In short
The episode argues that the “most expensive sentence” is “If I only had more time,” because it’s a cover for fear and identity-protection (hiding). It teaches a four-step exposure protocol plus a seven-day challenge to stop delaying meaningful goals.
Guest backgrounds
No guests are featured; the host uses personal examples and prompts listeners to answer questions.
Key claims
Clarity comes from contact with reality, not thinking; action creates feedback, feedback creates clarity, clarity creates confidence, and confidence breaks hiding. Hiding is a strategy to avoid judgment and protect potential. Life rewards output, not potential. Fear doesn’t disappear from thinking; it disappears from reps.
Notable examples
The host describes hiding from going “all in” on podcasting/speaking despite doing 400+ keynotes and having 200k+ monthly listeners. He replaces “more time” with “one rep today” (e.g., LinkedIn hook writing). He also cites stage fright from an early speaking event and reframes fear as excitement.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Impact of Hiding
0:45 to 2:29
Exploration of why we hide and its effect on our lives.
“in this episode i'm going to walk you through a four-step protocol to stop hiding and the best part, you can run this in just seven days.”
Introducing the Four-Step Protocol
2:29 to 6:40
An overview of a four-step protocol to stop hiding and gain clarity.
“And it is confidence that breaks us free of hiding.”
Questions to Reflect On
6:40 to 11:04
Engaging the audience with reflective questions about regrets and changes.
“I think many people are going to miss out on the greatest aspect of being a human being, which is having children.”
Understanding the Costs of Hiding
11:04 to 14:01
Discussion on the psychological costs of hiding and its addictive nature.
“We can call it something else, but we're hiding.”
The Burden of Potential
14:01 to 16:50
Explore how hiding in potential prevents real action and growth.
“Potential feels incredible because potential can't be judged.”
Facing Life's Challenges
16:50 to 19:31
Discuss the realities of life and the importance of choosing a direction.
“If we drift long enough, we end up somewhere we don't want to be.”
The Cost of Time Excuses
19:31 to 21:28
Understand how the excuse of needing more time hampers progress.
“And we all say to ourselves, I just need more time.”
Taking Action with Small Steps
21:28 to 24:19
Learn how to break down goals into manageable daily actions.
“diligent, human I'm being a pussy I'm being a coward I'm being a coward I'm being weak.”
Four Steps to Overcome Hiding
24:19 to 28:04
Discover a structured approach to confront your fears and take action.
“Maybe it's just a feeling like discipline.”
The Importance of Stakes in Motivation
28:04 to 29:18
Learn how setting stakes can enhance motivation and commitment to tasks.
“It just has to be something that you don't want to do.”
Show all 15 chapters
Taking Action for Clarity and Confidence
29:19 to 31:29
Discover the concept of 'ship first, then get clarity' to overcome fear.
“the day or you know exercise in general that when i have to do extra push-ups while it's not you know 20 pushups isn't like this huge challenge.”
Transforming Fear into Excitement
31:30 to 33:15
Understand how to convert fear into excitement through practice.
“Because ready is usually just code for, I'm scared.”
The Seven-Day Stop-Hiding Challenge
33:16 to 36:37
Implement a seven-day challenge to confront fears and improve skills.
“Fear and excitement light up the same neural pathways in our brain, which means whether we're excited about something or we're fearful about that thing is a choice.”
Building Confidence Through Action
36:37 to 41:21
Explore how consistent action can lead to greater confidence and skill.
“We're going to get really good at writing hooks.”
Overcoming Fear and Taking Action
42:00 to 44:16
Learn how to confront your fears and take small actionable steps towards your goals.
“Trust me, I am riddled with fear and anxiety.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Today I'm going to share with you the most expensive sentence people say. And I say it too. And every time I say it, it's because I'm hiding. And I'm going to give you that sentence in a minute. But the truth is, I say this sentence often to myself. Not because I'm stuck, but because I'm scared. Just like so many of you are. We're just afraid to admit it. Which is why we're hiding in the first place.
