Do Hard Things™ with Siegfried Tiegs

Siegfried "SIG" Jay Tiegs
  • 4.8 (54)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Biweekly

Do Hard Things™ is the podcast for driven people in their 30s to 50s who are done drifting, and ready to get focused, energized, and clear.  Hosted by Siegfried "Sig" Tiegs, CHPC, MBA, MSc — Major, U.S. Army (Ret.), Amazon Best Selling author, and high-performance coach.   Each episode delivers raw conversations, real stories, and practical strategies to help you stop performing and start building a peaceful, powerful, and productive life.  Expect episodes on:  · Running, Rucking, Cycling, Adventure Racing & Endurance Sports · High-performance habits and identity  · Breathwork and mental resilience · Life transitions — military, career, relationships · Fasting, energy, and physical discipline · Leadership, purpose, and the Peaceful Warrior path  This isn't just motivation. It's a blueprint and tactics to help you win.  Start Here – Coaching,  Join the Do Hard Things Nation, Get the Book: Life on Offense https://linktr.ee/dohardthingscoaching Email: sig@dohardthingsnation.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaytiegs Join the Do Hard Things Nation at www.dohardthingsnation.com

  1. 9h ago

    Be Impeccable With Your Word - How to Have the Conversation You've Been Avoiding

    Send us Fan Mail I got invited on a podcast with a significant following. Real show. I was excited about it. Ten minutes before we go live, I get a message. Feeling under the weather, need to reschedule. Fine. People get sick. We reschedule two weeks out. This morning, ten minutes before the show, another cancellation. No explanation this time. I'm not outing anybody. He's just the example that showed up on my calendar. And once I got past being annoyed, I realized it wasn't a character problem at all. It was a difference in standards. He was operating exactly to his. I come from a world where if you're on time, you're late. So this episode is about your word — what it's worth, what it costs you when you break it, and how to call somebody out when they break theirs. ------------------------------------------- THE FIRST AGREEMENT A lot of you have read The Four Agreements. The first one is "be impeccable with your word." Most people read that and hear "don't lie." That's not what it says. Ruiz breaks the word apart. Impeccable comes from the Latin for "without sin," and he defines a sin as anything you do against yourself. The first agreement was never about the other guy. Being impeccable with your word is about what breaking it does to YOU. ------------------------------------------- THE TWO COSTS Every broken word costs you twice. OUTSIDE YOU, and you never see it. Most people won't tell you. They get annoyed, they write you off quietly, and the invite doesn't come back. The referral goes to somebody else. Nobody sends you a bill for a broken agreement. Your reputation is a pile of decisions other people made about you and never told you about. INSIDE YOU, and this is the one that compounds. Every time you say you'll do something and you don't, some part of you files it away. Then you go set a real goal — the business, the race, the hard conversation — and some part of you won't buy in. You'll call it fear or bad timing or lack of motivation. It's none of those. It's an accurate risk assessment. The man making the promise has a track record, and you've read it. ------------------------------------------- YOUR WORD: HONOR IT. OWN IT. CLEAN IT UP. HONOR IT — starts before you say yes. Most broken words start as a yes you should never have given. "I can't commit to that" is a real answer and people respect it more than a yes you don't mean.  OWN IT — when you break one, name it in one sentence with no "because" in it. The second you add traffic or the kids or how busy it's been, you've stopped owning it and started defending yourself. CLEAN IT UP — an apology is free, so it isn't a cleanup. Do something that costs you. Reschedule on their calendar. Deliver early. Eat the expense. The cost is the point WORK WITH ME If you're good at what you do and can't figure out why it isn't compounding — if you keep making promises to yourself in January and quietly renegotiating them by March — if your team says yes and you can't count on it and you suspect it starts with you — that's not a discipline problem. That's a self-trust problem. And you don't fix that one alone, because you're the one who's been keeping the record. Coaching: https://www.dohardthingscoaching.com Speaking: https://www.dohardthingscoaching.com/speaking ------------------------------------------- Siegfried "Sig" Tiegs is a keynote speaker, high-performance coach, and co-author of the Amazon best seller Life on Offense: A Tactical Guide to Dominate Life and End Mediocrity. A retired Army Major with 27 years of service, he hosts the Do Hard Things™ podcast and coaches high performers at dohardthingscoaching.com. GRIT. PURPOSE. PEACE. Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  2. 6d ago

