Are You Leading From Behind? Time to Reclaim Your Year

We're halfway through 2025, and it's time for a brutal reality check about whether we're becoming the men we promised to be or just recycling excuses while our lives remain unchanged.

• Six months gone that we can never get back
• Every day offers a chance to change our story and bring order to chaos
• Comparison is the thief of joy, especially when we lose focus on our higher purpose
• Drifting doesn't make you a bad man, but an unfocused one
• Write down what you said you'd accomplish, what you've actually done, and what excuses you're making
• You cannot fix what you won't face or defeat what you won't define
• When you don't live intentionally, life chooses for you—and rarely chooses success
• People are watching you settle for less than your potential
• You cannot lead others if you cannot first lead yourself
• Four areas to finish strong: spiritual connection, mental discipline, physical movement, financial organization
• Try one improvement in each area for 30 days and you won't recognize yourself by September
• Write down three things to accomplish by August 31st and share them for accountability

Remember, excellence is a choice. We all have talents, but to truly exceed in life, you have to make it daily. If anyone hasn't told you today that they love you, let me be the first to say I love you. You're awesome. You're amazing. You deserve the best this world has to offer. Do not give up, do not quit. The world doesn't get easier, but you get stronger.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Excellence Above Talent
• 0:37 Midyear Reality Check
• 6:09 Personal Goals and Spiritual Struggles
• 10:36 The Danger of Drifting
• 11:40 Leading From the Front
• 13:36 Four Areas for Immediate Change

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to Excellence Above Talent, a podcast where we have the hard conversations about the lives of men and what leads us to achieve greatness and suffer defeat. Hear from other men's journeys as well, as we all learn and grow together to become inspirations to ourselves and those around us. And now your host, Aaron Thomas.

Speaker 2: 0:37

What's up, my beautiful people? Aaron Thomas, with Excellence Above Talent, I want you to take a real second and think about are you the man you said you would be this year, or are you just the same guy with new excuses? We're more than halfway through the 2025 year. Six months gone, gone, and you can never get back. And if you're being honest with yourself, are you proud of what you've done so far? Did you build what you said you were going to build? Did you break what you said you were going to break? Or are you still talking about one day, while your life looks exactly the same as it did when this year began?

Speaker 2: 1:27

Today's episode is going to sting for me, and it might sting for some of you who are listening to my voice and you're thinking back on January and how promising you thought it was going to be this year and now, looking back, you haven't done the things that you said you were going to do. But the beautiful thing about life is, every day you have a chance to change your story, to bring order to the chaos that is your life. So I care enough about myself to call myself out, but I also care about you to call you out. This is a mid-year accountability check and I'm going to challenge you to dominate these next five months like your life depends on it and in truth it does, because if we're really taking the time to think about it, we are dying each and every day. The importance of making sure you're living each day like it is your last and making sure you are becoming who you said you want to become as a child, maybe as a goal that you've had in your life Maybe that is what you said in January, but each day there's an opportunity to become the person you've always wanted to be.

Speaker 2: 2:53

There were a few things that I've written for myself this year Was to finish my book. I have a book written, most of the book, but it's just been sitting in my computer. I haven't done the necessary steps to finish it, and that was something that I wanted to do at the end. At you know, this year I wanted to get into a master's program. I wanted to fight for more money from the VA and I've started that process. I've made the claim and I'm doing that.

Speaker 2: 3:37

But I've also wanted to get closer to God, create a better relationship, and I've really struggled with my relationship with God this year. It has taken a backseat. I'm not sure why it has. There's been some unnecessary thought processes from me about God that I've had to challenge myself into trying to figure out why I felt the way I felt. Because there's been people in my life who have dedicated their entire life to God, to Christianity, to trying to love and support and be what God has called them to be. But they struggled financially and I think this year I sometimes look at my finances and feel some type of way because I think I should be better off than I am now.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Comparison is a thief of joy. Sometimes you look at other men, you look at what they have and what they're doing. If you don't have the focus or the connection to a higher power, it can create this need to validate yourself, this need to push yourself to get more, when sometimes it's taking a step back and trying to figure out why you're feeling a certain way, why you're feeling a certain way, and so for a better part of this first year, half of this year, I've been in the pushing myself, trying to figure out ways, and it only creates more chaos, more stress, and so this next last half of the year, I'm going to focus on my connection with God, my relationship, trying to understand where I'm at, where I'm going and it's not always going to be like this and so having that relationship to me is more important than running around trying to grind for something that God might not even have my name on. So we are in a mid year reality check. Here's the thing Most men hype up January like like it's a magic month. We say goes. We talk big in a group chat, we say things like this is my year, but six months later we're doing the same thing we've always done drifting. And drifting doesn't make you a bad man, but it makes you an unfocused man, and an unfocused man lives the same year over and over again until he dies, and that, to me, is a scary fact. I don't want to live over and over and over again, doing the same things over and over and over again, saying that I'm going to do something different and I don't.

Speaker 2: 6:50

So let me ask you three questions. I want you to answer these out loud and, if you can, write them down later and I'm also going to have a PDF for you if you're trying to finish strong your last six months. To me, writing things down is key. So, number one what did you say you'd accomplish in 2025? Number two what have you actually accomplished so far? And three if you are making excuses because you haven't done a thing that you have accomplished, what excuses are you making? Be real with yourself, because you can't fix what you won't face. Be real with yourself Because you can't fix what you won't face. You cannot defeat what you won't define.

