Bryant: This is It  

This month, I want to step outside of the shop… step outside of our day-to-days, and take a little time to reflect. 

With that said, I think we all can agree that success can be addicting, sure. But it’s what happens when it starts stealing from the parts of your life that really matters.  
 
If you're anything like me, you’ve already spent years trying to outwork reality. Ignoring the advice from others. Believing I was the exception to burnout, to disconnection, to the price success can quietly chew away at. 

I used to say something regularly that you’ve probably heard before. I didn’t realize it was a lie at the time because to me it sounded more like motivation: "Yeah, but they don’t know who I really am… Watch this." 

That line got me through a lot. And for a while, it worked. Or at least, I thought it did. 

It fueled late nights, pushed through burnout, and kept the pedal floored long after the tank hit empty. I wore it like a bulletproof jacket, believing I could outwork, out-lead, and out-suffer anyone around me. We tell ourselves we’re the exception. The late nights, the missed dinners, the skipped vacations will make it all worth it “one day.” When the business is big enough. When the fires stop. When it’s all a little easier. 

But here’s what I’ve learned: you don’t win by outrunning the cost; you just delay the bill. And when it comes due, it’s usually in moments you can’t get back. The missed dinners, the distant stares at bedtime, the family wondering where you are while you’re three feet away but miles from present. 

We tell ourselves we’re doing this for them. For our teams. For our legacy. 

But if we’re not careful, we start doing it for the version of ourselves that never feels like enough. 

The truth is, most of us are chasing the same things: acceptance, happiness, stability, a little breathing room. We want to matter. To leave something behind. To be the kind of person someone else can count on when it hits the fan. 

And yet, the more hats we wear: owner, dad, mom, spouse, mentor, friend, leader, etc., the harder it becomes to wear any of them well. Life keeps changing, and no one teaches you how to scale yourself. 

So, we grind harder and keep thinking, “Once I get through this next project… once the shop stabilizes… once I hire that final person…” 

But let me say this with the urgency it deserves: There is no “once.” There is only now. 

This is it. 

You don’t become the best version of yourself after the chaos settles; you become it when you choose to show up in the middle of it. 

The shop? It’ll still be there tomorrow. The customer complaint, the scheduling mess, the P&L that’s been whispering to you in your sleep? All still there. Look around you. The people who love you? They’re already here. The team that believes in you? They’re showing up right now. The version of yourself you’ve been trying to earn your way into. He or she doesn’t show up when the stress is gone, they show up when you finally realize what matters. 

But the opportunity to actually live in this moment, to sit at the dinner table, be part of the conversation, laugh without thinking about your email — that’s the rarest asset you’ve got. 

And here’s the kicker: this isn’t just about burnout. It’s about legacy. 

What good is building the most admired workplace, the most dialed-in SOPs, the tightest KPIs, if the people who matter most barely recognize you anymore? 

We don’t get to scale time. We only get to spend it; it’s up to us to spend it wisely or not. 

So, this week, I challenge you to take it outside the shop. Say “yes” to the game night. Join in at dinner and look someone in the eye instead of at your phone. 

Be where your feet are. We have so much to offer those around us, and those around us have so much to offer us in return. Take advantage of it by simply being present.  

Because the thing we’re all working toward: the peace, the connection, the meaning, doesn’t show up at the end of the grind. 

It’s hidden in plain sight, right now.  

This is it.