Jonathan Z. Cohen

Follow for posts on mindset, fitness, & personal growth | JD/MBA

I’m Jonathan, 

👉 Follow me for actionable posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth. 
👉 Listen to my podcast here: insidetheinspired.com

✅ Every week, you'll get new episodes featuring high performers and insights on how to build personal growth.
✅ You'll get my reading list, training plan, and ‘How To Find Purpose’ module from The Inspired Action System (for free). 
_______

I help you unlock your full potential to elevate:

- personal growth
- career opportunities
- physical and mental wellness

I've read hundreds of books, trained for over a decade, coached hundreds of professionals, and interviewed hundreds high performers so you don't make the same mistakes.
 
My experience includes:

5 years of public service in 2 countries
Rocking over 1,000 pushups in 1 hour
Running 9x marathons/ultramarathons
Performing over 1,000 pullups in 4 hours
Raising collectively $50,000+ for multiple charities
Building the Inside The Inspired podcast community
Training 1000+ lawyers and professionals on stress management and resilience

I share my experience to help you design your advantage.

Ready to unlock your potential?

Get started with Inside The Inspired here: insidetheinspired.com/podcast-1

Podcast Host

5 rules of mental toughness:
 
1. It’s about speed to recovery
Everyone gets knocked off center.
Mental toughness is how quickly you regain control.
 
2. Mental toughness is a practice
Not a trait you’re born with.
Something you train daily, imperfectly, intentionally.
 
3. It’s not about not breaking
It’s about becoming anti-fragile
Using stress, pressure, and failure to get stronger.
 
4. Emotional awareness  
It’s not thick skin
It’s self-compassion without hating on yourself.
Being honest without being cruel.
 
5. Processing 
Assess the situation.
Separate facts from emotion.
Develop an opinion.
Act accordingly.
 
Mental toughness is about learning:

How to regulate when you feel off
Practicing resilience when you're not in the mood
Being reliable (to yourself) when you feel the pressure

Mental toughness isn't about avoiding the fall.
It's about how fast you bounce back once you do.

Which one resonates with you?

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

When life gets hard here’s a few things to try:


Move your body
Reflect on your days
Write to clear your mind
Spend time with people you love
Rise and wind down with sunlight

Little things go a long way.

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

Most people try to eliminate anxiety before speaking.
But, the best speakers...

Redirect it.

In the latest episode of Inside the Inspired, I sat down with performance coach and attorney Paul Marchegiani to unpack how to build presence even when you feel the pressure.

Paul trains executives and high performing attorneys around the country on how to build their presence to command the room. 

We talked about:

- How to leverage nerves as energy
- Build AI-Proof public speaking skills 
- Why persuasion is about rhythm (and how to find it)

If you’ve ever felt your message get lost because your nerves took over…

This conversation is for you.

Link in the comments.

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

Saturday is an underrated day to build self-belief.
Here’s 3 ways you can start:


1. Name The Standard
What’s the minimum standard that earns credibility with yourself today?
Define it clearly enough that you don’t negotiate with it later.

2. Keep Your Word
Do the thing you said you would.
Self-trust is built through follow-through.

3. Stack Proof
Self-belief is trained.
Build a mountain of evidence that makes it unreasonable for you to NOT believe in yourself.
It's just a game of reps.

Who would you become? 

Better yet... 

What would you create, design, or build if you believed in yourself that little bit more?

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

Snowy Sunday is a perfect time to check in with yourself.
2 questions worth thinking about:


1. What am I avoiding right now (and what would change if I faced it this week)?

2. What went well this week that I didn’t acknowledge?

Reflection is a life hack cause it leads to increased awareness.

Awareness drives progress.
Progress leads to growth.

Which one resonates with you?

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

I believe reflection is a life hack.
This weekend try this:


List 3 wins
List 3 losses
List 3 areas you could have improved
List 3 actions you’ll take next week

You build capacity and confidence with awareness into your life.

