Summary4 min read

The Ryan Leak Podcast

Episode: "The Cost of Success"

Host: Ryan Leak
Date: August 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ryan Leak kicks off a short series focused on success—what it means, what it looks like, and most importantly, what it costs. Drawing from his experiences around highly successful people and real-life examples, Ryan delivers a candid message about the unseen sacrifices behind the achievements we admire. He encourages listeners to consider not just the pursuit of success, but the price required to attain and sustain it.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Normalizing Extraordinary Success

Social Media & “School of Heart Knocks” ([01:00 – 03:30])
- Ryan highlights the Instagram account @SchoolOfHeartKnocks, which interviews millionaires and billionaires about how they made their first million.
- The emphasis is on how casually these individuals describe monumental financial milestones.
  - “They say it like, it’s just super casual, like it’s no big deal.” (Ryan Leak, [02:07])
- Illustrates how the language of the highly successful makes the impossible sound mundane, similar to casual brunch plans.

The Hidden Story Behind Success

What’s Unseen Beneath Success Stories ([03:30 – 07:00])
- Ryan unpacks the reality behind the glamorized stories—delayed gratification, sleepless nights, and unspoken hardships.
  - “What they don’t tell you is that they didn’t sleep for three years … what they won’t tell you is that there were lawsuits, tax bills, plumbing disasters, hurricanes, leaky roofs, and perhaps even a mild emotional breakdown in a Home Depot parking lot.” (Ryan Leak, [04:53])
- Stresses that successful people may have ‘amnesia’ about the chaos they endured once they survive it, making their journeys sound deceptively easy.

The Highlight Reel vs. The Full Story

Visible Outcomes, Invisible Sacrifices ([07:00 – 09:00])
- Society is constantly bombarded with the celebrated milestones—Olympians winning gold, CEOs ringing the Nasdaq bell, influencers with millions of followers.
- Ryan points out the unseen sacrifices, using vivid examples:
  - Olympians waking up at 4 a.m. for 15 years.
  - Authors rewriting the same chapter countless times.
  - Musicians facing repeated rejection before a single hit.
- “What we don’t see is that Olympian waking up at 4am for the last 15 years … what we don’t see is that author rewriting chapter three for the 11th time … what we don’t see is that podcaster recording 100 episodes before anyone actually listened…” (Ryan Leak, [08:05])

The Value and Price of Success

Asking the Right Question ([09:00 – 10:30])
- Ryan urges listeners to ask, “What does it cost to be you?” whenever they admire someone else’s success.
  - Only wanting the fruits of someone’s life, without their sacrifices, is unrealistic.
- References John Maxwell’s wisdom:
  - “Somebody came up to him after a speaking event and said, hey, I want to do what you do. And he responded, yeah, but are you willing to do what I did, to be able to do what I do?” (Ryan Leak quoting John Maxwell, [09:45])

The Real Price: Sacrifice

Dreaming Big, Willing to Pay ([10:30 – 12:00])
- Encourages listeners to dream big, but to be aware that achieving those dreams comes at the cost of comfort, habits, and sometimes relationships.
  - “The life that you want tomorrow might cost you the comfort you’re clinging to today. It might cost you some old habits. It might even cost you some old relationships.” (Ryan Leak, [10:52])
- Suggests that counting the cost is essential in pursuing true success, and that sacrifice goes beyond hard work—it involves choices about what (and who) comes with you into your future.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the casual tone of the successful:
“Successful people have a way of making the impossible sound like brunch plans.” (Ryan Leak, [02:45])
On unseen adversity behind easy stories:
“People will tell you what they did, but they will rarely tell you what it cost.” (Ryan Leak, [05:46])
On seeing only the highlight reels:
“We see the Olympian getting gold… But what we don’t see is that Olympian waking up at 4am for the last 15 years.” (Ryan Leak, [07:12])
On the danger of envy without understanding sacrifice:
“The worst thing you can do is want someone else’s life but be unwilling to pay the price that they paid.” (Ryan Leak, [09:35])
On the nature of sacrifice:
“It’s sacrifice. And not just the kind that keeps you up late at night, grinding. No, no, no. I’m talking about the kind that makes you rethink who and what you’re willing to carry into your future.” (Ryan Leak, [11:40])

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00 – 01:25 | Introduction to Success Series
01:25 – 03:30 | The Casual Language of Wealth
03:30 – 07:00 | What Success Stories Don’t Tell
07:00 – 09:00 | The Highlight Reel vs. The Cost
09:00 – 10:30 | What Does It Cost to Be You? (Featuring John Maxwell's Insight)
10:30 – 12:00 | Counting the Cost: Sacrifice Over Hard Work

Tone & Style

Throughout the episode, Ryan remains candid, humorous, and motivational—never condemning ambition, but consistently urging self-reflection and realism. The language is friendly, relatable, and direct, with plenty of metaphor and storytelling.

Takeaway

Final Thought:
Ryan challenges listeners to dream big but prepare to embrace the unseen sacrifices that come with real success. The cost is often more significant, and less glamorous, than it seems.

