John Maxwell's #18 Law of Leadership: The Law of Sacrifice

Everybody wants the next level. Very few people ask what the next level costs.
<a href="https://youtu.be/q91PIVXgOmo" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://youtu.be/q91PIVXgOmo">This week</a> is about the Law of Sacrifice, the principle that growth is not just about what you add to your life, but what you are willing to release. Law 18 in John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is the Law of Sacrifice, and John teaches it with one of the most demanding lines in the entire series: a leader must give up to go up. I open this episode by breaking down why greater leadership usually brings greater responsibility, not greater comfort, and why your willingness to sacrifice often has to grow with your influence. I share the difference between early-career sacrifice and later-career sacrifice, because what got you to one level can become the very thing that keeps you from the next. Maybe being involved in every detail helped you build the company, but now it prevents the company from scaling. Maybe being the smartest person in the room made you feel safe, but now it keeps stronger people from wanting to work with you. Growth requires subtraction too. I also explain why sacrifice is not the glorification of misery. It is alignment. Great leaders do not sacrifice randomly, they sacrifice intentionally, giving up lower priorities for higher ones, ego for mission, convenience for calling, and immediate gratification for long-term significance. And I walk you through what I call the sacrifice exchange: a two-column exercise to close the gap between what you say you want and what you are willing to pay for it. Here is what you will gain from this episode:
<ul>
<li>Give up to go up: Why every new level of leadership requires you to build something and leave something behind.</li>
<li>Knowing vs. willingness: Why most people already know what they need to change &mdash; the real question is how badly they want the future compared to how badly they want the comfort.</li>
<li>Early vs. later sacrifice: How the nature of sacrifice shifts from working while others play to letting go of control, ego, and identity.</li>
<li>Growth requires subtraction: Why the biggest breakthroughs in your life may come from what you are willing to release, not what you are willing to add.</li>
<li>Sacrifice and value: How to tell what somebody truly values by looking at what they are willing to give up for it.</li>
<li>The sacrifice exchange: A two-column exercise &mdash; what I say I want on the left, what it requires on the right.</li>
<li>One intentional sacrifice: How to identify a single, meaningful sacrifice for the next seven days that is directly connected to your priority.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li>
</ul>
At the end of your life, nobody is going to give you an award for holding onto everything. Your next breakthrough may not be waiting on another opportunity &mdash; it may be waiting on your willingness to release something that no longer belongs in the future you are building. Decide what is worth paying for, and let go of the rest. This is part of a new series releasing every Thursday. Click <a href="https://mailchi.mp/edmylett.com/21lawsworkbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://mailchi.mp/edmylett.com/21lawsworkbook">HERE</a> to download the free workbook and track your rep for every law.

#18 Law of Leadership: The Law of Sacrifice

How to Build an Epic Life Resume with Jesse Itzler

Jesse Itzler is back on the show, and this conversation goes deeper than business. From founding Marquis Jet (sold to Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets) to co-founding ZICO Coconut Water (sold to Coca-Cola), Jesse's entrepreneurial resume speaks for itself &mdash; but what he really wants to talk about is your life resume.
In this episode, Jesse and Ed unpack the mindset shifts that separate people who exist from people who live. Jesse shares the concept of "last visit energy" &mdash; a practice born from visiting his aging parents that completely changed how he shows up for the people he loves. They discuss why most people play life on defense, letting other people fill their calendars, and how Jesse flips the script by aggressively planning his life years in advance.
You'll learn about the Japanese tradition of Misogi &mdash; picking one big, year-defining challenge every single year &mdash; and why Jesse believes if you can't find one day every eight weeks for yourself, your work-life balance is broken. They dig into friend reduction, the power of "yes, and" people, why grit is the biggest indicator of future success, and the sobering truth that 80 is still 80. This one will make you think differently about time, presence, and what you're putting on your calendar.
Here's What You'll Gain From This Episode
&bull; The "Life Resume" Framework &mdash; Why your work resume fills itself in, but your life resume takes intention, and how to start building one that actually matters&nbsp;
&bull; Last visit Energy &mdash; A mindset shift that will change how you show up for the people you love, starting today&nbsp;
&bull; The Misogi Method &mdash; How to pick one big, year-defining challenge every year so you can look back and actually remember your life&nbsp;
&bull; Playing Life On Offense &mdash; Jesse's system for aggressively planning your calendar before other people fill it for you&nbsp;
&bull; The Mini-Adventure Strategy &mdash; One day every eight weeks that could give you 300 unforgettable experiences over a lifetime&nbsp;
&bull; Friend Reduction &mdash; How to curate your circle around "yes, and" people who energize you instead of draining you
&bull; Grit As A One-Way Ratchet &mdash; Why pushing through suffering permanently raises your baseline, and how to apply it to parenting, business, and life&nbsp;
&bull; "80 is still 80" &mdash; The sobering reminder that postponing things is often just quietly canceling them
&bull; Lessons From An Empty Nester &mdash; The regrets parents share most, and how to avoid waiting until it's too late to be present with your kids

