This episode picks up Part 2 of the Top 10 Takeaways from Surviving the Side Hustle — pulling lessons from some of the most impactful conversations since the show began.

These aren’t tactics or hacks. They’re foundational truths about confidence, awareness, communication, consistency, and alignment — and how Prime Performers actually sustain momentum over time.

6️⃣ If You Don’t Take Yourself Seriously, No One Else Will

Guest: Celeste Moore
Episode 82 – February 26, 2025

This conversation centered on confidence, presence, and personal branding — not as aesthetics, but as alignment.

Many people want to be taken seriously in their business, career, or side hustle… yet they don’t take themselves seriously first.

Key Lesson: Influence starts with presence.
Prime Performance Tie-In: Self-investment isn’t ego — it’s leadership.

Reflection: Where do others believe in you more than you currently believe in yourself?

7️⃣ Success Without Awareness Is Just Another Form of Burnout

Guest: Bob Martin
Episode 135 – November 18, 2025

This conversation slowed everything down — in the best way. We explored mindfulness, reflection, and how speed without awareness often disguises burnout as progress.

Key Lesson: Clarity doesn’t come from speed — it comes from space.
Prime Performance Tie-In: Momentum requires regular check-ins, not just checklists.

Reflection: When was the last time you paused long enough to ask, “Is this still the right direction?”

8️⃣ People Care More About Being Understood Than Being Impressed

Guest: Danny Brasile
Episode 101

This episode focused on communication, influence, and the difference between talking at people and truly connecting with them.

Most professionals focus on sounding smart. The real skill is making others feel understood.

Key Lesson: Connection precedes conversion.
Prime Performance Tie-In: Prime Performers speak to people — not over them.

Reflection: In your conversations, are you focused more on your response… or their reality?

9️⃣ You Can’t Control Outcomes — But You Can Control Effort

Guest: Quinn Magnuson
Episode 139 – From Gridiron to Boardroom

Quinn shared lessons from athletics, discipline, and long-term consistency. Motivation fluctuates. Conditions change. Results aren’t guaranteed.

Effort, preparation, and perspective are.

Key Lesson: Momentum isn’t emotional — it’s mechanical.
Prime Performance Tie-In: Confidence is built through small, repeatable actions.

Reflection: What is one effort you can commit to consistently in 2026 — regardless of how it feels?

🔟 Take Advice Only from People Who’ve Walked the Road

Guest: Adam Vora
Episode 33 – March 20, 2024

This conversation explored purpose, decision-making, and the danger of too many well-meaning voices.

Too much input creates confusion. Clarity improves when alignment replaces consensus.

Key Lesson: Discernment is a performance skill.
Prime Performance Tie-In: Prime Performers choose mentors, inputs, and feedback intentionally.

Reflection: Whose voice do you need to turn down in 2026 so you can hear your own more clearly?

If even one of these lessons resonated, revisit the full episode — and more importantly, apply one takeaway this week.

As we close out 2025, reflection matters just as much as goal-setting. In this solo episode, Rob looks back on five of the most impactful conversations from Surviving the Side Hustle so far — not tactical how-tos, but core truths about health, identity, effort, and alignment.

Sometimes Life Has to Break You Before It Can Align You

Guest: Holly Porter

Holly shared her near-death experience and the health collapse that forced her to stop everything. What stood out most wasn’t just the trauma — it was the clarity that followed.

For years, she succeeded on paper while ignoring the signals her body was sending… until they couldn’t be ignored anymore.

Reflection: Where have you been ignoring physical, mental, or emotional warning signs because slowing down feels uncomfortable?
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-the-side-hustle/id1711453767?i=1000713366899

2️⃣ Your Beliefs Quietly Shape Your Future

Guest: Kenny Green

This conversation dug deep into identity and belief systems. Most people chase strategies and shortcuts while overlooking the internal narratives driving their decisions.

Those beliefs don’t show up immediately — they reveal themselves through repeated patterns.

Reflection: What belief about yourself quietly guided your biggest decision this year? Was it empowering or limiting?
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-the-side-hustle/id1711453767?i=1000712387433

3️⃣ Self-Care Isn’t a Luxury — It’s a Requirement

Guest: Zoraida Morales

Zoraida’s story of surviving cancer and corporate burnout reframed success entirely. Healing wasn’t just about treatment — it required trust, intuition, and learning to listen again.

Reflection: What part of your wellbeing did you sacrifice this year in the name of productivity?
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-the-side-hustle/id1711453767?i=1000714447262

4️⃣ The Grind Only Works If You Recover From It

Guest: Ben LeRose

One of the most popular episodes of the show, this conversation explored ambition, work ethic, and the pride side hustlers take in outworking everyone else — and the cost of doing so without recovery.

Reflection: Where could better systems replace brute force in your life or business?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-the-side-hustle/id1711453767?i=1000639840629

5️⃣ Growth Starts Before You Feel Ready

Guests: Meredith & Craig

Meredith and Craig shared the behind-the-scenes story of leaving security, saying yes before certainty, and building a business together without waiting for confidence to show up first.

Reflection: What opportunity did you delay this year because you didn’t feel ready?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-the-side-hustle/id1711453767?i=1000740347869

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “I’m doing everything right… so why does it feel so heavy?”

You’re productive. Responsible. Capable. But beneath it all, you’re exhausted — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

That’s exactly what this week’s conversation with Dr. Maureen “Mo” Gibbons cracked wide open.

Here’s the truth she dropped that stuck with me:
You cannot hustle your way out of poor health — and no amount of success can compensate for a fried nervous system.

Dr. Mo isn’t speaking from theory. She lived it.
15 years in emergency medicine. Night shifts. High-stakes decisions. Ironman races. Credentials for days. And despite “doing everything right,” she was trapped in a system slowly draining her bandwidth, health, and joy.

Her mission now is simple but powerful:
Create a space for adults to be — and to grow.

🧠 What Makes Dr. Mo Different

Dr. Mo runs AMS Lifestyle Medicine, a telehealth practice focused on weight management, energy, men’s performance, and functional/lifestyle medicine.

But what stood out most to me is this:
👉 She doesn’t just treat symptoms — she treats capacity.

Mental bandwidth.
Biological energy.
Emotional clarity.

She helps people stop surviving their lives and start directing them.

🔑 Top Takeaways from the Episode

1️⃣ Burnout Isn’t Always Obvious

One of the most powerful moments was when Dr. Mo said:
“I didn’t think I was burned out.”

She was sleeping. Exercising. Productive. High-functioning.
Yet her system was overloaded.

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse.
Sometimes it looks like sustained over-functioning, where everything costs more than it should.

2️⃣ Bandwidth Is the Real Currency

Dr. Mo kept coming back to this idea of bandwidth — mental space, emotional capacity, nervous system regulation.

Most people don’t need more motivation.
They need fewer invisible drains.

Bandwidth is what allows better decisions, better leadership, better health.
Without it, even “good habits” stop working.

3️⃣ Systems Either Save You or Suffocate You

Dr. Mo scaled fast — replacing her ER income in six months — but without the right systems.

Eventually, she had to do the hardest thing imaginable:
She blew it up and rebuilt from scratch.

Because broken systems don’t scale — they multiply chaos.

This applies to life too.
If your calendar, routines, and environment aren’t supporting you, they’re quietly draining you.

📘 About the Book: Freedom to Shift

This book is for the person who says:
“I can’t work any harder… and I can’t imagine doing this for 20 more years.”

It’s the first of a trilogy:

• Freedom to Shift → Permission to change
• Freedom to Spend → Intentional use of time & money
• Freedom to Shine → Becoming a lighthouse, not a tugboat

You don’t retire from growth.
You evolve into relevance.

🎁 Free Gift from Dr. Mo

DM “REBOOT” to @drmogibbons on Instagram for her 7-Day Reboot
Learn more at ShiftWithDrMo.com

🎯 Your Challenge This Week

Ask yourself:

1. Where is my bandwidth leaking?
2. What am I tolerating that’s quietly draining me?
3. Where do I need to give myself permission to shift?

Then audit your calendar — not to cram more in, but to create white space.

In this episode of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob sits down with Dr. Maureen “Moe” Gibbons — physician, entrepreneur, lifestyle medicine expert, and author of the new book Freedom to Shift.

Dr. Moe specializes in helping high achievers trade burnout for bandwidth through systems, biology, boundaries, and intentional living. After spending 15 years in emergency medicine, completing seven Ironmans, and battling long-term weight and health challenges, she discovered the hard truth:

You can’t hustle your way out of poor health.

Now she’s on a mission to help people create time, income, and health freedom so they can build what’s next without sacrificing themselves in the process.

This is one of those conversations that makes you rethink performance, redefine success, and get honest about what “stress” is really costing you.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Her Mission Was Born Through Action, Not Planning
The phrase Freedom to Shift didn’t come from an idea — it came from lived experience. After decades of pushing through exhaustion, her mission became clear only after she created the space to heal.

2. The Hidden Weight We Don’t Know We Carry
Dr. Moe didn’t believe she was burned out until she stopped working. Only then did she recognize how much stress, adrenaline, and internal noise had become “normal.”
🔗 Relates directly to Prime Principle #1: Resilience through proper recovery.

3. Health Is the Doorway to Freedom
Whether it's weight, energy, anxiety, or sleep — you cannot build a business, family, or future on a dysregulated system.
She teaches clients to protect sleep, simplify nutrition, and eliminate stress-inducing inputs — a foundational requirement before scaling anything.

4. Systems Determine Your Success
Her telehealth practice grew so fast she had to fire 90% of her team and rebuild everything.
Lesson: you can’t scale chaos.
🔗 Echoes Prime Principle #4: Optimization.

5. Calendars Reveal the Truth
One of the first exercises she does with clients is organizing their calendar.
If the calendar is packed with noise, so is the mind.
If there’s no white space, there’s no bandwidth.
If everything is “busy,” nothing is strategic.

6. Freedom Comes From Intentional Choices, Not More Effort
She helps clients stop trading time and start creating scalable value through health, systems, and aligned work.
🔗 Ties into Prime Principle #3: Clarity & Reflection.

7. Retirement Is a Myth — Relevance Is the Goal
She envisions a future of book meetups, AMS lifestyle communities, and continuous growth. Success isn’t stopping — it’s shining.

🔗 Connect With Dr. Moe

Instagram: @drmoegibbons
DM the word “reboot” for her free 7-day health reset
Work with her: shiftwithdrmoe.com

🚀 Want More Energy, Clarity, and Momentum?

Join Prime Performance Momentum Mastermind — every Monday, live.
👉 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind

🎯 Weekly Challenge

Audit your calendar.
Create one pocket of true white space this week — no work, no phone, no expectation.
See how your body responds when you finally give it room to breathe.

🔥 Closing Thought

You can’t build a meaningful life on a burned-out foundation. Freedom begins with the shift you give yourself permission to make.

What happens when you do everything right your whole life — follow the path your family and culture laid out — and still feel like something is missing? That’s where this week’s guest, Mo Salami, found himself.

On paper, Mo was the blueprint of success: multiple science degrees, a respected healthcare career, six-figure income, the nice neighborhood, the nice car, the title that makes people nod. But internally? His life was one long loop of work, fatigue, and the quiet fear that this couldn’t be all there was.

Then one day, he walks into a bookstore in central London and sees a simple sign: “How to Be Successful.”
A sign pointing directly at a book he didn’t think he needed… but somehow had to pick up.

That book — The Success Principles — became the spark for a complete identity shift. He didn’t just read it. He bought every book recommended inside it. He started studying personal growth, sales, communication, mindset, public speaking — deeply. He traveled, trained, mentored, sold, spoke, failed, rebuilt, and eventually left the traditional path to build a life on his terms.

This recap breaks down the biggest lessons from that conversation — because Mo’s story is the exact story so many side hustlers silently live.

1️⃣ Apparent Success vs. Actual Success

Mo realized he had apparent success — the external markers that impress people.

Actual success is different.
Actual success includes:

• Fulfillment
• Freedom
• Impact
• Joy
• Alignment

It’s when your internal experience matches your external story.

So here’s your first question this week:

👉 Whose definition of success have you been chasing?
👉 And which parts of your current life are yours — and which were inherited?

2️⃣ The Three Steps to Purpose-Driven Success

Mo shared a framework I loved:

1. World-Class Mindset

Your mindset drives 80–90% of your results.
Not positive thinking — pattern recognition and emotional regulation.

2. World-Class Skill Set

Treat your craft like a profession, not a hobby.
Study the game. Get feedback. Practice deliberately.

3. Move Toward the Result Before You See It

Most people procrastinate behind preparation.
Mo reminded us:
👉 We only get about 4,000 weeks on this planet.

You cannot wait for certainty to start.

3️⃣ Prepare → Perform → Polish

This is the practicality every side hustler needs:

Prepare:

Get to 80%. Past that, you’re procrastinating.

Perform:

Launch messy. Do it unprepared. Act before confident.

Polish:

Then reflect, refine, repeat.

You don’t get polished by hiding behind your laptop.

Want to Connect with Mo?

• Website: mosalami.com
• Free Strategy Call: mosalami.com/freecall
• Keynote Speaking: blend of science, personal development, and practical application.

In this episode of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob sits down with Mo Salami — a scientist turned global speaker who walked away from a high-paying pharmaceutical career to pursue a life of purpose, service, and personal development.

Mo’s story begins in a world where academic achievement defined success. After earning multiple science degrees and securing a prestigious role, he found himself working 16-hour days, exhausted and unfulfilled. Everything changed in a London bookstore when he stumbled upon The Success Principles by Jack Canfield — a single moment that became his catalyst into mindset work, personal development, and eventually, speaking on stages around the world.

Mo shares the turning points, the identity shifts, the lessons learned from world-class mentors (including Tony Robbins), and the frameworks that guide his coaching today. For anyone considering a career change, craving more meaning, or looking to level up their skillset and mindset, Mo provides a playbook for purposeful success.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Actual Success Beats Apparent Success
Mo realized that the world’s definition of success didn’t match his own. True success includes fulfillment, not just income or titles.
🔗 This echoes Prime Principle #3 Clarity — identifying what matters before chasing what doesn’t.

