Most people spend their lives frozen in the batter's box, watching opportunities pass them by because they're afraid to strike out.

In this episode, Jake breaks down why you're already striking out by not swinging and reveals the mindset shift that separates competitors from everyone else. It's time to stop staring and start swinging at the opportunities in front of you.

Key Takeaways:

• You're already striking out by playing it safe—standing frozen, waiting for perfect moments, and letting life happen to you are all forms of failure
• Competitors understand that failure is part of the game, but they swing anyway because you can't hit a home run without taking a swing
• Stop watching opportunities from the sidelines—that promotion, business idea, or difficult conversation you've been avoiding won't wait forever

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

NBA Hall of Famer Chris Bosh learned a game-changing lesson from Kobe Bryant: "You gotta love the parts that aren't fun." In this episode, Jake breaks down how to reframe struggle as your competitive advantage and reveals the one question that separates competitors from quitters.

• Kobe's Philosophy: Love the struggle, not just the success - that's where separation happens
• The Critical Question: "How many people would quit right now?" - then keep going
• Reframe Struggle: It's not the obstacle to success, it IS the success
• The Separation Point: When difficulty starts is when most people check out - but competitors pull ahead
• Grit Research: Persistence through difficulty matters more than talent or intelligence

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

Performance coach Jake Thompson shares the story of his failed 400-pound squat attempt and reveals the fundamental choice everyone makes daily: playing to win or playing not to lose.

Using research from Princeton and real examples from Sara Blakely's Spanx pitch, Jake shows how your mindset literally determines your performance ceiling.

• The Daily Choice: Every moment you're either playing to win or playing not to lose
• Princeton Research: Challenge mindset (90% success) vs. threat mindset (72% success) on identical tasks
• The Mindset Shift: From avoiding failure to pursuing greatness changes everything
• Sara Blakely's Boldness: How taking the buyer to the bathroom built a billion-dollar brand
• Internal Competition: The real game is you vs. your potential, not you vs. others

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

Remember original Nintendo with no save function? Jake uses this nostalgic example to reveal why most people quit important goals - and how to build a "scoreboard" that makes your progress visible and your success inevitable.

• The Nintendo Parallel: Without visible progress, even improvement feels pointless
• Harvard's Progress Principle: Making progress visible is the #1 factor in sustained motivation
• The Invisible Progress Problem: Most people quit because they can't see themselves improving
• Scoreboard Strategy: Track both process metrics (what you control) and outcome metrics (results)
• Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: Focus on daily actions that drive long-term results

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

Meet Donut, Jake's 8-year-old French bulldog who perfectly demonstrates the psychological resistance pattern that keeps high performers stuck.

In this episode, Jake reveals why we sabotage ourselves by fighting the very things designed to help us thrive - and how to build accountability systems that make progress inevitable.

• The Resistance Reality: We're hardwired to fight what's best for us, even when we know better
• Three Root Causes: Pain-now/benefit-later problem, identity protection, and fear disguised as resistance
• The Breakthrough Principle: The stronger the resistance, the more important the action
• Accountability Systems: Why willpower fails and how to build external structures that pull you forward
• The Momentum Shift: Once you get past initial resistance, progress becomes self-sustaining

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

At the halfway point of the year, Jake Thompson asks the hard question most people avoid: Does what you're doing today actually move you closer to who you want to become?

In this episode, he reveals his simple two-paper system for aligning daily actions with long-term vision and shares why small daily deposits compound into massive life changes.

• The Honest Assessment: Most daily actions don't align with stated long-term goals
• F.M. Alexander's Truth: "People decide their habits, and their habits decide their futures"
• The Two-Paper System: One for big-picture goals, one for daily non-negotiables
• Daily Deposits Principle: Small consistent efforts compound into massive change over time
• The Halfway Advantage: There's still time to change the game, but only if you stop procrastinating

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

What's the biggest lesson life is teaching you right now? For Jake Thompson, it's a powerful reminder that what we see online is rarely as good as we think it is.

In this eye-opening episode, Jake breaks down the psychology behind unhealthy comparison, reveals the research showing we overestimate others' success by 40-60%, and shares four practical steps to break free from the comparison trap.

Discover how to transform comparison-based thinking into competition-based thinking and start playing a game you can actually win.

What You'll Learn:

• The psychological research behind why comparison undermines our performance and wellbeing
• How social media creates "comparison on steroids" with up to 50 social comparisons per day
• The Stanford research revealing we overestimate others' success by 40-60% based on social media
• The critical difference between comparison-based thinking vs. competition-based thinking
• Four practical steps to break the comparison trap and refocus on your own race

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

What's costing you more than failure ever could? In this powerful episode, Jake Thompson dives into the real price we pay for hesitation and delay.

Through personal stories and research-backed insights, Jake reveals how "procrasta-planning" is actually bleeding opportunity while you perfect plans that don't matter. Learn why the scoreboard doesn't reward perfect plans—only executed action—and discover practical steps to break free from hesitation paralysis starting today.

What You'll Learn:

• Why we consistently overestimate the risk of action while ignoring the cost of inaction
• How "omission bias" tricks us into feeling safer by not taking action
• Jake's personal two-year hesitation story that cost him his "perfect" book title
• Research from the University of Minnesota on why inaction often leads to deeper regret than failure
• Three actionable strategies to overcome hesitation and start making meaningful progress today

Join the NEW training series:

• Every Day Counts (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

• The Competitor Journal (⁠⁠here⁠⁠)

Connect with Jake:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn @JakeThompsonSpeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠

Continue building your Competitor Mindset after today's episode by clicking ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.