mindset separates great from good | Mindful Mondays

The future is bright.

Monday night I hosted the first Mindful Mondays at our house, and it was an amazing evening.

If you missed the earlier post, you can learn more here, but the TLDR is that I created a five-part series of conversations for Roman and Leo’s friends and teammates to introduce them to important concepts and tools I wish I'd known when I was their age.

As I evolve with my Authentic Life, I want to do more investing in others. I’ve always imagined this as helping people I care about start businesses or pay off debts, giving them the freedom to pursue their Authentic Lives. I realized that last night’s conversation and the ones to come are an investment in the kids who show up. It’s an investment of time. It’s an investment of energy. It’s an investment of money. All investments I’m excited to make, without any expectation of financial return—another terrible ROI, but a valuable ROL (return on life).

Back to Monday night, I wasn’t sure how engaged the boys would be. I knew I had put a lot of thought into the conversation I wanted to lead—I knew it would be good, but I didn’t know if it would be something the boys would be glad they'd come for. I was optimistic; as best I could tell, everyone in attendance was there because they wanted to be, not because their parents were forcing them, but you never know.

My heart was full for the entire hour.

The boys were taking notes in the notebooks I provided. They helped me fill up a whiteboard with ideas. They were fully engaged and present for the entire talk.

I challenged everyone to write down at least one thing in their notebooks, and from what I could see, everyone had multiple pages of notes. And not only did they leave with notes, but they also left with a copy of George Mumford’s The Mindful Athlete and a dope T-shirt I designed.

The ultimate sign that the evening was a success was that multiple boys came up afterward to thank me and shake my hand—the texts and messages from the parents confirmed it.

So, yes, the future is bright. A room of 13- to 18-year-old young men is learning to be more in control of their minds, which will help them not only on the court and field but in life.

By the end of the series, they’ll not only understand the power of their mind, but they’ll have a variety of practices and tools to help them navigate their sports and lives that most people never discover.

Here’s the recording of the Mindset talk:

I also made a Spotify playlist for the series—it’s all edited so anyone can listen and be motivated.

The next talk about Mindfulness will be on 7.27.26 @ 6:00, and I’ll have the recording up later that night.

Stay tuned for the upcoming talks!!

Keep pursuing,

JC