    Getting Skunked - I Was Certain I Was Right and I Was Dead Wrong

    Send us Fan Mail At 2:03 in the morning I woke up to the light on and the shower running. Our dog Koda had taken a direct hit from a skunk. My first coherent thought, standing in the hallway in my shorts, was that we didn't have any tomato juice. Because that's what you do. Everybody knows that. My grandmother knew it, your neighbor knows it, and Google will still tell you so this morning. It doesn't work. It never has. And what got me wasn't being wrong. It was how sure I'd been. Tomato juice wasn't a guess I'd have defended if you pushed me — it was a fact I had, the same way I know a stop sign is red. I couldn't tell you where I picked it up or when. And in forty-some years it never occurred to me to check. So this episode is about the things you've never checked. EVERYTHING YOU DO IS EITHER INHERITED OR CHOSEN. Inherited means somebody handed it to you and you never checked it. Chosen means you tested it and kept it on purpose. From the inside, those two feel exactly the same. That's the whole problem. Three questions to tell them apart: SOURCE — Where did I get this? If you can't name the source, you inherited it. MECHANISM — How does it actually work? Walk the steps out loud. EVIDENCE — What has it actually produced? Left column what it was supposed to do, right column what it has done. Then give it a verdict. Keep it. Kill it. Or test it — set a date and a number and go look when the date comes. There's no fourth option where you keep doing it and don't think about it. That's the one that got you here.------------------------------------------- THE SKUNK FORMULA (Paul Krebaum, 1993) 2 cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide 1/4 cup baking soda 1–2 teaspoons Dawn dish soap Mix it fresh in an open container. Never seal it in a closed bottle — the reaction releases oxygen and a capped container can burst. Keep it out of the eyes. Work it into the fur, let it sit five minutes, rinse, repeat as needed. It works because skunk spray is made of compounds called thiols. The peroxide and baking soda oxidize them into something odorless — the molecule itself changes. Tomato juice never touches the thiol. It sits on top of it and waits to wear off.------------------------------------------- WORK WITH ME If you're running a life you didn't actually pick — the career you fell into, the routine you inherited, the version of yourself somebody else decided on — that's not a motivation problem. That's a life full of inherited defaults nobody ever audited. That's what The Forge is. Twelve months, a rope team of men doing the same work, and somebody in your corner asking you question two about the things you can't see by yourself. Coaching: https://www.dohardthingscoaching.com Speaking: https://www.dohardthingscoaching.com/speaking ------------------------------------------- Siegfried "Sig" Tiegs is a keynote speaker, high-performance coach, and co-author of the Amazon best seller Life on Offense: A Tactical Guide to Dominate Life and End Mediocrity. A retired Army Major with 27 years of service, he hosts the Do Hard Things™ podcast and coaches high performers at dohardthingscoaching.com. GRIT. PURPOSE. PEACE. Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  3. Sep 1

    Why It Gets Harder Before It Gets Better - The Emotional Cycle of Change

    Send us Fan Mail Two months before the Missouri River 340, we lost the boat. High water, a headwind we hadn't planned for, and a log. My partner Joe and I spent forty-five minutes in the river swimming for a dike while my canoe went downstream with my sunglasses and my Bose speaker. We walked back down the Katy Trail covered in mud with paddles in our hands and nothing else. That night we were done. Not weighing our options. Done. This episode is about what happened next, and about the curve that explains it. The Emotional Cycle of Change was mapped in the 1970s and it has five stages, and stage three is where almost everybody quits. Not most people who fail. Most people, period. I've taught this curve for years and it still put me at the bottom of my own diagram. Knowing the name of it didn't take an ounce of weight off. What it did was show me the decision point. In this episode: • Why day one feels great and why that never lasts  • The five stages of the Emotional Cycle of Change, and how to find yourself on the curve  • The b******t belief that takes more people out than the difficulty ever does  • Why flow feels like ease but never is, and what inspiration actually means  • Scoring lead indicators instead of lag when the results have gone silent  • The one test for telling a valley from a dead end  • Five tactics for getting through the part where it gets worse before it gets better Stage three doesn't end with a feeling. It ends with a decision. Here's how to make that call on purpose. Do Hard Things Coaching: www.dohardthingscoaching.com BLOG on this topic: https://www.dohardthingscoaching.com/blog/%2Fwhy-it-gets-harder-before-it-gets-better Life on Offense on Amazon: Amazon.com :Life on Offense GRIT. PURPOSE. PEACE. Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  4. Aug 24

