Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - What 2025 Taught Me About Discipline

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

2025 was a turning point.Personally, professionally, and mentally. This episode is a raw reflection on how fixing one overlooked area of my life changed everything, from my marriage and mindset to the growth of The Determined Society.If you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or like something small is quietly holding you back, this conversation is about identifying that one thing and committing to real change.Growth doesn’t come from motivation, it comes from discipline, ownership, and doing the work when no one’s watching. Key Takeaways-Personal growth off-camera directly fueled professional success on-camera.-Fixing the “one thing” holding you back unlocks progress in every area of life.-Physical health improvements led to better clarity, confidence, and communication.-Consistency and discipline drove massive growth in 2025.-Emotional regulation improved relationships with family, team, and guests.-Growth in the show was a byproduct of personal accountability and self-care.-Feeling “seen” by the audience came from staying authentic and mission-driven.-Long-term thinking (years, not months) is key to sustainable success.-Momentum is built by doing the mundane work consistently and intentionally. Connect with me :https://link.me/theshawnfrench?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY2s9TipS1cPaEZZ9h692pnV-rlsO-lzvK6LSFGtkKZ53WvtCAYTKY7lmQ_aem_OY08g381oa759QqTr7iPGA Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who am I to be in this room? I need to get in better shape. I need to treat my wife better. This is a problem. It was just a moment in 2025 where I had to get better personally. Because it was holding me back. The direct correlation to me being successful in this microphone and in front of this camera is me taking care of myself off camera.

Period. In a story. If I didn't fix it, I don't know where the show would be right now. This year we've had Jay Leno, William H. Macy, Kathy Ireland, Jamie Kennedy, Bijou Bh, Marcus and Morgan Luttrell. And we've also had people that have impacted my life, like Jeff Delaney. I've had my good friend Matt Dillon on this show. I really want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart.

Like I literally could not have done it without you. And if you're tuning in for the very first time right now, it's like, why is this asshole rambling like this? Because it means something. But 2026, I think it's going to be a bigger year. What's up, guys? are back here and it's just me today, you know, just me on a solo episode. And I don't think I've done a solo episode since last recap for the year of 2024. And here I am today giving you a recap

of the Determined Society and me in 2025. I'd like to say that 2025 was one of the most amazing years that I've had since having this platform for very many reasons. One, personally, I got better. I grew as an individual. I grew as a professional, a husband and a father and a friend, and the show had massive growth. You know, in 2024, we ended the year with 1.2 3 million listens. This year, we are ending over 8 million. So the amount of growth that the show had, I think it was in direct correlation of the work that I did personally. And I want to recap that with you. And for those of you that are avid listeners of mine, you know, I always talk about the massive gaping, I guess, void I had inside of me.

Being overweight and not feeling very comfortable in my own skin led me to having a lot of other problems as far as, you know, not lifting weights and cursing more. than I probably should. If you remember, and been an avid listener for this many years, and we were going on five years, we'll be in, actually February 21st,

will be five years of the show's existence. There was a ton of cursing all the way up until one year ago. And again, I will admit, at times I still let it out. But before,

it was always present because I was just so angry. And I want to encourage you guys if there's this one thing that you have to fix in order for you to be successful and for you to move forward in a more responsive state instead of reactionary state, really dive into that thing because that is the one thing holding you back from anything you want in your life. So as it pertains to this episode, again, for me,

it was taking care of my body. What I didn't know was how it would change my business, would change the performance of my show, and change how I felt mentally and emotionally. And I'd like to talk to you guys about that. Because I truly feel that whatever it is we're building in life, whether you're a salesperson, a teacher, or a show host like myself, if we are not okay, then those things won't be okay. So for me, I had to really dive into what I needed to do physically and nutrition-wise to look better because I was just uncomfortable with myself. and I had mentioned to you a little bit ago, what I didn't anticipate is what it would do for me mentally

and how it would contribute to the business and the performance of the show. So here's what I like to say. When I started lifting and started really eating better, my speech patterns got astronomically better. The anger went away. I was able to articulate more and the conversations got so much better.

