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...

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...

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 set this goal a few months ago.
Not just any goal–100 days of showing up. Shipping. Sharing.

Today is Day 70. Still a ways to go.
But here’s the truth: I reached my goal long ago.

Day 2 or 3, messages started rolling in–people telling me the work was helping them.
Day 8 and Day 14? I needed those days. They changed me.
By Day 24, a CEO friend told me his team was using my work in their weekly huddles.
Day 41 sparked an entire leadership retreat–of people I’ve never met.

It’s showing up in board...

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...

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...

ONE STORY

 
(The Brooklyn Bridge. Image by Sam Amil. 2018.)

"Don’t Argue with Fear. Crush It with Proof."

THE PANIC
In May of 1883—just six days after the Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public—panic hit.

A rumor swept through the crowd: the bridge is collapsing. Chaos followed. A stampede. Twelve people were crushed to death.

Confidence in the bridge evaporated overnight. Commuters stayed away. Engineers issued statements. Experts gave reassurances. But no one believed them.

That’s when Ph...

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...

Who decides?

Your coach?
Your boss?
The GM?
The board?
The transfer portal?

Feels like they do.

They hold the pen.
Call the shots.
Dictate the path.

But they don’t.

The trajectory of your life has less to do with your circumstances—and everything to do with your character.

You’ve met someone like this.

Someone who, no matter the situation—bad boss, market crash, unfair treatment—you just knew they were going to make it.

What do they have?

Unshakable belief?
Remarkable skill?
More talent?

Maybe...

There’s a fallacy we fall for when a door closes. 
That this was it.

The best shot.
The one path.
The only version of success that mattered.

But here’s the deeper fallacy: Believing there isn’t something better ahead.

Not just a better opportunity.
A better YOU.

The truth is, the future didn’t shrink when that door closed.
It got more specific.

It eliminated a path that wasn’t meant for the person you’re still becoming.
That’s not a dead end. It’s a clearing.

The best doors don’t swing open.
They’re built....

Convention is comfortable.

It tells you to wait your turn.
Follow the proven path.
Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Blend in, improve slightly, and repeat. It rewards predictability. It protects the system. It keeps things running—until the system stops working.

Unconvention, on the other hand, is rarely comfortable.

It’s messy.
Uncertain.
Often invisible at first.

It doesn’t wait for permission. It doesn’t ask, “What’s allowed?” It asks, “Why is this the only way?”

“What problem are we actually s...

ONE STORY

Jean-Dominique Bauby had it all.

Editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in Paris. Cultural maven. Fashionable. Connected. At 44, he’d mastered the game most of us are still trying to figure out how to play. His first book deal was just the beginning.

Then suddenly, the rules changed: A stroke.

Bauby awoke in a hospital bed—fully conscious but completely paralyzed. Locked-in syndrome trapped his sharp mind and vivid memories inside an unresponsive body. He couldn't speak, move, or even no...

I’ve given away hundreds of dominoes over the years.
Lately, I’ve been carrying one around in my pocket.

Why?

Because every domino is a promise.
Not of strength. Of possibility.

An upright domino stores potential energy—quiet, invisible, waiting.
And if it stays upright, all that energy stays locked inside.
But tip it over, and the story begins.

Here’s the physics most people miss:
A falling domino can topple something 1.5 times its size.

The first one knocks over something the size of a dec...