In this powerful episode of the BeThe CEO Podcast, Tom and Adam explore the real reason many founders and leaders feel stuck, despite knowing what decisions they should make. The conversation uncovers a critical distinction between certainty and agency, revealing that while people often gain clarity about why they should act, they frequently lack the internal permission, confidence, or power to execute.

Through reflections on identity, vulnerability, control, and personal evolution, they explain how true progress requires more than strategy. It demands the courage to step into a new version of yourself, release the illusion of controlling outcomes, and focus instead on what is genuinely within your power.

This episode reframes personal development as a journey toward agency, fulfillment, and intentional action, challenging listeners to confront the beliefs and fears that quietly hold them back from becoming who they know they could be.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why certainty in results is impossible, but certainty in decisions is essential
2. The true meaning of agency and why many people never activate it
3. How identity evolution creates fear, hesitation, and resistance to action
4. Why vulnerability is not weakness but a pathway to clarity and certainty
5. The importance of focusing only on what you can control
6. How commitment, effort, and obsession shape meaningful success

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Revelations about certainty and agency

01:20 – Why results can never be guaranteed

02:30 – The difference between knowing and executing

04:00 – Identity change and the fear of stepping forward

07:30 – Personal development as transformation

10:30 – Growth, fulfillment, and challenging beliefs

13:30 – Feeling stuck, amateur versus professional thinking

15:00 – Control, responsibility, and personal power

18:30 – Vulnerability as the path to certainty

21:00 – Commitment, effort, and obsession (CEO mindset)

🔥 Power Quotes

You can’t get certainty in results, but you can get certainty in why you act.

Agency is the freedom and power to actually take the action you know you should take.

Vulnerability isn’t losing control, it’s how you find truth and certainty.

If you focus on what you can control, progress becomes possible.

📝 Topics Covered

1. Certainty versus agency
2. Identity evolution and personal growth
3. Control, responsibility, and execution
4. Vulnerability and emotional safety
5. Fulfillment beyond money
6. Commitment, effort, and obsession

🧭 Key Takeaway

Feeling stuck rarely comes from a lack of knowledge or strategy. More often, it comes from missing agency, the internal permission and power to act. When you shift your...

In this deeply reflective episode of the BeThe CEO Podcast, Tom and Adam explore the invisible force shaping every result in business and life: standards. What begins as a conversation about energy, habits, and daily structure quickly unfolds into a powerful examination of belief, intention, and alignment.

They reveal why most people fail, not because of poor tactics, but because they abandon the standards that should guide their actions. When belief disappears, behaviors drift, teams disengage, and progress quietly stalls. True growth, they argue, comes from defining meaningful standards, allowing tactics to evolve beneath them, and maintaining unwavering belief in the mission those standards serve.

This episode challenges founders and leaders to reassess what they truly believe, realign their standards with meaningful goals, and operate with the clarity and intention required to build lasting success.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why standards, not tactics, ultimately determine outcomes
2. How belief shapes values, behaviors, and long-term success
3. The danger of abandoning standards when tactics stop working
4. Why energy, habits, and structure influence leadership performance
5. How misalignment between belief and action creates internal friction
6. What separates committed leaders from those merely following the status quo

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 - Energy, focus, and daily performance habits

04:00 - Structuring schedules for clarity and productivity

08:30 - Addiction, habits, and behavioral conditioning

11:00 - Predictability, recovery, and managing mental energy

14:30 - Standards versus rigid tactics in daily work

17:00 - How standards create intention and certainty

20:00 - Why people abandon standards when tactics fail

23:00 - Belief, culture, and retaining aligned teams

26:00 - Commitment, obsession, and being “all in”

27:00 - Final reflections on belief and progress

🔥 Power Quotes

Standards create intention, and intention creates certainty

When you abandon belief in your standards, everything begins to drift.

You’re either all in, or you’re in the way.

Great businesses aren’t built on tactics, they’re built on belief.