As in:

“What’s going well?”
“What could go better?”
“How can I get there?”

Thing is you have to be intentional about it.

If you float through life, then life happens to you.

Instead of you happening to life.

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

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In an interview recently I was asked what I think about failure. It got me thinking.
Here’s my take:


If you aren’t failing you aren’t trying hard enough.

If you aren’t failing, then you aren’t playing big enough.

If you aren’t failing, you’re leaving opportunity to find your capacity on the table.

How you lose determines the kind of winner you become.

Failure itself isn’t the issue.
How you respond to failure is.

Do you analyze what you could’ve done better or shift the blame somewhere else?

Do you own the outcome and take responsibility for improving?

This year is just getting started.

In 2026, don’t let fear of failure stop you from aiming a bit higher, falling a bit further, and then getting right back up to pick up where you left off.

Failure isn’t the opposite of success.
It’s the stepping stone towards the vision.

Has failure helped you get closer to where you’re trying to go?

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth,

"I don't play to win or lose. I play to learn." Kobe Bryant
When the goal is learning:

You stay calm in losses
Grounded when you win
And focused on what’s next

Learning keeps your curiosity going.
Learning makes performance sustainable.
Learning is how you stay overcome the plateau.

The real edge is about having a commitment to getting a little better every time you show up.

Where are you still playing to prove you belong instead of playing to learn?

Follow Jonathan Z. Cohen for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

Living for the moment feels good until the bill comes due.
There’s a difference between being present and avoiding the future.

This week's newsletter is about understanding the tool to help reduce the hidden risk most people don’t see until it’s too late.

Check it out and subscribe to Inside the Inspired for posts on mindset, fitness, and personal growth.

I used to live for the moment. I believed that presence meant squeezing everything out of now, maximizing the experience, saying yes, and, trusting th

Open article: The Risk of Living For The Moment by Jonathan Z. Cohen • 2 min read

Senior Operations Leader | Embracing Unwavering Execution & Extreme Ownership Principles

I help organizations cut through complexity and turn operations into systems they can count on. With 20 years of experience, I have led cross-functional teams, managed a $200M contract portfolio, and delivered measurable results:

- $22M in savings through vendor management and strategic sourcing
- 25% profit margin gains through process improvement and operational efficiency
- 200+ corporate and endurance events produced over 15 years
- Large-scale budgets and project management across multiple functions

Core strengths: operations leadership, vendor management, contract management, strategic sourcing, process improvement, project management, budgeting, and event direction. I combine data-driven execution with a servant-leadership style shaped by Extreme Ownership and Echelon Front principles.

Outside of work, I am a runner, ultrarunner, GoRucker, and adventurer. The resilience and grit built on the trail inform every decision I make.

If you are looking for an operations partner who can optimize processes, manage vendors, and deliver events with measurable results, let’s connect.

“Jimmy’s integrity, bias toward action, and laser focus allowed our organization to scale…from the red into the black < 1 year, scaling >10X.” – Anoop Grover, COO

Jimmy Gabany

A quarter of the way through the race, I knew I was done pushing.

Not because of effort, but because of injury. Running on a torn quad forces honesty fast. You can negotiate with pain for a while, but eventually reality wins.

That moment reminded me how often leaders ignore early signals. We feel something is off. Pace slips. Decisions take longer. Communication gets strained. Instead of adjusting, we push harder and hope discipline alone fixes it.

Sometimes the right call is not to grind more. It is to change the plan. Slow down. Reassess. Preserve what matters so you can keep moving long term.

That choice is uncomfortable. It feels like backing off. In reality, it is ownership.

Listening to the signal early usually saves more than it costs.

#leadership

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Senior Operations Leader | Operations Systems Builder | Global Vendor Strategy & Management | Event Direction | Extreme Ownership

Ownership is simple. Living it is not.

Taking responsibility sounds straightforward until it costs you something. Reputation. Comfort. Convenience. That is where most people hesitate.

