10,000 NOs

That was the line made famous by the character of Miles, speaking to Tom Cruise's Joel in the 1983 smash it, Risky Business. He went on to say, "Make your move. Joel, every now and then, saying 'what the f#%!' brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future." I couldn't agree more (within the boundaries of making sure you, and your family stay safe...

After playing football at Bowling Green State University, D.C. Crenshaw was working in pharmaceuticals until he lost his job in the financial crisis of 2008. Forced to pivot, he has since made a name for himself as a food and lifestyle entrepreneur and personality, publishes Fete Lifestyle Magazine and co-founded Little Diner’s Crew, a dining club for kids that expands kids’ palates beyond mac-n-c...

Do you feel like "everything is always getting in the way of your plans"? Things will always come up to thwart your intention or steal your time. That's a given. But the choice we have is to view it from a perspective that sees events as working for us, rather than against us. In today's Monday Morsel, I talk about my son's recent trip with me to Brooklyn to finish out my work...

Joe Horowitz's career can be described as a combo of hit passions: music, travel, golf and linking souls. While I've heard him belt it out with well-known musicians like No Doubt's Adrian Young and he has played alongside musicians like John Oates, Joe Don Rooney (Rascal Flatts), Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish), Toby Keith and Pat Monohan (Train), what really got me was watchin...

It takes a special kind of bonehead to create a Monday Morsel episode on a Tuesday, accidentally post it, and then find out it's out in the world when someone posts about it on their social media the following day saying how needed it was for them today... 5 days prior to the intended Monday... on a Wednesday. That's what happened to us (and by "us", I mean me). So, to honor that f...

While most veteran writer/director/actors wish they could just get in to SXSW, Cooper Raiff won the whole thing in 2020 at the ripe young age of 23. His indie feature, S#!%house, was so good that I sought out his email address, stalked him, and got him to agree to sit down for 10,000 NOs. His secret? Not so complex: keep on charging, pivot when you need to, and really have something to say. “All I...

We've all been told things about ourselves that are less than charitable. Sometimes, without our being fully aware of it, these negative labels can stay attached to us for far too long, limiting our ability to believe we can achieve things far greater than some teacher, coach, parent or nemesis led us to believe by placing a label on us before we were fully formed. Hear how you can begin to le...

If ever there were someone who turned Failure into Opportunity, it was Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, to honor him, we've brought back guest Aldis Hodge to talk about faith, apologizing for just being (and how to overcome that), how success is measured by the imprint you leave on the world and the importance of having the humility to let those around you shine their light as well as the...

Lorraine Bracco has been nominated for an Academy Award as well as multiple Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. She was a major force in one of the greatest films of all time, Goodfellas and one of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Sopranos. She has won multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards and even has her own show on HGTV, the hilarious and heartfelt My Big Italian Adventure. But at the end of the...

Playing Freshman football at John Jay Jr. High meant having this phrase seared into your brain and soul by Coach John Hurley. It is still used by me present day, to myself and my kids, as a reminder to never do the bare minimum. Can you cut corners and get away with it? Sure. But, you know who will see it every time? You. Ask yourself, "Is it worth it?" Monday Morsels are the short-form co...

When Lisa Marie Riley found out her husband had an aggressive 8lb tumor in his stomach after complaining of a stomach ache, her sister and friends set up an Instagram account for her and told her that, instead of texting them on their group chat (which she hated), she could just post videos to Instagram for them to see. One subsequent TikTok video went viral (5M views) and now she's helping a...

As 2021 kicks off, are you exactly where you want to be? If, instead of spending so much time complaining about where we're not , we focus on what we love and what we claim to want , we will be a lot further along and a lot better at what we do by 2022. Maintaining the fierce discipline necessary to be at the top of your industry and keeping distractions at bay is not easy, but it is necessary...

Couldn't help myself. No fancy opening music. No fancy closing music. Just little old me... and a mic. If you're out walking the dog, or running to the store for milk and you could use a 5 min pep talk to kick off your 2021... I'm your man. Enter at your own risk. Oh. And Happy New Year. How good does it feel to be out of 2020? It is not the critic who counts. If you’ve been knocked do...

