As a successful varsity baseball player Todd learned early on that baseball, alone in sports, considers error as part of the game, part of its rigorous truth. Todd joins Bill in this episode to discuss how this truth gets played out in his own life and in his thriving practice as a life coach. Part of this conversation will take listeners down the road to consider that your personal life vision and mission can move beyond present circumstances and that you can enjoy a life that is more than just OK. Focusing on the three ideas of curiosity about where you are; developing self-regulation; and hanging in there with perseverance, will empower you to do more than just learn from mistakes but how to use misfortune as the platform from which to launch a fulfilling life. Here's another GuyShrink episode worth listening to several times.

As a young man, Tony’s mom told him: “Never lose what makes you YOU.” At age 13 that unique young man began a torturous journey of self-destructive behavior and near hopelessness. For three years Tony was the victim of sexual abuse and the traumatic trail it leaves for all. Ruminating on pain and revenge was a lethal cocktail that led him to drug and alcohol abuse as a way to smother the rage. Today Tony is more than a survivor, he is a resilient warrior for others in pain and sorrow. In this episode, Bill and Tony talk heart to heart, and Tony’s blunt honesty speaks volumes of hope and the personal cost to not just survive, but to thrive and build a life of meaning and purpose. You will want to listen to this whole conversation several times.

Josh Bowen is the principal broker and owner of LaPlante Real Estate in Toledo where he and his team craft an expanded vision of real estate as an ethical arena where the right choices help communities to grow in healthy and functional ways. Duty and Responsibility are Josh's two guiding principles that lead him to view his three clients of owners, renters, and community, as a small town of over 8000 people. Bill and Josh discuss his personal journey through some tough ordeals and the small choices that make a big difference. They also talk about Stoicism as a discipline to help us get that life and recommend Ryan Holiday's podcast The Daily Stoic and Ryan's books. This episode will open your thought world to consider the impact you can make in your own little realm of influence and the daily habits needed to enhance a fulfilling life.

Matt Kutz is a professor of athletic training at Florida International University, and former professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and a Fulbright Scholar in Rwanda. Matt and Bill have an enjoyable info-packed conversation about Contextual Intelligence as a proven way to resolve complexity and ambiguity in our decision-making. Matt goes a long way to help us think about our thinking and this episode is peppered with some funny stories, deep original thinking and lots of practical direction for those racing thoughts in our heads Enjoy.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ, PT, DPT. is a licensed physical therapist who works in a hospital-based outpatient orthopedic clinic in Toledo. He is a gifted and innovative clinician who believes that his job is less about solving a patient's problems and more about coaching him to navigate the inconsistencies of pain that many of us use to define our identity. Richard and Bill talk about the gift of pain and how we can use that physical intrusion to lead us to a new understanding of ourselves and our unique place in the world. This episode will captivate you and give you a refreshing perspective.

STEPHEN RIDELLA, Ph.D. is the Director of the Office of Defect Investigation for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the Fed. Yep, he's the seat belt guy, always looking out for consumer safety on the highway. He is also a major thought leader in engineering organizations whose personal commitment to excellence helps form new strategies and policies for the good of all. Stephen and Bill get down to the nitty-gritty about a subject near and dear to both of these men---growing up and being a man of integrity and goodwill. The added gem to all this is that these two guys have known each other their whole lives as first cousins.