BREAKING AVERAGE WITH PAUL GUSTAVSON
Writing and conversations that challenge autopilot thinking, encourage intentional growth, and help people move from possibility to meaningful action.
THE STORY BEHIND BREAKING AVERAGE
A short introduction to Breaking Average and why change begins when we stop living on autopilot.
THE PLATFORM
Breaking Average is Paul’s public platform for writing, podcast conversations, books, and ideas.
It explores leadership, imagination, resilience, faith, technology, growth, sports, entertainment, and life through short reflections and honest conversations.
Read. Listen. Think. Join the conversation. Because we break average together.
LATEST WRITING • ONE STORY. ONE POINT. THREE MINUTES.
The newest stories from Breaking Average, refreshed automatically when Paul publishes on Substack.
READThis one is going to be hard to write. Maybe even hard for me to read when I’m done. I am shattered. I knew she mattered. I didn’t know how much. Piper was with us for twelve years. She was an amazing little dog. Maybe a little too much when we first got her. But then she found her way into our hearts.
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READI pulled my hamstring doing something a lot of people would say I had no business attempting: chasing down a ball in an adult league soccer game, twenty years after I’d last played. In the second half, I went for a sprint, the kind of run I’d made a hundred times decades earlier.
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READIn 2022, as ChatGPT began changing how people thought about artificial intelligence, I spoke on a local AI panel. I asked a question that was meant to get a laugh: “Where is AI in your org chart?” It was a joke, but it carried more truth than fiction.
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READWhen I was a kid, I imagined a future world like The Jetsons . All my friends did. Flying cars. Household robots. A machine that showered you, dressed you, and sent you on your way. The show even had video calls and a computer on every desk, long before Zoom became part of everyday life.
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READImpossible is a four-letter word. I know. It has ten letters. But we use it like a curse. We say it, and the conversation ends. What does impossible really mean? The usual answer is simple: it can’t be done. Have you noticed what happens when we say that? We start adding caveats.
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READ“What do you feel you need to do to earn a roster spot?” That was the question a reporter asked a young rookie trying to make the Seattle Seahawks on Hard Knocks . He talked about the talent around him. The pressure to stand out. The need to make plays and put his best effort on tape.
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READHave you ever waited to feel joy? Have you ever thought, “Joy just isn’t something I’m feeling right now”? I have. There are days I kept waiting for it to show up. I went to church on Sunday mornings hoping I would feel it. I chased it in a bucket of popcorn at the movies.
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READPoliticians. Not truck drivers. Not writers. Not teachers, engineers, artists, doctors, or attorneys. Just politicians. Imagine heading to the polls and, instead of voting for a person, finding an AI on the ballot. Would you vote for it?
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READTwenty-five years ago, Daniel Pink published Free Agent Nation . It was a remarkably early look at a shift that would reshape the world of work. People were leaving traditional organizations and beginning to work for themselves.
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THE BREAKING AVERAGE PODCAST
Paul Gustavson and friends explore the stories, questions, and practical lessons that shape how we live, lead, and grow.
Past conversations have included Mark Miller, Mark Batterson, Stephen Shedletzky, David Horsager, Coach John Mosley, and other leaders who are turning experience into impact.
FEATURED BOOKS
Discovering resilience and the power to change the world.
Hope and twelve powerful ways to invent the future.
Seven critical factors for building strong leadership teams.
BREAKING AVERAGE IN YOUR INBOX
Receive one useful note from Paul near the end of each week through Substack.
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