2. The Three Pillars of Purpose-Driven Achievement
Mo reveals his three-part approach to becoming world-class in anything:

• Mindset: 80–90% of results come from how you think.
• Skillset: Master your craft at a level that genuinely serves others.
• Movement: Always move toward the result you want before you see it.
  🔗 Aligns beautifully with Prime Principle #1 Resilience and #4 Optimization.

3. Identity Shifts Are Required for Big Leaps
Leaving pharmacy wasn’t just a career change — it required redefining who he was. Mo reminds listeners that you don’t start from zero; you transfer your competencies into a new arena.

4. Don’t Attempt the Journey Alone
From Tony Robbins to global mentors, Mo accelerated his growth by learning directly from the best. Coaches collapse decades into days — and keep you accountable to the identity you want to step into.

5. The Three P’s of Polished Performance
Mo’s simple yet powerful performance framework:

• Prepare: Get to 80% and stop.
• Perform: Step into the arena.
• Polish: Iterate, refine, repeat.
  A reminder that sloppy reps are a requirement, not a setback.

🔗 Connect With Mo

Website: mosalami.com
Free Strategy Call: mosalami.com/freecall

If you're building a coaching business or want structured guidance for online growth and mindset mastery, Mo is a phenomenal resource.

🚀 Join the Momentum Mastermind

If Mo’s message lit a fire in you, imagine what happens when you surround yourself with people like him every Monday night.
👉 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind

🎯 Weekly Challenge

Pick one skill you want to master and apply Mo’s Three P’s:
Prepare → Perform → Polish
Tag @RobTracz and share your first rep — messy or not.

🔥 Closing Thought

Success isn’t a destination. It’s a mindset, a process, and a willingness to move before you feel ready.

In this recap of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob dives into the key lessons from his conversation with Meredith & Craig — a husband-and-wife duo who turned their marriage into the foundation for a thriving coaching business.

After leaving corporate careers, stumbling through real estate, and facing financial stress, they discovered their true gift wasn’t in properties — it was in people, connection, and partnership. Today they help couples strengthen communication, deepen trust, and build unstoppable momentum together.

This episode explores how aligned relationships fuel growth, energy, clarity, and confidence — not just at home, but in business too.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Challenge Creates Clarity
When life forced them out of corporate roles, they didn’t just change jobs — they changed direction. The breakdown forced bigger questions:
Who are we? What life do we actually want to build?
Hard moments often reveal your real path.
🔗 Prime Principle #1: Resilience

2. Vulnerability Builds Connection
Their coaching journey didn’t begin with expertise — it began with honesty. Sharing their relationship struggles on stage showed people they weren’t alone. Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s leadership.
🔗 Prime Principle #5: Social Support & Influence

3. Presence Protects Partnerships
Great relationships aren’t built on hours together — they’re built on attention.
Twenty minutes of full presence beats four hours of half-distracted time. When your energy is drained, nothing in your life or business gets your best.
🔗 Prime Principle #2: Intentional Consumption

💞 Why This Matters for Side Hustlers

Your relationships set the tone for your creativity, discipline, clarity, and emotional bandwidth. When your partnership is aligned, your business has more momentum. When it’s not, everything feels heavier.

This conversation reinforces a simple truth:
Your business will only grow as strong as the relationships supporting it.

🔗 Connect with Meredith & Craig

Instagram: @meredithandcraig
Website: roadoflifecoaching.com
Free 30-Day Email Challenge: Small hinges swing big doors.

🚀 Join the Momentum Mastermind

If you want to build resilience, intentionality, and momentum in every area of your life, join Rob every Monday for live coaching.
👉 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind
Just $25/month or $250/year.

🎯 Weekly Challenge

Schedule one 20-minute, distraction-free connection with someone who matters.
No phones. No multitasking. Just presence.

Share how it felt by tagging @RobTracz, or DM your insight and Rob may feature your story.

🔥 Closing Thought

Love better. Protect your presence. Build your momentum.
Success grows where your relationships grow.

In this episode of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob and Greg sit down with Meredith and Craig, a couple from Prince Edward Island who walked away from comfortable corporate careers to build a life and business together.

After being asked to move across the country, facing a serious illness in the family and stumbling through a real estate venture that drained their energy, they realized something important:

They were great at the corporate game, but completely out of alignment with the life they actually wanted.