Ownership means absorbing problems even when you did not create them. It means stepping in when something is drifting instead of waiting for permission. It also means giving credit away when things go right.

I have learned that teams notice this quickly. They can tell when ownership is real versus performative. One builds trust. The other creates distance.

Leaders who practice ownership consistently earn more latitude when things go wrong. Not because they are perfect, but because people know they will not deflect or disappear under pressure.

Ownership is not a slogan. It is a pattern of behavior, repeated when it would be easier not to.

#leadership

Discipline is not intensity.

Endurance training taught me that early. Anyone can push hard for a short stretch. Discipline is staying consistent when effort needs to be measured, not maxed out.

The same mistake shows up in leadership. People confuse urgency with effectiveness. They sprint every problem, burn energy fast, and then wonder why momentum fades.

Discipline looks quieter. It is choosing the right pace. Making small corrections before things break. Staying steady when pressure rises instead of reacting emotionally.

That kind of discipline builds trust over time. Teams know what to expect. Decisions improve because they are made with intent, not impulse.

Intensity fades. Discipline compounds.

#leadership #operations

I’ve always been drawn to endurance sports. There’s something about pushing past the point where your body wants to quit that feels honest. You can’t fake it. You can’t delegate it. You just have to keep moving.

Funny thing is, the lessons from the course bleed into everything else. Operations, leadership, and even vendor negotiations. It’s all about finding that extra gear when things get tough.

There are days when the inbox is overflowing, vendors are late, and the plan is unraveling. Those are the moments I hear that little voice: just one more mile. Just one more call. Just one more problem solved.

It’s not glamorous. Most of the time, nobody sees the grind. But that’s where the real progress happens, not in the big wins, but in the quiet moments when you decide to keep going.

I don’t always get it right. Sometimes I run out of steam. But I’ve learned that consistency beats intensity, every time.

Maybe that’s the real secret. Just keep moving, even when nobody’s watching.

Sometimes I catch myself overcomplicating things. 

I’ll spend hours mapping out a process, trying to anticipate every possible snag. It feels productive, but honestly, it’s just a way to avoid the messiness of real execution. 

The best systems I’ve built weren’t the most detailed. They were the ones people actually used. The ones that made sense in the middle of chaos, not just on a whiteboard. 

There’s a kind of humility in admitting that simple usually wins. Not because it’s easier, but because it survives contact with reality. 

I still have to remind myself: don’t design for the exception. Design for the 80 percent, and trust your team to handle the rest. 

It’s uncomfortable, letting go of that last bit of control. But every time I do, the team steps up in ways I didn’t expect. 

Maybe that’s the real lesson. Complexity feels safe, but it’s usually just a shield. Simplicity is riskier, but it’s where the real progress happens.

Leadership gets lonely in ways I didn’t expect. 

You’re supposed to have the answers, or at least act like you do. But there are days when I’m just as lost as anyone else. The difference is, I can’t always say it out loud. 

I’ve learned that extreme ownership doesn’t mean carrying everything alone. It means owning the outcome, but also knowing when to ask for help. That’s harder than it sounds. 

There’s a weird pride in being the one who fixes things. But if you’re not careful, it turns into isolation. The team stops bringing you problems because they think you’re too busy, or too confident, or just not interested. 

I’ve had to work at breaking that cycle. To show that I’m human, that I don’t have it all figured out, and that I want their input. 

It’s not always comfortable. But every time I let my guard down, the team gets stronger. 

Maybe that’s the real job. Not just leading from the front, but making it safe for others to step up too.

#leadership

Events expose leadership fast.

When you run events, there is no hiding behind plans or slide decks. The moment doors open, reality takes over. Timelines compress, variables stack up, and decisions need to happen in real time.

I have learned that events reward calm execution more than clever ideas. The best prep shows up in how you respond when something changes five minutes before go time. Audio drops. A speaker runs long. A vendor misses a detail. None of that is theoretical.

