Let me start with this: I’m not anti-A.I.
Tools like ChatGPT are incredibly powerful. They’ve helped me a variety of capacities… most specifically to create useful content (create images, graphics, and initial copy for a post). I use A.I. as a guide — just like my athletes used me as their performance coach!
But at the end of the day, my athletes had to put in the blood, sweat, and tears themselves. I could teach them, encourage them, and push them – but I couldn’t do the work for them (“You can’t pay someone else to do your push-ups!”). That had to come from them.
So, when it came to writing my soon-to-be-released new book (Next Play: How to Focus on What Matters Most and Improve Performance, Productivity, & Fulfillment), I made a very deliberate and intentional decision:
I chose to write it myself and not use ChatGPT.
And here’s why.
My goal wasn’t just to write a book—it was to evolve in the process.
A.I. is designed to create a finished product. It’s efficient. It’s fast. It’s polished.
But I didn’t choose to write my new book because I needed a third title on a shelf.
I wrote it because I needed to go through something. I needed to learn. I needed to grow. As mentioned above, I needed to evolve.
I needed to wrestle with and really internalize the concept of the Next Play mindset. I needed to sit in silence and reflect on how I use Next Play in my life. I needed to dig deep into what I believe, what I’ve learned, and what I still struggle with.
Writing—really writing—isn’t just about delivering a finished message. It’s about becoming the kind of person capable of delivering that message with honesty, clarity, and conviction.
After all, I write the books I need to read myself.
Every book I’ve ever written started with a selfish motive.
Not in a negative sense — but in an honest one.
I write about performance, mindset, and leadership because those are the things I’m trying to work towards mastery of myself (notice I said, ‘work towards’ – it’s all about the pursuit!).
What you’ll read when my new book launches in November are the tenants, mantras, and reminders I need to live by and the strategies I outline are the tools I use daily as I navigate the world.
Could ChatGPT have helped me write and package all that in a cleaner way? Absolutely.
But that would’ve robbed me of the process — and the process is everything.
I know it’s cliché, and way overused (and yet here I am using it!), but the ‘journey is more important than the destination.’
Is my new book going to be perfect? Nope.
But neither were my two previous books, and neither am I!
Being imperfect is part of the human condition. And I fully accept that.
I also acknowledge that true fulfillment doesn’t come from having a book, it comes from writing a book. It comes from the doing. It comes from who I became when writing it.
I’ll be real with you: writing a book is hard.
But I chose to show up and do the work anyway. Because I can do hard things.
And doing hard things brings immense satisfaction.
I talk a lot about doing work during the Unseen Hours. About embracing discomfort. About showing up with intention and consistency.
Writing my own book is how I live that truth. It’s how I walk the walk (not just talk the talk).
That type of fulfillment, satisfaction, and evolution A.I. simply can’t provide.
And not to mention, I’m a better man because I did the work.
Writing Next Play made me a better:
- Father – I’m more present, more thoughtful, more patient.
- Speaker – I’m more precise in my stories, more grounded in my message.
- Business Owner – I’m more aligned with my values, more committed to growth.
Every section/chapter I wrote made me pause, think, and refine who I am. And to me, that is the ultimate win.
Again, this isn’t a knock on A.I. or a refusal to embrace ChatGPT. I’ll continue to explore ways to use both to support and enhance my work moving forward.
But for this book, it mattered that I walked the path myself.
Because the message behind the book is one of discipline, growth, and self-awareness—and I couldn’t ask others to embrace that if I wasn’t willing to live it first.
Don’t just focus on the outcome.
Fall in love with the process.
The real growth isn’t in what you get—it’s in who you become.
That’s why I wrote this book by hand, by heart, and by choice.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Stay tuned… formal book announcement and details coming soon… and can’t wait for you to read it (or listen to it) in November!
