Making The “Jump”
Today, I’m making the jump.
For years I told myself I needed a parachute first.
I was completely wrong.
Today, I’m making the jump.
For years I told myself I needed a parachute first.
I was completely wrong.
17 years ago, January of 2009, I was close to $50k in debt (and climbing) and making less than $32k a year. The math was
Nobody needs a bigger to-do list going into 2026.
They need less weight.
Most people aren’t overwhelmed because they’re doing too little.
They’re overwhelmed because they’re carrying things that should’ve been dropped months ago.
I got a 990 on my SATs and carried a 2.3 GPA in high school. It’s a reminder you are vastly different at 30 or
Ultramarathoners don’t blaze through 100-mile races.(Not even Goggins) They jog. They walk. They pause to catch their breath. Some even crawl across the finish line.
The hardest lesson I’ve ever learned?
How to be kind to myself
For countless years, I’ve lived in my head and said things like:
Ready to crush it in 2025? Success isn’t just about what you start doing, it’s also about what you stop doing.
1 year ago I made a massive commitment unlike anything I’ve ever tried.
Doing something every single day for an entire year.
The 2024 goal: 50 pushups and 50 squats every day.
Here’s an unlock for anyone starting something and feeling like they aren’t improving.
Instead of thinking you should be better, I want you to act like a four-year-old.
Would it be conceivable to put 15 minutes a day into focusing on something you enjoy?
15 minutes a day for 30 straight days is 7.5 hours of work. Think of how much headway you’ll make on it.
I’m a recovering middle child.
A role I never asked for and had to deal with for (almost) my entire life.
15 years ago, you could get 1 Bitcoin for $0.00099.
The lesson? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.
Stop living in your head.
No one can predict with 100% certainty what will happen next week.
Stop worrying about the “what ifs” and start living for the “what could be.”
We often admire the glamour of others’ work. But, we miss the deep value and impact it brings them.
Take podcasting, for example.
“I don’t get tired.”
I remember when I first heard these words from Jesse Itzler a few years ago. It was the unlock I needed when I was feeling the effects of a hard workout.
I learned some hard truths about achieving goals while publishing my 3rd children’s book.
You know that project you’re anxious about starting?
I learned a stone-cold fact that may help you with it.
Do you want to know your competitive advantage?
It’s so clear we forget that it’s there.
We spend too much of our lives living with anxiety.
Why? Because we have misaligned expectations.
Being laid off can be the best thing that happens to someone.
Agree or disagree?
If you want to stand out from the crowd, you don’t have to “go the extra mile”. it’s much simpler than that.
Case in point: Writing “Thank You” Letters.
Today, I’m celebrating 7 years of the Just Get Started podcast!
Here are 7 truths I’ve uncovered from the journey…
If my son could only be great at one thing it’s an easy choice to make.
I’d want him to have immense self-belief.
If you’re in the woods and get lost, start walking.
I love this metaphor.
There’s likely a good reason why you’re not getting the results you want.
You’re stopping too early.
Here’s the weird thing about confidence.
It can’t be manifested from daydreaming.
It can only be developed through action.
Amateurs go at it alone.
Professionals use coaches.
When you’re committed to excellence you use all of the tools at your disposal.
Want the ultimate life hack to learn how to do something right?
Do it wrong first.
My son was complaining yesterday that he wasn’t good at band anymore.
I had to throw the challenge flag.
We went to the video replay.
Achieving Success is the difference between WILL vs. WONT
It’s the willingness to do the things we said we were going to do long after we said we were going to do them.
The “Friday Free-For-All” has been a productivity dream for me for the last couple of years.
It might help you as well.
Here’s the simple approach.
When did Tiger Woods become great?
When, specifically?
Was it when he won his 3rd straight US Amateur Title in 1996?
How about when he became the youngest-ever winner of The Masters at 21?
Or maybe it was winning the “Tiger Slam” and holding all 4 Major Championships at the same time?
Turn “I need to find time” into “I’m going to make time” and watch your whole world shift.
Maybes and Somedays go away.
Focused effort on the right activities persist.
Change starts with a simple question, “Is this the best version of myself I’ll ever be?”
If you’re not satisfied with the answer, it’s time to start committing to a change.
We all write shitty first drafts.
I have the picture to prove it.
I published my 2nd children’s book in February of 2022.
This picture isn’t close to the finished copy. It’s of the first scribbles of what came to be that book, one random night before bed in May of the prior year.
Why is this relevant?
