“How Defensive Should I Be?”

Most people are told, “Don’t be defensive.”
That’s childish advice.

In this punchy, eye-opening episode of The NoCryZone, Jim Best dismantles the myths around defensiveness and builds a clear, mature framework for navigating feedback, boundaries, and emotional sovereignty.

You’ll learn:

• Why defensiveness is not a flaw — but a function.
• How to distinguish protective, clarifying, and reflective defensiveness.
• The two forms of unhealthy defensiveness that wreck relationships.
• The signature concept of misguided defensiveness — and how to avoid it.
• The five-part “defensiveness algorithm” that tells you exactly when to defend, clarify, reflect, adjust, or disengage.

If you’ve ever been told you’re “too defensive”… or if you’ve ever let people rewrite your motives, character, or identity… this episode will give you the tools to stand firm without shutting down, stay open without getting steamrolled, and lead every interaction with clarity and dignity.

Plus: a new track from Brazen Candor, “Remember That Old Plymouth,” now available at BrazenCandor.com.

Welcome to the Zone You Can Call Your Own.
Welcome to The NoCryZone.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

In today’s episode of The NoCryZone, host Jim Best dismantles the myth of fearlessness and replaces it with something far more powerful: the Ready for Anything Mindset. This is not positivity theatre, motivational hype, or manifesting-by-wishfulness. It is a practical, disciplined, sovereign way to move through the world—without self-doubt steering the wheel.

Jim begins with a striking declaration on self-trust, read exactly as written, designed to recondition your mindset and eliminate hesitation. From there, we explore what “ready for anything” truly means: not predicting every outcome or preparing for every scenario, but cultivating the internal clarity and personal sovereignty to adapt, adjust, and act decisively.

You’ll learn:

• Why most people misdiagnose their problems—and how Mental Precision solves that
• How Clarity of Priority prevents overwhelm
• The difference between optimal and perfect preparation
• How decisive action generates momentum that reshapes your future
• Why self-trust is a pattern, not a feeling

Jim also shares immediate ways to build this mindset today, including Micro-Readiness, stopping the search for perfect information, and using his Self-Trust Declaration as a daily anchor.

If you are ready to stop bracing for impact, stop shrinking under doubt, and start operating with competence, courage, and personal authorship, this episode is your next step.

The NoCryZone is an Upwards Best endeavor, fully aligned with Best Story Alive, LLC. All rights enthusiastically reserved.

Featuring the intro track: “Don’t Let Me Think” by Brazen Candor.

Listen up, then step into your sovereignty and reclaim your self-authority.

And as always —

Be ready for a great week.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

Why You’ll Never Live Up to Your Potential (And Why That’s Actually Good News)

The word potential is supposed to inspire us—but for most people, it does the opposite. It quietly pressures, judges, and paralyzes.

“You’re not living up to your potential.”

“You’re wasting it.”

“You had so much potential…”

In this episode of NoCryZone, Jim Best dismantles one of the most damaging myths in personal growth: that potential is a fixed, fragile resource you can miss, waste, or lose forever.

It isn’t.

You’ll discover why potential isn’t something you “live up to,” but something you expand—and why feeling awkward, unfinished, or temporarily less capable is not failure, but the price of growth. Jim explains how self-image, comfort, and fear—not laziness—are what truly cap most people’s growth, and why re-engagement instantly reactivates what you think you’ve “lost.”

This episode explores:

• Why “wasted potential” is the wrong fear
• How self-image quietly limits growth
• The only reliable ways potential actually increases
• Why responsibility, repetition, and identity rehearsal matter
• How to reframe growth without pressure, hype, or shame

The episode opens with music from Brazen Candor (“You’re Killing Me”) and closes with a powerful redefinition of potential that replaces pressure with participation.

If you’ve ever felt behind, stalled, or quietly judged by the idea of potential—this episode is your reset.

Welcome to NoCryZone.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

Welcome back to No Cry Zone, the podcast dedicated to personal performance, expanding potential, and becoming a Net Positive in the world.

In this episode, host Jim Best shares a single principle that quietly reshaped his relationships, leadership, and overall experience of life:

Never criticize. Never condemn. Never complain.

First introduced by Dale Carnegie, this principle is often dismissed as unrealistic or naïve. In this episode, Jim explains why that reaction misses the point—and why this discipline is not about being “nice,” but about being effective.

You’ll learn:

• Why criticism, condemnation, and complaining feel productive—but produce nothing
• The hidden personal and relational costs of these habits
• What to replace them with instead (observation, understanding, and choice)
• How this principle builds emotional maturity, influence, and self-sovereignty
• Why disciplined emotional control beats venting every time

Jim also shares how applying this principle —imperfectly but intentionally— made him a better parent, partner, leader, and professional.

Today’s episode features a mellow intro track by Brazen Candor, “Do I Need a Door or a Window,” which you can hear in full at the end of the show.

If you’re serious about growth, leadership, and inner authority—and tired of negativity masquerading as honesty—this one principle may change far more than you expect.

Welcome to the No Cry Zone.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

On this week’s The No Cry Zone, Jim Best is here to shake up the usual “new year, new you” nonsense. Forget the pressure, the guilt, and the hype — this episode is all about Intentional Evolution: personal growth that actually sticks and doesn’t make you want to crawl under the covers.

