Advertise on podcast: Leave No Doubt Fatherhood Podcast

If you’re getting value from the podcast, please leave us a 5-star rating. It helps other dads find the show. We’re off this week since Sam just had baby number four and is home with the family. In the meantime, we’re bringing back an OG episode from the archive on emotional communication, one of our favorite episodes from the early days. In this one, Cole breaks down the difference between emotional and intellectual communication, and why so many of us as dads default to trying to solve a problem when our wife or kids actually just need to feel heard first. He walks through a few real examples from his own life and marriage, like missing his wife’s frustration three different times because he kept trying to fix things instead of just listening, or telling his son about the square footage of a new house when what his son actually needed was for someone to acknowledge that it’s okay to be sad about leaving the old one behind. They also get into a couple of simple, practical tools you can start using right away, including the nonverbal paraphrase and the emotional paraphrase, and talk through how to get better at reading whether someone is communicating with you emotionally or intellectually in the moment. If you’ve got young kids, or if you’ve ever been told by your wife that you don’t really get what she’s trying to say, this is a great one to revisit. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Congrats again to Sam and Raquel on baby number four.

If you're getting value from the podcast, please make sure you subscribe and leave a 5-star review. It helps other dads find the show. Sam and Cole open this one honoring Chad Gilbert, who passed away just two days before recording. Sam shares what it was like knowing him for over a decade, touring together, and working on music with him, and what Chad taught him. From there it's a full listener Q&A. Financial planning before a baby arrives, why job security means having options now more than a pension, and why housing and debt decisions made pre-kids can wreck you post-kids. Cole gets into how to handle a family member who's all vanity and no real presence with his own kids, and talks through repressed grief when you have to be strong for everyone else while you're falling apart. They also cover advice for a guy stuck falling for anyone who shows him attention, tips for someone wanting to start their own podcast, and how they stay on the same page in their marriages with money and scheduling.

If you're getting value from the podcast, please do us two favors: 1. Make sure you are subscribed 2. Leave a 5-star rating. It helps other dads find the show. Sam breaks down the six biggest mistakes he sees dads make when it comes to fitness after having kids. Waiting for the perfect time to start, acting like you're already old at 40, copying a program built for someone with zero family obligations, all or nothing thinking, refusing to adjust for where your body actually is now versus ten years ago, and making the whole thing way more complicated than it needs to be. Cole gets honest about which of these he still struggles with, and they get into why consistency beats perfection every time. Simple stuff works. Squat rack, some dumbbells, the basic lifts, done consistently for years, beats any fancy program you found on Instagram. They also talk about why physical fitness opens doors with your kids, whether that's snowboarding, backpack hunting, or just having the energy to keep up, and why waiting until conditions are perfect means you'll never start.

If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps other dads find this when they need it. Blake Kasemeier (@blakeoftoday) joins Sam and Cole this week — content creator, BJJ black belt, garage gym owner, dad of two, and friend of the show. A long awaited conversation with Blake after two failed attempts (our fault, not his)! We cover Blake's transition into fatherhood, what he had to give up, and what he gained in the process. We compare notes on home gym setups, alternative music backgrounds, screen time, and how to construct a life that fits your unique skills and aligns with your values as a family. We talk about how depression in his 20s and the loss of his mother led him to be more vocal about his emotions in a way that ultimately reduced the power they had over him. We are big fans of Blake and highly recommend following him on IG/YouTube. Thanks for listening!

If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps other dads find this when they need it. Sacrifice isn't part of fatherhood. It's the point. Sam and Cole get into something nobody told them going in: giving up what you want isn't a tax you pay for having kids — it's the actual goal. Sam and Cole talk through years of quietly shutting down the versions of themselves that want a 2-hour gym session, extended hunting trips, songwriting careers, and why that used to feel like loss and now feels like the win. They trace it through the hard stretches that don't resolve into anything — the weeks where the baby's not sleeping, the wife's laid up, and nobody hands you a trophy at the end of it. Cole reframes it from the other direction: not sacrifice, but selfishness, and how easily that default takes over if you let it. They also get into what it actually looks like to be the guy your family can rely on no matter what — and why giving yourself credit for showing up, even quietly, even when no one's watching, matters more than people think.

