444: Navigating The X's and O's In Your Life With Zack Zillner

Elite Coaching Cast

Justin Mihaly

Health & Fitness, Fitness

4.6 • 949 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we break down how to strategically navigate the chaos, opportunities, and pressures of modern life by treating your decisions like a playbook. Instead of reacting to life’s circumstances, you’ll learn how to design your own offensive and defensive strategies — helping you move with clarity, confidence, and purpose.If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next step… this framework will shift everything.⭐ WHAT YOU’LL LEARNHow to identify the “field of play” in your own lifeThe difference between reactive and strategic decision-makingWhen to be on offense vs. when to be on defenseHow to anticipate setbacks before they arriveThe mindset patterns separating clarity from chaosHow to build your own Life Playbook step-by-step00:00 — Intro: Understanding Life’s X’s and O’s 01:45 — Why most people live reactively instead of strategically 04:20 — Clarifying your “field of play”: goals, values, constraints 07:10 — Offensive strategy: how to create proactive momentum 10:05 — Defensive strategy: managing adversity & pressure 13:30 — The art of timing: when to push vs. when to protect 16:15 — Real-life examples of strategic decision-making 19:50 — The hidden mistakes keeping people stuck in confusion 22:30 — Building your personal playbook: practical framework 25:00 — Mindset traps sabotaging long-term success 27:45 — Final message: Commit to intentional livingWhat part of your life needs a new offensive or defensive strategy right now?#lifestrategy #mindsetcoach #selfimprovement #intentionalgrowth #lifepurpose #motivationpodcast #mindsetshift #growthmindset

Transcript

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0:00.0	Dude, Zach Zillner, it's amazing to have you back on the show.
0:06.1	Thanks for having me, Justin.
0:07.2	It's good to be back.
0:07.9	Yes, so you have a wild life experience that you're currently undergoing.
0:12.5	Anyone who's listening to the show, which, by the way, we're almost at 500 total episodes.
0:16.3	That's huge.
0:17.0	Congrats.
0:17.5	Yeah, we just realized this.
0:20.7	The life you are currently living is the dream that I always had growing up. But last time we texted, you were looking at me like, dude, the house, you're going or the shit. You're living the dream, man. Yeah. So I guess we got different mirrors. Should we trade? Yeah, exactly. Just for that. Like, dude, I don't want this, man. You work too hard. I'm both in Miami. Yeah. Yeah, you work. I'm good here, dude. I thought you just looked at houses all day. How's that feel to be? I mean, this is my, I would give up my life for one year to experience what you're experiencing. We can have you down there. We're having a paid internship opportunity, so you can apply next month. I'll move your resume to the top. Is the pay, is the pay come out to anywhere close to the pay right now? It depends. I mean, we could move some stuff from maybe free lunch, free dinner sometimes, some coffee.
1:11.9	Yeah, we'll see what we can do.
1:15.1	Was this your dream?
1:16.7	Yeah, I think my dream was, you know, if you got me at 18-year-old Zach, it was the coach high-level college athletics.
1:24.5	The pro scene was just never something that I worked in or affiliated with, so I actually have no idea what the NBA is like or anything like that.
1:33.7	And it's going to Kansas, it's a basketball school.
1:37.0	So I've always loved basketball.
1:38.5	I just was never talented enough to make it to, you know, the next level like most of our listeners, I would assume.
1:43.7	Short white guys.
1:44.6	Exactly.
1:45.4	Then no one's looking for guys that can't shoot that are slow and not athletic. So I was out of luck there. Can't shoot. Can't run. Can't defend. Not coachable. Not coachable. Can't have them. Can't have them. But no, it's cool. like working with you know Kansas men's basketball is one of the greatest program but I think
2:01.6	the winning this program ever in college basketball. But no, it's cool. Like, working with, you know, Kansas men's basketball is one of the greatest
2:00.8	program.
2:01.4	I think they're the winningness program ever in college basketball. And then, so just being surrounded by that. And then my goal was, you know, to make it to, you know, power for men's or women's basketball. And I've done both, which is cool to see both sides of everything, and then to kind of finally see, like,
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