Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You said this was gonna be your year, but are you really gonna stick to that? Are you truly going to transform your.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Life once and for all and reach your full potential?
[00:00:09] Speaker A: The waiting and procrastination are over. It's time to rise to greatness. It's time to be the warrior king you were born to be. If it's your first time here. My name is Michael Riggs. I'm a full time author, entrepreneur, men's personal development and marriage, mentor, husband and father of six. And I teach men all over the world how to live fully optimized, leveled up lives. So if that's something you're into, defin, stick around. Subscribe to this podcast, subscribe to this YouTube channel, wherever you're getting this. Because this is what we do here every week. And today I'm sharing my top 10 things that you need to stop doing.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Immediately in order to reach your full potential.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Stick around. Hello and welcome to the Warrior Kings podcast. I'm your host, Michael Riggs, here to assist you on your journey to living a fully optimized, leveled up life as a man. So again, welcome and welcome back. It's great to be here today. It's great to talk to you today. We have just entered a new year 2026, and if you missed my last episode, I announced that we're gonna be on a more consistent schedule with the Warrior Kings podcast here. Moving forward, there's going to be a new episode every Sunday evening. So that if you go into your work week on Monday and you listen to your podcast on your commute, that episode will be ready on Monday morning every single week, or if you want to listen or watch on Sunday evening or anytime that next week. But basically what I'm saying is there will be a new episode every week launched on Sunday evening. And. And yeah, man, it is the start of a new year. Like I said, it's a time of reflecting on the previous year. It's a time for transformation, saying, this is how I'm going to do it this time. You know, I know there's like this stigma around New Year's resolutions and all that, but a new year is a time for transformation. It's a time to set new goals, have a new vision for the future. And there is nothing wrong with that. Despite what people are saying these days, you should start your year with new goals, new plans, new visions in mind. And for those of you that found this podcast because you wanted to, to level up your marriage, you wanted to learn how to become a better husband, a better man, for your family. I just put out the reforged Husband Complete system. You can find the link for that in the description of this podcast episode. It's a full online course with video lessons, reading portions, bonus resources, and more. It's basically the fast track to learning everything that I know about how to be a better husband, how to be the man that your wife can desire again, and how to completely transform your life. So definitely check that out if that's something you're interested in and I'll tell you right now. If you want to be a better husband, if you want to be a better leader for your family, you need it. And another option for you if you want to move into the new year with becoming the best husband and family man that you can be, I also have the book Warrior Husband how to be a better husband and save your marriage. That book came out exactly a year ago and it has already transformed the lives of thousands of men all over the world is my top selling book. And again, I put everything that I know about marriage, relationships and communication with women into that one book. So definitely check that out. That's another option for you if you're not really an online course kind of guy and you prefer a good book that's available in ebook, paperback and audiobook with digital voice. And the link to that is in the description as well. And with all that being said, let's dive right into it. The first thing that you need to stop doing immediately this year to reach your full potential is doubting yourself. Listen man, your perception is your reality. What you believe to be true is true. And if you are doubting yourself, you will never reach your full potential. If you doubt yourself, your life will reflect your doubt just the same as if you believe in yourself. Your life will reflect your belief. If you want to move into a future of adventure and abundance, if you want to live your dream life, if you want to reach your full potential, you have to have confidence and believe in yourself and stop doubting yourself. Think about any mega successful person. If they didn't believe in what they were doing, they wouldn't be successful. They would have never reached that success. They had to believe in the thing even when the thing seemed impossible. Even when nobody believed in them, even when nobody could see the dream except for them. They had to believe in themselves. If they didn't believe in themselves, they wouldn't have made that thing happen. So if you want to reach success in your life and in your endeavors, you must immediately stop doubting yourself.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Belief is everything.