0:47in this episode i'm going to walk you through a four-step protocol to stop hiding and the best part, you can run this in just seven days. This isn't motivational nonsense or find your why. It's a process that I've developed because something about my nature is that I will hide. And I don't love that about myself. And if you experience the same thing, this four-step protocol will break you free of that. So what we're going to cover today, two questions that expose where we're hiding. We're then going to talk about why hiding feels smart, but is really stealing our lives. Then we're going to get into the exposure protocol.
1:27That's the four steps. And then I'll walk you through a seven day challenge that you can use to create the momentum that will get you out of hiding. There's a simple reason that this works. Clarity doesn't come from thinking. We can't think our way to a clear mind. Clarity comes from contact with reality. Action creates feedback. Feedback creates clarity. Clarity creates confidence. And it's the confidence that breaks us out of hiding. I'm going to say that again. Action creates feedback. You do something. You get stimulus back. Did it work? Did it not work? Did it almost work? If it worked, how did it work?
2:05If it didn't work, why didn't it work? That feedback is what creates the clarity. The feedback that we get lets us know in the real world, the real world of physics, not theory, not emotions, not feelings, in the real world of physics, what happened. And it is the answer to that what happened that creates the clarity that then creates confidence. And it is confidence that breaks us free of hiding. now if you're thinking this won't work for me i'm too busy good this takes like 10 minutes a day this is i don't have a lot of time either so and i'm not i'm not a big meditator i get the meditative state oftentimes from physical activities like hot yoga or going for long ruck walks with no earphones in or even when i'm lifting so this isn't a big time thing you may also have the objection you know i don't want to look stupid that's perfect because that's the cost of admission you reason you're hiding could be is that you don't want to look stupid and unfortunately to get better at things and to gain confidence we have to be willing to look stupid you may also say i i need to feel more ready you're not a child you're never going to be ready.
3:26If you haven't figured out past your teens that you're never going to be ready for anything meaningful, then that's probably another clear indicator as to why you're hiding. Okay, so here's the plan. We're going to ask two questions, answer two questions. We're going to talk about why hiding actually works, but not in a good way. Then we're going to go through the exposure protocol. That's the framework that I created to kind of break free of these moments where I find myself hiding. And then we're going to talk about the seven day challenge. So let's do a test. Answer these in your head, not performatively, not the posture, because I can't hear you.
4:08This is a podcast. And frankly, no one needs to hear your answers, though you can say them out loud. If you need to, that's fine. But you're not you're only answering for yourself. So answering any other way than honestly and authentically would be just doing yourself a disservice and would make this entire exercise a waste of time. So just be honest. Question number one, when you're 80, what is it that you'll regret regret?
4:39Ryan Hanley:When you're 80, what is it that you will regret not doing? What is it?
4:49What is it that you'll regret? For me, it would be not going all in on this podcast, would be work-related thing, not taking my speaking career seriously and really stepping up my game and expanding out of the insurance industry, which is where most of my gigs are, even though I love talking to insurance audiences. It would be not traveling. I might want to be like a backpack to Europe kind of guy, but I want to see some other places. I've been to 43 of the 50 U.S. states, mostly because of speaking gigs. And the United States is amazing. And I've been to some Caribbean islands, Canada, obviously.
5:37But I've never been to Europe. I really want to see Asia. I'd love to see parts of the Eastern Europe and China and Japan travel through those different areas. Love to see Australia. And if I don't at least hit some of those places, I think I'd have a lot of regrets. And I want to spend as much fucking time as I can with my kids. because I just kids are amazing and I think it's sad that so many people in their 30s now are not having children I think a lot of it is self-orientation I think the cost of living excuse is bullshit I think that there's an entire generation of humans who are just very self-oriented I think we taught them to be self-oriented and that sort of orientation is the reason that they don't want to have children, not cost of living or whatever.
6:39And I think that's very sad. I think many people are going to miss out on the greatest aspect of being a human being, which is having children. And if I don't maximize my time with them, then I think I'll have a lot of regrets for that. So those are some things I'm going to work on. question two what did i want to change a year ago that i still want to change today so question one when i'm 80 what is it that you're going to regret not doing question two what did you want to change a year ago that you still want to change today And I'll tell you, I actually do a very good job with my children. I haven't traveled, but I'm okay with that right now.
