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...

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...

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...

One standard I set with many of my clients:
Don’t look yourself up on social media.
Especially in-season.

Why? A few reasons.

First, ‘fan’ is short for fanatic.
Everyone posting about your performance is, by definition, a fan.
That doesn’t mean they’re qualified. It means they’re emotional.

Second, not all commentary is worth your attention.
Cynicism often passes for insight.
But don’t fall for it.

There’s a big difference between feedback and fear.
Between a real critique
And someone hoping you’ll fold.

It ...

You'd be amazed how many emotionally immature coaches there are in sports.
(Or maybe you wouldn't.)

Half the work of working with young pros is helping them realize: It's not personal.

The psychological games? The mixed messages?
That's not about the athlete's skill or future.
It's about the coach's own insecurity.

That's when we talk about standards–and thermostats.

When everything around you feels unstable or reactive, you need something stable and chosen.

A standard is a promise you make to yoursel...

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like standing on the sideline
of a big-time college football game, I’ll tell you:

It’s mostly an exercise in watching grown men wrestle with reality.
And they tend to fall into one of two camps.

In one camp:
The coach who’s constantly unraveling.
Anger. Profanity.
Yelling at the play, the athlete–reality itself.
Nearly all his energy is spent resisting what’s happening.
And honestly?
No one’s better for it.

In the other camp:
It’s like watching a seasoned sai...

I had coffee with my younger self this week.

He ordered a vanilla latte.
I ordered a coffee with light cream.

I asked him how things were going.
He lied and said everything was good.
Said he liked the work he was doing.
Said he could see himself doing it forever.

I told him a time would come soon,
When he’d be really honest with himself.
When he'd feel it: this season is over.
He’ll be scared to admit it. But he’ll know.

He asked, But what will I do?
How will any of this translate to something else?...

Listen for it.
You’ll hear it everywhere:

“I’m trying to get faster.”
“I’m trying to win new business.”
“I’m trying to be more present.”

Trying sounds noble. But it’s not.
It’s a hedge. A way out.
An escape hatch you build before you even start.

You’re either getting faster or you’re not.
You’re pursuing business or you’re not.
You’re present––or you’re rehearsing the excuse for why you weren’t.

Here’s a test:
Ask someone to watch your kids while you’re out of town.
Or your pet. Or your home.
If they ...

Your inner critic doesn't always shout.
Sometimes, it whispers.

Don't miss the block.
Don't forget your lines.
Don't fumble the sale.

It sounds helpful.
Even responsible.

But listen closer.

That voice isn't giving you a plan.
It's giving you a list of fears.

This is 'avoidance thinking.'
And it puts all your attention on the problem. Not the purpose.

There's another voice.
Quieter. Clearer.

Land the block.
Deliver the line.
Close with confidence.

This is 'approach thinking.'
And it replaces "don't...

There’s a strange phenomenon in sport:
Bronze medalists are often happier than silver medalists.

It’s called counterfactual thinking.

Bronze thinks, “At least I made the podium.”
Silver thinks, “I almost won.”

I once coached an Olympian who won gold… but in a relay.
"So it didn’t count", or so he told me. (Really?!)

Just last week, a current NFL player told me he feels embarrassed to talk about his job.
Why? He’s never taken a snap on Sundays.

Never mind that three franchises have paid him to w...

One of the most powerful conversations I’ve had was with a head coach a few days after an awful season.

He didn’t just lose games—he lost the fans.
The media piled on.
The stress around the program was palpable.

I remember walking into his office. We sat down.
Pleasantries, sure. But we both knew why I was there.
Not to talk about next steps.
Not off-season plans.

We talked about grief.

And let me tell you—grief is NOT a topic that comes up very often in head coach or senior leader offices.

I told him the...

Courage isn’t the absence of fear.
It’s the presence of vision.

This is one of my favorite cognitive reframes. I come back to it often—especially with clients who feel overwhelmed.

Because sometimes they’re buried in doubt.
The challenge feels too big.
The odds too narrow.
The leader above them seems impossible.
The NIL landscape is chaotic.
The timing, the market, the pressure—none of it ideal.

When these stories come up, I let them finish. I don’t rush to solve or redirect. I just listen.

You don’t pick a shirt based on who you want to become.
You pick it based on how you feel.

Cold? Grab the hoodie.
Confident? Maybe the black one.
Lazy Sunday? Hello, stretched-out tee with the mystery stain.

Shirts are for moods.
Identity is not.

The problem is, most people treat their commitments like shirts.
They wear them only when they feel like it.

But if you only write when you feel inspired...
Only lead when you feel confident...
Only train when you feel motivated...