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Belief makes things Happen. You might have heard me talk about this before. There is great, great power in belief. And if you don't believe in yourself, if you don't believe in the thing that you're pursuing, the thing that you're doing, the thing that you're putting out there, it's probably not going to work out for you. So you need to lock down on doubting yourself. When those negative thoughts pop into your head, shift them immediately into a more positive thought. Realize that that doubt is false. Anytime you start doubting yourself, just flip it and tell yourself, no, that's not true because of X, Y and Z. And practice this consistently until you truly, truly believe in yourself and what you are doing. The second thing that you need to stop doing immediately is living in the past. Because here's the thing, you can't change the past. All you can control is the present and the future moving forward. Ruminating on experiences and playing them over and over in your head and even defining your life by them is one of the main causes of depression and anxiety. It's this thing called rumination. You're just dwelling in this thing that happened or this story. It could be something that happened 10, 15, 20 years ago, and you're still defining your life by it and dwelling on it every single day. So what I challenge you to do, if that's you, is to stop doing that immediately. Focus on what you're building right now, and then move into the future, because that's really all that matters. Like I said, you can't change the past. Basing the present and the future on past experiences hinders success. It will take your success away from you. Trust me, I used to define myself and my life by the worst things that ever happened to me. And I would use it as an excuse to suck in life. Honestly, to be honest with you, I would say you don't understand. This is why I am the way I am. Because these horrible things happened to me. It wasn't until I forgave, let go, stopped living in the past, and started moving into the future that my life truly changed and leveled up. And a trick of the mind is it will try to find evidence of why the future won't work because of past experiences. So, for example, if you're starting a new endeavor, a new dream, if you decide that you're gonna go after something, maybe you've failed at another endeavor in the past, your mind will try to find reasons why this new endeavor will fail because of that past experience. You'll sort of tell yourself it'll Pop into your head, it'll be like, this isn't gonna work because remember last time when I failed? And you can't let that happen. Stop living in the past. Live in the present and build your future intentionally. And you can't do that if you're stuck in the past, dwelling past experiences, past failures, past traumas, things that happen to you.
[00:06:58] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying?
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Move on, forgive, let go. And know that just because you failed in the past at something doesn't mean that you're going to fail in the future. And maybe the timing for that thing just wasn't right. And honestly, when you reach success in a future endeavor, something that you're actually supposed to be doing, that is your calling in your purpose, you might be happy that that thing that happened in the past didn't work out anyways, because you would be in a completely different place in life except that you cannot change the past. And.
And another huge opportunity with stopping living in the past is accepting that you are no longer that person. You are a new, better version of yourself. The third thing that you need to stop doing immediately in order to reach your full potential is negative self talk. And this relates strongly to the last two that we talked about. Because here's the thing. What you believe to be true about yourself is true. And if you're thinking negative thoughts about yourself all day long, if you're saying negative things to yourself and about yourself, eventually you are going to believe those things and eventually those things are going to be true. So what I want you to be really, really intentional about starting right now is stopping negative thought patterns about yourself. Negative self talk. Catch yourself when those thoughts enter your mind, whatever they may be. Maybe I'm not talented. Oh, I'm so stupid. I'm such an idiot. Why do I mess everything up? Nobody likes me. I'm not attractive or handsome enough. You know, whatever the things are, as soon as those things pop into your head, stop them and replace them with a thought. Speak to yourself. Kindly say, I am confident. I am handsome and attractive. I am talented. I'm unstoppable. You know, whatever the positive thing is, that works for you. And it might feel a little bit ridiculous at first, you know, your mind will kind of try to trick you to tell you that that thing isn't true. Like, so you stop one negative thought and then you say, I'm a confident, courageous person. Your mind might at first be like, no, you're not, because of X, Y and Z. And your mind will start to spiral. Stop those thoughts as well and replace those with positive thoughts. And the more that you do this consist, the more you will believe those positive things. It's like reprogramming your mind. And there's this old phrase that says speak what you seek till you see what you said. Which is basically saying, for example, when I started this podcast and it started to grow, I said I teach thousands of men all over the world how to live fully optimized, leveled up lives. And now going into 2026 that is a reality. I reach thousands of men all over the world with this podcast and these messages. Spotify Wrapped said that just on Spotify reached men in over hundred countries. Speak what you seek till you see what you said and the danger there is. If you're speaking negative things all the time, you will see what you said. So only speak and think positive thoughts about yourself, your life, your endeavors, your future, everything. Honestly, you have to brainwash yourself into thinking that you are. The fourth thing that you need to stop doing immediately in order to reach your full potential is caring what other people think. It's your life, not theirs. Life is short man. Don't base your life on the thoughts, opinions, judgments of other people. Don't hold yourself back in life because somebody might think something about you. Don't hold back from being your true authentic self because you might get embarrassed. Because other people might think X, y and Z about you. The thoughts, opinions and judgments of other people do not matter. What they think about you does not matter. You become dangerous when you stop caring what other people think. When you can truly be your authentic, true self, you become a force to be reckoned with. When nothing can hurt you, nothing can embarrass you, nothing can harm you or shut you down or stop you in your