7:35But I'd say the big ones are not pressing harder into my speaking career and not going all in on this podcast. I love doing this podcast. I love sharing the insights that these amazing people that I'm able to get on this show have. I love exposing you guys to new ideas. I'm so curious about the world. I love bringing all different types of people in from venture capitalists to leadership consultants to psychologists to scientists like Brian Keating to people that know about economics and the economy like Carol Roth to psilocybin, you know, therapy experts like Austin Mao. I mean, there's just so many amazing things that go on in our world and we can learn from all these different people.
8:22Even if you're completely adverse to the idea of ever taking psychedelic mushrooms or psychedelics in general, you can learn from Austin and the way he approaches his business and the thoughtfulness that he has and how he creates an experience for the people that do want that experience, I guess, of a psychedelic trip and to experience what he calls medicine. And I think in many ways it is. I believe that, but I know probably a lot of you listening either don't or just haven't thought enough about it, which is fine. But I love doing this show. And to be honest with you, it has always been a side hustle.
9:00As much as we have north of 200 ,000 people that listen to this show every month, and I feel so frigging blessed. Thank you, guys. But I still am not all in on it, and I'm working towards that because I love doing this show. I love it. And I love you guys for listening. So for me, I think right now, what would I regret? Never giving the full college try to my speaking career and my, this podcast are what I would not regret not doing 80 from years from now. And that was something I wanted to do a year ago and still haven't fully done. So what does that mean? when we take this test when we answer these two questions the things that are the same point the way that's the punch line if any of these the answers to these two questions are even close
10:00Ryan Hanley:you're not confused about what you want you're hiding from it and frankly i have been hiding There's part of me that says like, what do you want to be a professional podcaster? Who's a professional podcaster? What are you going to be Joe Rogan? I mean, that's the stupid voice in my head. That's what it says. And I love this. I could do it all day. I could literally do this all day. I could talk to people and interview people all day long. It doesn't extract energy from me. It brings me energy. Yet I hide from it because I'm worried. I don't know. I don't even know what I'm worried about. but what I'm not is confused.
10:38I'm hiding and I need to be aware of that. And it is the awareness of the fact that I am hiding
10:44Ryan Hanley:that allows this protocol to work. It's why these questions are the first two questions that we ask because if we aren't aware of the fact that we're hiding, if we know exactly what we want and we're not doing it, we're hiding. We're not confused. It's not that we're not ready. It's not that we're not prepared. It's not that it's not the right time. It's that we are making a conscious choice to hide. We can camouflage it. We can spice it up. We can call it something else, but we're hiding.
11:17Ryan Hanley:Because when people are actually confused, when we're actually confused, we explore. We poke at things. We try things. I'm not sure, so let me figure this out. Let me twist it, shake it, rattle it, figure out what the hell this thing is. But that's not what we do when we're hiding. When we're hiding, we delay. And if there is something that you will regret not doing when you're 80 years old and you wanted to do that thing a year ago and you still haven't done it, you are delaying. You are hiding. But that delay has a payoff. That's the problem. Most people think hiding is laziness. It's not. Hiding is a strategy because if we don't commit, we don't have to find out if we're actually good at the thing.
12:09And frankly, that's probably why I'm hiding from the podcasting and the speaking is that I think I have some natural skills and ability. I've been doing both for more than a decade. I mean, I've done 400 plus keynotes.
12:25Ryan Hanley:but if I want to ascend I have to take my game to another level and I think there's some part of me that's worried that if I take this thing and stick it into fifth gear I'm not going to have the same speed as everyone else the greats and that's a problem because there's no requirement for me to be as good as anyone else. There is only the requirement in my contract with God that I work to be the best version of myself.
13:01Ryan Hanley:So we get to protect the thing, the idea of the thing by hiding. Hiding allows us to protect the idea of being a podcaster, of being a speaker, of being an author, of being a great husband, of being a great parent, of being great at golf or bowling or pickleball or whatever the hell we're into. We hide from it because then the idea gets to sit there like this pristine, amazing little thing that we can think about and talk about someday, someday, someday, and it never happens. Because what we're really protecting is our identity. Because as long as we're almost doing it, we never have to worry about being judged as to whether or not we're great.
