Stop Asking for Easy. Start Training for Strong.
I stopped praying for my problems to get smaller and started praying—and planning—for myself to get stronger.
That shift didn’t come from a mountaintop moment. It came after a long stretch of months that were hard personally and professionally. The kind of season where you keep asking God, “When is this going to get easier?”
Around that time, I was reading The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, and one idea hit me like a ton of bricks:
It’s not supposed to be easy.
That sentence changed how I look at resilience forever. [read more]
📘A Little Bit Better Every Day📘
Big growth doesn’t come from big moments.
It comes from small choices—made again and again.
I’m excited to announce the release of my new children’s book, A Little Bit Better Every Day—a story designed to help kids build resilience, confidence, and perseverance when things feel hard. [read more]
Find A Litte Bit Better Every Day here on Amazon here]
When You Don’t Feel Like It
One of my colleagues, mentors, and friends, Dave Brown, coined a phrase years ago that has stuck with me ever since: WYDFLI — “When You Don’t Feel Like It.”
It sounds simple. Almost too simple.
But I am convinced that WYDFLI is the single biggest difference between those who are successful and those who are not.
Because everybody—everybody—can do the right things when the mood strikes. When motivation is high. When the calendar is clear. When the results are visible. When the work feels exciting, glamorous, or at least mildly satisfying.
That’s the easy part.
The real separation happens when the feeling is gone.
When you don’t feel like making the call.
When you don’t feel like working out.
When you don’t feel like following up.
When you don’t feel like writing, practicing, preparing, or showing up. [read more]
Success by a Thousand Sacrifices | Issue 10
There’s a quote by Fr. Mark Beard that hits harder the longer you sit with it: “If you do not sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.”
Read that again—slowly.
Most people don’t fail because they lack talent, intelligence, or opportunity. They fail because they’re unwilling to make small, unglamorous sacrifices consistently. Not heroic sacrifices. Not dramatic, movie-scene sacrifices. The quiet kind. The daily kind. The ones no one applauds.
We talk a lot about “death by a thousand cuts.” Tiny mistakes, neglected habits, and small compromises that quietly add up to regret.
Success works the same way—just in reverse: Success by a Thousand Sacrifices. [read more]
Relentless Pursuit: The Discipline & Resilience Behind Extraordinary Results | Issue 9
As the year begins to wind down, there’s a familiar tension many leaders and entrepreneurs feel.
You’re tired—but you’re not done.
You’re reflective—but still hungry.
You know what you’ve built matters—but you know there’s more ahead.
Extraordinary results are rarely the product of motivation, inspiration, or a perfect plan. They are the outcome of something far less glamorous and far more powerful: discipline and resilience practiced consistently over time.
That’s what I mean by relentless pursuit. [read more]
Checkmate! Winning Communication Chess | Issue 8
I’m learning to play chess with my 8-year-old son (shoutout to chesskids.com!!) And let’s just say we are, uh, very much just beginning. If you’ve played before, you can clearly see what I missed, which is when the black Queen swooped in and snatched my Pawn, I was toast. I didn’t know it yet because I couldn’t see it! But the only move I had–King to F2, where the black Queen currently resides–was no move at all since that put me in Checkmate and that means GAME OVER.
It got me thinking how often communication is like a game of chess. Here’s a few ways:
1. You need to think ahead.
I was only looking at my next move, and because of that, I missed the trap waiting for me (thank you, bot) that had been strategically planned. Similarly, when communicating with peers, team members, leadership are we considering how our words will actually set up the next move? Are we thinking about what move the person will make after us and if it will constructively move the game forward?
Dr. Phil (yes, that Dr. Phil) used to say to his guests when they were lobbing insults back and forth like a pickleball match: Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? But over the years, as I shared that with many clients and it resonated with some of their most challenging conversations, we modified that to: Do you want to be right, or do you want to win? [read more]
Are You A Leadership Shapeshifter? | Issue 7
Oftentimes I hear leaders acknowledge that leadership isn’t “one size fits all” in one breath while in another they say things like “well, I didn’t need that, and I was a top performer” or “they are adults, they should be able to hold themselves accountable / figure it out themselves / make their own way, like I did.” And I get it, we see what worked–and what didn’t work–for us and easily slide into the mindset that a particular style of leadership is what works. But that isn’t really the case, is it? I mean, if it were, everyone on our team would be having the same level of success, and they’re not, are they?
