The AJNashville Podcast

Why do you listen to me, week after week? If it's not your first time, there's a reason you keep coming back -- nuggets of knowledge that spoke to you, right? When you listen to an episode and think, "I know someone else who needs to hear this message", please share this podcast directly to them so they can gain some gold nuggets from me to their own ears. I appreciate all the support from my listeners!

In this hyper responsive society we currently live in, with our children expecting instant gratification constantly, they now are silently...

Change isn't recognized overnight, nor does it happen over one night. It happens night over night, day on day, of consistent actions that allow us to arrive to where we want to be. As long as we continue to choose to progress, we shall progress with matching actions. If we choose actions we know will result in digression, we will digress. We can take breaks and reset without letting it become our new norm, so long as we don't continue to choose to do the actions that bring us backward motion constantly. We have to actively choose to INCREASE...

This training exposed my weaknesses… fast.

In this episode of the AJ Nashville Podcast, I break down my raw, unfiltered experience with Achilles Heel Tactical, from their online coursework to Zoom training, all the way to the in-person class that forced me to rethink everything I thought I knew.

This isn’t hype. This isn’t fluff. And it’s definitely not just another “review.”

If you’re serious about getting better not just at the range, but in real-life situations you need to hear this.

What can we do outside of our norms that can help us be our best so that we can arrive at the goal we are striving for? Are we only giving the bare minimum, then find ourselves frustrated with the mediocre results we end up with? Can we focus on becoming more efficient with our actions to produce more of what we actually want in the same (or less!) amount of time spent? We can all agree that the output received is determined by the initial input. So if you want a greater output, you have to increase your...

Have you ever had a dream that you set out to accomplish, and even after you have successfully completed your mission, only then do you realize you alone cannot keep the dream alive? Sometimes, we think there is only one path that we must follow to get to the end we want, when in all reality, the path will change and alter as needed so long as we remain focused on accomplishing the end goal. We allow ourselves to become so consumed with controlling all the actions that lead up to the finale we desire, that we lose sight...

Why wouldn't you want to train to be the best you can be? When you think about what it is you want to succeed at or who you see yourself as after all the effort you put into something, wouldn't you rather picture yourself as the best at what you now do, or do you really only want to half-ass do the bare minimum, resulting in rock bottom options and you then try to blame others for your own lack of energy put into it? You know you can do better, so why not do better for yourself and...

When you hear about a potential natural disaster striking in your area, do you have any idea or plan in place to follow when chaos ensues? Do you have the means to provide yourself and your family the protection and guidance needed to make it through the storm? Have you shared your ideas and plans with your loved ones so they know what they need to do in times of crisis? Just like tornado drills at school, do you practice how everyone needs to react and what the next step to do is to reduce acting in a state...

"No one is coming to save you!" Sure, yeah, your success is your responsibility based on your actions. No one may not be coming to save you, but if you surround yourself with the right people, you have the support to help get you through whatever it is that you may be trying to navigate. No one is going to come do it for you, but with the right support system encouraging you to grow to the next level, you will find your own actions supporting your desires of success and becoming your reality. Find great people to surround...

As active members in our local communities, it is our responsibility to teach our youth what is safe and sound, especially when it is hard to advocate for safety over novelty. We have to be the wise ones to stand for the wellbeing of our children rather than caving to the pressures of others' weak opinions just because it is what the lazy masses are doing, or lacking doing more likely. We have to be the role model for our children that shows them they do not have to live or risk living only to impress others in dangerous...

In order for improvement to be made, we have to first become aware of what it is that is needing attention and then follow up with the actions needed to be taken to make the goal come to fruition. When we set a goal, we should have a true intention defined that will motivate the possibility into our reality. Success isn't something achieved overnight, it is something that is borne from compounding our efforts consistently a little at a time day in and day out. 

Some of our habits we have created for ourselves are no longer p...