At the end of 2019, none of us could have predicted the year we eventually got to know as 2020. It was unprecedented, cruel to many and a game-changer in some way, shape or form, for all of us. Somehow, though, we've all pivoted and most of us were required to shift into a new gear to deal with our new normal. Join Matt as he waxes poetic on change in general and 2020 specifically. He even ass...

When we released this inspiring conversation with Mark O'Brien back on August 16, 2019, he wasn't an Academy Award Winner. Now, he is... kind of. They call it the Canadian Screen Award, but it's the equivalent of our Academy Award and he won Best Actor for his performance in 2019's Goalie. 10,000 NOs was not shocked by this news because this is a performer who is not only massively...

Do you tend to make things more complex than they need to be? Find that you're slowly being pulled away from the actual thing you were excited about in the first place because you got bogged down by logistics? Join the club. No, literally. Join the club. After an off-the-cuff riff about the online community he's been thinking about for a long time, Matt throws down the gauntlet and decides...

Henry Winkler, who burst onto the scene as the Fonz, has been a part of our American pop culture for so long I can't remember a time when he wasn't omnipresent on my TV. Despite severe dyslexia, which caused extreme challenges for him in school, Henry figured out a way to dominate show business and last the test of time (his current role on Barry won him an Emmy Award in 2018). He has also...

Are you exactly where you want to be in life? If not, is it because the world hasn't accepted you? Or because you have some deep-seeded belief that you are not worthy and the only way you'll receive any grace in your life is if you pay for it through hard work and suffering? Hard work and consistency are necessary components, sure, but we also have to receive the YES when it comes our way,...

Heath Evans played fullback in the NFL for 10 seasons and has a Superbowl Ring to show for it, from his time with the New Orleans Saints. Four of those seasons were with the New England Patriots and football royalty Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, for whom he has tremendous amounts of respect and many lessons on leadership. So it's no wonder that he can talk about grit. But what may not be expec...

While nothing is perfect (ie.the COVID Thanksgiving we just experienced with loved ones joining us remotely on a computer screen, IF we were fortunate enough to have that technology), but how you frame your obstacles determines whether they really are obstacles or just opportunities in disguise. With an updated intro for present day, this rerelease from August of 2019, about a mice problem Matt ha...

Opera singer Jennifer Finn had an idea: how can musicians and singers get more live practice of their craft while simultaneously bringing joy to underserved New Yorkers? What followed is the creation of the not-for-profit organization Concerts in Motion, which had NY1 naming Finn their “New Yorker of the Week”. In classic “10,000 NOs Failure is Opportunity” fashion, Finn is executing where most ot...

Matt introduces this re-release of a solo episode from May of 2019, weighing in on why now was the time to bring you an episode where he riffs on the idea that what you do when no one is watching is what gets rewarded later in public. Revealing a guest request made by the staff of an Acting Coach to Oscar Winners and Nominees (now-past guest, Terry Knickerbocker) who turns out to be a passionate l...

If you missed Aldis Hodge's classic 10,000 NOs origin story episode from last week, you can  listen to it here . Today’s episode was unplanned. When Matt and Aldis sat down, one of the first questions Matt asked was “what’s the biggest ‘no’, literal or proverbial, that you’ve had to overcome?” This led to what we deemed to be a stand-alone conversation about race in America and, particularly,...

If you’ve seen Jerry Maguire, you know what a Vulnerability Hangover is even if you’ve never heard that term. This week, Matt admits to the self-lacerating period that followed his book release on October 27th, and then discusses how he got out of it and how you can too. Taking a leap is a beautiful thing. And when it goes well, the benefits are beyond your wildest dreams. But, beware your ego and...

To say Aldis Hodge's career is heating up right now is a massive understatement. This moment, for him, can be more aptly described as "being in hyperspace". He is currently shooting season two of Showtime's City on a Hill, where he goes toe to toe with Kevin Bacon. He recently wrapped a season of his rebooted TNT series, Leverage. And he is preparing to enter the DC Universe, oppos...