Most of us do exactly what we were told to do: we work hard, climb the ladder, check the boxes, and live the life we set out to build. From the outside, it looks like success. But inside, many of us wrestle with the same silent question: “Is this it?”

In this conversation with Justin on Grody and Unprofessional, I go back to the beginning of my story—the moment I realized I had everything I thought I wanted, yet felt empty inside. We talk about:

Why I call myself a dude from the internet and why people trust me with the things they’ve never said out loud to anyone else.

The four-year arc from “Is this it?” to “My work here is done”—and how I finally had the courage to make The Trade.

The guilt and shame that comes from “having so much but feeling so little”—and why you’re not broken if you feel this way.

The 753 Rambles I’ve had with people at the edge of change, and the patterns that show up in every one of those conversations.

What leaders really want: not more money, but freedom, purpose, and a voice that sounds like their own.

Why “never lose your art” might be the most important advice you’ll ever hear.

This isn’t theory—it’s real life. And if you’ve ever looked around and wondered if you were meant for more, this episode will help you see that you’re not crazy, you’re not alone, and you’re one decision away from a radically different life.

Let’s be up to something.

🔁 What’s Next?

If this episode speaks to you, this is an invitation to join the growing Normal 40 community to connect with like-minded individuals. Whether through a free Ramble, Lon's Insider group, or his bestselling book 'The Trade,' this episode is your call to action to start designing your next chapter.

Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Connect with Justin McMenamy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcmenamy-59a6087a/

Find the Grody & Unprofessional podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grody-unprofessional/id1761211065

At some point, your success starts to feel like a trap.

You’ve got the title, the money, the corner office—but something’s off.You’re restless. You’re starting to wonder, is this it?And no one around you seems to get it.

This episode is for you.

Lon and Adam are back to break down Lon’s next book, The Gap—the emotional, spiritual, and practical space between the life you’ve built and the life you know is still out there.

They dive deep into the 12 Ascents; the stages every elite provider must go through to move from the lower curve (the life they’ve outgrown) to the upper line (the life they want to build). These all are born from 1,000+ rambles Lon has had with people just like you.

What to Expect:

--What “The Gap” actually is and how to know if you’re in it

--Why most high performers flatline in their 40s (even while making more money)

--The real reason success can start to feel suffocating

--The hidden cost of someone else’s scorecard

--Why “freedom” is usually a mask for “I don’t want this anymore”

--The first 4 ascents: how to start, when to stop tolerating, and why clarity only comes through action

--Adam’s own journey and why reinvention doesn’t always mean quitting

Key Takeaways:

->Awareness → Acknowledgment → Acceptance → Permission → Action

->There’s a version of you you haven’t met yet, but you can feel them getting closer

->You don’t have to quit to start. But you do have to start if you ever hope to quit.

->Burn the scorecard they gave you. Write the one that’s yours.

->You’re not alone. But you have to get around people who make you believe it.

->The most important chapter of your life won’t be written by your boss.

🔁 What’s Next?

If this episode speaks to you, this is an invitation to join the growing Normal 40 community to connect with like-minded individuals. Whether through a free Ramble, Lon's Insider group, or his bestselling book 'The Trade,' this episode is your call to action to start designing your next chapter.

Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Follow Adam Eaton here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-eaton-21646a4/

What happens when you’ve built a perfect résumé, then lose everything it stood for?

Laverne McKinnon was doing everything right.Climbing fast. Getting promoted every 18 months.She was a powerful voice behind some of the biggest shows on television—including CSI and Criminal Minds.

And then, one day, it all ended.

No warning. No performance plan. Just a quiet conversation behind closed doors… and a single word that changed everything:

Liability.

What followed was a collapse of identity, a decade of self-loathing, and a grief she didn’t yet have the words to name.She’d lost her job, her father, and her confidence—all at once.

But what she found, years later, was something even more powerful:A second résumé.A deeper calling.And a new kind of freedom she never thought she'd earn.

This conversation is one of the most human episodes we’ve ever recorded. We talk about ambition, pressure, identity, and the cost of being the one everyone else counts on, until you no longer count yourself.

