Tips for Work and Life with Andrew LaCivita

There is at least one moment in a job interview you can count on.  Whether it happens literally or figuratively, it's this: "Tell me about your accomplishments." What do many people do when they hear this? They panic. Not because they don't have wins.  But because they don't know how to talk about them without feeling awkward, arrogant, or self-promotional. And that's where offers disappear. Whether you're interviewing for a new role or discussing your impact with your current employer, one thing matters more than anything else:  Can you clearly explain what you've accomplished and why it mattered? If you can't, the interviewer fills in the blanks for you. And they usually get it wrong. That's why today's lesson is focused on how to share your wins without sounding like you're bragging. This lesson will help you talk about your achievements in a way that sounds confident and credible, not self-important. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

If you've ever felt overlooked or misunderstood or plain ole underappreciated, this is my gift to you today. It doesn't matter if it's you job search or job. You're welcome. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings:  1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Most professionals don't struggle because they lack experience.  They struggle because they can't remember the details that give their accomplishments life. When resumes need updating or interview stories come up, people realize how much context and impact they've lost over time. And memory is a terrible career strategy. That's why today's lesson shows you how to capture your career wins so you can build a stronger résumé, tell better interview stories, and create more job opportunities.  Career wins aren't just promotions or big projects.  They're problems solved, improvements made, systems built, and results created along the way. If you don't document those wins as they happen, your experience gets watered down. What should sound impressive ends up sounding average. Today, I walk you through a simple system to capture your career wins so your experience leads to more vivid stories, stronger positioning, and better outcomes. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

I hate that I even have to write this. But fake recruiters and fake job postings are everywhere right now. And job seekers are being targeted hard. That's not because you're careless. It's because scammers go after people who are motivated, hopeful, and actively searching. That's you. What makes this worse is how convincing these scams have become. In fact, a couple months ago, one of my clients showed me a recruiter message that fooled me! The company looked real. The LinkedIn profile looked legit. The email sounded professional. It wasn't. That's why this week's lesson is about how to protect yourself. Not with fear. With awareness. In today's video, I walk you through 10 clear warning signs that help you quickly answer one critical question: Is this real…or is it just a scam? You'll learn: What to check first when a recruiter emails or messages you. How fake job postings give themselves away. Why Gmail addresses, rushed language, and vague roles should always make you pause. What legitimate recruiters never ask you for. How to verify a job or recruiter in minutes, not hours. This isn't about becoming paranoid. It's about becoming informed. If you're job searching right now, please don't skip this one. Even smart, experienced professionals are getting caught off guard. And if this helps you, pass it along to someone else who's searching. A simple heads up can save them a lot of stress. Listen to STOP Falling for Fake Jobs and Recruiter Scams now! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Few interview questions create more damage with fewer words. Not because it's hard. But because people answer it at the worst possible time, with the least possible leverage. Most candidates think this question is about money. It isn't. It's about timing, power, and whether you understand how hiring decisions actually get made. Say a number too early and you either leave money on the table you'll never get back or price yourself out before anyone truly understands your value. And here's the part nobody teaches. There isn't one "right" answer to this question. There's a sequence.  A progression of responses that protects your leverage, keeps the process moving, and positions you to negotiate when your stock is highest, not lowest. In this week's lesson, I break down: Why giving a number early almost always works against you. What recruiters are really trying to confirm when they ask. And the exact recruiter-proof responses I use to control this conversation without sounding evasive or combative. If you've ever felt pressure to answer this question quickly, or worried that one wrong sentence could cost you thousands, this lesson will change how you approach salary conversations forever. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Does it feel like you're not growing in your career? Perhaps not learning much? Or building new skills? Or not sure which skills to even build? Maybe you're noticing other people passing you by. You're thinking, Why does she get the promotion? I'm just as good. If any of those questions are tugging at you, you're in luck, because I've got a lesson today wrapped in a little story with a big punch that'll shed some light on the answers. But first, one more question. Do you think pulling together and delivering a status report is boring? If you answered yes, drop what you're doing and give me four minutes. Because you won't believe what I think of them, and how the secret to knowing which skills to build is sitting right under your nose every single week when you prepare this "simple" deliverable, or any of your deliverables! Listen to This is How You Determine Which Skills to Build! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

