Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening,
everybody, and welcome to today's episode of
the Never Peak Project Podcast. I'm your host,
Coach Ranger, and guys, today is the one -year
anniversary of me starting my walk across the
United States of America. Now, it's such a weird
thing. I thought that this day would feel different,
that it would be exciting, or I'd be full of...
like jubilation, like excitement, like something,
but it's, it's, it's interesting. Today I went
to the dentist and I got my oil changed. And
last night, uh, Julie, my fiance and I, um, and
my, one of my best friends, Bryant, um, we're
all living together in an apartment now and we
had our first night there. So it's like, there's,
there's a lot of things that are just like kind
of normal, like different chapters, different
phases. I feel like I'm just going to say and
a lot. My face only just became a numb from the
feeling I had to get this morning. But, you know,
I've seen a few other people that have walked
across the U .S. recently. They're making posts
about their walkiversary. I know Walk to Washington.
He just posted a couple of days ago that he started
his walk two years ago, a few days ago, and he
just did a big walk to celebrate. And I know
that Andrew posted something recently about his
walk and he's answering a lot of questions. Walking
America couple, they just finished the leg of
their journey. A walking testimony. I think Kendall
is in Texas right now. And it's just so, it's
so interesting, like keeping up with people.
Oh, Kenny, he's doing some presentations and
speaking. And I think it's so interesting that.
even though I've done this thing, this extraordinary,
really cool, exciting thing that I can still
really feel myself like comparing myself to others
that have, are, or will be doing it. Um, speaking
of doing it now, uh, there's two guys, um, I'll
be releasing an episode that I did with them,
uh, two days from now on, on Wednesday, uh, the
live in project. They just started their walk
across the country and they asked me for some
advice. And I guess, What I'm trying to say is
that it's so easy to fall into comparison. So,
so easy, right? Like I've done this thing that
less than 1 % of the population will even consider
doing. I think I'm going to make an episode about
collecting ones eventually, but it's like, as
soon as you find yourself in a new sphere, as
soon as you accomplish something, It almost feels
like you're at the bottom of the barrel. Compared
to everybody else that you are friends with,
your family, your sphere, the people that you
interact with on social media. I did this thing
that separated me from so many people. But what
I'm trying to say is that it's so easy to, again,
fall into saying, okay, I've done this thing.
I'm in this category, this 1%. But I'm at the
bottom, right? I don't know. I feel like there's
something there. I've rambled for the first three
minutes about those thoughts. But really what
I wanted this episode to be about is just a few
of the lessons that I learned from my walk across
the United States. I'm still in the process of
writing out my journal for the walk. It's going
to be a 300 and well, not 365, 175 day. memoir,
essentially, of my entire walk from day one to
day 175, as well as a few stories from just before
and just after. So I'm about halfway done with
that. I really, really thought that I would have
that done by November of last year. But writing's
hard. It's something that takes a lot of time,
a lot of energy, a lot of effort. Um, it takes
me about an hour, 45 minutes to an hour to do
one day update. So that was really interesting
to learn that. Um, and even then, like, I feel
like I have to go back through every single day
and change it or rewrite it and make it more
interesting. Um, and that is in tandem with a,
another book that I want to write. I don't have
a name or a working title. I just call it the
book, uh, where it is more so like the secrets
of success or a, um, list of. I think right now
I'm around 20 or so lessons that I learned on
the walk. I want to get that up to at least 30,
maybe 40, just lessons, like small anecdotes
that I can tell from the story very much. Here's
a story. Here's the concept or lesson that I
learned. And here's how you, the reader can apply
that to your life. And I think that that will
be something very interesting. I feel like that's
going to be a huge project on its own. And it's,
and again, it's funny that, you know, that. The
work about the walk is what is taking the most
time as opposed to the actual walk, the journey
itself. I think that has a lot to say. I think
I'm just kind of like spursing out some messages
and lessons throughout this first five minute
rambling phase. But really to jump into today's
episode, I have that list of about 15 to 20 different
lessons I learned on the walk. And I'm just going
to pick a few of them. and really just dive deeper
on them. There are so many more lessons. I really
have to dive into all the podcasts that I did
with people along the way that helped out, like
Cold -Blooded Caffeine Company, my coffee sponsor,
Marisol at Rooted Movement, my nutritionist,
and really everybody else all the way from South
Carolina to Southern California. Just the different
lessons and things that I learned along the way
from them. In addition to the things I've learned
on my own. So there's going to be a lot of that.