As God-fearing men in the great country of America, we have allowed ourselves and our standards of how we should be operating to slip subpar. It is our responsibility to take the initiative needed to protect our family and teach them right from wrong, ESPECIALLY when society has a biased stance on particular subjects. We have to be the ones to no longer remain passive just because it's what all the other good little consumers and neighbors are doing. At what point is your family's safety more important than keeping up with the Joneses? At the point in which...

Too often we are not held responsible for the actions we do, thinking that just because we have a constitutional right means we can exercise those rights without consequences for our actions taken. While our country was built on freedom to bear arms, we as gun owners must uphold safety by becoming properly trained and aware of the very real danger that guns can pose when handled inappropriately. While free speech was something our forefathers fought for us, we all know we cannot use our voices to make idle threats as a joke and not be punished for acting...

Some days, we have to be the authentic voice that carries, especially when it's a message most people don't want to hear. We get to choose our words wisely and to whom we decide to share them with. We can deliver our messages based on the facts or the emotions of a situation at any given time, and should choose to stick to the facts over the opinions when we are making responses. When we are faced with someone bringing light to their own pain point, we need to acknowledge that hurt.

Communicate accordingly with appropriate questions...

Sometimes you have to be the strong one who stands up and says the hard things that others would rather suppress. Not to be confused with the opinions of people who feel oppression is a means of collecting clout, but the real people willing to share the facts about a situation that have been skewed by multiple perceptions. At one point do we have to place accountability on the correct people for doing the wrongs, even if it is a challenge against their power and prestige? Why is the judicial branch of government not held in check?

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Each episode of this podcast is meant to be profound and transformative when you hear the message and actually receive the information. Putting out valuable insight and direct relevant content is the goal of this platform so that when you tune in and hear a new episode, it can land on open ears willing to digest the message in a personal and impactful way. Curating such meaningful content takes mental focus that can sometimes falls short of the high priority list we call life on a weekly basis, yet still has to have room made for it in order...

Ever wonder when the timing is going to be just right? Ever realize the timing is right when you choose to just do the damned thing? If the action is always put off until tomorrow, what happens when tomorrow doesn't come? You should take the opportunity to execute on as many things that are meaningful and important to you as often as you possibly can. You need to use your time efficiently to make the moments that matter the most count, just like the seconds continue to count.

Start taking those steps today to do what you...

We have to remind ourselves to continually push past the haters and keep putting out our messages that attracts like-minded people. We have to be our own cheerleader of our little successes that we meet along the way towards the bigger picture from time to time. These small praises are ways to encourage ourselves that we can do what we set out to do as long as we continue to do what needs to be done. Even if we maybe fell short on our goal this check-in, we now know what we need to continue to improve on going...

As an individual, you have to carry the weight of safety and readiness anywhere you go in order to preserve your life and loved ones around you through awareness of your surroundings. Most people are capable of carrying a firearm, so it is your sole responsibility to learn how to handle it properly for the sake of its purpose, if ever necessary to use it. If you are witness to a serious crime and choose not to report it but rather to record it silently, you are no hero; you are a coward. Lack of engagement isn't even cowardly...

When you think of your sense of freedom for yourself, is it a feeling that leaves you feeling truly untethered from the constraints and opinions of other people, or do you find yourself still striving for the acceptance from others in order to make yourself feel worthy? Your worth is only ever fully seen by you, and nobody else can place a value on you just because you can or cannot appease them in any given moment. How many relationships are you nurturing with people who don't deserve you for the person that you are? Do you truly feel...

We should be very mindful of what our minds are consuming, what is being fed to them, and how those things influence our feelings and moods. We have to be aware of what we are watching or listening to on a consistent basis and remove sources that feed us too much negativity. There's a lot of things that we don't get the opportunity to control but we allow to impact how we think, how we feel, how we react as individuals. If we choose to react with negativity, we are choosing to surround ourselves with more negativity than we...

