My new book, The Price of Becoming, is now available! I think you’ll find it useful.

This is a conversation with my research assistant, editor, friend, and all-around good dude, Dan Smith. We focused the bulk of this on the story behind writing my new book, The Price of Becoming. And how it could be useful for you.

You can WATCH our conversation on YouTube.

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Get The Price of Becoming: The Price of Becoming is available now wherever books are sold.  

“Have a plan, work the plan, plan for the unexpected.” From my old Miami football coach, Terry Hoeppner. It was posted in the locker room. He said it every day. I still think about it all the time.

There is no hack. There is no one thing. At many keynote Q&As, someone asks me for a quick fix. The only answer is the power of compounding. Consistency, dependability, and reliability are the least sexy words of all time. And they’re the whole game.

Take your work seriously. Don’t take yourself seriously. The best leaders go hard at the work but laugh at themselves. It’s important to be able to laugh with your team.

Optionality is overrated. 

“I’m trying to beef up my obituary. I’m not going to dabble.” – Ed Latimore (Ep. 648)

Live like a hawk. Hawks have eyesight eight times better than humans. They glide and observe constantly. But once they see what they want, they commit with everything they have. Be a professional noticer. Then commit fully.

Talk to your people before big decisions. My dad. Miranda. And the wide network of high-caliber people I’ve built over 700 podcast episodes. Be specific. Off the record. Long conversations. Then trust your gut.

Take bits and pieces from the best. Then find your own voice. As a brand new sales rep at LexisNexis, Rex Caswell had me interview and sit with the ten best reps in the company. I took a piece from each, mashed it together with my own personality, and eventually found my own voice. I still use that formula today.

Use social media to create in-person moments. Organize dinners, meetups, coffees. Get in the room with people. Concert ticket prices and The World Cup tell you everything you need to know about how much people are craving in-person connection right now.

Don’t outsource your thinking to AI. You can’t walk into the weight room, look around, and expect to build muscle. You have to move the weights. Use AI as a tool. Don’t let it do the thinking for you.

Your job is to add value to other people’s lives. Coach Hoeppner sat 19-year-old me down with the other quarterback and pointed at both of us: “He adds more value to our team than you do. He gives us a better chance to win. That’s why he’s going to play.” It was brutal. It was a very lucky moment for me to experience that in my formative years.

I fell into the AI trap. The Be a Pro section originally started as a LinkedIn post that was heavily influenced by Claude. It went well on Twitter too. People DM’d me praising it. It felt great. And it scared me. I was getting the rewards without doing the work.

The good old days are right now. I try to work hard when my family is asleep or at school. Between those hours, I go as hard as I can. Outside those hours, I try not to work too much. I’ve talked with so many dads who are older now, and their kids are out of the house. They miss the time when they were with their kids so much. I try to think of that daily.

Making positive dents in the world. Leave people, places, and things better than you found them.  That’s how you make a positive dent, one person at a time.

My philosophy on keynotes and writing: story, science, and practical application. Great storytelling to move people to the edge of their seat. Empirical evidence to make it true. Practical application to answer, “So what? Why should I care?” You have to have all 3.

Our edge in coaching leadership teams: my coaches actively live what they teach. They didn’t attend a seminar and get certified. They’re still active coaches themselves, still leading teams in real time. That’s what separates authentic teaching from performance.

Push your edges. Find your Goldilocks zone. James Clear told me you don’t get better at tennis by playing Roger Federer. He’ll destroy you. But you also don’t get better by playing a five-year-old. You need to be uncomfortable, but not so uncomfortable that you break.

Shane Gillis walked off stage looking exhausted. Dan saw him live in Cincinnati. On stage, effortless. The second he stepped behind the curtain, his shoulders slumped like he was ready to fall asleep. That’s what the great ones do. They make it look easy because of the price they paid to get there.

My productive paranoia. Our team has to earn it every session. It creates a productive paranoia knowing that continuous improvement is necessary.

The reward is bigger than the cost. It’s the greatest gig in the world. I bet on myself and the team every single day because if we keep adding value, I like our chances.

Reflection Questions

  • Where are you dabbling right now? What would 100% commitment actually look like, and what’s stopping you from making the call?
  • My end-of-day prompts: What did I do today to add value to others’ lives? What did I do today to push my edges?

Get The Price of Becoming: The Price of Becoming is available now at learningleader.com/becoming or on Amazon. 

More Learning

#529: James Clear – Becoming an Optimist & Building Better Habits 

#648: Ed Latimore –  Discipline Over Feelings, Don’t Dabble Your Way Through Life

#602: The Learning Leader Squad – Helping Teams Become Elite & People Become Excellent

 

Episode Chapters
00:00 A Special Launch Episode: The Price of Becoming 

02:29 Have a Plan, Work the Plan, Plan for the Unexpected 

05:15 There Is No Hack. Just the Power of Compounding. 

08:04 Take Your Work Seriously. But Not Yourself

12:31 Optionality Is Overrated: Why You Should Stop Dabbling 

16:13 How I Make Big Decisions 

20:34 Using Social Media to Build Real In-Person Relationships 

23:27 The Danger of Using AI to Write

34:16 How I Structure My Work Days

40:47 The One at a Time Moments That Signal a Positive Dent 

42:04 Leave People, Places, and Things Better Than You Found Them 

50:52 Story, Science, and Practical Application 

55:14 What Makes The Learning Leader Team Different

57:39 Push Your Edges: The Goldilocks Zone 

01:06:24 The Real Cost of Betting on Yourself 

01:10:45 EOPC