If you've been reading these monthly dispatches for the past year, Reader, you might detect an attitude shift. For years, when people have talked about how busy they are, discussed their self-generated overwhelm, shared their discomfort with stillness, or even effused on their love of running, my reflexive response has been: "Running's for fugitives." This was something that only spoke in my inside voice… until one day a client asked "WHAT THE HECK is that?" My internal dialogue had, in that...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
A few years ago, I started a men's group called "The Inner Circle" with a couple of posts on LinkedIn. Not because it was a good marketing idea. Not because some business coach told me communities were the future. Because I went on a bike ride with an old friend I hadn't seen in years, and somewhere on that ride we got to talking about middle-aged male loneliness — and I thought, yeah. Someone should do something about that, Reader. Turns out the problem is bigger than I realized. The U.S....
3 months ago • 4 min read
Reader, Almost every professional I worked with this year had one thing in common—a strange, private drag. Not burnout. Not confusion. But a low-grade stall, like their instincts weren't quite firing. And still, they kept delivering. Because that's how insanely capable people roll. Sharpening The Blade For insanely capable professionals, instincts are like a chef's knife. Over time, they naturally dull—not from neglect, but from constant use. The leaders I worked with this year? Wealth...
5 months ago • 3 min read
It's great to see you, Reader, happy holidays. Here's a mini manifesto I keep for myself about writing:It's always more powerful to make readers seen than it is to make them feel inspired. Inspiration is fleeting. A somewhat empty calorie. Being seen, however, is stabilizing, centering, and empowering. So, if you're anything like me, and you'd like to use this end-of-year time to create space, exhale, and recover from the compounding cognitive load we carry--I see you. Back when I coached...
5 months ago • 3 min read
I've started training for a race I won't run for three or four years. Everyone who knows me knows this: I hate running. If I wrote a memoir, the title would be "Running's for Fugitives." I've built an entire athletic identity around cycling specifically, because it's not running. And yet here I am, choosing to intentionally train for a 50k trail run. My friend Brett produces The Kilimanjaro Trail Run. I've never met him, but I love what he does, who he does it for, and why he does it. I need...
6 months ago • 8 min read
Time to narc on myself. Earlier this month, Reader, I violated every principle I claim to stand for. And a friend called me out—hard. I was caught in one of those doom-scrolling rage cycles. You know the ones—the algorithm doing its thing, feeding you precisely calibrated outrage, each swipe releasing another tiny drip of dopamine that momentarily eases the deeper frustration about what’s happening in the world. In that state, I reposted something political on Instagram. It was biting,...
7 months ago • 5 min read
I'm not gonna lie to ya, Reader I spent the better part of this summer fretting about attendance for this year's Bovine Classic Gravel Race–an annual international cycling event I started four years ago. Last year, we had our biggest growth yet in terms of both attendance and snazzy press recognition. Somewhere in our monkey minds we had a wee (and unreasonable) notion that "all that good media means this year'll be a breeze in getting people to sign up early, right?" Wrong. That's the thing...
8 months ago • 6 min read
Hard to believe it’s a month already, Reader? Let’s get rolling. Before we dive into a hard chat about trust — and more specifically, self-trust — I’ve got a public admission: For the first time in a long while, I’ve been stuck in my own writer’s block, grinding out semi-articulate ideas. So, if you’ve been caught in your own friction lately, I’m right there with you. When all else fails, I ask a colleague for guidance. They lob back the obvious unblocker: “Your job is to have amazing...
9 months ago • 4 min read
Are we ready for this, Reader? Confession time… True to brand, the J in my INFJ can be pretty judgy. (This is one of those IYKYK things.) My therapist might actually gently reframe it as finely tuned discernment, but he gets paid to do that. Let's be real—I'm the coach who sends his clients a welcome coffee mug with the phrase "Judging you IS my self-care" on it. (Well, at least I mean to.) Lately, I've noticed one personal pet peeve lately that's been tweaking my "J" pretty hard. Huzzah......
10 months ago • 5 min read