How to Build an Epic Life Resume 

John Maxwell's #17 Law of Leadership: The Law of Priorities

Being busy is one of the easiest ways to lie to yourself. You can work twelve hours a day, answer every email, take every meeting, and still go home without moving your life or your business an inch. This week is about the difference between activity and accomplishment, and why great leaders refuse to confuse the two.
Law 17 in John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is the Law of Priorities, and I believe it is the most practical law in the entire series. We live in an economy of distraction where everyone wants a piece of your attention, and if you are not intentional, you can give your entire life away ten minutes at a time. I open this episode by breaking down why leadership gets harder as opportunities multiply, and why the real skill is knowing what not to do.
John teaches this one from lived experience. More than thirty years ago, a single paragraph in a college business textbook changed the way he works, and he has been a student of priorities ever since. He explains why he only does four things, and he walks through the three questions he uses to find the top twenty percent that drives his results.
I'll share how I divide my day into three mini days, challenge you to build a standard around your time, and give you a priority audit to run before the week begins. I also ask what truly deserves your best energy in this season of your life.
Here is what you will gain from this episode:
<ul>
<li>Activity vs. accomplishment: Why a full day can feel productive and still leave your life exactly where it was.</li>
<li>Three priority questions: The simple filter that helps you find the few things worth your best energy.</li>
<li>The Pareto principle: What it says about how you spend your time and the people you spend it with.</li>
<li>Time compression: How three mini days help you evaluate and adjust faster than a single 24-hour day.</li>
<li>Only you vs. happen to be doing: How to tell the difference between tasks that require your presence and tasks you have simply inherited.</li>
<li>The 90-day calendar test: Why your calendar tells the truth about what you value.</li>
<li>The priority audit: A one-week exercise to close the gap between what you say matters and what you schedule.</li>
</ul>
At the end of your life, nobody is going to give you an award for answering the most emails. Your dreams deserve your best hours, not whatever is left at the end of the day. Decide what gets your best energy before the week begins, and protect it.

#17 Law of Leadership: The Law of Priorities

Darryl Strawberry: From Baseball Legend to Redemption

You are not stuck with the person you have been.
Darryl Strawberry is back on the show! His last visit was one of the most shared episodes we have ever done. This time he went deeper, and I got emotional sitting across from him.
Darryl was one of the greatest players I have ever watched: seventeen years in the big leagues, Rookie of the Year, four World Series. He has also lived through addiction, cancer twice, the loss of a kidney, and a heart attack. When they wheeled him into surgery, he told God he was okay either way.
He has had to start over more than once, and he tells you exactly how he did it.
I ask him the question so many people are carrying right now: Who am I when the thing I built my identity on is gone? A marriage, a business, a career, a title?
I share how the imposter syndrome still shows up for me and how I handle it. Then I lay out my belief that God plants two or three real gifts in each of us, and that they get revealed through pain and through serving others. I push Darryl on how you stay confident and fierce while still surrendering your life to God, and Darryl answers with total honesty.
Here's what you'll gain from this episode:
<ul>
<li>Identity after the loss: What to do when the thing you built yourself on is gone.</li>
<li>The disqualification lie: Why the mistakes you think rule you out may be what qualifies you.</li>
<li>Pain and service: The two doors that reveal gifts you did not know you had.</li>
<li>Surrender and self-belief: How to stay fierce while still giving up the wheel.</li>
<li>Other people's opinions: How Darryl handled millions of people forming a view of him.</li>
<li>The operating room: What he said to God on the way in, and why it will stay with you.</li>
<li>Game 6, 1986: What really went on in that dugout, and I make this Red Sox fan relive it.</li>
</ul>
Darryl said it better than I can: you did not get into this mess overnight, so you will not get out of it overnight. But if you refuse to believe it is over, you get another life. Get up.
#MAXOUT

From Baseball Legend to Redemption

Don't Wait For A Crisis To Change Your Life

In this episode, Ed interviews Emmy Award-winning journalist, television personality, and two-time New York Times bestselling author Maria Menounos joins the show for a deeply personal conversation about healing, loss, and finding your true purpose. Maria opens up about the decade-long barrage of challenges she faced: a brain tumor, losing her mother, a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and Type 1 diabetes &mdash; and how each one redirected her toward the life she was meant to live. She and Ed discuss the identity crisis that comes with caregiving and loss, how to know when it's time to walk away from a career that no longer fits, and why a health crisis became her "get out of jail free card" to finally pursue her soul's calling. In this episode, you'll learn: - How to know when it's time to walk away from a career that looks perfect on paper but doesn't fit your soul - The "wonder over worry" tool Maria used while facing pancreatic cancer during pregnancy, and how Ed is already applying it - How to stop bracing for the next bad thing when life keeps hitting you with back-to-back hardships - The one question to ask yourself before quitting anything: "Am I quitting because it's hard, or because it's not right?" - Why Maria calls her brain tumor her "get out of jail free card" &mdash; and why you shouldn't wait for a crisis to pivot - How to give yourself permission to rest as a high achiever without losing your momentum - The lesson no one teaches achievers: when the next rung on the ladder isn't worth what you'd sacrifice to reach it - Maria's real-time playbook for losing her biggest sponsor, reframing the fear, and quadrupling her YouTube views in 30 days - A daily gratitude and "God talks" practice you can start in your car tomorrow - The most important thing Ed and Maria agree you should do with your parents while you still can - This is a conversation about healing, simplifying, and having the courage to redefine success on your own terms.

Maria Menounous - Don't Wait For A Crisis To Change Your Life

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