The 5 Sentences That Rewired My Brain: Bruce Lee’s Daily Affirmations Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn’t the work—it’s what you tell yourself about the work I used to think my work should speak for itself. That if I just kept my head down, did quality work, delivered results, eventually someone would notice. Someone would promote me. Someone would give me the opportunity. Someone would recognize my value. That’s what I was taught growing up. “Be humble. Don’t brag. Let your work do the...
1 day ago • 9 min read
The Lost Skill That Makes Great Leaders: Why Most People Don’t Know How to Learn (Let Alone Think or Teach) If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it deeply. Long before I was a foreman on construction sites, I was on the mat teaching hapkido classes. First to kids. Then to bigger kids—adults. And here’s what I learned from the mat that I was able to apply to work and life: You don’t have to be some “credentialed” expert to teach. You can teach what you know. And you can be very...
3 days ago • 7 min read
Lose an Arm to Take a Life: The Real Price of Success You don’t fail because it’s hard. You fail because you never decided what you actually wanted. I spent years struggling. Not because I wasn’t working hard. I was working my ass off. Construction sites. Martial arts training. Reading everything I could get my hands on. But I was stuck. I was making progress, but it felt like I was treading water. Like I was working hard but not getting anywhere. Then I figured out what I was doing wrong. I...
4 days ago • 6 min read
The One Leadership Mistake That Kills Your Credibility Before You Even Open Your Mouth You can’t lead anyone when your word means nothing. Here’s how you’re cutting your own legs out from under you. Ravi told me a interesting story recently. He was living in Brazil at the time. He was wanted on a BJJ-teaching team badly enough to fly him to Los Angeles for the final interview and hiring process. Except they kept screwing up his plane ticket. Wrong date. Wrong airline. Wrong airport. Three...
5 days ago • 10 min read
12 Logical Fallacies That Undermine Your Intelligence, Influence, and Leadership (And How to Spot Them) If someone is using these tactics, they’re not trying to learn or share—they’re trying to manipulate you. I was never the quickest, smartest, or most creative person in school, at work, or on the mat. In fact, for many years, I was anything but and quite gullible. I wanted to be a sponge, to take in as much information as possible. Taking a cue from Socrates: “I know that I know nothing.”...
6 days ago • 8 min read
The Trust Equation: Why Removing Self-Interest Is the Key to Great Leadership You can have all the credibility, reliability, and intimacy in the world. But if you’re too focused on yourself, nobody will trust you. The other day, during a session with my executive coach, we were talking about some business challenges I’ve been experiencing. He asked me: “Since you like frameworks and mental models so much”—he actually doesn’t prefer them as much, which is one reason why he’s a great coach for...
7 days ago • 8 min read
You Are the Bottleneck: Why Most People Sabotage Their Own Success (And How to Stop) The most powerful lever in the world is useless if you don’t know how to apply force properly. 3-4 million years ago man first grabbed a rock and a stick, he’s been able to increase his ability to impact the world. More importantly, he’s been able to use the leverage those tools allowed. The rock allowed him to leverage space with force. The stick, with a fulcrum, allowed him to leverage force itself. And...
8 days ago • 8 min read
Mastery Isn’t About the Skill—It’s About Mastering Yourself Discipline is just a habit. And the easiest way to build it is to start with what you love. When I was young and dumb, trying to make my way in the world, I was like most young men. Full of energy, fury, and potential. But very little utility, credibility, or capability. All I knew was that there were a few things I loved doing and exploring: Reading Martial arts Learning and growing And a few things I “had” to do to make my way in...
9 days ago • 9 min read
Why Being Simple Is the Smartest Move You Can Make (And Why Intelligence Without Wisdom Is Dangerous) The uncarved block doesn’t ignore complexity. It just refuses to be controlled by it. Often, being called “simple” has connotations of stupid, basic, not a person who seeks to accomplish much in life. But what if I told you that’s the exact opposite of the truth? What if being “simple” is actually the smartest move you can make? What if simplicity is a sign of great intelligence and wisdom,...
10 days ago • 7 min read