#23: Jimmy Conrad - Let's Make This Matter

In Episode 23 of the How Humans Work Podcast, wildly entertaining Jimmy Conrad joins us for a deep dive into his life in and beyond his tremendous thirteen year career as a professional soccer player. In Let’s Make This Matter we get a real and buoyant account of what it took for a lad from Southern California with a profound drive to prove his value, to move from being a perpetually underrated talent into a notable career littered with successes. Equally vociferous, funny and honest, Jimmy breaks down not just the things he did to make himself into a highly respected player who was able to become an MLS CUP Champion, the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year and a starting player on US Men’s National Team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but also the team dynamics, the personal subplots, and the assorted adversities he encountered. Along the way we learn something about what it means to face stress by choice, to “learn to learn” and how one can build the keys to success “brick by brick.” In finding ways to create control and make progress, Jimmy shows us through his journey in the American soccer landscape how his determination, planning and effort came together to get him a place in the Mecca of World Football: the World Cup. Deep in the throws of that career apex, we get an honest portrait of his World Cup experience as Jimmy reflects at length about a handful of key moments where he was called upon to play his part in untenable circumstances. Not only did his play earn him Man of the Match in a pivotable game, Jimmy tells us his one regret from that game. We end the show with a look into Jimmy’s present and future. Sharing his coaching approach with his charming and spirited U-10 girls team with his daughter, we learn how Jimmy’s values for the game are being imparted to the next generation. We also find out what Jimmy’s vision for his future is after his current media run up through the 2026 World Cup in North America. Consider yourself heartily invited to not only listen-in but to stay tuned. Because with the effervescent and authentic jester there's much more to learn about meeting our stresses, taking our game to a higher level, and making this life matter!