Inspiration is in the Details

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

-Buddha

Who Do You Look Up To?

Who inspires you?

Is it the person who’s always supported you?
Someone doing the things you dream of doing?
Someone you actually know—or someone you see only through a screen?

Early in my life, I was inspired by the athletes I watched on TV and at live events. What they did seemed impossible.

Later, when I began working in elite sport, I realized just how truly incredible they are.
You can’t fully grasp it until you see them up close—their precision, their presence, their ability to do things others simply can’t, day after day.

I’ll never forget watching Alex Kovalev—one of the most gifted hockey players I’ve ever seen—kneel on the ice at the far blueline and fire puck after puck, hitting the crossbar nearly every time.

Just hitting the net from that distance is impressive.
Hitting the crossbar intentionally—again and again—is something else entirely.

Watching Olympians in their daily training, the unbelievable becomes… undeniable.
Impossible becomes possible, right before your eyes.

But over time, I realized something even deeper.

True inspiration isn’t just about doing the impossible.
It’s about doing the things others won’t.

Talent, genetics, and gifts play their role, sure.
But every elite athlete made a decision—a long time ago—to commit to doing the hard things others wouldn’t.

Getting up earlier.
Preparing every meal with discipline.
Showing up before everyone else.
Putting in the extra reps.
Warming up with intention. Recovering with care.
Treating the basics like sacred ground.

But there’s a level beyond even that.

The truly exceptional face failure with a vengeance.
They don’t get discouraged—they get fueled.
They look up, not down.
They review, rebuild, recognize, revise, reconstruct, and redeem.
They reach even higher. The many Rs that underpin the Resonance of inspiRation.

No object is an obstruction—only an objective to overcome.

Sometimes, less is more.
Sometimes, more is less.
The wisdom is knowing which, and when.

Do I need to push harder?
Or is today the day I need to pause and rebuild?

Comfortable in the uncomfortable. That’s the state they live in.

And here’s the thing:
You don’t even have to know these people to feel it.
You can see it in their eyes, hear it in their voice, sense it in their presence.

True inspiration radiates from belief—belief in themselves, and in the work.
Even if they never say it out loud, you feel it.
And that belief wakes something up inside you, too.

Whether it’s the grade school teacher who made you see yourself differently,
The professor who cracked open a whole new world for you,
Or the friend who challenged you to see beyond your limits—

They all had it.
And they passed it on to you.

What you think, you become.
Those who inspire are simply living proof of that truth.

So be inspired.
And be an inspiration.

Be you.

Clarity is a Radical Act

“In a culture fueled by burnout, a culture that has run itself down, our national resilience becomes compromised. And when our collective immune system is weakened, we become more susceptible to viruses that are part of every culture because they’re part of human nature – fear-mongering, scapegoating, conspiracy theories, and demagoguery.”

-Arianna Huffington

I’ve been feeling a bit frustrated with the state of the world lately. Maybe you have too. It’s hard not to be when there’s a constant stream of noise—politics, opinion, outrage—buzzing in the background of our daily lives. Here in Canada, we’re deep in a federal election campaign. The U.S. is in another cycle of political chaos. And around the globe, conflict and division are seemingly everywhere. Whether it’s right in your face or humming quietly in the background, the noise is always there.

And it’s making me think a lot about how we got here—not just as a society, but as individuals.

I’m not interested in getting into politics, per se. What I want to reflect on is something more fundamental: human nature—how we behave, how we believe, how we process what’s happening around us.

The Legacy of the Pandemic

The pandemic was a massive turning point. It laid bare so much of what lies underneath the surface for all of us. Our reaction to threat—whether it’s imposed, perceived, or real—kicked off a cascade of internal reflection (and in many cases, emotional chaos). We were forced to confront uncertainty and loss of control. Some of us coped in healthy ways; others struggled. But no one came out unchanged.

What emerged for me was a stronger focus on values: What do I really believe in? Where did those beliefs come from? And how do I navigate a world where truth feels increasingly subjective?

The Stories We Live By

Something I’ve spoken about before on the podcast, and written about in this blog is the idea that everything we believe is a story. That story is shaped by our experiences, our interpretations, and the societal or cultural forces around us.

This idea is explored deeply in The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. He talks about the “domestication” of the human being—how we’re born as blank slates, but gradually shaped and influenced by parents, culture, religion, expectations, and societal norms.

That shaping isn’t all bad. If done well, it gives us moral grounding and a framework for making decisions. But it can also be restrictive. Too many rules, too much imposed expectation, and we lose the ability to think critically or live authentically. Sometimes we end up successful by external standards, but disconnected internally.

The truth is, we’re all walking around with these invisible scripts—crafted by where we came from, who raised us, what we were taught. And unless we consciously choose to examine those scripts, they continue to drive the way we see the world.

