Worth Following – Podcast by Adrian Stanek

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Jun 2026

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Honest conversations on leadership, building teams, shipping real products, and creating a mission worth following. blog.adrianstanek.dev

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June 7, 20268 min

Why Do I Keep Quitting?

Is your journey worth starting? Well, that would be a question in the rubbish category.Your journey is always worth starting; your journey literally represents your life. In that sense, we have already started it.The point is, more, that if we actually walk this journey with intention, and not driven by externals we have no control over.We don’t really quit our lives if we talk about quitting as an issue. We talk about failing to pursue our own intention, and by that, we don’t really create any potential reality, nor are we in any sort of progress.The result is a life that was not meant for us, far from who we could be, but exactly where our own Ego wants us to be.Ego is my declared enemy, not only my personal one. This is the reason why I embarked on the journey to understand the human condition, and its patterns deeply, in order to help others as well as myself, to recognize it and eventually get into control of one's own mind.What is success?When we talk about a journey, we assume we must be successful. At best, it’s defined in a goal or desired state. But is this success? We aren’t a business, so we cannot be measured by the same standards.Success is something you need to define for yourself. But it should never, ever depend on your emotions, or the confirmation of others, or worldly goods, which would be a dependency.If you ask me, you need to look into yourself. Beneath the habits and thoughts, into your deeper, inner Self. By honest introspection and reflection in discipline. There, you actually can control everything; no one can stop you from becoming successful on this level – no one, no matter your circumstances.The question is, are you willing to?If these reflections help you think more clearly about leadership, discipline, identity, and the human condition, consider subscribing. Free subscribers receive new essays, while paid subscribers support the continued development of this work. ❤️Discipline Is Intent Put Into PracticeIf you do something every day because you promised it to someone, or because someone is in some way expecting it, it’s not discipline. At best, it’s a form of commitment, but moreover ends up being obedience and dependency.Your intentional act of repeating the daily practice to become better and learn is what we would call disciplina – the original meaning of what we call today discipline.Yet, we have culturally defined it as an “I-must” obligation. Not our own intention, but that of society or the people around us.The most famous example is if we commit ourselves to something in front of other people, like a gym membership as a New Year’s resolution. We keep the “discipline” up, since we obligated ourselves to. It wasn’t really our intention to actually become the changed person; it was a much lower intent driven by our own Ego.👉 Discipline is your intention in action.* Discipline is not obedience.* Discipline is not external motivation.* Without discipline, potential remains unrealized.Personal Growth Has No Definition of DoneDid you define goals for yourself? How many personal goals do you define, in which periods?Because that is what you would need to do in order to keep improving.There is no done, there will never be a state like this. You will never be in a specific state and stay there.Forget about goals, that is an I-must hustle mentality, but without actual substance.Who do I want to be today?Who am I today?What do I want to change tomorrow?And what is my potential?These questions and this loop lead you towards your potential, show you the signals you need to follow, and make you aware of the distractions.Without that pattern recognition, you will stay an unfinished project, a process never really started, and not shaped in your own intention.👉 You aren’t a project, you're a process.* Projects have finish lines.* Teams need goals and definitions of done.* Human development is a practice.* Character is never finished.Identity Drives BehaviorWho are you?You know you should go and practice today.What does the inner voice tell you?Are you happy to skip today? Or do you hate skipping it?Do you feel positive or negative about it?Well, you can shape this as well.If you don’t know yet who you are, I rephrase the question:Who do you want to become?Reflection Creates Self-KnowledgeLearn the patterns of yourself and the people around you. It’s possible and less complicated than you might think. Study the nature of humans and things; it’s in its core very similar and comparable, in that it’s recognizable.You can sense other humans trying to trigger you. And you can spot specific habitual behavior in yourself that you might want to intervene in.* Reflection reveals patterns.* Patterns reveal strengths and weaknesses.* Awareness creates intervention points.* Journaling accelerates self-understanding.How can you actually navigate your own life and actions if you don’t know these patterns well?You Are Both the Marble and the SculptorAnd the last set for today. If you aren’t willing to hit yourself to change something, you don’t seek transformation. It’s just decoration. Exactly what your Ego wants.You know the other name that people call Ego? Resistance to Change – your most personal enemy, you might not know, yet.Steven Pressfield put it well: Resistance is so smart, it lets you think it was your idea.* You shape yourself every day.* Growth requires discomfort.* Small improvements compound.* Character is built intentionally.—Adrian This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

