Becoming UnDone® with Dr. Toby Brooks

Helen Keller once said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” 

For Georgia native Michael Tyson, that trial and suffering started early. A tough upbringing found him growing up relatively poor and lacking much direction. By his mid-teens, he ended up in real trouble, eventually entering the juvenile justice system for the first time at the age of 15. Years of turmoil lay ahead, and after aging out of that system that had largely shielded him from the pain and spiral of addiction, he found himself battling a life that was headed toward destruction. 

Over time, he eventually experienced healing and recovery, with his relationship with God, his wife Crystal, and his community of friends providing much-needed support along the way. 

Soon after, he found steady income, benefits, and an identity working in the coal mines of Southern Illinois. But a sudden firing coupled with growing burnout and a search for purpose launched him in a new direction. 

Today, he finds himself in graduate school while leading Take Action Today, a non-profit faith-based recovery community organization that has flourished from a few volunteers meeting in a community park a year ago to three and soon to be four community resource centers and a staff of 15 professionals serving the needs of those struggling with addiction and lack of community in Southern Illinois.

Hear Mike’s inspiring story in episode #8: RECOVERY.

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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What would you do if you were an aeronautical engineer—a literal rocket scientist—but you just couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was more to life then lending your considerable brainpower to the creation of weapons of mass destruction?

If you are Colorado native Bill Ryden, you'd set your first professional career aside and get back in the gym. Growing up in the Rockies as a self-professed adrenaline junkie, Ryden spent his youth racing dirt bikes. But eventually he found his way into a gym, where he quickly fell in love with the sport--especially the high bar. 

After a highly successful collegiate and brief exhibition career as a competitive gymnast, Bill thought he'd hung up his grips for good and turned to the life of a working stiff at Lockheed Martin. But the lure of the gym kept calling him back, and a chance to jump back into the sport as a coach was just too much to resist. A job offer at the University of Arizona in 1990 changed his life forever.

Leaving the safety and security of the engineering world for the uncertainty and grind of college coaching was tough, but he followed his heart. Mentoring, coaching, and pushing young gymnasts to success in the gym and in life consumed the next two and a half decades of his life, eventually being named Head Coach of a Pac-10 program in 1998 where he stayed until 2015. 

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows from there. It was road trips and recruiting trails, exhilarating wins and gut-wrenching losses, and relationships--always relationships that made the journey simultaneously so very hard yet so very rewarding. And like every wild motorcycle ride at Mach speed with his hair blowing in the wind he'd taken years before, as exciting as it was, eventually it had to end. 

Hear Bill tell his story of dirt bikes and trampolines, Cold War science and chalked grips, and just how happy he is to have coached in an era BEFORE transfer portals and NIL agreements in Episode 7: FEARLESS

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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On this 2nd of January, gyms are packed. People are eating better. A new year promises a new beginning. Motivation runs high.

But none of my first four guests said a word about motivation. I never heard any of them complain about they were able to accomplish their goals because they’d been magically gifted an extra helping of internal drive. 

Because success isn’t ABOUT motivation.

I heard a great quote this morning: motivation has an expiration date. And when motivation dies, discipline must take its place.

That’s what Joseph, Kara, Brad, and Mike all said. Whether outright or in reading between the lines, they told me consistently that the way they found success and overcame failure was not because they were motivated. It was because they were disciplined.   

So 2023 for me is a year of discipline. I will not just start well, but I will plan strategically. I will work and pursue relentlessly. I will set personal bests physically. I will finish the book I have been working on most recently. And I will commit to the process of making Becoming Undone something I can be proud and that serves to inspire people around the world.

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Did you ever get exactly what you wanted, only to discover that maybe it wasn't exactly what you'd bargained for?

Wisconsin native Brad Arnett landed a highly coveted Assistant Athletics Director and Head Strength and Conditioning position at his SECOND Power Five NCAA Division I school when he left the University of Minnesota for the desert of Tucson and the University of Arizona in 2000. A monumental responsibility and honor for anyone, Brad did it before he turned 30. 

One of the brightest, most creative, and most effective minds in the business, he ultimately decided to listen to the feelings of a new purpose and a new direction, leading him to step down just five years later and help launch a business of his own.

Since then, his programs, his business savvy, and his ability to build relationships have all contributed to making NX Level Sports Performance one of the premiere facilities of its kind in the world, boasting a client list that includes JJ Watt.

Hear Brad tell his story of resilience, bold action, and why he thinks every strength coach needs a couch in their office on Episode 4: STRENGTH! 

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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What would you do if your wildest dreams came mostly true, but then the door closed before you were able to step through and enjoy it?

For Tucson, Arizona native Mike Meyer, big league dreams started early. But baseball was never supposed to be a profession to have as much as a passion to pursue. He knew he loved the game from the moment he began to understand the basics as a toddler. And the game loved him right back. 

From his early days playing on rec league teams to invite-only scrimmages and a starting spot on his highly competitive varsity squad before he was old enough to drive, success on the diamond came early and often. 

It was only natural, then, that those abilities would open opportunities for the future. And they did. A scholarship athlete at the University of Arizona, eventually he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, spending three seasons in affiliated ball before completing six more in the independent leagues.

When it was finally time to hang up his spikes for the last time, he--like so many--struggled with what was left after the critical core of his identity had been taken away. But after a cold and lonely search for meaning and purpose, he found his true calling...back in a dugout in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Hear Mike tell his story of blue-collar work ethic, the relationship between study skills and grade point average for college athletes, and how a rockstar college gymnast changed his life on Episode 5: SOMEHOW I MANAGE

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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I am a musician. I have been a drummer since beating on my mom’s pots and pans when I was three. I love most music—especially hip hop. When I was 16, I tore my ACL and had to have surgery. The day I got home from the procedure, I was stuck in bed and I had gotten a new CD in the mail from Columbia House: a new release by the hip hop group Third Bass. I listened to that disc on repeat for the next week, and the catchy beats and fun, light-hearted lyrics helped pull me out of what I now know was post-op depression. It seems fitting, then, that one of my favorite cuts from that album would serve as the name of the recurring segment that will appear every third episode on my show about pulling out of our low places and finding our new victory.

Leadership expert John Maxwell once said, “I’ve discovered that the price of change usually comes sooner than you think, is higher than you imagined it would be, and must be paid more often than expected.”

I’m learning that if I want to find success in my life—true success that is lasting and worthwhile, it requires me to knowingly and willingly pay the price.

This past summer, I completed the 75Hard challenge made popular by podcast personality and entrepreneur Andy Frisella. To complete the challenge, you have to commit to 75 straight days of 5 things: two 45-minute workouts with one of them being outside, sticking to a meal plan with no alcohol and no cheat meals, drinking a gallon or more of water, reading 10 pages in a development book, and taking a progress photo. If you miss even one thing on any day, you have to start back at day one. It’s tough. But it isn’t called 75 easy.

Maxwell says that paying the price is a three-stage process, and I can’t argue. First, we have to LEARN. Every day should be tackled with curiosity. “What do I need to learn today that I didn’t know yesterday?” I was NEVER a reader growing up. In college, I struggled with the assigned readings. But as I’ve become more focused on growth, I have come to realize how important that reading assignment is, and it is serving me well.

The second stage is UNLEARNING. “What do I need to let go of today that I held onto yesterday?” Pride and arrogance make us hard to teach. It’s tough to hold new ideas in hands that are gripping tightly to old ones. Unlearning means being vulnerable and open. It is rarely comfortable. But the toughest questions and hardest answers are necessary steps to the richest growth.

Lastly, Maxwell says we have to RELEARN. “What do I need to change today that I was doing yesterday?” New habits, new strategies, and new ideas are all mandatory if I hope to claim new territories in my life.

For me, this has taken the shape of a three-step process that I repeat to myself regularly each and every day: Strategic in Purpose. Relentless in Pursuit. Better Every day.

Plan the work. Work the plan. And move the needle ever so slightly in the pursuit of being better. I don’t always achieve it. But that’s the goal. Not better than you. Not better than some arbitrary standard. Better than me yesterday.

That’s the goal of Paying the Price, and this has been Word to the 3rd. I’m Toby Brooks, and I am Un-Done. 

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Friedrich Nietzsche once said “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” 

For the high achievers among us, the purpose and the enormity of our WHY can pull so forcefully and so relentlessly that we are willing to endure almost any HOW.

Competitive athletes are often celebrated for their singleness of focus and for their commitment to making their dreams reality. But sooner or later, those dreams inevitably have to end.

For many, the days, months, and even years that follow a career in sports can be empty and painful with a search for new purpose common in most. Sometimes that "thing" within the high achiever that drives them toward elite performance--at least in retrospect--is the very thing that makes it almost impossible to enjoy the journey while they're on it. 

However, for those who ultimately recognize that their task remains unfinished, that same drive and passion can fuel new successes. It is those who discover that the end of a chapter isn't the same as the end of the story who find true significance. 

Take Nazareth, PA native Kara Fry Meyer for instance. She might have spent two years on the United States Women's Gymnastics team, beating out millions of other aspiring young athletes in the process. She finished seventh in the 1994 World Championship Team Trials , appearing on ESPN one day and sheepishly brushed off questions about it back in her high school classroom the next. She might have even spent a moment of her life just a tantalizing millimeter away from the Olympic stage that had been her singular focus from her earliest years on. 

But it was the six who finished in front of her, not the million-plus behind her and the things that WEREN'T rather than the things that WERE that seemed to consume her efforts and energy. Hear Kara share her inspiring and introspective story with bravery and vulnerability in Episode 2: PERSPECTIVE

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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My very first guest is Joseph Skrajewski, National Director of Business Development at the Hazelden Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California. Listen to Joseph's harrowing story of pursuing his dreams of high finance on Wall Street, surviving 9/11, overcoming addiction, and going on to become a world-renowned leader in bringing awareness, funding, and impact to the treatment of addiction disorders. His high energy and insights are sure to inspire!
 
His episode, Episode 1: PIVOT tells the tale of a bright young dreamer who found his purpose in an unexpected but most profound way on his journey to Becoming Undone. 

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

YOU. AREN'T. DONE YET.

Achievers aim high. 

But to fall short? Well—that’s human. 

Sometimes we fail. 

Sometimes we just run out of time. 

Either way, it is what we do with the end of one chapter that can make all the difference in the next. 

Are we broken into pieces?

Or can we see the bigger picture and realize that we aren’t finished?

Can we recognize that the end of a chapter isn’t the same as the end of the story. 

Becoming UnDone is the podcast for those who dare bravely, try mightily, and grow relentlessly.

Join me, Toby Brooks as I invite a new guest each episode, including artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and other high achievers as we examine how to change the way we look at failure and shift from falling into pieces to falling into place.

Reach out to Becoming UnDone! Text Toby here!

Support the show

Becoming UnDone® is a NiTROHype Creative production. Written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod and follow me at TobyBrooksPhD. Listen, subscribe, and leave us a review Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.