The Stars | Colt Balok Company

If you have ever seen A Walk to Remember, you already know Jon Foreman's work. Switchfoot provided the soundtrack to one of the most beloved romance films (my personal favorite) of a generation. Five of their songs. One of them — "Only Hope" — became the moment the entire film turns on. Jon wrote it alone in a dark corner of his life, questioning everything. It ended up being sung by Mandy Moore on screen and heard by millions of people who needed it.

That's who Jon Foreman is. A Grammy Award-winning artist. More than 10 million albums sold. Over 5 million concert tickets across 40 countries. Songs featured in Spider-Man 2, The Chronicles of Narnia, and films that have defined the last two decades of popular culture. "Dare You to Move." "Meant to Live." "Learning to Breathe." These aren't just hits — they're songs people return to when they're trying to figure out who they are.

And yet when I asked him what his biggest struggle is right now, he didn't mention the new album or the tour. He said he wants to be bread for the people around him. Nourishing. Available. Present. From someone who has sold out arenas across the world, that's the whole answer.

Most of us spend a lot of time asking what we can accomplish. But maybe the better question is what do people receive when you're around. Do they leave lighter than they arrived? Or do they leave carrying the same burdens they walked in with? The older I get, the more convinced I become that influence isn't measured by how many people know your name. It's measured by whether people's lives are better because you were in them.

That's the kind of mountain worth climbing.

The new album, Forever Now, is out this Friday! Tickets are on sale for the Forever Now tour.

Yes, I'm going.