Getting rejected when I was younger built a resilience of not fearing the ASK.
And it’s been an incredible tool.
As the great Jack Nicklaus said, “There’s a difference between being nervous and scared and nervous and prepared.”
I think about this often.
We work hard behind the scenes to reach a point of completion. Some checkpoints on the journey that confirm we are on the right track. A day where we can stop and look back at how far we’ve come.
Today is one of those days.
Today is the launch day of my 3rd Children’s Book, “My Best Friend Fred”.
What does a Surgeon, a Quarterback and a Pilot all have in common?
They don’t do it alone.
Why do we categorize trying things and not succeeding right away as failure?
It’s weird thinking.
We are simply not good.
That’s what practice is all about.
A couple of months ago I graced the storied grounds of my college golf course, affectionately known as “Downback”.
As I was playing the course the memories starting pouring over me. Hundreds of rounds of golf on this course. Thousands of golf balls hit at the range. Priceless memories.
The greatest mistake people make is believing that if they aren’t good at something they shouldn’t start.
That’s literally the only way you get better.
We all come from different circumstances.
Here’s why that matters for your mental health.
We can scroll for a hot minute on social media and find interesting people doing cool things. They seem to have it all together and are way ahead of us.
“Why bother?” we think, as we can’t get there.
I played my first round of golf at the age of 12 but it wasn’t until I turned 13 when I caught the “bug” and wanted play more often.
When summertime rolled around that year my brother and I bought a junior golf membership to the local golf club so we could play during summer break.
How do you cut down an entire forest?
One swing of the axe, repeated thousands of times.
It’s so simple, it’s stupid.
But we overthink it.
There’s an adage, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.” This applies to sharing your voice with the world.
Right now you may be raw. You may not have refined your writing and felt your ideas are worth anything.
But it’s because they live up in your head.
Schedule your job around your kids, not your kids around your job.
Because it goes slow before it goes fast.
I spoke with a family member who said, “I’m not good at writing so I shouldn’t even bother.”
It was clear they had two choices.
You know more than you think you know. And that info can be helpful to others.
Don’t keep it bouncing around in your head.
Why are we obsessed with cheat codes, life hacks and short cuts?
It provides us with a short term dopamine hit. We feel like we are getting something now to address our craving.
But it’s not sustainable.
There are a lot of people that dismiss CrossFit but there is undoubtedly one positive everyone misses.
The aspect of functional fitness and we are never getting stale with our workout.
How high is your fence?
That’s a strange question, right?
What I mean is how open are you with others?
Is there a fence? Is it a small white picket fence or a 10 foot high one made of concrete?
Unbeknownst to us, we may be guarded from others.
Many people trying to start a business are running into the same issue.
They are overcomplicating it.
You don’t need a fancy website
You don’t need business cards
You don’t need a logo and brand colors
You don’t need to have your pricing baked out
“Become their inner voice
…not their inner critic.”
I heard this today and as a parent it hits hard.
Our kids rely on us to guide them.
We are not simply impacting their current state but their future ones.
Let’s provide a positive message when they are with us so it can instill a positive attitude as they go off on their own.
Running with friends is better than running alone.
Yesterday, I was planning on doing 6 miles at a 12 minute pace.
The plan shifted once we got out there.
What does Parenting and Pickleball have in common?
It’s one opportunity to offer adaptive learning to our kids.
I started teaching my son tennis a few years ago and we’d go regularly during summer breaks and when we could work it in on a weekend where it wasn’t crowded.
I noticed that although he liked it, he began to get impatient. It seemed there was frustration because he had hit a plateau and wasn’t sure how to get past it.
I’m surprised more restaurants don’t follow the First Watch model.
They’ve found ways to provide convenience while creating efficiencies for their staff.
How?
When we think of success we often think of an accomplishment that was hard to achieve.
We fail to define what “hard” means.
We all carry around heavy boulders that are invisible to the outside world.
So, be kind today.
Give grace to others.
Let the little stuff slide.
We might not be aware of the amount of weight they are carrying with them.
93% of the time you’ll spend with your kids is before they graduate high school.
If that’s not sobering enough, I believe the percentage is rising due to screen time, busy work, and the always-on-the-go lifestyles.
There are many self proclaimed gurus that will try to tell you this one way is the way because they did it that way.
They are completely wrong.
There is no “blanket” advice.
We are all at different stages of the race.
I’ve never built a 7-figure business
I’ve never built a company to an “exit”
I’ve never built a massive “following” online
Some wonderful people could help you do those things but that’s not me, yet.
