A Passionate Eye

“Skills are cheap. Passion is priceless.”

— Gary Vaynerchuk

I recently listened to the Huberman Lab podcast featuring a guest I know and deeply respect—Stuart McMillan. Stu is not just a friend and colleague; he’s an exceptional performance coach with the soul of an artist. And that’s exactly what makes him extraordinary.

Listening to this episode  was like savoring a Michelin three-star meal—layered, refined, and deeply satisfying. You could feel Stu’s passion pour through every word—his love for all things sprinting and speed was palpable.

Andrew Huberman, for his part, was masterful. He pulled threads, explored ideas, and played in the intellectual sandbox with Stu, moving fluidly between the technical and the almost metaphysical.

As I listened, I found myself not just absorbing information but reflecting deeply—on my own ideas, my own methods, and my own journey.

One of the biggest lightbulbs for me was Stu’s reflection on the relationship between passion and creativity. It hit me hard. I’ve long believed that the essence of life is to find one’s creative path—or paths—and to walk them constantly. To explore the edges of possibility through mind and body.

Whether our creative expression is intellectual, artistic, physical, or spiritual, there’s a universal pull. Humans are wired for creativity. It’s a magnet we all carry—whether we answer the call or not.

But too often, this innate creativity gets domesticated. Replaced by responsibility. Trained out of us by systems that value output over exploration. Now, I’m not saying we should reject responsibility or abandon duty. These are important parts of life. But they shouldn’t replace our higher purpose.

Creativity led by passion is expansive. It opens the mind to new perspectives and allows for innovation. It gives us the freedom to explore, to make mistakes, to imagine.

It also teaches us to be gentle with ourselves.

Because the truth is—we may not discover our passion early in life. Sometimes we need to live a lot before we understand what lights our fire. That’s okay.

And here’s a big one: passion is not obsession.

I think this gets misunderstood all the time. Obsession can look like passion on the outside, but it’s often rooted in fear or a need to control. It’s perfectionism in disguise. It’s a mind stuck in overdrive, unable to pause, to zoom out, or to let go.

Obsession leads to judgment—of self, of others. Nothing is ever enough. You’re not doing enough. They’re not doing it right. You’re not good enough. Neither are they.

But what even is “good enough”? Who decides?

A passionate soul can pause. They can step away from their pursuit, explore new things, experience joy outside their craft. Passion allows space. It creates room for growth, connection, and renewal.

Obsession doesn’t. It’s rigid. It’s consuming. And when mixed with perfectionism, it becomes toxic. It strangles the very creativity it seeks to express.

Passion, on the other hand, is a healthy pursuit. It asks you to listen. To feel. To trust.

To be in it.

Stu is still an artist. Before coaching became his medium of expression, he explored art, music, and writing. He played soccer. He moved. His curiosity about movement led him to the rhythms, shapes, and cadence of sprinting. That became his canvas.

It’s the passionate pursuit of a worthy ideal. That’s success.

So I’ll leave you with this:

What lights your fire?

What are you passionately pursuing right now?

Who Would Hide You?

“Who were friends? Those who would agree to hide me.”

— Ruth Rack, Holocaust Survivor

When all things “normal” seem out of sync, it gives one pause to consider who actually has your back.

I was reminded of this recently when I heard about Ruth Rack, a Holocaust survivor whose definition of true friendship touched a nerve of realization.

During the rise of the Nazi regime, the Jewish people, along with immigrants, Gypsies, and people who had physical and mental disabilities were being more and more marginalized, ostracized, and terrorized. 

One can only imagine the fear that grew within them every day as their sociological fabric was being torn apart and burned.

Who could you rely on, who could you believe in, what truth or trust could you expect?

As the walls of hate began to squeeze closer and closer, required to walk the streets with badges that defined your status, there was no hiding, no safe state of place.

People you have known all your life within your community suddenly behave differently.  Maybe in the beginning, just ignoring you, or avoiding you. Then shouting at you, or saying things to you that you would never have expected them to say in a million years.  Rising to the level of taunts, or actual physical abuse.

Your world is being flipped upside down. Nothing seems like it should be, yet your mind keeps telling you it can’t get any worse.  This must be as bad as it will or could be.

And then you see something even worse?!

Now you must evaluate your circumstances.  Are you safe? Should you leave? Should you run?

But everything you have, everything you have known is where you are, you are becoming lost in your place. Everything looks the same, but nothing is the same.

Who are your friends?

Real friends.

How do you know they won’t hurt you, or turn on you?  Now you are forced to evaluate real friendship, the kind you can truly count on.

That friendship becomes connected to another person’s willingness to risk their own safety in order to provide you with the same feeling.

That person IS willing to hide you.  To put you somewhere when all hell has broken loose, the rules have all changed, and their overture places them in the crosshairs of hate.

That is one heck of a definition of “friend”.

Who would hide you?

If the circumstances in your world were to change tomorrow, as evidenced by history, who are your real friends?

How many of those do you have?

It’s quite something to ponder this question.  Quite revealing.

Who would YOU hide?

Maybe even more revealing.

Something to think about.

It All Fades Away

“Time slips through our hands like grains of sand, never to return. Those who use time wisely from an early age are rewarded with rich, productive, and satisfying lives.”

– Robin S. Sharma

When I walk on the beach each day while away on vacation I am reminded of how time is fleeting.

You move along the beach, creating each footprint, a legacy statement of the moment you were once there, when you turn around, you see the many tracks you have created.

But just as in life, those tracks are quickly washed over by waves, and for an instant they become less visible, becoming more and more faded with each passing wave.