Then your future is alw...

(this piece is written by our founder, Kevin Knox)

When I was a kid, I had a kind of superpower.

I’d have a dream—something big.
Play in the majors.
Fly a fighter jet.
Become a dad. A speaker. A leader.

Not tomorrow dreams.
Someday dreams.
The kind that require time, effort—
and growing into someone new.

Anyway, here's the superpower:
I’d find a quiet spot.
Sit real still.
Close my eyes tight.
Clench my fists.
And then I'd whisper to myself:

“From now to then.”

That phrase became a portal—
...

I can picture this all falling apart.
I can see the failure. Hear the critics. Feel the embarrassment.
Oh wow. Let’s not do it.

But I can also picture this working.
I can see the through line. The lives changed. Why it must be done.
Oh wow. We have to do this.

Funny, isn’t it?
It’s never the good outcomes that keep us up at night—only the bad ones.

The stories you tell shape the future you live in.
It's your choice which ones get airtime.

You don’t have to take it personal.
You don’t have to get stuck in your hurt feelings.
You don’t have to turn every slight into a story.

There was this running back we worked with a few years ago—buried on the depth chart. So far down, his own position coach once blanked on his name in a team meeting.

But, you know what? The kid didn’t flinch.
He didn’t pout. Didn’t make a scene.
He just kept showing up.
Got lost in his process.
Stacked daily gains.

And here’s the mindset:

“What you think a...

 You want to know a secret?

Well, it was never a secret.
But it will help you. And you’ve been looking for it in so many other places.

Here it is:

Action.

Go. Get started.
Stop waiting and start moving.

You don’t need another credential.
You don’t need another class, that book, or more research.

The clarity you seek is waiting for you in the work.

While everyone else waits for the perfect conditions, the perfect plan, the perfect moment. You can choose to start. Today.

In fact, the only ...

We salute you.

You’re not crazy.
You’re not lost.
You’re just ahead.

You’re writing before the deal.
Training before the call.
Working while nobody’s watching.

People might not get it.
Not yet.
Too early. Too bold. Too much.

But that’s exactly why it matters.

You didn’t wait to be picked.
You chose yourself.
You don’t need a green light.
You’re already moving.

You’ve got vision with calluses.
Belief with receipts.
Ideas backed by motion.

The absolute moxie—
we salute you.

It’s lonely som...

 Your brain is obsessed with the future.

It’s not your fault—it's built that way.
It loves to guess.
It loves to build worlds that don't exist yet.
It loves to conclude, and then over-conclude.

This is Prospective Bias at work—the itch to leave the moment you're in and live somewhere else.

You imagine the next disaster.
Replay the last mistake.
Rehearse a conversation that hasn’t happened yet.

And in the process, you lose the only thing that's real: 
Now.

It feels useful, all this mental forecasti...

ONE STORY

"When Pressure Builds, Presence Wins"

In August 1974, highwire artist Philippe Petit stepped into thin air, 1,300 feet above Manhattan. A quarter-inch cable stretched between the Twin Towers—his only connection to safety.

No net. No harness. Nothing but focus.

For 45 minutes, Petit moved from one tower to the other in an unauthorized walk while police waited to arrest him at either end. Crowds gathered far below, necks craned. Some officers wept at the sight of such impossible be...

We've worked with head coaches.
First-round draft picks.
Olympic medalists.
Fortune 100 CEOs and their teams.
NYT bestselling authors.
Founders who exited to millions.

Sounds flashy.
Maybe it is.
But here’s the truth:

They’re just humans.
Humans who did the one thing most people won’t.

They refused to stop.

In failure.
With critics.
On the good days.
And on the ones where everything in them wanted to quit.
They refused to stop.

When they didn’t win the starting job. When the launch bombed. When the mar...

For those of us in the storm, the fight, not quite "there" yet—but still believing.

Every pursuit has two signals: inputs and outputs.

Inputs: what you bring—time, focus, energy, intention.
Outputs: what you get—wins, revenue, recognition, results.

We obsess over outputs because they're visible and validating. They let us keep score.

But if you're in the trenches building something that matters, you already know: the scoreboard always lags behind the work.

By the time results appear, they're already h...

People don’t like it when you change lanes.

A career pivot.
A relationship shift.
Stepping away from a vice others still enjoy.

(Heaven forbid you change political parties, sports teams, or faith communities.)

Suddenly, people are uncomfortable.
Not because you’re wrong—but because you’re new.
And new requires them to adjust.

You see, we built a story around who you were.
It made sense.
It fit our world.
And, now you’ve gone off script.

But the truth is this:
Who you were isn’t going to get y...