Competitive Edge Podcast

What if you hit every goal on your success scoreboard—income, title, house, car—only to realize it didn’t fix your health, your relationships, or your peace?

In this episode, Brian unpacks the Fulfillment Factor: the gap between the life you thought “winning” would give you and the life you actually want. Drawing from his journey from corporate ladder climbing at Wells Fargo to his season at Cross Country Mortgage and life as a dad, he shows how to move from chasing status to building a life by design.

You’ll hear why so many high achievers in business, mortgage, and real estate wake up frustrated after “making it,” and how to realign your work with service, purpose, and family. Brian talks about being present at his kids’ games, running with his son, investing in health, and modeling the kind of life you actually want your children to live. He also explores how faith, gratitude, and protecting your peace (inspired by Trent Shelton) can transform your definition of success.

If you’ve ever said, “When I get there, then I’ll be happy,” this episode will challenge you to rewrite that script and connect success and fulfillment today—not 5 or 10 years from now.

Timed highlights (chapter suggestions):

0:00 – Are you “winning” but still not fulfilled?

2:15 – Chasing titles, money, and the corporate ladder at Wells Fargo

4:10 – Why the dream business or production level doesn’t fix your whole life

6:00 – Life by design: loving your team and environment at Cross Country Mortgage

7:30 – Family, fitness, and being present: kids’ sports, travel, and setting the example

9:10 – Quitting drinking, prioritizing health, and what your kids actually notice

11:00 – Sales, service, and the X-factor of aligning your work with helping others

13:00 – From impressing people to serving people: shifting your scoreboard

14:45 – Faith, protecting your peace, and lessons from Trent Shelton

16:00 – Redefining success: your personal scoreboard and living in “flow”

17:30 – Daily gratitude, attacking today, and stacking small wins

19:00 – The challenge: connect success and fulfillment on your terms

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In this power-packed conversation, Navy veteran, foster child, and entrepreneur Mike Little walks through his journey from homelessness, addiction in the family, and military turbulence to building multiple seven-figure businesses and becoming a TEDx speaker and bestselling author of Be Tenacious. He reveals how “unguided tenacity” nearly broke him, how he learned to aim his intensity, and why you’re never “too intense” when your energy is guided with purpose.

We dive into his time in the Navy, launching a billion-dollar real estate brokerage during COVID, healing from divorce and family loss, discovering mentors like Coach Burt, Ed Mylett, and Eric Thomas, and creating his own conference, Determine Your Destiny. If you’re in the middle of a storm and wondering how to keep going, this episode gives you a real-world blueprint for sustained, superior resilience in your faith, family, and finances.

0:00 – Mike Little intro: Navy vet, TEDx speaker, bestselling author of Be Tenacious, real estate entrepreneur

1:34 – Why Mike chose the path of personal development and storytelling after a rough childhood

2:30 – Born into addiction, neglect, abandonment, and foster care: building resilience in real time

3:40 – Finding father figures in icons: Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Ali, Arnold, Stallone

4:47 – Meeting Coach Burt off a random Facebook post and investing $20K on the spot

5:40 – From zero to first book and number-one bestseller in six months

6:10 – How Mike landed Eric Thomas for his first book launch webinar

7:43 – The core of his TEDx talk: “You’re not too intense, it’s unguided tenacity”

8:40 – Being labeled “too serious” vs understanding where your intensity comes from

9:50 – The Law of Tenacity: power of sustained, superior resilience in every area of life

10:55 – Directing your energy: why people mislabel your drive as anger, hate, or obsession

11:50 – “There are no losses, just lessons” – using accountability to re-aim your energy

13:00 – Why experience density matters more than age: 38 years, but a lifetime of storms

14:11 – How pain forges your unique gift and makes you qualified to help others

15:06 – Reprogramming your language: from victim mindset to “this happened for me”

16:09 – Early role models: Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, and learning to communicate with power

17:15 – 20+ years of speaking without knowing it: leadership, training, and presentations in the Navy