13:53Ryan Hanley:So we can keep believing that we're the kind of person that could be great at that. And we have this little thing because we're almost doing it. Well, if I went all in, I could be awesome. Fuck that. Potential feels incredible because potential can't be judged. your potential for something feels incredible because we don't judge potential only execution gets judged so we live in this state of i'm still figuring it out i'm waiting for the right time i just need i just need to be ready i'm not ready when i'm ready i'll go But that's just an addiction. That's an addiction to hiding. Hiding lets me feel special without being seen.
14:44Ryan Hanley:When we hide from something, we live in its potential, and we never have to actually be seen doing the thing because we're not going 100%. It's a side hustle, a side quest, whatever you want to call it. A hobby. But you just said that that thing, you'd regret not doing it at 80 and it was something you told yourself you would do a year ago and you still haven't done it today maybe it's getting in shape getting rid of that dad bod beer belly gut that you have which isn't that you're getting older it's that you're getting lazier you're hiding from being in shape because what if you work your ass off and you still don't look as good as you thought you would
15:32detach from the outcome.
15:39See, life doesn't pay out on potential.
15:41Ryan Hanley:That's the thing. That's the problem. If life paid out on potential, then we would all be rich because we all have this thing that we could potentially be amazing at. But life pays on output. It pays on execution. and output is violent to the ego because every bit of pure execution can be judged. Output produces receipts. And what if, God forbid, those receipts don't measure up to what we want? God forbid we give 100 % of ourselves to something and it doesn't work out the way we thought. so we hide I know that's why I hide so let me just clean this up a little bit here life is hard not as a vibe but as a fact if you think anything else you're either lying to yourself or you've been lied to and you believed it and in either scenario you are wrong
16:49if we don't choose a direction we drift If we drift long enough, we end up somewhere we don't want to be.
17:03And the world doesn't punish with lightning and fire and brimstone. That's old school God. Life just punishes what wasted decades. New Testament God just lets you waste decades of your life hiding from the thing that you really want to do. So we don't need to be nice. We need capacity. Capacity to act.
17:32Ryan Hanley:Capacity to say no to the bullshit that doesn't matter, that keeps us from doing the things that do. Capacity to be disliked. Capacity to be wrong, to miss, to fail in public, and to keep fucking going anyway.
17:52the harmless man isn't a good man the good man is the monster who knows how to control it
18:03Ryan Hanley:the good man goes out into the arena and gets bloody and beaten and beat up and bruised and battered and gets back up and does it again The harmless man isn't a good man. He's just untested.
18:28You know, someone once said to me, self-control only means something if there's something to control.
18:38If you're sitting in your comfort zone with no true obligations, no true passion, purpose, You're just going through your nine to five, punching the clock, stamping your TPS reports, sliding them across the desk.
18:56You don't have self-control. You're not disciplined. You're just coasting and it's easy. It's comfortable. Self-control comes from having a really hard goal that most people would never set for themselves
19:14Ryan Hanley:and then diligently sticking to the routine that makes that thing a reality. Self-control only means something if there's something to control. Okay, so I promised you a sentence. And we all say to ourselves,
19:41I just need more time.
19:46I just need more time. If only I had more time. If there was time, I would do that. If I had time, I don't have time. You don't understand I have kids. I have a full-time job. You don't understand. I don't have time. I'm married. I don't have time. I have family that's nearby. I don't have time.
20:10This sentence has cost me more than failure ever did. because more time doesn't remove the fear. It doesn't remove the pain. It just makes the fear seem comfortable, right? Just the thing that I'm hiding from,
20:25Ryan Hanley:if only I had time, it's a perfect excuse that everybody will accept. That's why it works so well because everybody wishes they had more time. You know how you told yourself you always wanted to learn the piano? Only if I had more time. or I would be that thoughtful husband or wife if only I had more time. I'd love to pick my kids up from school if only I had more time. That business that I fantasize about before I go to bed every night, that'd be great. If only I had more time. and if you've been saying that for a year you're not being careful you're not being smart you're being a coward it's cowardice myself included when I find myself hiding from things I'm not being smart, careful diligent, human I'm being a pussy I'm being a coward I'm being a coward I'm being weak.
