Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everybody,
and welcome to today's episode of the NeverPeak Project
podcast.
I'm your host, Coach Ranger.
And today is going to be our weekly self-employment update,
where I just kind of chat about things
that I've learned this week or since the last episode
and kind of just give an update kind of chronicling
my journey of self-employment for myself and for those
that are following along.
So today I'm going to be going over what's
happened between this week and the last time I did an episode,
almost three-ish weeks ago, how the holidays went businesswise,
and what my plans are for January.
I'll also be going over a little bit of my 2025 goals.
But if you want to know more about that,
I'm going to go in a lot more detail next Monday,
so three-ish days, about what it is
that I will be doing in terms of my goals for the year
and some little tidbits and advice
that I have in terms of setting New Year's resolutions.
So go ahead and sit back, relax, and enjoy
as I kind of just chitter-chat for a few minutes to myself
in the spare bedroom.
So in terms of where we're at right now,
it's not a whole lot has changed since the last episode.
In the last episode of the podcast,
I talked about how I was a little bit worried
about heading up to my dad's house for my little sister's
birthday party.
We didn't end up getting to make it
because the rows were too bad, so we spent the weekend
with one of my friends, Bryant.
And we kind of just hung out, got to interact a little bit,
and just hang out, be cute, and friends.
So that's kind of where that ended up
with that cliffhanger of an episode.
I talked about how worried I was about the roads,
and then I didn't do anything for a couple of weeks.
Let me see.
Oh, I recently recorded my episodes
with Ty and Victoria, both from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Ty runs a podcasting nonprofit, and Victoria
does a lot of LGBTQ activism.
And she's the one that did the Taylor Swift class.
So I'm excited to release those episodes.
Today, I had an episode with a gentleman named
Mark that overcame addiction to alcohol.
He's still working through it every single day,
just like the programs that he's a part of kind of recommend.
And he is now running ultra marathons and triathlons
and all these crazy things.
I just thought that that was so cool
and really made me reflect on my own journey of running
and how that has influenced me and my health, mental health,
physical health.
I've kind of talked about it a little bit before,
but I think I'm going to have to do a whole separate episode
about running.
But the general story is right around 2017, 2018,
I hit my peak weight of about 300 pounds.
And at that point, I ordered a Spider-Man workout shirt
online, got in the mail a couple of days later,
and then I started doing runs in the middle of the night.
I did that mostly so that people wouldn't see me,
so that I wouldn't have to worry about that social aspect
of people judging me or thinking that I was weird for doing
that.
And that's really what I needed in order
to end up losing almost 60, 70 pounds about a year or so
after college.
I did the 75 hard program.
And from there, that really just like re-got me
into working out that wasn't for sports.
So really running in 75 hard are what eventually led to me
being able to walk across the country.
And I really do believe that.
And I really do appreciate Andy and his team
for putting together 75 hard, because I do think
that that was so pivotal to me being
able to eventually do my walk across the country.
The reason that I'm talking about running
is I just got on as an ambassador for Bigger
Than the Trail.
So Bigger Than the Trail is a mental health organization
that provides free therapy to folks that are struggling
with their mental health.
And they do that by cultivating a community of runners,
whether people run a mile a week, 15 miles a week.
They do ultras, trail running, ground running, treadmill,
whatever.
They really bring together this beautiful community
that fosters this collaboration and really just mission-driven
individuals that are so connected through a hobby
that they engage in.
So I'm an ambassador for 2025.
And if you'll remember, I actually
raised money for them during my walk across America last year,
which is kind of crazy to say that that was last year now.
But yeah, I'm super excited to be a part of the team.
I have some great things planned and on the horizon
for my ambassadorship with them.
That'll be alongside my ambassadorship
for Athletic Brewing Company.
So I really love that I'm just kind of collecting
these communities as I go along in my own coaching journey.
So if you are interested in learning more
about Bigger Than the Trail, go ahead
and hit the link in the description.
I'll be posting a lot about them.
I just posted my initiation post to social media
yesterday or two days ago after my first run of the year.
And just a sneak peek at one of my goals,
one of my big goals for this year
is to run 1,000 miles in the year.
Last year, I mean, I did my walk.
So it was right around 2,700 or so at least,
walked slash ran purposefully last year.
So I don't know that I'm ever going
to be able to do that much again in a single year.
We'll see.
But for now, I just want to focus on the 1,000 miles
and eventually do a marathon, actually run a marathon
during a race or community event.
Trying to think of what else.
In terms of self-employment things,
really the main thing I have going on
is just getting back into the swing of everything
for the new year.
I didn't get to do a whole lot during the holidays.
I thought I would have more time for writing and editing
podcasts.
But with friends and family kind of in and out the door
all season, it made it very difficult to actually have time
to sit down and focus for a few hours on business things.
And I got a couple of games for my PS5 for Christmas.
So that kind of took a lot of my time and attention away.
But I do think that it was overall pretty solid
because I was able to relax a little bit
and focus on other parts of me.
I do think that I really enjoy, it
feels weird to say that, I do really enjoy doing work.
I like writing.
I like making content.
I like talking about things.
I like editing.
Some of them are more favorites and less liked than others.
But overall, I really do enjoy this process of creating.
I just think that having some time
to focus on other parts of life that I enjoy was really useful.
So I like that and I appreciated it.
I did finish 75 hard at the beginning of December.
I didn't quite get the results that I wanted.
I think that a lot of it had to do with the diet that I picked.
