This week on Get Gritty With Me, I’m sharing a deeply personal and life-changing decision.

After being selected for Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) — the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, reserved for just 1% of the force — I made the decision to decline the promotion.

This episode is about why.

Through the lens of values-based decision making, I walk you through the internal conflict I faced, the role my core values played, and what it looks like to choose alignment over achievement — even when the achievement is something you’ve worked toward for nearly two decades.

We talk about:

• what happens when values come into conflict
• why success without alignment can feel hollow
• how courage sometimes looks like walking away
• and why family, wholeheartedness, and excellence mattered more in this season than title or rank

This is not an episode about regret or bitterness.

It’s about knowing yourself deeply enough to make the hardest right decision — and trusting that choosing alignment will make you a better leader, partner, and human in the long run.

If you’ve ever faced a moment where the “right” decision didn’t look like the expected one, this episode is for you.