18:00 – Deep dive into self-development: Jim Rohn, Les Brown, Ed Mylett, Eric Thomas

18:43 – “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better” – the Jim Rohn line that changed everything

19:33 – How growing up around “the trap” shaped his hunger and relatability

20:19 – Struggle is not limited by race, creed, or background: why your story still qualifies you

21:00 – 15–20 years of self-development without a roadmap – and how the Navy became his classroom

21:45 – Divorce, Navy legal battles, COVID, and losing both parents and a sister: stacked storms

22:39 – Meeting his grandfather at 36 and discovering eerie parallels: Navy, real estate, author, title company

23:46 – Legacy and leadership: becoming the patriarch and example for his family

24:13 – How Ed Mylett’s “I’m the one” message broke him open at a conference

25:20 – Hiring his coach after that conference and then losing his father seven days later

26:10 – “This stops now”: the decision to pursue his dream and tell his story

26:36 – First-ever meeting with his grandfather at 85 and the generational blueprint revealed

27:46 – How his grandfather wrote the foreword to Mike’s book from his deathbed

28:18 – Sister’s sudden death 10 days before his TEDx talk: Westminster Avenue “coincidence”

29:15 – Choosing celebration over mourning and sending people off with dignity

30:10 – Why his story isn’t a gimmick or framework: “This is my life”

30:50 – Working with Coach Burt, Rene Rodriguez, Rory Vaden, Ed Mylett, and Eric Thomas to shape the message

31:27 – “I can help you”: why you’re most powerfully positioned to serve who you once were

32:11 – The theology of storms: why God/faith puts you through seasons to qualify you

32:43 – Business pivot: leaving the Navy after 14 years for real estate and entrepreneurship

33:17 – Doing real estate on the side in the Navy: multiple jobs to support a young family

34:10 – From construction worker to agent: spotting the guy in the BMW and asking better questions

35:00 – Becoming a top producer from the middle of the ocean: 3–5M a year while deployed

35:45 – Why he left the Navy even after “winning” his case: refusing to be tolerated, not celebrated

37:21 – The two books that pushed him out: Grant Cardone’s “Sell or Be Sold” and Dean Graziosi’s “Millionaire Success Habits”

38:30 – Realizing everything in the Navy was sales – and that sales was his portable superpower

39:36 – “Determine Your Destiny” and the seven-levels-of-why exercise that changed his path

40:27 – Translating Navy skills to business: SOPs, leadership, time management, communication

41:11 – Opening Iron Valley Real Estate Virginia Beach with zero brokerage experience

41:51 – Going from small team to regional powerhouse: 460 agents and 1.4B in annual volume

42:29 – Why people were wrong about their brand, model, and market fit

43:25 – Stepping back from ownership to fully pursue speaking, coaching, and writing

44:11 – Scaling multiple companies: title, P&C insurance, and the Zero to a Billion playbook

45:20 – Lessons from leading hundreds: people, culture fit, and mission over “warm bodies”

46:48 – What he really learned from the Navy: structure, discipline, and mission-focused execution

47:38 – Launching a brokerage in February 2020 – then COVID hit in March

48:00 – Staying open, deemed essential, and doubling down when everyone else paused

49:11 – Serving military clients as one of them: understanding their schedule, stress, and needs

50:09 – Competitive edge: living your client’s life before you sell to them

50:45 – The military as a Fortune 500 model: mission, vision, values, ethos in action

51:27 – Transferring military architecture to civilian business with a few key tweaks

52:34 – Why consistency, discipline, and just “showing up” beat talent and timing

53:23 – How Jim and Mike connected through social, mutual mentors, and showing up in rooms

54:26 – “Create the stage”: why Mike stopped chasing stages and built his own conference

55:10 – Determine Your Destiny: your fate, your responsibility

56:09 – Faith plus work: why belief without action won’t change your circumstances

57:24 – The conference model: value, relationships, and opportunities beyond the event

58:18 – Evidence of impact: from one breakout talk to 50–60 lb body transformations and new careers

59:11 – Tenacity as the number one trait of elite performers in every arena

1:01:15 – Unpacking Michael Jordan’s story and unseen storms of champions

1:01:47 – What attendees can expect at Determine Your Destiny: content, community, and clarity

1:02:22 – Health and wealth synergy: why his events include workouts and charity

1:03:20 – Final advice: stack lessons from storms, not losses, and live tenaciously

1:03:32 – Closing: how Mike’s story can be a mirror for your own storms and next chapter

If you’re in the middle of your own storm—financial, relational, emotional, or spiritual—this episode gives you language, perspective, and a practical framework for what it means to be truly tenacious and to determine your own destiny.

SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW! BRIAN COVEY: https://briancovey.com https://instagram.com/thebriancovey https://twitter.com/thebriancovey https://www.facebook.com/TheBrianCovey/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-covey/ https://www.tiktok.com/@thebriancovey

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BRIAN COVEY:
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https://instagram.com/thebriancovey
https://twitter.com/thebriancovey
https://www.facebook.com/TheBrianCovey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-covey/
https://www.tiktok.com/@thebriancovey

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In this solo episode, Brian unpacks the idea of training for the life you’re praying for instead of just hoping things will change. He shares how physical fitness, mental conditioning, and uncompromising character work together to expand your capacity, attract new opportunities, and sustain a higher level of impact in business, faith, and family.

Brian dives into his own journey through Iron Tribe and CrossFit, the power of daily workouts to build resilience, and why your body often becomes the gateway to strengthening your mind. He also discusses the importance of reading, learning about money, understanding the economy (especially for mortgage professionals), and why your income rarely outgrows your thinking for very long. Finally, he addresses character as the ultimate separator, how hidden flaws can kill teams and culture, and why getting crystal clear on the life you truly want allows God to bless and expand your capacity.

Share this episode with someone who’s hungry for the next level and ready to start training for the life they’ve been praying for.

Timed Highlights:

0:00 – Why you must train for the life you’re praying for

1:05 – Training your body: Iron Tribe, CrossFit, and building daily discipline

2:40 – How physical workouts spill over into mental toughness

3:45 – Training your mind: books, podcasts, visualization, and growth mindset

5:05 – “Your income rarely outgrows your thinking” and why study matters

6:20 – Mortgage pros: understanding rates, the 10-year, and the economy

7:10 – The fatal flaw of high-performers: character when no one is watching

8:15 – Dealing with “cancers” on the team and extreme ownership

9:10 – Getting clear on the life you actually want, not what social media sells you

10:15 – Family, fitness, faith, and expanding capacity for greater impact

11:30 – How God uses people, podcasts, books, and events to shape your life

12:30 – Final challenge: What are you training for and what needs to change today?

SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW! BRIAN COVEY: 

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It’s halftime. Are you where you thought you’d be by mid-year? In this solo episode, Brian walks you through his RACE framework (Reset, Alignment, Commitment, Execution) so you can get brutally honest about where you are, refocus on what matters, and build a focused 90-day sprint that actually moves the needle.

You’ll learn how to reset by reflecting on your real wins so far, get aligned by matching your calendar and bank account to your stated priorities, move from being merely “interested” to truly committed, and finally execute at a higher level by sharpening your skills and closing the gaps in your process. Whether you’re in mortgage, real estate, or building a business in any industry, this is your mid-year gut check and playbook for the second half of the year.