May 24, 20263 min

Know Yourself, or You Become the Problem

There is a simple loop that teaches you who you are: commit to something, practice it, reflect on the result, accept what happened, and adapt for the next day. It sounds almost too simple, but that is usually where the useful things hide. You do not understand yourself by thinking about yourself in theory. You understand yourself by watching what happens when you act.A commitment reveals intention. Practice reveals character. Reflection reveals truth.And here we can learn to become honest with ourselves. Even today, I realize how easily I get tricked by my own mind sometimes.The difficult part is not the commitment itself. Many people can decide something in the morning. The difficult part is looking honestly at the result in the evening. Did I do what I said I would do? Did I act the way I wanted to? Did I become more useful to the people around me, or did I create more noise, more pressure, more confusion?If the result was good, you have evidence. You learned something about yourself that is worth repeating. If the result was bad, you have a signal. Not a reason for shame, not a reason for self-hate, but a reason to change something. In both cases, the day gives you material for the next day.That is why this cannot be a once-in-a-while exercise. It has to become daily. Not because every day needs to be dramatic, disciplined, optimized, or heroic. You do not need to run every morning, take cold showers, or copy someone else’s routine. But you do need some form of honest contact with yourself. Without that, you slowly lose the ability to see your own patterns.And when you cannot see your patterns, other people have to live with them.That is where self-reflection becomes more than personal development. It becomes a moral responsibility. If you do not know how your actions affect your mind, your emotions, your decisions, and the people around you, then you are moving through life half-blind. You may still be productive. You may still be intelligent. You may still be successful from the outside. But you are not necessarily becoming someone worth following.That question matters to me: am I a person worth following?Not in the cheap social media sense. In the human sense. Am I someone who makes the room clearer? Am I someone who contributes? Am I someone who can be trusted under pressure? Or am I someone others need to manage, tolerate, or recover from?This is why I use my Mirror-Book. It is a simple journaling technique I use in the morning and in the evening. Sometimes I use it outside, after running or walking, because movement often brings thoughts to the surface. But the important part is not where I write. The important part is that I write honestly.The book is only for me, and because of that, I can be brutally honest in it. I can write down where I acted badly. I can write down where I was unfair, reactive, arrogant, avoidant, or weak. Not to punish myself, but to recognize the pattern. Once the pattern is visible, it becomes possible to intervene earlier the next time.That is the real value of reflection. It turns vague discomfort into language. It turns language into recognition. It turns recognition into a different action.Digital tools can help with this. I have built apps for this myself. But writing by hand still has a different weight for me. A 2024 EEG study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that handwriting produces stronger brain connectivity than typing, particularly within networks associated with learning and memory. That does not make handwriting magic, but it supports something practical: when we write by hand, we process differently. The thought slows down. The body is involved. The sentence becomes harder to escape.And that is what good reflection does. It removes the hiding places.“Know thyself” is an ancient phrase, but it is not decorative. It is not something to put on a wall and admire. It is a practice. You know yourself by committing, practicing, reflecting, accepting, and adapting. Again and again.Because if you do not understand yourself, you will never truly understand others. And if you never look at what you are becoming, you may become the problem without noticing it.—Adrian This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

April 29, 20265 min

Clarity Is a Practice, Not a Feeling

There are mornings when you wake up, and your mind is already full before the day has even started. Messages, expectations, open loops, unfinished ideas, half-made decisions, things you should do, things you want to do, things you are afraid you are avoiding. And somewhere inside all of that noise, you ask yourself:“What am I actually supposed to do today?”That is the moment where people often say they need clarity. But I think clarity is often misunderstood. Clarity is not a permanent mental state. It is not the absence of uncertainty. It is not the magical moment where your whole future becomes visible and every next step feels safe. That version of clarity is mostly fantasy.For me, clarity is more operational. It is the point where you can see the next right action clearly enough to commit to it. Not forever. Not perfectly. Just enough to move.That distinction matters.Because if you expect clarity to remove uncertainty, you will wait too long. You will keep thinking, planning, consuming, asking, comparing, and preparing. But life does not become clear before you act. Often, it becomes clearer because you act.The Stoics understood this very well. Epictetus said:“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”Simple, yet challenging... That is a very easy sentence, but it contains a whole operating system. Identity first. Action second. Not mood first. Not certain first. Not external permission first.This work is reader-supported. If these reflections help you think, act, and lead with more clarity, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. ❤️Your energy is limited; use it wiselyThis is why I bring mentoring back to the day so often. Your mission matters. Your vision matters. Your potential matters. But none of these things are completed today. They are direction, not a daily workload. Today you only have today’s energy, today’s attention, today’s discipline, today’s resistance, and today’s opportunity to act.So the better question is not: “Where will I be in the future?”The better question is: “Who must I be today, and what is the next action that proves it?”That is where the Mirror-Book idea comes in for me. The page becomes a mirror. Not a place to perform, not a place to write endless thoughts, not a place to drown in emotion. A mirror.* What is true?* What is in my control?* What is in my influence?* What is not mine at all?* What is the signal for today?* What will I not do, so that the important thing has room to happen?This is not productivity theater. It is baseline work.Because clarity without a baseline does not hold. You can have one inspired evening, one strong conversation, one great insight, and by Wednesday, the old pattern returns. That is homeostasis. The system pulls you back to what is normal. Your old habits, old avoidance, old distractions, old emotional reactions, and old level of self-trust.So the work is not to chase peak clarity. The work is to raise the baseline.In the morning, you define the signal. In the day, you practice. In the evening, you review. What did I actually do? Where did I drift? What was a fact, and what was only a story? What did I learn from today’s action? What is the smallest next action for tomorrow?That loop is where clarity is rebuilt. Not once. Daily.And this is also why clarity is connected to courage. A vague day is easy to escape from. A clear signal creates responsibility. When you write down what you commit to, you remove some of your own hiding places. You can no longer pretend that the problem was only confusion. Sometimes the problem was that you saw the next step, but did not want to take it.That is not a moral failure. That is resistance. And resistance loses power when it is made concrete. So clarity is not knowing everything. Clarity is reducing the day to something you can actually own. One signal. One boundary. One next action. One honest evening review.Before you demand clarity for your whole life, get it clear today.Because today is where your character is practiced.And tomorrow will not become clearer by avoiding today.—Adrian This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

