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  • Geoff Curtis: You're Not Burned Out, You're in Purgatory

    Geoff Curtis: You're Not Burned Out, You're in Purgatory
    2026/09/24
    I've had north of a hundred authors on this show. This one stuck with me differently, and it's because of one word: Purgatory.Geoff Curtis spent nearly thirty years building a career in healthcare communications. Title, expertise, platform, the whole thing. Then the company was acquired, his role went redundant, and all of it disappeared at once. What followed wasn't a reinvention arc. It was the discovery that he'd spent his adult life using work to avoid feeling anything.He picked purgatory on purpose. As he puts it, words like transition imply progress, and he wasn't making any.The other choice that makes this book different: most people write about this from the far side, after they've figured it out. Geoff is writing from inside it. Three years out and still working through it. There's no five step plan in here, and some readers are frustrated by that. I think it's the reason the book works.The idea I keep coming back to is his separation of three things we tend to mash together. Livelihood, identity, and self-worth. Livelihood puts food on the table. That's all it has to be. The trouble starts when livelihood quietly becomes identity, and identity becomes self-worth. Then losing the job isn't a financial event, it's an existential one.We also got into something that isn't in the book. Four weeks before we talked, Geoff did the Hoffman Process. Eight days, completely unplugged, thirty nine strangers, fifteen hours of prep work and days running 7:15 in the morning to 9:30 at night, all aimed at understanding which of your behavior patterns you inherited from your parents. He says he wishes he'd written the book afterward.Fair warning, this one is heavier than most. Depression, grief, his father's death, and a lot of honesty about patterns neither of us is done with.In this episode:Why he chose purgatory over transitionLivelihood versus identity versus self-worthThirty years of running on external validationRunning as emotional suppression, and how to tell it from progressNew metrics for happiness, and why the old ones keep coming backInvesting in yourself, therapy, and the Hoffman ProcessWhy people doubt themselves inside corporate, not just outside itThe imposter syndrome nobody on his team ever mentioned to each otherEverything is a choice, and why we only price the downsideABOUT THE GUESTGeoff Curtis spent nearly thirty years in healthcare communications before an acquisition made his role redundant. He's the author of Embracing Your Own Purgatory, written from inside the transition rather than after it, and he now runs a nonprofit he built with his wife that works with college students.LINKSThe book: Embracing Your Own Purgatory — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and anywhere books are sold Author site: https://geoffreycurtis.com/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreycurtis/THE IDEAS WORTH KEEPINGLivelihood is not identity is not self-worth. Three things, and we let them fuse. "Livelihood puts food on the table. If you don't make the livelihood the identity, then you're good."Transition implies progress. Purgatory doesn't. That's why he picked the harder word.Running versus progressing. Both are fine, but you have to evaluate the ending. Why did you leave? Bored, burned out, actually moving toward something? Skip that and you rinse and repeat for thirty years.Closer to right than quick. The nonprofit took two and a half years instead of the five months his old metrics demanded. That gap is where the real work happened.Realism as a Trojan horse. Geoff's admission that he uses "I'm a realist" to smuggle in negativity is the sharpest self-observation in the episode.You're not your patterns. The Hoffman framing: you absorb your parents' patterns as a kid to stay close to them, rebel against them as a teenager, then repeat them under stress for the rest of your life until somebody shows you where they came from.The conversation nobody has. Geoff and a former direct report both had imposter syndrome the whole time and never said a word. "I always thought you had it together, and I wanted to make sure you thought I had it together."TIMESTAMPSEstimated from the transcript. Spot-check and shift for cold open and sting.00:00 — Why this book landed differently01:31 — Why he chose the word purgatory02:46 — Not brave enough to say we're unfinished02:51 — Brett: I think I was in purgatory while still employed03:53 — His wife knew it was going to hit him before he did05:08 — Identity, self-worth, and what work was really providing05:49 — Thirty years of running on external validation06:48 — Why there's no path out in the book, only questions08:30 — Livelihood is not identity is not self-worth09:35 — Separate the money from the mission10:49 — The college senior who wants success and fun12:36 — First generation college, and the expectations that come with it13:49 — Running when things get uncomfortable14:25 — Evaluate the ending, or you'll repeat it15:45 — Running as emotional ...
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    50 分
  • Megan Collier: You Don't Need Followers to Get Paid (UGC)