But to really jump into today's episode, I really
want to give at least five different lessons
that I've learned. Some of them are more fleshed
out than others. I feel like there is something
there that I want to work on and really dive
deeper on. But I would... Really just want to
jump in by saying that there is really a huge
power of having a clear purpose in whatever it
is that you're doing. For my walk across the
United States, a few months before I started
the journey, I was on a phone call with Mark
Dudek, one of the mentors that I had from the
walk. And during our conversation, I was asking
very tactical stuff. What do I wear? What equipment
do I need? How do I manage this? What do I do
about dehydration? Were dogs an issue? People?
Stain? Blah, blah, blah. This and that. And I
was very heady stuff, right? And at the very
end of it, I said, you know, is there anything
else that I haven't asked you that you think
that I need to think about? And I was hoping
he would say the perfect kind of sock or something
so small and stupid that would just make it so
easy to do the walk. And he just kind of said,
you know, like, why are you doing this? What
is your reason behind it? Really, my reason at
first was kind of just to do it. I thought it
was cool. I thought it was exciting. I'd done
some work on really fleshing out for myself what
I wanted it to be about. Something that I talk
a little bit about is... developing a web of
whys. So I don't know if there's, I hope, dear
Lord, I hope that there's people that know Spider
-Man in my audience, but really just the idea
is that at the center is the thing that you want
to do and attach that are all these different
reasons as to why you want to do it. And that's
great to have a web of whys, a bunch of different
reasons, but what Mark... was really getting
at was, you know, I'm going to be stopped every
single day, hundreds and maybe thousands of times
during this journey. And so many people are going
to wonder why I'm doing it. They're going to
ask me, you know, they pull me over, Hey, do
you need any help? Do you need anything? No,
I'm walking across the U S the first thing out
of their mouth every single time was why. And
it was different tones, different levels of curiosity
around that. But what he was getting at is if
I couldn't clearly say for myself as to why I
was doing it in a way that a lot of people could
understand, I was going to have a very difficult
time. I wasn't going to have time to talk about
every single different reason that I wanted to
do the walk. I needed to have one concise thing
that I was going to say every time somebody asked
and then be able to go from there. And one of
the workshops that I have been doing post -walk
is called The Power of Purpose, creating a mission
statement for your life or business. And it's
been something that a lot of people have resonated
with. I've done it a few times now. I'm doing
it again in front of a live audience at the end
of this month over in San Mateo area. And really
what it is, is I'll leave some info in the show
notes so that people can actually go and look
at it and check it out completely free. Use it,
please. But really about creating a mission statement,
right? Like all these big companies, Disney,
Tesla, maybe that's not a good example to use
right now. But the point is all these different
companies have a mission statement. They have
a broader purpose as to why they are there. And
typically there's three main categories per the
path by Laurie Beth Jones. But your mission statement
needs to be shorter than a sentence. easy enough
to understand that a 12 -year -old could get
it, and it needs to be recitable under extreme
pressure. So that was something that I really
wanted to develop on the walk, is something that's
short, quick to the point, easy enough in language
that's not too confusing that anybody could understand
all across the U .S., And that I can recite it
under extreme pressure. I was going to be saying
this on the side of the road every single day,
multiple times a day, from the moment I wake
up to the moment I go to bed, essentially, in
front of a crowd, in front of the news. I was
on live TV a few times as cars are whizzing past
at 80, 90 miles an hour. And I couldn't. In those
situations, I couldn't go on this whole web of
whys. I had to be able to clearly say my mission
statement, which was to highlight, learn from,
and work with people in the US that are making
a real difference in their communities. And I
think that that was something that a lot of people
could get and understand. You know, if I were
to say, you know, to highlight, learn from, or
work with. I think that people could either pick
one of those things, you know, they could highlight,
okay, well, how are you highlighting? What does
that look like for you? Learn from, okay, like
he's on a, like a personal discovery, self -development
journey, work with, okay, he wants to be in the
trenches. He wants to do things with people,
right? So when it comes to your life or business,
I think that having a clear mission statement
for the project overall and then yourself as
an individual, I think are two very important
things that you should consider when it comes
to the life that you want to create. There's
a client that I'm working with right now and
she has this beautiful coaching practice and
she was able to say, you know, I have this paragraph
of a mission statement for my company and it's
great. It's very clear. I love it and exciting.
