I’ve led a bizarre life. I’ve stood up in courts and on stages. I’ve been a criminal and a teacher. I’ve fought in cages, built businesses, trained dogs, taught martial arts, and traveled the world only to have my body broken in a car accident close to home. Picture Forrest Gump trying to escape from the basement in Saw. Through it all, I’ve worked to understand how people think and why they do what they do—including myself.

I made a lot of mistakes along the way. I also learned a few things about what really matters in life: honor, self-control, the people you let in, and the value of getting up no matter how hard you’ve been knocked down. Some of these lessons came from studying psychology and neuroscience in an attempt to understand and heal from the trauma of my childhood. Some I got from my studies of Stoicism, Buddhism, Nietzsche, and any other philosophy that seemed relevant to me. Others came from being exposed to dogfighting, which led me to a career in dog training and rehabilitation. Everything I’ve learned has been informed by a lifetime in the martial arts, and I continue to use these hard-earned insights as I coach other people down the path.

Scratch is a collection of the ten most important lessons I’ve learned and how I came to them on a journey from being a punk kid in Louisiana to an MMA fighter and coach, a husband, a dad, and a dog trainer. With these principles, I believe anyone can learn to be stronger and less afraid, so they can step forward when it’s time.