tracks. You are unstoppable because you are just authentically you. And here's another thing man. The people that don't like the true, authentic you, the real you, aren't for you anyways. And they can just get lost immediately and finally even stop caring what other people think about you. And this will jump start your success and move you closer than ever before to your full potential. The fifth thing that you need to stop doing immediately in order to reach your full potential is, is procrastination. Because listen man, time is still moving. Even in the waiting. Whatever that thing is that you want to go for, whatever that dream version of yourself looks like, whatever your calling and your purpose is, stop putting it off. Do not waste your life. Because honestly, if you are spending all your time waiting for Conditions to be perfect, waiting for the perfect time, just putting those things off. What it really comes down to is that you are wasting your life. And I realize this about myself all the time, bro. I am right there with you. There are so many, many things that I want to do in this life that I keep putting off. And that might sound crazy based on everything else that I talk about and all that I have done, you know, all the accomplishments that I have achieved. There are so many things that I still want to do in this life that I keep putting off. I say I'll do it even tomorrow.
[00:11:52] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying?
[00:11:53] Speaker A: Tomorrow's the day that I'm gonna get started. The problem with that is that time is still moving. I'm still getting older. So you need to immediately stop. Stop procrastinating in your life. Stop putting those things off. I mean, are you going to let your life pass you by and live in future regret? Or are you going to become everything that you want to be right now? Because you know for a fact that if you stopped waiting and you actually did everything that you want to do that you would be the dream version of yourself. So just do it, and I implore you, I beg you, even, do not waste your life. I'm just gonna cut in here for a quick minute to talk about the Reforged Husband Complete System. Really quick. Like I said, if you want to be the best husband that you can be, if you want to level up your marriage like never before, I just put out the Reforged Husband Complete System online course. There's a link for that in the description of this podcast episode. It is the fast track to everything that I know about marriage, relationships, and how to be the best man that you can be. The man that your wife desires again, the man that your wife truly deserves. So if you want that transformation, check out the Reforged Husband Complete System online course.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Most men don't lose their marriage overnight. They lose it slowly, with one missed moment, one argument, one broken promise at a time.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: If you're here, you felt it.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: The tension, the quiet, the feeling of being unwanted. Not because she doesn't love you, but.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: Because you both drifted into patterns that.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: You never meant to create. But here's the truth. Your marriage doesn't need a miracle. It needs a man who's willing to leave lead. A man who chooses responsibility over blame, presence over passivity, strength over comfort. That's why I created Reforged Husband, a.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Step by step system for men who.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Refuse to give up and are ready to rebuild themselves first so their marriage can follow, level up and thrive. My name is Michael Riggs.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: I'm the author of Warrior Husband, how to be a better husband and save your marriage.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Husband and father, father of six and host of the Warrior Kings podcast, a show that has now reached tens of thousands of men in more than 100 countries.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: And for the last few years, I've.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: Helped men all over the world reforge themselves and rebuild their marriages from the inside out. And I teach everything I learned over the years to thousands of men all over the world. And in this course, I will walk you through the exact framework to reclaim your leadership, restore connection, and become the grounded, respected man that your wife can trust again. This isn't theory. It's transformation. If you're ready to stop drifting, if you're ready to rise, if you're ready to lead your home with strength and clarity again, this is your initiation. This is where the warrior husband in you is forged. Your reforging begins now. Welcome to Reforged Husband.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: And let's get back to the episode and number six on this list of things that you need to stop doing immediately to reach your full potential is sharing too much and not setting boundaries. Move in silence to protect your energy and the energy of your endeavors. Because what it really comes down to is it's nobody's business. It's nobody's business but your own. And this one is all about going after your dream life, going after your calling and your purpose, your endeavors. You understand what I'm saying? When you start the thing, when you're building the thing, or when you put the thing out there, only tell the people that need to know and make sure that those people support you in the thing. And this goes for all endeavors. Like, let's say that you want to get a new house and so you're shopping for houses there. No need to tell everybody to post on your social media, to tell your extended family members that you're looking for a house and allow their energy to be a part of that thing. Keep it silent, keep it quiet, move in silence, get the house and then reveal it to everybody and say, check out my new house.
