In this thought-provoking episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, host Gabriel Griess challenges a common belief about success: what if quitting isn’t failure, but one of the most important decisions you can make?

Drawing from his new book, The Results Tree, Gabriel explores the powerful concept of committed action and why knowing what to quit is just as important as knowing what to pursue.

He reframes quitting not as failure, but as a strategic decision to stop doing things that don’t align with your vision, purpose, and calling. When your actions are rooted in a compelling vision and fueled by clear intention, quitting distractions becomes essential for living boldly and taking meaningful action.

Using practical examples and relatable analogies, he highlights why perseverance matters, why failure is simply feedback, and why success comes from staying in the arena rather than striving for perfection.

The life you want is built through committed action, taken one step at a time, even when the path isn’t clear.

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QUOTES

• Winston Churchill: “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
• Ed Mylett: “You don't have to believe in your entire journey. Just believe in the next step.”

Life shifts from drifting through circumstances to moving forward with purpose and intention.

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

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ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

What if the difference between wishing for change and actually creating it came down to one thing: clear intentions?

In this episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, host Gabriel Griess explores the transformative power of having clear intentions.

Drawing from his new book, The Results Tree, Gabriel unpacks why this is more than simply setting goals or making resolutions. Clear intention is not a wish, a hope, or a vague desire. It’s a crystal-clear commitment aligned with the vision written on your heart.

Gabriel explains that when your intentions become clear, they activate both conscious and subconscious alignment. Decisions become easier, distractions lose their pull, and daily choices begin moving you toward the life you’re called to create.

Through practical examples, including the trap of perfectionism and the danger of abandoning progress after small setbacks, Gabriel reminds listeners that clear intentions keep you on course even when you stumble. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about staying committed and getting back on track.

When your intentions are crystal clear, your actions follow. And when your actions align with your vision, transformation begins.

Life shifts from drifting through circumstances to moving forward with purpose and intention.

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RESOURCES

🌎 Website: navigatingleaders.com

👀 Vision Engine: navigatingleaders.com/vision-engine

📖 The Results Tree—A Proven Path to the Life You Really Want: TheResultsTree.com

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

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ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

In this episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, host Gabriel Griess explores a powerful question: What happens when you lose sight of the vision you were meant to live?

Drawing from his new book, The Results Tree, Gabriel unpacks why vision is one of the most powerful forces in personal growth and leadership.

Vision is more than a motivational idea. It’s a compass for life. When clearly defined, it becomes a guiding force that shapes decisions, clarifies priorities, and keeps you aligned with the purpose God placed inside you.

Gabriel explains that each person carries a unique vision written on their heart. It reflects their gifts, calling, and the impact they are meant to have in the world. But over time, distractions, fear, and limiting beliefs can cloud that vision, causing people to play smaller than they were designed to live.

In this episode, Gabriel unpacks how rediscovering your vision can quiet doubt, sharpen focus, and bring greater intention to everyday choices.

He also introduces a practical tool called the Vision Engine, available at navigatingleaders.com. This resource helps listeners craft and refine their personal vision through guided questions and AI-powered insights.

When your vision becomes clear, your path becomes clearer too. And when you begin living from that vision, life shifts from drifting through circumstances to moving forward with purpose and intention.

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RESOURCES

🌎 Website: navigatingleaders.com

👀 Vision Engine: navigatingleaders.com/vision-engine

📖 The Results Tree—A Proven Path to the Life You Really Want: TheResultsTree.com

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

====================

ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

Do you ever feel like life tries to put you in a box? One career, title, or identity?

In this episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, host Gabriel Griess sits down with longtime friend, Air Force Colonel, entrepreneur, and public servant Erik “EZ” Brine to explore what it means to live a life that refuses to be defined by a single role.

Erik’s story is a powerful example of how a person can lead in multiple arenas at once. From military service and local government to launching an aviation-inspired whiskey brand and helping veterans find their voice through music with Operation Encore, Erik has embraced a life built around curiosity, service, and purpose.

But the conversation goes deeper than career accomplishments. Erik shares a pivotal moment in his life when he was forced to step away from flying, something that had become central to his identity. That transition forced him to ask a difficult question: If I’m not this role anymore, who am I?

