Self Improvement Daily Podcast

One of the simplest pieces of advice anyone could ever receive is to do more things that work and less of what doesn’t. As basic as it is, it’s remarkably effective. Do not underestimate how much will change when you replace low-output activity with high-leverage action.

As a natural extension of that, it’s important to determine what is or isn’t worth doing. Similarly we all would benefit from having a higher threshold for what we take on or say “yes” to. It operates on the same principle of focusing your time and energy on doing things that are higher leverage.

But there’s an extra piece that needs to be considered that I don’t hear as many people talking about. It isn’t just what are you going to do or not do… You need to consider when to do or not do it. And here’s why:

The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. And a wrong thing might only be the wrong thing right now. 

Knowing what not to do is equally as important as knowing when not to do it. 

In building a business, an advanced marketing strategy could be the right thing to do but it’s the wrong time in your business to do it.

In your health, training for a marathon or switching over your diet might be a great thing to do that’s incompatible with the current season of life you’re in.

The reason so many people fall in this trap is because clarity is so difficult to find. Once you identify something that you think is going to help you achieve your goals, and you’re bought into it, it’s hard to resist the urge to take action on something you believe in.

But for that thing that seems like it would work, the right thing to do, it might be the wrong time.

So as you find ways to hold yourself to a higher standard and get clear on what you need to be executing on in the short-term, keep this in mind. Is it the right thing to do and is it the right time to do it?

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I first heard Inky Johnson speak in 2017 and his story stopped me in my tracks: In his senior year of college football, a routine tackle went horribly wrong. He made the hit and his entire body went numb. He ruptured his subclavian artery and paralyzed his right arm.

Everything Inky had going for him - a spot in the NFL and a paycheck that would take his family out of poverty - was taken from him in a moment. But he didn’t complain or feel sorry for himself… Inky chose to deepen his faith and find ways to become an even better teammate. 

His path since his injury has been anything but easy. There have been even more adversities, hardships, and complications. But through it all, Inky turned a life-destroying accident into a world class platform where he’s perhaps the most sought after motivational speaker in the world.

When he talks, it’s just different. It’s one thing for someone to tell you how to work on your mindset and reframe challenges… But it’s something else to see someone who has been through the worst of it and authentically lives it every single day.

I felt all of this in 2017. I was deeply inspired, moved, and permanently changed. But when it came time to introduce myself to him, I chickened out. 

Fast forward 8 years to Runningman 2025, Inky was scheduled to deliver the Keynote. I prepared a hand-written note for him that explained how much his message impacted me. In it I shared how he related with getting ripped off his identity as an athlete. How inspiring it is to hear the way he talks about hard work and discipline. How devoted he is to being a follower of Jesus.

But Inky had a medical issue and couldn’t attend.

A year later, Inky was invited back to speak at the event and this time was able to show. I couldn’t track down the note I wrote for him so this year I decided to tell him all of it in person. He received it fully present and with more humility than I could have imagined.

If you don’t know who Inky Johnson is, do yourself a favor and check him out right now.

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One of the most fundamental elements to living a better life is surrounding yourself with better people. We unconsciously conform to be more like the people we talk to, work with, and invest in. Jim Rohn was right when he said “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” You are evolutionarily and implicitly influenced to become more like them.

Logically, this means that the best people in your life, who are the best influence on you, are surrounded by exceptional people themselves. That’s precisely who built them into who they are!

For that reason, at the end of every year I do a simple audit. I reflect on some of the people that inspire me and challenge me to be better. Whose lived example pulls me to improve. Once I’m clear on who that is, I set the intention to spend more time with them.

Drawing conclusions like this has led me to being more proactive about spending time with friends, keeping in touch with mentors, and even investing in coaching and programs. Proximity is power.

And the best thing happens when you make a point to prioritize these people. You get introduced to their circle, their sphere of influence slowly becomes yours, and now you’re surrounded by even more high-powered people. Good people know good people.

