I Dare You Podcast

Happy New Year! Yes — right now. January is so overrated.

In this solo episode of I Dare You, I’m challenging you to stop waiting for January 1 to start building the life you say you want.

Because January doesn’t create your results. January reveals them.

In this episode, I share why fall is better than the new year to reset, refocus, and get moving. While everyone else is waiting for a clean calendar, a fresh planner, or a burst of New Year motivation, you can use the final stretch of the year as your head start.

This is delayed gratification in action: doing the work now so the results show up later.

I’ll walk you through my simple 100-Day Head Start Framework so you can enter January with momentum, confidence, and proof.

You’ll learn how to:



Use the fresh start effect without waiting for the new year

Pick your proof so you know exactly what you’re building

Plan your reps so your goal becomes a system, not a wish

Prove it to yourself through small promises kept over time

Stay consistent when life interrupts — because it will



This episode isn’t about making another resolution.

It’s about becoming the kind of person who keeps promises to yourself when no one is watching.

So here’s the dare: start now, stack the reps, and walk into January with proof.

Happy New Year. Hit play, and let’s go.

As a special gift for I Dare You listeners, gain access to the FREE Atomic Habits Toolkit to help you put the principles in the episode into practice.

Go to idareyoupod.com to grab your FREE toolkit. No catch.

Connect with Darrin Johnson:

www.idareyoupod.com

Instagram: @idareyoupod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IDareYouPod

TikTok: @idareyoupod

If your calendar is packed, your inbox is overflowing, and you still end every day feeling behind, you need this episode.

I’m thrilled to welcome Roy Schwartz, co-founder of Axios and Axios HQ, former Chief Revenue Officer at Politico, executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning Axios on HBO, and co-author of the bestseller Smart Brevity.

His new book, Simplify: Do 50 Percent More with 50 Percent Less, offers a practical framework for overcoming “toxic complexity” and focusing on what matters most.

AI promised to make work easier. Instead, it has created more meetings, content, decisions, and noise competing for our attention.The problem isn’t that we can’t do enough. It’s that we’re trying to do too much.

The people who thrive in the AI era won’t be those who adopt the most tools. They’ll know what to eliminate—and what truly deserves their attention.

You’ll learn:

Why complexity keeps you overwhelmed

How to eliminate unnecessary meetings and commitments

Why Roy recommends “meeting bankruptcy”

How ego keeps your calendar full

How to use AI as your “chief simplicity officer”

Why your strengths matter more than ever

Press play—then choose one thing to confront, one thing to delete, and one thing to amplify.

As a special gift for I Dare You listeners, gain access to the FREE Atomic Habits Toolkit to help you put the principles in the episode into practice.

Go to idareyoupod.com to grab your FREE toolkit. No catch.

Connect with Roy:

Instagram:@axios

LinknedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royschwartz/

What if your 5:00 p.m. food spiral isn’t a discipline problem?

What if you’re simply asking the most exhausted version of yourself to make one more decision?

In this episode of I Dare You, my special guest is Cassy Joy Garcia, New York Times bestselling author of The Protein Meal Prep Plan, Cook Once Dinner Fix, Cook Once Eat All Week, and Fed & Fit—and the creative force behind the popular wellness platform Fed & Fit.

Since launching Fed & Fit in 2011, Cassy has become a holistic nutrition consultant and built a trusted online resource supported by a team of writers, researchers, and editors. Her practical approach was born from a deeply personal realization: despite her expertise, she was struggling to get healthy, homemade dinners on the table—just like her readers.

What helped her move forward wasn’t perfection, restriction, or another punishing plan. It was learning to play offense with her health through small, sustainable decisions.

Now, her newest book, The Protein Meal Prep Plan, brings that philosophy to life with 30 weekly plans and 180 family-friendly recipes, each designed to deliver at least 35 grams of protein per serving. It’s a realistic system for preparing nutritious food before exhaustion and decision fatigue take over.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

Why you may need more protein than you think

How to avoid the end-of-day takeout spiral

Why protein and fiber work better together

How one prep session can create three completely different dinners

Why strength training isn’t reserved for “gym people”

How to make healthy choices easier before life gets chaotic

The small morning habit that can become the first domino in transforming your health

But this episode is about far more than food.

It’s about your energy. Your future. And deciding that your family, your leadership, your dreams, and your life deserve a well-fueled version of you.

If you’ve been telling yourself, “I’ll take care of myself when life calms down,” press play.

As a special gift for I Dare You listeners, gain access to the FREE Atomic Habits Toolkit to help you put the principles in the episode into practice.

Go to idareyoupod.com to grab your FREE toolkit. No catch.

Connect with Cassy Joy Garcia:

www.fedandfit.com

Instagram: @fedandfit

Youtube: @fedandFit

TikTok: @fedandfit

Stop living your life on a dimmer switch. In this episode of I Dare You, I’m calling out the trap that catches so many of us in midlife: having a full calendar, but feeling completely flat inside.

While the wellness world obsesses over lifespan (how long you live) and healthspan (how long your body works), I share why the missing metric we’re all starving for is SOULSPAN—the years you refuse to disappear.

You didn’t come this far to become the CEO of Maintenance.

In this episode, we get into:



The Dimmer Switch Trap: Why midlife numbness is a slow dial-down, not a blown fuse

The Waiting Room Syndrome: Breaking the lie of waiting for life to "slow down"

The 4 Markers of Soulspan: Vitality, Courage, Belonging, and Anticipation

The 12-Word Text: The exact zero-friction script to revive a drifting friendship today

The 30-Second Calendar Dare: Putting proof of aliveness back on your schedule



And as a special gift for I Dare You listeners, get access to the FREE Atomic Habits Toolkit to help you put the principles in the episode into practice.

Go to idareyoupod.com to grab your FREE toolkit. No catch.

Connect with Darrin Johnson:

www.idareyoupod.com

Instagram: @idareyoupod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IDareYouPod

TikTok: @idareyoupod

Stop letting broken workplace rules hijack your day. In this episode of I Dare You, I’m joined by award-winning psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Ron Friedman to tear down the myths keeping you and your team stuck in survival mode.

Backed by the largest study of high-performing teams ever conducted in his new bestselling book, Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams, Dr. Friedman breaks down the exact, research-backed moves you need right now to take back control of your time, build fierce peer accountability, and unlock your real potential.

In this episode, we get into:



The Anatomy of a Superteam

The Toxic Meeting Trap (and Attention Residue)

The Uncomfortable Question Every Real Leader Asks

Why 97% of Traditional Feedback Fails

The Secret Cognitive Power of Movement

Ron’s Simple, High-Impact I Dare You Experiment Challenge



About Dr. Ron Friedman:
Ron Friedman, PhD, is an award-winning psychologist, founder of Superteams, Inc., and bestselling author of The Best Place to Work, Decoding Greatness, and Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams. An expert on human motivation and peak performance, Dr. Friedman has served on the faculties of the University of Rochester, Nazareth College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He contributes regularly to Harvard Business Review—where his article “How to Build a Superteam That Keeps Getting Better” was a recent cover story—and his work has also been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Bloomberg, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal.

🔗 Connect with Dr. Ron Friedman & Get the Book:

Website: ronfriedmanphd.com

Workshops & Keynotes: superteamsinc.com

Book: Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams (includes free masterclass and discussion guide)

Follow Ron: LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and YouTube (@ronfriedmanphd) | X (@ronfriedman)