📝 Topics Covered

1. Standards versus tactics
2. Belief and alignment
3. Energy management and habits
4. Leadership culture and commitment
5. Behavioral change and intention
6. Progress versus status quo

🧭 Key Takeaway

Lasting success doesn’t come from perfect tactics—it comes from clear standards backed by genuine belief. When founders define meaningful standards, stay aligned with their purpose, and adapt tactics without abandoning intention, progress becomes sustainable, teams stay engaged, and...

In this raw and unfiltered episode of the BeTheCEO Podcast, Tom and Adam confront a growing frustration many founders feel but rarely articulate: the overwhelming noise created by technology, platforms, and performative professionalism that stalls real progress.

What begins as a candid vent quickly evolves into a powerful examination of intention, seriousness, and direction. Tom and Adam break down why most founders are not actually stuck because of strategy, tools, or opportunity, but because they are avoiding directness, clarity, and personal responsibility. This episode challenges listeners to stop playing games, set clear intentions, and move forward with purpose.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why technology often creates noise instead of leverage
2. How performative networking blocks real opportunity
3. The cost of avoiding direct conversations in business
4. Why most founders lack clear intention in their actions
5. How ego and indecision quietly sabotage momentum
6. What it means to operate like a serious professional

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 - How technology amplifies noise and distraction

02:30 - The frustration of performative engagement

05:40 - Why most online interactions go nowhere

09:30 - Playing games versus being professional

13:40 - The importance of intention in networking

16:50 - When ego blocks opportunity

20:00 - Real-world examples of missed follow-through

24:00 - Noise versus clarity in modern business

28:30 - Trusting the process without tolerating nonsense

33:30 - Final thoughts on cutting through the noise

🔥 Power Quotes

No one is serious anymore, and it’s killing progress.

Noise feels like motion, but it isn’t progress.

Clarity starts when you stop playing games.

Being direct is a form of respect.

📝 Topics Covered

1. Noise versus progress
2. Professionalism in business
3. Intentional communication
4. Networking behaviour
5. Ego and avoidance
6. Direction and clarity

🧭 Key Takeaway

Founders don’t get stuck because they lack tools or platforms — they get stuck because they lack intention. When you stop tolerating noise, get honest about what you want, and communicate directly, progress becomes inevitable.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

👉 Follow Tom Marino & Adam

In this candid and deeply reflective episode of the BeTheCEO Podcast, Tom and Adam unpack how founders unknowingly sabotage their own growth. The conversation explores the internal habits, identity conflicts, and emotional patterns that quietly hold business owners back, even when their external strategy looks sound.

Through honest discussion and lived experience, the episode highlights why growth often stalls not because of lack of opportunity, but because founders struggle to evolve their mindset, decision-making, and personal standards at the same pace as their business. The result is a practical, grounded exploration of how to recognize self-sabotage early and replace it with intentional leadership.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. What self-sabotage actually looks like in founders
2. Why growth exposes identity gaps before skill gaps
3. How emotional avoidance quietly stalls progress
4. Why founders resist the behaviours required for the next level
5. The importance of personal responsibility in leadership growth
6. How clarity and maturity unlock sustainable momentum

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 - Opening reflections on growth and internal resistance

02:30 - What self-sabotage really means for founders

05:10 - Identity conflicts that emerge as businesses grow

08:00 - Why founders avoid uncomfortable decisions

11:40 - Emotional maturity and leadership responsibility

15:20 - The cost of staying the same while the business grows

18:50 - Recognising patterns that limit progress

22:30 - Shifting behaviour to match ambition

26:00 - Practical ways to stop undermining your own growth

29:30 - Final thoughts on becoming the leader your business needs

🔥 Power Quotes

Your business will only grow as fast as you are willing to grow.

Self-sabotage is not obvious, it is comfortable.

Growth demands a different version of you.

You cannot lead what you refuse to confront.

