The Nick Bare Podcast
The Nick Bare Podcast

181: Don't Feel Bad For Being Tired. Be Grateful.

July 6, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Don't feel bad for being tired. Be grateful.

Nick Bare opens this solo episode with a confession: he is exhausted. He is a husband, father to two young children under four, founder of a company with 45 employees, an athlete, and someone who wakes at 5 a.m. to run six miles before the day begins. He says this plainly, without self-pity. The episode's central argument is that exhaustion, when it is a byproduct of stewarding real responsibilities, should not be resented. It should be welcomed.

The mindset shift from resentment to gratitude

The idea came to Bare while sitting in the sauna after putting his kids to bed — the first silence of his day. He realized that he had spent periods of his life angry at his own tiredness, treating it as a sign that something was wrong. He would ask himself: What do I need to change? How do I fix this? The answer he arrived at is that nothing is broken. Being tired, in this season, is the correct output of a life that is full — full of relationships, obligations, and meaningful work. He frames tiredness not as a problem to solve but as evidence that he is showing up for what matters.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:06) **The Core Thesis: Don't Feel Bad, Be Grateful** - Nick opens by introducing the episode's central message, sparked by a post he made mid-run during a busy season of life.
  • 2 (06:16) **The Jocko Willink Mindset: "Good"** - Nick credits Jocko Willink's famous "good" response to being tired as a framework for embracing the grind.
  • 3 (12:46) **The Danger of Wrong Influence** - Nick shifts to discuss how the wrong mentor or leader can negatively shape your behaviors and mindset about tiredness.
  • 4 (21:17) **Overcommitting vs. Stewarding Priorities** - Nick distinguishes between healthy exhaustion from focused effort and self-sabotaging exhaustion from overcommitment.
  • 5 (27:01) **Being Tired is Not a Sign to Stop** - Nick argues that tiredness is a signal to reflect, not a stop sign, using a gym workout example to illustrate the point.
  • 6 (34:17) **Managing Your Unique 24 Hours** - Nick addresses the common platitude that "we all have the same 24 hours" and refutes it with a focus on individual accountability.
  • 7 (37:10) **The Three Types of Tired People** - Nick introduces a framework of three categories of exhaustion to help listeners self-diagnose their own state.

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Guests on this episode

Show Notes

I'm tired right now and I mean that as a blessing, not a complaint. In this solo episode, I'm breaking down why exhaustion is a signal, not a sign to stop, the three types of tired people, and how to flip your mindset when life is full and hard.


CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

01:27 This season of life

03:44 Mindset shift

12:15 Leadership is behavioral change

21:15 The habit that creates avoidable exhaustion

27:15 Tired is not a sign to stop

34:31 Managing your 24 hours

37:25 The 3 types of tired

43:28 Boys vs. Men

46:41 Go One More


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