Those moments force a choice. You can react emotionally, or you can slow your thinking down and solve the next problem in front of you. The team feels that difference immediately. Energy either tightens or steadies based on how the leader shows up.

Events have trained me to separate what matters from what does not. They sharpen prioritization and reinforce ownership because excuses do not move the room forward. Action does.

Every event is a live rep in leadership. You do the work early, stay composed under pressure, and adjust without drama. That discipline carries far beyond the event floor.

#leadership #operations

Some leaders change how you see the work.

When I was in the Army in Germany from 1997 to 1999, I played soccer for FC Schweinfurt 05. The photo is of me with the team's coach, the only one I have. Through him, and through the men on that squad, I learned to love soccer, not just play it.

He was the kind of coach every player hopes to have. Demanding. Direct. Uncompromising about effort. He spoke only German to me, even though he knew English perfectly. There was no shortcut, no comfort language, no easing up because I was new or different. If I wanted to be on the field, I had to earn it.

He pushed me harder than I had ever been pushed in sports. And I respected him for it. More than that, I trusted him. His standards were clear. His feedback was honest. His expectations never moved.

That experience stayed with me. The best leaders do not make the work easier. They make you better. They challenge you, hold the line, and care enough to demand more than you think you have.

Be that type of leader.

#leadership

Think leadership is just a title? Think again.

Great leadership is never a one-and-done skill. It's a profession that demands constant learning and growth.

Most people slow down as they climb the ladder, but the research is clear. If you don't keep sharpening your skills, your effectiveness drops over time.

The best leaders don't stop at experience. They focus on problem-solving, driving results, collaborating, inspiring, and strategic thinking. These are muscles that need regular training.

If you want to thrive in today's fast-changing workplace, growth is not optional. It's what separates managers from leaders who guide teams through real challenges and opportunities.

Leadership is a choice you make every day. The organizations that invest in it will shape the future.

Are you investing in your growth?

If you are waiting for someone else to fix it, you are already behind.

Extreme ownership is not a buzzword. It is the difference between teams that move and teams that stall.

I have seen leaders blame vendors, tech, or even the weather. The result? Nothing changes. The same issues come back, just with new faces.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: If you touch it, you own it. Even if you did not break it. Even if it is not in your job description.

When a process fails, I do not ask who is at fault. I ask, What can I do right now to move this forward?

First, get clear on the real problem. Not the symptoms. The root cause.

Second, take action. Even a small step. Document what you try. Share it with your team.

Third, follow up. Did it work? If not, adjust. If yes, lock it in so it sticks.

This is not about being a hero. It is about building a culture where everyone steps up. Where excuses die fast.

The best teams I have led do not wait for permission. They see a gap and fill it. They own the outcome, every time.

If you want to build a team that wins, start with yourself. Model extreme ownership. Watch how fast others follow.

What is one thing you could take ownership of today, even if it is not your job?

#extremeownership

I think we make leadership harder than it needs to be.

There are endless frameworks, books, acronyms, and models. They all sound good in theory. But when I’m standing in the middle of a show floor, or looking at a project that is already drifting, none of that is what people are asking for.

What they want is direction. They want to know what matters right now. Not ten priorities. Not a perfectly worded strategy. Just the thing that matters most in this moment.

I have sat through long meetings trying to get everyone aligned, only to realize I was the problem. I was offering too many options. Too many paths. Too much room to interpret.

It is uncomfortable to admit you are the source of the confusion. It is also freeing. Because once you see it, you can change how you show up.

Make the call. Narrow the focus. Say what matters and mean it. Let the team solve the rest.

You will not always get it right. That is part of the deal. I would still rather give a firm direction and adjust later than stay safe and leave everyone guessing.

People can handle pressure. What they struggle with is uncertainty.

And honestly, so do I.

#leadership #operations

What problem are you actually avoiding?

I see leaders stay busy while sidestepping the one decision that would change everything. Meetings get scheduled. Updates get shared. Work keeps moving, but the real issue stays untouched.

