This quote from Coach Drinkwitz in his press conference at SEC Media Days this week was one of those quotes that stopped me in my tracks and stuck in my head all week.

We talk a lot about being tired. Burnt out. Stretched thin. And yeah, it’s real. We’re working hard, chasing goals, some raising families, trying to fit a full life into 24-hour days.

But what if we reframed the exhaustion?

What if the tiredness you feel after a long workday, a tough workout, or another night of bedtime routines wasn’t a burden, but a badge?

Nobody forced you to go after this life. You chose the career you’re grinding in. You chose to be the kind of parent who’s present. You chose to sign up for the race (speaking directly into the mirror here), build the business, or push toward a version of yourself that doesn’t settle.

That kind of fatigue? That’s earned. And it’s a privilege.

We forget that far too often. We let the difficulty of the moment make us forget why we started in the first place. But if you're feeling stretched, feeling drained from chasing something that matters - you're right where you’re supposed to be.

Let us remember this week that you’re not exhausted because you’re failing. You’re exhausted because you’re in the game.

And that’s exactly where you chose to be.

Brain - A Lesson from The Links

At The Open this week, World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler gave an interview that turned a few heads, not because of anything he said about golf, but because of what he said about life.

When asked about his mindset heading into the tournament, he said this:

“I’ve had to ask myself why I want to win so badly… Golf is not my ultimate purpose. It’s not where I derive my identity or my happiness.”

Coming from the best player in the world, in the middle of one of the four biggest tournaments of the year, this landed with serious weight.

Scheffler wasn’t saying he doesn’t care. He wasn’t backing off competition. But he was reminding himself - and all of us - that achievement without alignment doesn’t lead to lasting fulfillment. You can win the tournament, hit your quota, build the business, or get the body, but if your worth is tied up entirely in the outcome, you’ll always be chasing something that doesn’t exist.

What Scheffler has identified is a freeing truth: You can strive for greatness while still understanding that your value isn’t at stake.

That’s something we can all relate to, whether you're chasing PRs, promotions, or personal goals. It’s easy to believe that happiness is waiting on the other side of achievement. But often, it's found in the why behind the pursuit, not the result itself.

So what does this mean practically?

Clarify your internal scoreboard. What really matters to you? Growth? Integrity? Consistency? Relationships? Family?

Detach from results without detaching from effort. Give your best, but don’t let the scoreboard define you.

Scottie went on to say: “It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes. You win it … it’s an amazing moment. Then it’s like, OK, what are we eating for dinner? Life goes on.”

I think we have all felt this realization at some point too. You get the promotion, have the celebration, and then are quickly inundated with a completely new plate of work and a new position to strive for. You hit your goal weight - you get the abs - and you wonder now what?

Goals are great, so long as we consistently remind ourselves that it’s the people we come home to at night, the ones we do it for, the family and friends we keep, that are the true north star and win at the end of the day. Take it from Scottie, the hottest golfer of the last two decades.

Body - Train With Purpose Like Jason Kelce

Jason Kelce is aggressively attacking his post NFL career physique, and as of last week, has recruited to help of Dr. Mike Israetel (a frequenter of the Superset) to help him do so.

Dr. Mike specializes in the science as the foundation of fitness and bodybuilding. If you have watched one of his videos, you will notice an intention and a cadence to every movement. His philosophy is maximizing time and energy in the gym. Moving the weight with purpose, targeting specific muscle groups, and not wasting any additional energy.

This week Jason posted a Youtube video of their most recent training session, and it is a great educational piece for anyone looking to either get started in the gym, or for anyone looking to improve their effort in the gym in general.

YouTube’s Top Bodybuilding Expert Destroys My Ego In One Workout

If you watch this video and would like to adopt his approach in the gym, here are a few core key principles found in all of his training series:

1. Training Volume is Key

   1. The least volume you need to make progress, and the most volume that you can effectively recover from in a given time frame

2. Progressive Overload is Non-Negotiable

   1. Over time, you must do more weight, more reps, or increase training volume to see meaningful progress as your body adapts

3. Mind Muscle Connection

   1. Technique matters. Controlling the weight, maintaining tension, and feeling the target muscle are critical for growth.

4. Consistency Over Perfection

   1. Long-term progress matters more than perfection every day. He encourages flexible adherence to training and diet - enough structure to see results, but enough flexibility to sustain them.

Book - Inner Excellence, Revisited

With the marathon just a few weeks away, I found myself reaching back to a book that made a deep impression on me at the start of my fitness journey - Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy (You may have seen this book on the sidelines in AJ Brown’s hands last season).

It’s not your typical performance manual. Murphy, a former pro athlete and coach to elite performers, writes with a blend of wisdom, mindset science, and spiritual clarity. On this second read-through, a few passages stuck out differently. When you're in the thick of training - mentally drained, physically tested - this book can be a helpful centering, and I flat out needed some of that this week.

One line in particular jumped off the page: “Greatness isn’t something you force. It’s something you allow.”

That quote reminded me that the best performances, on the track, at work, in life - don’t come from white-knuckling your way through everything. They come when you show up, do the work, and trust that the process will bring results. As a runner, it’s easy to obsess over splits and mileage. But sometimes the most important thing is staying open, calm, and connected to why you’re doing it in the first place.

Another powerful concept Murphy emphasizes is shifting from outcome-based thinking to process-based living. Instead of focusing on the time I want to hit on race day, I’ve started asking: How present can I be in this run? Can I stay grateful in the hard miles? The shift seems small, but it changes everything. You begin to find purpose in the work, not just the result. Like Drinkwitz said in the quote up top - We CHOSE this for ourselves.

One practice I would like to adopt again starting this week is something Murphy calls “mental cleansing.” Before key workouts or stressful moments, take a few deep breaths and ask:

What would the best version of me do right now?

That question quiets the noise. It brings clarity. And in a month where every run feels high-stakes, that mental reset will hopefully be something I can lean on for positive results.

Inner Excellence isn’t just for athletes. It’s for anyone who’s pursuing something that stretches them - whether it’s business, parenting, or personal growth. On this second pass, I didn’t just read it. I used it.

If you’re chasing a big goal or feel like you’ve hit a mental wall, this might be the exact book to revisit, or discover for the first time.