And I asked her, I was like, great, what's your
mission? And she said, one second, let me read
off the paragraph. I said, no, no, no, no, no.
What is your mission? Your personal mission?
And she kind of like stopped in her tracks. Like
I could see her on the Zoom kind of like, oh,
I've never really thought of that. No one's asked
me that. And I think that that is something to
keep in mind that we as people are not the...
um things we do we're not the accolades we're
we're not the the clothes we wear uh we're barely
the things we say or the things we think like
we we're so interestingly different and separate
from the world that we perceive i think this
is getting a little bit more self -actualized
than i i want it to be um But I think by being
able to say, this is the project's mission statement,
this is the business, the nonprofit, but this
is mine. And this is where that project fits
in is so powerful and special. And something
that I reminded her is figure out what your mission
is. Why are you here? Not why was I put here?
Why did something else externally create this?
Like, what do I want to create from my life?
And I think that remembering that these things
that we do are just a means to an end. is so
important? What is it that the job that I do
is giving me in my life? What is it buying me?
Is it having that, buying that passion, buying
that excitement, buying these opportunities that
I can travel, that I can do these things? I think
that remembering that everything we do, every
choice that we make should be aligned and an
action of us walking towards that purpose and
that mission statement is something that would
help make the world a much better place. I think
that there's that saying, not all who wander
are lost. I think that what makes them not lost
is having that mission statement, is having something
greater than themselves to say, hey, you may
not understand what I'm doing. This is why I'm
doing it. Either you can come along with me,
you can support me, or you can get out of my
way. I think that that is something that helps
you identify who you should partner with, what
the activities you should do. I feel like, again,
all these things I'm going to be talking about
today can be their own episode. But that would
be the first one that I want to start off with.
The second one, and I'm not going to edit this.
I know you guys can kind of see me going through
them on the video and having a second on. Yeah,
I think another thing that I saw recently is
the idea of the stories that we tell ourselves.
I've had a few one -to -ones, one -on -one meetings
with business owners in the area where I'm at
now over in San Mateo County. And they asked
me, what got you into coaching? Because I'm there
to talk about my coaching practice and about
the impact that I create and the transformation
that I offer clients, whatever, whatever. Everybody
wants to know, how did you land into that? I
don't look like a life coach for the most part.
I usually wear my Carhartt jacket, my boots,
my whatever. And I just tell them my story about
how I had a really hard time in college. I originally
went for animal science to be a veterinarian.
And the joke that I make is that major turned
out to be a lot more science than animal. So
I almost failed out of college a couple times.
I had a really difficult time. And, you know,
that academic shift for me, you know, I was on
a roll all throughout high school, top of my
class, 4 .0 plus GPA, AP, this and that, president,
blah, blah, blah. And then got to college, and
I was barely scraping by. I got like a 2 .4,
2 .5 cumulative at the end, just barely enough
to graduate. And I think a lot of that, the reason
behind... But eventually that to me wanting to
get coach is the stories and the reasons that
I gave myself. That's why that was a thing. You
know, when I failed that first test, my first
thought wasn't necessarily, oh, there's this
information in front of me that I didn't do as
well as I thought I would. That, you know, oh,
maybe I didn't study enough or I didn't do this,
whatever, whatever. What I what I thought originally
was I'm an idiot. Like, I'm stupid. what the
hell happened to change this? I thought I was
good at math. I'm not good at this anymore. And
I think that that really started to shift. That
story I was telling myself started to turn into
my identity. That I wasn't smart anymore. That
I wasn't good enough to go to vet school, so
why even try? Those stories are what were stacking
up against me. And I was just finding a negative
burden of proof to show, hey, I'm not cut out
for this. This isn't good enough anymore. And
I laughed because that was something that consistently
came up for me throughout the rest of college
and just after college. And how it relates to
the walk is in 2019, when I saw that Mike Posner
was walking across the US, I thought that that
was so exciting. I thought that was cool. I remember
like looking at the videos and kind of like scrolling
through what he was posting and saying, you know,
how neat, how exciting, how amazing, how great.
I wish I could do something like that, but I'm
not cut out for something of that nature. I can't
do something that big. That's not for people
like me. He's this famous singer, songwriter,
artist guy, and I'm just a guy that can barely
get through business school at UC Davis, right?
