An Army of Normal Folks - The Paradox of Quitting—So That Your Work Can Live

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

In this Shop Talk, we reflect on a simple question that can haunt all of this: What do we need to quit so our best work can truly live? Featuring Erik Løkkesmoe's powerful essay "I Quit," Coach Bill explores the things that quietly pull us away from meaningful work—chasing applause, feeding the algorithm, climbing ladders, waiting for permission, and letting urgency replace purpose. Sometimes the most important step forward isn't doing more—it's having the courage to let something die. Check out Erik’s Substack here Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, everybody. It's Bill Courtney from an Army of normal folks. Welcome into the shop. Hi, Alex. Hello, Bill. Shop Talk 110. 110. What happened 110 years ago, Alex? So it was 1916. Yeah, I actually could do the bath this time. I should have looked up the pronunciation of this because I're going to sound like an idiot. Is it the Battle of the Sum? I don't know. Spell it. D-I-S-U-M-E?

No, no, S-O-M-M-E. Are we both idiots? Could be the battle of AS-O-Me. No, S-O-M-M-E. Oh. We're going to sound like real idiots here after what I'm about to say. It doesn't matter. By the end of the battle,

more than one million casualties on both sides. Was this World War I? Mm-hmm. And yet we don't know to pronounce it, thus idiots. A million casualties? Yeah. Unbelievable.

And then the Battle of Verdana and you don't know to pronounce that. but 700,000 people died there. World War I, you know, people talk about Vietnam and all of that because obviously we started having cameras and all. But that trench warfare, World War I, was disgusting. And they barely gained any land. They just killed each other.

I have nothing to add. Okay. Shop Talk 110. I quit. What had to die so the work could live. live right after these brief messages from our general sponsors. Close your eyes and you can hear the entire world come alive. 2026 FIFA World Cup is on and you can stream it all live on TSN Radio.

From the opening kickoff to the final celebration, every match, every moment. Listen to FIFA World Cup on TSN Radio. It's Canada to the lift off. Available on IHeart Radio. I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football at home. Why do I watch the World Cup?

That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game

to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head which cracked my skull. It is an American game.

The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the MyCultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.

Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety.

Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munges shit together, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about. And what it really means to live forever for all of us.

I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble.

I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong

and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life

and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everybody, shop talk number one, 10. I quit what had to die so the work could live. This is from Eric Loxmo. Yep, you got it. We featured several times his writing.

I know. I just, I'm so, you know how some words you just get a brain block on it. But Eric Loxmo in his newsletter, Outtawild. I'm done. I'm done playing piano in the brothel and expecting things to change. That's not a great line. What a great open. Here's the summary.

I quit the applause. Applaus is cotton candy. It fills you for an hour and leaves you unsatisfied and hungry. I want to make things that would be worth making. in an empty room at midnight with no one watching but the creator. I quit the inner ring. C.S. Lewis was right. There's always a circle just past the one you're in,

and the longing to be inside it will eat your life. I will not trade my convictions for a seat at the table that moves every time I get close. I quit the algorithm. I will not chop my thinking to fit a feed. The feed forgets everything by morning. I want to make things that would still mean something in 50 years or 500, or never read at all. I quit the swagger, the posturing, the performance of confidence. It's a costume, and costumes itch.

I'd rather walk lighter and lesser and tell the truth. I quit the latter. Envy is the thief of every good thing. Someone is always further along. Someone is always behind, pulling you down. neither has anything to do with the work in front of me. I quit the money first. Not money.

Money first. When money leads, beauty follows it into the ditch. I'd rather make something good and be paid late than make something cheap and be paid now. I quit waiting for permission. No one is coming. There's no gatekeeper holding of a key. The permission was given a long time ago

by something older than the industry. I quit the urgency. Most of what calls itself urgent is just loud. The deep things are quiet. The eternal things wait. I will work at the pace of a tree, not a notification. I quit being interesting and interestingism quotations, and I love how lately whenever we talk about somebody that we like,

we say they're interesting. I love this. I quit being interesting. Interesting is a trick of the surface. I'd rather be true. True ages well. Interesting goes stale by Thursday. I quit the gurus, the frameworks, the funnels, the five-step pass to a life.

No one's selling them is actually living. I trust the older books. They've outlasted everything. I quit explaining myself. The work is the explanation. If it needs a thread to defend it, it wasn't ready. Let the thing stand or fall on its own. I quit hoarding the notebook of somebody, the folder of almost.