Not only are their different Navigate (DISC Communication) styles, but there’s different personalities, different degrees of emotional intelligence, different human needs; and there’s even different levels of Skillsets and Willsets.
Logically, we know to “meet people where they are” but are we doing it? If we look at our leadership style for every person on our team, can we honestly say we’ve adapted it for their needs? Have we even taken inventory on what their needs actually are? [read more]
Comparison Doesn’t Have to be the Thief of Joy | Issue 6
Teddy Roosevelt said Comparison is the Thief of Joy. I’ve repeated it often, myself, until I recently got a fresh perspective. In reality, the only time comparison is the thief of joy is when we are comparing fixed traits, or uncontrollables. Interestingly, though, comparing actions, habits, methodologies, systems, and in short, controllables, is actually quite advantageous!
But that’s not usually what we are comparing are we? I know, if I am being honest, I am usually looking at someone’s outward traits or results when I’ve compared myself. Feeling frustrated that I haven’t hit their level or don’t have what they have. Whether it’s someone else’s fitness, their awards and achievements, their finances, their magnetism or social media popularity;life really is 10% what happens to us (fixed circumstances or luck) and 90% what we do about what happens to us (our controllables and actions). [read more]
No Need to Wait for the 🎆New Year🎆for a New You | Issue 5
There’s always a ton of New Year’s marketing gibberish around things like “New Year, New You!” and setting resolutions that will most likely be forgotten over the next couple weeks. I’ve never really connected to that concept, I think mostly because there isn’t something radically different between December 31 and January 1. There’s no magic catalyst–not any different than a catalyst that could transpire on February 22 or August 13 or October 18. Really it’s more of a continuation or should be thought of as such, anyway.
We are continuing the journey; building on progress made and lessons learned. We are smarter, stronger, more resilient, better equipped, and even more battle-tested than before and thus capable of so much growth in the coming year–not because the calendar changed but because slowly, and sometimes in seemingly insignificant ways, we have expanded our capacity. Little by little, inch by inch, challenge overcome by challenge overcome.
So here’s to a new year and to the you that you continue to become. And here’s an acrostic to help you and your team members think of their growth as a journey best filled with intentional choices.
H–Habits: What are three habits that would improve your life immeasurably if you chose to follow-through on them for the entirety of 2025?
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Will Durant [read more]
Is Stress Stealing Your Best? 😟😬😰 | Issue 4
We talk a lot about LODI: The Law of Diminishing Intent, which simply states that the longer you put off doing something you “should” do, the less likely you are to do it; especially if there is no real, material deadline as is the case in activities like prospecting (sales or recruiting), going to the gym, or following through on that last great business idea you had.
What we haven’t talked about is another even more insidious law of human nature: The Law of Increasing Stress. In short, this law recognizes the fundamental truth that a problem delayed is a problem multiplied.
I’ve been a coach, speaker, and trainer for over a decade working with sales professional, leaders and executives and I have seen a lot of “stress.” But, one thing I have yet to see is stress coming from something other than this: either, 1) not enough focus on what we can control or 2) too much focus on what we cannot control. [read more]
The Cost 💰 of the Coast 📉: A Challenge to Finish the Year Strong 💪 | Issue 3
Let’s start with first things first: we can’t change–or prevent–that which we don’t acknowledge. So here we go!
This time of year, after Halloween, right about the time sales people have just been getting some momentum following the back-to-school chaos, I start to hear a cancerous little epithet trickle in. Maybe you have heard it, too… It sounds something like this: Everybody wants to meet after the holidays… 😭😭😭
I call it The Coast.
The Coast is not a reality, it’s a mindset. [read more]
Consistency is King | Issue 2 | 9/20/24
I kid, I kid… Mostly… But as they say: 👑 Consistency is King 👑
I’ve seen exceptionally talented sales people have a business that more closely resembles a coaster at Cedar Point all because they haven’t mastered the art of consistency. I’ve seen consistent sales people rise from dead-last to top- or near-top of the pack because they stayed the course like water cutting through rock. [read more]
AMBITION | Issue 1
Ahhhh… the Paradox of Leadership: being responsible for having massive impact on your team while simultaneously not being able to control what they do, think, or feel… easy, right?!
If you have someone on your team playing a little short of their potential, try asking one (or several) of these questions to help restore their AMBITION:
Action: What action have they been or not been taking that is needed to be successful?
Momentum: Where have they let momentum drop or where was it never built? [read more…]
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