Outside The Walls

Ten years after leaving a company, I was on a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons when a conversation in a hotel lobby opened the door to going back. A former client had remembered our work together and mentioned my name. That unexpected recommendation led to nearly eight more years with the company, right up to retirement. In this episode of Outside the Walls, we consider what we pick up alo...

Sometimes, a relationship grows quietly for years before a small moment helps us notice what it has become. In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave Gast shares how coffee shop conversations through Big Brothers Big Sisters and visits with sponsored children in Guatemala through Unbound became opportunities for connection, laughter, and learning. From a nervous first meeting to an unexpected off...

More than 20 years after receiving a collection of handwritten notes from two company leaders, Marc Winchester and Eric Sellers, I rediscovered them while cleaning out my office after retirement. The sales months, goals, awards, and President’s Club trips had become memories—but their words were still doing their work. In this episode of Outside the Walls, we consider how a few honest words of enc...

The last practice was over. It was dark. Before we headed home, my son wanted to walk around the football field one more time—by himself. Years later, I still remember watching him. In this episode of Outside the Walls, I reflect on four years of coaching my son and his grade-school teammates in football and track. There were championships and exciting plays, but there were also moments whose mean...

The Things We Notice — The Person Who Showed Up Sometimes the people who shape our lives aren't the ones who make the biggest speeches or offer the perfect advice. They're simply the ones who keep showing up. In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave reflects on his relationship with his older brother—from tagging along with the older kids and watching him play baseball, to Friday night football...

Outside the Walls Podcast The Things We Notice — Sunday at Grandma’s October 1, 2026 | Episode 25 Host: Dave Gast Episode Description What ordinary moment from your childhood doesn’t seem so ordinary anymore? For me, it starts with the sound of fried chicken sizzling in Grandma’s cast-iron skillet. In this episode, I begin a new chapter of Outside the Walls: The Things We Notice. After exploring w...

What if the problem isn't looking back—but how long we stay there? In this episode of Outside the Walls, we explore the tenth and final wall in the Ten Walls series: The Wall of Regret. The rearview mirror serves an important purpose. It shows us where we've been and helps us understand what's behind us. But it was never designed to show us where we're going. Regret can work the same way. We revis...

Wouldn't it be nice if life came with GPS? Turn-by-turn directions. An estimated arrival time. Even a warning about the traffic and detours ahead. But life doesn't work that way. We make career moves, pursue ideas, navigate relationships, and face big decisions without knowing exactly how things will turn out. And sometimes, that's where we get stuck. Not because we don't know anything. But becaus...

Success is something we work hard for. We celebrate it. We remember it. And sometimes, without realizing it, we begin protecting it. In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave explores one of the more surprising barriers we can build: The Wall of Success. Using the example of a championship team returning for a new season, Dave considers what happens when the very things that helped us succeed beg...

We spend a lot of time looking around at everyone else—where they are, what they've accomplished, and whether we're keeping up. But sometimes all that looking sideways keeps us from seeing how far we've come. In this episode of Outside the Walls, we explore The Wall of Comparison—and how a habit that may have started as early as flipping through our high school yearbooks can quietly follow us thro...

The Wall of Waiting: Stop Waiting to Feel Ready What if the thing keeping us stuck isn't failure—but waiting? We tell ourselves we need a little more time. More experience. More confidence. More certainty. And sometimes that's true. But sometimes, we can spend so much time preparing for life that we never actually step into it. In Episode 20 of Outside the Walls, we explore The Wall of Waiting thr...

Episode Description What if perfection isn't helping you move forward—but actually keeping you standing still? In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave Gast continues the 10 Walls series with The Wall of Perfection—the invisible barrier that convinces us we need just a little more preparation before we're ready to begin. Perfection sounds responsible. It sounds disciplined. It sounds like excell...

Episode Description Busy has become one of the most common answers to the question, "How are you?" But what if busyness isn't a sign of success at all? What if it's quietly becoming one of the biggest obstacles to living the life you truly want? In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave Gast explores The Wall of Busyness—the invisible barrier that convinces us that constant activity equals progre...

The Wall of Approval: When Other People's Opinions Shape Your Life From the time we're children, we learn to seek approval. Parents, teachers, coaches, and friends all influence who we become—and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But what happens when the desire for approval quietly becomes the driving force behind our biggest life decisions? In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave Gast explo...

Episode Description Fear isn't the problem. Letting fear make your decisions is. In this episode of Outside the Walls, Dave Gast explores one of the most powerful invisible barriers we face: The Wall of Fear. Fear often disguises itself as logic, preparation, or "waiting for the right time," quietly convincing us to stay where it's safe.   Discover why courage isn't the absence of fear—it's choosi...

Description Most people think the biggest obstacles in life are obvious. They're not. More often than not, the greatest barrier between where we are and where we could be is comfort. In this first episode of the 10 Walls series, Dave Gast explores how comfort quietly becomes an invisible wall that keeps us from growing, taking risks, and becoming the person we're capable of being. Through practica...

  Episode Description Have you ever noticed how easy it is to celebrate someone else's progress while completely overlooking your own? We encourage friends, coworkers, and family members to keep going, yet we often become our own toughest critics. In this episode, I explore why so many driven people struggle to recognize their own growth and how constantly moving the finish line steals the joy fro...

Episode Description Most people chase breakthroughs while overlooking the quiet routines that shape their lives every day. Better health, stronger relationships, and meaningful career growth rarely happen because of one big moment. They happen because of small actions repeated with purpose. In this episode, I explore why successful people rely on systems, how routines create freedom, and why the o...

Episode Description Everybody wants a happy life, but most of us spend years chasing the wrong things. I've learned that happiness doesn't care much about résumés, titles, or whether people think we're kind of a big deal. Real happiness is built, not found. In this episode, I share the three pillars that have mattered most in my own life: purpose, people, and service. We'll talk about former NFL p...

Episode description Most of us live like we’ve got unlimited time.   We push off the trip. Delay the conversation. Keep saying we’ll start “one day.” Meanwhile, the clock keeps moving whether we pay attention or not.   This episode hit me hard because I started asking myself a dangerous question: what would change if I knew I only had three months left to live?   I talk about the relationships I’d...

Episode Description A recent conversation with a bank chair reminded me that trust and opportunity are usually built long before people ever see the results. Most people focus on talent, timing, or networking. But the people who create momentum in life often do one thing differently… they consistently show up. In this episode, I talk about reliability, leadership, consistency, and why presence mat...

Episode Description How many great ideas, dreams, and opportunities are sitting on the shelf because you're waiting for the perfect moment? The truth is, most people aren't stuck because they lack talent. They're stuck because they never move. In this episode, I explore the power of execution and why action creates confidence far more often than confidence creates action. We talk about momentum, o...

Episode Description Stress has a sneaky way of becoming normal. You work longer hours. Sleep less. Carry pressure everywhere. Then one day you realize your mind never shuts off, your patience disappears faster, and peace feels like something other people get to enjoy.   In this episode, I talk about protecting your peace before stress starts running your entire life. We get into healthier habits,...

Episode Description Most people think growth comes from doing more.   More effort. More structure. More discipline.   I’ve gone down that road too. And it works… until it doesn’t.   This episode is about what happens when your life looks full on paper but feels off in real life. Not because anything is broken—but because too much of it no longer fits.   If you’ve been pushing harder but feeling le...

Episode Description You don’t build a personal brand when you feel ready. You build it every day—whether you’re paying attention or not. I talk through what people are actually picking up from you, and why consistency matters more than talent. If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing a lot but not getting traction, this one will land. Take a look at your patterns and decide what you actually want to...