📝 Topics Covered

1. Founder mindset
2. Self-sabotage patterns
3. Identity and leadership growth
4. Emotional responsibility
5. Decision-making maturity
6. Sustainable business growth

🧭 Key Takeaway

Founders do not stall because they lack strategy. They stall because they resist becoming who their next stage of growth requires. By recognising self-sabotaging behaviours and taking ownership of personal development, founders unlock clarity, momentum, and sustainable progress.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

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In this episode, we explore how unclear, uncommunicated, or unenforced standards quietly destroy businesses, teams, and cultures. While most people blame execution or motivation, the real issue is often the absence of clear expectations or the failure to reinforce them.

Through everyday examples, business coaching stories, and personal anecdotes, this conversation breaks down why standards shape identity, behavior, and results. Without them, chaos creeps in. With them, clarity, leadership, and momentum follow.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why standards are behaviors, not rules
2. How unclear standards create frustration and chaos
3. The difference between having standards and communicating them
4. Why lowered societal standards impact businesses
5. How leadership standards shape teams and culture
6. Why reinforcement and accountability matter
7. How standards affect focus, time, and execution

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Joe Rogan, curiosity, and personal standards

02:00 – Standards as the foundation of identity

04:20 – When standards are unclear, frustration follows.

06:55 – Establishing vs communicating standards

08:55 – How standards shape confidence and performance

10:25 – Lowered societal standards and business impact

13:40 – Reinforcement, accountability, and leadership

16:20 – Standards, chaos, and business breakdown

18:00 – Focus, flow, and perception of time

23:40 – Setting standards for execution timelines

29:00 – Final reflections on leadership and standards

🔥 Power Quotes

“Standards are behaviors.”

“If you don’t set standards, chaos decides for you.”

“Unclear standards create frustration, not failure.”

“What you tolerate becomes the standard.”

“Leadership starts with enforced expectations.”

📝 Topics Covered

1. Business standards
2. Leadership and culture
3. Accountability
4. Communication
5. Focus and execution
6. Team performance

🧭 Key Takeaway

Businesses don’t fail because people don’t work hard; they fail because standards are missing, unclear, or unenforced. When leaders define, communicate, and uphold standards, clarity replaces chaos and progress becomes inevitable.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

👉 Follow Tom Marino &

In this episode, we uncover why progress stalls even when effort is high and why the real issue is rarely behavior. Instead, it’s the hidden beliefs quietly shaping how you act, decide, and show up in your business and life.

Through real client examples, personal stories, and practical analogies, this conversation breaks down how outdated or unexamined beliefs create procrastination, burnout, anxiety, and misalignment. Progress doesn’t come from trying harder; it comes from believing differently.

This episode reframes growth as an inside-out process: believe first, behave second, and become last.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why behavior change fails without belief change
2. How procrastination is often a belief problem, not a discipline problem
3. The difference between “should” and true commitment
4. Why success can still feel wrong when beliefs are misaligned
5. How identity dictates daily actions
6. Why momentum can quietly pull you away from who you want to become
7. How to reassess beliefs as you enter a new season or year

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Reflecting on business direction and the coming year

03:30 – What it really means to be the CEO of your life

05:45 – Why beliefs drive behavior, not the other way around

07:40 – Identity-based change explained

09:20 – Procrastination and belief misalignment

13:00 – Momentum, undercurrents, and losing direction

17:30 – Lack mindset versus abundance mindset

22:30 – The danger of the word “should”

27:00 – Believe, behave, become

29:40 – Final thoughts and reflection

🔥 Power Quotes

“Behavior doesn’t change until belief changes.”

“Procrastination is a belief problem.”

“You can’t become someone new while believing old things.”

“Should isn’t a commitment.”

“Believe first. Behave second. Become last.”

📝 Topics Covered

1. Belief systems
2. Identity and behavior
3. Procrastination
4. Burnout and alignment
5. Mindset shifts
6. Personal and business growth

🧭 Key Takeaway

Progress isn’t blocked by a lack of effort it’s blocked by beliefs you haven’t questioned. When you change what you believe about who you are and what you need, your actions naturally follow.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

👉 Follow Tom Marino & Adam Hurd on...