April 26, 20264 min

Maybe Your Potential Did Not Disappear

Show Notes: Maybe Your Potential Did Not DisappearMany of us already know enough to take the next step, but still wait for more clarity, confidence, proof, or better timing.This reflection is about potential, resistance, and the quiet ways we hide behind preparation.Sometimes strategy is useful.Sometimes it is fear wearing better clothes.Core question:What is still in my control today, and where am I already capable but still acting like I need permission?Also includes a short note on the Mirror-Book technique and how daily reflection can turn potential into evidence. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

February 23, 20268 min

Monday Is Coming – Why Tech Professionals Dread Mondays

Journaling for Self-Reflection: Separate Reality From Your Subconscious StoriesThe script argues that journaling is the best tool for self-reflection, manifesting, and understanding thoughts and emotions. It explains how journaling helps identify the “lower self” as not the controlling self and emphasizes that you can take action once you see things clearly. The episode recommends using paper or a smartphone to create a two-column table: one column for the week’s realities and actual challenges, and a second column for the stories and projections likely coming from the subconscious. It concludes that you must first gather data and analyze your thoughts before you can accept them, adapt, or act on them.00:00 Why Journaling Works: Self-Reflection, Emotions & Manifestation01:05 The Simple Two-Column Journal Setup01:10 Column 1: Write the Week’s Reality & Real Challenges01:20 Column 2: Spot the Stories Your Subconscious Projects01:31 Collect the Data First, Then Analyze and Take Action01:34 Conclusion: Accept, Adapt, and Act on What You Find This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

February 16, 202612 min

Stop Letting Deadlines Hijack Your Nervous System

Stoicism, Discipline, and Burnout: A Tough Week ReflectionThe speaker reflects on a stressful, poorly planned week with shifting appointments and sudden obligations, using a practical, personal approach to stoicism to stay calm and functional. They explain the stoic idea of separating what you can control, influence, and cannot control, and argue that real challenge should hurt because discomfort is what drives change.Their goal is to do everything possible to sway outcomes on commitments, so they can live without regret, even if results or timing don’t work out. As a tech leader and mentor, they criticize deadline culture in the tech space, calling many deadlines fictional milestones that push people into a no-control zone and lead to burnout, especially when marketing or investors force schedules before a product is ready.They define discipline as self-driven commitment (“I will do that”) rather than obedience to an external agenda (“I must do that”), and emphasize committing to getting work done rather than committing to specific dates. The speaker describes coping strategies like daily exercise, including jogging with weights to test limits, and contrasts their current resilience with past habits like retreating into games, junk food, soda, or alcohol (which they no longer drink).They end by reaffirming that pushing through hard weeks builds self-worth and self-confidence, and they continue their uphill run with a 10 kg pack.00:00 — Challenge Must Hurt: Why Discomfort Drives Real Change01:16 — Stoic Week Reflection: Stress, Planning Chaos, and When to Intervene02:32 — Control vs Influence vs No Control: The 3 Circles to Stay Sane04:15 — Pushing Through Without Regret (Even When You’re Exhausted)05:50 — Training as Therapy: Weighted Jogging, Limits, and Self-Knowledge06:42 — Commitment Over Deadlines: Why Most Timelines Are Fiction09:25 — Discipline Isn’t Obedience: Avoiding Burnout and External Agendas11:13 — Proving It to Yourself: Self-Confidence Built in Hard Weeks12:34 — Wrap-Up: Keep Moving, Uphill Finish, and Goodbye This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