21:41Ryan Hanley:I'm letting the voice in my head, I'm letting the resistance win. So now let's replace that sentence with a better one. What's one rep I can do today? One rep. You want to start posting on LinkedIn more to build your personal brand, but you don't have time to write posts? Just write the hook today. That's it. Just write the opening sentence today. Just write the opening sentence. That's it. Today, just write the opening sentence. Tomorrow, write the first paragraph.
22:18The day after that, build tension.
Read the full transcript
22:21Ryan Hanley:The day after that, put in your open loop. The day after that, answer the question. Solve the problem. Provide the value. The day after that, write your CTA. The day after that, go back and edit the whole thing. The day after that, post it. Now you got to post. Orion, that's just one post. is one more fucking post than you had today. You needed time. You're telling me you can't write one sentence a day to get your post done, to get your brand going? Because all you need is one good post, my friends. You don't have to post every day. One good post, one thoughtful, meaningful post, one post that lets people see into your soul, that digitizes the soul of you or your business, that they can connect to, that they can grab onto.
23:10that's all you need and do it again maybe after you've done it once you realize it's not really
23:17Ryan Hanley:that hard and you write your opening hook and your you know your first paragraph and maybe you put your tension in there and and your pivot or your your your open loop depending on what structure you're using and and you get halfway done and now instead of seven days it takes four days and you realize, geez, it's, man, this isn't that hard. Now I can do it in two days. Now I can do it in one day. Now I can do it in 25 minutes when I wake up and I'm drinking my morning coffee. I can bang out a post that helps push my personal brand out into the world and helps me connect with more peers and prospects and colleagues and establishes credibility.
24:03what's one rep you can do today? Because that, my friends, is how hiding dies. So this whole episode has been about four steps.
24:16Ryan Hanley:In order, no freestyling. Step number one, name the arena. Where am I hiding? Is it your body? Fitness? Is it money? Is it your marriage? Your business? Is it a hobby? Maybe it's just a feeling like discipline. You just want to be a more disciplined person. Pick one. Not five, not two. Not 3 ,700. One. You get to pick one.
24:49Ryan Hanley:If you try to pick more,
24:54all you're doing is continuing to hide. Step number two.
25:00Ryan Hanley:choose one daily exposure rep. Exposure isn't a personality trait, it's reps. Pick one rep you can do daily. Make the call that you keep delaying. Ask for the sale. Apply to the job. Have a conversation that you've been avoiding. Share your opinion and stand your ground. Do the hard task first. what's one rep that undeniably the excuse I don't have the time or I need more time can't be used against. Just one rep. Just one. You hate cold calling? You're a salesperson and you hate cold calling? I get it. I hate cold calling. I developed an entire sales structure. I developed an entire business, rogue risk, around the idea that I hated cold calling.
25:52So I generated a massive amount of leads via YouTube and inbound content marketing and developed an entire sales structure that
26:00Ryan Hanley:didn't make it so we didn't have to cold call. But let's say cold calling is part of your business and you hate cold calling, just make one. You have time to make one cold call. Everybody has time to make one cold call. Most likely the person's not going to pick up anyways, but you did it. All that fear in your body, all the procrastination, all the hiding, right? The phone's ringing, your heart is going boom, boom, boom. And, and you make the call and the person picks up. Great. They don't pick up whatever you made the call. You have time to make one call. You have time to do one thing. It's got to be measurable, right?
26:38The thing can't be work on my business because that's not a rep. Send 10 outreach messages, have the tough conversation by 5.00 PM
26:50Ryan Hanley:Train for 30 minutes.
26:56Has to be measurable. One thing. Now, step number three. Now we add in the stakes. Private goals die in private. You got to share your goals. So add the stakes.
27:08Ryan Hanley:Tell somebody that won't let you slide, an accountability partner. It can be a best friend. It can be your spouse. It can be a colleague, a mentor, anybody. But the person has to be able to be honest with you and they have to be willing to hold you accountable. All right. Schedule a real deadline. And then create consequences. No stakes associated to the task means you can quit quietly, make excuses to yourself, negotiate with yourself, and then show up the next day and not do it again. And then you're right back on the treadmill of hiding.
