In this energetic presentation, Brendon Burchard shares a personal story about his first paid job painting chicken coops on a Montana farm, using the gritty experience as a metaphor for the moment when a person confronts a painful truth and decides to change. He explains how many high‑performers hear an inner voice that signals dissatisfaction but often mask it with excuses like burnout. Burchard argues that true high performance isn’t just wealth or status; it’s feeling vibrant and purposeful each day. He urges the audience to recognize the “decision moment” – the instant when you realize your current life isn’t the one you want – and to consciously choose to live an extraordinary life. Throughout, he promises practical outcomes: better emotional regulation, clearer perspective, more compassion, courage, and the habit of confronting uncomfortable situations rather than avoiding them. He repeatedly calls the audience to repeat the commitment, “I’m going to live an extraordinary life,” positioning this decision as the pivotal step that separates average living from extraordinary achievement.
Chapters
We're gonna begin today and we're gonna Talk today about 10 big ideas. This morning is going to be about a different philosophy in self improvement that allows you to be back on your A game more often. We have those days where like, why am I not more motivated? I should have enough, I should be happy. Why am I not happy? We're gonna get to the heart of that. But these philosophies, this mindset, can get into your heart and your soul just a little. You can go. You know what? That was a changing day for me. I remember my first decision. Some of you might not know this, but before all the stage, before all the events, before the podcasts, before the famous clients, my first paid job was painting chicken coops. Now I'm from Montana, and one day my mom's friend was over at the house and said, hey, would you like to earn some money? I need some help with these chicken coops. I want to paint them. And I was like, oh, money. What? How hard can it be? So I get a ride over to the farm and it was just dirt for miles. And I pull up, I was like, oh, this is not what I thought a farm. You know, I feel like there's happy cows and there's trees and, you know, spinach growing out, everything. I don't know what the farm is. I'm a kid, it's a mess. It is a home built chicken coop from very limited resources. And I'm looking at it and like, oh, man, that's ugly. She. I get all the painting materials and I pull them over and we're standing there. And I was like, okay, I guess I'll get fainting ocean. She goes, oh, no, no, no. First you need to go get the hose. I go, the hose. She goes, well, yeah, first you have to clean the coops. And I said, well, what about all the chickens? How do you get them out of there? She's like, well, that's what you have to do. I go, I don't know how to get a chicken. She's like, well, you just grab them and I want you to put them over in this coop over here. And there's like 40 chickens in there. You ever going after a chicken, they don't like you. You know, sometimes you see like on Instagram, like little baby goats that are so happy. Wild animals typically don't like you. And they definitely don't like me because I'm a human and all their friends have been eaten. So it takes me two hours to get all 40 from here to there. Partially because sometimes I'd be taking them and they'd be scratching and freaking and pecking me, and I drop them in the open field and then have to run after them. It's sunset. I barely have the coop cleaned. I'm exhausted. I still have to paint the thing. I come over and I sit on this little mound of, like, hay and dirt and filth. And I'm sitting there and I'm watching those chickens, and I'm looking at these coops, and I'm looking at the paint cans, and I'm looking at myself covered in just filth and blood and scratches. And the decision happened. Maybe some of you had it in the last couple weeks or months, but there's that bam. It just happens. You don't do anything for this decision to happen. It's given to you usually in a moment. The first decision often sounds like you exhausted, you tired, you filthy, you bloodied from life. And it pops in your head and you go, There's more to life than this. This is not the scene of my life that I'm going to relive and relive and relive and relive. And sometimes that decision, that happens in one of your relationships, you were in a scene with somebody in the past, and you're having that argument again and again and again and again. And the situation, this is not my life. It scares you to death. Who's had that happen? I don't want this way of living or being. And it hits you, and you don't get to think it through. It just hits you. And some of you, here's the problem. You've disguised that voice. You've heard it, and you've translated it into something else. Like, I know some of you hear that, and it's like a clarion call to action and confidence, and you're in the game, you know? So I know some of you are like, what are you talking about? But I also know I'm talking to high performers and high achievers. Sometimes that voice is there, but you just say, oh, yeah, honey, you know, I'm just burned out. And you're disguising the voice that's really there because that's what we do. It's a very scary voice to listen to that says, this is not how it's supposed to be. Because you know what? Soon as you accept that voice, a confrontation is required. I know I've been doing this for so long. This is where all my views dip down. Our live people are like, it seemed fun. Click. This is gonna Be a hard conversation, but this group likes this stuff. Yes, it's like I like it. I mean, think about this 11 or 12 year old sitting there earning his first 50 bucks, bloodied, dirty, filthy, sitting on his mound of crap, knowing I got at least six hours ahead of me. Lady's pulling out this, you know, big farm light that they shoot, pointing it on things. She's not like, hey, you should go home tomorrow. She's like, you're gonna finish this job in the dark. She comes over, she goes, just make sure as you're painting, stay in the coop. I said, why? She says, well, sometimes there's wolves. And I just. The whole time I'm going, this is not my life. You know, I remember when $50 was a bajillion dollars. A bajillion. It's so much money. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking in my mind as I'm painting. I'm like, no, Brandon, you got this. See it through, Brendan. At least you'll know in your heart these chickens will be murdered. At least, at least you know those bastards are all gonna die. Just endure. This is the stuff my brain is saying. As a 12 year old, I'm already convincing myself that I can endure what's wrong. Who's ever been there? You endured what's wrong too long. There was a moment you were climbing upstairs somewhere, you couldn't breathe. I can't even get upstairs. This is terrible. I'm not supposed to be this out of shape. I'm going to go to the gym. You went to the gym. You kind of didn't know what to do. You felt awkward and weird and the spandex things you bought just for that one time didn't quite feel right. You caught a glimpse of yourself in the big mirrors and you thought, I'm not coming back here again. The decision was, this is not me. I'm supposed to be healthy. I'm supposed to feel vibrant. I should be able to run up these stairs. But I guess it's okay. I guess I can stay the same. I guess I'm just built that way. And we tell ourselves all these things after we were told the truth and the hardest truth. And the decision life is often, this is not what life is supposed to be. I've already been in that place of my life. And my life became dedicated to helping people change their life. Because when I was a young man, I wanted to take my life. You can change, you can shift, you can skill up. If you don't like a part of Your life. You can change that. Can I get an amen on a weekday? Yeah. Turn the person left, right. Shake them. Say, you can change. Change. Quit denying the party says, I hate this job. I don't like the way I'm being in this relationship. I don't like the way that I feel. I don't like that I drank four bottles again. I don't like these things about myself. Today we want to say, no, no, no. Like everything about yourself. I'm like, no, no, no. It's okay. It's okay. There's parts of you that need to change. That part of you that is rude and dismissive and. And awful or violent to other people. This is not okay. By making everything okay in society. We have a society on the brink because we've lost standards. And those standards begin at home and in your heart of what you allow of yourself. Where we are and how we live our life always comes from our ambition, our mindset, our habits, our relationships. We don't want to face the bills. I shared that last month. We don't want to face the difficult relationship. We don't want to have the hard conversation. But most importantly, internally, we don't even want to address it. I'm hoping today we get a few ideas that will open up how to deal with that. I'm hoping today you leave here equipped with a little bit more ability in your emotional regulation, a little bit more perspective in your thoughts. Thoughts. I hope a whole lot more compassion and kindness and even courage with other people. Because there is another level. I see it all the time. Becoming ultra successful to me is not about just your wealth or your money or your network or your power or your status. It's about how you actually feel and experience the day. And I'm going to tell you here, it's so simple. Today there's a decision. There's something that it's time to see, acknowledge, hear, confront in your life. And I can't. With this many people and that many thousands online. I can't tell you what it is, but I'd love for you to give yourself the gift today of identifying it. Everyone say I'm here. Everyone say I'm ready. Everyone say, I go in strength. That's what we're gonna do today. We're gonna face it. We're gonna be here. We're gonna work through it. We're gonna ready ourselves and we're leave these doors and we're gonna leave in strength. I get an amen on a weekday. Let's do it at some point, there's a decision and that decision is so key. But as I've worked with the best teams in the world, the best companies in the world, the best sportsmen in the world, the best entrepreneurs in the world, so few have ever made the next level decision. And that is the decision to live an extraordinary life. Because everyone knows their average and the average, everyone can tell when you're just kind of going through the motions and accepting things and playing victim. When we're there, we know it. But some people go, I can survive it, I'm fine. And they never say the wicked. What's the higher aspiration? And that is something you consciously have to be from that little boy sitting on that mound of dirt and bloody and filthy kid hating on chickens. I wish I could tell you in the very next moment I decided I was going to own this farm. I was going to build many farms. I was going to hire people to slaughter all the chickens. That's not what happened. I had to endure another seven more years of being in a bad place, mentally, emotionally, physically. And then some of you know, I had that car accident. As I thought about my life, it was so simple because I thought, wow, life is short. Now that's a knowing. But sometimes you get hit in the head a little bit and you go, okay, if it's so short, I want it to be awesome. Listen, so few people ever make the decision, so I'm just gonna force it on you because you're here. And if you hate it, leave. I don't care. There's a million out there. I want you to know and to give yourself that conscious decision, that challenging decision that I'm going to live an extraordinary life. Repeat with me. I'm going to live an extraordinary life.