January 26, 20267 min

Dilemmas Are a Leadership Smell

The Power of Decision Making: A Stoic ApproachIn this insightful episode, we explore the art of decision-making and reflect on how to learn and grow from our choices. By examining the consequences of our actions, embracing our emotions, and adapting our strategies, we can develop better decision-making patterns over time. This approach helps us distinguish between significant and trivial decisions while emphasizing the importance of early feedback and personal control. Tune in to understand how a stoic perspective can enhance your decision-making process and lead to more informed and quicker decisions in the future.00:00 Introduction: The Power of Choice00:17 Learning from Decisions00:24 Emotional Consequences and Acceptance00:37 Reflection and Adaptation00:50 Understanding the Impact of Decisions01:20 Stoic Perspective on Control This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

January 19, 20261 hr 0 min

AI & Coaching, Why technology will change how we learn, and how we grow

AI as the New Coach: Integrating Technology Into MentorshipIn this spontaneous stream, the speaker dives deep into the evolving role of AI in the coaching and mentorship industry. As we enter a new year, they reflect on how AI has progressed from a hyped technology to an integral part of daily life. They highlight the unique challenges and opportunities AI brings to software development and coaching. Key discussion points include the importance of discipline, the role of AI as a reflecting partner for daily self-improvement, and the critical need for guardrails in AI coaching. They emphasize that while AI can serve as a useful tool for reflection and learning, it should not replace human judgment and emotional intelligence. The session wraps up by encouraging individuals to integrate AI thoughtfully into their personal and professional development routines.00:00 Introduction and Greetings00:08 Reflecting on Last Year's Doubts01:57 AI's Role in Coaching and Mentoring06:33 AI as a Daily Companion19:04 The Importance of Discipline and Daily Reflection24:05 Guardrails and Trust in AI30:26 Understanding AI's Limitations31:08 The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership31:43 The Importance of Accountability in Decision Making32:42 Using AI to Fill Knowledge Gaps33:36 Frameworks Over Prompts37:50 Privacy and Honest Reflection42:18 AI Amplifying Substance, Not Credibility46:21 The True Value of Coaching50:07 Personal Growth and Self-Leadership52:18 Final Thoughts and Reflections This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

