coaching.

Happy 2025!
As we kick off a new year, I’ve been reflecting on some powerful themes and insights from my coaching conversations at the end of 2024—and thought I’d share. You might find them helpful.

First, men are struggling.
(Some women might say “about time,” but still...)

Men are:
• 4x more likely to die by suicide
• 3x more likely to face addiction
• 12x more likely to be incarcerated

Nearly 1 in 7 men have no close friends (compared to 1 in 10 women). Almost half of men consider themselves lonely. And if you talk to women trying to date men in 2024, you’ll hear stories that confirm this struggle.

But I’ve seen big change. I’ve coached men through uncertainty, doubt, and those moments where they felt like they were stuck on the sidelines of their own lives—and it’s shifted my specialization a bit more toward men. We need it.

Some other themes I've seen:

1. The world is hard.
   Period. Full stop. Yet somehow, many of us still believe that if life feels hard, we must be doing something wrong. Just watch a nature show—any nature show about anything: sea otters, algae, outer space. There’s a constant struggle from every living thing to survive.
   
   It’s not abnormal—it’s normal.
   
   The goal isn’t to make the world easy (impossible) but to manage the hard in all the right ways (hard, but realistic). That’s a huge perspective shift for many.

2. Regret is still annoying as hell.
   We’re haunted by past regrets—but also by future regret anxiety—the fear that we’ll regret a decision we make today. And it’s true—we might. But we might also regret not making the choice.
   
   If we trust Daniel Pink (The Power of Regret is an amazing book), our biggest regrets at the end of our lives aren’t the things we did, but the things we did not do. So, if you’re scared of regret, it might be better to try that thing than not try it. Or at least equally risky.

3. We’re all scared of becoming "that" person.
   For workaholics, it’s the fear of being lazy. For people pleasers, it’s the fear of being selfish. For people who want to be more free, it’s the fear of being an asshole.
   
   I’ve heard it so many times in so many contexts. I’m even saying it to myself right now: I’m that guy trying to sell myself on LinkedIn.
   
   Good news: You’re not that person.
   If you were, you wouldn’t be scared of becoming it. Since you’re not—and you’re so damn scared of it—go for it.

• If you’re a workaholic, try being lazy—it’s also sometimes called balance.

• If you’re a people pleaser, try being selfish—it’s also sometimes called empowerment.

• If you’re trying to be yourself, lean into being bold—it’s also sometimes called Kendrick.

If you’re a man ready to sharpen any part of your life in 2025, let’s chat. A typical football team has 12 coaches—mental, nutrition, and offseason specialists. We know this works for them, so why not for you?

Give it a shot. I know you’ll find it worth it.
(See? I’m selling myself!)

Schedule a discovery call!