BEST OF 2025: Meet Our “Actionable Truths”

Beyond the Crucible: Actionable TruthsWarwick Fairfax: Welcome to Beyond the Crucible. I’m Warwick Fairfax, the founder of Beyond The Crucible. These actionable truths, they will help you get beyond your worst day and your crucible. They will also help you make your vision become a reality. These are critical both for you and the team that you work with. So these concepts might seem like, well, yes, they’re concepts, but we call them actionable truths because if you live these out, whether it’s self-reflection or authenticity, just a big two out of the 10, they can be life-transforming, they can be vision-transforming.

Gary Schneeberger: What are these actionable truths anyway? That’s what you’ll discover this week as we take a big picture look at a big refinement in the ways we help you move from trials to triumphs. So fasten your virtual seat belts as we begin our year-long drive through the Beyond the Crucible roadmap and the fresh insights it offers to help you not be defined by your worst day.

So today folks, we’re going to discuss an exciting new development in the Beyond the Crucible thinking for turning trials into triumphs. Now, if you’ve been with us for any period of time, you’ve heard us talk about things that help you do that. We have refined what our counsel, our wisdom, and our help to you is. And this is what we’re going to talk about in this first episode of the New Year. We call them actionable truths, these things that we’re going to talk to you about that will help you move from trial to triumph, that will help you navigate that journey to your life of significance.

The Evolution: Stage One & Two

Gary Schneeberger: But before we can move into what we’re doing next, we need to take a little time reviewing where we’ve been. It started with your book, Crucible Leadership, your Wall Street Journal bestselling book. We’re not throwing anything out, we’re just refining things. Stage one was founded in 2018. The process was: It starts with being refined. Then leaning into your design. Then casting a vision, and then making that vision a reality.

Warwick Fairfax: It’s interesting, Gary, as I was writing the book, we were talking about the intrinsic model. The first step, Refine, is when you’re facing your worst day. You got to process it. We often say that crucibles don’t have to happen to you; they can happen for you. A crucible, if we allow it, can be a refining moment, a bit like blast furnace with molten metal. The bad stuff can be removed and you’re left with something that’s refined, purer, sort of the essence of who you are.

The next step is Design. You’ve got to live a life that’s in sync with how you are wired. I now operate in line with my design. Then Vision—something you’ve got to be off the charts passionate about. Finally, Reality is where you make your vision happen. We found there was this pattern of Refine, Design, Vision, Reality that helps you move from your worst day to a life of significance.

Gary Schneeberger: Stage Two added quantitative and qualitative data. We commissioned a study of more than 11,000 people. Warwick, what stood out to you most once we understood that data?

Warwick Fairfax: What was astounding to the researchers was that moving from a crucible to a life of significance did not vary with gender, age, personality, or zip code. It was 100% a product of how we see ourselves at a particular time. In our podcast—more than 240 episodes—we saw guests with every crucible imaginable: financial, physical, loss of loved ones. Despite the diversity, the path back was universally identical. It’s a mindset shift. It’s a choice of how you choose to move on.

Stage Three: The Beyond the Crucible Roadmap

Gary Schneeberger: We’ve combined these insights to create Stage Three: The Beyond the Crucible Roadmap. Here is how we help people turn their worst day into their greatest opportunity:

• The Trial: The aftermath of a life-altering crucible moment where we are fundamentally changed.
• Processing: Recognizing and letting go of feelings of anger or hurt resulting from the crucible.
• Vision: Casting a new post-crucible vision for life through experimentation and exploration.
• Reality: Executing an actionable plan to turn that vision into a new everyday reality.
• Triumph: Being well on the way to a new, significant, and significant post-crucible life.

Warwick Fairfax: This model is a statistically valid framework. It starts with trial, but you only move to processing if you make a choice that you won’t be defined by your worst day. Triumph is not about your bank account; it’s measured by the impact you feel like you are having—being a force for good in your community.

The 10 Actionable Truths

Warwick Fairfax: We view these actionable truths as accelerators. Life is tough, and you need help. Take Self-Reflection—it’s not one and done. Life happens, and self-reflection can be a part of your daily way of living. What happened? Why did it happen? What can I learn?

Gary Schneeberger: This is the first time we’re listing them this way. Here are the 10 Actionable Truths:

1. Crucibles: Your crucible didn’t happen to you, it happened for you.
2. Self-Reflection: Reveals insights about yourself to help you bounce forward.
3. Authenticity: Embracing your authentic self, not who others want you to be.
4. Faith: An immovable anchor for your soul no matter what’s happening around you.
5. Character: Your belief system in action; how you live out your faith.
6. Vision: A sacred calling that summons you to a mission beyond yourself.
7. Fellow Travelers: A team of trusted advisors and community are key.
8. Perseverance: Continuing to move forward; perseverance is hope.
9. Redemption: Your worst day can be redeemed; it is a catalyst for growth.
10. Significance: A life lived on purpose dedicated to serving others.

Warwick Fairfax: These truths are vital. Take Authenticity—it includes “vulnerability for a purpose.” Being honest with your team about being nervous in a tough market is authentic. If you live these out, they can be life-transforming and vision-transforming.

Conclusion

Gary Schneeberger: We want you to believe these truths, but more than that, we want you to act on them. Subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast apps. We’ll see you next week.