Bjerk Builders

Built Dffrnt: The Kid From Safford, AZ

The Kid From Safford, AZ On getting dropped, getting up, and why the toughest man in the building thanks his corner first. A few weeks ago, a kid from Safford, Arizona won a world title. Not really a kid, a grown man who has been fighting his whole life. Justin Gaethje. He grew up in […]

Built Dffrnt: The Humble Warrior

The Humble Warrior On ego, a list I never should have made, and the flaming sword that cuts away what needs it most. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” Muhammad Ali said that with a grin. Kid Rock put it in work boots: “It ain’t talkin’ sh*t if you […]

Built Dffrnt: The *sshole at my Table

The *sshole at my Table You can’t pick who sits at your table. You CAN pick what you focus on. On Epictetus, faith over fear, and how a bad table becomes your best client. Twenty-something and broke, I was waiting tables in Old Town Scottsdale, epic margaritas, a wait station the size of a phone […]

Built Dffrnt: Growth vs. Fixed

GROWTH VS. FIXED Phase 1 was waking up. Now we go in, deeper. Welcome to Phase 2. Why one person stays stuck behind “I can’t,” and another breaks out. It comes down to two words. When I was five, my biological mom left and I went to live with my dad. I showed up at […]

Built Dffrnt: The Mirror

The Mirror Thirty years ago, when I started mountain bike racing, I hired a coach who was a world champion. After the VO2 tests, I asked him one question: aside from the training, is there anything that could help me get ahead?  I was confused when he handed me Mind Gym. Thirty years and probably […]

Built Dffrnt: Death and Life

Death and Life The Language You Use. It’s not just your words. It’s the energy you bring. Positive or negative. Up or down. Years ago, working for the hospital, we had a board member, a tough-as-nails, wise woman from a Midwest ranching family. She listened to me for a while. Then she said, “Nate, you’re […]

Built Dffrnt: Man’s Search for Meaning

Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz. What he found there is the clearest reason I know for why some people rise and some don’t. A few years ago I stood on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of 8 burn survivors. Two of them, Isla and Isabella, 11 and 12 years […]

Built Dffrnt: The Strangest Secret

The Strangest Secret We become what we think about. Earl Nightingale figured it out in 1956. Most people still haven’t.   “We become what we think about.” Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret   Six words. Recorded in a rented studio in Chicago. First spoken-word recording to sell a million copies. Earl called it “the strangest […]

Built Dffrnt: Life is Difficult

Life is difficult. – M. Scott Peck  ·  A Road Less Traveled   The entire first paragraph. That’s it. Three words. Over 10 million copies sold. Still in print 45 years later. Because those three words changed something in people that nothing else could touch. I was still putting Humpty Dumpty back together – pouring […]

Built Dffrnt: As a Man Thinketh

As a Man Thinketh – James Allen It was all a dream NOTORIOUS B.I.G.  ·  JUICY  ·  1994 Biggie grew up broke in Brooklyn. He held a vision so clearly, so consistently, that his brain started building toward it. James Allen wrote the same truth 91 years earlier. Dr. Andrew Huberman can now show you […]