Most people who feel stuck aren't lazy. They aren't faithless. And they aren't broken. They are usually repeating a few quiet patterns that feel responsible but are actually killing their momentum.

In this episode, Jim comes to you fresh from Podfest 2026 with a "Real Talk" update. He breaks down the 5 subtle mistakes that keep high-achievers circling the same mountain—from "waiting for clarity" to the spiritual bypass of "false peace."

If you feel like you are constantly starting, stopping, praying, and planning—but never actually moving—this episode is your wake-up call. We are trading the "hype" of transformation for the boring, faithful work of next steps.

1. Clarity vs. Certainty: You say you are waiting for clarity, but you are actually waiting for certainty. God rarely gives blueprints; He gives next steps. Motion builds clarity; stillness multiplies doubt.
2. The "Conference High" Trap: We love the event, but we hate the process. Transformation isn't an emotional breakthrough; it is boring, repetitive habit.
3. The Freeze Response: Trying to fix your business, health, and marriage all in one week isn't discipline—it's overload. Pick one battle to win this season.
4. False Peace: Many people say "I'm at peace" when they are actually just disassociated or avoiding a hard truth. You cannot fix what you will not name.
5. Shame vs. Identity: There is a difference between "I failed" and "I am a failure." One is an event; the other is an identity. You are not disqualified because you stumbled.

1. "Motion builds clarity. Stillness multiplies doubt and confusion."
2. "Transformation, quite frankly, is boring."
3. "Depth creates stability. Breadth creates collapse."
4. "You can't fix what you don't name 'cause you don't know what you're healing."
5. "Self-awareness is not self-condemnation."

1. 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
2. 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
3. 📱 Instagram: @leadwithjim
4. ▶️ YouTube: Lead with Jim
5. Facebook: @leadwithjim

We live in a world of noise. Marketers tell you to build a 5-step funnel, hustle harder, and cancel your Netflix. But what if the secret to success isn't doing more, but finding the specific path that works for you?

In this episode, Jim sits down with Jamie Samples, owner of Yellow Barn Media. Jamie has spent 15 years running a successful marketing agency in a super-specific niche (the horse industry) while managing a hobby farm, a family, and high-functioning ADHD.

They have a raw, "clear as mud" conversation about the messy middle of entrepreneurship. Jamie opens up about the moment she realized her identity was too wrapped up in her business, the "red flag" of losing her peace, and the practical hacks she uses to manage a busy brain.

1. The Power of the Niche: You don't need to serve everyone. Jamie built a thriving agency by focusing on what she knew and loved: Horses.
2. ADHD & Productivity: Standard advice like "wake up at 5 AM" doesn't work for everyone. Jamie shares her "finger trick" for remembering tasks and why she watches YouTube Shorts in the carpool line.
3. Identity vs. Work: Two years ago, Jamie faced a hard truth: "If I died tomorrow, my business wouldn't care. My husband and son would." She shares how she disentangled her worth from her work.
4. The "Peace" Barometer: How do you know when you are drifting back into toxic hustle? For Jamie, the red flag is "Losing Peace."
5. Filtering the Noise: You don't need to listen to every guru. Find the people who align with your values and ignore the rest.

1. "I had to teach myself to slow down. I realized I could not do it all."
2. "If I would've died the next day, my business, my clients aren't gonna care. My husband and my son are gonna care."
3. "Losing peace... that's my red flag."
4. "Discipline is rarely a personality trait. It is usually a calendar decision." (Jim)
5. "Find the path that works for you... and work that plan over and over."

1. Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
2. Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast
3. Connect with Jamie: YellowBarnMedia.com
4. Jamie’s Resources: Check out the courses and resources mentioned in the episode....

Did you know that most resolutions die by January 17th? The reason is simple: Resolutions are just wishes attached to a calendar date. We treat January 1st like a magic portal that will change our personality, but by week three, the motivation fades and the old habits return.

In this first episode of 2026, Jim Burgoon breaks down why "hype" fails and gives you a boring, tactical plan that actually works. We are ditching the year-long promises and building a 90-Day System based on clarity, tiny actions, and real accountability.