    Why You Keep Breaking Promises to Yourself and 5 Tactics to Help You Become Sovereign

    Send us Fan Mail Why You Keep Breaking Promises to Yourself and 5 Tactics to Help You  Become Sovereign I got caught by a bag of Doritos. Standing in my pantry at nine o'clock at night, hand in the bag, not hungry — scared of a presentation I hadn't given yet. Twenty-seven years in uniform. Marathons, ultras, a 340-mile paddle race. And a program running underneath all of it that I never authorized and never noticed. It took a 72-hour fast to show me that. Day two, I found myself standing at the pantry door with my hand on it, having made no decision to walk in there at all. This episode is about a word: sovereign. What it actually means, why almost nobody examines their own life, and how to take back ground you didn't know you were losing. In this episode: • The promise-break-quiet-repeat cycle, and why breaking it is so easy it doesn't even register  • The b******t belief that stops most people from ever looking — you either have a problem or you don't  • The 31-day test that tells you the truth about what has a grip on you  • The four costs every comfort habit charges: self-trust, energy, presence, and peace  • Five tactics for taking the ground back, including the four obstacle effects I learned as a combat engineer — disrupt, turn, fix, and block  • What to say at the cookout when somebody gives you a hard time The question underneath all of it: what percentage of your choices are actually yours? Fast and Focused 31 Day Challenge: Do Hard Things™ — Grit, Peace & Purpose Life on Offense on Amazon: Amazon.com: Life on Offense: Do HARD Things; A Tactical Guide to Dominate Life and End Mediocrity: 9798299067798: Tiegs, Siegfried "Jay", Thornton, James E.: Books Full written version:  Why You Keep Breaking Promises to Yourself  GRIT. PURPOSE. PEACE. Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  5. May 6

    Recovery Is Training with Nicole Ward - The Executive Athlete

    Send us Fan Mail You can be “crushing it” and still feel like something is breaking inside. That tension is where our conversation with Nicole Ward lives and it gets practical fast. Nicole is an executive leader at Aon, host of the Executive Athlete Podcast, and author of Biohacking for the Sales Athlete. Together, we unpack why so many capable leaders run on adrenaline, caffeine, and willpower while quietly drifting out of alignment physically, mentally, and spiritually. We make the case that recovery is training, not a reward you earn after you’re exhausted. Nicole shares real recovery tools that high performers can actually use: walking outside for sunlight, short breathwork and box breathing breaks, yoga and mobility, red light therapy, and simple sensory resets that calm the nervous system. We also call out “empty-calorie recovery” like doom scrolling, late-night screens, and drinking as a default off switch, and we talk about how circadian rhythm and sleep hygiene change everything. Nicole opens up about a near-fatal car accident that became her wake-up call, plus what she learned rebuilding her health from the ground up. If you’ve been tempted by supplements, peptides, and the latest biohacking trends, we’ll help you start with fundamentals first: dial in sleep with two or three changes, track your food for a week or two to find macro and micronutrient gaps, then consider wearables for biofeedback and accountability. We close with a powerful mindset shift: your personal “stack” of experiences and tools can become your superpower as a leader. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a high performer who needs a reset, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Connect with Nicole Ward: nicoleward11@gmail.com Linked In: Nicole Elizabeth Ward | LinkedIn Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  6. Apr 29

    When Life Flips Your Canoe: Lessons Learned When We Got Our Ass Kicked Training for the MR340