A Predictive Brain in a Noisy World

From a neuroscience perspective, the brain is a prediction machine. It constantly tries to forecast outcomes based on past experiences to keep us safe. That’s useful in many ways—spotting danger, avoiding mistakes—but it also makes us prone to bias and assumption.

When our brain doesn’t have all the information, it fills in the blanks. And too often, those blanks are filled by societal narratives, historical records written by the “winners,” or curated media sound bites.

That’s not to say history or education is meaningless. Far from it. But our understanding of the world is always filtered through someone’s lens. And we rarely stop to ask whose lens it is—and whether that lens serves truth, or just comfort.

Do You Trust Others… or Yourself?

I once asked sports psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais a question I often reflect on: Do you trust people until they give you a reason not to, or do you distrust people until they earn your trust?

His answer was simple but profound: Do you trust yourself?

That hit me. Because self-trust is foundational. If we don’t trust our own values, our ability to discern, or our moral compass, how can we expect to trust anyone else?

A friend once told me that the definition of success is when your behaviors match your values. That resonates deeply. But it presupposes that you know your values—and that you live by them. Many of us don’t. Many of us inherited values we never questioned.

Governance, Democracy, and Distrust

This brings me to governance. Why do we have it? Ideally, it’s to provide a framework for society—agreed-upon rules that help us coexist. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than chaos. And in democratic systems, the idea is that we have agency to influence leadership and policy. We hold our leaders accountable with our votes.

But increasingly, that accountability feels like a myth. Government has become bloated, inefficient, and in many cases, co-opted by corporate interests. Capitalism, while a driver of innovation and freedom, has blurred the lines. When power, money, and influence become the priority, trust erodes. And when people feel they’ve lost agency, they seek it elsewhere.

Enter conspiracy theories. They’re not just about delusion—they’re often about disillusionment. A response to feeling ignored, lied to, or left behind. We’ve become a society of storytellers, crafting narratives to make sense of a system that no longer feels trustworthy.

Media, Social Media, and the Death of Shared Truth

The media used to be a source of information. Now it’s a source of opinion. In the race for ratings and revenue, news has become entertainment, tailored to confirmation bias. Add social media to the mix, and suddenly we’re all broadcasters—amplifying whatever narrative reinforces our worldview.

We’ve lost the shared center. There’s no common ground for truth anymore. Every voice has a platform, but not every voice has accountability. Algorithms feed us what we already believe, not what we need to hear.

And now AI is here—an intelligence that can generate opinions, perspectives, even manipulate media. Its value lies in its ability to pull from countless sources and synthesize information, but it will only be as unbiased as the data it draws from—and the humans programming it.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

We’re in a strange place right now. The ground is shifting. The rules are changing. And certainty feels further away than ever.

But maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Maybe, in the absence of certainty, we’re being invited to go deeper. To question what we believe. To listen more, shout less. To build self-awareness and recognize the influence of our own stories. To seek truth, not in headlines or hashtags, but in human conversation, lived experience, and rigorous inquiry.

The fifth agreement from Ruiz’s work is: Be skeptical, but learn to listen.

I think that’s where we start.

We need to be more curious. Ask better questions. Challenge our own beliefs—not to become contrarians, but to become better humans. We need to sit in rooms with people who think differently from us and not see them as enemies. We need to relearn how to listen, debate, and grow without dehumanizing one another.

That’s one of the reasons I started the podcast in the first place. I wanted to be a better listener. A better gatherer of perspective. I’m still learning. Still working on it. But I believe that’s the real task of our time: to become better consumers of information and more thoughtful stewards of our own beliefs.

Because in a world of noise, clarity is a radical act.

So maybe instead of yelling at the TV—or each other—we start asking harder questions of ourselves.

What do I believe? Why do I believe it? And what if I’m wrong?

Toughness vs. Bullying

“ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I spent eleven years working in the NHL. I saw some great hockey players… and some not-so-great ones. But what stood out more than anything was witnessing real toughness—and the opposite of it: bullying.

The irony? 

The toughest guys on the ice were often the kindest, most grounded people off it. They didn’t puff their chests or throw their weight around—they didn’t need to. You just knew not to mess with them. It’s a generalization, sure, but more often than not, it held true.

I remember being a kid, watching the Montreal Canadiens play the Philadelphia Flyers—known back then as the “Broad Street Bullies.” And the poster boy for their style of play was Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.

I never met Schultz off the ice, so I can’t speak to the man. But I did meet his hockey foil: Larry “Big Bird” Robinson.

Larry was everything Schultz wasn’t. A Hall of Famer. A towering defenseman with more Stanley Cups than most could dream of. One of the highest-scoring blueliners in league history. But what really set him apart was his legitimate toughness.

There’s a moment from the 1973-74 season I’ll never forget. A bench-clearing brawl erupted when Schultz knocked out Canadiens defenceman John Van Boxmeer with a sucker punch. The whole thing turned into chaos. But Larry didn’t hesitate. He stepped in, handled Schultz, and made it clear that some lines weren’t going to be crossed without consequence. 

