Most people do not need another reminder that discipline matters. They need a way to return to themselves when life, noise, pressure, and old patterns start running the show.

Jeff Jones, Head Football Athletic Performance Coach at the University of Northern Iowa and author of The Intentional Edge: 10 Reps to Mental Toughness, joins L. Michael Burt on The ThriveWell Journey for a conversation about training the mind before pressure arrives.

Jeff does not treat mental toughness like a speech. He treats it like reps: write it down, train the focus, create your own scorecard, and keep doing the drill. Michael and Jeff talk about why people can know better and still not move differently, how phones steal focus, why identity cannot live on a scoreboard, and what happens when public success hides private exhaustion.

Key ideas include mental toughness training, self-talk as a drill, focus in the phone era, identity beyond titlesand outcomes, ownership without shame, and the slow invisible work of rebuilding self-trust

Key ideas:

• Mental toughness is trained through daily reps

• Focus has to be protected before the phone owns it

• Identity needs to be bigger than a role, title, result, or scoreboard

• Self-talk is not just motivation; it is a drill

• Small consistent reps create invisible impact over time

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Jeff Jones

04:13 From athletic performance to whole-person coaching

06:26 Why mental toughness has to be trained

07:47 The mindset behind reaching your potential

09:49 How the mind affects physical performance

11:12 Becoming a game-changing coach

12:09 Coaching the scheme, the mind, and the heart

13:50 Why the mind needs reps, not reminders

15:01 Building resilience through identity and values

18:19 Finding who you are beyond external validation

19:58 Mental drills for focus and toughness

21:21 Control the controllables

24:04 What changes when you focus on what you can control

27:22 Human nature, habits, and performance

30:59 Why knowing better does not always change behavior

34:30 Responding to adversity without losing yourself

37:07 Daily focus and small wins

40:31 Internal focus versus external validation

44:18 Identity beyond your profession or title

47:22 Creating your own success scorecard

50:18 Intentional effort and the habits that shape you

52:08 How phone addiction affects focus and performance

54:42 Setting better boundaries with technology

58:50 Patience, repetition, and consistent effort

01:05:29 Do the work and keep showing up

Connect w/ Jeff Jones

Instagram: @coachjeffjones

Book: THE INTENTIONAL EDGE

You Did Not Lose Your Way: https://alignment.lmichaelburt.com/

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You can lose a job, change direction, or realize the work no longer fits without immediately knowing what the next chapter is supposed to look like. The hard part is that work can become tangled up with identity. When the title changes, the question can become bigger than “What job do I get next?” It can become “Who am I now?”

Carlee Wolfe joins L. Michael Burt for a conversation about what happens in that middle space. Carlee works across organizational change, talent, coaching, workforce development, and community work. She also knows career disruption personally. During the pandemic, she experienced job loss and the questions that can follow even when you understand that a larger change is happening.

One of the most useful turns in the conversation begins with a familiar phrase: “trust the process.” Carlee admits the phrase can be both motivating and frustrating because trust is hard to touch when you are still inside the uncertainty. Together, Carlee andMichael develop another way to think about it: touch the process. What can you see, do, honor, or complete today that gives you something real to stand on?

That can be as small as showing up for coffee when you said you would, putting the phone down and going to bed, or simply picking up the book you keep saying you are going to read. The point is not that tiny actions magically solve a career transition. The point is that commitments compound, and each one can become evidence of how you are choosing to show up.

Key ideas from the conversation:

• Why career change can shake identity even when the change makes sense

• How to separate who you are from the title or organization attached to you

• Why curiosity can come before clarity

• How small commitments create something tangible inside an uncertain process

• Carlee’s 3 Cs: curiosity, clarity, and confident action

• The 3 Essentials: information, support, and encouragement

Connect with Carlee Wolfe:

https://carleewolfe.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carleeawolfe

If this conversation gives you something useful, follow The ThriveWell Journey, rate the show on your podcast platform, and share the episode with someone navigating a transition. Those simple actions help more people find the work.

You Did Not Lose Your Way: https://alignment.lmichaelburt.com/

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The ThriveWell Journey is hosted by L. Michael Burt and produced by FAYEWAY Media.

Purpose After Disruption. Let’s Make Thriving Our New Normal

Atiba de Souza learned leadership through the consequences of getting it wrong.

He describes a period when his reactions and leadership style burned people out and cost him employees. Eventually, the pattern demanded a harder question: what did he need to change?

That opens a conversation with L. Michael Burt about leadership after disruption. Atiba shares becoming a single father after his wife left, what destruction can teach us about creation, and how examining himself changed the way he led.

Atiba breaks leadership into three practices: set vision, be open, and ask great questions. The goal is to develop people who can think, exercise judgment, and make strong decisions without waiting for the leader's answer.

TAKEAWAYS

• Leadership is a skill that is learned and practiced, not a title earned.
• Effective leaders focus on developing their people and asking great questions.
• Destruction is a necessary part of creation and growth.
• Being open and honest about your feelings fosters trust and better communication.
• Hard times are part of life, but they can be the foundation for future success.
• A leader's primary role is to help their team improve and succeed.
• Asking the right questions can unlock solutions and new perspectives.
• Leadership is about creating a culture where questions are encouraged.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Atiba de Souza's Leadership Journey

00:28 Introduction to leadership and questioning

01:55 Leadership as a Skill, Not a Title

02:51 The power of asking questions to empower others

04:01 The Role of Destruction in Creation

07:02 Personal Story of Resilience and Transformation

07:05 Developing independent thinking through probing questions

12:00 Life's Challenges as Opportunities for Growth

12:01 Using first principles to solve problems

17:01 Creating a culture of curiosity and learning

18:04 The Power of Emotional Openness in Leadership

21:59 The role of values in leadership and culture

24:00 Developing Leaders Through Questions and Vision

27:03 Strategies for effective delegation and leadership growth

30:02 The Importance of Trust and Authenticity

31:57 Understanding human nature and communication

36:10 Handling Difficult Situations with Clarity and Calm

37:00 The importance of self-awareness and continuous improvement

41:56 Real-world examples of leadership in action

43:59 The Future of Leadership and Small Business Impact

47:05 The impact of leadership on organizational success

52:00 Final thoughts on leadership and living by first principles

CONNECT WITH ATIBA DE SOUZA

The Delegation Trap: It’s Not Them, It’s You https://thedelegationtrap.com/

https://www.atibadesouza.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/atibadesouza/

https://instagram.com/atibadesouza

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