With all that in mind, here’s a hack that most people don’t think about. There’s so much value to you introducing your best people to each other. Not only are they extremely likely to hit it off but now they’ll start inviting you into the rooms and spaces they’re curating more often.

It’s powerful to keep your best people close. So why not make it a priority?

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One of my biggest fears is that deep down, I don’t have good intentions. If we’ve met or you’ve been following along on my journey, you probably know how committed I am to making the world a better place. As good as that sounds, I worry that all of that is a facade, a front where I act like I care about others but am hiding the fact that I only care about myself.

Here are a few ways this shows up: 

When I make an introduction for them, I quietly convince myself I didn’t do it out of abundance and that there’s something in it for me…

When people mention how inspired they are about a fundraiser or campaign I’m leading, I don’t accept the compliment occupied with how it feels good to be validated by the praise…

When I deny dessert or make a healthy choice, I sometimes internalize it as virtue-signaling or being performative rather than confidently doing the thing that most serves me…

As you can tell, this is really personal for me and runs very deep. 

Fortunately I have many good friends who call me out on this nonsense. They see me not only for what I do, but also for who I am. I rationalize that they aren’t inside my head or know my thoughts and that they don’t have the full picture… But I’ve been corrected enough times that I’m starting to believe that they’re right and I’m wrong.

The direction of my growth these days is learning to trust my good intentions. Instead of minimizing who I am and the purpose behind what I do, I’m prepared to defend myself and my reasons for being who I am.

The truth of it is, my reality is what I choose to believe. I could be this person who reframes all of the positive I do in the world as selfish… Or I could humbly give myself credit for the man that I am.

We’ve all got our stuff and that’s what makes us human! I’m grateful we get to share in this journey alongside each other.

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Many people who are deeply invested in their self-improvement (like you) are very ambitious. Their thirst for growth is fueled by a desire to maximize their potential. They have a bigger vision for who they can be in the world - the impact, influence, and income that goes along with being a major player - and they’re committed to seeing what they’re capable of. Does that sound familiar?

The problem is, many people are falling short of living the successful life they know they’re capable of. It raises the question, why?

In most cases, this happens when your level of execution doesn’t meet the height of your ambition. I call this the Ambition-Execution Gap. It shows up in these 3 ways. I want to introduce each by using the example of wanting to complete a major endurance event.

The first is a lack of discipline. Knowing what to do and not doing it. It’s like having a training plan but not following through on it. Results will never materialize from the actions you didn’t take. Execution requires you doing the work, not avoiding it.

The second is not operating with enough leverage. You can be taking action on things that keep you busy all day, but if those actions aren’t potent and don't generate real progress, you’ll never get anywhere with it. It’s like having a training plan that neglects your diet. You can workout intensely but it won’t build up your fitness if you aren’t fueling yourself properly. This makes execution low impact.

The third component is clarity. Many people have a vague idea of where they’re headed but they don’t know what to do differently to get there. You can’t execute on something you haven’t clearly defined. Like trying to increase your average pace for the event, reaching a new threshold of fitness requires a new level of planning, one that you might not even be aware of.

The only thing getting in the way of the life you imagine for yourself is that you don’t have the discipline, leverage, or clarity you need to get there. You’ve got the ambition, now you need to figure out why you don’t have the execution to match. 

Success won’t happen by accident. You need to raise your standard and elevate the way you take action if you want to create it. That’s why, I believe, bridging the Ambition-Execution Gap is the way that you change your life, and change the world.

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Over time we slowly calibrate to the systems, processes, and routines of day to day life. What we do is largely the byproduct of the way things have been. What you already know is familiar, predictable, and safe.

It also virtually guarantees that nothing will change. As Albert Einstein famously said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

As a version of learned helplessness, we don’t even think to question the way we’re doing things. It may seem to be working, but are they working as well as they could be? It could be efficient, but are there still redundancies to clean up?

