At some point, every man has to ask:What’s this life I’ve built actually doing to me?

In this episode, Lon sits down with Tait Arend—fundraiser, leadership coach, and Co-host of the Bridging Connections podcast, for one of the most honest conversations we’ve ever had. Together, they unpack what happens when you’ve done everything right, checked all the boxes, built the image… and still feel like something’s missing.

This is not a conversation about brokenness.It’s a conversation about awakening.

From a childhood accident that changed his face, and his path, to founding a movement that helps men step out of image and into intimacy, Tait opens up about the five emotional dead ends high-performing men face silently:1. Cynicism

2. Isolation

3. Numbing

4. Disorientation, and

5. Powerlessness.

They talk about what’s beneath the mask.And what happens when you finally take it off.

This episode will challenge you and confront you to name the things you’ve been afraid to admit. And in the process, it might also give you your next move.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

--The five emotional dead ends men face (and how to break out of them)

--Why most men go through life with 'olders' and not 'elders'

--How image becomes a prison, even when it looks successful

--The moment of truth: when your future stops matching your present

--Why your ego might be your greatest asset

--How to stop waiting, and start doing something that matters

What’s Next?

You don’t need to burn it all down to begin again.But you do need to be honest about where you are and where you’re headed.

Start by asking yourself which of the Five Dead Ends are you stuck in.

Then do the one thing most men never do: say it out loud.

Follow the movement on Substack if you haven't already. Lon shares his best work over there.Links & Resources:

Follow Lon on Substack: https://normal40.substack.com/

Book a Free Ramble with Lon: normal40.com (Click “Talk to Lon”)

Grab Lon’s book—The Trade: Amazon

Get the 14 Questions That Changed My Life: normal40.com

Follow Lon on LinkedIn: @LonStroschein

🔗 Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein

Connect with Tait here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taitarend/

Some trades don’t make sense—until they do.

This is one of them.

Keith Pochick was an ER doctor. Twenty years in. Saving lives. Leading teams. Teaching residents. Everything he was trained to do and everything the world told him he should want.

Until it stopped working.

This conversation started the way most do: a quiet nudge, a LinkedIn post, and a DM sent without a plan. Forty-eight hours later, Keith and I sat down for the first time. No prep, no script. Just two guys who had made The Trade™ and knew the cost.

He didn’t leave medicine on a whim. He left over years.One dissection. One advisory meeting. One tug from his future at a time.Until one day he said yes to something that had been whispering for years.

Now, he teaches middle school science.And he’s never felt more useful.

This isn’t a story about burnout. It’s a story about awakening—when staying felt heavier than leaving,when the “right thing” wasn’t the thing that felt true anymore,and when Keith finally stopped letting guilt steal his curiosity.

You’re going to feel this one.

And if you’re wondering whether it’s too late to start over...listen to the guy who did it—with no regrets, and no backup plan.

• Why Eric left a $400K Wall Street job to start over in medicine
• The anxiety spiral that nearly broke him and how he clawed his way back
• What panic feels like for elite performers (and why it’s so often hidden)
• Why mental health care is still out of reach for too many
• The power of marrying ambition with service
• How Frontier Psychiatry is transforming rural care across the U.S.

• You can wear the costume of success and still feel completely lost inside it.
• The pursuit of “brand” won’t protect you from burnout.
• Sometimes, you don’t need a new job. You need a new identity.
• Anxiety doesn’t make you weak. Ignoring it does.
• You don’t need to fix everything. You just need to advocate for yourself.
• What feels like unraveling might actually be your reassembly.

• Follow Lon on Substack: https://normal40.substack.com/
• Book a Free Ramble with Lon: normal40.com (Click “Talk to Lon”)
• Grab Lon’s book—The Trade: Amazon
• Get the 14 Questions That Changed My Life: normal40.com
• Follow Lon on LinkedIn: @LonStroschein