And it's those stories that I told myself that
prevented me from even thinking that the walk
was possible for me for four years. And it wasn't
until I saw Mark and Andrew complete their walks
and I found Andrew's TikTok video where he did
his last mile with Mike Posner. And from that
video, I was able to find Mark's podcast and
listen to his journey, his story that I realized
that those were just two normal guys. from Ohio
and Kansas. And then by making that realization
and going back and looking at Mike's content,
I realized that he told himself these stories
too, that when he first heard about the walk,
he thought, how neat, how amazing, how exciting.
I wish I had time to do something like that.
I wish I had the capability to make something
like that a reality in my life. And Seeing that
it wasn't just me making those stories, that
other people that I was looking up to were making
those stories as well, really just made that
shift that these are just bullshit stories that
I'm telling myself as to why I can or can't achieve
this thing. Very Jordan Belfort quote. But it
wasn't until I made that... realization, and
I went through my coach training, I got certified,
I did all this work, like my own internal work
to understand how worldview plays into your beliefs,
turns into your behavior and your actions, and
what you actually see and create in the world,
that I was able to make that observation with
other people. And I don't know what I want to
call this just yet. I think I'm kind of calling
it bedtime stories, because it's these stories
that you tell yourself when you're alone, put
yourself to sleep with or you eventually wake
up from. But every single day of the walk, when
these people would stop and talk to me, you know,
why are you doing this? It's so exciting. That's
so cool. Just as many people would say, I wish
I could do something like that. And I always
made sure that I could tell them like, hey, I
thought the same exact thing that you're saying
to me right now. You know, I was telling myself
these BS stories as about my capabilities. And
then I've met people that had disabilities or
whether it was physical, mental behavior or whatever.
I was like, hey, my walk won't be the same as
yours. There's a friend of mine who's trans.
And she said, here's another thing that you can
do that I can't do. And I'm not here to talk
about the systemic issues in the U .S. or the
issues whether or not she is correct for the
political climate. But I told her like, you know,
I have no idea the trials or things that you
would face, but I know in my heart that you could
do this too. Your walk is going to look different
from mine. And I told people that too, that,
you know, the big crazy thing that I'm doing
doesn't have to be the big crazy thing that you
do, right? Like my walk is going to look so much
different from your walk. Like the two guys that
are doing a living project, like their walk is
going to look so different from mine, not just
because they're starting in a different state,
but because they're different people. They're
going to see things differently. The way that
you perceive the world is different from every
single other person in the world, regardless
of your upbringing. Even if people grew up in
the same area, there's going to be small, minute
things that they see that they don't see that
is going to impact their experience of it. And
I think that just really by understanding that.
There's two things at play in any situation.
There is what happened, and there's the story
you're telling yourself about what happened.
That's what's going on. Now, there is the event,
and there's the story. And you're the one that
creates the story. So whatever story you create,
Make sure that it works for you in terms of you
creating the life you want to live and being
the type of person that you want to be. Because
if you don't get past those initial bedtime stories,
you'll never wake up to the person that you truly
want to be. Now, the next thing. Oh, gosh. Yeah,
another fun thing that I found past. past the
walk, um, my friends, you know, like the, oh,
is it walking distance? Um, that is such a common
phrase. And, um, after the walk, it's kind of
taken on a whole new meaning in my friend group,
but they would, you know, if we were to go to
like, um, Sacramento or San Francisco or Half
Moon Bay, whatever, um, between different places,
you know, people would say, oh, like, do we have
the drivers at walking distance? And when they
would say that, they'd kind of look at me and
they'd go, well, you know, for some of us, anything
is walking distance. And when I get asked if
something is within walking distance, of course,
I do have a little bit of a skewed opinion about
what is or isn't walking distance. But what I
like to say to that is, well, how much time do
you have? Because, I mean, it's silly, but like...
Anything is walking distance if you have enough
time. And this is about walking and this is not
about walking. I think this is really a big thing
for business or just really any other big project
is, you know, if you're in business, you know,
like business takes a while to get up and going.
I'm experiencing that right now in my coaching
practice, with the podcast, with everything else.
One of the biggest things that I've learned from
the walk in regards to time is the only way that
you're going to create the result that you see
at the end is by doing all of the work leading
up to it. Right? Like, is it possible to walk?