Through personal growth, hard conversations and a lot of trial and error, they discovered that their real gift was the way they built and protected their relationship. That became the foundation for their coaching, mastermind and community work, helping couples build marriages that support both life and business.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Default Success Is Not Real Success
   Meredith and Craig were winning by traditional standards, but deeply unfulfilled. Losing an office, facing illness and questioning the old “go to school, get a job, retire” script pushed them to ask what they actually wanted their life to look like.
2. Your Relationship Is a Team, Not a Tug-of-War
   They see their marriage as a third entity: you, me and the team. When you agree on the destination, you can disagree on the route without becoming enemies. You are on the same side of the problem, not fighting each other.
3. Know Which Hat You Are Wearing
   When you work with your partner, you need to know if you are speaking as a spouse or as a business partner. Mixing those roles causes friction. They use timing, clear boundaries and daily rituals like end-of-day walks to switch gears with intention.
4. Vulnerability Is a Relationship Superpower
   In their Infinite Relationship Mastermind, they have created a space where members can be honest about what they are struggling with. One member admitted he could not write a love letter to himself. Another read his own three-page letter out loud to help him. That kind of vulnerability builds trust fast.
5. Small Intentional Moments Beat Big Occasional Gestures
   Especially for side hustlers, it is easy to let work consume everything. They teach couples to protect short, fully present windows of time. Twenty distraction-free minutes often does more for connection than four hours on the couch with phones out.
6. If It Is Not Fun, Something Is Off
   One of their core beliefs is that relationships and business are meant to include joy. If everything feels heavy all the time, that is a signal you are out of alignment and need to adjust, not a sign that you should just grind harder.

🔗 Connect with Meredith & Craig

• Website: roadoflifecoaching.com
• Instagram: @meredithandcraig
• Free 33 Day Email Challenge: Daily micro actions to strengthen connection (link in their IG bio)

🚀 Want More Weekly Support?

Join Rob’s Momentum Mastermind, where strategy meets community for side hustlers and driven professionals.

👉 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind

🎯 Listener Challenge

This week, schedule one 20 to 30 minute block with your partner or someone important to you. No phones, no TV, no multitasking. Just be present and talk.

After you do it, share your biggest insight and tag @RobTracz and @MeredithandCraig.

In this episode of "Surviving the Side Hustle," host Rob Tracz sits down with Quinn Magnuson, a former professional football player turned leadership and performance coach. They explore the transformative power of focusing on effort over results. Quinn shares his journey from the CFL to the boardroom, emphasizing the importance of resilience, grit, and creating environments that prioritize psychological safety. Discover how shifting your focus from outcomes to effort can ignite motivation, build resilience, and sustain long-term performance. Tune in to learn how to control the controllables and thrive in any environment.

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob sits down with Quinn Magnuson — a former professional football player turned leadership and performance coach who now leads the Effort Over Results movement.

From growing up in poverty and battling a “world’s out to get me” mindset, to competing for Team Canada and eventually becoming a business owner and coach, Quinn’s story is one of resilience, grit, and perspective. He’s lived the highs of chasing greatness — and the burnout that comes with measuring success only by outcomes.

Now, Quinn helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and teams focus on the only two things we can truly control: attitude and effort.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Resilience is Built Through Change, Not Comfort
   Quinn’s life was full of forced transitions — from athlete to teacher, to franchise owner, to corporate business coach. Each change built new layers of adaptability and strength. His message: don’t fear detours; they’re the path to growth.
2. Psychological Safety Fuels Performance
   Great leaders create environments where people feel safe to speak up, make mistakes, and be themselves. Without psychological safety, there’s no innovation, no growth, and no genuine teamwork. Safety isn’t “soft” — it’s strategic.
3. Recognize Effort, Not Just Results
   Whether in business, sports, or family life, recognizing effort drives engagement and long-term success. Burnout happens when all that’s celebrated are the numbers. Effort builds trust, culture, and ultimately — sustainable results.

Topics Covered:

• Quinn’s journey from poverty to pro athlete to purpose-driven coach
• How sports shaped his resilience and leadership style
• The importance of mentors, role models, and early guidance
• How “Effort Over Results” began — and why it matters today
• The role of psychological safety in high-performance teams
• Balancing compassion with accountability in business

🔗 Connect with Quinn Magnuson:

🌐 Website: effortoverresults.com
🎧 Podcast: Effort Over Results (available on YouTube & all major platforms)
📩 Email: quinn@effortoverresults.com
📱 Instagram & TikTok: @effortoverresults

💥 Special Offer (2025 Only):
Quinn is offering U.S. companies a money-back guarantee on his Effort Over Results program — you only pay expenses if the outcomes don’t hit. That’s how confident he is in his process.

⚡ Join the Momentum Mastermind:

If you’re ready to refocus, re-align, and take control of your time, energy, and focus, join Rob and the Prime Performance community every Monday night for live coaching calls.
💻 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind

🎯 Challenge of the Week:

Take one area of your life — your fitness, business, or relationships — and track your effort for 7 days.
Don’t judge the result. Just measure the consistency.
Then tag @RobTracz and @EffortOverResults with your biggest insight.

Episode Summary:

In this week’s recap of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob unpacks his powerful conversation with Scott Maderer — a stewardship coach, author, and host of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Scott turned burnout, financial chaos, and even suicidal thoughts into a purpose-driven mission: helping Christian men and couples master their time, money, and mindset so they can live out their calling without burning out.