What to Expect:

How losing her job during the height of her success became Laverne’s spiritual awakening

The difference between being “loyal” and being “obedient”

Why grief isn’t just about death but what happens when identity changes

How codependency shows up in high performers

The moment her life changed forever: “You’re a liability”

How one rogue coach (with no certifications) saved her life

Why your second résumé is more valuable than your first

Key Takeaways:

The people who helped you get here may not be the ones who can help you go next

You can grieve a job, a dream, or an identity and still begin again

The stories we carry about our past often aren’t true

Your second résumé holds the key to your next chapter—but only if you’re brave enough to read it

Permission doesn’t come from your boss, your spouse, or your friends. It comes from you.

🔁 What’s Next?

If this episode speaks to you, this is an invitation to join the growing Normal 40 community to connect with like-minded individuals. Whether through a free Ramble, Lon's Insider group, or his bestselling book 'The Trade,' this episode is your call to action to start designing your next chapter.

Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Subscribe to Laverne’s Substack – Moonshot Mentor: https://moonshotmentor.substack.com/

Connect with her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavernemckinnon/

There’s a moment—quiet, invisible—when you stop asking for someone else’s approval… and start listening for your own.

That moment is called permission. And in this episode, Lon and Adam unpack what it actually means to give it to yourself, and why it’s often the hardest, most courageous thing you’ll ever do.

Lon reveals the real pattern behind over a thousand coaching conversations, and how nearly everyone who reaches out is stuck in the same swirl: aware something is off, acknowledging the discontent, accepting the truth… but waiting for a green light that never comes.

They also go deeper into the conversations that happen after you give yourself permission. With your spouse. With your friends. With the voices in your own head. Because the truth is: most of the people you love won’t understand. And some of the people you trust the most may never give you the validation you’re craving.

That’s why this episode is more than just about permission. It’s about power. It’s about identity. And it’s about choosing to trust the one vote that actually counts: your own.

What to Expect

--Why “permission” is the most misunderstood phase of any transformation

--The true cost of waiting too long to trust your gut

--How to navigate the spiral of awareness → acknowledgment → acceptance → action

--The exact words Lon uses in real-life Rambles that help people start moving

--What to do when your spouse, friends, or coworkers don’t get it

--Why most people don’t need better advice; they need better questions

Key Takeaways:

--No one is coming to give you the life you want. You have to permit yourself to go get it.

--Permission without action is just frustration.

--You don’t need a perfect plan—you need a clear first step.

--Your old friends might not understand who you’re becoming. That’s okay. Find the ones who do.

--You can trade what you have for something better… even if you don’t know what “better” is yet.

What’s Next?

If this episode speaks to you, this is an invitation to join the growing Normal 40 community to connect with like-minded individuals. Whether through a free Ramble, Lon's Insider group, or his bestselling book 'The Trade,' this episode is your call to action to start designing your next chapter.

Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Follow Adam Eaton here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-eaton-21646a4/

Most people open ChatGPT to get answers.

Rob Cressy opened it and found a new life.

In this episode, Lon sits down with Rob—entrepreneur, creator, and AI enablement coach—to talk about the real power of ChatGPT. Not as a shortcut. Not as a gimmick. But as a tool for clarity, creativity, and reinvention.

Rob discovered ChatGPT five days after it launched. And within minutes, he knew: this wasn’t just a tool—it was a turning point.

Together, Rob and Lon unpack what it means to “think into the AI,” why curiosity matters more than technical skill, and how your next chapter might start with a single prompt.

What to Expect

--Rob’s journey from sports media to high-performance coach and to AI enablement leader

--Why ChatGPT “felt like using the internet for the first time”

--How to move from searching to creating with AI

--Practical starting points: how to build a 7-day ChatGPT habit

--Why the best use cases start with your own curiosity

How to integrate AI into your life and career without losing your mind (or job)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. You’re not behind, you’re just asking the wrong questions

2. AI doesn’t replace creativity but it unlocks it

3. “What am I not asking ChatGPT to do?” ← this mindset alone is worth six figures

4. Start small, stay curious, and stack your own momentum

5. The opportunity isn’t technical. It’s emotional, creative, and exponential

What’s Next?

You don’t need a tech background to start. You just need to show up with curiosity.

Try Rob’s 7-day Challenge → 3 prompts a day. Any topic. For 7 days.

– Confess something you’ve been avoiding.

– Confront it in ChatGPT.

– Create your way forward.

You don’t need permission to start—just a better question.