Is California in walking distance from South
Carolina? depends on how much time you have.
How much time are you willing to give it? Is
me starting my business, like, is it possible
for me to make a hundred thousand dollars a year
in my business? How much time do you have? What,
what time horizon are you looking at? Is it possible
to walk across the country in a day, a month,
a year? It depends on so many different factors.
It depends on your skill level, where you're
starting from, where you're going, like how fast
you're able to go. And I think that that is something
to keep in mind when it comes to any big project
or business that you want to start. Sometimes
some of us might have a handicap when it comes
to doing a big project. And when I say handicap,
I don't mean as a negative thing. I don't know
how else to describe it. But like a... 24 year
old with a kid is going to have a very different
experience starting a business than a 24 year
old without, right? Like there's different considerations.
Walking across the country with a stroller is
going to look very different than with one, with
a partner, without, right? It depends on so many
different factors. And I think that's something
that people kind of get caught up in with. uh
regards to achieving these big things is how
much time are they willing to give it um a lot
of people end up stopping before their true limit
and i think that that is what is stopping them
from getting to where they want to go um gosh
see like i i like i was saying earlier like i'm
having a hard time like making all these topics
very organized so thank you for bearing with
me i'm like apologizing to my phone right now
but really it's just so If you're not willing
to give the outcome the time it deserves to be
achieved, you're never going to get there. If
you aren't willing to put in the days, weeks,
months, and the steps, the uphill, the downhill,
the bad, the inclement weather, all of those
inputs in to get that outcome, you're not going
to get there. And I think that's something else
that I saw throughout the walk. And in regards
to this is people would say things, you know,
that's easy for him. Oh, well, he has this, this,
this, and this. And those are the stories I told
myself too. But it's very much in line that if
you aren't willing to put in the work, you can't
complain about not having the outcome. Now, there's
a difference between... not being willing to
and not being able to. But I think that it's
such a thin line between what you think you're
capable of and what you're actually being stopped
from doing that it makes more sense to just really
lean into that you can do anything, that there
is nothing stopping you. And when you start hitting
that wall to find ways to push past it, otherwise
you're never going to make it happen. So... When
it comes to the idea of is it walking distance
again, it just depends on how much time you're
willing to give that adventure, whether it's
walking across the country, starting a business,
finding the partner you're going to marry, all
these big things. It just depends on how much
time, effort and energy you're willing to put
into that thing. So those are. Two of those things.
Another thing that I learned from the walk specifically,
and this was something that was kind of solidified
for me in Oklahoma, Texas area, is I was walking
along the side of the highway one day. And from
about, you know, maybe a half quarter mile away,
I saw this big sign. And what I thought it had
said was, if you want to know about the field,
ask the cows. As I got closer, I realized I had
said, if you want to know about our feed, look
at the cows or check the cows. But I like what
I thought it said to begin with. If you want
to know about our feed, ask the cows. And what
made me really think about that, or if you want
to know about the field, ask the cows. Sorry.
Again, I'm not going to edit this. This is just
going up raw. I think that is in the best episode
about the walk fashion. If you want to know about
the field, ask the cows. Now, what struck me
about this is if you want to know about where
you want to be, you need to ask the people that
are where you want to go. And before I started
the walk, I was Googling things like how to walk
across America. I was in forums on Facebook or
Reddit or whatever. And I just got absolutely
atrocious, terrible information. People were
saying super basic, dumb things. Again, that's
judgment. But like, oh, make sure you have good
shoes. Oh, make sure that you plan your route.
Oh, if you're on a Facebook group asking about
this, you're definitely not ready to do it. It
was like six, seven months out. I was like, I
have time to figure these things out. But the
issue that I was running into with that. is I
was asking people, I was asking cows about a
field they'd never been in. Now, all they can
do is give me perspective about their fields,
where they've been, but they don't really know
where it is that I'm trying to go, where I want
to be. And it wasn't until I started finding
people like Mark and Andrew and Kenny and like
these other people that I was able to connect
with that have done this thing. that have walked
across the United States, whether they did the
same route, a different route, similar, whatever,
whatever, three years ago, four years ago, 10
years ago, being able to find people that have
actually, being able to find the people that
have actually done what you want to do and asking
them for help. is just such a huge game changer.
