Devotion breeds poise: in parenting, in coaching, in performance.
It’s not about pushing harder; it’s about attaching meaning to the push.


(Farmers tending crops by hand.)

ONE STORY

For most of human history, farming balanced effort with patience. It wasn’t about yield per acre. It was about rhythm.

Devotion wrapped in daily work.

Farmers knew their soil the way you know a person. Slowly, over years. They watched. Waited. Listened. They saved seed from the plants that thrived.

Then came the s...

Leadership isn’t about control; it’s about clarity. The best leaders paint a vivid picture of the future and help others see themselves in it.


(Ernest Shackleton and his crew stand under the bow of the Endurance, frozen in the Weddell Sea, 1915. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.)

ONE STORY

What is a leader?

At its most basic level, a leader is 'someone who takes people from here to there.'

Someone who sees a clear, compelling picture of the future, and they help others create it.

From George W...

Legacy isn’t someday. It’s shaped by the small, consistent choices you make today.


(Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi crossing the Ye River in Hebei Province, China.)

ONE STORY

In 2001, in a small Chinese village, two men were written off.

Jia Haixia was blind.
Jia Wenqi had no arms.

Unemployed.
Dismissed.
Considered burdens.

In the eyes of their community, they didn’t fit the model of what was useful. Their gifts went unseen. Their lives, overlooked.

But they refused to accept that story.

THE DECISIO...

"Your brain is wired to hold a vision beyond your immediate conditions. "


(In 1820, Joseph Karl Stieler painted Beethoven, pen in hand, writing notes he could no longer hear: portrait of belief in motion.)

ONE STORY

The music ended. The hall erupted. And the composer stood still.

He didn’t know. Couldn’t know.

Why? Because he was now deaf.

So Caroline Unger, one of the singers, walked over, touched his arm, and turned him around. Only then did Ludwig van Beethoven see it: a hall full of peop...

"What is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so badly?"


(Scottie Scheffler asking "What's the point?" during a press conference on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, ahead of the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush.)

ONE STORY

Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer the world has seen since…Tiger Woods?

Scottie isn’t just winning. He’s dominating the sport.

Four majors in just over three years.
Seventeen PGA Tour wins before age 29.
Eight straight 54-hole leads converted into victories.

The pac...

When my clients (athletes and coaches) move in-season, everything changes.

Long-term planning shrinks.
The horizon disappears.
The rhythm becomes day-to-day, week-to-week.

Every conversation seems to be about reacting to, rolling with, and managing the moment.

And yet, no matter where we start, we tend to circle back to two themes:

1. Self-care
   Your body is the instrument.
   Diet, sleep, hydration. They’re not luxuries. They’re the foundation.
   If you’re run down, you can’t rise to the challenge in ...

Friendly reminder: the hard stuff and the good stuff are usually the same stuff.
The things we value most – our marriages, our kids, meaningful work – demand the most from us.

So stop wishing this was easier.
Stop hoping the conflict, the uncertainty, or your own doubt will vanish.
This is the good stuff.

Think about every story you love. Every myth, every book, every series. They’re great because the hero had the odds stacked against them. Because there was no way through… until there was.

So...

If you asked me how I'm feeling and I said, “Stressed,” you’d probably be concerned.

Most of us would.
Because we’ve been told STRESS is bad. Toxic.

But is it?

In my view, COMFORT, not stress, is the real villain.

I went for a run this morning, and it stressed my body.
I’m taking a marketing course, and it’s stressing my self-perceptions.
I started a business last year, and it put stress on my finances.

All good, necessary things. And yes, the stress in each has helped me.

Why? Because stress is what gro...

To all of you who’ve given yourselves to something important:

I don't know what circumstances you're facing today.

The challenges you're up against or the setbacks weighing on you.

But I know this: for 99% of us, it's way too early to become pessimistic.

Setbacks can feel permanent.

And this acute problem can easily feel like destiny, especially if you stare at it too long.

But pessimism ISN'T the way.

OPTIMISM is.

Now, I'm not talking about blind hope.

Optimism truly is the best way forward.

The optimist...

"One must have a reasonable optimism. It is the force that makes the world go."



(Hershey's Candies produces 80 million Hershey's Kisses every day. That's 60,000 kisses per minute!)

(My goal with today’s Moxie is this: every time you see a Hershey’s Kiss, I want you to ask yourself, How can I be more optimistic about this? Whatever “this” happens to be for you in the moment.

Got it? Hershey’s Kiss = Optimism.)

---

ONE STORY

Now, if you’re not into chocolate, this may not mean much. But for th...

It was never about motivation.
It’s about the choice you make.

You don’t want to go on that run.
You don’t want to coach another practice.
You don’t want to have that hard conversation.

It’s not about wanting to or not wanting to.
It’s about choosing to anyway. 

Motivation eventually hits…
A mile or two into the run.
Four periods into the practice.
Halfway through the hard conversation.

Stop waiting for motivation.

Act anyway.
Motivation will come.

Most of the coaches I work with are in the thick of fall camp.
Long days. Tired voices. And a repetition that feels like Groundhog Day.