As a growth and improvement-oriented person, you know the answer to this is a resounding “yes”. There’s always room for improvement, which means there’s always something different to consider.

That’s why I want to pose this very healthy question: Is there a better way?

It doesn’t need to be threatening or confrontational. It simply comes from a place of curiosity. Creating space for creative thinking may illuminate a pathway you didn’t notice, a tradeoff you don’t need to tolerate, or an optimization that makes everything smoother.

The reason I wrote a second draft of my book is because I discovered a better way to present the information…

The task and time management systems I’ve built are a byproduct of solving for the times things slipped through the crack and seeking to fix it…

There’s always a better way.

The tricky part is, how much better is that way, and is it worth your time and energy? It’s a gift and a curse. Anything can change positively, so you need to be intentional about what you focus on improving. Implementing change in one area of your life my be way less valuable than a change in another.

That’s why it’s good to ask the question “Is there a better way?” just to explore, and be realistic about the upside connected to it.

That’s how you get really smart about your growth and improvement. That’s how you create leverage in your life.

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I’m telling you my personal development shows up in the weirdest places… But I guess that makes sense because it’s integrated into everything we do.

Last week I was flying into Colorado for an event, I had a middle seat, and after settling in I noticed a foul smell. It passed, I continued working on my laptop, and then a few minutes later I smelled it again.

I realized that I noticed the smell after the woman sitting next to me, sighed in her sleep. It was her bad breath.

It caught me in a slightly moral dilemma. I imagine she’d want to know she had bad breath and could do something about it… In that way it would be a favor to her. 

But it’s equally possible that hearing that from a stranger would be embarrassing, especially if she had a medical condition where it was out of her control.

Debating in my head about what the “right thing to do” is, I got honest with myself and noted that even if I decided that telling a stranger about her bad breath is the best thing to do… I was unwilling to do it.

It surfaces something really interesting about human nature. We are unconsciously inclined to want to be liked by others. Being liked is associated with being safe because it means more people would come to help you if you need it.

The implications of saying something that might make someone not like me, even if it’s a stranger I’ll never see again, were overpowering. So much so that it paralyzed me from taking action.

What I experienced on the plane is similar to the social pressures we face on a daily basis. Whether it’s doing what meets other’s expectations, going along with the crowd, or doing what’s more socially acceptable… Our behavior is influenced by this invisible force.

The good thing is, the more aware of it you are, the less power it holds over you.

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This is a term I’m making up but I think there’s something really special about it. I’ve completely oriented my life around being intentional. This means that I’m trying to live as consciously as possible so that I’m aware of what I’m choosing to do and how I’m choosing to show up. 

Intentionality requires two things: Clarity on what you want and discipline to follow through on the thing that you’ve decided to do about it. The more you can fine-tune your clarity and the more disciplined you become, in my opinion, the more intentional you are.

But there’s an extra detail that I believe needs to be layered on, and it’s the thing that people struggle the most with, myself included, when it comes to being intentional: Authenticity.

This concerns the side of clarity - Is this actually what I want?

In many cases, what we say we want is influenced by the expectations of society, demands of loved ones, or who we believe we’re supposed to be. But if you orient your life around intentions that aren’t true to yourself, you’re steering your life in a direction that isn’t fully yours.

In that way, the most sincere form of intentionality requires radical honesty. One where you’re painfully aware of who you’re being influenced to be, and who you want to be deep down at your core.

Being authentically intentional requires a level of vulnerability that doesn’t come naturally to you. It demands that you challenge what you’ve implicitly chosen you want and give yourself space to get to the heart of it.

We can make conscious choices all we want, but if those choices don’t steer us in the perfect direction, we won’t end up where we want to be.

Knowing the difference between what you want and, as The Spice Girls famously said, “What you really, really want”, is the game to play and the skill to build if you want to create your dream life. 

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