ARTICLES

Everyone has heard the old advice to “get back on the horse,” and it comes from a practical truth learned long before it became a motivational phrase. When a rider falls, the danger can be deeper than the fall itself. The rider may be bruised, shaken, embarrassed, or afraid, especially when the fall happens in public with others watching. If that rider walks away without ever mounting again, the fall can become the final memory attached to riding. The mind begins to connect t

When I was a kid, my baseball coach pulled me aside and said, “You’re a great defensive player. I need you to be a defensive leader on this team.” Honestly, I had never thought much about my defense, good or bad. I showed up, played where they put me, and did my best not to screw things up. But that sentence gave me a new title: defensive specialist. My mindset changed overnight. No ball was getting past me. That became my new attitude. My coach probably did not say it to man

I have been a Ryan Hawk fan for a long time. I have listened to the Learning Leader Show for close to ten years, and I have read all of his books. But I honestly think The Price of Becoming is his best work yet. What I appreciate most is that it does not promise some shortcut to greatness. It does not pretend there is a fast lane to becoming exceptional. Instead, it tells the truth. Greatness is built in empty gyms, in small moments, in private decisions, and in the times whe

We all want better results, better performance, better health, better outcomes at work and at home. But one of the biggest mindset shifts I’ve had in my life was thanks to the great book Atomic Habits and the idea that our lives don’t change because of one big decision. They change because of what we do consistently. Atomic Habits by James Clear is one of my favorite books of all time. I have had many of my employees read it as well as my two oldest children. No other book ha

I was never technically diagnosed with autism, ADHD, or anything else on that spectrum. But as I have grown up and learned more about it, I have started to better understand what I will call my natural wiring. As a kid any struggles I had went unnoticed. My grades were not horrible and I did not cause distractions or misbehave in class. I had a few good close friends but I was far from a social butterfly. I could be a little socially awkward but that was often labeled as shy

Getting promoted into leadership, especially when you were just “one of the guys” last week, is one of the hardest jumps I have ever made. You go from working shoulder to shoulder with people to being responsible for their performance, their development and the direction of the team. The title changes overnight. Your identity does not. That gap between who you were and what you are now is exactly where most new leaders stumble, because nobody really teaches you how to make th

I haven’t missed a workout in more than five and a half years. Every day, I show up, I lift, and I count to ten a lot. But if I’m honest, I rarely push myself to a full sweat or true exhaustion. Every day is a good workout. Almost none are “all the way.” I check the boxes I have created for myself to complete my mandatory workout and call it a day. My workout pattern shows up other places beyond fitness routines. We operate at what feels like an acceptable effort, then stop,

We spend a lot of time trying to motivate others—our kids, our teams, even ourselves. But what if motivation isn’t something we give, it’s something we unlock? I originally picked up The Self-Driven Child by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson as a parenting book. But the more I read, the more I realized it is one of the best leadership books I have ever come across. As parents, we want our kids to become the best version of themselves. As leaders, we want the exact same thing fr

Far too often I see employees frustrated because they feel like they are getting passed over for promotion. They see the name of the person who got the job and think, “That should have been me.” In many of these situations they are doing everything that is asked of them in their current position and assume that means they are ready to make the leap. It does not. Being good at your current level is important. It is not the same thing as being ready for the next level. Promotio

There is a powerful story about a Vietnam War prisoner of war named James Nesmeth. During his years in captivity, he didn’t have access to a golf course, a club, or even open space. But every single day, he played a full round of golf entirely in his mind. He visualized every detail: the feel of the grip in his hands, the rhythm of his swing, the sound of the ball leaving the clubface, the shape of each fairway, and the subtle breaks on every green. Hole by hole, round after

One of the most frustrating parts of growth is that results rarely show up when the effort does. I have written before about getting better each day and how consistency will always beat intensity, but I want to look at those ideas from a slightly different angle today. What you are experiencing today is not just the result of what you did this morning or even this week. It is the accumulation of your habits, your decisions, and your environment over time. In many cases, it re

Successful people in every endeavor learn a simple but brutal truth. You cannot negotiate with yourself. The moment you allow a conversation about whether you will do the thing, you have already lost. The standard becomes optional. Excellence becomes a mood. High performers do not ask if they will go to the gym, write the page, make the call, or lead the huddle. They already decided. The standard is the standard, and they do not debate it with their feelings. This mindset sho

Some of the strongest animals on earth can be controlled by something incredibly small. When elephants are young and in captivity, they’re chained to a stake in the ground. At that age, they’re not strong enough to break free, so they learn a simple truth: pulling doesn’t work. Over time, something fascinating—and honestly, a little unsettling—happens. As they grow, the chain is replaced with a simple rope. The stake is still there, but now it’s weak. By this point, the eleph

It is one of those simple ideas that carries more weight the longer you sit with it. A fish lives its entire life surrounded by water, dependent on it for survival, yet completely unaware of its presence. Only when it is removed does the reality of water become clear. The same thing happens to us, especially inside organizations. We adapt quickly to our environment. Norms become invisible. Systems become unquestioned. Over time, what once stood out fades into the background.

Some might say I need to relax more. The assumption is that relaxation looks like collapsing on the couch, scrolling through videos, or letting the next episode autoplay. When I am away from my day job, I am usually painting, writing, playing guitar and working on music, reading, or coaching my son’s baseball team. I stay pretty busy outside of work, but those activities do not drain my battery. They charge it. Think about your energy like a battery. Work draws current. Some

Years ago, I was called out on a possible water leak. When I arrived, I found that the leak was on the service line between the meter and the house, which meant it was the resident’s responsibility to repair. The resident was a 90-year-old widow, and when I explained that, she told me she simply did not have the money to fix it. After talking with her for a while, I told her that if she could get some neighbors to help dig up the line, I would come back and make the repair. S

Abraham Lincoln is one of the clearest examples I know of what it looks like when a leader grows, learns, and keeps people at the center of the work. I have written before about the idea that organizations are built around people, and that leaders must shine a LIGHT on what helps people thrive: Love, Interpersonal Relationships, Growth, Happiness and Health, and Toxicity. Lincoln gives us a powerful historical example of that same truth. One thing I have always admired about

I once met with an employee who, at the time, was considered a top performer. Their results looked strong on paper, but there was a deeper problem. They rarely collaborated, often complained that teammates were “lazy,” and struggled to work well with the people around them. During that conversation, I was direct: “You need to become part of the team. If you don’t want to do that, then I don’t want you here, and I’d even be willing to help you find another job.” That employee

My wife and I were the general contractors and built our own home. It was an overall great decision for us: we got exactly the house we wanted, without having to pick from a standard plan book or settle for something that was “close enough.” But I’ll never forget the day we went to look for tile for our bathrooms. We hit no fewer than five tile stores. By the end of the afternoon, our phones were packed with dozens of photos, and honestly, it all started to blur. I couldn’t r

When people join an organization, they are not just looking for a job. They are looking for an experience. That is true in work just as it is in travel, dining, or entertainment. When someone goes on vacation, out to dinner, or to a movie, they are not only paying for the service itself. They are paying for the feeling, the memory, and the human experience that comes with it. People are no different when they join an organization. They want to feel welcomed, known, valued, an