I was quicker on my feet. I felt that no matter what, even if I did the prep work, right, I knew I wasn't going to get tripped up because I knew the direction I was going to go in. So I had this amount of clarity that I never had before. And the reason why I always talk about this is because, and again, guys, it's different for everybody. But for me, the direct correlation to me being successful in this microphone and in front of this camera is me taking care of myself off camera. Period. it into story. In 2025, I did that. And there was times, like from July to maybe October or November, I wasn't as intense with it as I was early on. But then I recognized it, held myself accountable,

got with my boy Jeff Delaney over at T-Clinix and New Viva, and got back on the horse. And now I'm finishing the year as strong as I began it. And why that's important is because it changed everything. When I look at 2025 and all of the show's success from flying to California and sitting down with Jay Leno in his garage and having a conversation with Jay on my show, I don't think I ever even thought that would be possible. There was many interviews like that this year, the Luttrell's, you know, Marcus and Morgan Luttrell, Matt Dillon, all these amazing episodes, all the way down to Bijou Bott,

who was the co-founder of Robin Hood and founder of Atherflux, a space program that's going to be generating power to power AI and give power through space lasers to underserved communities. I just, I look at all of that. And I don't know if I would have been able to execute those types of. of high-level interviews if I wasn't okay myself. I would have felt like being a fish out of water or that imposter syndrome was like, who am I to be in this room?

But what I chose to do was dive into the one thing that was holding me back. And that was how I felt about myself. So you listening and you watching right now, you're going through life as a parent, a professional, a son or a daughter or a friend, or whatever it is. And there's moments where you sit there and you evaluate where you're at and you don't have what you want. And you can't figure out why you can't progress forward and have the things that you want to have or have the amount of success that you want to have.

And when we break this down and you talk to a lot of different people, people will throw a ton of suggestions at you, right? They'll say, what about this? What about that? well, you need to do this because my friend's dog, sister's husband's cat did this. And that's not the way shit goes, guys. You know what you need to do. Okay? And that probably hits you right between the eyes.

And some of you probably said, you know what? Sean, you're right. I do know what I need to do. Other people just sat there and said, you know, this is bullshit. How am I supposed to know what I need to do or else I would have done it already? And that's not necessarily true. See, the thing that we need to fix in our life, and the thing that we need to dive so deep into

in order to circumvent or get better at is the one thing that sits on the frontal part of your mind every day. So let me walk you through this. For me, every time I got dressed, I had to be very careful of what I put on because it didn't feel comfortable. How did I look in this thing? Like, that is very exhausting.

And I'm being completely transparent and vulnerable with you right now because I want you to understand the journey that I've went through. I had to fix that part of me because it was holding me back. I was lacking in confidence, like true internal confidence, to a point that if I didn't fix it, I don't know where the show would be right now. I surely wouldn't have the amazing partners and the amazing team that I have surrounding me right now

because I wouldn't know how to treat them and I wouldn't know how to attract them. So, again, the one thing that you're sitting there every single day thinking about. This is a problem. I need to get in better shape. I need to stop watching porn. I need to treat my wife better. I need to treat my husband better. I need to actually go outside with my kids and play when they ask me. I need to go play dolls with my daughters when they ask me. I'm saying all of these things because these are the most common things that people struggle with is being present at home in retreating to vices. Like I said, porn or alcohol or other drugs.

and those moments when you identify what that one thing is. I keep saying the one thing because I want to drive it home to you guys. That is your opportunity. That is your opportunity to sit there and say, this is what I need to attack right now in order for me to progress and be better in everything that I'm doing. And let me be fully transparent. I wanted to be better in every area of my life. And I knew that if I didn't take care of it, I was going to continue to have massive amounts of anxiety.

And I'd have short fuse and lack of patience with my children and my wife. And for those fathers out there or mothers, know how debilitating it is when you lose patience with your child or lose patience with your spouse. Especially when it was your own bullshit you're losing patience for and they actually did nothing. but they are incurring the weight of your mind. And you're putting it on them and they are being impacted and affected by it. So, you know, again, to tie that part up, it was just a moment in 2025 where I had to get better personally. And I encourage every one of you to go back and look at your 2025 and ask yourself,

did you get better? Did you work on the things that you needed to work on? did you overcome certain adversities or did you just lay down in the face of it and say, you know what, have your way with me. Because if you did that, you got to reevaluate it because you left a lot on the table in 2025. There's the one thing I'll say as it pertains professionally. My goal for 2025 was growth in this show. And we absolutely destroyed that growth.