If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps other dads find this when they need it. If you died today, would you be happy with the example you set? That question started this whole podcast. One year later, Sam and Cole go back to it — and the honest answer is still no. Which is kind of the point. This week they walk through the questions that built the show: what your family would actually say about you if you were gone, what you've modeled as most important versus what you've just said out loud, and whether you've built a well-rounded example — not jacked with no emotional skills, not soft with no backbone. They get into sobriety as a non-negotiable for a lot of guys, over-indexing on fitness as a way to avoid the harder emotional work, and the gap between what you tell your kids to do and what you actually do yourself. Go write your own answers down before you talk yourself out of it.

If this episode resonated, leave us a 5-star rating — it takes 2 seconds helps other dads find the show. We're back after a two-month hiatus, and life didn't slow down while we were gone. Between a brutal round-two stomach flu that wrecked a family trip, a baseball season that's eaten every weeknight, a UK tour stop, and a genuinely terrifying dirt bike accident with a 13-year-old and a Life Flight helicopter, there was a lot to catch up on. We also get into something we don't talk about enough — what happens to the rest of your day, and your life, when your brain is being rewired by your phone. Not the four-hours-a-day stat everyone already knows, but the part nobody's measuring: what it's doing to your ability to just read a book, sit in a car, or have a conversation. In this episode: Why we disappeared for two months Coaching travel baseball and why the "season" never actually endsA UK festival, a legendary stage mosh pit, and catching up with Jack OsbourneBuying 10 acres of raw land in Idaho and the LARPing that's followedThe dirt bike accident that ended in a helicopter — and what it taught us about risk, fear, and raising capable kidsWhy hardcore music (and staying sober) shaped one of our lives more than almost anything elseQuitting the phone cold turkey and what that's actually revealed about the rest of the day

If this episode resonated, leave us a review — it helps other dads find the show. Cole and Sam go straight to the listener questions this week, and the questions are good. From entrepreneurs struggling to be present with their kids while carrying the weight of being the sole breadwinner, to navigating spirituality in the household, to what actually happens to your marriage and your parenting when things get hard — this one covers a lot of ground. They also get into what it actually means to "lead" your family, why gentle parenting without any firmness creates kids who know exactly how to work around you, and why the guy who's never wrong is the worst kind of leader in a household. In this episode: The entrepreneur trap — when working hard is a STERB vs. when it's just a build phaseAdopting faith into the household without being pushyTwins advice from a dad who actually has themWhy you are the key variable in your kids' lives — not their behaviorManaging conflict in marriage without pulling your kids into itFirmness vs. anger — and why your kids can tell the difference

If this episode resonated, leave us a review — it helps other dads find the show. Most dads think about the physical side of being a good father — showing up, providing, being present. But there's a set of emotional skills that determine whether your kids actually want a relationship with you when they're adults. Cole sees it in his grief recovery work all the time — good dads, good people, blindsided by estrangement from their adult children and grandkids. It didn't have to happen. And it doesn't have to happen to you. Cole and Sam break down the emotional tools that keep your most important relationships healthy over a lifetime — not just day to day, but decades from now. In this episode: The emotional skills most dads were never taught and why it matters long termWhy relationships fracture over time and how to stop the buildup before it blowsThe three things that keep any relationship emotionally clean — apologizing, forgiving, and saying the things that need to be saidHow to forgive someone without putting them on the spotWhy your kids are watching all of this and logging it as the correct way to do relationshipsWhy marriage is where all of these skills get tested the hardest

If this episode hit home, leave us a review — it helps other dads find the show. Cole and Sam get fired up over a wave of mainstream articles — including a recent New York Times piece titled "I Regret Having Children" — and dig into what they see as a long-running cultural current pushing people away from family life. This one's less a how-to and more a rallying cry. The guys talk about growing up in a culture that quietly told you kids were a burden, careers were the point, and big families were irresponsible — and how that messaging doesn't just stop when you become a parent. It targets your kids too. But mostly? This episode is about the flip side. What it actually feels like to go all in on family. The Easter Sundays. The baseball games with your boys. The way becoming a dad can strip out the self-centeredness that was holding you back all along. In this episode: The cultural propaganda machine and why it targets young peopleWhy embracing "dad" as your identity is harder than it should beThe creation analogy — why building a family might be the most meaningful thing you ever makeProtecting your kids from messaging that chips away at their vision of the futureWhy staying home with your kids is not something to apologize for