    Megan Collier: You Don't Need Followers to Get Paid (UGC)
    2026/09/22
    Megan Collier's first appearance is still one of my most downloaded episodes, so she's back.Quick version if you missed it. UGC is user generated content. Brands pay you to make short videos, and instead of posting them yourself, they use the footage in their own ads. No followers required. No production setup. Megan's been doing it four years and has taught more than 16,000 Gen X and Boomers how to do it, including her mom.Her origin story is the part I keep thinking about. She was on a call trying to sell a footwear brand on hiring her, mentioned her mom in passing, and the brand got noticeably more excited about her mom than about her. Nobody that age was doing this. So she went and built the thing that didn't exist.I keep coming back to UGC because I've been hunting low friction, high value income, and this one lands at the top of the list every single time. You're not applying for a job. You're not competing against five hundred other applicants. You already own the equipment.We got into the money, and Megan gives real numbers instead of vague ones. What a beginner should charge. What the performance-based deals actually pay and why she turns them down. What her students are making, from a few hundred a month up to one who cleared twenty-two thousand last month.Also worth your time: brands are now writing "no AI content" directly into their creative briefs. Megan's read is that the flood of AI has made real human video more valuable, not less. Her phrase for the moment is a trust recession, and it's the most useful thing said in the whole episode.In this episode:What UGC actually is, and why followers don't matterThe brand call that accidentally started her businessWhy brands are banning AI content in their briefsWhat to charge when you're brand newPerformance-based deals and why she passes on themWhat her students actually earn, at every levelWhere the Amazon Influencer program fits, and where it doesn'tWhy she quit TikTok ShopLocal businesses, and trading content for servicesHow to find the right person at a brandHOW TO ACTUALLY START, ASSEMBLEDMegan walked through this across the conversation. Here it is in order.Go look at UGC videos on TikTok or Instagram so you know what you're making. It isn't for everyone and it's better to find that out in ten minutes than ten weeks.Make three or four videos using products already in your house. Megan's first two were cat treats. Basic editing. Nothing fancy.Put them in a portfolio. Canva works. Any simple site works. Brands need proof you can make content, same as any other business.Pick a lane to get hired. Either join the creator platforms, or pitch brands directly. Megan pitches.Start local or start small. Local service businesses, gyms, spas, a fencing company. Many have real marketing budgets and have never worked with a creator. Gifted or traded work counts here.To reach a bigger brand, DM their customer service account and ask who handles content partnerships. They want a quick answer they can check off, and they'll usually give you the name.Treat pitching as volume. Megan's rule of thumb is that roughly one in fifty says yes, and a no often just means not right now.Then chase repeat clients. That's where the margin is, because you stop relearning a new brand every time.TIMESTAMPSEstimated from the transcript. Spot-check and shift for cold open and sting.00:00 — Why Megan's back01:10 — What UGC is, and the 16,000 students02:13 — Why Brett keeps coming back to low friction income03:13 — Why so many people freeze before they start04:24 — She saw it on TikTok while working a corporate job05:00 — Out of that job in fourteen months05:32 — The footwear call where they got excited about her mom06:33 — Nobody that age was doing this07:01 — Why corporate trained us to overthink it08:37 — Who am I to teach this, and why two steps ahead is enough09:26 — A detour into other low friction businesses10:18 — What AI is doing to this market10:37 — Brands writing "no AI content" into the brief11:55 — The trust recession12:32 — Is it too late to start?13:10 — Why it's an ongoing need and not a trend14:18 — What to charge when you're brand new15:00 — Performance based deals, and the math on them16:42 — Why Megan turns those down17:11 — Brett butchering a brand name on camera, and the brand not caring18:24 — The part-timers, and what a summer looks like19:00 — Replacing corporate income19:45 — The student who made $22,000 last month20:48 — Why repeat clients change the economics21:52 — Where the Amazon Influencer program fits23:29 — Income stacking and double dipping24:45 — Why she quit TikTok Shop27:11 — How to start, step one28:39 — Cat treats, and your first videos29:30 — Platforms versus pitching30:27 — Big brands versus local businesses32:00 — Why local wins give you momentum33:13 — What the first fifty dollars does to your head33:20 — Trading content for services34:38 — How to find the right ...
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    41 分
  • Shelley McIntyre: Who Are You Without the Title?