27:46we're trying to get you out of hiding so stakes could be something as silly as 20 push-ups right it could be if i don't every day that i don't do my rep i gotta come home and in front of my family right before dinner starts i gotta do 20 push-ups so they all can see me could be that could be uh i don't get to have sex with my spouse until i do the thing That could be one. I mean, that would surely motivate me. But you got to have stakes. They don't have to be anything wild. It just has to be something that you don't want to do.
28:21Ryan Hanley:And if you can tie it to something fun, like push-ups or squats, air squats, or jumping jacks or something that maybe makes you look a little silly in front of the people that you're doing it, but it's getting your body in shape too? Well, that's perfectly fine. But there has to be stakes. Because even if the stakes aren't that dire, the fact that there are stakes will psychologically trigger you to push to do the thing because you will feel a sense of shame in yourself when you have to do the thing that when you have to do the stakes, when you don't do the thing and now you have to, when you don't do the rep and now you have to yield to the stakes of not doing the rep.
29:03Ryan Hanley:Even if it's something silly like 20 push-ups, the whole time you're doing the 20 push-ups you're gonna be like what a stupid son of a bitch why didn't i just do the thing i gotta do these stupid push-ups and it's motivation to not miss on your rep the next day i use push-ups a lot because i like to be fit and um i do enough push-ups during the day or you know exercise in general that when i have to do extra push-ups while it's not you know 20 pushups isn't like this huge challenge. It's like, I don't want to be doing this. Like, why didn't I just do the thing? Why didn't I just do the thing? What is wrong with me?
29:42And then I'm like, I'm not doing these stupid pushups tomorrow. And it forces me to do the thing.
29:50Now, this is the rule. This is a rule I have.
29:58Ship first, then get clarity. that thing, just go do it.
30:05Ryan Hanley:Do the one rep. Do it. You're not going to be confident. If it's something meaningful and important to you, you're not going to be confident, but do one rep. You're not good at writing LinkedIn posts? Write a hook. Use ChatGPT to help you write a hook. Practice writing hooks. Write, do one hook every day for 10 days and before you ever publish a post, before you ever work on your second sentence. Just work on 10 hooks and see which one you like the best. You could write 10 hooks and make an entire post out of it where you say like, I want to write more on LinkedIn, but I'm kind of uncomfortable writing.
30:45Ryan Hanley:I haven't done it before. Here's 10 hooks that I wrote for posts that I was thinking about. Which one do you like the best, guys? That post would most likely blow the fuck up because people would want to come and help you and they'd want to give their opinion and they'd wanna share their expertise on writing hooks and all of a sudden you get all this feedback and now that sense of fear and anxiety that you had about sharing your opinion, it's gone because you now know there's all these people there that are willing to help you. Ship first, get clarity. Ship first, get confidence. Ship first, earn your identity.
31:22Ryan Hanley:If we wait until we're ready, we'll wait forever. That's the whole point of this exercise. We're hiding from the things that will meaningfully move our life forward. Because ready is usually just code for, I'm scared. Not being ready. It's just code for, I'm scared. Not being ready is just code for, I'm scared. That's all it is. I'm not ready yet. The situation isn't right. The moon hasn't aligned in the sign of Aquarius. And I've been waiting for that before I start this new project or hobby. or I actually start paying attention to my partner or I sit down with my kids and put the phone away and don't just smash my face in my phone all evening because I have so much anxiety because I've been hiding from all the things my entire life that I actually meaningful that would create purpose.
32:09Ryan Hanley:So I just smash my phone in my face with a beer at the end of the night so that I don't have to deal with anybody and I can just excuse myself away and waste decades. And that's no way to live. I don't wanna live that way. Fear doesn't disappear from thinking about it. It disappears from reps, from action, from progress. Fear goes away through the work. It's the work that crushes fear. It's the work. The first time I ever went out on stage, I was scared to death. It was the National Young Agents Big Eye event in San Francisco, I think in 2011 or 2012, I can never remember. I was scared to death.
32:59Ryan Hanley:I'd never been on a stage before, ever. And they asked me to speak. And I was like, okay, I'm going to say yes to that because that sounds fun. Scared to death.