January 3, 20266 min

Focus + Feedback Loops

Hello, fellow.Two things are extremely important if you wanna become a good professional, in any field. (That includes yours as well, so read on! 😀) 1 – The first thing is focus. 2 – The second thing is the ability to stay in a feedback loop. And this comes to my mind every time when I’m on an archery field, or in this case, a 3D Parcours.You heard of those if you are on social media, but do you actually “focus” on focusing on a daily basis? Are you running a constant feedback loop for yourself? Anyway, it makes sense to read on:Why I Like Archery as a SportThe reason I like it as a sport is exactly that. It’s a sport, and since I’m mostly a software development entrepreneur, I don’t do much sport while I’m at work. Still, I need to, because there is no other activity I can personally do that offers that level of precision in focus.Archery forces you to be precise about what you do, when you aim, when you release, when you plan your shot, and what you’re doing with your body. And then of course you get the outcome.Nothing is more frustrating than when you mess up a shot, lose your arrow in the forest, and realize it was because your mind was off and not on point. Regret .. Reflect .. Accept .. Adapt … Let’s get into that stuff:The Loop: Commit, Execute, AdaptYou commit to a shot, you plan something, you execute, then you realize what actually happened, and then you adapt. If I mess up, I think about what I have done wrong at this position, from that angle, with that arrow type, at that distance. Was my finger not in the correct position? Was the anchor off? Did I rush? Then I adapt for the next shot as long as it works.This is what makes you better every time you release an arrow, because you’re doing two things at once:* Correct what you’ve done wrong (fast, practical, no drama)* Remember what you’ve done right (so you can repeat it on purpose)That’s also why, when I miss a shot, I take a follow-up shot, and I take a follow-up shot again, and then it’s over. But when I hit, I memorize that and go for the next target. There are enough targets. I want my brain to remember what works and what doesn’t, and that is simply a practice.In both failure and success, I remember intentionally what worked and what did not.Bragging and RegrettingA lot of archers do this; I’ve adopted it and use it in real life, too. I call it bragging and regretting.* Regret is short-term. I regret what I just did wrong right now because I can do it better.* Then regret is over. I accept it, adapt, correct, execute again, and see what happens.* Bragging is pattern storage. When I hit, I say: This is done right, remember that one.Important: Don’t brag or regret any longer; that is necessary. That’s to handle your short-term feelings, which are connected to yours. It’s a part of my stoic practice to let these emotions come up and instantly control them. NEVER drive home and tell yourself:* “I messed up so many shots, what a bad, I hate my life” (That’s nonsense)* “Tell everybody how great of an archer you are” (Which you aren’t in relation to others)It’s only about yourself, your progress, and your learning.Why Traditional Gear MattersA personal point: But after years on the range at 30+ years of coding, 18+years of entrepreneurship, I concluded:It helps that this is a traditional bow. No optics, no helping devices. If you want to do something, you need to do it all by yourself. You have a very basic rest with a little bit of fur on it, and that’s it. This is what I really like. It’s also why I never bought a compound bow or an Olympic bow. I wanted it that way.Because it puts you into situations that are a little bit like the entrepreneurial situation, it’s not standardized. It’s not a specific range, a specific angle, a specific weather condition.Probably that’s why I like being in the more chaotic startup space than in corporate. 😀Real Conditions, Real AdaptationIt is very cold right now, around minus five degrees. It’s very slippery. My fingers are getting chilly, and at some point you need to adapt to those things. That is not how you shoot indoors, or how you shoot in an indoor competition.Even my nocks flew off today. In summer, it works very well with those, now they all flew off while I was shooting. Some I wasn’t able to find again, so I had to shoot with other arrows. I have two types of arrows with me right now, and the entire range I’m shooting with two arrows that are not meant to be shot with that bow. A similar kind of bow, but not the same, different draw weight. That means I need to adapt again.So I’m doing the entire processing in real time:* Use what I know from the past* Apply it to different arrows, different bow behavior* Under colder conditions than usual* On a field, I’m not very often on* Heavy, steep terrain; before most shots, I was climbing an icy hill.All these things together make you a better shooter over time because you need to constantly reflect, adapt to what you have just done, and stay in focus.The Same Thing in Software and EntrepreneurshipIf you don’t have those two abilities, you cannot really execute. And that is the very same thing as a software developer and entrepreneur, a tech entrepreneur. You don’t know what happens. The environment is different every time. The conditions are different every time, and you need to adapt.You don’t know:* What clients will say* What users will say* How the market responds* If employees stay with you, and who you’ll get next* What issues newer tech will bringAnd the feedback loops can be very fast there as well. I need to focus on something one day, focus only on these signals, then move on. But while you do that, you need to become better every time. Otherwise, you cannot keep up.The fear of not being able to keep up has been and continues to be driving me. A reason I became stoic is that I can control the emotions that come with it. Is it necessary to have this drive? Yes.If you try to tell me that drive isn’t necessary, you are most likely not an entrepreneur 😀 That’s fine, it’s a particular thing to do and get along with. I would be a horrible employee these days, I can tell.Do Something That Trains ThisThat’s what I wanted to tell you today, because I think it’s a helpful metaphor. And I’d recommend you do something like that as well. It must not be archery. People do boxing; they do all sorts of sports where you need focus, execution, reflection, adaptation, and improvement.Because when you do something while you’re walking, while you’re breathing, while your heart is pumping a little bit, you do it more intensely and you learn more. There’s evidence for that too. We know better when we move, and at best, when we’re outside.Not much sunshine today, but I’m outside, and I can already say: it works pretty well.I wish you a great day. I’ll continue now because my butt is freezing here on that bench.See you next time. Goodbye.—Adrian This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

December 31, 20256 min

Do you have Clarity in your Life?

We often discuss the importance of clarity — clarity in communication, clarity in vision, and clarity in life. However, when you examine it closely, clarity is one of the most misunderstood things we pursue.Because it’s easy to say, “I want to have clarity.” It’s much harder, actually, to keep it.You might have moments where everything feels aligned, where you know exactly what to do next, and then, just a few days later, the fog returns.Let’s talk about that kind of clarity: the clarity of direction in life.And to make it simple, let’s use a metaphor.The Driving MetaphorImagine you’re driving a car. To drive, you need three things: acceleration and braking, steering, and navigation. These three things serve as metaphors for how we navigate life.1. Acceleration & Braking → Your Physical HealthYour body is your engine. It gives you the energy to move forward, to build momentum, to slow down when needed. If your physical energy is off, if you’re tired, stressed, or unwell, you can’t accelerate toward anything meaningful. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.adrianstanek.dev/subscribe

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