    Shelley McIntyre: Who Are You Without the Title?
    2026/09/16
    Shelley McIntyre is back on the show, and her first appearance is still one of the most downloaded episodes I've done.She was a grief counselor before she was a coach, which is why she talks about layoffs differently than anyone else I know. We opened on the Oracle news, because the math on it is ugly. Twenty years in, fifty or sixty hour weeks, and what shows up is an automated email at 6 a.m. that doesn't say thank you.Her point stuck with me: you spend a career radiating loyalty outward, and at the very end, when it matters most, you don't get any of it back.Then we get into the trap almost nobody sees coming. You leave, you go independent, and because you're wired for comfort and you just absorbed six losses at once, you rebuild the exact role you escaped. Director of sales, but fractional. Same work, same frustrations, now with no benefits. As Shelley put it, you built the same box you just got out of, and you can't figure out how you ended up back inside it.I did a version of this myself. I had a good contract gig that paid well doing work I liked. Instead of building on it, I talked the company into hiring me full time, because the title felt safer. I was miserable within months.The back half is her method for getting unstuck, and it's the opposite of what most people do. You don't sit down and list your skills. You don't mine your performance reviews. When you've just been laid off, you are the least qualified person in your own life to describe how good you are, because you're operating from doubt.So you go gather evidence instead.In this episode:Why the coldness of a modern layoff lands harder than people admitIdentity, job titles, and the shorthand you loseThe comfort trap, and why rebuilding the old job is a normal human response, not a failureThe physical toll nobody talks aboutWhy performance reviews are useless for thisHow to ask people who know you what you're like at your bestTurning what comes back into five words, and using them as a filterThe portfolio approach when one opportunity only delivers part of what you needThe guilt of not being busy, and why you were never productive nine hours a day anywayTHE EXERCISE, ASSEMBLEDWe covered this across the conversation but never laid it out in one piece. Here it is.Pick five to ten people who know you well and who you genuinely trust. Mix of personal and professional. The trust part matters more than the title.Ask one question: "Can you describe what I'm like when I'm operating at my best?"Let them go long. Most people won't give you adjectives, they'll tell you a story about a specific time you showed up. Those stories are the useful part.Read all of it together. If you find yourself doubting it, notice what that means. You'd be calling people who love you liars.Synthesize it down to five words that describe how you show up at your best.Use the five as a filter. For any opportunity, job or client or project, ask whether it not only allows but requires you to show up that way. If it only hits three, go find the other two somewhere else in your life.ABOUT THE GUESTShelley McIntyre is a coach for Gen X professionals in transition, and a former grief counselor, which is where a lot of her perspective on identity loss comes from. She hosts Burn the Map, a podcast built around short episodes, and works with clients on figuring out who they are outside a job title.Podcast: Burn the MapSite: https://burnthemapcoaching.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-mcintyre/TIMESTAMPSEstimated from the transcript. Spot-check and shift for cold open and sting.00:00 — Welcome back, and why her first episode still gets downloads01:00 — The Oracle layoffs, and the severance math02:08 — Getting numb to the coldness of it02:40 — You radiate loyalty your whole career and don't get it back03:41 — The 6 a.m. automated email that doesn't say thank you04:22 — Why identity and job title get intertwined05:08 — "I'm a VP of marketing" as shorthand for who you are06:11 — Title, industry, company. The trifecta.07:18 — The trap: going independent and rebuilding the same role08:16 — "I built the same box I just escaped"09:29 — Brett talked his way back into a full time job and hated it10:26 — We are wired for comfort, and that's not a character flaw11:38 — The losses stack up all at once12:17 — Remembering who you are underneath all of it14:02 — Why skills lists and performance reviews don't work here14:58 — When the doubt spreads to things you were always good at15:50 — The physical toll: illness, accidents, the hospital16:32 — Usefulness, and being told you're not needed17:25 — You're not the most qualified person to say how great you are18:23 — Becoming a detective of your best self19:16 — Why corporate feedback is performative20:00 — What actually happens when you ask21:07 — "Let me tell you a story"23:00 — The surprise birthday party nobody would have predicted24:00 — If you don't believe it, you're calling ...
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    42 分
  • Myth Buster: Entrepreneurship Isn't for Everyone

    Myth Buster: Entrepreneurship Isn't for Everyone
    2026/09/08
    Somebody commented on one of my TikToks. He'd started his own solo business a couple years back, it's working, he's happy. Then he said "but it's not for everyone."I'd been repeating that exact line for years and never once dug into it.So this episode is two things. Why people still say entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, and why I think it's true about something almost nobody is actually doing.When people hear "entrepreneur" they picture the same movie. Raise money, hire a team, sign a lease, bet the house. That version is brutal and it isn't for most people, me included. But in 2023 roughly 117,000 one-person businesses cleared a million dollars in revenue. No employees. No payroll. Nobody to manage.The four myths I go after:You need a business planYou need a website, a brand, an LLC, a logoYou need to be a salespersonIt's riskyThat last one is backwards. Your corporate job is one customer providing one hundred percent of your income, and they can end it for reasons that have nothing to do with how good you are. Attach a W-2 to it and we call it stability.The second half is the part I didn't get into in the LinkedIn article: finding clients is closer to a job search than to building a company. I've had seven or eight corporate roles and seven of them came from a referral or somebody in my network. Not one came from a blind posting. That's the same channel that brings in solo work.I also walk through how I'd structure a first offer. Good, better, best, and why people almost always take the middle one.In this episode:Where the stereotype came from, and why it was true about a different thingThe four myths, one at a timeWhy corporate politics skills don't transfer, and why that's good newsYour job is one customer with one hundred percent concentrationThe interview and the discovery call are the same conversationGood, better, best, and pricing your first engagementOwning your own calendar, which took me longer than I want to admitTIMESTAMPS00:00 — The LinkedIn article, and what this episode adds to it01:30 — The TikTok comment that started it01:55 — I'd been saying the same line for years02:20 — Hundreds worked with, thousands talked to, and almost none were prototypical entrepreneurs03:00 — Where the stereotype came from03:45 — 117,000 one-person businesses over a million in revenue04:10 — Stop thinking customers. Think micro jobs.04:25 — Myth 1: you need a business plan04:41 — Myth 2: you need a website, a brand, an LLC05:15 — Myth 3: you need to be a salesperson05:50 — Why corporate politics skills don't help you out here06:20 — Myth 4: it's risky07:15 — Your corporate job is your one customer08:00 — What a diversified solo practice actually looks like08:30 — If it takes six months to find your next customer, you're running it wrong08:50 — Put a tenth of your job hunt effort into finding clients09:55 — Finding clients looks a lot like looking for a job10:25 — Seven of my eight roles came from referrals. None from a posting.11:00 — Think of it as mini job applications11:36 — The interview process, walked through step by step12:15 — Same conversation, but with a business owner12:45 — Good, better, best13:35 — They take the middle option nine times out of ten14:20 — Nobody's judging you14:55 — You'll probably underprice the first one. It doesn't matter.15:30 — You'll work fewer hours than you do now15:50 — Owning your own calendar, and why it took me so long16:11 — Don't feel guilty when you're not busy16:40 — The few who go back, and why they go back with a plan17:20 — Reallocate some of those job hunting hours17:45 — It's relationships, not postings18:15 — Don't chase shiny objects. Pick one or two.18:30 — Maybe the word itself is the problem19:00 — Corporate ends either way. Take control.Key Quotes"Seven of my eight corporate roles came from a referral or somebody in my network. I honestly can't think of a single job I got from a blind posting.""Your corporate job is one customer. One revenue stream. If that customer goes away, you've got nothing.""One bad quarter, or even a good one with a new VP, and you're gone.""If it takes you six months to find your next customer, you're not running that business very well.""Put a tenth of the effort you put into a job hunt into finding problems to solve, and you'd have more customers than you'd know what to do with.""The people who got ahead in corporate because they knew how to play the games, that doesn't work out here. These people just want their problem solved.""Nobody's judging you except you.""Corporate's going to end whether you choose it or not. You might as well take control."LINKSQuestions, or an episode idea? bt@bretttrainor.com
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    19 分
  • The Expert's Privilege: Wes Wheless on Leaving Corporate and Going Solo

    The Expert's Privilege: Wes Wheless on Leaving Corporate and Going Solo
    2026/09/02
    Wes Wheless got laid off twice inside a few years. COVID, then the tech downturn. He wasn't angry about the second one. He just didn't have the energy to go attach himself to somebody else's mission again and wait for it to get taken away.He didn't have a plan. He took a couple months, picked up some contract work to hold him over, and then a light bulb went off: if he could find enough of these, he might never need a full-time job again.Four years later he's got a practice serving independent consultants and a book, The Expert's Privilege, that I told him he should have written before I left corporate.The core idea is three stacked pieces:You've built real, transferable expertise over your decades in corporate.That expertise has been inefficiently deployed inside the corporate machine.You can deploy it far better on your own.His metaphor for point two is the one that stuck with me. Imagine running a cruise line with a hundred ships and fifty of them permanently tied up in port. That's what corporate does with what you know.We also get into the stuff nobody tells you. Why hourly pricing punishes you for being good. What happens when a client pigeonholes you before you open your mouth. How he figured out which part of his own service people actually valued, and then sold only that. And the thing I keep running into with Gen Xers: deeply experienced people who sit down, look at twenty-five years of work, and say "I don't know what I know."In this episode:Two layoffs, and the one that changed his mind about going backClient zero, and why hourly was the wrong modelGetting pigeonholed as "a writer" and the pricing that comes with itThe coach question that triggered his pivot: do you actually like doing this work?Writing daily for two years before there was a bookWhy he deliberately left AI out of the bookThe Expert's Privilege, definedIntellectual headshots, and how asking former clients one question reshaped his businessInvesting in yourself when corporate always paid for it beforeTIMESTAMPS00:00 — Intro01:43 — Two layoffs, and why he didn't want another corporate role03:26 — Why almost nobody who gets out wants to go back04:32 — He didn't know solo consulting was even an option06:43 — What the work actually was: executive ghostwriting and content strategy08:22 — Client zero, and the first lesson about hourly rates09:18 — Project fees, and putting guardrails on your availability10:44 — Getting pigeonholed as "a writer" before the conversation starts12:14 — When the business model started breaking13:11 — The coach's question: do you actually like doing this work?13:41 — The pivot to serving independent consultants14:59 — Brett's own winding path out of corporate15:53 — The three-tier offer, and why clients almost always pick the middle16:50 — Helping people map their lane while they're still employed17:47 — "I never gave serious thought that I could take the reins myself"20:18 — Building authority from zero, and writing daily for two years21:44 — You turn around and there's a library there22:34 — The self-doubt going into the book23:10 — Not the book. A book. Your first book.26:11 — Brett's stuck manuscript problem26:33 — The North Star workshop and the parachute metaphor27:44 — Why he left AI out on purpose30:04 — The Expert's Privilege, the three stacked ideas30:53 — A hundred ships and fifty of them tied up in port32:10 — In the corner four months ago, desperate for his brain today34:00 — Most businesses need level one help, not level three36:28 — "I don't know what I know," and why that trap is so common37:34 — Start with the problem, not with yourself38:48 — Need-to-solve versus nice-to-solve39:26 — Brett on chasing energy as the compass40:31 — Intellectual headshots, and the one question that created them42:08 — Saying no, and the add-on that killed Brett's margin43:18 — Investing in yourself when corporate always covered it45:39 — Laid off tomorrow: square one, or a head start?48:05 — You're a business with one client. Is that a good deal?49:28 — Where to find Wes and the bookQUOTES"I wasn't angry. I just didn't have the energy to attach myself to someone else's mission again, just for it to get taken away in a couple of years." — Wes"Imagine you had a cruise line with a hundred ships and fifty of them were tied up in port permanently. That's how we are in corporate." — Wes"I was that person four months ago that was getting put in the corner. And here, in a different context, they're desperate to know what I know." — Wes"If you're good at something, an hourly rate doesn't do you any favors." — Wes"Don't think of it as the book. Think of it as a book. Even easier, your first book." — Wes, on the advice that unstuck him"I don't know what I know. I've done so many things that I feel like I can't do any of them." — Wes, on what he hears constantly"Think of your current job like you're a small business owner with one ...
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    49 分
  • Gen X Has a Math Problem

