Becoming Steadfast

What if the difference between becoming your best self and slowly drifting away from who you’re meant to be comes down to the choices you make every day?

In this episode, I sit down with former MLB player Ryon Healy for a powerful conversation about what we call Version A vs. Version B. Version A represents the best version of yourself — intentional, disciplined, focused, and living up to your potential. Version B is what happens when you begin to slip — when small compromises, bad habits, distractions, and a lack of intentionality start creeping into different areas of your life.

We unpack what it looks like to recognize the shift, take ownership of where you are, and make the decisions necessary to get back to Version A.

Ryon brings a unique perspective from his experiences as a former Major League Baseball player, mental performance and hitting coach, and broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners. Beyond baseball, he's a husband and father of two who understands that the pursuit of excellence extends far beyond the field.

This conversation is about more than baseball. It's about leadership, personal growth, discipline, relationships, and the daily battle to become the person you know you're capable of being.

The question is: Are you living as Version A, or are you allowing Version B to take over?

What happens when the leader people see in public is not the person people experience in private?

In this episode of Becoming Steadfast, The 2-Faced Leader explores the disconnect between the front stage and backstage life of leadership—the gap between the image a leader projects and the character they demonstrate behind closed doors. It's about leaders who speak about integrity but practice compromise, demand accountability but avoid it themselves, and inspire others with words that their private behavior fails to support.

This conversation challenges us to confront the uncomfortable truth that you can lead others publicly while being disconnected from your own values privately.

The goal isn't perfection. It's alignment. It's closing the gap between what you preach and what you practice, what you demand from others and what you require of yourself, and who you appear to be versus who you really are.

Because authentic leadership begins when the front stage and backstage tell the same story.

The question is not just, “Are you a good leader in public?” It's “Can the person behind closed doors be trusted with the influence you carry in public?”

It's time to confront the mask, close the gap, and kill the two-faced leader within.

What's getting in the way of you experiencing God's best for your life?

Fasting has become a lost art for many leaders. We allow the busyness of life, the fear of discomfort, and the responsibilities of caring for others to become excuses that keep us from fully stepping into obedience to God. We stay busy doing things for God while sometimes neglecting the time we need to spend with Him.

Some of the moments when I've felt closest to God have come through fasting—intentionally creating margin to slow down, quiet the noise, and sit in His presence. Fasting isn't about earning God's favor; it's about making room to hear His voice, realign our hearts, and grow in dependence on Him.

In this episode, we're talking about the importance of recovering the spiritual discipline of fasting, identifying the distractions and excuses that hold us back, and learning what it looks like to prioritize God's presence in the middle of leadership, family, and everyday responsibilities.

The question is: What might God want to do in your life if you were willing to create space to seek Him more intentionally?

If you're hungry for a deeper relationship with God, greater spiritual clarity, and a renewed sense of His direction, this conversation is for you.

It's time to stop letting busyness crowd out God's presence and start making room for what matters most.

How do you know when it’s time for a necessary ending in your life?

One of the most difficult parts of leadership is recognizing when a season, relationship, or opportunity has come to a close. Sometimes, the very thing that once helped us grow can eventually hold us back from what’s next.

In this episode, we explore three key takeaways from Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud and discuss how leaders can learn to let go with wisdom, courage, and clarity.

We’ll unpack three important lessons:

1. Good things can still need to end. Not everything we let go of is bad. Sometimes, we have to release something good to make room for something better.
2. Leaders must distinguish between pruning and quitting. Pruning is an intentional decision to remove what no longer serves the bigger vision so that healthier things can grow. It’s not giving up; it’s making room for growth.
3. You need the courage to accept reality, not just hope for change. Hope is important, but hope without an honest assessment of reality can keep us stuck. Wise leaders learn to recognize when change is possible and when it’s time to move forward.

Whether you’re navigating a leadership challenge, reevaluating a relationship, or stepping into a new season, this conversation will challenge you to consider what you may need to release to become who you’re called to be.

Because sometimes, the next season of growth begins with the courage to end the last one.

In this episode of Becoming Steadfast, I sit down with Nate Jewett, founder of The Refinery, to talk about what it really looks like for men to pursue a life defined by fruit, not just worldly success.

Nate takes us deep into the role of emotional intelligence (EQ) and how developing this often-overlooked area of growth can change the way we show up in leadership, athletics, work, relationships, and everyday life. We talk about the importance of self-awareness, authenticity, and doing the deeper work required to become the kind of man who leads from the inside out.

This conversation challenges the idea that success is simply about achievement. Instead, we explore what it means to build a life that produces lasting fruit—and how becoming more emotionally mature can help us become more grounded, intentional, and steadfast.