we it was an amazing year and it was a year of a lot of stress right it wasn't easy it was a very demanding schedule and when i mean very demanding schedule i'm talking sometimes three recordings in a day at one point i did nine in one day and then on another separate occasion in early january i did nine episodes full episodes in one and a half days and when i look at all that i don't know that i could have done it all without taking care of myself. And so, you know, the growth, yes, that was the goal, but I had a lot of things that I needed to work on for myself for that to even happen. And then growth was just a byproduct of that. And so for me, when I look at 2025 business-wise in the show, yes, it was a year of growth, right? But the one thing that I want to thank you guys for, I really

want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. From consistent listeners to people that have just checked out the show, to people that have really made this a cornerstone in their professional development and their self-improvement, thank you. Like, I literally could not have done it without you. And when I look at that, it's like this thing where when we start something, for the first three and a half years, I just didn't feel seen. I just didn't.

Let me repeat that. I didn't feel seen. People would question what the determined society was. It doesn't make sense. What is it about? And then all of a sudden, it made sense to people because I stayed true to what the backbone of the show was, but it's literally the first year I feel very, very seen by the audience.

I get messages all the time about how the show is helping them if I connect with somebody new on the social platforms like if I actually been listening to your show for a year and you've absolutely changed how I see things. And so while it's helping other people, like that is the main purpose behind it. That's why I started this. I never started this for me. I never would want to put myself at that level of exposure if it didn't have the end. impact on the other side. Like the impact for me is what I'm truly grateful for. So all the, all the listeners, all the listens, you know, monetization, that's all cool. But the fact that

you, my audience sees me for who I am and how genuine I am, how authentic I am, and how much I actually care about you and about the guests, whether it's a virtual guest or someone's sit right next to me in an in-person situation, I care so deeply about those people. And I'm genuinely curious about every conversation, every person that comes on that wants to give their journey of overcoming adversity by way of determination and discipline and then creating massive success in their business or their personal life. again this year we've had j lino william h macy kathy ireland jamy kennedy bejou bat all these amazing amazing people and we've also had people that have impacted my life like jeff delaney from tea clinics and uviva

that literally helps shape what we are seeing now like literally real time i've had him on the show i've had my good friend Matt Dillon on this show. I've had so many people on the show recently that I just value so much as human beings. And I think that is what I want to continue to bring. You know, for a while there, I was getting a lot of questions of why is it this consistent PR tour? And you guys got to understand when you're growing something, sometimes you do have to go in a certain direction, which you can always pivot back, right? And so what we've done now is now we have a healthy mix of that.

We have big names and we have everyday names. And the main thing that we want to give is the story. We want people, we want you to be inspired by what you hear on here. This is not an empty conversation. It ever is. And if you're tuning in for the very first time right now, it's like, why is this asshole rambling like this? It's because it means something.

I want you to get this message. and if you're hearing it and it came across your fee, like, this message is for you. Like, as you go into the new year, you have to be willing to be different. If you want different results, then you need to be different. And that's what I pride myself on all year

was doing something differently than I did in years past. And what it did is it yielded me better results. So what I need you to do is take that ownership of what's going on with you and implement that into your life. Again, growth, getting better. That's what 2025 was about for me

and was about for the show. And again, you know, I'm not naive enough to think that I could have done it without you. I've already thanked you. But I'm going to do it again because without you guys sharing the message, engaging on social media,

telling your friends about, the show, leaving the stars on Spotify, leaving written reviews on Apple, like, none of this is possible. Like, truly owe everything to you guys. Yes, my team and I execute the recording, the planning for the interviews, the guest acquisition, and then giving you the conversation. But after that, it's been you guys. It's been you guys out there sharing the absolute heck out of this stuff and bringing new listeners to the platform. and learning from every single guest. So quite honestly,

2025 for the determined society and me personally was a year of massive growth. Like from every facet you can think of, from the business financial side to personal, to feeling seen by you, to feeling seen by even the ones closest to me,

right? I was able to assemble a team, of amazing partners and bring my friend Dan in and and and have people that I know that have my back, including my production team, grit media. Like, I know that everybody within my company and everybody that's on the peripheral as far as support and contractors and all that kind of stuff, I know they give a shit about me. I know they have my back.

So when they bring me a suggestion, it's heard. And if it is something that I need to implement, I trust my team. Because without them as well, there's no you, there's no show. So they deserve an incredible amount of praise for everything that's gone on. And if you've been watching and listening to the show since the inception in 2021, By the way, February 21st is a five-year anniversary of the Determine Society. Five years. Half a freaking decade, guys.