If you're rehearsing your stories five minutes before an interview, you're cooked. I'm not saying that to be dramatic. I'm saying it because it's true. Right before an interview is not the time to cram, memorize examples, or mentally sprint through your résumé. This will just get you tense, not to mention self-focused (🤔, hmmm, what's he mean here?). Interviewers can feel your tension. It becomes palpable. The best performers do something different before any conversation.  They run through a pre-interview ritual that puts them in the right state of mind. Not a routine. That's too mechanical and mindless. A ritual. That's a performance enhancer. It's something intentional that interrupts fear, quiets the noise, and shifts their focus away from themselves and onto the people they're about to meet.  Thanks to a great question from Shantel, that's what I'm teaching in this week's lesson.  You'll learn why interviews are won or lost before the first question is asked, how to reframe every interview as a guaranteed win regardless of the outcome, and the simple mental ritual that helps you show up relaxed, confident, and ready to deliver value. Interviews don't reward the most prepared candidate. They reward the candidate who shows up in the strongest state. Listen to The Pre-Interview Ritual That Helps You Perform at Your Best! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

January is one of the busiest and most misunderstood periods of the hiring year. Behind the scenes, companies are launching new initiatives, trying to staff teams faster than most job candidates realize, and, unfortunately for them, replacing unexpected employee departures.  Recruiters are active. Hiring managers are under pressure. Roles are opening that weren't planned just days earlier.  Today, I'm covering why January creates both urgency and opportunity for job seekers and how to work the right activities that'll give you a leg up on getting hired. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Let me ask you something honest. Have you ever looked at your effort and thought, "There's no way I should still be here?" You show up. You work hard. You try to do the right things. Yet your career, your goals, or whatever you want still feel out of reach. I've coached thousands of people through this exact frustration. The problem is almost never effort. Most people work plenty hard. That isn't what keeps them stuck. It's something else. In this lesson, I'm sharing a personal story from 2019. It starts with me sitting in my favorite chair, coffee in one hand, my dog Harley 🌈 🐾 next to me, and a strange idea about doing an Ironman race even though I couldn't swim a single lap in a pool without wanting to faint. (I signed up for the race and swimming lessons on the same day!) That moment taught me one of the most important lessons of my life. It's a lesson I want you to hear today. Inside you get: ✓ Why hard work stops being enough. ✓ Why your progress stalls even when you want it badly. ✓ What separates people who grow from people who stay stuck. ✓ How to start living your goals before you reach them. Listen now! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Everyone is trying to predict the job market right now. Most of them are staring at headlines and waiting for someone to tell them what's going to happen in 2026. That's the slowest way to build your career. There's a much better approach, and that's what I'm teaching in this off-schedule Sunday lesson. You'll learn why I never chase trends and how I make decisions that stand the test of time. Then, you'll understand how to think the right way and why that beats any tactic or tool you use in your search. If you feel stuck or confused by mixed job market messages, this lesson will give you a better direction. I'll show you: ✅ The two timeless forces that always tell you where opportunity is hiding. ✅ How to spot industries that will stay strong in 2026 and beyond. ✅ Why your thinking matters more than any job search strategy. ✅ How to realign your search when you feel like nothing is hitting. ✅ How to read connections between industries so you can see around corners. This approach changed the way I make decisions in my own career and financial investments. It'll change how you navigate yours too. Once you understand this way of thinking, everything in your career gets easier. You'll stop reacting and start directing. You'll stop guessing and start choosing. Enjoy the lesson! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Job searching can be brutal. It tests your patience, your confidence, and your resolve. But if you shift your focus from results to wisdom, everything changes. That's what I'm teaching in this week's lesson, how to use your job search to make you a better professional. In the podcast, I share a personal story about recently finishing my new book. It's now off and running with the publisher, moving through the production process. The moment I hit send, I sat in my favorite Pottery Barn Wells swivel chair and thought for 20 minutes about nothing but the "agony" I'm going to endure over the next 12 months. Kidding aside, I genuinely did this. I didn't think about how many copies I might sell or what it'd take to make a bestseller list. I focused on something more important, the skills I need to strengthen over the next year as I market and launch this new book. You might think that because this is my fifth time around, I'd have mastered it by now. But if you assumed that, you'd be completely wrong. Yes, I've done a lot right and built some great skills when it comes to marketing a book. But many efforts have fallen short of my hopes. Some were dead ends. Others just confused the heck out of me. Which means only one thing, I need to try new things, keep learning, and keep building. Does this sound like your job search? The things you think will work don't. The things you don't expect to work do. It's effort, surprises, ups, and downs. That's just life in a nutshell. And what I'm about to say might sound like common sense. But I'm guessing it'll only sound like common sense after I actually say it. If you're going to go through a job search, why not gain the benefits of the experience? If we agree those benefits come in the form of new experiences and better skills, then it's time to ask yourself... 