This episode dives deep into what it really means to steward your time, talent, and treasure, and why the secret to success isn’t doing more — it’s doing what matters most.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Refocus Before You Plan
   Most people rush into creating a plan before they regain control of their focus. As Scott says, “You can’t structure chaos.” Slow down, realign, and gain clarity before you start mapping out your goals.
   🧠 Ties to Prime Principle #3: Clarity & Reflection
2. Communication Creates Connection
   Leadership, relationships, and influence all depend on your ability to adapt how you communicate. Scott broke down the DISC model, showing how the best leaders speak so others can hear them — not just listen to them.
   💬 Ties to Prime Principle #5: Social Skills & Support
3. Intentional Living Beats Accidental Success
   Stop chasing “home run” moments. Start stacking small, consistent, intentional actions. Real growth isn’t explosive — it’s deliberate.
   ⚙️ Ties to Prime Principle #4: Efficiency & Optimization

Rob’s Reflections:

Each of Scott’s takeaways connects directly to the Prime Performance Coaching process.

• Clarity comes before strategy.
• Curiosity builds connection.
• Consistency fuels growth.

If you want to move from busy to better, this conversation is your wake-up call to live and lead with intention.

Connect with Scott Maderer:

👉 Website: inspiredstewardship.com
🎧 Listen to Rob’s guest appearance on The Inspired Stewardship Podcast:
inspiredstewardship.com/sidehustle

🚀 Join the Momentum Mastermind:

If you’re ready to take back control of your time, money, and energy, join Rob and the Prime Performance community every Monday night.
🗓️ Where strategy meets community.
🔗 survivingthesidehustle.com/mastermind

🎯 Challenge of the Week:

Pick one area of your life — time, money, or energy — and track it for seven days. Don’t fix it yet, just measure it. Because awareness always comes before adjustment.
Tag @RobTracz on Instagram or DM your insight after you’ve tracked it.

Summary

In this episode of Surviving the Side Hustle, Rob Tracz interviews Scott Maderer, a stewardship coach who helps Christian men and couples master their time, talent, and treasure. Scott shares his journey from various careers to coaching, emphasizing the importance of communication styles, leadership, and understanding client needs. He discusses the difference between coaching and consulting, the significance of psychographics in connecting with clients, and offers valuable advice for entrepreneurs looking to grow their side hustles.

Takeaways

1. Scott Maderer helps Christian men and couples master their time, talent, and treasure.
2. Coaching focuses on deeper questions rather than just providing solutions.
3. Scott's journey to coaching began with his own financial struggles.
4. Effective leadership involves building others up and creating a supportive team environment.
5. Understanding different communication styles is crucial for effective coaching.
6. Psychographics help in connecting with clients on a deeper level.
7. Many clients struggle with feeling overwhelmed by time and financial constraints.
8. Budgeting should reflect what is truly important to you.
9. Incremental improvements can lead to significant growth over time.
10. Intentionality in planning and execution is key to success.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Scott Maderer

00:57 The Role of a Stewardship Coach

01:54 Coaching vs. Consulting: Understanding the Difference

04:52 Scott's Journey to Stewardship Coaching

10:24 Leadership and Building Others Up

14:00 The Importance of Communication Styles

29:27 Identifying Client Needs and Challenges

33:12 Future Projects and Aspirations

35:54 Final Advice for Entrepreneurs

In this episode, Rob Tracz recaps his conversation with Bob Martin, a former lawyer turned wellness professor and meditation teacher. Bob shares his journey from the chaotic lifestyle of Miami's criminal courts to a life of mindfulness and wisdom.

Takeaways

1. Timing is everything; success comes when you learn to sense the right moment.
2. Retreat isn't a weakness; it's wisdom to recharge and regain clarity.
3. Intuition plus rationality equals real insight.
4. Bob Martin's journey from Miami's chaos to mindfulness.
5. The importance of aligning with the right timing in life.
6. Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury.
7. Trusting your gut and backing it up with deliberate action.
8. Resilience is about knowing when to push and when to pause.
9. Surviving the side hustle is about aligning with the right timing.
10. Creating a life that's not just successful but mindful.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Recap
• 00:00:00 Bob Martin's Journey
• 00:00:00 Lessons on Timing and Retreat
• 00:00:00 Combining Intuition and Rationality
• 00:00:01 Creating a Mindful Life

In this episode, Rob Tracz interviews Bob Martin, a former high-powered criminal trial lawyer turned mindfulness mentor. Bob shares his transformative journey from the chaotic world of Miami's cocaine cowboy era to embracing mindfulness and meditation. He discusses the importance of timing in life decisions, the wisdom of the I Ching, and the challenges of maintaining intuition in a modern, technology-driven society. Bob emphasizes the significance of retreating at the right time and how this practice can lead to personal growth and understanding. He also highlights his teaching experiences and the impact he aims to create through his work.

