My name is Scott and if you really want to know 'About Me,' we may as well start from the beginning...

I grew up in the small town of Albany, MN, population 1701. It's smack dab in the middle of the state, and like many small towns, you sneeze and everyone knows about it. For the 37 years that we owned our family home, we never once locked the doors...even when we would go on vacation.

Albany is safe. You grow up trusting people, and they trust you.

Even in a small town, I always had big dreams and wondered whether I could be "more"...but I didn't have the self-confidence. Or the belief in myself.

When the teacher would ask a question, I would immediately look down and silently pray that she didn't call on me for the answer. Speaking up in class and potentially looking stupid was terrifying.

I have a brother that is a year and a half older than me and has always been one of my best friends. He's GIFTED academically. Straight A's through school, near perfect scores on standardized tests, full rides through college and grad school.

Because I couldn't compete with him academically, I tried to prove myself athletically. And I did OK. A state championship in football, captain of the basketball team, five straight State Golf Tournaments.

Still, when I stopped playing sports after high school (I tried out for the Wisconsin golf team but didn't make it), I floundered. I had no identity other than as an athlete. I was getting C's for grades in college, was drinking and partying way too much and had no idea what I was going to do with my life.

But life has a funny way of telling you things, doesn't it? For some reason unbeknownst to me, I distinctly remember waking up towards the end of my junior year at Wisconsin and thinking:

"Scott, you're paying a lot of money to go to college to be AVERAGE. You should demand more of yourself. You CAN do BETTER."

That summer I took Experimental Psychology, a notoriously tough 5-credit class for Psych majors, and got an A-. I worked HARD that summer and I was THRILLED.

It was at that point I realized that maybe...just maybe...I could succeed in academics, too. And if I could do that, what else could I succeed in if I applied myself fully?

It unlocked the belief and self-confidence that I could, indeed, be "more," and since then, life has been a series of compound effects.

An undergraduate degree became a Master's degrees and an Adjunct Professor position at St. Olaf.

One "bucket list" marathon became 29 marathons, 5 Ironman triathlons and a 100-mile ultra marathon.

One blog that was only read by my Mom became 9 best selling books.

Don't get me wrong - life hasn't been all roses and rainbows. These things didn't always come easily and I had plenty of dark moments where I questioned quitting school, races and books.

But I believe that we were put on this planet to make it better. To leave our own "dent" in the universe, no matter how big or small. To brighten every room we enter.

We are all capable of doing this, and if we would, the world would be a better place.

At a recent speaking engagement, I had a young high school girl ask me where my motivation comes from. I thought about it for a second and realized that my main motivation is really more of an anti-regret. I don't ever want to look back at my life, thinking I shoulda, coulda, woulda, and regretting what might have been.

THAT is my inspiration now: To help people live that same way and lead happier, healthier, higher-performing lives so they can fall asleep knowing they are maximizing their precious days on this planet.

If you'd like to say hi, please visit me on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. I'd love to connect.

And if you'd like free training to improve your life immediately, text OUTPERFORM to 38470. I can't wait to see you on the inside!

Let's get after it, together.

Scott

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