Every story is unique, but sometimes I have to chuckle at our similarities. Take Brett Snodgrass. His story sounds familiar to Brad Noll — a guest I had on way back in the early days of Chiseled, on episode 19.  

Brett and Brad both grew up in Indiana. They both were sons of high school basketball coaches who were loving and highly demanding. They both played basketball in college and now work in real estate. They are both men of deep faith who prioritize their children.

In fact, the two know each other, but their stories lead down very different paths. For Brett, he went wild during the 2008 financial crash. He purchased his first home from the bank in 2007. In the space of two years, he went from investing in one property to buying and selling 150 properties.

That's an incredible pace, and it matched Brett's personality. Brett was all about excess back in those days — excessive drinking, excessive sex, excessive risk-taking.

Brett made the error of equating excess with success. At age 30, after he woke up hungover and propositioned by a prostitute in a hotel room in Las Vegas (nothing happened), he realized he was done "having fun."

"Not to go into too many gory details, but yeah, you hit this rock bottom, especially after you have achieved a lot of stuff, you feel this emptiness inside," he said. "I said I'm tired of 'having fun.' I just don't want to live like this anymore."

Brett went home, considered how to change his life, and started looking for meaning. It wasn't long afterward he found a relationship with Christ. He started paying attention to how Jesus behaved and the meaning of his own actions. He started being intentional with his life and began looking to support other men seeking purpose in their careers and relationships.

He soon wrote a book called The Secret War Within, an allegory about the gnawing that eats at everyone when they are missing purpose. He admits that the main character is partly based on him, but also general enough that it will be familiar to many men in particular.

Several years ago, Brett also formed Iron Deep, an incredible network of men who want to be good leaders, good businessmen, and good fathers. He has cultivated the program, which offers retreats to build fellowship, into something akin to a "discipleship" — 12 men per group who want to sharpen each other and go deep together in business and their relationship with God.

With his faith and clarity of purpose, Brett offers a thoughtful perspective on "what's worth it" in life, the role of men in society, and how to be great dads, excellent friends, and strong leaders.

Brett says one of the many traits he likes about Jesus is how relaxed he was. Brett's calm emulates the connectedness Jesus conveyed. He too makes me want to hurry up and slow down.

I felt deeply connected to Brett during this interview, and I am confident you will too. So, take a little time to listen to his story on this week's episode of Chiseled, and feel free to reach out to him if you want to learn more about Iron Deep or other topics that may resonate with you.