👉 What skills do you want to build throughout your job search? If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Most job seekers prepare for interviews the wrong way. They start by memorizing answers to questions like "Tell me about a time you disagreed with your boss" or "Describe a challenge you overcame." But that's backwards. Those questions aren't about your disagreement skills or your ability to solve one random problem. They're about whether you can transform the company—their team, their performance, their results. The secret to winning behavioral interviews isn't about rehearsing lines. It's about building stories that sell what they actually buy: your ability to help them achieve their goals. That's what this week's lesson is all about. We're crushing how to prepare for and answer behavioral questions using the most powerful approach I've ever taught! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Most candidates talk about what they can do. The best ones show it. When an employer asks for a presentation, it's not a test of PowerPoint skills. It's a test of whether you understand what they actually buy: transformation, not tasks. Your goal isn't to list skills or repeat your resume. It's to prove you can help them hit their goals and do it through a well-structured story. This week's lesson shows you how to prepare a presentation that persuades and sells your value. You'll learn how to: Identify what the employer truly wants to achieve. Uncover the real problems standing in their way. Choose powerful examples that prove you can solve those problems. Structure your presentation so it flows naturally and ends with impact. Highlight your skills as evidence, not filler. Inside, I'll even show you how to use a single summary slide that ties everything together and seals the deal. Listen to How to Give a Job Interview Presentation (That Gets You Hired) now! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Interviewers don't wait until you finish your story to decide if they like you. They decide while you're still taking your first breath. In those first 15 seconds, they're asking, "Do I trust this person? Do they get what matters here?" Most candidates waste that window listing tasks or backstory. The best ones win it by showing they understand the real business problem and hinting at the result they delivered. That's what I'm teaching in this week's lesson. You'll learn how to open with context that earns respect, why the STAR method fails, and the exact 15-second framework that makes your answers sound confident, strategic, and memorable. Listen now! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Most people think success comes from constant hustle. It doesn't. It comes from patience mixed with smart action. Most people chase quick wins. I learned the real secret is patience mixed with purpose. When you think long-term, you make better short-term decisions. You stop chasing every shiny idea and start stacking small wins that lead to something big. Back in 2015, I made a decision that tested every ounce of my patience. Even though I was most qualified to teach leadership, I didn't start there. My long-term vision was to become a one-stop shop for your career. But to earn that, I needed to start by solving your most acute pain first…getting the job. That meant helping people fix their search, knowing they'd leave me once they succeeded. It was a sacrifice, but a necessary one if I wanted to serve for the long haul. This week's lesson shares (in under 4 minutes) how I created a long-term vision for my career success. And how you can build yours using the same approach. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Perfectionism is the great career stall. Most people don't slow down because they're lazy. They slow down because they want everything just right before they move. Job seekers spend months polishing résumés, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles before they ever start actually searching. Professionals over-edit reports and presentations until the opportunity passes. They all have the same problem…waiting until it's perfect before they ship. But progress doesn't come from polishing. It comes from acting. This week's lesson is all about breaking free from perfectionism so you can finally make real progress. I share how I overcame a decade of "consultant conditioning" that taught me perfection was everything and how learning to act fast and iterate changed my entire career. If you've ever felt stuck trying to make something flawless, this one's for you. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Most managers don't actually manage people. They manage tasks. They tell. They correct. They rarely coach. That's the difference between a boss people tolerate and a leader people trust. When you learn how to coach and mentor someone, everything changes. You build loyalty and develop people who think for themselves. This week's lesson shares a simple four-step framework to help you manage people more effectively through better communication and growth. If you lead a team, you'll recognize yourself in this one. If you've ever felt frustrated trying to motivate someone who just isn't getting it, this will show you why. It's not about pushing harder. It's about coaching smarter. At first, you'll wonder why you haven't been doing these steps all along. Then, you can take action, or even manage upward, to start maximizing your team's enjoyment and performance! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Last week, we spent five full days together building and fine-tuning your résumé. You now have a marketing document that's designed to get you noticed. But here's the #1 mistake most job seekers make right now… they slow down. They assume the holidays are dead time. They think no one's hiring until January. They coast into the new year. That couldn't be further from the truth. November through February is THE BEST time of year to land a new role. Companies evaluate their budgets. They make sure to spend the current year's budget so they don't lose it. They prepare next year's budgets and identify the resources. Then, they hurry to start recruiting because people aren't teleported on January 2. They panic because employees who didn't get the promotions or raises leave. And then they have more seats to fill. All these employee mobility spikes mean opportunities for you. But only if you're in the game!  