Speaker 2: 7:40

So you have to call out the things in your life that's working and that isn't working, because if you do not, there is a danger in drifting. Let me tell you why this matters so much. When you don't live your life in an intentional way, life will choose for you, and life doesn't accidentally pick successes for anyone. You'll wake up in December mad at the results that never worked out. And here's the part that should really bother you your family, your kids, the people you look up to and the people who look up to you. They're watching you settle. They're watching you become half the man that they know you are. Men can't lead anybody. They can't lead their wives, they can't lead their kids. They can't lead their kids. They can't lead their business, they can't lead in their community if you cannot lead yourself first.

Speaker 2: 8:41

And if you're setting goals and you have dreams and you're trying to do these things in life and you're not doing them, how can you then go to other people your family, your friends at work and expect them to do more, when you're doing the bare minimum and they see it? You cannot lead from behind. You have to lead in the front, and if you're leading in the front, people will see you and the things that you're doing. People will see you and the things that you're doing, and so it's super important to have those goals set, those goals have an accountability partner or someone that's going to push you to accomplish the goal that you have in your life, to go back every week and look at your goals and what you have accomplished, what you haven't accomplished and, if you haven't accomplished it, and what you have accomplished, what you haven't accomplished and, if you haven't accomplished it, what you need to do in order to accomplish it.

Speaker 2: 9:37

I do not want to be a person, a man that people see the potential of and I'm just sitting on the sidelines. I want to be a man that leads from the front, that's accomplishing goals and aspirations, accomplishing the dreams that were put inside of me, because that is a motivation for the people around me to do the best that they can also do as well to accomplish and to be the best that they can be. And I want to be that type of man that changes the room, that changes atmospheres, that changes environments, that leads from the front and I don't have to say anything. People just see that I am doing what I need to do and it motivates them to also do what they need to do. You cannot be a drifter and lead at the same time.

Speaker 2: 10:30

But there's good news, because you still have time to finish this year off strong. You have a whole five months to change everything. So here is what you do Spiritually. This is something that I'm really working on Get back to prayer or whatever centers you. Cut 10 minutes of scrolling and give it to silence, journaling or God. Ask him what my assignment for the rest of this year is Create Bible plans, go to church, serve at your church, be involved with your church Mentally read, listen or surround yourself with men who push you and cut one toxic habit or person that drains you and we know we have a habit or a person that, when it comes into our lives and when it leaves or they leave. We're drained.

Speaker 2: 11:28

Pay attention to how people make you feel and pay attention to the things that you do and how they make you feel afterwards. Physically. Move daily. You don't have to overcomplicate it. Go for a walk If you're not into the gym or you've never really been into the gym. Do push-ups, sit-ups 10 push-ups in the morning, 10 push-ups at night. Start there, start somewhere. Move, be active. Discipline your body, because when you discipline your body you build discipline in your mind, because a lot of times people don't hell, I'm talking about me. A lot of times I don't want to go work out. I don't want to feel the pain that I'm going to have to feel in the gym, but every single time I leave that gym I feel better. So it's super important to move your body and make sure you're active in this life and then financially audit your money, know where your money is going.

Speaker 2: 12:30

A lot of times in my life when I was struggling, I didn't know where my money was going, so there would be a frustration. You know, halfway through the month and I'm trying to figure out how to live the rest of the month with the money that I have, but I never sat down and put what was being bought or what I was spending or what I was doing with the money. So there was a lot of frustration and anger and confusion because of the chaos that I created in my life, because there was no order. So order your money, stop wasting it. Stop wasting it on stuff that gives you 10 minutes of happiness and 10 years of regret. Save, invest in one thing before this year is out. So find something that you want to save for, or start putting money into an investment account.

Speaker 2: 13:29

I use Stash. It's an app. It gives you information so you don't have to go out there and look for it. They kind of set it up, make it easy for you. So I have given you four things you can do. So I have given you four things you can do and in those four areas, you can just knock out one thing in each area that you would want to do.

Speaker 2: 13:52

So, spiritually, I want to pray every day. Mentally, I want to read a book a week. Physically, I want to walk 45 minutes a day, talk 45 minutes a day. Financially, I want to create a budget to where I know where every cent of every dollar goes in my household. So do one thing in each area for the next 30 days and by September, you won't even recognize yourself. And if you don't think it's true, or if you think I'm lying, try it. Try it and then tell me.

Speaker 2: 14:27

Here's the challenge Write down three things you want to accomplish before August 31st. Don't dream about it, not talk about it. Accomplish and then send them to me, dm me, email me, whatever. Let's make this real, because August 31st is coming, regardless of your grind or not. The only question is will you be proud of who you are when you get there? Will you be proud of the person that you have, that you are becoming, because you are putting things down on paper and you're accomplishing the things that you know you need to accomplish to live your best life.

Speaker 2: 15:04

So this is a wake-up call for the people who have lived out the first six months as zombies, hoping that things will change, but doing the same thing. Stop living like you have time to waste because you don't Lead yourself, and everything else in your life will follow. If this episode hits you, share it with another man who needs to hear it, and let's hold each other accountable. Remember, excellence is a choice. We all have talents, but to truly exceed in life. You have to make it daily. If anyone haven't told you today that they love you, let me be the first to say I love you. You're awesome. You're amazing. You deserve the best that this world has to offer. Do not give up, do not quit. The world does not get easier, but you get stronger. Y'all have a blessed day.

Speaker 1: 15:57

Bye-bye. Thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. Sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode and for daily motivational and up-to-date content. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Excellence Above Talent. And remember keep moving forward, never give up and you are never alone in this battle. We'll see you next time I'm out.