Now, when it comes to business, something that
people talk a lot about is these online gurus,
coaches, whatever, that claim to have the secrets
of things that they've never even achieved. Alex
Ramozy talks about it a lot, that he's able to
make content about making $100 million because
he's made $100 million, but he doesn't make content
about making a billion dollars because he hasn't
done that yet. And that's where the way he encourages
is to Create content surrounding topics that
you actually know about and how you can apply
that to your life is one of Gary Vaynerchuk's.
Credos is document, don't create. Like you're
not creating the wheel. You're not going to tell
people how to do things that you don't know how
to do that you haven't done. You're just going
to document your process. You're going to talk
about the things that you know, the things that
you've experienced. And that's what I try to
do with this podcast. Like I feel like this episode
is a great example of that because I'm not telling
you the. I don't know, the heady stuff, like,
oh, I think that this is what you would want
to do if you're going to do something like this.
Like, this is my experience. These are things
that I did and things that I've learned, concepts
that I'm working on putting together. And when
it comes to, that's on the creator side, but
on the consumer side, I think that the lesson
really here is to evaluate the people that you
are listening to. Have they done what you want?
Have they taken other people there? Have they
taken people just like you there? Andrew had
told me that he had helped somebody else get
across. He gave them advice that they were able
to get pretty far. I can't remember if they finished
or not. Kenny was, you know, he was in the military,
he was in the army, and he was able to lead people
all over the place on all different missions,
all these different crazy things. So it was,
you know, not only have they... done it themselves,
which is a huge up on that, but it's also, they
can be a leader of that herd. Um, and it, and
it sounds silly. I know to be comparing these
real life people to, to cows and herds and animal
things. But I think that's, if you're going to
follow a crowd, make sure it's a crowd. That's
somewhere that you want to be. I feel like that's,
I feel like at that point, I'm kind of grooming
a brushed horse, brushing a groomed horse. Um,
but yeah, just really evaluate the people that
you're listening to, the people that you're consuming
content from, um, because it's not just the people
that you surround yourself with that you become,
it's the people that you, um, consume from. So
moving on to the next thing. Um, oh yeah, bare
hands and thistle. So I like to tell the story,
uh, my very first job in high school, I was making
like eight bucks an hour. Very, very big ups.
I know, uh, maybe 10, but, uh, I was working
on a cattle ranch and one of the, the big job
that I had that first summer was picking up pieces
of a barn that had blown down. And I finished
it at probably about three quarters of the way
through the summer, but I. You know, my the ranch,
the ranching owner was like, well, I have you
for another few weeks, month, whatever. Like
I have other stuff if you want to do it. I said,
sure. So one of the things that he took me out
to do was I jumped in his truck. He gave me some
old seed bags. uh gave me a pair of leather gloves
and a shovel and we jumped in his busted old
pickup truck and drove out to one of the back
40 lots and um when we got out i just saw this
sea of purple and green now what it was was something
called bull thistle and what it is is these these
green plants with uh stickers and and um thorns
and spikes all over them. But at the very top
were these really beautiful purple flowers that
kind of looked like little like pom poms. And
the issue is those stickers and thorns, they
get everywhere. And when the cows eat them, it
could cause issues in their gut, in their mouth,
could lead to infection and like all these other
issues. But the other thing is they have these
seeds that are very fertile, I guess. I don't
know how else to say it. But they release them.
Like, have you ever seen a cattail, like when
you squeeze a cattail? Got some ASMR going on.
But when you squeeze a cattail, all of the little
seeds kind of go and spread all over the place.
That's kind of what it looks like, like that
fluff. And when it spreads, it just kind of kills
and outcompetes everything else. So everything
else that he was trying to grow was being stopped.
So if you're in this plot of 40, if there's only
a few... like one or two acres that have this
purple on it, you think, okay, that's not that
big of a deal. But a couple seasons later, the
entire field is going to be covered and it's
going to be the sea of purple of essentially
unusable land. Maybe you can see where this metaphor
is going. Well, he dropped me off and he showed
me what you have to do to get rid of it. And
the process for getting rid of the bull thistle
is you get the bag, you walk over with the leather
glove on, you rip off the purple head. You throw
it in a bag, then you take a shovel and you shove
it into the ground and you pull out the plant
by the roots. And I asked him, I said, okay,
well, if the purple flower is the problem, why
don't I just run around, clip all of those and
call it quits? Why do I have to do this extra
step? And he said, you know, if you don't dig
these guys out by the roots, they're just going
to come back. If you don't kill the problem where
it's coming from. it's going to resurface. And,
you know, I spent a few hours out in the field,
um, doing this and, you know, a few hours later,
I think it took me the rest of the day, about
eight hours. Um, but I'd cleared out all the
bull thistle for that field. He picked me up
and I was, you know, my hands were, um, sore.