Good Lord. You will be able to go back and look at the quality of production to what it is now. I'm so grateful for the creatives on my team, for production. And again, they do so much for me. There's a big part of this business that on the back end that I don't even have to do anymore because I have the support of the people that I can trust to do so. So there's just this year for me, guys, was just a peak behind of what could be. But 2026, I think it's going to be a bigger year.

I think it's going to be a bigger year. 2025 was about growth. 26 is about visibility. And we're going to take that up another notch. and I need your help. If you love the show and it's in your on-deck circle to where every Monday or every Friday

you're listening to this show, I need you to share it with two or three people. Continue to build this up, please. Because it helps me understand what people want to hear, right? It helps me understand what is valuable to the public, right? And I'll always say this

and no one ever takes me up on it. I want to hear what you think. I mean, send me a message. What topics do you want to hear in 2026? I can't promise you that I will take that and actually implement it. But if it makes sense, I will. Right. If there's a certain guess that you think would be great, right?

Because you feel the audience would resonate with it because you resonate with that. Let us know. Like, let us know because we want to continue to provide. value for things that are relatable to you. And that's what I really want to push to you guys is like, we want to stay relatable to everyday life. And that's what we really pride ourselves on here because we all need help every day, right? You struggle, I struggle, my team struggles. We all struggle, but we need to have people in place that can help us through that. So again, I just want to thank you guys for an amazing year.

Sometimes I look back on it and while the level of the schedule, the demand of the schedule was a real freaking thing, guys. It's like the scheduling was a lot. And we got through it because of the purpose behind it. But this year was a dream. It was an absolute dream of mine. And for the first time, like, I. I said, I felt seen, but also felt like I was really getting close. We are really getting closer

to where I want to be. Now, granted, if you know anything about me, once I get to that place where I want to be, I'm going to move that mark and I'm going to make another finish line because I don't freaking stop, right? But I've learned to take things in stride. I've learned to take care of myself and have a little bit of downtime and it be okay. See, my idle mind used to destroy me. Now it fills me. Now it fuels me because I'm mature enough and I've done the personal work to get through it. So, you know, I guess I just, again, 2025 was, I don't think going into 2025, I thought, this is all going to happen. It, everything just fell into place. Everything started working together. Started getting things that I only dreamed of having like PR.

a brand manager, an agent, full-time production team, one of my best friends in the world working with me, amazing partners. I remember when I was in this shit myself and worried about how I was going to cut up the episode and edit it so I can get it out for you guys. So when we look at life and when you look at where you're at today, I want you to be very cautious.

Because see, a lot of times you look at where you're at, you're at and you'll say it's not good enough. You want more. That other person still has more than you. That don't mean shit. It doesn't mean anything. What I want you to do right now is I want you to look at this year. Are you further ahead than you were last year? Did you make progression? Are you further along in accomplishing what you want to accomplish? Or are you stagnant? Or did you go backwards? Here's the second commitment I want you to make to me.

No matter what the answer is, do not shame yourself. Do not freaking shame yourself if you stayed stagnant or if you backslid. Don't. You're still breathing. You're here. You're listening to this. You still have errors in your lungs. God bless you with another day.

So from this point forward, work every single day to get better. So at the end of 2026, you can say, I had quantum leaps. Because I truly feel that's what happened for me, my team and the show in 2025 was a quantum leap. It was a different amount of growth. So sometimes it was a point where it was uncomfortable how quickly it was growing. And that's also a thing. But again, no matter if you. you stayed the same or you went backwards or you progressed, do not, do not judge yourself

because you still have time. And what I want you to do now is to make a commitment to yourself that at the end of 2026, there's going to be no question that's your head and shoulders above where you were. And this year, if you look back at it, you know, December 31 of 2024, if you executed things that you said you were going to execute doing the mundane things mastering the mundane staying consistent i guarantee you you're way ahead of where you were last year you just haven't acknowledged yourself for it because you have this expectation of what it's supposed to look like i'm supposed to have this much money i'm supposed to have this i'm supposed to have that no no no really look at it really look at your year

Did you do the work? Did you do it consistently? Were you determined? Were you disciplined? And are you ahead of where you were last year? And if you were, if you are, then you did all those things. If you're lacking in certain areas, then you may need to look at 2026 a little differently. But I can assure you that if you commit to it, there's nothing that you can't do. I hear all the time, well, you know, hey, wow, only 1% of people have a very popular show. it, well, that's easy math for me. Only 1% or however many percent of people are successful in this business and make a real splash and make a real financial business out of it are the ones that don't freaking

quit. So someone's telling you that the odds of you accomplishing what you want to accomplish are impossible. They're just projecting their own beliefs on you. So don't listen. The second thing is, is your response needs to be, yeah, because that's where 99% of the people quit. I really think about that. Everybody pins this 1% of the population because only 1% continues to go.