Avoidance often looks productive on the surface. You can justify it with progress, effort, and activity. Underneath, it is usually hesitation. Not because people do not know what needs to be addressed, but because addressing it carries weight.

Hard conversations, ownership calls, resetting expectations, or admitting something is not working. Those moments create discomfort. They also create movement.

Teams feel it when leaders delay the hard call. Momentum slows. Energy leaks. People start managing around the issue instead of solving it.

The fastest way forward is rarely the most comfortable one. It is the one you keep postponing because it forces a decision instead of more discussion.

So what is the thing you keep working around instead of dealing with head on?

#leadership #operations

Busy is a comfortable excuse.

I see smart people stay busy while the real problem sits untouched. Calendars are full. Updates are shared. Work keeps moving. And yet the issue that actually matters never gets addressed.

They keep pushing off the one task they do not want to do. I know this because I have caught myself doing the same thing.

Being busy feels responsible. It gives you cover. You can point to effort, activity, and progress on paper. What it avoids is the harder move, making a decision that closes one door so another can open.

Execution improves when leaders reduce options. Fewer paths. Fewer priorities. Fewer meetings that exist because no decision was made beforehand. People do better work when they know what is no longer in scope.

Staying busy is easy. Deciding is not. Progress usually starts the moment activity stops being the goal.

Most execution problems I see are not caused by a lack of talent or motivation. They come from unclear ownership. People are busy and working hard, yet still missing the mark because no one is fully accountable for the outcome.

When ownership is fuzzy, decisions slow down. People hedge. Teams wait for approval instead of acting. Energy gets spent managing around uncertainty instead of solving the actual problem.

Clear ownership simplifies everything. One person owns the outcome. Others support, challenge, and execute. Feedback improves because responsibility is obvious. Progress speeds up because no one has to guess who should move next.

This does not mean leaders do more work. It means they do the right work. They define ownership early, reinforce it often, and remove obstacles rather than add layers.

If you want faster execution, stop asking people to work harder. Start making ownership unmistakable.

#leadership

I used to think vendor management was about leverage. Negotiate hard, get the best deal, keep everyone honest. 

But after enough time negotiating contracts, I’ve realized it’s more about partnership than pressure. The best outcomes come from vendors who feel like part of the team, not outsiders to be squeezed. 

It’s a weird shift, honestly. You spend years learning to protect your margins, then you realize the real value is in building trust. 

I’ve had vendors bail me out of disasters I didn’t see coming. I’ve also had deals fall apart because I pushed too hard, too fast. 

There’s a balance. You have to know when to hold the line and when to pick up the phone and just talk like people. 

The contracts matter, but the conversations matter more. 

Funny how the things you thought were soft skills end up being the difference between chaos and calm on event day. 

If you’re still treating your vendors like adversaries, you’re missing the point. They’re the ones who’ll save you when the plan falls apart. And it always does, eventually.

Want to know why most people crack under pressure? Here's the truth nobody wants to admit: Mental toughness isn't something you're born with. It's built, one decision at a time.

Here are the 10 secrets that make you mentally unbreakable.

1. Don't run from being alone.
Solitude isn't a punishment, it's an advantage.
When you're alone, you get to:
- Untangle your thoughts
- Get control of your emotions
- Actually hear yourself think
If you can't handle silence, the world's noise will crush you.

2. Stop dragging your past everywhere you go.
Obsessing over what you can't change? That's dead weight.
The only thing that matters is what you do today.
Let the past be a lesson, not a life sentence.

3. Life doesn't owe you a single thing.
The moment you expect the world to hand you anything, you start losing.
Earn every win, every day.
Comfort is nice, but it's a trap.

4. Ignore the crowd.
Approval is a moving target, and chasing it only makes you forget who you are.
Being yourself takes guts. Most people never even try.