Everything we do will fade away in time.  For some who create in the arts and literature, there can be a legacy of thought or story.

We remember the music of our youth, the Michael Jackson’s of the moment, we recall how fantastic they once were.  

We can see the amazing feats of physical prowess expressed by our sports heroes. Because of film and television, we can even revisit these moments like they were yesterday.

For those who create businesses or brands, perhaps the act of your creation remains in the memory of those who continue to use or explore your invention. Edison’s light bulb or Ford’s automobile.

Perhaps we can even remember more than just the name or the impact the person created, and by reading an autobiography, we can learn more about their life.

But these are all the big things, the incredible things, what about the simple things? The simple acts of kindness, or moments of deliberation.  The decisions made, and the turns taken. Most of this gets lost. 

Just like each footprint in the sand.

The truth is most of us aren’t Einstein or Ali, we are just regular folk doing regular things, and even many of those who at the moment seem larger than life, are truly just as forgotten as we will once be.

The message is in the moment. The purpose in the instant. There is no long-term. 

So the more we get out of our head about what could or might be, and just recognize that what is now is all there is, that becomes the moment we are set free.

Plan and forecast, and look towards the future, this is all great and worth doing. But focus your energy on what is now, not what might one day be.  The steps you take today will be faded and forgotten tomorrow.  

None of us is in charge of how this all will end.  I watched my mother’s final days a year ago, and what she experienced I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.  We don’t get to write the script.

New friends of ours on our recent vacation told us of a moment they both almost drowned on vacation.  The parents of three young boys could see each other struggling in the water separated by 50 meters of water, unable to assist one another.

The father luckily found purchase on a sandbar, while all he could do was watch his wife helpless and slowly sinking beneath the surface.  As luck would have it, a stranger with water experience and the right equipment saved her life.

The father confided that he wanted to try to swim to her, but his mind told him they couldn’t leave their boys without parents and it paralyzed him.  I can’t imagine this moment.  But moments like this shape and reshape our lives.  They are a reminder that life is not guaranteed.

So, feel the sand under your feet at each step, recognize that each one is special, and yet each is simply a step. None are guaranteed, and most will be forgotten.

It all fades away one day.

Be grateful for what you have, not for what you have not.

Find the Joy in It

“You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the World Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun.”

– Derek Jeter

Attention parents, coaches, or aspiring athletes. I wrote this as a post the other day and it was super well received, so I thought I would elaborate a little more and make it a blog post.

First sports are a lifetime legacy and lifestyle.  An active life is a healthier life, and sports and activity are an essential part of being human.

But some aspire to be more competitive in sports, they want to explore what’s possible with their body. 

Here’s some advice culled from 35+ years of training and reconditioning athletes.

Make sure it’s their dream, not your dream.  Too many parents live vicariously through their children and push too much.  

Sometimes you need to push, and sometimes you need to step back.  But in the end, success will come from their ownership of the process.

If they don’t want it, you can’t make them want it.  I think the greatest challenge as a parent sometimes is watching our kids fail, sputter, get frustrated, and even walk away.  They have to live their lives, not the ones we want them to live.

I am all for having them finish something they signed up for or registered in, but if there isn’t a spark as some point, the spark isn’t yours to inject.

Be a facilitator, not a dictator. To play off of the above point, it has to come from them, you can set the table, but they need to learn to eat so to speak. 

Too many of us as parents make it too easy, we give them everything they need and they don’t have to overcome.  Overcoming IS sport!  You can’t succeed in sport if you can’t overcome, so if we’ve done all the overcoming, they aren’t learning.

Teach your kids how to respect and thank those who help them and support them. 

If they want to become future champions, there will be a lot of people who have to help them get there, the better they treat them, the more they will want to help.

Most of the athletes I’ve had the pleasure of working with understand this rule, but there are the odd one, or two who don’t, and those end up on the wrong side of the success equation simply because people don’t care to help them when they need it.

Help your kids realize they need a plan B.  Education is essential, or some kind of vocation beyond being an athlete. One day, all athletes must retire.

It’s especially important to teach them how to manage money, and how to put money away for the future. An athlete’s career can be very short, and spending all the upfront money can be very appealing, but it can also leave you in a very bad place if things don’t workout

Teach them to be gracious winners and losers.  Beat your opponents, don’t treat them poorly.  When you lose, learn and move on.  It can be especially fun to rub it in when you win, but just think about how they will feel on the other side of that equation.  In the end, how does that behavior serve their future success?

Help them realize they should dream, and dream big, but winning at the highest levels is rarefied air. 

Even when the best of intentions, and the hardest of work, winning the medal or the championship might not happen. Help them see that success is in the work and process of moving towards the destination, not the destination itself.  

Why this is so important is that life after sport has very few concrete destinations, and if we are too overly focused on the wins, then life afterward will be very challenging as winning isn’t really what life is all about.

You and they should know that injuries will be a part of the experience.  When navigated well, they can contribute to future success!  

What I have experienced in my career with athletes is that the navigation of the injury process teaches them a lot about long-term rewards and breaks them from the need for instant gratification.  There is no choice but to accept that it will take time, and work the process through to its eventual completion.

Let them know that the effort will be monumental, but the view at the top is indeed extraordinary. Even if they don’t win the medal or the championship, the fact that they reached gives them a bird’s eye view of what it takes to explore what so many others never try.

Most of all, make sure they find JOY in what they are doing. 

As the legendary Yankee Derek Jeter says in the quote at the beginning of this blog, that’s ultimately what it’s all about!