Speaker Bio
Justin Pickering most prominently refers to a retired U.S. Army Green Beret Sergeant Major (7th Special Forces Group) who is now an entrepreneur, real estate investor/coach, speaker, and author based in Texas. He served nearly two decades in Special Forces, retiring as a Sergeant Major. He earned a Purple Heart and five Bronze Stars.
After his final deployment he struggled significantly with the transition home—experiencing flashbacks, family strain (including moments where his young son didn’t recognize him), anxiety, overthinking, and mental health challenges common to many combat veterans. He checked himself into a psychological care program and later developed practical tools from that experience. His book, The Deliberate Mindset: A Practical Guide from a Green Beret to Overcome Anxiety, Stop Overthinking, and Build Resilience Through Intentional Action, outlines five pillars he used to rebuild: gratitude, framing/reframing, controlling the controllable, action over perfection, and the power of words and thoughts.
He also runs The Deliberate Blueprint (deliberateblueprint.com), a weekly newsletter called The Sunday Compass, and related coaching/real estate work (including Red Empire Real Estate). He has appeared on multiple podcasts in 2026 discussing veteran mental health, military transition, marriage/fatherhood after combat, resilience, and avoiding common pitfalls (e.g., stopping medication cold turkey without medical guidance—which he explicitly does not recommend).
Recent appearances include The Dad Edge, The Distinguished Savage Podcast, Lesser Known Operators, and Security Halt!. Other people share the name (including a former Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the late 1980s/early 1990s, a New Zealand water polo coach, a UK football groundsman, etc.), but the retired Green Beret / Texas-based author is the one generating the most recent public attention, especially in veteran and personal-development circles.