I had splinters and, uh, the thistle had poked
through some of the glove a few times. So like
I could, I could still feel it every time I talk
about it. And I said, you know, I got it all.
I killed it all. Like I chopped it up. Like it's
done. We're good. And he said, yeah, no, it looks
great. Tomorrow I will drop you off at the next
field and you can finish up that one. So that
was a rough day. But if you. have read anything
that I posted about that or can understand where
this is going, really what I'm trying to say
is this is about thistle and this isn't about
thistle. These purple flowers and these plants
represent problems in your life. That field,
that 40, is you. And if you have these thistle
In one side of it, it may not feel like that
big of a deal. You know, you could see them.
They might poke you every once in a while and
might cause issues, whether it is a relationship
you have, either romantic, professional, or personal,
or something that you just noticed over time
is becoming an issue. But over time, it's going
to spread and it's going to cause issues in areas
that it shouldn't be in. And it's eventually
going to jump into other fields. start clouding
that up and i think that one of the biggest examples
of that for myself is drinking alcohol you know
i started drinking in college it was very kind
of promoted in in greek life and just college
life in general but it was really starting to
affect me in other areas my physical health i
gained a bunch of weights My personal relationships,
every time I drink, I get very sensitive and
emotional, and that led to a lot of fights and
issues with people I really cared about, my friends,
the people I was dating and in a relationship
with. And just really started leading me down
this like negative path that I didn't want to
go down. And it was just like the small issue
that was in one corner, but it just started really
bleeding into all these other aspects of my life.
And it wasn't until I graduated that I started
to realize that, you know, this this this whole
spreading to areas that it should not be in until
I eventually made the decision to stop drinking
alcohol and switch to at a beers and spirits.
That's a hard thing. I like the taste of alcohol.
I like wine and beer and liquor and all these
things. I think that cocktails and mixology is
really interesting. It's also why I'm glad I
was able to find things like Athletic Brewing
Company or, oh gosh, what is it? There's this
non -alcoholic spirit liquor. I don't buy them
because they're expensive. I don't like it that
much to where I want to get it. But the point
is that until I... dug that issue out by the
roots and stopped drinking altogether. It was
just going to keep spreading. And that is something
that I try to promote and do in my coaching is
remind people like, Hey, these, these issues
that you have, they're popping up as this purple
flower that you can see, but there's so much
more going on underneath the surface. And until
you stop that immediate threat, that purple flower
thing and say, Hey, wait a second. alcohol like
alcohol for example like this causing issues
and then you start digging and digging and digging
getting out understanding like why i'm having
these issues or what is going on and you really
just get those roots out of the ground throw
it off to the side chop it up for fun do you
see that it is gone and there's actually something
like removed from your life i think that's an
interesting thing it's like By the process of
removal of these thistle, these issues you have
in your life, you're able to gain these crops,
these good harvestable experiences or a good
life on the other side. And I think that that
is something to keep in mind. Like if you have
something in your life that by removing that
you gain so much more, that is a trade you should
be willing to make every single time. Now, the
last thing that I want to lead off with today
from this 40 -minute episode, I'm not really
sure. Oh, here we go. You might have seen on
social media, but I wear these wristbands pretty
consistently. One says never quit a few times
all around it. I think it says four times. And
the other one says still breathing, still fighting.
