The Inner Circle

Mike Brown/Kevin Dahlstrom
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Kevin Dahlstrom and Mike Brown are devoted to exploring one question: what makes a truly great life? The Inner Circle is a behind-the-scenes look into the conversations that they have off-camera. Join them for raw, unfiltered thoughts about money, work, identity, purpose, relationships, and spirituality. This show is a place to think out loud. Ideas do not need to be polished. Disagreement is welcome. The only requirement is honesty and a willingness to follow the truth—wherever it leads. The value comes from two people who trust each other enough to challenge assumptions, name blind spots, and stay in the conversation when it gets uncomfortable. Each episode focuses on a single topic and runs roughly fifteen minutes. The discussion is direct and unscripted, with the occasional guest joining when it adds perspective. Inner Circle opens a window into truth-seeking and invites you to listen in. If you want a place where real questions are taken seriously and thinking is allowed to evolve in real time, this will resonate.

  1. 14h ago

    The Universe Is Conspiring in Your Favor

    Things tend to work out. Usually better than you imagined. In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin unpack a line from climbing legend Lynn Hill at Kevin's Boulder event: "I've managed to live my whole life without having a regular job, and things tend to work out." Mike shares how losing $1.6 million on a distressed e-commerce company became one of the greatest gifts of his life, and they dig into why fear makes us overestimate risk, underestimate the cost of staying put, and why the wealthier people get, the harder change becomes. They discuss: - Lynn Hill's "things tend to work out," and why people who make bold moves wish they'd done it sooner - Mike's $1.6M business loss and the idea that the universe is conspiring in your favor - Correcting for fear: why a decision that feels 50/50 is probably 70/30 - The hidden cost of the status quo, and reclaiming your agency by choosing consciously (from chapter 7 of Mike's book, Be Rich Now) - Why success and money often make people more afraid of personal change - The CEO who said he was miserable but wouldn't show up for a 6 a.m. walk - Doing it for someone else, and running toward something irresistible instead of away from something - Letting go of the illusion of control Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to The Inner Circle 00:27 Lynn Hill: "Things tend to work out" 03:00 Mike's $1.6M loss and the universe conspiring in your favor 06:30 Looking back: the hard times that were exactly what we needed 07:55 Fear, regret, and the cost of staying the same 10:18 Internal dissonance and choosing consciously 11:23 Why wealth makes change scarier 13:15 The CEO who wouldn't change 15:32 Do it for someone else, and run toward something 18:56 Go for it: letting go of the illusion of control Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    The Universe Is Conspiring in Your Favor

  2. 6d ago

    Love Something Ridiculous

    Love something absurd or obscure way too much.In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin start with a post Mike put up on X: a cheat code for being happier is loving something uncool, like his outsized love for The Cranberries. Kevin explains why he asks every job candidate what they do outside of work, and why a weird, passionate answer tells him more than a résumé. They talk about why personal stories and odd interests matter more as AI makes everything sound the same, and then answer a question a nine-figure CEO once asked Kevin: how do I find a hobby?They discuss:- Dropping the mask of what you're "supposed" to love, from The Cranberries to brown supercars- The interview question Kevin has asked for 25 years, and the best answer he ever got (the 501st Stormtrooper Division)- Why originality and personal experience get more valuable in the age of AI- The problem with "be obsessed" hustle advice and the "I love my work" fallacy- Why being willing to be bad at something keeps the joy in it, and how Mike's push to go pro in triathlon killed it- How to find your thing: try things, give it time, and notice what you think about in your quiet momentsChapters:00:00 Welcome to The Inner Circle01:08 Mike's post: love something absurd or obscure way too much05:03 What do you do outside of work?08:24 Originality in the age of AI, and the problem with "be obsessed"14:43 How do you find a hobby?Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle:Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    Love Something Ridiculous

  3. Sep 30

    We're Back! Kevin and Mike Life Updates Part 1 & 2

    ???? Inner Circle ⭕️ is back! Kevin and I took a little break. When we started this podcast with a single rule: This stays fun. The minute it feels like work, we are missing the mark. So when I was heads down launching the book, the pod dropped out. The other promise was that this show would be the conversations Kevin and I have anyway. This episode is us legitimately catching up - and we have some big life updates. Thanks to everyone who messaged to say you missed the show. We did too! mb

    We're Back! Kevin and Mike Life Updates Part 1 & 2

  4. Jul 20

    Why Potential is a Trap For High Achievers

    The closer you get to your potential, the further it moves. In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin take apart one of the most well-meaning ideas we inherit: that you owe it to yourself to live up to your potential. Kevin admits he has spent years haunted by the feeling that his was massive and unspent. Mike makes the case that the measure was rigged from the start, and that the goalposts were never going to hold still. They discuss: - Why potential is an unwinnable game by definition, and what happens the moment you measure yourself against it - The shift from dirty fuel to clean fuel, and the uncomfortable question of whether clean fuel burns as hot - How to spot someone running on dirty fuel across a room, and why it is easy to recognize once you have lived it - Why quitting the chase for conventional success often just becomes a chase for enlightenment wearing better clothes - The idea of making a goal both inevitable and irrelevant, and how two things that sound like opposites become the same practice - What non-attachment actually means, and why it has nothing to do with killing desire Most high achievers spend their lives measuring against a standard that recedes every time they reach for it. This episode is about setting the standard down, and what becomes possible once you stop chasing a number that was never going to hold still. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    Why Potential is a Trap For High Achievers