Everybody else gives up because they think it's going to, supposed to happen at one time. And they think of things in, you know, annual terms or six-month terms. But if you think in things, if you think in terms of decades, like, how can you go wrong? Like, we're almost year five in. So if I'm thinking in decades, I'm only halfway through. So the amount of growth from now until, you know, 10 years should be astronomical. My whole point is, guys, really evaluate where you're at. Stop thinking in terms of must have right now.

Think in terms of you're just going to focus on the one thing that matters that is getting better and doing the damn work, taking action every day. one more thing on action. Intention is important. Okay. Intention is very important. When we kicked off 2025, we needed to make sure that everything we did was intentional. And of course, there were certain activities that weren't intentional and we burned time. But for the most part, everything was very intentional.

And so when you're doing the work, when you're taking action, you need to be intentional about it. You know what your intentions are. You just can't go through the motions. You have to be dialed in and focused on those moments. And that's what we did here in 2025, and it paid off. So again, I'm not going to keep lecturing on how great of a year this was and what you need to do to get better. This episode was, A, a recap of 2025.

And of course, I didn't go month to month and give you all the nooks and crannies, but I told you what we improved on. And I told you how we did it. We did it by staying focused. We did it by executing our personal lives at a very, very, very high level, but then also doing the work here in the show. And collaborating with Kyle and breast production and Dan, my partner's Marina, Pat, you know, Roman and then my wife, Jacqueline, we all collaborated.

What can we do better? It was a year of growth. I wanted to get better. I dissect myself after every show. I ask Kyle, Ross Production, Dan, how was it? I'll ask him after this one, too. And in full transparency, this is my third episode today. Third.

And for those of you that are podcasters, that's a heavy lift. That is a very heavy lift. But the goal here was to inspire, was to give you a peek behind the curtain of the determined society of how much we grew. And there was no magic bullet. Just doing the work, guys. Staying consistent. Staying within the standard.

like I demand my team and everybody to live in a standard. Like whatever their standard is for themselves, they have to live it because that's the brand. Whatever determination and grit is to them and discipline, they have to live it because if they don't live it, then they can't execute within the show, within the company. Right. So we have to live this ourselves.

So I want you to do that. And again, I just want to thank you so much for listening this year and making us a part of your your weekly activity you're there's so many shows you can listen to and you know here you are turning in tuning into the determined society and i just want you to know that it's appreciated and we'll continue to get better you know i'll continue to get better my skills will improve right and again like with your feedback it's important like we actually talk about your feedback. Good or bad. I always ask my team like, hey, do you see this as truth? Or what do you think about this idea? So keep the suggestions coming, guys. And again, at the end of the day,

I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate you and we grew because you stuck with us. And there was many times throughout the year that you probably could have shifted. There was a lot of growing pains throughout the year. A lot of different, I guess, what would we call it? Flow of show changes. And you guys stuck. So, you know, I could also say 2025 was a year of loyalty from you guys. So I wish you guys a happy New Year. And I hope you guys stay safe. Enjoy your families. Do not drink and drive on New Year's Eve. Okay, guys, today is December 29th when you're listening to this, there's Uber's now.

Okay. Don't make a life-altering decision because you don't know how to order or unwilling to order an Uber from your app. Like literally, guys, be safe, okay? Have a happy day with your friends and your family. And I encourage you, you're going to go do what you're going to do on the 31st. But if you wake up hungover on January 1st,

how are you going to start your journey, right? So have fun, but also understand that tomorrow is going to come and you need to be ready to execute. So without further ado, guys, thank you again so much. I truly appreciate you and everything that you've done for me this year. I could only hope I'm giving you the amount of value that you need and that you want because you guys are giving me a ton of value by trusting me and listening and sharing and engaging. So thank you guys so much until now.

next time. Stay determined.