In this reflective and honest episode, we explore what it really means to choose your next chapter in life — especially when certainty is missing. Through personal stories, business decisions, and long-term commitments, this conversation breaks down why confusion often appears right before clarity, and why discomfort is usually a signal that meaningful change is happening.

Rather than chasing balance or novelty, this episode reframes progress as commitment. Choosing a chapter isn’t about finding the perfect plan — it’s about deciding what you’re willing to stay with long enough to build something real.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why confusion often signals the start of a new chapter
2. How long-term commitments create clarity over time
3. The difference between interest and true commitment
4. Why productive neglect can drive success but limit fulfillment
5. How to think about life and business as harmony, not balance
6. Why choosing a direction matters more than perfect certainty
7. How discomfort plays a role in meaningful progress

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Why this year felt confusing but important

02:00 – Understanding chapters and long-term consequences

05:00 – Harmony vs balance explained

09:00 – The instrument analogy and productive neglect

14:00 – Reflecting on fulfillment and personal growth

18:00 – Being good at something you no longer enjoy

22:00 – Commitment versus interest

26:00 – Making year-long commitments

30:00 – Choosing the people and work worth investing in

35:00 – Final thoughts on commitment and direction

🔥 Power Quotes

“Confusion often shows up right before clarity.”

“You can be great at something and still not enjoy it.”

“Interest feels good. Commitment feels heavy.”

“Choosing a chapter means saying no to others.”

“Progress requires staying with something long enough.”

📝 Topics Covered

1. Life transitions
2. Commitment and focus
3. Personal growth
4. Long-term decision making
5. Productive neglect
6. Harmony vs balance
7. Entrepreneurial identity

🧭 Key Takeaway

Choosing your next chapter isn’t about certainty — it’s about commitment. When you decide what you’re willing to stay with through discomfort, clarity follows and progress becomes inevitable.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

👉 Follow

In this episode, we explore why the best leaders are willing to make decisions that aren’t popular but are necessary for long-term success. Using real-world examples from business, leadership, sports, and history, this conversation breaks down why comfort, familiarity, and fear often stop people from making the changes they know they need to make.

This episode challenges the idea that good leadership is about keeping everyone happy. Instead, it reframes leadership as stewardship, making hard, intentional decisions based on vision, not approval.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why popularity is a dangerous metric for leadership decisions
• How comfort and familiarity keep businesses stuck
• Why avoiding change leads to stagnation and decline
• The difference between intentional change and change for novelty
• How vision creates certainty in difficult decisions
• Why leaders must act as fiduciaries for their business
• How discomfort signals meaningful growth

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Why unpopular decisions define real leadership

02:30 – Comfort vs change and why people resist both

05:00 – Popularity, business, and the Mets analogy

08:00 – Change or die: historical lessons applied to business

12:00 – Vision as the filter for hard decisions

15:00 – Why leaders must accept discomfort

18:00 – Flexibility, adaptation, and long-term thinking

22:00 – Making decisions for the future, not the present

25:00 – Final thoughts on leadership and responsibility

🔥 Power Quotes

“You can’t run a business based on popularity.”

“Comfort is often more dangerous than failure.”

“If you don’t change, you die.”

“Vision makes the decision.”

“Leadership requires doing what’s right, not what’s liked.”

📝 Topics Covered

• Leadership decision-making
• Vision and strategy
• Change management
• Comfort vs growth
• Business stewardship
• Adaptability
• Long-term thinking

🧭 Key Takeaway

Great leaders are willing to be unpopular when the situation demands it. When decisions are guided by a clear vision not comfort or approval, leaders build businesses that endure, adapt, and grow.

💬 Connect with Us

👉 Visit bethe.ceo

👉 Follow Tom Marino & Adam Hurd on LinkedIn & Instagram