Through that experience, Erik discovered a powerful truth: our jobs are not our identity, they’re simply one part of who we are.

In this episode, Gabriel and Erik explore:

• Why your career should never define your identity
• How embracing multiple passions can create a richer life
• The importance of being a “utility player” in life and leadership
• Why relationships and trust are the foundation of leadership
• How hardship builds resilience and empathy
• The role of mentorship, and why everyone should both seek it and give it
• Why inspiration is the missing ingredient in many leadership models

EZ also shares a leadership framework he’s developed through years of service: leaders must organize, train, equip, and inspire the people they lead.

Leadership isn’t about titles or authority. It’s about building trust, inspiring others, and showing up consistently in the relationships that matter most.

RESOURCES

• Website: navigatingleaders.com
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree
• Erik “EZ” Brine: linkedin.com/in/erikbrine
  • Operation Encore: operationencore.org
  • Winglore Spirits: winglorespirits.com
  • Brackish Experts: brackishexperts.com

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

• Instagram @navigatingleaders
• Facebook @navigatingleaders
• YouTube @navigatingleaders
• LinkedIn @navigatingleaders
• TikTok @navigatingleaders

What does real leadership actually look like?

In this episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, Gabriel Griess explores a powerful truth: Leadership doesn’t begin with influence, authority, or position; it begins inside of you.

Drawing inspiration from historical and spiritual leaders such as Gandhi, Christ, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa, Gabriel examines what made their leadership so impactful. Their secret wasn’t power or visibility. It was alignment. Their thoughts, words, and actions were congruent, and that alignment built deep trust and influence that continue to shape the world today.

Gabriel challenges listeners to reflect on the difference between modern “headline leadership” and the kind of leadership that flows from integrity, authenticity, and purpose. He explains why trust is foundational to leadership and why it’s impossible to lead people well if our inner life is chaotic or disconnected from our actions.

In this episode, Gabriel explores:

• Why leadership begins with mastering the inner world
• How thoughts shape behavior and influence
• The incredible power and responsibility of our words
• Why actions ultimately reveal who we really are
• The importance of living with alignment and authenticity
• How awareness allows us to break free from past patterns
• Why every moment offers the opportunity to choose differently

Gabriel also reminds us that leadership isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress and awareness. When our thoughts, words, and actions come into alignment with our values and vision, we naturally become people others can trust and follow.

Because the most powerful leadership in the world doesn’t start on a stage.

It starts within.

Leadership is an inside job.

RESOURCES

• Website: navigatingleaders.com
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): https://shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree
• Napoleon Hill: Think and Grow Rich: https://a.co/d/0hQmc4pg
• Viktor Frankl: Man’s Search for Meaning: https://a.co/d/03veF2cJ

SCRIPTURES & QUOTES

• Proverbs 25:28: “A person without self-control is like a city with broken walls.”
• Matthew 12:34: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
• Napoleon Hill: “If you fail to control your mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.”

Gabriel also references several historical figures as examples of leaders whose thoughts, words, and actions were aligned:

• Mahatma Gandhi
• Jesus Christ
• Nelson Mandela
• Mother Teresa
• Viktor Frankl

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

• Instagram @navigatingleaders
• Facebook @navigatingleaders
• YouTube @navigatingleaders
• LinkedIn @navigatingleaders
• TikTok @navigatingleaders

Where does purpose actually come from?

In this powerful episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, Gabriel Griess sits down with faith-driven entrepreneur, pastor, and leadership mentor Mark Moreno to explore a surprising truth: Purpose is often born through pain.

Mark shares his personal story of building a thriving church and ministry only to see everything he had built taken away in a painful season that challenged his identity, faith, and leadership. What followed was a deep process of refinement that reshaped how he views purpose, leadership, and the role of faith in both ministry and business.

Together, Gabriel and Mark unpack how hardship can uncover hidden insecurities, refine character, and ultimately prepare leaders for the next chapter of their calling.

This conversation dives into:

• Why pain is often the starting point of purpose
• The leadership lessons learned through loss and failure
• How identity can become dangerously tied to achievement
• What Mark calls the “pace of grace” in leadership and life
• Why entrepreneurs and leaders often struggle with performance-driven faith
• The difference between asking God to remove pain and asking Him to refine us through it
• How reflection, gratitude, and humility shape healthy leadership

Mark also shares a powerful reminder for leaders and entrepreneurs: God will never multiply what we mismanage, making personal stewardship, character, and self-reflection essential to both spiritual and professional growth.

This episode is a deep and honest conversation about pain, calling, leadership, and faith and how the hardest seasons of life often become the very chapters that shape our greatest impact.

Because sometimes the most painful shifts in life are actually God’s setup for greatness.

RESOURCES

• Website: navigatingleaders.com
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): https://shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree
• Mark Moreno | Executive Director, Faith Driven Business
• Connect with Mark on Instagram at @mark_a_moreno and Facebook at facebook.com/mark.moreno.351

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

====================

ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

What would your life look like if fear no longer controlled your decisions?

In this powerful solo episode of Navigating Leaders, Gabriel Greiss explores the true nature of fear: what it is, where it comes from, and how it quietly limits the life you were designed to live.

From childhood conditioning to adult patterns of safety and control, Gabriel reveals how fear often shows up as stories we tell ourselves: I’m not enough. I don’t have what it takes. I might fail.

But here’s the truth: fear is often nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real.

Through personal stories, leadership insight, and practical reflection, Gabriel explains how fear is learned, how it becomes embedded in identity, and how awareness gives you the power to choose differently. He reminds listeners that babies and young children live boldly, relentlessly pursuing growth without fear of failure and challenges us to reconnect with that same courageous spirit.

This episode also explores:

• Why fear is often learned, not inherent
• How fear keeps you playing small and living safely instead of fully
• The difference between reacting automatically and responding intentionally
• How comparison and self-doubt reinforce fear
• Why vision is the most powerful antidote to fear
• How living from purpose shrinks fear’s influence

Gabriel invites you to examine your fears honestly and reconnect with a vision so meaningful that it outweighs the stories holding you back.

Because when your vision is clear and compelling, fear loses its power.

You don’t eliminate fear by waiting.

You overcome fear by choosing to live boldly, one intentional step at a time.

RESOURCES

• Website:.navigatingleaders.com
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): https://shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

====================

ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

What happens when you gain everything the world says should make you happy—fame, success, money, influence—and still feel empty inside?

In this powerful episode of Navigating Leaders, Gabriel sits down with former British Royal Marine Commando, entrepreneur, and spiritual seeker Geoff Barker, whose life journey took him from elite military service to celebrity circles, addiction, and ultimately a radical search for truth that spanned seven years and 33 countries.

Geoff shares how he built Australia’s first personal training company, trained celebrities, and lived in the world of fame, excess, and influence only to discover that success couldn’t fill the void he carried inside. Desperate for meaning, Geoff and his family gave away everything they owned, lived out of a van, and traveled the world seeking answers from spiritual teachers, monks, gurus, and religious traditions.

But even after exploring every path, Geoff found himself at a breaking point until a moment of profound personal transformation during a 40-day fast changed everything.

This episode explores:

• Why success, fame, and validation cannot heal internal emptiness
• The hidden pain and insecurity that often drive achievement
• How pride, skepticism, and intellectual certainty can block transformation
• The courage it takes to surrender control and seek truth honestly
• The difference between intellectual knowledge and spiritual transformation
• How surrender, humility, and openness can lead to healing and purpose

Geoff’s story is a powerful reminder that no matter how far you’ve gone or how lost you feel, transformation is possible, and sometimes the breakthrough comes when you finally stop striving and allow yourself to receive.

Because the journey to truth isn’t about having all the answers.

It’s about having the courage to let go of what you thought you knew.

RESOURCES

• Website: www.navigatingleaders.com
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): https://shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree
• More about Geoff's Story: https://vimeo.com/1104798058
• Geoff Barker: https://www.geoffbarker.com/
• Geoff Barker: Ambassador, Hope Is Alive: https://www.hopeisalive.net

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

• Instagram @navigatingleaders
• Facebook @navigatingleaders
• YouTube @navigatingleaders
• LinkedIn @navigatingleaders
• TikTok @navigatingleaders