If you want this year to look different than the last one, stop relying on willpower and start relying on a plan.

1. Fewer Goals, More Clarity: Your brain cannot handle 12 priorities at once. Pick 3–4 specific goals for the next 90 days. "Get fit" is a wish; "Walk 30 minutes Mon/Wed/Fri" is a plan.
2. The Weekly Review: A goal you don't review is just a daydream. Schedule 15 minutes a week to ask: What moved forward? What stalled? What is the one action that matters next week?
3. Tiny Actions Beat Big Hype: Big goals fail because the next step is vague. Break your goals down into tiny, repeatable actions (e.g., "Two minutes of quiet prayer before I touch my phone").
4. Define the Win: You need two types of wins: Outcome Wins (the result) and Process Wins (the behavior). If you only measure the outcome, you will feel behind. If you measure the process, you will realize you are winning every day you show up.
5. Real Accountability has Teeth: Real accountability isn't a cheerleader saying "Good job." It's a friend asking "Did you do it?" and a consequence if you didn't.

1. "Resolutions are about a mood. A plan is about a method."
2. "If everything matters, nothing moves."
3. "What isn't written is a daydream."
4. "Discipline is rarely a personality trait. It is usually a calendar decision."
5. "The amateur misses a day and quits for the year. The pro misses a day and returns the next morning."

1. Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
2. Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

1. 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
2. 🎙️ Ask a Question:

We usually end the year with a victory lap. We talk about the wins, the revenue, and the growth. But if we’re being honest, the most important lessons usually come from a face-plant.

In this final episode of 2025, Jim Burgoon shares the "Ugly Truths" of the past year. From realizing that his "discipline" was actually fear dressed up as productivity, to a major health crash that came from ignoring his body's limits, Jim holds nothing back.

If you want to walk into 2026 with a new foundation instead of just a new calendar, this episode is for you. We are leaving the hustle, the people-pleasing, and the burnout in 2025.

1. Hustle is a Wound: If you can't rest without guilt, you aren't a high performer—you're a high-functioning captive. Jim admits how his "work ethic" was often just a way to avoid processing the grief of losing his mother and sister.
2. Calling ≠ Invincibility: Your nervous system is not impressed by your calling. A holy mission with an unhealthy pace still ends in a crash (and sometimes an autoimmune diagnosis).
3. Performance Kills Leadership: You cannot lead people you are secretly trying to impress. If you are addicted to approval, you will manage reactions instead of building trust.
4. Belonging vs. Proving: Your best work happens when you stop trying to earn a seat at the table. You don't find your voice by forcing it; you find it by standing in it.
5. Trust Your Intuition: Trauma can make you second-guess your gut. Jim shares why you must stop "logicking" your way out of red flags—if it feels off, it usually is off.

1. "You can't build a new future on old foundations."
2. "When worth is the paycheck, you never clock out."
3. "My nervous system is not impressed by my calling."
4. "A holy mission with an unhealthy pace ends in a crash."
5. "If I need you to like me, I cannot lead you."

1. Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
2. Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

1. 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
2. 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
3. 📱 Instagram:

We have sanitized the Christmas story. We’ve turned it into a cozy postcard with silent nights, clean stables, and a glowing baby that never cries. But the real Christmas story wasn't cozy—it was chaotic, confusing, and messy.

In this special Christmas episode, Jim Burgoon offers a fresh perspective on the nativity. We dive into five principles hidden in the chaos of Christmas—from why God chose the night shift workers first, to why obedience often requires confusion.

If you are frantically trying to finish your year-end goals or just surviving the holiday travel, this episode is your permission slip to stop striving. God isn't allergic to your chaos; He was born right in the middle of it.