Police were actually called in the end to break it all up!

Another time, in the ‘76 playoffs, Larry hammered Flyers forward Gary Dornhoefer with a clean, thunderous hit that shifted the tone of the series. It was a message: we’re not here to play your game. And it helped tilt the series back to the Canadiens.

So, what is legitimate toughness?

It’s not loud. It doesn’t seek control through fear. It’s calm, rooted in self-respect, and commands respect in return. It knows when to be strong, and when to be soft. It’s a quiet confidence that can hold the line—but also shake your hand, smile, and mean it.

Larry had that. No one challenged him lightly. But off the ice? He was gracious, warm, generous. He didn’t act tough. He just was tough—when it mattered.

I see that same kind of toughness in people like Brianna St. Marie. I worked with her through a Reconditioning project a few summers ago. Former rugby player, now a world-class jiu-jitsu athlete. She’s an absolute force—but also respectful, humble, and full of light. She knows when to be fierce and when to be tender. That’s legitimate toughness.

And it matters—especially now.

In a world where bullying seems to be creeping back into leadership—through mocking, intimidation, gaslighting, and power plays—we need to remember what real strength looks like.

Real leadership doesn’t rely on fear. It holds presence without theatrics. It’s grounded, respectful, and resilient. It doesn’t go looking for a fight—but it’s always ready to stand tall when one comes.

Bullies might control the room for a while, but eventually people see through it. They appease, avoid, or withdraw… until the bully is left with nothing. And history doesn’t remember them kindly.

Larry Robinson is remembered as a legend. Schultz? A footnote from a different era.

And yet, somehow, bullying keeps trying to make a comeback—like it’s a default setting we haven’t outgrown.

But the truth is: the world doesn’t need more bullies.

It needs more Larry Robinsons.

Do You Have Agency?

“Sometimes you make the right decisions, sometimes you make the decisions right” 

— Phillip C. McGraw (Dr. Phil)

We’re living in a time where more and more people feel like life is happening to them—not for them, and certainly not by them. Chaos, uncertainty, and noise are constant. And for many, it creates a lingering sense of powerlessness.

But underneath all of that, I believe what’s really at play is mindset.

Are we operating from a growth mindset—or are we stuck in a fixed one?

By now, you’ve likely encountered Carol Dweck’s foundational work in Mindset – The New Psychology of Success. In it, she lays out the differences between fixed and growth mindsets in simple terms that hit home.

Fixed Mindset

• Belief: Intelligence and ability are fixed traits—you either have them or you don’t.
  
  
• Challenges: Avoided. Failure is feared because it reflects personal inadequacy.
  
  
• Criticism: Taken personally, leading to defensiveness or giving up.
  
  
• Focus: On proving themselves rather than learning.
  
  
• Effort: Viewed as a sign of inadequacy—if I need to try, I must not be good enough.
  
  
• Self-talk: “I’m just not good at this.”
  
  

Growth Mindset

• Belief: Intelligence and ability can be developed through effort and persistence.
  
  
• Challenges: Embraced as opportunities to grow.
  
  
• Criticism: Viewed as valuable feedback.
  
  
• Focus: On improvement and learning.
  
  
• Effort: Seen as the path to mastery.
  
  
• Self-talk: “I’m not good at this yet—but I can learn.”
  
  

In my own work, I’ve come to realize that while these distinctions are helpful, mindset isn’t binary. We’re all walking contradictions—growth-minded in some areas and fixed in others.

You might be fearless in your physical practice, willing to fail and iterate endlessly—but stuck in your beliefs about financial security or professional success. You might feel completely capable in your work with clients but doubt your ability to grow your business, lead a team, or carve out more freedom.

And here’s the thing: we can hold both mindsets at once.

The danger is when we don’t realize where we’re stuck—when we assume our circumstances are just “the way things are,” rather than reflections of unexamined beliefs. That’s where the ceiling is. That’s what keeps us in place.

This is where agency comes in.

Agency is the belief that we have power over our lives. That we are the deciding force. As Dr. Phil puts it, “Sometimes you make the right decisions, sometimes you make the decisions right.”

Life is a continuous stream of decisions—some big, most small. Even when we think we’re not choosing, we’re choosing. Even in the face of hard, unfair, or painful circumstances, we still get to decide how we respond. We get to decide what we believe. And we get to decide what happens next.

It’s easier to believe we don’t have control. It gives us a pass. It lets us off the hook.

But real agency? It asks us to take ownership. Of our situation. Of our habits. Of our mindset. Of where we’re heading.

So I’ll leave you with this:

Where in your life are you operating with a fixed mindset?
And where are you leaning into growth?
Do you truly believe you have agency?

Something to reflect on.