If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps other dads find this when they need it. Sam and Cole are back after a few busy weeks with some major updates and reflections. Big news: Sam and Raquel are expecting baby number four. Sam shares honest thoughts on how pregnancy turns everything upside down, what he's learned about identity and certainty through his thirties, and why having kids is the most profound change that can happen to you as a man. Then they break down their kids' first jiu-jitsu tournament — the intensity, the tears, the wins, the losses, and what it actually looks like when young kids compete in combat sports. Cole also shares his experience at a Shivworks self-defense course — two days of reality-based training on knife defense, entangled fighting, and managing unknown contacts. Not macho nonsense, but intelligent, evidence-based instruction from on how to avoid violence, deescalate situations, and survive worst-case scenarios if you have no choice. They talk about why exposure to real violence (in training) shrinks the fantasy, why lifting weights matters for self-defense, and why being your family's protector isn't optional — it's what you signed up for.

If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps other dads find this when they need it. Sam and Cole talk sleep this week — one of the biggest challenges of fatherhood, and one where you lose a lot of control when kids arrive. Most sleep optimization advice comes from people without kids, talking about perfectly controlled environments that just aren't realistic for parents. But the truth is, you still have control over more than you think. And improving sleep quality by even 20-30% — for you and your whole household — makes a real difference. They break down: Circadian rhythm basics: morning sun exposure, cortisol spikes, and melatonin at nightWhat they did wrong with their first kids (and how they'd do it differently now)Caffeine timing, meal timing, and why delaying caffeine 60-90 minutes mattersLight exposure: LED bulbs vs incandescent, blue light at night, and simple changes that helpNose strips, mouth tape, and practical sleep hygieneWhy natural sleep schedules work better than forcing rigid routinesPlus: practical tips like buying full-size beds for your kids from the start (you'll end up sleeping in them), coordinating with your partner so both parents aren't getting destroyed every night, and understanding that better sleep for everyone in the house creates more harmony overall.

Sam and Cole go off-script this week — no plan, just pure banter on lifting, diet, home gyms, and what it means to actually show up as a father. Sam breaks down his perfected 4-day home gym rotation (3 upper, 1 lower, all under 30 minutes) and why flexible programming is the key for dads. They get into why bodybuilding gets unfairly dismissed, the power of stringing workouts together consistently, and how a $450 garage gym might be the best investment you'll make for your family. You'll hear about: The adjustable 4-day split that works around chaos (not against it)Why 30-minute workouts > 1-hour sessions for most dads right nowThe aggregate effect of consistent lifting (it's not just about today's workout)Home gym setups on any budget — and why your kids need to see you do thisMacro tracking, animal-based eating, and getting lean without losing your mindThe nuance missing from diet wars (meat vs. vegan, quality vs. dogma)Why bodybuilding methodology is actually perfect for regular dadsPlus they read listener messages, talk about why having strong opinions (backed by action) matters, and why being the kind of dad who lifts in his garage at 6am changes everything — not just for you, but for your kids watching. If you're getting value from the podcast, please leave a rating or review — it helps more dads find this stuff. And if you haven't built that home gym yet, this episode might be the push you need.

If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a 5-star rating and review! It takes just a few seconds and helps other dads find the show. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. How you feed your kids is one of the biggest decisions you'll make as a father — and the forces working against you are massive, profitable, and deeply embedded in our culture. From the processed food industry to pharma to the hospitals that profit from chronic disease, there's a pipeline designed to keep your family sick and dependent. Sam and Cole break down: Why the incentives are all wrong (and who benefits when your kids are unhealthy)The lies we've been sold about fat, cholesterol, and what's "healthy"Hard decisions they've made: cutting way back on eating out, investing heavily in quality foodHow to get on the same page with your partner and create a unified frontWhy you can't outsource this — you're the only one who actually has your kids' best interests in mind

Your mindset isn't fixed — it's a skill you can develop, and it might be the biggest lever you have as a father. This week Sam and Cole dig into one of the most overlooked tools in a dad's arsenal: the ability to consciously shape how you perceive and respond to the world around you. From the Serenity Prayer to Marcus Aurelius, from cold plunges to Atomic Habits — they get into what's actually worked for them over 20+ years of doing the work, and how the physical, mental, and emotional are more connected than most people realize. You'll hear about: Why your perception of events is not "the truth" — and how to use that to your advantageThe role your physical body plays in your mindset (and which levers to pull when life gets busy)How gratitude, present-moment awareness, and sobriety have been game changersWhy the goal isn't just mindset for you — it's the filter you're modeling for your kids every single dayNo hacks. No silver bullets. Just two dads being honest about the ongoing practice of getting out of your own way.