Takeaways

1. Major shifts in perspective often occur when we hit rock bottom.
2. Spiritual and psychological well-being can be more important than professional success.
3. The I Ching offers insights into timing and decision-making.
4. Understanding the cycles of life can help us navigate challenges.
5. Retreating at the right time can lead to regrouping and better outcomes.
6. Intuition can be clouded by modern distractions like social media.
7. Teaching mindfulness can create a significant impact on students.
8. Practicing mindfulness can help in understanding one's authentic self.
9. The heart has its own intelligence and can connect us to others.
10. Curiosity is essential for personal growth and understanding.

Chapters

00:00 From Lawyer to Mindfulness Mentor

12:05 The Power of the I Ching

20:26 Navigating Life's Timing

29:31 The Impact of Modern Society on Intuition

36:46 Vision for the Future

40:57 Outro 2025.mp4

In this episode, Rob Tracz recaps his conversation with Gary Chupik, a mental performance coach with nearly 30 years of experience. They discuss the importance of trusting oneself, the cost of hesitation, and the journey from coping to thriving. Gary shares insights on building confidence through preparation and action, and the concept of whole life excellence.

Takeaways

1. Hesitation has a cost in both sports and life.
2. Confidence is built through preparation and proof.
3. Whole life excellence is the ultimate goal.
4. Indecision is still a decision and often costly.
5. Gary Chupik's journey from reluctant leader to coach.
6. The importance of decisiveness in personal growth.
7. Building optimism through real achievements.
8. The mental health bridge framework: crisis to transcendence.
9. Aligning mindset, leadership, relationships, and purpose.
10. Success is about pursuing whole life excellence.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Key Question
• 00:00:00 Gary Chupik's Journey
• 00:00:00 The Cost of Hesitation
• 00:00:00 Building Confidence
• 00:00:00 Whole Life Excellence

In this episode, Rob Tracz interviews Gary Chupik, a mental performance coach with nearly 30 years of experience. They discuss Gary's journey into coaching, the importance of mindset and mental performance in both sports and business, and the frameworks he uses to help clients achieve excellence. Gary shares insights on overcoming stagnation, making decisions, and building trust and confidence. He emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to mental health and personal development, aiming for a transcendent life rather than just coping. The conversation concludes with Gary's aspirations for global impact through his coaching methodologies.

Takeaways

1. Gary's journey reflects a reluctant leader who embraced opportunities.
2. The importance of saying 'yes' to learning experiences.
3. Crisis intervention is a part of mental performance coaching.
4. High performers seek continuous improvement, not just crisis management.
5. The Mental Health Bridge Assessment helps identify where clients are in their journey.
6. Hesitation can be costly in decision-making processes.
7. Building trust requires facing fears head-on.
8. Preparation and proving oneself are key to building confidence.
9. Optimism should be based on preparation and experience, not just positivity.
10. Gary aims to create a nation of high performers through his coaching.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Gary Chupik and His Journey

04:45 The Role of Mindset in Performance

07:22 Coaching Methodologies and Client Engagement

10:23 The Mental Health Bridge Assessment

13:02 Overcoming Hesitation and Decision-Making

16:56 Building Trust and Confidence

19:54 The Importance of Preparation

22:38 Optimism vs. Positivity in Performance

25:24 Global Opportunities and Future Aspirations

What if the moment that felt like the end was actually the start of your purpose? We sit down with nutrition coach Maria Garcia, who survived a devastating stroke at 25 that left her paralyzed from the nose down and unable to speak. Years of grueling rehab rebuilt the basics, but her true turning point came much later: a strategic shift in nutrition and hydration that unlocked another 20% of her function—and a mission to help others reclaim their health with awareness, intention, and a powerful why.

We unpack three pillars that make change stick. First, awareness before action: Maria explains how food psychology—your triggers, stories, and patterns—decides whether any plan works. Second, fuel for function: the simple, non-dogmatic nutrition habits that move the body from survival to progress—hydration, protein-forward meals, mineral balance, and fewer ultra-processed foods. Third, resilience with a big why: how discipline and systems outlast motivation and how a clear purpose turns daily choices into a straight line toward strength.

Along the way, we explore digital nutrition and my JEEP framework—Goals, Energy, Environment, Purpose—to show how inputs beyond food influence focus, sleep, and performance. You’ll leave with practical steps: hydrate with intention, audit your patterns, align your environment, and choose one habit that brings you closer to the person you’re becoming. Maria’s story is extreme, but the playbook is universal—start small, stay consistent, and let your purpose power the hard days.

If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review so more people can find these tools. Then tell us: what’s your big why, and what’s the first step you’re taking today?