Ideas are not currency until they're finished. I'll give them away or let them go. I quit the identity, writer, creator, frowner. The label becomes a cage and then a coffin. I'm a person who wants to see others go forward and far. That is enough. That has always been enough. I quit the temporal, the trending, the timely,

the hot take that cools by dinner. I want to work toward what doesn't change. The human heart, the longing for home, the ache for something just out of reach. We've never quite been able to name. I quit the small self, the timid one, the one who flinches, the one who creates what's safe because the true thing might cost something.

I'd rather pay the cost. The piano can stay. I'm walking out. I love that. Y'all, Eric's writing is at at atawild's dot substack.com. I think it's Idaho Wild is. Oh, I'm sorry, you're right. It's kind of confusing.

I-D-L-E-W-I-L-D-I-S. Idaho-W-W-S-E at substack.com. And this is, what, the third one of these? Yeah, probably the third of his writing, yeah. third or fourth, but Eric's thoughtful, and we occasionally read these things that he writes, that are lists of thoughts that are independent, but as you intertwine them together, you often get the idea that he's evoking. And I'm done.

I'm done playing the piano. the brothel and expecting things to change. And I think the whole point to this is we need to be done with chasing what social media and today's culture and society says we need to be and how we need to act and constantly feeling empty because we're never able to fully reach what today's culture and society says we need to be. So he's done playing the piano and the broth on expecting things to change. And I think his challenge here is to get back to the basics.

Quit the swagger, quit the posturing, quit the algorithm, quit trying to get into the next ring, quit worrying about applause, quit worrying about climbing the ladder, make sure money doesn't define you, quit waiting for permission, do what you know is right, quit being, quote, interesting, just be true, be authentic. Quit the gurus, the framework, the funnels, the five steps. Trust the older books. Quit explaining yourself. Just do right.

Quit hoarding everything, like ideas and money, share. Don't worry about the ideas. identity, just be who you are. Don't worry about what's trending and timely. Worry about what's time tested. And don't be the small self. Don't be timid. Don't be the one who flinches.

Do all of these things. And don't worry about what culture or society in today's world says about it. The piano can stay. I'm walking out. That's good stuff. It reminds me of the line, just run your own race. Don't worry about everybody else.

I'm just in a race with Alex and trying to be the best version of myself. And also the quote, that comparison is the thief of joy. Yeah, it's good stuff. That's true. You know, Alex, that's interesting. I'm just kidding.

Am I interesting, Bill? Yeah. That comment makes you interesting. Oh, it's just real. It's good stuff. All right, everybody. That's shop talk number 110. If you enjoyed it, please share it friends on social.

Actually, guys, go to idawilds. .substack.com. Iderwild is. ubstack. com. Outerwild is out of wildest. Out of wildness is what I said like an idiot. Back to shop talk number 101.

I'm sorry. I screwed up. Out of wild is substack.com and read more of their stuff. At the very least is very, very thought-for. provoking. And I'm glad we do it every once in a while because I find it really interesting. Yeah, yeah, if you enjoy this episode, ready to review it, share friends, subscribe to the podcast, join the army at normalfolks.com. Join a club, buy some merch. All the things. All the things that can help us grow, an army of normal folks. That's shop talk number 110.

Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next week. It's that time to put on your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? And it's beautiful. The guys are young and cute and fit. It's not just a game. It's your culture.

I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Joy is essential and it's also elusive.

But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free,

Heart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Joy 101 with Hoda Cotfi is presented by CVS. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot T, everybody, turn down the gas on your bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This Black Music Month, the Questlove show celebrates the visionaries, shaping culture through sound, from country trailblazer Mickey Guyton to hip-hop icon Favive Freddie, the sonic genius of Thundercat, and the revolutionary voice of Chuck D. I want it loud. So the timing might be off, the sound might be muffled, but what's going to come out of there is something that you can feel. Celebrate Black Music Month with special episodes of the Questlove Show. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Munga Chitigula, and I'm back with a new season of my podcast, Skyline Drive. This time I talked to scientists, biopunks, curmudgins, blues owners, super seniors, and Goa's top cryotherapy lab to try to understand this obsession with Living Forever. and what it means for all of us. And I get into a bit of trouble along the way. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. To make it look more defined.

They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.