    Send us Fan Mail Two hours into what should’ve been a normal MR340 training paddle on the Missouri River, our canoe flipped and everything got real fast: cold water, whitecaps, drifting gear, and a current that wouldn’t let us “just kick to shore.” I’m Sigfre J Teagues, and I’m walking you through what happened with my buddy Joe, moment by moment, because the details are where the real lessons live. When you’re training for the Missouri River 340, it’s easy to obsess over cadence, nutrition, technique, and grit. Then the river hands you a test you didn’t schedule. We talk about how wind plus current changes the entire equation, why overconfidence turns into cut corners, and how incomplete preparation shows up when chaos hits. You’ll hear the hardest call I had to make: letting thousands of dollars of canoe and equipment float away so I could stay in position to help my partner. “People over possessions” sounds like a slogan until you’re forced to prove it. After we get out, we debrief what we got wrong, what we got right, and why humility and community matter as much as toughness. If you’re into endurance racing, river safety, resilience, or mindset training for hard things, this one lands. Subscribe, share this with a friend who trains hard, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what would you let go of when life flips your canoe? Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  7. Apr 15

    The Six Pillars Of High Performance

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

  8. Apr 7

    From Rock Bottom to Racing Triumphs: Nick Klingensmith's Journey of Resilience and Reinvention

    Send us Fan Mail When life throws a curveball, some strike out, while others, like Nick Klingensmith, turn it into a home run. With over 100 Spartan races under his belt, Nick's story isn't just about athletic prowess—it's a raw, unfiltered look at overcoming cancer, addiction, and the universal quest for purpose. Step into our latest episode, where determination meets vulnerability, and discover how Nick transformed his lowest point into a starting line for a life of resilience. Nick's candid conversation takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions and achievements. From the eye-opening ejection from a Las Vegas hotel to the adrenaline of obstacle course racing, his journey is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for growth and reinvention. As you tune in, feel the grit and passion that propelled him through the challenges, and let his experience be the catalyst for questioning your own boundaries and what lies beyond them. Wrapping up, we reflect on the broader implications of Nick's personal odyssey. Whether it's battling chronic health issues or facing the mental hurdles of daily life, his insights offer a blueprint for tapping into our inner reserves of strength. This episode isn't just a narrative—it's a call to action, inviting you to embrace the disciplined mindset needed to carve out a meaning-packed path, no matter what obstacles loom ahead. Join us for an invigorating discussion that might just change the way you approach your own life's race. Welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast with your host Jay Tiegs, Are you ready to amplify and improve your life? Then you are in the right place.  On this podcast we have unfiltered conversation with inspiring people who take on challenges and share with us, the wisdom from their journey. We talk about how doing hard things adequately enable all of us to deal with life's struggles and challenges and ultimately improve the quality of our lives.  Support the show Big things are happening inside Do Hard Things Nation, and I want you with us. Want more support? Join the Do Hard Things Wellness Academy. Four coaches. Weekly mindset training, movement, breathwork, meditation, book club, and challenges. Join as a member here: 👉 skool.com/dohardthings/about Our book, Life on Offense, is now an Amazon Best Seller!  Grab a copy and leave a review.  👉 Get the book on Amazon Grab Your Do Hard Things Gear and Apparel. Show the world you Do Hard Things with high-quality apparel!  👉Gear — Do Hard Things Nation And don’t forget—the Do Hard Things 5K, 9.11 Mile Run, and 9.11 Mile Ruck is happening in September. There’s even a virtual option—so no excuses. Sign up here: 👉 dohardthingsnation.com/events

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4.8
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About

Do Hard Things™ is the podcast for driven people in their 30s to 50s who are done drifting, and ready to get focused, energized, and clear.  Hosted by Siegfried "Sig" Tiegs, CHPC, MBA, MSc — Major, U.S. Army (Ret.), Amazon Best Selling author, and high-performance coach.   Each episode delivers raw conversations, real stories, and practical strategies to help you stop performing and start building a peaceful, powerful, and productive life.  Expect episodes on:  · Running, Rucking, Cycling, Adventure Racing & Endurance Sports · High-performance habits and identity  · Breathwork and mental resilience · Life transitions — military, career, relationships · Fasting, energy, and physical discipline · Leadership, purpose, and the Peaceful Warrior path  This isn't just motivation. It's a blueprint and tactics to help you win.  Start Here – Coaching,  Join the Do Hard Things Nation, Get the Book: Life on Offense https://linktr.ee/dohardthingscoaching Email: sig@dohardthingsnation.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaytiegs Join the Do Hard Things Nation at www.dohardthingsnation.com

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