Breaking Free, Rising Strong, and Walking in Purpose: What 14 Men in Ohio Just Reminded Me About Greatness

This past weekend, I had the honor of hosting the Closing the GAP: Men of Greatness Retreat in Ohio. Fourteen men showed up not for comfort, but for clarity. Not for hype, but for healing. And what unfolded in that cabin was nothing short of divine disruption.

The theme was clear: Breaking Free, Rising Strong, Walking in Purpose.

It sounds powerful on a t-shirt. But living it? That’s war. Because here’s the truth most men won’t say out loud:

• They feel spiritually numb.

• They’re exhausted from performing in every area of life.

• They’re succeeding in business but silently losing in identity.

And it’s not because they’re weak—it’s because they’re misaligned.

THE TRAPS WE FALL INTO

For high performers, “purpose” often gets hijacked by productivity. We chase more success thinking it’ll lead to more significance. We read books, hire coaches, tweak morning routines, and build systems that should lead to freedom. But still feel stuck.

Why?

Because most solutions focus on what to do without ever addressing who we are.

• You can journal every morning and still believe you're not enough.

• You can hire a sales coach and still fear you're going to fail.

• You can sit in church and still question if God really sees you.

The problem isn’t effort. It’s foundation.

CLOSING THE GAP IS AN INSIDE-OUT PROCESS

At the retreat, we didn’t start with vision boards or goal-setting frameworks. We started with death.

Death to the version of us that was never meant to survive.

The man living in guilt.
The man building a business to feel worthy.
The man silently resenting his family because he’s too tired to show up.

We burned letters, confessed strongholds, and spoke life into places most of us hadn’t touched in years.

And through it all, we anchored to what I call the Closing the GAP framework:

• Grounded in Faith – Rooted in God's Word, not the world’s metrics.

• Authentic in Action – No more masks, no more posturing.

• Purposeful in Pursuit – Mission-minded men building legacy over luxury.

This isn’t about abandoning ambition. It’s about aligning it with eternity.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

You don’t need a retreat to start walking this out. But you do need to be honest about where you’re currently losing.

Are you building from burnout?
Have you confused performance with purpose?
Do your values show up in your calendar—or just your captions?

If you’re done settling for external success and internal emptiness, the next season demands a better foundation.

And if you're ready to close your own gap, this is your call to action:

Stop trying to figure it out alone.
Start living as the man God called you to be.

There’s freedom on the other side of surrender. And power on the other side of purpose.

If you want to join the next Men of Greatness 1-day intensive or weekend retreat, or just have a conversation about what alignment might look like for your life—reach out. I’m building a brotherhood of men who are ready to lead from identity, not insecurity.

Let’s go.