Next Episode Teaser:
Ryan notes that the following week will explore not just the cost, but the dangers of success.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
What's going on, my friends? Welcome back to the Ryan Leak podcast. I am your host, Ryan Leak. It is I. And we like to keep things short and sweet on this podcast because I know that you're busy and so am I. But we'd like to give you just some small nuggets of inspiration that can help you throughout your week and add value to your life, your work, your relationships, leadership. And over the next couple of episodes, I'm actually going to be doing a podcast series on success. Just three or four episodes. I'm not exactly sure, but I know I want to do at least a few because I've been around a lot of success lately, just in the flow of where my career is. And I've actually been blessed to meet some of my heroes and some people that I look up to. And there's a lot of insights I've just been noticing about success that I think one, can help you be successful, but two, also help you to know how to steward success when you do get it or when you do have it. There is this guy on Instagram who interviews millionaires and billionaires. His handle is at School of Heart Knocks. Okay, it's at School of Heart Knocks with a Z. Gotta love it. And I love what he does. He. He literally walks up to people on the streets that look rich in some way, shape, or form, and he just starts interviewing them. He walks up to people with supercars, or they could be on a yacht or walking out of a luxury brand department store, and he stops them and says, hey, how did you make your first million? What do you do for a living? What do you do to afford this house or this car? And it's a very interesting channel. And what amazes me is that the answer is always pretty simple for them. They'll say something like, oh, I just sold a tech company. Yeah. Or I just built a makeup company and sold it. Like. Like, they say it like, it's just super casual, like it's no big deal. And at School of Hard Knocks goes on to actually ask them, what's the most amount of money you've made in a single year? And they'll say, you know, 300 million or 400. Like, they always give, like, this number. And it's just always so casual. And what I've learned, listening to, following, being around successful people is successful people have a way of making the impossible sound like brunch plans. Okay, I've got friends who fly private, and the way that they talk about it makes it sound like it's no different than ordering an Uber. Okay. They'll say stuff like, yeah, I just got a jet car, fractional ownership, split it with a couple of buddies, and boom, you're good. I'm like, you're making splitting a private jet sound like we're splitting spinach artichoke dip at Applebee's. Like, what are we talking about? I don't know if you got these, like, real estate friends. I think we all have some real estate friends that, that talk like this. Yeah, I just bought 10 houses, flipped them, made a billion. Yep, yep. Yeah, I was bored, so I just decided, you know, we're just gonna flip some houses. The Lorento, you know, just, you know, we're just doing a thing like, like a billion dollars. Like, like, it's like where you just bored on Zillow and you just, you, you just found these properties. Yeah, yeah. Just bought a duplex, fixed it up, sold it for 27 times what I paid for. Yeah. Picked up some land from my grandpa, sat on it for a decade and flipped it for a few million. You know, got a couple Airbnbs, you know, some rentals in Florida, you know, like, like, they just drop these little lines of success. You're like, but it's gotta be harder than that. And here's what's interesting. The way they talk about success, they make it sound easy, look easy. But what they don't tell you is that they didn't sleep for three years. What they didn't tell you is that contractors ghosted them mid Reno, that tenants trashed the place during spring break, that the Airbnb got a one star review because the soap wasn't lavender. What they won't tell you is that there were lawsuits, tax bills, plumbing disasters, hurricanes, leaky roofs, and perhaps even a mild emotional breakdown in a Home Depot parking lot. People will tell you what they did, but they will rarely tell you what it cost. The ease in their tone isn't always arrogance. It's just that once you survive the chaos, it's like you develop amnesia for how insane it really was. My friends, do not be fooled. Behind every. Yeah, I just drop ship this thing to the moon and monkeys bring it back down to China and they just. As they tell you their story, I just want you to know. Behind it is a 10 part docu series on Netflix of drama that most people would never see. You see, we are inundated every single day on our televisions and on our phones with people who are successful. We see the Olympian getting gold. We see the CEO ringing the Nasdaq bell. We see the best selling author on a book tour. We see the influencer with 3 million followers. We see a musician dropping another chart topper. We see the podcaster hitting number one on Apple podcasts. We see a politician getting sworn in. But what we don't see is that Olympian waking up at 4am for the last 15 years. What we don't see is the CEO missing their kid's recital again. What we don't see is that author rewriting chapter three for the 11th time. What we don't see is that influencer managing constant criticism and comparison. What we don't see is that musician getting rejected not 98 times before one song ever went viral. What we don't see is that podcaster recording 100 episodes before anyone actually listened to a word that would come out of their mouth. What we don't see is that politician getting death threats for just having an opinion. My friends, there's. There's always a hidden cost. And perhaps you've heard me say this before, but it's worth repeating. If you ever see somebody you admire, you want to ask them the question, what does it cost to be you? Because that following, that car, that house, that business, that platform, it all came with a price. And the worst thing you can do is want someone else's life but be unwilling to pay the price that they paid. I love what John Maxwell says in one of his books. Somebody came up to him after a speaking event and said, hey, I want to do what you do. And he responded, yeah, but are you willing to do it what I did, to be able to do what I do? The truth is, the life that you want tomorrow might cost you the comfort you're clinging to today. It might cost you some old habits. It might even cost you some old relationships. So by all means, I want you to hear me today. I want you to dream big. No question about it. I just want you to know that on the other side of that dream isn't just hard work. It's sacrifice. And not just the kind that keeps you up late at night, grinding, getting on the grind. No, no, no. I'm talking about the kind that makes you rethink who and what you're willing to carry into your future. And so as you dream this week, as you have goals, as you have aspirations, as you think about a future version of you, I want you to begin to just count the cost. Because the cost of success is not always what it looks like. Thanks for listening to the RunningLink podcast today. If today's episode added value to your life in any way, I would just ask that you share it with a friend. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. I also send out an encouraging text every single week. If you'd like to subscribe to those encouraging text messages, you can text the Word Podcast to the number 469-809-1201 and you'll start getting some encouraging text messages from me. Hey, have a great week. And next week we are going to be diving into the dangers of success. Today we talked about the cost of success, but next week I want to talk to you about the dangers of success. Hey, have a great day.