33:13Ryan Hanley:Today, the fear is still there. Every single time I walk on stage, the fear is still there, except I have taken so much action towards becoming a better speaker, not the elite speaker that I want to be someday, but a much better speaker that I'm able to turn that fear into excitement. Fear and excitement light up the same neural pathways in our brain, which means whether we're excited about something or we're fearful about that thing is a choice.
33:46It's a choice. You get to choose. Now, I'll tell you, that choice becomes much easier when you've put in the reps. So, here's the seven-day stop-hiding challenge.
34:05Ryan Hanley:Seven-day stop-hiding challenge. This is how you take the exposure protocol that we just went through, the four steps, four steps that we just went through, right? Name the arena, name the thing that you want. that you need to stop hiding from. Choose one daily rep, one daily exposure, add stakes to it, and then get the fuck after it. That's the exposure protocol. Now, here's a seven-day challenge I'm gonna put in front of you. Do it, don't do it, completely up to you. Obviously, I cannot marry an end my way through the interwebs that you're listening to this podcast on and force you to do it, so this is a choice you have to make.
34:47But if there's something you're hiding from,
34:49Ryan Hanley:and it can be something small. You could be hiding from multiple things. I am. So you don't have to pick the biggest thing first, right? Work the muscle, work the reps. Pick something small. Like I said, like posting on LinkedIn more regularly or doing YouTube videos or just walking in the door and not being an asshole to your family every day. Pick one thing and it doesn't have to be the biggest thing. but pick one thing you're hiding from. One rep every day for seven days. Pick the arena, define the rep. That's day one. So you don't even have to do anything day one. Just pick what it is. We continue our LinkedIn example.
35:35Ryan Hanley:I'm gonna post on LinkedIn. I wanna post on LinkedIn. That's what I wanna do. Define one rep. I'm gonna write the hook for a post. and then day two write the hook that's it just write it it's mostly gonna suck even if you use chat gpt unless you know how to properly prompt chat gpt and if you want to know how to create influence and leverage through ai in your personal brand just go to findingpeak.com and subscribe to the paid membership i have all kinds of prompts in there that will help you refine your voice, create Instagram shorts that, you know, dynamically take your ideas, your premises and turn them into really well-crafted things.
36:24So go to findingpeak.com, subscribe to the newsletter, regardless it's free. And then if you want some of the deeper stuff, I think it's like 17 bucks a month or something. It's like nothing.
36:36So day number one, we're picking the arena and we're defining what the thing is we're going to do. We're going to get really good at writing hooks. We're going to do that through one hook a day.
36:46Ryan Hanley:Day two, we're going to do it. We're going to write that hook. Just write one. Write one and stop on purpose. You're going to be like, that was easy. No shit. Day two or day three, sorry. You're not going to want to do it. You're going to immediately create an excuse. Write one more hook. You're going to go, that was easy. No shit. Day four, do it again. Maybe you feel like at this point you're like, I've already done two. I want to write the second sentence. Don't write the second sentence. All that really matters in most LinkedIn posts is the hook anyways. Get really good at the hooks. The rest of it will shake itself out.
37:30So you're working on hooks. Day five, do it again. Day six, do it again. Day seven, you're probably going to be halfway decent at writing hooks because you're not going to listen to me about just doing one you're going to write a couple and you're going to take those hooks and you're going to put them into chat gpt and you're going to go rank these hooks by virality on linkedin for my industry insert your industry and explain maintain your ranking. I'm going to say that again. In this case, you're going to write your hooks. By the end of this, you should have six. Day two, three, three, day four, day five, day six, day seven.
38:14You have six hooks. And you're going to take those hooks and you're going to put them in chat GPT. And you're going to ask chat GPT to rank order those hooks by virality on LinkedIn for your industry, insert your industry, and then explain the reasoning behind the ranking. Go. And now you're going to learn. And I bet what you find is you're not as bad as you think.
38:46Guess what you won't be scared of doing anymore? Writing hooks for LinkedIn posts. And that's step number one of not hiding. and then that for whatever your thing is. If it's fitness, if it's going to the gym, right?
