There are moments in life that don’t come with fireworks or fanfare. No dramatic soundtrack. No flashing signs from heaven pointing you in the right direction. Just a quiet knowing that something has shifted. December 1st is one of those days for me.
Not because a business launched.
Not because a website went live.
But because a decision that was made years ago finally stepped into the light.
For 11 years, I worked at NASA as a high-performance psychologist. I had a front-row seat to what humans look like when everything is on the line. Astronauts carrying the weight of missions that leave no room for error. Leaders responsible for teams, budgets, and outcomes that ripple beyond themselves. I learned early that elite performance is never just about skill.
It is about the person inside the pressure.
NASA was safe. Respected. Predictable. To most people, it made no sense to ever walk away from an organization like that. The benefits, the security, the name alone… it felt irresponsible to even question it.
And yet something kept tapping on my shoulder.
Quiet at first… then persistent and I could not ignore it.
Four years ago, I sat across from my business coach and asked him a question that, looking back, changed everything.
“What do I go all in on?”
At the time, I was living three lives. Full-time work at NASA. Growing MPGA on the side. Consulting and leadership development with my wife through our company. I was exhausted but moving forward by sheer discipline.
His answer didn’t feel strategic at that time, it felt surgical and I wasn’t ready for it. My coach replied…“Go narrow. Pick one lane. And fully commit to it.”
I nodded in outward agreement, but ultimately ignored it, because how could I ever leave NASA?
I told myself it wasn’t the right time… and that I needed more proof. More margin. More clarity. But the truth was simpler.
I was scared.
Not of failure. Of leaving an identity behind.
It’s one thing to say you trust God.
It’s another to walk away from certainty and step into nothing but calling.
When calling refuses to be convenient
I stayed for years…
But the call didn’t soften.
It got louder.
I could stand in boardrooms with executives and still feel distracted by the faces of kids I’d coached that week. I could sit in meetings talking about performance psychology while knowing there were juniors in this country melting down at tournaments with no one to teach them how to manage fear.
I knew what pressure does to the brain. And I knew how little support junior golfers actually get.
The swing gets coached.
The body gets trained.
The schedule gets packed.
But the mind?
It’s often left alone.
That started to feel wrong. Not emotionally wrong, but spiritually wrong.
And that’s when it became clear. God wasn’t pulling me away from NASA.
He was pulling me toward something else.
Not astronauts, but to junior golfers.
That sounds small… until you’ve stood next to a 13-year-old with hands shaking on the 18th tee. Until you’ve watched a family pour years into development only to see anxiety eat the player alive when it finally matters.
Junior golf is a pressure cooker.
Expectations. Rankings. College dreams. Identity built around a scorecard.
And no one teaches these kids how to think.
How to reset.
How to recover after a bad hole.
How to face fear without becoming it.
Walking away without a safety net
On June 24th, I resigned.
No slow transition.
No golden parachute.
No “just in case” plan.
Just faith… and fear.
It was the kind of fear that doesn’t scream. It hums. Quietly. Constantly. It shows up at 2 a.m. when you wonder if you made the worst mistake of your life. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.
I was.
I still am… sometimes.
But I was more afraid of living with regret than living without certainty.
So for the last five months, we’ve been building MPGA+.
Not as a product.
As a place.
A place where junior golfers stop guessing.
Where parents stop chasing answers on Instagram reels.
Where mental training becomes part of development… not an afterthought.
Why MPGA+ exists
We built it because families deserve access to world-class mental training without paying world-class prices.
$500 for a 1-hour session should not be the gatekeeper to support.
Quality help should not be rare. Mental training should be standard and accessible for every household pursuing this path.
Inside MPGA+, players get support from coaches who have lived in pressure. LPGA players. Performance coaches. My team. Me.
This isn’t hype.
It’s practice.
It’s systems.
It’s structure.
It’s learning how to think when the trophy is on the line.
A founder’s invitation
We launched at $89 a month on purpose.
Because access matters.
If you join before December 31st, you lock that price in for life.
Not as a sales tactic.
As a thank you.
Founders go first.
Early believers carry weight.
If you’ve ever watched your child go silent after a round…
If you’ve ever heard “I don’t know what’s wrong with me”…
If you’ve ever felt helpless standing on the range while something you can’t fix controls the outcome…
This was built for you.
One last thought from the 18th
I didn’t leave NASA to chase something bigger.
I left to serve something closer.
And if you’re reading this, maybe you’re standing at your own crossroads.
Not mine.
Yours.
Pressure always reveals what matters most.
And when it comes…
Who do you become?
I’ll see you inside MPGA Plus.
Dr. Mat
For this holiday season, give a gift that actually matters. Here is a link to purchase an annual membership of MPGA+ for 15% off the founder’s price.
https://mpga.typeform.com/thegift
What to learn more about MPGA+ ? Click here.