Isn't it great when you connect with someone on such a high level, you feel empowered to share your message or thought process with the world? Welcome to the mind behind the podcast, an episode dedicated to overcoming your history, your trauma, and persevering with a positive mindset. I expose ways I find to grow with forgiveness to my core and choose to rise above from who I once was by putting myself first, raw and real, out there for you to feel inspired by, connecting with me on a higher level of understanding within this message. 

T...

Many people see summer as a season of relaxation and fun, which is well deserved for all the hard work put in throughout the year and an opportune time to celebrate wins with our children while they are on summer break from school. It should still not be overlooked as a chance to evaluate how you are doing with goals you've set for yourself for the year as you reach the halfway mark. Are you still tracking metrics like you did when you first set your goal? Have you achieved some accomplishments early and ready to take on new...

What is it you expect from people, particularly people who provide their services to you? Are your expectations aligned with the reality of the situation? Are they exaggerated or fall short in your mind based on the possibility and actuality of what you should expect? Is the expectation that has been set something you decided to create yourself or something the provider has assured to be expected when you choose them to do business with? When these expectations aren't met, do you automatically attack these shortfalls with personal levels of frustration? 

What if you could approach the s...

Today, we celebrate Memorial Day. Some of us see it as a free day off from work, an opportunity to scrub the old grill off and fire up the summer season with a blowout pool party. Others of us will work through the holiday as if it were just another typical Monday, grumbling about how everyone should have the day off, or worse, about how we should all be working as the day is "nothing special" to celebrate. How far from the truth of the matter they are... 

Memorial Day stands as a reminder of all the p...

Sometimes, the simplest word is the hardest to say: "NO." We find ourselves torn between our own commitments and taking actions that please other people more than ourselves. We realize we are giving others more energy and time for their success than we do for ourselves on a personal and most deeply needed level. We are told to believe that the word "no" is bad, yet we can find so much more freedom and healthy boundaries for ourselves when we learn how to express the word appropriately with others. 

Always remember: it is your sole responsibility to p...

Time, energy, mental space--call it what you want--all the pieces that we put into trying to validate, or feel validated, usually by trying to impress the wrong people. Especially when we're young, we tend to shift who we are on a core level in order to fit the perception of the people that we fell like we need to be validated from. The problem is this consistent morphing of who we are as an individual to make others smile, to be loved, cared for, recognized.

The crave for attention comes at a cost. The things you do...

Sometimes a podcast episode is recorded with the intention of helping to inspire others to think or act a certain way through motivation. Other times it seems to end up being a part of the internal process of helping guide myself through thought processes and decision making in my own reality. Sometimes we find ourselves needing to say or hear it out loud in order to process it on a deeper level, building like blocks upon one another until it makes sense and takes shape we can better understand. Other times we get more creative in how we choose...

So many people look at success relative to their own level of desire and commitment, choosing to only see the peak of the mountain that was their goal, choosing to overlook the effort it took to climb the mountain day by day. We don't just arrive to the top without trying, we have to train ourselves to acclimate to our new surroundings and overcome any trees that may fall in our path during our journey forward. We must learn lessons along the way in order to survive and thrive within the mistakes that change our course and challenge us...

Thank you for all your support and confidence in me. I will forever remain grateful and humbled by the community that surrounds me. As long as we pour trust and faith into each other, we will succeed. All things are possible with hard work, motivation, and dedication. Our wildest dreams today could be old news yesterday if we continue to dream farther and push ourselves to make the impossible possible daily.

Winning an election takes a conscious effort to always do the right thing. To put yourself in a position where people have enough faith in your...

Sometimes we just have to go through the storm so that we can arrive on the other side of it that much faster. We can poke around about it and keep ourselves in a miserable situation longer than we need to, and often tend to do, if we're being completely honest here. Or sometimes we really just want to hunker down and refuse to move at all, leaving our future and fate in the winds of the storm. 

But why surrender control over your own life in ways that you still can, like choosing to grow and m...

