Good morning Reader—

​

And welcome to the ninth issue of The FAM.

​

This morning, I want to start with sharing something I love about you—and everyone who has joined the FAM. Something we all have in common: we all yearn for something more.

​

Somewhere, whether it’s deep down or yelling right from the surface, we know there’s this greater version of us, our full potential, that’s just waiting to be discovered.
​

Each of us wants to be more—we want to be better. Better spouses, leaders, parents, friends, employees. You name it… if there’s a role or identity in your life that you truly care about, odds are, you want to be better at it.
​

Yet, we’re all struggling with massive amounts of responsibilities in our lives that can make any form of improvement feel near impossible some days.
​

I know I’ve had stretches in my life where I’ve felt like I’m doing it all. Juggling everything, being pulled in a million different directions. From work to family, responsibilities, and all those obstacles that pop up in life—absolutely overwhelmed with the busy-ness of life.

​

Truth is, as a leader, you are responsible for so many things big and small, from packing lunches or taking the dog out in the morning all the way up to building a legacy to leave behind. There are days where it might feel like you’re in service to these responsibilities from the time you roll out of bed in the morning until you tuck back in at night… and even after that.
​

That’s heavy, and it really is a lot to handle. Often, it leaves us feeling completely out of control, rushing from one task to the next.
​

But no matter how busy life gets or how many responsibilities you juggle, that pull towards your potential is still there, calling you to become that ‘better’ version of yourself, no matter how tired you may be.
​

And as we know, life happens. And the chaos gets in the way.

​

The kids get sick. A fire breaks out at work. Your parents need more support. The truck won’t start. The email won’t stop. The calendar keeps filling. And that pull—toward alignment, toward that next version of you—starts to feel like a luxury you don’t have time for.

​

Here’s the truth most of us have to wrestle with: Life doesn’t slow down just because you want to grow.

​

It keeps coming. And in the middle of all that movement, it’s easy to feel like control is something you lost a long time ago.
​

But that’s not the full story.

​

Because even when everything around you is shifting, there’s one thing that never leaves your hands:
​

How you respond.

​

Control isn’t about getting your schedule perfectly managed or making sure nothing goes wrong. It’s about choosing, moment by moment, how you want to meet the life in front of you. It’s asking: Am I showing up today in a way that aligns with the person I want to become?

​

And if the answer is no?

​

That’s okay. You still have the power to choose differently—starting now.

Where in your life are you reacting on autopilot—giving more than you have—because it feels like you have to? And what might shift if you chose differently, even just once today?

There’s no way to escape all of the responsibilities around you. You have to earn a paycheck. You have people depending on you. The inbox will keep refilling. The calendar will keep crowding.
​

But in the middle of all that? Between the chaos of life and how you handle it? There’s a moment. A breath. A space.
​

It’s easy to miss—but it’s always there.

​

Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, once wrote:

​

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
​

This quote has anchored me for years—not just because it’s wise, but because it’s honest.

​

Frankl didn’t write those words from a comfortable office or a serene retreat. He lived them in the darkest of places—in a concentration camp, where everything around him was designed to strip him of himself. Of his agency. And yet, even there, he discovered this: no one could take away his power to choose how he responded.

​

That same power lives in you.

​

It doesn’t mean the chaos disappears. It means you get to decide how you meet it. That’s real control—not the illusion of taming every task or fixing every variable, but the grounded choice of how you respond when life doesn’t go to plan.

​

When you feel like everything is being asked of you at once…

​
When you’re disappointed by your team, your energy, or your own lack of bandwidth…

​
When you can’t be in two places at once, no matter how badly you want to…

​

You still have one sacred thing:

​

That space between what’s happening and how you’ll respond. This is the space where transformation begins.

​

Because if you choose intentionally—if you decide that your values get to lead the way, even now—you start to reclaim the alignment that felt so far away.

​

You may still miss the meeting. You may still return to 82 emails. You may still ask your spouse to handle dinner so you can step outside and breathe.

​

But if those choices are made from alignment—from the person you want to become, not the pressure closing in—then you haven’t lost control.

​

You’ve taken it back.

​

That’s the deeper invitation of Frankl’s wisdom.

​

Control isn’t about outcomes. It’s about ownership. It’s about remembering that you always get to choose—your tone, your focus, your next small act.

​

And yes… sometimes that means you’re going to have to miss one of your child’s big games to make that important meeting. Or you’ll come back to 82 emails because you chose to take the time to care for your aging parents.

