We explore identity change through Dark Work, unconfident action, and the choice to set a scale that serves faith, family, and freedom. Anthony Trucks shares how to build proof-based confidence, access a “secret self,” and end suffering with decisive action.

• defining identity as lived wiring, not labels
• building a vision on a personal scale, not the world’s
• Dark Work deposits and proof that breeds confidence
• unconfident action as the path to courage
• secret self traits that stay “on” across life
• effort over outcome and the 1 percent edge
• embracing pain to earn pride and patience
• faith, mentors, and avoiding the dumb tax
• action ends suffering as a daily rule
• avoiding numbing and choosing productive movement

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If your life looks perfect on paper but feels strangely hollow, this conversation will hit home. We sit down with coach Ben Robbins, who rose fast in a global consultancy and realized the wins felt thinner with each promotion. Instead of doubling down on hustle, he rebuilt from the inside out—trading golden handcuffs for a compelling vision of freedom, health, meaningful work, and a life lived on his terms.

Ben breaks down a deceptively simple idea: most high performers don’t need to add more; they need to remove what’s untrue. He shows how hidden scripts like “I’m not good enough” quietly drive overwork, overplanning, and the constant chase for validation. Rather than pushing affirmations the nervous system doesn’t buy, he uses real evidence from your life to neutralize old stories, shifting change from intellectual to embodied. That’s where energy returns, creativity flows, and burnout loses its grip.

We also reframe success through a powerful lens: goals are not a place to get to, they’re a place to come from. If you want the million, the promotion, or the freedom, who do you need to be today in how you show up, connect, and create? This shift unlocks the feeling now and, paradoxically, helps results arrive faster. Ben shares practical ways to create space—micro-pauses, fewer low-value meetings, silent walks—so your best thinking can surface. And he makes a case for lives that look “weird” to others but feel true to you, from living abroad to crafting work around conversation and impact.

If you’re tired of chasing the next rung and ready to define your version of a 10 out of 10 life, this episode offers a clear path: remove, integrate, and create. Listen, share with someone who needs it, and if it resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one story you’re ready to drop.

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The chase for status is loud. The quiet work of self-worth is louder. We sit down with midlife self-love coach Jonathan Ashley to unpack how men can build genuine confidence without the scoreboard—by caring for the “emotional six-year-old” inside, stepping into the observer’s seat, and practicing non-attachment so expectations stop running the show.

Jonathan shares a practical framework: self-love as the bundle of self-worth, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-discipline, activated through daily reps. We dig into the tools that create emotional scaffolding before life shakes—journaling that names real feelings, meditation and breathwork to calm the nervous system, yoga to connect body and heart, therapy to untie childhood knots, and books that offer language for growth. Along the way, we tackle comparison culture and the myth of the “four sixes,” making the case for moving competition to the court and turning friendship into a refuge for truth.

You’ll hear how service multiplies “emotional currency,” why vulnerability isn’t venting but honest ownership, and how surrender shifts your experience from judgment to peace. With stories, book recs, and hard-won wisdom, Jonathan shows that steady inner worth can survive career swings, breakups, and the internet’s highlight reels. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s presence. Choose one habit today—five minutes of breath, a page of journaling, a call to a friend—and make a deposit into your emotional bank account.

If this conversation helps, follow and share it with someone who needs a steadier inner base. Subscribe for more thoughtful, heart-led growth, and leave a review to tell us what you’ll practice this week.

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Want to be a guest on Playing Injured? Send Joshua Dillingham a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/playinginjured