  5. Jul 8

    The Marginal Utility of Money

    Some money is better than none. But why do people keep chasing long after they have enough? In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike calls in from day seven of a ten-day writing retreat in Winter Park, and Kevin shares a number he did not plan to share. The conversation finds its way to the question underneath both: at what point does another dollar cost more than it is worth, and how do you actually know when you have crossed that line? They discuss: - Why financial independence has nothing to do with buying whatever you want, and everything to do with making decisions that have nothing to do with money - The marginal utility curve — where it bends, what it feels like when you pass it, and why most people blow right past it without noticing - Why "I love what I do" is often the most sophisticated version of not knowing any different - The climbing guide who lives on $4,000 a month and the question he forced Kevin to sit with at the height of a seven-figure career - Why everything you own owns a piece of you back, and what ruthless simplification actually looks like in practice - How to calculate how much fuel your ideal life actually requires — and why the number is almost always smaller than you think Most people running hard past the threshold are not chasing freedom. They are avoiding the question of what they would do with it. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    The Marginal Utility of Money

  6. Jun 26

    Stop Ruining Your Life to Uphold Your Image

    The pain of staying the same has to outweigh the pain of changing. Most people never get there because they never actually add up what staying is costing them. In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin trade stories about the moments that forced them to stop performing the life they had built and start living the one they actually wanted. Kevin walks through his decision to leave a prestigious career, uproot his family, and move to Colorado. Mike traces the thread of his first marriage — what he covered it up with, what it took to finally say it out loud, and what was waiting on the other side. They discuss: - Why a 50/50 decision is never actually 50/50, and how to adjust for the weight fear always throws onto the scale - The minimum effective dose principle — why pulling a small lever first is almost always the right move before hitting the reboot button - What identity has to do with why bold decisions feel impossible, and why the mask that works so well in public eventually becomes a prison - Carl Jung's writing on midlife crisis, and why what looks like becoming someone new is actually the opposite - How to test drive a major change before committing to it — and why that window matters more than most people realize - Why the people who say "I couldn't afford to do what you did" are almost never talking about money If you have been sitting on a decision that keeps coming back, this episode will not make it easier. It will make it clearer. That is the better gift. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    Stop Ruining Your Life to Uphold Your Image

  7. Jun 19

    How To Stop Chasing What You Think You Should Want

    What if the question wasn't how to get what you want, but how to identify what you want in the first place? In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin sit with the question that lies beneath the inherited definition of success. The conversation moves from coaching clients who cannot answer that question to a framework Mike uses to build his calendar from the inside out. They discuss: Why high performers are often the worst at answering this question, and what years of compartmentalization have to do with it The "keep asking why" method that turns a net worth target into the actual feeling you are chasing underneath it Why your ideal life is not a bucket list of accomplishments but a state of being you can start designing today The 80/20 principle of time ownership, and why controlling more than eighty percent of your calendar is actually dangerous How to identify your three to five non-negotiables and let everything else stack around them Why the trade-offs are not the problem — not naming them is Most people never define what they want because it feels self-indulgent or too far away. This episode makes the case that not defining it is the most expensive decision you will ever make. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    How To Stop Chasing What You Think You Should Want

  8. Jun 15

    Why Moderation is a Myth

    You already know which habits are costing you. You just keep negotiating with them anyway. In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin go after the moderation myth — the comfortable story most people tell themselves that lets them stay stuck exactly where they are. The conversation moves from drinking to fitness to the second-order effects of every choice you make, and lands somewhere more useful than discipline advice usually does. They discuss: - Why moderation is harder than abstinence, and why the people who swear by it are usually the ones who need it most - What second-order effects actually look like when you trace a habit far enough down the line - How to go completely off the rails without breaking self-trust — and why the container matters more than the content - Why "I'm so disciplined" is something neither of them hears as a compliment, and what that reveals about how habits actually work - The difference between chasing performance and building a life that performs — and why the distinction will catch up with you eventually If you have been telling yourself you will clean it up soon, this episode is worth an honest listen. The gap between knowing and doing is not a discipline problem. It is a decision you keep postponing. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co

    Why Moderation is a Myth
See All (28)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Kevin Dahlstrom and Mike Brown are devoted to exploring one question: what makes a truly great life? The Inner Circle is a behind-the-scenes look into the conversations that they have off-camera. Join them for raw, unfiltered thoughts about money, work, identity, purpose, relationships, and spirituality. This show is a place to think out loud. Ideas do not need to be polished. Disagreement is welcome. The only requirement is honesty and a willingness to follow the truth—wherever it leads. The value comes from two people who trust each other enough to challenge assumptions, name blind spots, and stay in the conversation when it gets uncomfortable. Each episode focuses on a single topic and runs roughly fifteen minutes. The discussion is direct and unscripted, with the occasional guest joining when it adds perspective. Inner Circle opens a window into truth-seeking and invites you to listen in. If you want a place where real questions are taken seriously and thinking is allowed to evolve in real time, this will resonate.

Information

  • Creator
    Mike Brown/Kevin Dahlstrom
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 The Inner Circle
  • Show Website
    The Inner Circle

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