[00:15:47] Speaker C: You understand what I'm saying?
[00:15:48] Speaker A: It's a little bit on the woo woo side, but there is great power in moving in silence because it doesn't allow people's negative energy to be directed towards the thing. You know, people get envious, they get jealous, they don't believe in the thing. They, you know, if you're going after an endeavor, a dream that Might think the thing is stupid and you don't need that negative energy on your endeavors. Just believe in the future that you can see. Go after the thing and then after it's built, after it's accomplished, after you have the thing, then tell everybody about it. That's what I did with this podcast. I didn't tell anybody about it until it was pretty big, you know what I'm saying? And I have had more success with this than any other endeavor. And I used to share everything. I would post on Instagram stories, I would text people about it, be like, I'm writing a new book. There's no need for them to know that. Write the book book, then tell people about it. Trust me, this will level up your success in your endeavors like you can't even imagine. And another thing about that is don't give people the freedom to give you bad advice if they've never done the thing, if they're not living your dream life, if you wouldn't trade places with them because their life and their career and everything is so awesome, then you don't need to be taking their advice. And one thing that telling people about everything is like, let's go back to the new house example for a minute. If you open up to, let's say, a family member and say, I'm shopping for houses, they're going to come at you with all kinds of opinions. And you need to do this. You need to make sure this. You need to X, Y and Z. You know, and they might not even have any experience in shopping for a house or buying a house, you know what I'm saying? So that gives them permission. It's almost like a invitation for bad advice. Just another benefit of moving in silence. Back to the book example. Writing a book, you might say, I'm writing a novel. This person might say, oh, I have some advice about that. Here's how you do it. And it needs to be this way. And have you checked if this is correct and this is just completely unnecessary? Moving in silence allows you to do what you know is true and right without the bad advice of other people. Because if they aren't living your dream life, if they aren't who you want to be, then their advice is useless. The seventh thing on this list of things that you need to stop doing immediately is not systemizing your life. And what do I mean by systemizing your life? Well, most people wake up not knowing what they're going to do. They kind of decide that morning, what tasks am I going to complete today? Even when it comes to things like personal hygiene, grooming, taking care of yourself, it's like they get to the bathroom to take a shower and they're like, okay, I guess I'm doing this today, you know? There need to be systems in place if you want to be as effective as you can be in your endeavors and in your life. To do things in the most efficient way possible. You need to have clear direction and a clear plan. Your days need to be planned out ahead of time. It could be in checklists, it could be in a note in your phone, it could be in alarms that you set on your phone that remind you to complete certain tasks at a certain time of day. But there has to be systems in place. And what you need to stop doing immediately is not systemizing your life. Not waking up every day, just not knowing what to do, just letting life happen to you. Systemize everything. Your daily schedule, your weekly schedule, your monthly schedule. Like I said, this could go down to even simple things like personal hygiene and grooming. You can have an entire schedule laid out for that. Like what you're doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. To keep self care in check.
[00:18:59] Speaker C: You understand what I'm saying?
[00:19:00] Speaker A: Keep a workout schedule. Don't do just walk into the gym or however you choose to work out, not knowing what you're going to do and picking random things. No, there needs to be a system in place for that to be as effective as you can be with your endeavors, your calling, your purpose, your dreams. Make systems for that to make sure that you are getting that work done. Because it's very easy when you don't have a clear plan, a clear schedule, a clear direction, a clear system to skip way too many days going after the thing. Trust me, I used to do that all the time. Like when I would be writing a book. Well, how much am I writing per day? I have no idea. I just sit down and write when I want to. But what if there was a system to where Monday through Friday I'm going to write one chapter of a book every single day, or Monday through Friday I'm going to write a thousand words every single day from 7am to whatever time. That's way more effective.