Talking in depth about particular subjects can open up insight to other possibilities within your own mind, while also shedding light on other people's positions of where they stand. Most times, other people have issues because of their own individual past experiences. Rarely does it really have anything to do with you at that very moment when a heated debate may occur. 

Reality is only a perception that each of us are all experiencing simultaneously yet uniquely in our very own way based on every choice we have ever made on our path of life. It is n...

Too often we are our own worst critics, denying ourselves a good sense of pride over our biggest accomplishments. We can tend to overlook our growth because it doesn't happen drastically overnight. That is why daily action and accomplishment in the small things adds up with consistency over time to reveal habits we build for ourselves that can either help serve us or hurt us. Allowing ourselves to feel grace and mercy along the way is what keeps our morale feeling more positively driven.

Reclaiming your time back is reclaiming your life back. Once you get to...

Your mindset is yours to sculpt and mold like clay into whatever shape you want it to be. Sometimes you will find a shape to take longer to create than another. Though as long as you continue to create, you will undoubtedly improve with time dedicated to your craft. Don't you still want to create your own art though in order for you to leave your imprint and feel authenticity in the masterpieces of your mind? Know that the creation of your own signature energy shifts and evolves you for the better each time you act on further developing...

They say that ignorance is bliss, but have you ever realized how much power comes with awareness instead? And power doesn't have to be some big bad thing, it simply exists because you exist. You are your own person and you have power within you, though it is up to you how you choose to step into it and ultimately use it. You have to be the one to stand up for your beliefs and let people know your opinions and boundaries, not be all mighty powerful douchebag, but to be respected and committed to your own ideas and...

Every day comes and it goes, there's no question about that. But maybe you should be asking yourself if how you spend your time is most fruitful to your happiness. Do you set goals that will bring you true joy if you achieve them? How about on the way? Do you find yourself giving up on your own future just because it becomes challenging to obtain at times? Are you really ready to sink back into what you know and remain average in life? Or are you ready to be better and not be okay with just being okay?<...

You ever find yourself giving off bad vibes you never meant to? Eliminate that shit by going to the source and cutting out the negativity at the roots. You have to protect your mind and space for yourself by getting rid of the things that suck away your energy. Remove yourself from the position that is causing problems and direct your mindset to be solution oriented for your own success. 

You are capable of choosing your path for yourself, take advantage of your sense of individuality and capitalize on YOU. Protect your perception by maintaining boundaries you s...

How many of you allow yourself to have cheat days? And how many of you let your cheat day evolve into an excuse to break your habits every time it rolls around? Are you rigid in your discipline and steadfast to the time blocking you claim you strictly adhere to? Do you end up letting distractions come between you and the success you find yourself chasing day in and out, feeling like your efforts are exhausted even though if you were honest with yourself, you know you haven't truly given it your best efforts?

Maybe you make...

When we start creating things, we have to start building out systems to help us perform tasks and improve our efficiency in workflow. The only "perfect" system is the living one that constantly gets modified and fed back into. If we instead constantly let things slide though, we find ourselves with yet another system that "didn't work" and another excuse for why we can't achieve our successes. 

Maintaining our systems is critical in maintaining our relationships we work so hard to nurture consistently. Just because we feel we have outgrown a task doesn't mean it no longer n...

You ever have those supercharged days where you feel really proactive about your time and tasks? You know, those days that seem to leave a profound imprint on the way you do things in the future because you decided to kick ass TODAY. The mornings you feel ready to tackle the day ahead without grumpily dragging your feet through some imaginary mud you made in your own mind. Is this the day you'll allow this podcast to shift your mindset into positive overdrive and accomplish all you need to get done with spare change to go play with?
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There's snow day like the present, am I right? You are granted the opportunity to spend quality time with the people you love when you are snowed in. You get the chance to build the moments that will later become the memories you all will look back on. Are you going to store it in your mind as an inconvenience or a lucky break for you and your family? 

Today is the only day you are this exact age. The same goes for your partner and children, they are only 8 years and 204 days old for this day o...