Season 88, Episode: 1048 Guest: Mike Calhoun: 2025 NYE Lollapalooza Episode 1: Be Strong. Be Different.

The NYE Lollapalooza is not about predictions or resolutions. It’s about reflection, responsibility, and deciding—consciously—who you are becoming as the calendar turns.

In Episode 1, Jay Doran opens the day alongside longtime collaborator and co-host Mike Calhoun for a wide-ranging, deeply philosophical conversation on growth, transformation, and personal ownership.

They explore the idea that life can only be understood backward, but must be lived forward—and why a new year isn’t a clean slate, but another shot to do it better. Through metaphors of fire, light, proximity, and chemical reactions, Jay and Mike unpack why some people ignite when placed in the right environments, while others remain “duds,” even when all the ingredients for growth are present.

This episode dives into:

• Why real growth requires intensity, friction, and self-confrontation
• How proximity to the right people creates transformation—if your mindset allows it
• The danger of carrying old habits into a new year unchanged
• Why repetition, practice, and responsibility are required to “grow your knife”
• The difference between collecting wisdom and actually activating it

Jay reflects on his word for the year shifting from Intensity to Love, framing love as “intensity externalized”—the act of caring deeply about the existence of another. Mike shares his own evolution from Recalibration to a defining word for the coming year: Different, underscoring the truth that better outcomes require different actions—and the strength to break old patterns.

This episode sets the tone for the entire NYE Lollapalooza series:
Think clearly. Take ownership. Be strong. Be different.

And don’t just sit in the room—leave it changed.