[00:19:49] Speaker C: You understand what I'm saying?
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Like there have to be systems in place and the thing that you need to stop doing immediately is not systemizing your life, not scheduling your life ahead of time. Trust me, this will have a huge impact on how much progress you make. And like I said when we were talking about procrastination, time is still moving in the waiting time isn't stopping to wait for you. The ninth thing on this list is not practicing gratitude. You have to stop not practicing gratitude right away. The thing about gratitude is it multiplies good and it multiplies abundance. You have to be happy with what you have at the level you're at. Be thankful and grateful for it and actually feel that gratitude deeply. Practice gratitude daily, even about the small things. Be thankful when you're eating food. Say thank you for this food, God. Feel gratitude for the home that you live in, the car that you drive, even if that car sucks, bro. Be like, thank God I have a car to get me to work and back or wherever I'm going.
[00:20:46] Speaker C: You understand what I'm saying?
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Become present and aware of what you do have and stop focusing on what you don't. Because there is great, great danger in having a lack mindset. Feelings of lack, not feelings of abundance. One thing about gratitude and practicing gratitude is recognizing and feeling deeply that you actually do have so much. And it is about feeling it and feeling it deeply. That's what practic gratitude is. It's not just reminding yourself to say, oh, I'm so thankful for this food. No, it's like taking a minute to actually think about it, reflect and feel it. It's like a full body feeling that you are just so grateful and thankful for what you have. Practice gratitude every single day and watch your life level up and thrive. The tenth and final thing, and this is critical, the tenth and final thing on this list of things you need to stop doing immediately to reach your full potential is not pursuing your purpose. You need to find your purpose and your calling. It is belief that there is a purpose and a calling for every person in this world. But the thing about it is we have free will and we. We can basically do anything we want in this life. And because of that, a lot of us miss our purpose and our calling. But what you need to do is find your purpose, find your calling, and then pursue that thing relentlessly. Even if you think you don't have time. Systemize the time like we talked about before. Get rid of distractions that take up your time and keep you from your purpose in your calling. Like, think about it. You don't have time to build your dream life, but you have time to drink beer, watch football and play golf and whatever else you've been doing.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: You understand what I'm saying?
[00:22:17] Speaker A: Watching Netflix, keeping up with the latest shows and movies on whatever streaming service that you prefer. You have time for that. Systemize and Set aside time to even slowly at first, begin building the thing. What is that thing that has been calling to you that you know you should be doing, that you're passionate about, that is in service to other people? Find that thing and then make it happen. All of us have unique gifts, and all of us can choose whether to serve people and the world with those unique gifts or not. And if you are not serving other people and contributing with your unique talents and gifts, and if you are not pursuing your calling and your purpose, ultimately you are wasting your Life. So number 10, and the most critical thing on this list is not pursuing your purpose and your calling. But this is a new year, man. Like I said, we have just entered 2026. It sounds crazy just saying it like that. You know, I. I feel like we just entered 2025. Life is flying by these days. But for me and for you, this of great change, great transformation is happening. It's already happening. The wheels are already in motion, bro. We are going to a whole nother level and we get to do that together. So definitely stick around. Subscribe to this podcast, subscribe to this YouTube channel, and let's grow together. Definitely. Connect with me in the comments, wherever you're getting this to let me know how this episode has impacted your life, has inspired you, has opened your eyes to whatever your main takeaway is. I definitely want to hear from you. But, yeah, that's what I got for you guys today. I hope you got something out of this episode. Get out there, kill it. Level up every aspect of your life. Get better every single day. There is a great calling and a great purpose for you in this life. You listening to this right now? A life of overflowing abundance awaits you on the other side of you deciding to make the switch, make the change, and level up every aspect of your life. I love you. I'm proud of you, and I'll see you guys on the next one. Thanks, guys. Bye.