One message I keep offering as a warning (an invitation?):

"Remember, you're not just leading people.
You're leading the STORIES you've been telling yourself about those people."

The guy who "can't make a block in space."
The position group that "doesn't have many leaders."
The other coach who's "just an *@sshole."

Once that story forms, you often only see what you expe...

"Only the disciplined ones are free."

ONE STORY

"Inputs"

Before the sun’s up in the mountains of Kenya, he’s already out the door.

No alarm. No morning scrolling. Just the sound of his shoes hitting a dusty road with his friends.

He runs every day.

Every. Day.

Not chasing a record. Not preparing for a big race.

He runs because it’s Tuesday. Because it’s what he does.

The training camp is as simple as it gets: A few teammates. Basic food. Shared chores.

This rhythm never changes.

Years...

"Be quick, but don't hurry."


("SpEEd 79" Photo by Ralf Κλενγελ.)

ONE STORY

John Wooden was the greatest coach in the history of college basketball.

Not because he won.

Though he did.

Ten national championships.
Seven in a row.
Four undefeated seasons.

Not because he recruited the best talent.

Though he did.

Kareem.
Walton.
Goodrich.
Wicks.

With conviction, clarity, and a plainspoken wisdom that carried deep weight.


(John Wooden won 10 NCAA championships in just 12 seasons at UCLA, including an...

A client asked me the other day:

“Is any of this actually helping anybody?
Are we realizing our vision?
Am I moving the needle at all?”

Fair questions.

The day-to-day has a way of blurring the long view. You get lost in logistics. Buried in small fires.

Here's what I told her,

"The minutia matters. These mundane moments–the choices, the problem-solving, the small wins–they compound.

And if you stick with it, they don’t just add up. They multiply. They create whole worlds.

Not in weeks...
But...

I went to the beach last week.
No to-do list.
Slept in.
Swam for hours.
Played with my kids.
Read fiction.

Now I’m back, and I think it might’ve been the most important week for my business all year.

Rest isn't a break from the work.
Sometimes, it IS the work.

"Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure."



("Drifting" Photo by Amit Rawat.)

ONE STORY

The Devil doesn’t need to destroy you.

He just needs you to drift.

In 1938, Napoleon Hill wrote a manuscript that wouldn’t be published for more than 70 years.

It was too bold, too strange, and too honest for its time.

He called it Outwitting the Devil. (A fictional dialogue between himself and a character he refers to as the Devil). 

Hill wasn’t speaking about a literal demon.

N...

Kishore Indukuri left his job at Intel to start what would become Sid’s Farm–a subscription-based dairy company now delivering pure milk and dairy products to over 30,000 families across India every day.

The thing is, when he left Intel, he wasn’t chasing revenue, scale, or massive distribution. Not yet.
He was chasing purpose.

So, he quit.
Bought 20 cows.
And started delivering milk himself.

When your purpose isn’t clear, you look to escape.
When it IS clear, you look to engage.

---

Quick Inve...

The night before a big game, I like to walk teams through a simple visualization of their gameday schedule.

Wake-up. Breakfast. Position meetings. Walk-through. The bus ride to the stadium. Getting taped. Getting dressed. Warmups. Kickoff.

I tell them to see it all in their minds eye. Every moment. Each conversation. The whole thing.

And once we finish? I invite them to do it again.
Same schedule. Same bus ride. Same warmups.

But this time, I ask them to imagine themselves showing up...

With...

NFL camps start next week. After a decade coaching players and coaches in this league, I've noticed something:

My most accomplished clients?
They're not just talented. They're obsessed.

Psychologist Ellen Winner calls it "rage to master." A deep, internal drive to understand, create, solve. Not for applause. Not for trophies. But because there's still room to grow.

Every one of these folks has it.

In fact, every truly accomplished person I've worked with has it. It's less about being the best. And mo...

The most deceptive desire is the desire to be desired.*

It’s a trap. 

You get hooked on their approval, their likes, their head nods. You start checking the metrics more than your own internal compass.

But you didn’t start this for them.

That vision that got you moving? It wasn’t focus-grouped.
It was yours.

So why are you handing them the keys now?

The people who matter don’t shift. The ones who are shifting? They were never your people anyway.

Here’s your choice: You can optimize for the...

"The Ego Is Good As Far As It Goes. But It Doesn't Go Far Enough."


"Echo and Narcissus" by J M Waterhouse.)

ONE STORY

For most of human history, the ego was a gift.

It was a survival tool.
A structure we built to protect ourselves.

It helped us get through childhood. Helped us rise early in our careers. Helped us build identities sharp enough to be seen.

But what helps you survive the first half of life can quietly sabotage the second. Especially when that survival was powered by talent.

SUR...

There’s an old proverb:

A man is being chased by his fear.

He runs through a field. It keeps pace.
He climbs a mountain. It climbs too.
He dives into a cave. It follows, unblinking.

Eventually, he reaches a cliff. No more running.
Just two options:
Jump.
Or turn and face it.

He turns.

And something unexpected happens.
The fear stops.

It shifts.

It says, “I’m here because this moment matters. Because what’s next is bigger than you. Because your choices, your focus, your courage–they matter here....