    Gen X Has a Math Problem
    2026/08/28

    This one's a step back to look at the big picture, because a lot of the Gen Xers I talk to are too busy living life to see it.

    Three things are colliding at once.

    Corporate is chaos. It's not your age, it's your expense. Somebody can do half your job for half the price, and that's who gets picked. Getting laid off is one thing. Getting back in is the real problem. Look around your own network if you don't believe me.

    The savings math. The generation before us had pensions. We got a 401k and a how-to video. Roughly half of Gen X has nothing put away, and the typical household isn't close to what 30 years actually costs.

    Longevity. This is the good news. If you take care of yourself there's a real chance you're looking at 30 or 40 more years, healthy and active.

    Put those three together and it doesn't add up.

    I'm not doing this to scare anybody. It's not a prediction, it's already happening. But there are two ways to react. You can treat it as a sunset and ride it out. Or you can treat it as the start of a second adult lifetime, which is the way I'm choosing to look at it.

    The back half of this episode is the part that matters: you already have everything you need to generate income on your own. The skills, the experience, the problem solving. What's in the way is unlearning what corporate taught you, and the fact that we make making money way more complicated than it needs to be.

    In this episode:

    • Why it's your expense, not your age
    • The musical chairs problem, and why the chairs aren't coming back
    • Pensions versus the 401k handoff
    • What 30 or 40 more years actually costs
    • Why gig work is the wrong answer
    • Low friction, high margin income, and what that actually looks like
    • Why the first dollar outside corporate changes everything

    TIMESTAMPS
    • 00:00 — Welcome, and why I'm zooming out this week
    • 01:20 — Naming it: Gen X has a math problem
    • 01:42 — Two ways to react: sunset, or jumpstart
    • 02:05 — Musical chairs, and why they're pulling five at a time
    • 02:25 — Part 1: It's not your age, it's your expense
    • 03:40 — Getting laid off isn't the problem. Getting back in is.
    • 04:20 — The professional athlete parallel
    • 04:46 — Part 2: How prepared are we, really
    • 05:05 — They got pensions. We got a how-to video.
    • 06:00 — The savings numbers nobody wants to look at
    • 07:05 — How few of us actually have a pension
    • 07:45 — Part 3: Longevity, and why it's genuinely good news
    • 08:45 — Putting all three together
    • 09:15 — This isn't a prediction. It's happening now.
    • 09:55 — The good news: you already have what you need
    • 10:30 — Seventeen income streams, and why I'm not special
    • 11:05 — Why it's not Uber and it's not DoorDash
    • 11:45 — The real blocker: unlearning corporate
    • 12:45 — Low friction, high margin income
    • 13:40 — Go sell that first dollar
    • 14:05 — Don't bet on another 20 years in corporate
    • 14:45 — The opportunity sitting in your own backyard
    • 15:05 — Don't replace your job with a worse version of it
    • 16:00 — What changed inside the community
    • 16:25 — Nobody's judging you (my TikTok debut says hi)
    • 17:35 — The better you are, the more at risk you are
    • 18:20 — What the 20-somethings figured out that we didn't
    • 18:45 — How to reach me

    LINKS AND CTA

    The Collective Now focused entirely on the thing most people are stuck on: making money outside of corporate. A group of Gen Xers figuring it out together. https://trp-collective.circle.so

    Everything else https://BrettTrainor.com

    Questions or episode ideas? Email me: bt@bretttrainor.com

    If the show's useful to you, hit follow wherever you listen.