If you step off the gas now, you're handing those jobs to someone else. That's what I cover in today's podcast… If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Last month I celebrated my 59th. It had me reflecting on the biggest influences that rerouted my path, especially the books that shaped my mindset, my career, my health, and even my view of the universe. These aren't just books I enjoyed. They are turning points that literally changed how I live. Some helped me become a better teacher, others taught me discipline and financial independence, and a few opened up my sense of purpose. Here's the list in the same order I cover them, with a personal note on why each mattered to me. Mindset, Self-Discovery Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Richard Carlson I stumbled into this book in 1997 after literally knocking over a stack of them in Barnes & Noble. It sparked my lifelong love of self-help. Its short chapters and practical reminders taught me to let go of stress and focus on what actually matters, which helped me lead my teams (and my life) with a clearer head. You'll See It When You Believe It, Wayne Dyer This is the book I've re-read more than any other, sometimes daily for weeks at a time. Dyer's lessons on manifestation and the "seven attachments" helped me release ego, control, and the need to be right, which created more peace and focus in every area of my life. Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert Gilbert proves we're never as happy or as sad as we think we'll be, because we can't fully predict our future selves. This freed me from chasing perfection and helped me embrace the journey, knowing joy comes more from growth than from reaching the finish line. Storytelling, Career Transformation Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath A dearly-departed friend gifted me this book in December 2007, and it completely changed how I thought about communication. Its framework for making ideas memorable became the foundation of my Interview Intervention methodology, and eventually the blueprint for the storytelling systems I still teach today. Interview Intervention, Yours Truly I wrote this book in just five weeks at the end of 2011, and it completely transformed my career. For the first time, I captured years of coaching into a system anyone could use, and that was the first official step that turned me from recruiter to teacher to author. Choice, Goals, Perspective  This Is Water, David Foster Wallace This slim book, adapted from a 2005 commencement speech, is one of the most powerful I've read. Wallace's simple but profound message, that you can choose what to think about, has reshaped how I approach daily life, teaching me to stay present and compassionate in the middle of life's noise. It also served at the stimulation for the next book on this list. Out of Reach But in Sight, Me Again Born from a keynote I gave to scholarship students, I turned the speech into a book. Capturing timeless lessons on setting and pursuing goals, it later evolved into my Goal Setting Masterclass and proved how small steps can inspire big transformations. Wealth, Health The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko At 30, this book confirmed that wealth is built through discipline, not high income. It cemented my lifelong approach of living below my means, investing early, and building habits that would later help me achieve financial independence and peace of mind. Good Energy, Casey Means Of the 70+ health books I've read, this one had the most immediate impact on my life. Understanding metabolic health and cutting refined sugars, refined grains, and seed oils gave me more energy, clarity, and resilience than I thought possible. I've felt sharper and healthier ever since. My Life's Work, Beyond  The Zebra Code, The New Me This is my most ambitious book, and easily the toughest project I've ever taken on. It demanded every ounce of experience, discipline, and creativity I had, but it also gave me the chance to share the full methodology I believe can help any professional thrive. Journey of Souls, Michael Newton This book opened my mind to ideas about past and future lives, whether you take them literally or not. It gave me a new lens for thinking about purpose, why I might be wired the way I am, and how being open to bigger questions can deepen the way you live today. These aren't just books on a shelf. They're turning points in my story. Please add any of these to your own shelf that speak to you. Maybe they can be turning points in your story too! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

It was 3:08 in the morning. May of last year. I was in my office already a lofty 8 minutes into my day. Headphones on, speaking (uh, reading) into a microphone… and yelling at ducks. Yes, ducks. As I tried to record a passage for The Zebra Code audiobook, those feathered freeloaders on my backyard lake quacked like it was their job. I must've sounded like a lunatic, hollering "Come on! I need 75 quiet minutes!" But here's the truth… I wasn't just recording an audiobook. I was chasing a big goal that was important to me. Writing a book is one thing. Giving voice to it, putting myself on record, was something else entirely. Big goals aren't really about the thing you achieve. They're about who you become in the pursuit. (In this case, hopefully, not a total lunatic. 🤣) They stretch your patience, your creativity, your confidence, and yes… even your relationships with ducks. This week's video is all about this truth. What really happens to you when you work toward a massive goal (and why the transformation almost never looks the way you expect)? If you've ever set an ambitious goal, whether career-related, personal, or financial, you'll see yourself in this. And if you haven't yet? It might just give you the push to start. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my four books related to career development, interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy