Short Story

I’m a philosopher living in southeastern Wisconsin with my wife, Christine, and our six children.

I’m the author of six books, covering topics from philosophy to fitness to skill-building. My next book, currently in the works, is about discipline.

Longer Story

People who don’t know me for my philosophy work usually know me for my fitness contributions — especially to kettlebell training.

While still an undergrad, I earned a series of fitness certifications and started training people and producing online content. Some of it caught on, and before long I was writing books about minimalist fitness and working with everyone from special forces operators to Olympic athletes to the everyday Joe (and Jane).

I hold two master’s degrees in philosophy and am currently pursuing my PhD. My primary research area is metaphysics and philosophy of religion, where I’ve published scholarly articles on topics like causation, the existence and coherence of God, the problem of evil, and, you know… stuff like that 🙂

I’m also a convert to Catholicism, which philosophy played a pretty big role in.

I have other interests and hobbies too. Right now I’m the lead guitarist for Jessie Marie and the Rippers and the Milwaukee-area Van Halen tribute band, Top of the World. I’ve been playing guitar since I was about ten or eleven and always figured I’d either end up a musician or a writer. Turns out, writing was the more economical route (at least for me) — but thankfully one that still lets me play and record a lot of guitar.

I’m a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and have been running my own business since college — entirely online. I’ve also written quite a bit about why being an expert-generalist (getting good to great at many things, even if not the absolute best at any one) is the hidden secret to success in today’s hyper-competitive online world.

I’ve been featured in places like Business Insider and have popped up on the news a bunch over the years — sometimes to discuss things I have little qualification to discuss (like Valentine’s Day).

Working out is still a big part of my life, but mostly as a way to support and enhance everything else. Hence, fitness minimalism. These days I lift three to four times per week, walk and stretch daily, and stick to mostly simple, healthy, repetitive foods.