The Gambler's Fallacy Will Cost You Everything Why confusing correlation with causation makes you lose every time Jay and Kateri Schwandt and their 14 sons and 1 daughter A couple in Michigan had 14 sons. Fourteen. In a row. No daughters. Just boys. One after another for nearly three decades. Jay and Kateri Schwandt became a media sensation. People couldn't believe it. The odds of having 14 boys in a row? 0.02 percent. So when Kateri got pregnant with their 15th child, what did everyone...
1 day ago • 9 min read
The Power of Non-Resistance: Why Fighting Back Is Often the Dumbest Thing You Can Do The gentle way beats the forceful way—in martial arts and in life Saturday morning on the mat, I was rolling with Professor Alex. He's a bear of a man. Brazilian. Started training BJJ when he was 20. That was over 30 years ago. Before that, judo and taekwondo as a kid. He's trained under legends: Renzo Gracie, John Danaher, and others whose names would make any BJJ practitioner's ears perk up. He outweighs me...
3 days ago • 9 min read
Stop Trying to Be a Black Belt When You're Still a White Belt Your ego is killing your progress. And you don't even realize it. Here's why most people struggle, fall on their face, and fail: They try to do black belt exercises when they're still a white belt. They skip the fundamentals. They jump to advanced techniques. They try to run before they can walk. And they wonder why they keep failing. It's not because they lack talent. It's not because they're not capable. Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan...
4 days ago • 10 min read
The Primitive Edge: Why the Sharpest Men Still Use Simple Tools In a world optimizing everything, the warriors who win still do the work no one else will touch. The Renaissance Man Self-Assessment Before we go further, answer these five questions honestly. Rate yourself 0–5 on each: 0 = I never do this1 = Rarely2 = Occasionally3 = Sometimes4 = Often5 = This is a consistent habit 1. How often do you choose a harder, less efficient method intentionally—not because you have to, but because it...
5 days ago • 8 min read
Why the World Needs You To Be Rich Not because money makes you important… but because helpless people have very few options. My stomping grounds in the 70s and 80s One of the strangest things about growing up in Hawaii was that I got to see two very different worlds living side by side. On one side, there was the American dream. Work harder Make more money Get ahead Own things Compete Win Be somebody On the other side, there were the deep Asian and Polynesian influences woven into island...
6 days ago • 7 min read
Eat The Frog Before The Frog Eats You The people who stay stuck usually aren’t lazy. They’re avoiding one thing. I still remember standing in Ward Warehouse (now Ward Center) in Honolulu around 2002. Amy and I had flown back to Hawaii so I could introduce her to my extended family and show her the places that shaped me growing up in the 70s and 80s. The schools. The neighborhoods. The beaches. The restaurants. Some of the places I hung out as a kid. Not the pool halls though. Some stories are...
7 days ago • 8 min read
My Standards Are For Guiding Me, Not For Judging You The leadership lesson that saved my crew (and my relationships) I was working at Raytheon in El Segundo. First small defense contractor project. A little lab renovation for a new program— the kind of work that happens on a recurring basis. I was new at running work. Fresh promotion to foreman. Eager to prove I deserved it. And I made the classic rookie mistake. I judged my crew by the same standards I judged myself. Not in a constructive...
8 days ago • 8 min read
Focus Your Power on One Point How martial arts taught me the secret to success, happiness, and freedom—and why most people scatter their energy instead of concentrating it. Here's what most people don't understand about martial arts: It's not about being the biggest, strongest, or fastest. It's about focusing all your power on one small, vulnerable point. A 100-pound person can drop a 250-pound person—not because they're stronger, but because they know how to concentrate force. A punch to the...
9 days ago • 8 min read
The Leadership Skill No One’s Talking About: Why Storytelling Beats Data Every Time If you can’t tell a story, you can’t lead The MCU The Marvel Cinematic Universe, the MCU made over $29 billion! Not because of special effects—though they were spectacular. Not because of star power—though they had plenty. Because they told stories we couldn’t stop watching. For Boomers and Gen X like me, we finally got to see the heroes we grew up with in comics brought to life on screen. Spider-Man swinging...
10 days ago • 8 min read