39:03Ryan Hanley:I want to work on my upper body strength. Awesome. I'm going to have three days a week. I'm going to do upper body exercises at the gym. Awesome. Go to the gym. Maybe you don't have a program the first day. Play around with some different, you know, do some dumbbell bench, do some military press, dips. You're going to work on curls, pull-ups, like just do it sloppy. It doesn't matter. Just do it. And the next day, you're not going to want to go to the gym again, but go. And maybe you just do push-ups, right? Just do push-ups on the floor, upper body strength, because you can't make it to the gym that day.
39:42Ryan Hanley:And then you're going to feel like you don't have enough time. So just find a place to do tricep extensions on the side of a couch or find something that you can curl in your house. And curling is really easy. You can, you know, basically anything you can hold on to with any kind of weight you can do curls with. And yeah, it's going to look crazy. And then do it again. And do it embarrassed. And do it when you feel numb. And do it when you feel behind. And then all of a sudden you'll realize, holy crap, I actually have a little bit of upper body strength. And it's only been a week. Your arms are going to hurt.
40:12Ryan Hanley:Your forearms are going to hurt. Your shoulders are going to hurt. You're going to be sore. But you're going to be stronger than you were. And you'll have proof to yourself that you can go to the gym.
40:25and now you're not hiding, at least not as much as you were before. We're detoxing from comfort.
40:32Ryan Hanley:That's what we're doing. This protocol detoxes us from comfort. So here's the rub. Hiding is me protecting a version of myself that doesn't exist. The future me, the someday me, the once I'm ready me. That version of me doesn't exist. The future doesn't exist. we're not talking quantum theory and all that kind of crap right now probably does but doesn't matter the purpose of a conversation today we don't build that guy by planning we build him through exposure through reps through action we don't need better personalities we don't need to change who we are we just need better patterns patterns of action.
41:23Ryan Hanley:It doesn't matter that you have doubt or fear or you lack confidence. Take action. Action begets confidence. Action begets confidence. Action. Action is the answer. Because the world doesn't reward the most acceptable voice, the most acceptable answer. It rewards the undeniable, the unstoppable, The completely fucking unreasonable. And undeniability, it's built the same way everything else is built. Through reps, through action, through exposure. So here's the rub, my friends. I'm done hiding. Not because I'm fearless. Trust me, I am riddled with fear and anxiety. But I refuse to let that shit stop me from getting where I want to be.
42:15Ryan Hanley:I'm tired of paying the price of not having what I want. And I hope after listening to this, you are too. And use the exposure protocol. Use it. I'll have it in a written form. If you just go to scroll down, wherever you're listening to this, I'll have the link below. Click it. I'll have it for free. Google Doc. You can get it. You can see it. You can use it. I promise you, it's the first push down the hill of the habit of action. That's all it is. But the exposure protocol works because it shows you that small little actions give you the same amount of positive reinforcement that trying to wait for some big mega action does.
43:10Ryan Hanley:And when you feel that fear, just remember it's a choice. Fear is a choice. The same exact neurons are lit up whether you're fearful or you're excited, which means it's a choice. It's your choice. So the next time you feel fear, tell yourself you're just excited. Harness that energy towards your one rep. Make progress. Take action. I fucking love you guys for listening to this show. This is the way. Thank you.
44:15Thank you.
44:53I'm out.
45:14Thank you.
From the publisher
Download the Exposure Protocol here: https://link.ryanhanley.com/exprotocol
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Spartan philosophy, built in the black-ops lab of business: https://www.findingpeak.com
Finding Peak podcast: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanley
We all say it.
A sentence so costly, it drains your ambition, steals your time, and keeps you hiding from your true potential. It’s not about being stuck; it’s about being scared. And it’s time to stop.
In this solo episode, I’m giving you the 4-step protocol I developed to break free from the self-sabotage of hiding. This isn’t more motivational fluff or finding your “why.” This is a 7-day tactical sprint to force clarity, build confidence, and get you out of your own way.
You’ll learn:
- The two questions that instantly expose where you’re hiding.
- Why hiding feels like a smart strategy (but is actually robbing you blind).
- The 4-step “Exposure Protocol” to take action, even when you’re terrified.
- A 7-day challenge to build unstoppable momentum.
Clarity doesn’t come from thinking; it comes from contact with reality.
If you’re tired of waiting for the “right time” and ready to trade potential for proof, this episode is your call to action. Stop hiding. Start building. It’s time to get in the arena.
This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