​

But when you make those decisions intentionally, you can avoid reacting negatively to the chaos because you’ve chosen the outcome. You chose the path. You set the boundaries. You decided where and who to give the time to instead of playing the demanding juggling game the world places on you.

​

And if you can choose once… you can choose again.

​

When you stack enough of those grounded, values-aligned responses—moment after moment, day after day—you begin to shape a life that reflects the person you came here to be. You take one step at a time towards your full potential.

​

That’s what control really looks like.

​

Not power over the world—but presence within it.

​

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. But it is possible. And that one small shift—from reactive to intentional—is how we begin to reclaim control, one breath at a time.

I met Paige at a conference a few months ago, and since then, we’ve been working closely. When we met, the environment was buzzing. We were surrounded by creative energy, and you could feel the passion rolling off of her.

​

The other day, Paige shared something with me. She’s been working on turning her passion projects into a business—something deeply aligned with who she wants to become. But she’s also balancing a demanding executive role and raising a young family.

​

She started working with a career coach to help navigate the leap, and one question from her coach stopped her in her tracks:

​

“What do you need to take this next step?”

​

Her answer? Time.

​

But she’d already tried that route—time-blocking her calendar, waking up early, working late. She was giving everything she had, and still coming up short.

​

That’s when a different kind of clarity hit her.

​

“Maybe if I stop giving 125% to my current job and start giving 95–100%, I’ll have the time.”

​

Not because she wanted to give less—but because she wanted to give more intentionally. To choose where her energy went, based on who she’s becoming—not just what’s screaming the loudest.

​

It was a bold shift. One that required her to release control over being everything to everyone—and reclaim control over what she could choose in the moment.

​

Her hours didn’t expand. Her responsibilities didn’t disappear. But she started showing up differently. Making aligned choices in real time. Choosing her response.

​

And that changed everything.

​

Because when you remember that your next step is yours to choose, you stop giving power to the chaos—and start giving it to the life you’re building.

​

So here’s the question I’ve been pondering since hearing Paige’s story:

​

Where in your life have you been giving 125% to everything—and losing sight of what actually matters to you? What might open up if you gave 100%, with intention?

This week, we’re naming the quiet chaos that comes when life pulls you in every direction—and offering a tool to help you take back your power. ​ You may not be able to control what the world throws at you. But in the space between what happens and what you do next, you still have a choice. That space is where self-empowerment begins. The Response Reset helps you slow down, reflect, and choose how you want to show up in the moments that matter most. One pause, one decision at a time. ​

DOWNLOAD FREE TOOL

Lately, I’ve been sitting with the word empowerment. It’s everywhere in the world of leadership and growth—but I think we rush past it too quickly. It’s not just a motivational phrase. It’s something I want to feel more consistently in my bones.

​

So I went back to the roots.

​

“Em” meaning within.

“Power,” from the Latin potere—to be able, to have capacity.

And “ment,” a suffix that implies action.

​

Put it all together, and you get something deeper than we usually acknowledge:

​

The inner capacity to act.

​

Not someday, when the calendar clears or life feels more manageable. But right now. In this moment.

​

That’s what keeps striking me: Real empowerment isn’t about gaining control over everything around you. It’s about remembering the power you already have—the power to choose how you respond, moment to moment.

​

Even in the swirl of chaos, you still get to decide who you want to be. That decision may not fix everything. It might not make the day easier. But it keeps you aligned. It keeps you awake. It keeps you you.

​

And when you stack those decisions—one pause, one response, one intentional choice at a time—something incredible starts to happen.

​

You begin to feel that internal power again. That self-empowerment.

​

Not from a perfect routine. Not from a productivity hack. But from choosing to show up, even in the mess, with presence and integrity.

​

That’s what I’m holding close this week:

The reminder that we don’t have to wait for calm to live fully.

We just have to reclaim our power in this moment.

​

And then the next one. And then the next.

P.S. If today’s message reminded you of that quiet place inside—the part of you that still wants more, that still believes—you’re not alone. I’d love to hear what it stirred up. Just hit reply and share whatever’s on your mind. Your reflections keep this movement real, and they remind me why we’re doing this.
​
P.S.S. Can you think of one person in your life who today’s message is meant for. Go, on, hit forward and share it with them. That’s one of the great things about The FAM, the rippling forward as a force for good.

We’re on a mission to empower one million people to live Fully Alive, and you’re one of them!