We often treat feelings of restlessness, uncertainty, or a sudden lack of fulfillment as a bad thing, a sign that we’ve somehow lost our way.
But what if that feeling isn’t a dead end? What if it’s actually a signal pointing you directly toward your next phase of growth?
That’s how today’s guest, Terry Esau, has navigated his incredible journey. Terry spent years as a highly successful composer, writing and producing over a thousand commercials for massive brands like Target, Pepsi, and McDonald’s.
Then following a creative nudge, he became an author of multiple books, and founded the non-profit Free Bikes 4 Kidz. Over the past dozen years, he and his team have given away more than 200,000 bicycles to kids in need.
In today’s episode, you’re not only going to hear Terry’s inspiring story of reinventing himself at multiple stages of life, but we are also going to walk through how you can harness your own restlessness and turn it into bold action.
We dive deep into the real power of curiosity, the profound lesson his daughter taught him about giving with dignity, and why adopting his ‘three-strike rule’ might just be the secret to overcoming your fear of failure.
Please enjoy my conversation with Terry Esau.
“I think of restlessness as a light on the dashboard of your car. A light comes on, it says, something’s not right here, something isn’t working.” — Terry Esau
In This Episode, You Will Learn
- How to view restlessness as a nudge toward fulfillment rather than a sign of failure.
- Why staying curious is the only way to avoid the trap of certainty.
- The profound lesson Terry’s daughter taught him about the importance of giving with dignity.
- Why adopting a three strike rule is the ultimate strategy for overcoming the fear of failure.
- The secret to scaling a non-profit model from a local hobby to a national movement.
- Plus much more…
What We Discuss:
- 00:00 – Episode Opener and Introduction to the Podcast – Terry Esau
- 00:53 – Podcast and Guest Intro
- 02:26 – Origin of Free Bikes for Kids
- 04:56 – Scaling the Bike Giveaway Model
- 06:26 – Who Gets the Bikes
- 08:06 – Bikes as Childhood Lessons
- 18:52 – Trouble Stories and Growing Up
- 25:57 – Giving With Dignity
- 31:46 – Free Guitars 4 Kids
- 36:24 – Music Belonging and Darkness
- 40:34 – Restlessness as a Career Compass
- 48:02 – Backing Yourself
- 48:28 – Three Strike Rule
- 50:02 – Conviction Over Quitting
- 52:38 – Failure Feedback Loop
- 54:37 – Silence And Nudges
- 57:15 – Humility And Criticism
- 59:31 – Curiosity Bridge Story
- 1:02:52 – Risk Aversion Culture
- 1:08:08 – From Jingles To Books
- 1:13:05 – Rapid Fire Values
- 1:16:25 – One More Adventure
- 1:18:16 – Reinvention At Any Age
- 1:20:52 – Bali Nudge To Leap
- 1:21:33 – Rapid Fire: Your Edge
About Terry
Composer/Producer/Author/Bike-o-holic/Guitar-Giver
From small town punk, playing in a garage band with his Fender amp cranked to eleven—stomping on his wah-fuzz pedal, to becoming the Jingle King of Minneapolis, Terry has written and produced thousands of pieces of music for TV commercials…from Target to McDonalds, Pepsi to Perkins, Harleys to Hondas, and Golden Grahams to Billy Graham. After writing over 1000 commercials, scoring films, and writing for TV shows, he decided to take a break from the music biz and tried his hand at writing words. He wrote a book called Blue Collar God/White Collar God. (Thomas Nelson, 2001) He followed that with two more published books, Surprise Me, (Nav Press, 2005) and Be the Surprise (Nav Press, 2008).
Terry, a certified bike-o-holic, started a non-profit in 2010 called Free Bikes 4 Kidz, and has given away nearly 200,000 bicycles to kids in need. He holds the Guinness World Record for most bikes collected in one day—nearly 10,000, and has received the USA Today Make A Difference award! FB4K is now active in 22 cities with a goal of being in 100 cities and 1,000,000 bikes given away by 2030. Recently Terry co-founded a new non-profit, Free Guitars 4 Kids, where he hopes to duplicate the success he has had with bikes, putting old guitars in young hands.
Terry lives in Minneapolis, and when he’s not traveling and speaking, he’s hanging out at home with his wife, Mary, and riding his bike with his ten grandkids.
Show Notes
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Resources Mentioned:
