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The Learn-It-All Podcast

152: Why Most People's Definition of Success is Completely Wrong | JM Ryerson

Apr 10, 2025
47:41

Success is an extremely misunderstood word. If you lack the self-awareness of why you do what you do, it won’t matter how much money you are making on paper. This lack of awareness can prevent you from performing at your best, but that’s what we’re here to solve today. 

Today’s guest is JM Ryerson. He’s a serial entrepreneur, performance coach, author and the founder of Let’s Go Win, a company dedicated to helping high performers live their best lives both personally and professionally. 

In This Episode, You’ll Learn: 

  • How to reshape your view on success and failure 
  • When to let go of a goal without seeing it as quitting 
  • What every first-time leader needs to hear about imposter syndrome 
  • How to define and embed powerful core values at work and at home 
  • And so much more 

Timestamps: 

00:26 – JM’s limiting belief around money and how he rewrote it 

03:16 – Costly mistakes and the power of self-awareness 

05:05 – Learning from failures and helping others avoid “dummy tax” 

06:06 – Letting go of expectations and five-year plans 

07:34 – When it’s okay to pivot or quit a goal 

09:16 – Losing sports identity and discovering personal growth 

11:18 – JM’s journey from Enterprise to entrepreneurship 

12:58 – Writing Let’s Go Win inspired by his kids 

14:25 – The true philosophy behind “winning” 

16:32 – Sports, parenting, and teaching kids resilience 

20:51 – Parallels between parenting and leading teams 

22:56 – Defining and living your company’s core values 

27:18 – The three essential leadership traits JM lives by 

29:15 – Radical transparency and where JM draws the line 

31:09 – Vulnerability vs. weakness in leadership 

33:26 – Advice for first-time leaders on being authentic 

35:20 – Overcoming imposter syndrome by shifting focus 

37:16 – Why putting people first drives business growth 

38:45 – JM’s “Perfect Morning Routine” (33 minutes to change your day) 

40:17 – How to build consistency with daily habits 

42:13 – Creating your own luck through mindset and awareness 

44:37 – JM’s legacy: presence, love, and showing up for his family 

46:17 – Final advice: “Take care of YOU first” 

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