When I started Resurgam six years ago, it was quiet. I wrote when I had something worth saying. Then life got busy.
Running companies, miles, through hard seasons, beside people I loved and people I lost, all the while doing the daily work of trying to become someone I could respect.
A few months ago, I decided to bring it back. Not because the internet needs another newsletter. It doesn’t.
Because there is a message about elite performance that just isn’t being shared.
I have spent thousands of hours studying one all-consuming question: “What can a person actually control when life starts throwing punches?"
I keep coming back to the same five things:
How you start your day
How you close out your day
What you fuel your body with
The daily exercise that builds discipline inside you
How you handle conflict
That is the list. You do not control the economy, the weather, the opinion of the person who misjudged you, or the timing of the call you are waiting on.
Here’s what we’ve covered so far.
The first issue told the story behind the name, Resurgam. “I will rise.” It is a promise I have needed more than once.
Then I wrote about the Maya Angelou quote everyone repeats about character, and why I think people often miss the what she was really trying to say “when people show you who they are…”
After that came Hannibal, Rome, and what it means to control almost nothing. His story gave me a way to put the five controllables into plain language — and share a telling of his story you have likely never heard before.
I told you about Glenn Cunningham, the boy who ran out of the fire. He was hours away from death and his feet were badly burned when he was young. He went on to become the fastest runner in the world.
Then I shared what I learned from spending 1,000 hours researching the morning routines of history’s most successful people. Dozens of stories. Small choices that show up before the rest of the world is awake. It’s a keeper
Last week, I wrote about LeBron James and closing out the day.
More of you emailed me about that one than any other issue so far. Most of you wanted to challenge my claim that LeBron is the greatest player of all time.
Fair enough. Michael Jordan is the GOAT.
But LeBron has logged more seasons, minutes, and games than anyone who has ever played at that level. That was the point. He gave me a useful example of what it takes to take the end of the day seriously.
I did not expect these articles to run 3,000 to 5,000 words. I assumed they would be shorter.
They are not. To research the stories, check the details, write them, and then edit them again and again takes me about a week and a half. That is the standard I want for this work. I would rather send you something worth saving than hit a publishing quota.
So this is how Resurgam will work from here.
You will hear from me every week.
Every other week, it will be a long story. The kind with enough detail that you can take it to work, talk about it in church, or use it while coaching your kids. A story with a point you can carry into a bad Tuesday.
The other weeks, it will be something shorter: a video I watched, a book I cannot stop thinking about, or a personal video from me about strategy, performance, or the way I see the world.
The goal stays the same. Keep the fire going when your own flame is low.
If you are new here, that is the catch-up.
For this week, I want to share a video podcast I shot last week with my friend Mark Minard from Elevating Beyond. We spent a couple of hours in his studio talking about the “not-yet zone” from my book, Edgy Conversations. Mark calls it the liminal space. Most people know it as the messy middle.
It is the place where you are working hard toward something and cannot yet see proof that it is working.
I think that place is the forge.
A blacksmith does not make a blade by setting metal on a shelf and wishing it sharp. The steel is heated, struck, cooled, and struck again. Pressure changes it.
That is what the not-yet zone can do to you, if you stay in it long enough and do not walk away too soon.
Next week, I am going to tell you a story about the Antarctic explorer who was tougher than almost anyone who has ever lived. You probably have not heard it before. You will not forget it.
Love you all. 🖤