5. No more pity parties.
Yeah, life gets tough.
Feeling sorry for yourself fixes nothing, but action fixes almost everything.
Get up, go again. That's how scars turn into stories.

6. Focus only on what you can control.
Worry is wasted energy.
Ask yourself:
- Does this matter?
- Can I change it?
If not, drop it and move forward.

7. Choose respect over resentment.
Someone else's win does NOT mean you lost.
There's plenty to go around:
- Wealth
- Health
- Opportunity
Root for others. The world's scoreboard isn't zero-sum.

8. Step up to responsibility.
You want progress? Then go first.
Lead projects. Take ownership.
Don't wait for someone to hand you the keys. Grab them.

9. Refuse to quit.
Most people bail when it gets real.
But if you keep showing up, keep trying new angles, you'll outlast everyone else.
Persistence is a muscle, and most people never train it.

10. Don't fear hard things.
Tough tasks build tougher people.
Stop telling yourself it's impossible.
Instead, say "This is easy work." Your brain will start to believe it. So will everyone else.

Nobody's born unbreakable. You get there by choosing the harder path, every day.

Which one of these do you struggle with most? Or better yet, which one have you mastered? Drop your story in the comments,I want to hear what's made you tough.

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We combined an immersive VIP experience at the Sphere with focused education and productive networking at Area15. The outcome was more than a great event. It was meaningful learning, strong relationships, and conversations that continued well after the final session.

Ursa Major Events designs and operates high-impact experiences for organizations that value execution, alignment, and connection.

Let us design an experience for you

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Teams can move fast and still fall behind. Not because they are lazy or unfocused, but because everything gets treated as urgent. And when everything is urgent, nothing really is.

Moving quickly only works when the work is prioritized. When priorities multiply, speed spreads effort across too many objectives, slowing the mission. From the outside, it looks like momentum. On the inside, it feels like drag.

I have been guilty of this myself... more often than I would like to admit. Pushing pace across multiple projects instead of reducing scope and making hard calls. It feels decisive in the moment. It usually (almost always) creates more work later.

Progress does not come from doing more at once. It comes from finishing the right thing, then moving on. Prioritize and execute.

Where have you seen speed help execution, and where has it quietly made things worse?

#leadership

There’s a moment right before an event or race goes live when everything is too quiet.

Not peaceful. Just waiting.

I always feel it in my stomach, like I forgot something obvious. Most of the time, I haven’t. The feeling still shows up anyway.

I used to think that meant I wasn’t ready. Now I think it’s just part of the job. You can plan for months, build the best run of show, triple-check vendors, and still something will go sideways. There’s almost a strange relief when it finally does. At least then you stop waiting and start fixing.

I don’t love that part. I probably should. The adrenaline. The scramble. But honestly, I’d rather things just work. Maybe that’s boring. Or maybe it’s just honest.

Sometimes I wonder if the best leaders are the ones who look calm on the outside while quietly running scenarios in their head.

The worst moment is realizing you’re the only one who knows how to fix what just broke. That’s not a systems problem. That’s a leadership problem. I’ve been there more times than I want to admit.

The quiet before the doors open is still my least favorite part.

I always stand by the exit. Just in case. 🤣

“Here I am. Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8 carries weight because it reflects a choice made without conditions. Isaiah does not ask for clarity, authority, or guarantees. He steps forward and accepts responsibility.

Extreme Ownership teaches that everyone is a leader. Leadership is not a title or position. It is the decision to take responsibility for what is in front of you. Isaiah’s response mirrors that idea. He does not wait to be appointed or convinced. He owns the moment.

Saying “send me” is not about confidence in the outcome. It is about willingness to carry the work, learn on the move, and stay committed when things get uncomfortable. That posture builds trust. People know you are not looking for someone else to step in when pressure shows up.

This is what leadership looks like in real life. You see a gap. You step forward. You take ownership before the path is fully defined.

Everyone has moments like this. The question is not whether you are a leader. The question is whether you are willing to act like one when it matters.

#leadership

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The Battle

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