    GenX, laid off over 50, ageism at work, corporate layoffs, retirement math, 401k, longevity, second act, making money outside corporate, career change over 50, side income, Gen X retirement crisis
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    19 分
  • 9 Things I Learned in 6 Years Out of Corporate

    9 Things I Learned in 6 Years Out of Corporate
    2026/08/22

    Corporate quit on me just over six years ago.

    At the time I thought this was about one thing: replacing my income. Six years, 350 episodes, and a whole lot of experiments later, I've figured out it was never really about the money.

    This is the first solo episode under the new name, and I wanted to start by sharing the nine things I've learned on this quest so far. Not a playbook. Not a system. Just the stuff that turned out to be true, whether you're still in corporate, recently laid off, or already out and still trying to piece it together.

    I don't have it all figured out. I'm a lot closer to where I want to be than I was six years ago, and I'm bringing you along for the rest of it.

    The nine:

    1. I wasn't running from corporate. I was running toward control.

    2. Time is the currency. Grinding is just rationalizing giving it away.

    3. Without your health, none of the time means much.

    4. We overcomplicate everything. Especially making money.

    5. Stop building your life around a job. Fund the life you want instead.

    6. Stop asking permission. Nobody's coming.

    7. Action beats planning. Every time.

    8. Doing less is the whole skill.

    9. It comes down to four buckets: relationships, health, purpose, and fun.


    The Collective Now focused on the thing most people are actually stuck on: making money outside of corporate. https://trp-collective.circle.so/checkout/the-time-rich-project-collective

    Got a question, or know a Gen Xer doing something interesting? Email me: bt@bretttrainor.com

    If you're getting something out of the show, hit follow or subscribe wherever you're listening. Still moves the needle.

    TIMESTAMPS

    Estimated from the transcript. Spot-check against the final cut, and shift everything by the length of your cold open plus sting.

    • 00:00 — Six years in, and why I'm doing this podcast with more intention

    • 01:55 — #1: I wasn't running from corporate, I was running toward control

    • 03:00 — #2: Time is the currency (and the 90-minute commute that broke me)

    • 05:05 — #3: Prioritize your health now, not later

    • 06:00 — #4: We overcomplicate everything, especially making money

    • 07:30 — #5: Stop building your life around work, fund the life instead

    • 09:10 — #6: Stop asking for permission

    • 10:25 — #7: Action beats planning, every single time

    • 11:30 — #8: Doing less is the whole skill

    • 13:55 — #9: The four buckets (relationships, health, purpose, fun)

    • 17:50 — Quick recap of all nine

    • 19:20 — There is no one path. Don't follow somebody else's plan.

    • 20:05 — What's changed inside The Collective

    • 21:05 — How to reach me
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    21 分
  • Brett Trainor Unplugged

    Brett Trainor Unplugged
    2026/08/20

    Brett Trainor Unplugged is for Gen Xers who want to get one step closer to living the life they want—on their terms.

    After six years of building life beyond the default corporate playbook, thousands of conversations with Gen Xers, entrepreneurs, and experts, and features in Fortune, Fast Company, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Inc., Brett Trainor is still on the quest to build his ideal life—and he shares what he learns along the way.

    Part personal journal, part practical guide, and part curious conversation, this is a candid, lightly produced show about stripping away the noise, rejecting unnecessary grind, and seeing more of what is possible.

    Brett is a deconstructor, explorer, dot connector, and self-admitted high-functioning lazy person. Through solo episodes and unfiltered conversations with Gen Xers, founders, creators, and experts, he explores the decisions, habits, tools, tradeoffs, and ideas that can help you build a life you actually want to live.

    The conversations span the areas that make life worth living: money, mind and body, purpose, connections, possibility, and fun.

    There is no singular path. No hustle theater. No permission required. Just better questions, useful ideas, and real examples that help you see what is possible—and ask:

    Why not me?
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    8 分