You’ll learn why momentum beats motivation, why effort alone isn’t enough, and how choosing who you’re becoming —not just what you’re fixing— changes everything. Think of it as growth with a little swagger, a lot of clarity, and zero meltdown.

And just for this occasion, we’ve got the song “Be Somebody” by Brazen Candor, with lyrics by Jim Best. It’s a bluesy, cool anthem about being somebody like you’ve never been before — a reminder that evolution can be bold, effortless, and completely yours.

New Year’s Evolution Day isn’t about starting over.
It’s about remixing your life, keeping the hits, dropping the skips, and choosing your vibe—on purpose.

Step up. Show up. Be somebody you’ve never been.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

The holidays don’t ruin momentum.
The story we tell ourselves about the holidays does.

In this episode of The No Cry Zone, Jim Best offers a calm, practical reframe for anyone who wants to enjoy the season without waking up in January feeling foggy, behind, or burdened by regret.

This is not a self-improvement boot camp.
There’s no guilt. No pressure. No “I’ll fix everything later.”

Instead, Jim walks you through how to get lined up for major progress during the holidays—quietly, intelligently, and with self-respect—so January feels like a continuation, not a recovery.

You’ll learn:

• Why the “enjoy the holidays or make progress” choice is false—and costly
• How alignment, not discipline, creates sustainable momentum
• Why January feels heavy for so many people (and how to avoid that trap)
• What to focus on now—mental clarity, direction, steadiness, and self-trust
• Three low-effort decisions that dramatically reduce stress and inner conflict
• Why guilt-free enjoyment actually improves progress
• A simple daily question that preserves momentum without worksheets or strain

If you want positive change that is doable and durable, this episode will help you stay present for the holidays and respectful of the future you’re building.

You don’t need a breakthrough right now.
You don’t need to reinvent yourself.
You just need to stop drifting away from who you already know you’re meant to be.

This is how major progress begins—quietly, calmly, and without crying in January.

Featuring the intro track “Dap Me Back Up” by Brazen Candor

Join Jim for the First Annual New Year’s Evolution Day – December 30

Learn more at UpwardsBest.com

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

MY OWN DAMN HEART

How We Quietly Break the One Thing That’s Always Been on Our Side

Most heartbreak doesn’t come from other people.

It comes from us.

In this episode of TheNoCryZone, Jim Best explores the quiet, respectable, socially acceptable ways we break our own hearts - without drama, without scandal, and without anyone noticing.

Inspired by his original song “My Own Damn Heart,” this episode examines how we slowly erode trust with ourselves through:

• Preemptive quitting before we ever begin
• Disqualifying ourselves from things we’re fully capable of learning
• Choosing comfort over alignment and calling it “peace”
• Making promises we quietly let expire

This is not an episode about self-blame or emotional excess.

It’s about self-interruption - and how repeated withdrawal hurts more than failure ever could.

You’ll hear a powerful reframe:

Your heart isn’t fragile because it wants too much.

It’s fragile because it keeps believing you.

If you’ve ever talked yourself out of something meaningful…

If you’ve postponed a dream into silence…

If you’ve learned to call resignation “maturity”…

This episode is an invitation - not to blow up your life, but to restore integrity through one honest act of follow-through.

No crying.

No melodrama.

Just clarity, courage, and a way forward.

Featuring original music, including “My Own Damn Heart” and a light-hearted closing inspired by an Italian afternoon and an Aperol Spritz.

Listen in - and stop breaking your own damn heart.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.

“Positive Change that Is Doable and Durable.”

Most people don’t fail because they lack potential - they fail because they keep shrinking themselves to match expectations, comfort zones, or old identities.

In today’s TheNoCryZone episode, we confront the subtle ways we play small:

• Holding back opinions that matter
• Swallowing discomfort instead of setting boundaries
• Staying in hesitation instead of choosing action
• Playing agreeable when authenticity is needed
• Minimizing capacity because confidence feels risky

But this is not an indictment - it’s an invitation.

You’ll discover how every moment of smallness is a locator beacon for growth: Where you shrink shows where you need expansion. Where you hesitate reveals a belief waiting to be rewritten. Where you avoid is where capability is trying to be born.

In this episode, Jim Best walks through the emotional intelligence behind noticing your own smallness - not to criticize, but to diagnose opportunity.

You’ll learn how:

• Self-observation becomes a growth roadmap
• Identity ceilings suppress potential
• Momentum begins the moment you stop shrinking yourself
  
  

And most importantly, you’ll explore the NoCryZone truth: Life won’t enlarge for you until you enlarge yourself.

If you’re tired of fitting into people’s comfort zones, tired of shrinking your voice, tired of apologizing for your wants - this episode is going to land hard and liberating.

It’s time to stop being small.

Welcome to the NoCryZone - where your potential gets real and you stop breaking your own damn heart.

Follow the journey and join the conversation at UpwardsBest.com and explore more insights at MomentumGPS.com.

The NoCryZone is an UpwardsBest endeavor, produced by BestStoryAlive, LLC.

All rights proactively reserved.