If you're looking to grow beyond the surface and become stronger in character, leadership, and life, this conversation with Nate is one you won't want to miss.

Walker Merrill had his eyes set on the NFL. After earning the opportunity to play Division 1 football, he was chasing a dream he had worked for his entire life.

Then, everything changed.

A devastating head injury forced Walker to confront a future he never expected. The dream he had spent years pursuing suddenly looked impossible—and yet, in the middle of the storm, God was still working.

In this powerful conversation, Walker shares his story of faith, perseverance, identity, and finding purpose when life doesn’t go according to plan. His journey is a reminder that God doesn’t waste our pain, and sometimes the greatest work He is doing in our lives happens when we can’t yet see the outcome.

Today, Walker is using his story to impact others through Rebuilt, his clothing line built around the message of rebuilding through adversity, as well as his fitness coaching, where he helps develop and challenge the next generation of leaders.

This is more than a story about football. It’s a story about what happens when your plans fall apart—and you discover that God’s plan was never dependent on them.

If you’re walking through a storm, questioning your purpose, or wondering what God could possibly be doing in the middle of your struggle, this is an episode you will not want to miss.

@walker_merrill1

https://rebuiltbywalker.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAaes-LJ1hnTKep8vpFptzF9k52omGceU7cUnnzQKBvIZtJknWFnX-zcdYquI2Q_aem_bRjWXdsDlHrGodNsj3mNOQ

In this episode, I’m joined by Martin Sundberg, a former UNO teammate and founder of Atlas Venture, for a conversation about taking risks, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, and trusting that the right people will help support you through the unknown.

Martin came from Sweden to the U.S. to pursue his dream of playing junior and college hockey. Today, he’s married, a proud dad to a baby daughter, and loving every part of the journey.

Now, through Atlas Venture, Martin is helping other European hockey players navigate their own paths to the United States—something he understands firsthand.

We talk about what it takes to leave what’s familiar, bet on yourself, embrace uncertainty, and have faith in the people who show up along the way.

A great reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunities are on the other side of the unknown. 🏒🇸🇪🇺🇸

What if gratitude isn’t just about being thankful when life is going well—but learning to recognize what’s good even when it isn’t?

In this episode, we explore three simple ways to practice gratitude each day:

1. Remember the good — Reflect on something from the day before that you’re genuinely thankful for.
2. Be grateful for the hard — Look at something that isn’t going your way and ask, “How might this be producing growth in me?”
3. Praise God for who He is — Shift our focus from what God is doing to who God is, giving thanks for His character and nature.

The goal isn’t to pretend everything is good. It’s to train our minds to notice what is good, regulate stress and emotions, and strengthen our connection with others—and, ultimately, with God.

Because sometimes gratitude isn’t saying, “I’m thankful this happened.”
It’s saying, “I’m thankful for what this can produce in me.”

Grateful anyway.

You can be disciplined, driven, and high-performing—and still feel completely out of sync.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Amy Hoyt of Mending Trauma to talk about what happens when your nervous system is constantly in overdrive, how that can show up as anxiety, distraction, overthinking, or feeling “off,” and why self-awareness is one of the most powerful tools for getting yourself back on track.

This conversation is especially personal for me. I worked with Dr. Amy throughout this past hockey season to work through performance anxiety and improve my focus, and the impact it had on my season was significant.

We dive into the mental and physical side of performance, why athletes and high performers can be so good at pushing through while missing the signs that something is off, and how learning to recognize your patterns can change the way you perform, lead, and live.

When you understand what’s happening beneath the surface, you can change what happens on the surface.

Go to https://www.mendingtrauma.com/ to book a free consultation 

What do you do when you're putting in the work but can't see any evidence that it's working?

In 2 Kings 3, three kings find themselves in the wilderness without water. God's instruction through Elisha seems strange: start digging ditches. There was no rain. No wind. No visible evidence that water was coming. Yet they were called to prepare for what God was about to provide.

That's a powerful picture for athletes and leaders.

Sometimes your job isn't to know when the breakthrough is coming. Your job is to dig.

Take the extra reps. Have the difficult conversation. Build the discipline. Stay faithful in the weight room. Keep praying. Keep showing up when there are no results validating your work.

The ditches didn't create the water—but they created the capacity to receive it.

In this episode of Becoming Steadfast, we unpack the relationship between faith, preparation, and action and challenge you to consider whether you're actually preparing for the things you've been praying for.

You may not see the rain yet.

Keep digging.

Because sometimes the work you're doing today is creating the capacity to carry what God wants to entrust to you tomorrow.