Essentials “2025 Year in Review”

Instead of my usual Friday Essentials segment, I wanted to do something a little different to close out the year.

What follows is a collection of the ideas, stories, clips, and books I’ve found myself referencing often over the past year and some of the work I’ve been most proud of when hitting publish.

Some of these pieces generated the most engagement and shares from this community. Others didn’t necessarily “blow up,” but they’ve stayed with me and keep showing up repeatedly in my work with high performers, coaches, and leaders.

My Top 5 “Winning With Words” Articles

1. Why Consistency Beats Talent — A reminder that sustainable success is rarely about intensity or raw ability. It’s about showing up, especially on the days when motivation is low and conditions aren’t ideal. Talent may open doors, but consistency is what keeps them open.

2. Are You Hunting Antelope or Chasing Mice? — This piece challenged the way many of us spend our time and attention. It’s about distinguishing between meaningful priorities and the endless distractions that quietly drain energy without moving us forward.

3. Build Your Central Park — I share a personal story about a walk through Central Park and how it reminded me that we all benefit from intentionally designing space for stillness, clarity, and peace in our lives.

4. Wilt Chamberlain’s Underhand Experiment — A story about ego, identity, and the cost of protecting image over effectiveness. Sometimes the most effective solution is available to us—but we avoid it because it threatens how we want to be seen.

5. Stop Comparing Sideways, Start Comparing Backward — A reframing of comparison that helps reduce unnecessary pressure. Instead of measuring yourself against others, this piece encourages looking at your own progress over time and measuring who you are now versus who you were before.

Top 5 Short-Form Podcast Episodes (my personal favorites)

1. You Get to Be the Author — What if the story you’re telling yourself is holding you back more than the actual event?

2. Operation Starfish — What do you do when your team is falling apart and belief feels out of reach?

3. Movement Creates Clarity — Ever sat at a parking lot exit waiting for your GPS to calibrate and catch up? A message around the idea that a GPS can’t guide a parked car (it requires motion and so do you).

4. Empathy Without Excuses — I share a personal failure in coaching when I made the mistake of lowering the standard for a player, despite good intentions.

5. The Story Isn’t Finished — A separator for high performers is learning to not judge an ending while the story is still being written.

Top 5 Social Media Posts (My Personal Favorites)

These are personal posts or video clips I still find myself returning to often because of how they’ve shaped my own thinking or how they’ve been valuable in my conversations with coaches and leaders.

1. Some of your best performances will begin with…

2. Fear and doubt hate company.

3. JJ Redick on the benefits he’s received from working with a performance coach.

4. “There’s someone who needs you today.”

5. How are you spending your time?

Top 5 Books I read this year (no particular order)

1. Captivate (Vanessa Van Edwards) — A super interesting and practical look at human behavior, communication, and how to foster authentic connection. It contains some really interesting insights for how to notice body language and subtle signs that you’re shaping (or losing) trust.

2. Die With Zero (Bill Perkins) — This is actually a re-read, but it’s a provocative challenge to how we think about time, money, and life design. It asks a simple, but uncomfortable question: What’s the point of deferring everything to later?

3. Reset (Dan Heath) — A guide to getting unstuck (individually and organizationally).

4. The Secret Society of Success (Tim Schurrer) — A book about redefining success (great for those who value humility and contributing to something bigger than yourself).

5. Work Rules! (Laszlo Bock) — An inside look at building high-performing organizations by the visionary head of Google’s “People Operations” department and why it’s critical to invest in people, not just processes.

Okay, one last bonus idea 🙂