Links & Resources:

Follow Lon on Substack: https://normal40.substack.com/

Book a Free Ramble with Lon: normal40.com (Click “Talk to Lon”)

Grab Lon’s book—The Trade: Amazon

Get the 14 Questions That Changed My Life: normal40.com

Follow Lon on LinkedIn: @LonStroschein

🔗 Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Connect with Rob Cressy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robcressy

Website: https://robcressy.ai/

At some point, every man has to ask:What’s this life I’ve built actually doing to me?

In this episode, Lon sits down with Tait Arend—fundraiser, leadership coach, and Co-host of the Bridging Connections podcast, for one of the most honest conversations we’ve ever had. Together, they unpack what happens when you’ve done everything right, checked all the boxes, built the image… and still feel like something’s missing.

This is not a conversation about brokenness.It’s a conversation about awakening.

From a childhood accident that changed his face, and his path, to founding a movement that helps men step out of image and into intimacy, Tait opens up about the five emotional dead ends high-performing men face silently:1. Cynicism

2. Isolation

3. Numbing

4. Disorientation, and

5. Powerlessness.

They talk about what’s beneath the mask.And what happens when you finally take it off.

This episode will challenge you and confront you to name the things you’ve been afraid to admit. And in the process, it might also give you your next move.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

--The five emotional dead ends men face (and how to break out of them)

--Why most men go through life with 'olders' and not 'elders'

--How image becomes a prison, even when it looks successful

--The moment of truth: when your future stops matching your present

--Why your ego might be your greatest asset

--How to stop waiting, and start doing something that matters

What’s Next?

You don’t need to burn it all down to begin again.But you do need to be honest about where you are and where you’re headed.

Start by asking yourself which of the Five Dead Ends are you stuck in.

Then do the one thing most men never do: say it out loud.

Follow the movement on Substack if you haven't already. Lon shares his best work over there.Links & Resources:

Follow Lon on Substack: https://normal40.substack.com/

Book a Free Ramble with Lon: normal40.com (Click “Talk to Lon”)

Grab Lon’s book—The Trade: Amazon

Get the 14 Questions That Changed My Life: normal40.com

Follow Lon on LinkedIn: @LonStroschein

🔗 Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Connect with Tait here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taitarend/

Some trades don’t make sense—until they do.

This is one of them.

Keith Pochick was an ER doctor. Twenty years in. Saving lives. Leading teams. Teaching residents. Everything he was trained to do and everything the world told him he should want.

Until it stopped working.

This conversation started the way most do: a quiet nudge, a LinkedIn post, and a DM sent without a plan. Forty-eight hours later, Keith and I sat down for the first time. No prep, no script. Just two guys who had made The Trade™ and knew the cost.

He didn’t leave medicine on a whim. He left over years.One dissection. One advisory meeting. One tug from his future at a time.Until one day he said yes to something that had been whispering for years.

Now, he teaches middle school science.And he’s never felt more useful.

This isn’t a story about burnout. It’s a story about awakening—when staying felt heavier than leaving,when the “right thing” wasn’t the thing that felt true anymore,and when Keith finally stopped letting guilt steal his curiosity.

You’re going to feel this one.

And if you’re wondering whether it’s too late to start over...listen to the guy who did it—with no regrets, and no backup plan.

• Why Eric left a $400K Wall Street job to start over in medicine
• The anxiety spiral that nearly broke him and how he clawed his way back
• What panic feels like for elite performers (and why it’s so often hidden)
• Why mental health care is still out of reach for too many
• The power of marrying ambition with service
• How Frontier Psychiatry is transforming rural care across the U.S.

• You can wear the costume of success and still feel completely lost inside it.
• The pursuit of “brand” won’t protect you from burnout.
• Sometimes, you don’t need a new job. You need a new identity.
• Anxiety doesn’t make you weak. Ignoring it does.
• You don’t need to fix everything. You just need to advocate for yourself.
• What feels like unraveling might actually be your reassembly.

• Follow Lon on Substack: https://normal40.substack.com/
• Book a Free Ramble with Lon: normal40.com (Click “Talk to Lon”)
• Grab Lon’s book—The Trade: Amazon
• Get the 14 Questions That Changed My Life: normal40.com
• Follow Lon on LinkedIn: @LonStroschein