1. God Delights in the Overlooked: The casting call for the incarnation included a teenage girl from a nowhere town and shepherds working the graveyard shift. God does His loudest work in the quietest places.
2. Obedience in Confusion: Mary and Joseph didn't get a 10-step business plan; they got a disruption. Faith is saying "yes" to God when the path is unclear and the cost is real.
3. God Steps Into Chaos: The first Christmas happened during a political crisis, a travel crisis, and a housing crisis. God moves toward your mess, not away from it.
4. Glory Looks Ordinary: To the naked eye, the manger looked like poverty. To the spiritual eye, it was filled with angels. Don't confuse "visible success" with God's favor.
5. For All People: The guest list included local blue-collar shepherds and foreign Gentile scholars. Jesus tears down every boundary we try to build.

1. "We have sanitized the Christmas story... but the real Christmas story wasn't cozy. It was chaotic, it was confusing, it was messy."
2. "God does his loudest work in the quietest places."
3. "Faith is saying yes to God when the path is unclear and the cost is real."
4. "God is not allergic to your chaos. He always moves towards it."
5. "Jesus wasn't meant for Christians. He was meant for a dying world."

1. Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
2. Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

1. 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
2. 🎙️ Ask a Question:

We often feel exhausted in the name of serving God, yet strangely far from His heart. We pray, we serve, and we show up for everyone, but inside, we are slowly burning out. We assume this exhaustion is just the cost of faithfulness, but what if it’s actually a sign of a deeper disconnection?

In this episode, Jim Burgoon unpacks the critical difference between Working FOR God and Working WITH God. While one preposition leads to strain and bitterness, the other leads to steadiness and increase. Jim dives deep into the "Employee Mindset" that keeps us acting like spiritual orphans trying to earn our keep , and how past trauma often rewires us to perform for love.

If you are a high achiever or a servant-hearted leader feeling the weight of the world, this episode is your invitation to stop trying to pay back a debt Christ already canceled. You’ll learn how to shift from striving to sonship, the one question to ask every morning to reset your rhythm, and how to build a life of partnership rather than pressure.

• For vs. With: "Working for God" is an employer/employee dynamic that leads to burnout. "Working with God" is a Father/child dynamic that leads to steadiness .
• The Debt Myth: Many of us are working ourselves into the ground trying to pay back a debt that Jesus already canceled. You cannot earn what you have already been freely given.
• Trauma & Performance: We often project our earthly trauma onto God, believing we must "produce" to be loved. We chase the "well done" from God that we never received from earthly figures .
• Redefining Success: Success is not about volume; it is about alignment. A day of small obedience is more successful in the Kingdom than a day of impressive, unasked-for busyness .
• The Morning Shift: Stop asking, "What do I have to do for God today?" and start asking, "Lord, what are we doing together today?" .

• "Working for God will drain you. Working with God will steady you."
• "God did not hire you. He adopted you... You are not a spiritual employee trying to keep your position."
• "Working for God is what happens when we try to pay back the debt that Christ already canceled."
• "God is more interested in who you are becoming with him than he has ever been interested in what you are producing for him."
• "Rest is not what you do after you finish God's work. Rest is part of how you do God's work."

• Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
• Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

• 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
• 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
• 📱 Instagram: @leadwithjim
• ▶️ YouTube: Lead with Jim
• Facebook: @leadwithjim

✅ Subscribe to The Unshakable Life...

We live in a culture that equates Volume with Value. We believe the lie that if we aren't giving 100% intensity, we shouldn't show up at all. This "All-or-Nothing" mindset is killing our consistency and fueling an epidemic of burnout.

In this episode, Jim Burgoon tackles the "Guilt of Doing Less" head-on. Whether you are navigating a health flare-up, grief, or just plain exhaustion, Jim offers a specific framework to stop the shame spiral. You’ll learn the 5 Guilt Triggers that keep you trapped, the theology of the Widow’s Mite (and why Jesus valued her "low volume" offering), and the "Minimum Viable Strategy" to keep moving forward on your "C-Minus" days.

If you are tired of feeling like you have to earn your rest, this episode is your permission slip to lower the bar and increase your peace.

• Intensity ≠ Consistency: We often believe that if we can't hit a home run, we shouldn't step up to the plate. True consistency isn't about perfection; it's about refusing to quit.
• The 5 Guilt Triggers: Jim diagnoses the five lies fueling your guilt: Busyness as Identity, Misinterpreting Servanthood, Fear of Judgment, The Comparison Trap, and Unhealed Beliefs about Worth.
• Self-Neglect is Not Holy: "Dying to self" does not mean destroying yourself. Even Jesus took time to sleep and pray.
• The Widow's Mite Model: Jesus praised the widow not for the volume of her gift, but for the faithfulness of it. God measures your "yes," not your production value.
• The Minimum Viable Strategy: How to define your "A+ Days" vs. your "C- Days." On a low-energy day, a simple prayer or a text post counts as an "A+" offering if it's done in faithfulness.

• "Intensity equals consistency... is a lie. It's this massive black and white, all or nothing thinking that if we can't hit the home run, we shouldn't show up to the plate."
• "Self neglect is not holy work."
• "You compare your behind the scenes with their highlight reel."
• "He can do more with a weak but faithful yes than he can with a year of burnt out over performers."
• "We need to stop trying to be the best version of ourselves... We need to start being the healthiest version of ourselves."

• Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
• Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

• 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
• 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
• 📱 Instagram: @leadwithjim
• ▶️ YouTube: Lead with Jim
• Facebook: @leadwithjim

✅ Subscribe to The Unshakable Life wherever you listen: Apple Podcasts |

We live in a culture that disciples us daily with the advice to "follow your heart" and "live your truth." But for a leader carrying real responsibility, this advice is dangerous. If you only did what you felt like doing, your inbox, your marriage, and your walk with God would likely be a dumpster fire.

In this episode, Jim challenges the cultural mantra of "follow your heart" and breaks down why your emotions are meant to be gauges, not guides. Jim dives into the theology of the heart, the psychology of self-sabotage, and the perfect model of emotional health Jesus displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you are tired of being jerked around by your moods or feel paralyzed by anxiety and "imposter syndrome," this episode offers a way out. Learn how to validate your feelings without letting them take the steering wheel, and master the simple 3-step "Fact-Check Method" to lead from truth, not trauma.

• Gauges vs. Guides: Think of your emotions like the dashboard of a car. The check engine light (your feelings) gives you important information about your state, but you would never let the check engine light drive the car.
• The "Dumpster Fire" Reality: When we "follow our heart," we are often following our wounds, our fears, and our exhaustion. Leading by feelings makes you volatile; leading by facts makes you unshakable.
• The Gethsemane Model: Jesus showed us perfect emotional health. He didn't deny His agony ("My soul is sorrowful"), but He didn't obey it either ("Yet not as I will"). He felt the feeling but acted on the fact.
• Name It to Tame It: You cannot change what you will not name. Bringing your fear or shame into the light breaks its power and invites God into the process.
• The Fact-Check Method: A practical tool to stop self-sabotage in its tracks: Name the Feeling, Audit the Facts (using evidence and Scripture), and Speak the Truth.

• "Your feelings are real, but they are not always true."
• "If you only did what you felt like doing this week... your whole life would be a dumpster fire."
• "Your feelings tell you the weather. The Word of God tells you the climate."
• "When you lead by feelings, you become volatile. When you lead by facts, you become unshakable."
• "Jesus feels the feeling, but He acts on the fact."
• "You cannot change what you will not name."

• Jeremiah 17:9 (The heart is deceitful above all things... who can understand it?)
• Matthew 26:38-39 (Jesus in Gethsemane: My soul is sorrowful... yet not as I will, but as You will.)
• Proverbs 24:16 (Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.)
• Ephesians 2:10 (You are God's masterpiece, created for a purpose.)
• 1 John 1:5 (God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.)

• The Fact-Check Method: Next time you feel overwhelmed, stop and follow these three steps: 1. Name the Feeling (e.g., "I feel like a failure"). 2. Audit the Facts (Look at your "Wins Log" and God's Word). 3. Speak the Truth ("I feel afraid, but the fact is I am called and obedient").
• The Dashboard Check: Ask yourself right now: What is your dashboard telling you? Are you tired, lonely, or afraid? Acknowledge the signal, but remind yourself that it is not the driver.
• The "Wins Log": If you haven't...