What do you say when you know the day matters?

Not because something is ending forever.But because you know, deep down, this version of life is.

This episode took 18 months to publish. It was recorded on the beach in Kona, Hawaii, on the eve of a first and a last. Dawson was about to begin a new chapter — one that would take him across the world, deeper into his faith, and further from home than ever before. And Lon, as a father, knew this day represented something sacred: the last day his son would be entrusted only to his care, and the first day of a life that would now belong more fully to Dawson himself.

What started as a father hoping to share a few lessons with his son became something far better — a raw, emotional, deeply honest conversation about faith, family, courage, curiosity, and the kind of wisdom that only shows up when both people are willing to tell the truth.

Dawson talks about finding his faith, what it means to live with conviction without losing curiosity, and what he hopes the next season of his life will teach him. Lon reflects on what it means to watch a son become his own man, what advice matters most when you’re standing at the edge of a new chapter, and why some conversations are too important to leave unspoken.

This episode is not just about parenting.

It’s about firsts and lasts.It’s about legacy in real time.It’s about saying the thing while you still can.

And it may leave you wanting to pick up the phone, grab a notebook, or sit down with someone you love and have the conversation you’ve been putting off.

IN THIS EPISODE

--Why firsts and lasts carry so much emotional weight

--Dawson’s journey into faith and the moment it became personal

--The difference between conviction and curiosity

--What it means to feel small in the presence of something greater

--Why community matters in every new season of life

--Lon’s reflections on quitting his job — through the eyes of his son

--The advice every father hopes his son will carry

--How to recognize your gifts before life teaches you to forget them

--What it means to never lose your art

--The beauty of documenting a moment before it disappears

KEY TAKEAWAYS

->Every last is also a first.

->Faith gets stronger when it becomes personal.

->Conviction without curiosity can close you off from growth.

->The people you love need to hear what you admire in them while you still can.

->Some conversations become more valuable with time, not less.

WHAT’S NEXT

This episode is an invitation.

Not just to listen.

To act.

Write a few notes.

Grab a microphone.

Sit down with someone you love.

Tell them what you see in them.

Tell them what you hope for them.

Tell them what matters.

You will not regret it.

And if you’re looking for a place to start your own next chapter, book a Ramble or step inside the Normal 40 community.

Everything starts here:👉 https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Because the most meaningful conversations in life rarely happen by accident.Someone decides to have them.

Let’s be up to something.

This episode is different from the usual Normal 40 conversations.

This is a confession.

In this episode, Lon pulls back the curtain on a realization that caught him off guard while writing his second book, The Gap. As he mapped the patterns of thousands of conversations with high performers stuck on the backside of their success curve, he discovered something uncomfortable:

The same pattern he was writing about in others… was alive in him.

A quiet form of avoidance.

Not the avoidance of hard things.The avoidance of the easy things that matter most.

The emails you delay.The conversations you postpone.The follow-ups that turn into silence.

And when you avoid them long enough, you hit your ceiling.

This recording comes directly from The Insider, Normal 40’s private community where members wrestle with the work in real time. It’s messy, honest, and unscripted — the kind of conversation most people only have behind closed doors.

Lon shares the pattern he uncovered in himself, the childhood moment that wired it in, and how confronting it forced him to rethink how Normal 40 will grow from here.

It’s not comfortable.

But it might be exactly the conversation you needed to hear.

IN THIS EPISODE

--The difference between courage and honesty

--How superpowers often carry a matching weakness

--Why the work of transformation is deeply personal and often embarrassing

--The dangerous moment when success starts to flatline

--The hidden cost of protecting your image instead of facing the truth

--Why checklists and productivity systems won’t fix the real problem

KEY TAKEAWAYS

→ The things you avoid are rarely the hardest things — they’re the ones that matter most.

→ Your greatest strength often carries the seed of your greatest limitation.

→ Awareness without honesty doesn’t create change.

→ Freedom requires protecting what matters and letting others carry what they do best.

→ If the realization isn’t uncomfortable, you probably haven’t found the real problem yet.

→The hardest work in transformation isn’t external. It’s internal.

WHAT’S NEXT

If this episode resonated with you, it’s not by accident.

The conversations happening inside The Insider are exactly like this — honest, uncomfortable, and focused on moving forward.

It’s not just a community.

It’s a culture.

A place where people show up honestly, challenge one another, do the work, and help one another move toward the next chapter of their lives.

👉 Join The Insider here: https://normal40.circle.so/checkout/join-the-insider

Because the thing you’re avoiding right now?

That’s probably the doorway to what’s next.

Let’s be up to something.

Most of us don’t think about death.

Not really.

We think about promotions.College tuition.Quarterly numbers.The next vacation.The next deal.

But we don’t think about how it ends.

In this episode, Lon sits down with Dr. Josh Russell, an ER physician who moved into palliative care, and the conversation goes exactly where most people avoid going.

Death.

Not in a morbid way.In a clarifying way.

Josh has lived on both sides of medicine.In the ER, he fought to save lives.In palliative care, he helps people finish them.

And somewhere between those two callings, he realized something we all quietly know: If you don’t prepare for how you want to die, the system will decide for you.

This is not a conversation about fear.It’s about agency.

It’s about the difference between being kept alive… and living on purpose.

It’s about what happens when the default setting of medicine collides with the reality that everything that begins ends.

And it’s about why the conversations we avoid — with our spouses, our kids, our doctors — are often the most loving conversations we’ll ever have.

IN THIS EPISODE

->Why the “Denial of Death” is the default human setting

->What actually happens if you do nothing to prepare for the end of your life

->The quiet violence of aggressive medical intervention

->Why palliative care is not about giving up — but about choosing well

->The difference between hope and honesty

->What most families wish they had talked about sooner

->Why stopping “the insanity” can be the most compassionate act of all

THE REAL QUESTION

If something happens tomorrow… Would the people you love know what you want?

Or would they be forced to guess?

And if you’re honest — are you living today in a way that would let you finish well?

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:

We prepare more carefully for retirement than we do for death. And one of those is guaranteed.

WHAT JOSH MAKES CLEAR

Death is not the enemy.

Avoidance is.

The goal is not to control the ending.The goal is to face it honestly enough that the time before it matters more.

When you stop pretending you’re immortal, something changes.

You start caring less about being right.Less about ego.Less about status.

You start caring more about people.About presence.About unfinished conversations.

About legacy.

WHAT’S NEXT?

You don’t need a terminal diagnosis to start thinking clearly.

Have the conversation. Write the directive. Tell the people you love what matters. And then live like it matters.

If this conversation stirred something in you — good. That’s the point.

You can find Dr. Josh Russell at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-russell-md/ thefocusedexam.com

And if you’re ready to stop drifting and start living intentionally, join us inside the Normal 40 community. You can find everything related to Normal 40 here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein