Are you actually choosing your habits—or are they choosing you?

You push hard. You work long hours. You optimize everything. But despite all that effort, there’s still a nagging sense of dissatisfaction. Why?

Because most people aren’t living a fulfilling life—they’re just distracting themselves from the fact that they don’t like what they do. Instead of facing the hard work of change, they fill the gaps with easy dopamine hits.

✔ Binge-watching while working on “important” tasks.
✔ Scrolling endlessly before bed instead of actually unwinding.
✔ Staying glued to outrage-fueled news cycles, then wondering why they feel on edge.

I get it. I’ve been there (coffee…). But here’s the truth: If you don’t take control of your dopamine habits, they will control you.

Dr. Anna Lembke’s Dopamine Nation breaks down why we chase short-term pleasure at the cost of long-term fulfillment—and what to do about it. If you’re tired of feeling stuck in patterns that don’t serve you, this is your chance to understand why… and make a change.

Success isn’t just about what you know—it’s about who you surround yourself with.

In The Proximity Principle, Ken Coleman reveals how five key people and four essential places can transform your career and personal growth. If you’re feeling stuck or want to be more intentional with your networking, this book provides actionable strategies to build the right relationships and seize new opportunities.

🚀 Are you making the right connections or just collecting contacts?
👉 Click to read my full take on this game-changing book!

The Next Better Journal is designed for high-achievers who want to align their daily actions with their lifelong goals, fostering intentional growth and clarity. This article breaks down the journal’s four key features:

1. Daily Journaling: Build a meaningful year through consistent daily practices like 3 Gratitudes, Thoughts, and the Power 3, ensuring focus and progress every day.

2. Weekly Reflection: Pause to celebrate wins, learn from challenges, and plan for the week ahead with prompts like Three What-Went-Wells and What Do You Need to Prepare for Next Week?.

3. Habit Tracker: Track up to ten habits, reflect on what worked and what didn’t, and make strategic adjustments to solidify long-term growth.

4. Monthly Reflection: Take a big-picture look at your successes and challenges with prompts like What Did You Do Well?, Next Month’s Power 3, and What Needs to Change?.

Each section includes actionable tips to ensure you maximize its potential, whether you’re building momentum, reflecting on setbacks, or planning for future success.

Start aligning your life today—grab your copy of the Next Better Journal on Amazon here and make your next chapter your best chapter yet!

When you hear “Integrity”, your first instinct is likely to think “Doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” If you then proceed to wipe your hands clean and think “okay, what’s next?”…hold on. While you’re not wrong, you’re a long way from right.

We all think we understand integrity. In fact, Integrity is one of my 5 Core Values (along with Purpose, Betterment, Responsibility, and Gratitude). Like many people, I felt I had a grasp on what Integrity was is—"Do what you say you're going to do." (sound familiar?)

As I looked deeper, I realized that definition didn’t hold up. What if you simply don’t commit to anything? Does that mean you’re living with integrity? Of course not.

What if your wellbeing could be measured on a continuum—not just your fitness, but your mental health, relationships, and even your purpose? Most of us focus on one piece of the puzzle, missing the whole picture. My Wellbeing Continuums model does things differently, offering a map to navigate every dimension of life. If you're tired of surface-level fixes and ready for real, lasting growth, this journey is for you. Dive in to discover how each dimension of wellbeing can unlock the life you truly want.

Zig Ziglar once said, "Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the 'gotta have it' scale." For many of my clients, material wellbeing—which includes financial security—is already figured out. This strong foundation enables them to explore deeper questions like, "What’s my purpose?"

But getting to that place of stability isn’t accidental—it requires intentional behaviors and mindsets. Morgan Housel's The Psychology of Money highlights the very reasons my clients have achieved this foundation, and why financial security is essential before they can focus on higher pursuits.

Feeling overwhelmed by the weight of your accomplishments? As a high achiever, you may find yourself stuck in a cycle of stress and burnout, questioning if you're climbing the right mountain. In this blog, discover how to create space for clarity, find your true direction, and build momentum toward a more fulfilling life. Uncover practical exercises and actionable steps to align your goals with your values, all while connecting with a supportive community. It's time to reclaim your journey and decide what mountain you truly want to conquer!

When you're stuck, growing, or navigating new challenges, knowing the right type of support can make all the difference. In this post, we break down the four key roles—Coach, Consultant, Advisor, and Mentor—and explore how each one serves a unique purpose. Whether you need self-discovery, hands-on solutions, expert advice, or long-term guidance, this post will help you identify the right fit for your journey.

While Brooks’ previous book Strength to Strength focuses on how to find meaning in the later stages of life, in “Build the Life You Want” Brooks and Winfrey emphasize that happiness isn’t something we stumble upon—it’s something we create. They break happiness down into four key pillars:

1. Family and Friends: Relationships are essential. The authors discuss how prioritizing meaningful connections can enhance your overall well-being.

2. Work and Purpose: They talk about the importance of aligning work with your passion, but more importantly, how to approach your work with purpose, no matter the task.

3. Faith and Spirituality: You don’t have to be religious to experience spiritual growth. The book dives into how we can all find deeper meaning in our daily lives.

4. Health and Fitness: Physical and mental health are intertwined, and the book offers simple, actionable tips for nurturing both.

As a coach who spends a significant portion of my day writing (social media content, blogs, emails to clients, texts, proposals, etc. etc.), I recently had the opportunity to share some key insights with a student who was eager to learn about business communication. Our conversation ranged from the practical use of technology to handling miscommunication and aligning writing with audience needs. In this blog post, I’ll outline three key principles that I believe are essential to effective business writing—principles I shared with my student and that I apply to my own daily practice.

While Buy Back Your Time is written with entrepreneurs in mind, the strategies Martell shares are just as applicable to anyone seeking to reclaim control over one of the most precious resources we have: time. Martell emphasizes that time is not just a resource, but one that permeates every dimension of wellbeing—from our professional life to our mental, social, and even spiritual health.

The book guides readers through a practical framework to:

• Assess the value of their time and identify tasks that don’t serve their long-term goals.

• Systematically delegate or eliminate these tasks, creating space for high-leverage activities.

• Focus on their unique abilities, the areas where they have the greatest impact, and work that fuels them, rather than drains them.

For the entrepreneur overwhelmed by constant demands or the high achiever who feels pulled in a hundred different directions, Martell’s approach to “buying back” time offers a liberating shift in mindset. The process begins with evaluating what your time is worth and making informed decisions about what to keep and what to delegate—whether that's at work or in life more broadly.

Let's Get Real, or Let's Not Play is a must-read for anyone who needs to deeply connect with their clients, whether you're in sales, consulting, or coaching. Khalsa and Illig present a framework that helps professionals build trust, uncover real needs, and co-create solutions that truly work.

The book introduces several methodologies and mentalities that make this possible, such as “Move off the Solution”, which reminds us that if you want to truly have a “win-win” with potential clients, you have to know what they truly need to succeed. It’s ORDER Model methodology is a time-tested approach to securing new deals that are true wins for the client. And the Yellow Light/Red Light qualifying process makes it easy to learn when to slow down…or to walk away.

For over 75 years, people have been using “How to Win Friends and Influence People” as a guide to better their connections with the people around them. With powerful anecdotes and clearly outline principles found in sections like '“ Fundamental Techniques in Handling People” and “Six Ways to Make People Like You”, this book is a guide to help you better your relationships at home, at work, and in life.

I love vacations. LOVE them (who doesn’t). When I talk to others about their vacations, I’m excited to gain insights into what’s truly meaningful in their lives. What we spend our hard-earned extraneous income on, and where we choose to spend our especially valuable downtime, says a lot about who we are and what we find is important. In this article, I share my intentional strategy for planning meaningful vacations.

In a world rife with distractions and ever-increasing demands, the journey toward mindfulness and emotional well-being is no longer an option, it’s a requirement to create a fulfilling life. Suzanna Hasnay, a retired FBI agent and mindfulness coach, joined me for an enlightening conversation on the NextBetter Podcast, and her wisdom offered an inspiring pathway for those looking to enhance their mental and emotional health.

Take-aways: Out of almost every factor measurable in the human experience, the #1 predictor of a human’s happiness and satisfaction in life is positive, meaningful connections with others. It keeps us healthy physically, helps us live longer, and brings a sense of fulfillment and happiness to our lives. With great anecdotal stories, and powerful scientific evidence from the world’s longest study on human happiness, the authors share why relationships matter, and how to develop them for yourself.

This is my cold plunge, set at a balmy 38 degrees. ❄

❌ This article isn't about the benefits of cold plunges. (there's more data out there than I care to post today, but I'll chat about it with you if you are interested).

This is about that tiny little sign that I stare at when I'm in the plunge.

"Everything you want is on the other side of discomfort."

Take-aways: How we view and thus impact, the world is based heavily on where we are in our stage of life. As we go from a younger, more innovative mindset to a more experienced one, we find ourselves faced with the choice. To curse our new “limitations”, or embrace this inevitable change, and find satisfaction and significance through a new meaning of service.

In the relentless quest for personal and professional fulfillment, we often stumble upon the realization that our occupational wellness is in disarray. Unbeknownst to many, the alignment of passion, purpose, and profession serves as the keystone to not only our job satisfaction but our holistic wellbeing. Taking us all the way back to June 19th of 2023, expert Joe Indiano shared invaluable wisdom gleaned from over two decades of experience in revitalizing IT teams.

As we near the end of the semester, several of my students are reaching out to ask what amounts to the same question:

“What should I be doing after college?”

Feel familiar? Firstly, recognize this: you SHOULD be feeling a bit nervous. For the last 16+ years of your life, you’ve been told what you should be reading, how to study, where to spend your “extracurricular” time. You’re about to make what will likely be the biggest transition in your life (followed closely by going to college in the first place). So what ARE the next steps?