My Just Get Started mission is not simply about starting. It’s about the action it takes to start now.
The “just” is intentional.
Luck is being in the right place at the right time.
But it’s also being prepared for what might happen in those moments.
I went for a walk today.
No music, podcast, or audiobook.
Just pure silence.
It was glorious.
I may try it again tomorrow.
I’d encourage you to try it, too.
I think we’re teaching our kids incorrectly.
Here’s why:
We’ve gotten into this pattern of pushing our kids to become the best at a sport, getting straight A’s, or starting a side business at 14.
Do you struggle with achieving success when it looks like everyone around you is?
That might be because you don’t have a definition of what “success” is for you?
We’ve been told, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
But, that’s not true.
It all matters.
We think “I’m not happy because…” or “I won’t be happy unless…” but those are two periods of time that don’t exist to us right now.
If you’re not a golfer then you may not be aware of the devastating loss Rory McIlroy had at the 2024 United States Open Championship. He had the lead late in the tournament and coughed it up with a couple of errors.
Today, I’m making an ask for the first time.
3 years ago today I made a decision. I was going to commit to writing 3 blog articles a week, every week. In that time I’ve published over 460 blog articles.
People ask me all the time how I’ve gotten to interview so many incredible people on the Just Get Started podcast.
The answer is simpler than they want to hear.
Think about the most difficult conversation you’ve ever had. Do you have it?
Who was it with?
What was it about?
How did you show up?
How did it get resolved?
Everybody starts at zero.
Some never start.
Some think about starting.
Some put a plan together to start.
Some tell people they are going to start.
And some just start.
The differences can be subtle but the action to just start creates monumental energy forward.
Decisions aren’t good or bad.
They are controlled or uncontrolled.
Are we able to make the decisions we want or are we always at the mercy of other factors or people that are making decisions for us?
The more decisions we have control over, the more inherently happier we become.
As the saying goes, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
But, when it’s bone dry it can shipwreck them, too.
It’s never about the total number.
It’s about the culmination of the attempts.
Swing the bat
Shoot the shot
Take a big leap
So far, I’ve written 19,000 words of my book that I plan on launching in 2025.
But I didn’t write them all today.
Nor this week.
Nor this month.
It shouldn’t be easy.
Easy is lazy. Easy is the quickest way to the bottom.
Everyone that is asking for easy is saying “I’m not willing to put in the work to make this successful”.
We crave options. The more flavors of ice cream the better, right? But that’s not necessarily accurate.
When we have too many options, we become paralyzed in thought. We over analyze and ruminate on which option might be the best. We play constant scenarios in our head.
You can invent or you can innovate.
When we are designing the most fulfilling life, innovating on what we are already doing could be the best option.
There is a lot that divides us as Americans.
But one thing unites us more than anything.
The National Anthem.
Embracing a “slow summer” is what I’ve been working toward.
But it is hard on the psyche.
I’ve conditioned myself to always be “on”. To work continuously and progress my projects. A day off meant I was behind in some way.
My son is doing a summer workout program I put together.
3 days in he learned a valuable lesson.
Remember that thing that was stressing you out last month?
Yeah, neither do I.
Most things that happen to us today won’t matter in a short time so don’t let it stress you out too much.
Humans have this weird way of complicating everything.
But most answers are very simple.
Do you have rituals with your kids?
What is your favorite
For me, it’s going on a walk around the neighborhood every day after school.
It’s the time my son and I get into deep conversations, ask curious questions and reminisce about life.
It’s the time I cherish most.
I hope when he gets older it’s one of his fondest memories, too.
The way everyone does it isn’t the way you have to do it.
→ Be brave.
→ Take a stand.
→ Do it your way.
There’s a wide-open world of possibilities if you are willing to carve your own path forward.
When you’re feeling like a failure, remember John Grisham.
He wrote his first novel, A Time To Kill, over 3 years only to be rejected by 28 publishers before garnering a meager $5,000 print deal with an unknown publisher, Wynwood Press.
“I get to be on a lot of Podcasts and have to say that this conversation was so different.”
That was feedback from a recent Just Get Started Podcast guest interview.
Against all instincts, don’t help out your kids when you ask them to do something.
The internet and social media are not bad. They are tools.
The same way a hammer and a chainsaw are. If done right, they are insanely useful.
The question then is how are you using these tools?
Too often, we let the fear we learned in our adolescence trigger decisions in the present.
How we think about money.
How we think about relationships.
How we think about our ability to perform.