Timed highlights

1:10 – The power of gratitude and recognizing wins you’ve already created

2:20 – Introducing the RACE framework: Reset, Alignment, Commitment, Execution

3:48 – R: Reset – reflecting on investments, health, business and team growth

5:05 – Refocusing your priorities for the next 90-day sprint

6:10 – A: Alignment – how diluted focus creates diluted results

7:20 – Matching your calendar and bank account to what you say matters

7:43 – C: Commitment – the danger of being merely “interested”

9:00 – Rating your commitment across faith, family, fitness and finances

10:05 – Avoiding the trap of being “seduced by success” at mid-year

11:00 – E: Execution – why skills, coaching and personal development matter

11:32 – Identifying your execution gaps and conversion “leaks”

12:05 – Using your unique gifts to serve people and stack daily wins

12:28 – Halftime pep talk and how to use the RACE framework with your team

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BRIAN COVEY:
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https://instagram.com/thebriancovey
https://twitter.com/thebriancovey
https://www.facebook.com/TheBrianCovey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-covey/
https://www.tiktok.com/@thebriancovey

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Are you really competing…or just participating?

In this episode of the Competitive Edge Podcast, Brian Covey sits down with sports psychologist Dr. Haley Perlus (20+ years working with elite athletes and corporate high performers) to break down how top performers think, train, and handle pressure without burning out.

 

You’ll learn:

- The difference between true competition vs toxic comparison  

- How to re-ignite your competitive fire in business, fitness and life  

- Simple “mental games” to push for one more rep, one more email, one more call  

- How to use flow, arousal, and control zones to perform on demand  

- Practical one-liners you can use to instantly shift your mindset  

- How to build a healthy relationship with failure and past setbacks  

- Why focus is a superpower in an age of AI and information overload  

- The difference between being emotional vs performing with emotion  

- How to anchor your identity in who you are, not just in your roles and titles  

 

If you’ve ever felt like you “used to be competitive” or that your mindset is the only thing keeping you from your next level, this conversation will give you the tools to get back in the arena.

 

No matter if you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, sales leader, or parent, you’ll walk away with practical phrases, frameworks, and stories you can use today.

2:17 – Dr. Haley Perlus on why competition gets a bad rap  

3:25 – Coopetition: Thanking your opponent and using competition to elevate your game  

5:22 – How to start competing again when you feel “off your game”  

6:22 – Micro-challenges: five more emails, a few more reps, one more call  

10:06 – Flow, arousal and control zones explained in simple terms  

11:45 – Bike ride story: choosing arousal vs control and finding another gear  

12:58 – Can mental toughness really be trained, or is it just talent?  

14:28 – Reps, visualization, and planting “thought seeds” in your brain  

17:19 – “Neurons that fire together wire together” and why one-liners work  

17:55 – Family mantra: “We do hard things” and how to use phrases under pressure  

18:58 – Powerful one-liners: “Let’s see what can happen when I…” and “What does this moment need from me?”  

21:22 – Stuck on outcomes? How to shift back to process and your strengths  

23:20 – Finding your top 3 strengths without personality tests  

25:16 – Why too many options kill performance (psychology of persuasion)  

27:27 – Making peace with past failures: informational vs nonsense  

30:04 – Processing emotions vs overanalyzing game tape  

31:15 – Social comparison vs real competition in the Instagram era  

33:58 – AI, noise, and why focus is now an elite competitive advantage  

36:04 – Concentration as the underrated mental skill for high performers  

37:57 – “Not for me” focusing cue and the For Love of the Game “clear the mechanism” moment  

39:02 – Teaching kids to refocus and compete in chaotic environments  

40:52 – Emotional vs performing with emotion: using anger and energy wisely  

42:26 – Butterflies in formation: turning nerves into fuel  

43:47 – Pressure as an invitation: the $100 ski race story that changed Haley’s life  

46:26 – When to drop unnecessary pressure and when to embrace it  

48:29 – Coaches who bet on you before you believe in yourself  

49:54 – Rebuilding confidence: writing down your wins and proof  

51:11 – Identity vs roles: who you are beyond titles, careers and seasons  

52:27 – Applying your core identity to every role in life  

53:30 – Brian’s closing challenge: take one idea, implement it, and go compete  

 

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BRIAN COVEY:
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https://instagram.com/thebriancovey
https://twitter.com/thebriancovey
https://www.facebook.com/TheBrianCovey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-covey/
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