is 1.5%
While this concept can be applied across industries, its only fitting to stick with the hockey analogy. Let’s look at professional goaltenders. With a save percentage of 0.900 (that is, stopping 90% of shots faced), you would be average to below average in most competitive leagues. Meanwhile, at 0.915, you would typically be average to above average. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that stopping an extra 1.5% of shots could be the difference between a salary of $500,000 and $5,000,000 in the NHL.

In fact, this is often the case. The margins of error and the difference between the top and bottom are so small, that micro fluctuations in performance can have massive implications on success. Whether that be the difference between playing in the NHL or the minors, or winning a Stanley Cup as opposed to missing the playoffs, high performers demands complete optimization.

The Key to Optimizing Your Performance – Better than Biohacking
Zach is an avid learner and self-experimenter, taking in the interview with blue-light blocking glasses on, his feet on a grounding mat, and a stack of books behind him featuring the likes of Angela Duckworth, Robin Sharma, Jocko Willink, Tim Ferriss, and more (we love avid readers at Learn II Perform!). But in his opinion, no biohack is as effective as listening to your body.

“The human body is pretty perfect. The human body is going to tell you exactly what it needs,” notes Zach. The complex system is designed to function optimally, and if you listen carefully, you’ll learn what your body needs. Fresh air, sunlight, whole foods, light exercise, time with family, and sleep are among the simplest but most powerful tools at your disposal to maximize your performance.

Nutrition is a Game Changer
Having experimented with every diet under the sun, from vegan to ketogenic to carnivore (animal-based), Zach has seen the impact firsthand of nutrition. Currently, Zach has been following an animal-based diet and noticed significant improvements to his energy, performance, and even skin. However, he stresses that diets should be personal.

More so, the most important thing when exploring nutrition, is to arm yourself with information. By reading, exploring objective evidence, thinking critically, experimenting, and paying attention to how your body responds, you will be empowered to make iterative improvements to your nutrition and lifestyle. And ultimately, that is what Zach cares about most – ensuring he can perform at a high level and helping others do the same.

How to Live Sisu
“Sisu” is a Finnish word that can be translated in the following ways: resilience, determination, guts, courage, tenacity and inner strength. No matter what your journey is in life, or what sport you play, Zach reminds us that we all need to live with “sisu.” This was the founding belief behind Living Sisu, a company that Zach co-founded that is on a mission to show people how to incorporate the ideals of “sisu” into their life and mindset through sport.

With three pillars being Education, Accessibility, and Activate, Living Sisu has already built a thriving community of people and brands that is improving lives. “If you’re a part of the Living Sisu community, someone is going to have your back,” Zach concludes.

To Learn More, Follow Zach, and Join the Living Sisu Community:
Zach Fucale:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zach_fucale/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fucale31

Living Sisu:
Website: https://www.livingsisu.com/en/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/living.sisu/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/livingsisu