I really only just said no soda and less than 3,300 calories
in a day, which I think that calorie wise
was a little bit too high.
I think my biggest concern there was I was just
worried that I'd be binge eating or continuing
to eat like I was when I was on the walk, where there was just
reach for whatever had the highest amount of calories,
try to get some macros in, but really just focus on calories.
So I think I broke that.
I don't really snack a whole lot.
I do a little bit here and there, but nothing too crazy.
Trying to think of what else.
I think I'll probably end up doing 75 hard again once or twice
this year just because I think that it is very useful for me
to be on a program.
When I'm on program, I'm reading a lot more.
I got through like three or four books this round of 75 hard,
and I haven't read a whole lot since I've been off of it.
So for me, it's like when I have this extra goal or thing
that I'm trying to attain from doing the program,
it helps me stay motivated and on track to do it.
Because I learned a ton when I was reading
and I really enjoyed it.
It's just getting into that habit again
is kind of difficult for me.
And I know how valuable it is to continue to learn,
continue to read, especially as I am working on my own book.
I think that that is something that I
would like to get more into.
When it comes to the book itself,
the writing that I'm working on right now
is the journal for my walk across America.
And right now, I'm right around day 57 or 58 out of 175.
So I still have quite a ways to go.
That is something that I would really
love to get wrapped up in the next couple of months.
I think I just need to give almost block off
entire days of the week and just say,
I will not stop until I hit blank number of days done
or blank number of hours written.
Each day takes me at least about an hour or so every time.
So it's very hard to get in a good rhythm
of undistracted, undivided attention to the writing.
What else would I have in terms of updates?
Not a whole lot.
I do have a hefty goal for this podcast for the year.
I wanted to set up a download goal of 10,000 downloads total
for the year.
We're sitting right around 2,000.
So if you're listening right now and you are an active fan,
active listener, please just share this with somebody
that you care about.
I'll share it with somebody you don't care about.
And help us spread the message of what this podcast is really
aiming to do, which is the best is yet to come.
So that was what I wanted to do as the initial goal
for the podcast.
But I think that that is too much of an external goal
from what I really want to do with it.
So I set the goal to publish 100 episodes for the year.
So there is a general amount.
I for sure want to do 26 guest episodes.
We already have four or five recorded in the Hatch
and weekly mindset videos as well.
So that's 52 episodes for the year, 26 for the guest episodes.
And then I want to do roughly 23 at least self-employment
updates.
I do want to try to keep this as weekly as possible.
But I do just want to, in terms of the other goals,
give the weekly updates and self-employment a little bit
more wiggle room so that I don't.
So I have something to kind of move and shift
as time goes on, if that makes sense.
Another big update in the within range world
is that I closed the school community Never
Peak the First Steps.
I realized that it was taking a lot of time away
from other aspects of my business,
like writing, active coaching, looking for folks, marketing,
and kind of that networking aspect.
So I did end up closing the group.
So if you are interested in getting more involved with me
one too many, I am still doing the weekly accountability
calls every single Wednesday at 8 AM on Zoom.
All you have to do is go to the link in the description
or in my bio on Instagram.
And there will be a little Zoom link that just says,
weekly accountability call free, something
along with that language.
And you will be able to join.
I'm planning on having leaders in their business, business
owners, nonprofit leaders, and community members.
And just kind of have that as a way for folks
to kind of support one another and get new and fresh ideas
for the journey that they are on in their life.
So again, every Wednesday at 8 AM, come check it out on Zoom.
Trying to think of what else.
I mean, there's always a bunch of stuff
that I think of once I hop off of this podcast.
Oh, the other thing is that I am, in fact, looking
for some part-time work.
I'm looking for some part-time gigs just
to kind of supplement income.
I only have a couple clients right now.
So I know that it's in that steady burn phase, where
it's kind of that rocky cut scene, where you kind of just
keep getting punched in the face until something works
and you eventually win.
It's just taking a little bit longer than I thought it would.
So I think I'm going to have to get a little part-time job.
Have a couple interviews coming up
in the next couple of weeks.
So we'll see how those go.
And as I get those, I'll kind of update everybody
on what that is looking like and how
that would affect other parts of the business.
But really, the main thing is just
to kind of supplement money for things like insurance or gas
or food, just so that I am not relying on friends and family
too much, since I'm burning through my savings,
getting this up and going.
But really, that's trying to look in my notes
and see if there's anything else.
I think that's really it.
I said that like three times, and I just
thought of something else.
I just got elected chair of the business referral network
that I'm a part of through the San Mateo area
Chamber of Commerce.
So if you are a business that serves San Mateo County
and you are interested in joining
a organization that is really just dedicated
to the other people in their group,
in terms of building their business, supporting one
another, go ahead and send me an email, ranger
at withinrangecoaching.com.
And I will send you all the information.
We meet every other Tuesday, the first, third, and fifth
Tuesdays of the month on Zoom.
And then the second and fourth are in person in San Mateo
California.
So if you're interested in joining up and seeing
what we have going on, please do so.
And I would be more than happy to welcome you as a guest.
But I think I'm going to for sure cut it there.
If you guys have any questions, please let me know.
Thank you all so much for taking some time
to listen to me ramble for a few minutes.
I really appreciate it.
Once again, please be sure to share these episodes
with friends, family, people that you really care about
so that we can expand our reach and really
just share the message that the best is yet to come.
So as always, everybody, remember to never settle,
never quit, and never peek.
I'll see you guys next week.