Most leaders don’t fail because they’re unqualified. They fail because they’re under-aiming. When the goal isn’t big enough, the grind becomes heavier, the friction multiplies, and the identity never evolves. In my conversation with Kris Kluver — speaker, strategic advisor, and founder of Life On Your Terms — we unpacked why audacity isn’t a luxury. It’s the requirement for any leader who wants peace, presence, power, and a life they actually want to live.
Below are the core lessons every leader needs if they want to unlock alignment and collapse the time between where they are and who they’re becoming.
Lesson 1: Ordinary Goals Create Extraordinary Friction
When a leader says they want “10–20% growth,” they’re not asking for change. They’re asking for exhaustion.
Kris has worked with companies from start-up to billion-dollar market caps, and the pattern is clear:
Small goals rely on effort. Big goals rely on identity.
A truly audacious goal forces you to eliminate noise, confront avoidance, and make decisions with clarity instead of fear. It becomes a forcing device to finally stop negotiating with your limitations.
Lesson 2: Time Isn’t a Resource. It’s a Tool!
Most leaders say, “I need more time.”
But what they really need is proof; evidence that they can trust themselves.
Kris teaches that time can be bent. Compressed. Treated as a tool rather than something to react to.
When you shorten the timeline, momentum becomes non-negotiable. You stop procrastinating. You stop hiding behind busywork. And you start making decisions that match the future you’re building, not the identity you’re leaving behind.
Lesson 3: You Can’t Build an Extraordinary Life with an Ordinary Identity
Defining “amazing” is the first step. Becoming the person who can hold that life is the real work.
Kris and I talked about the identity shift that’s required when a leader decides they want more . More meaning, more freedom, more alignment, more presence at home, more courage in their decisions.
Resistance doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path.
It means you’ve finally entered the territory where growth actually happens.
So What’s the Point?
Audacity creates the vision. Identity creates the leader. Presence creates the life.
Your Next EASIEST Step:
Choose one audacious goal, one that makes you sit up straighter, and compress the timeline. What would need to change if you pursued it in one year instead of five? Write it down. Decide your first action. Begin there.
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