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What happens when a devastating stroke at age 25 leaves you completely paralyzed, conscious but unable to communicate for two weeks? For Maria Garcia, it became the first chapter in an extraordinary story of resilience, discovery, and ultimately, transformation.

Maria takes us through her harrowing experience of being "locked in" her body after a stroke, communicating initially only through blinking her eyes, and facing the overwhelming reality of relearning everything from swallowing to walking. Her brother became her unofficial physical therapist, medical professionals offered limited hope, and the simple act of trying to comb her hair became a crushing moment of realization about the mountain she faced.

For a decade, Maria threw everything she could at her recovery – stem cell treatments, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, specialized programs in Germany, and various dietary approaches. Progress was painfully slow. After ten years, she decided to stop living to recover and just live, accepting what she believed was her maximum recovery at about 70% of her pre-stroke functionality.

The breakthrough came unexpectedly. Fifteen years after her stroke, Maria enrolled in a nutrition course out of personal interest. Within just six months of implementing what she learned – particularly about proper hydration and reintroducing animal products after years as a vegetarian – she recovered an additional 20% of her functionality when she thought improvement was impossible.

This revelation transformed not just her health but her purpose. Today, Maria coaches others on nutrition, helping them understand that human bodies have specific nutritional needs that, when met, allow us to thrive. Her three-month program addresses not just what to eat but the psychology behind eating habits, particularly helping those with health challenges who are "tired of pills, lotions, and procedures."

Maria's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes our greatest challenges reveal our deepest purpose. As she quotes Mark Twain: "The two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why." For entrepreneurs and anyone facing obstacles, her message resonates clearly – find something you truly love and can stand behind. That's where the real magic happens.

What nutritional changes could transform your health? Listen to Maria's extraordinary journey and discover how proper nutrition might be the missing piece in your own wellness puzzle.

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What if the reason you’re not following through isn’t laziness or poor planning—but a hidden program that takes over under stress? That question drives this solo recap of my conversation with Freeman Beals, where we reconnect after two years to explore how stress tools evolve when life changes and why the subconscious often wins the moment your emotions spike.

We dig into the gap between knowing and doing, especially for parents and business owners who juggle real-world demands. I unpack three core takeaways. First, you can’t think your way out of a subconscious problem: if you know the play but still freeze, there’s a belief or pattern underneath that needs updating. Second, you can rewrite the story of your past by changing what events mean—shifting failure from a verdict to a training run frees you to take bigger swings without the old weight. Third, quick, tangible state shifts are possible: a guided exercise using imagery, distance, breath, and posture can cool a hot emotion in minutes and get you back to action.

Freeman’s journey—from stress management coach to subconscious reprogramming for business-owning dads—mirrors a truth many of us feel: life stages change the game, and our tools have to change with it. We talk about eustress vs distress, gratitude and movement for brain rewiring, and why conscious systems like time blocking and reframing still matter—just not on their own. The real unlock comes from marrying structure with deeper meaning work, so your nervous system supports your goals instead of hijacking them.

If you’ve been stuck in that loop where you know better but can’t seem to do better, this conversation offers a practical path forward. I share the live drill that shifted my own anxiety on air, plus simple steps you can use today to reframe, reset, and reengage. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a quick review—what belief are you ready to rewrite?

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The moment Freeman Beals became a father, everything he thought he knew about stress management was put to the ultimate test. Despite years of coaching others through emotional regulation, he found himself experiencing unprecedented anger and frustration with his toddler – reactions he never anticipated and couldn't seem to control.

This humbling revelation led Freeman down a fascinating path of discovery into the subconscious mind. What he learned transformed not only his relationship with his son but his entire approach to coaching and personal growth. The key insight? We can't think our way out of subconscious problems. No matter how much we consciously understand what we should do, our deepest programming will override our best intentions every time.

During this riveting conversation, Freeman demonstrates his technique live, guiding us through a visualization exercise that produces immediate shifts in anxiety. The process is surprisingly simple yet profoundly effective – pushing troubling images through a window, into the sky, and watching them shrink until they disappear. The physiological changes are instant and remarkable.

Freeman now works exclusively with business-owning fathers who find themselves caught in reactive patterns they can't seem to break. His approach doesn't aim to eliminate emotions (which serve important purposes) but rather to balance their intensity. The metaphor he uses is perfect: emotions are like waves, and we don't want extreme highs or destructive lows, but manageable fluctuations that inform without overwhelming.

This episode offers more than just fascinating insights – it provides a window into cutting-edge techniques that create rapid, lasting change. Whether you're a parent struggling with unexpected reactions, someone battling anxiety, or simply curious about the incredible power of the subconscious mind, you'll walk away with both practical tools and a new understanding of why knowing better doesn't always translate to doing better.

Ready to experience this work for yourself? Visit freemanbeals.com to book a breakthrough session and download free resources to begin your own journey of subconscious transformation.