And I got these about a week, week and a half
until I walk across the country. I was just leaving
Saluda, South Carolina, and I got stopped by
this gentleman. And he pulled over and he jumped
down and he ran over to me and he had like a
little bit of a scarf over his face. But when
he pulled it down, I saw that part of his face
had been burned or disfigured in some way. And,
you know, he said that he'd seen me on the news
and that it was this big, exciting thing. So
like glad that he'd seen me. And in our conversation,
I learned that he had just gotten off the overnight
shift. This was like six in the morning that
we ran into each other. He'd just gotten off
of his night shift from being a EMT paramedic
firefighter. i guess in the in the town like
you wear all these different hats right um and
he was so excited to see me and um he said i
have something for you and he was wearing these
bracelets right here these exact ones and he
ripped them off of his arm and he he handed them
to me and i said wow thank you like um why do
you have these and he said that um a couple years
ago he had been in a big accident at work that
he barely survived and that's where the burns
were from and you know while he was in the hospital
he was in this really dark place and um his buddy
had these made um he remember these were the
exact ones or they were similar ones But essentially,
it was just a constant reminder to him that he
was the master of his own destiny, that if he
made the decision to never quit and remember
that if he was still breathing, he was still
in the fight, he was still in the game, that
he could get to the other side alive, that he
would. And it having that kind of morale booster,
that reminder was impactful enough for him that.
He said, you know, on this journey, you're going
to be faced with decisions or events or outcomes
that are going to test you, push you, like bring
you to that brink. And you're going to need to
make the decision yourself to never quit. And
he said that he needed to head back and get home.
So after that, we shook hands, took a picture
together, and then he left. I laugh because this
part's kind of funny. Um, funny enough, this
concept was very much solidified for me in Amarillo,
Texas. So if you have gone to my website within
range, coaching .com forward slash Rangers walk
across America. You may have seen the video where
I eat the 72 -ounce steak challenge in Amarillo,
Texas, at the Big Texan. It's a 72 -ounce steak,
cooked however you want, with a bread roll, salad,
baked potato, and a couple of deep -fried prawns
or shrimp. When I was getting ready to do the
challenge, I was looking at videos like the best
strategy, the best way to take on the challenge,
to do it right, to do it, get it done, whatever.
But when I was actually there was the time that
still breathing, still fighting, and never quit
mentality really showed itself to me. I knew
that as long as I had time up on my board, you
have 60 minutes to do it. I knew that I was not
going to stop. The only thing that would prevent
me from doing the challenge was I ran out of
time or I died. Very dramatic, I know, but that's
what I went into it with. And there were a few
people that had sat next to me. Um, there were
a couple of people that were already in the middle
of it. I think I started at like a 45 and a 30
minute, somebody else. Uh, and then a few people
started around that time for me as well. And
there were two of them that when I sat down next
to them, they were already saying that they were
done, that they were giving up, that they couldn't
do anymore. And I was like, trying to like, Hey
guys, like you have time. Why are you giving
up now? Um, there's, there's so much time. There's
so much opportunity to still get it done. You
have 30, 40 minutes. Like you don't, why are
you throwing in the towel? And I guess that made
me realize that there's so many things that people
do where they give up before they've gotten to
the end. And I think this one is different from
the topic that I talked about earlier, because
this one isn't so much as the time you're willing
to give it. It is the, the commitment you're
making to yourself. Like you said that you were
going to do this challenge. You said that you're
going to run a 10K, a 5K, a half marathon, full
marathon, ultra, whatever. You said that you're
going to do it. And before you even reach your
limit, you're already telling yourself that you
can't do it. And it's very David Goggins, but
it's like your mind is what is getting in your
way. three miles into the 40 mile day and you're
already saying it's too much and you can't do
it, but you still have 12 hours. You still have
all this time. You're, you're saying that you
can't finish the challenge, but you know, you're,
you're only 15 minutes in and you've already
eaten half the steak, you know, like again, it's,
it's, there's something there and I am having
a hard time saying it out loud. And I think that
as soon as I figure it out, it's going to make
more sense. And I hope that these things resonate.
If they do resonate with you, please let me know.
I would super appreciate knowing. But really,
I think that's the biggest thing is remembering
that when you are in these issues, when you're
in these really tough situations, I know I'm
comparing a life -threatening burn and accident
at work to eating a steak. And it sounds ridiculous
when you say it, but I think that these smaller
metaphors is either one side of the extreme or
the other. Something as simple and innocent as
eating a steak and as life -threatening as legit
getting caught in a house fire really show how
important these metaphors are just on a day -to
-day basis. that whenever we find ourselves in
crappy situations, it's like, okay, I just got
this huge medical bill. I'm still breathing.
I'm still fighting. I can still get through this.
I'm having a hard time in my relationship or
this really crappy thing. Crappy might not even
be the word to describe what I'm thinking of
right now with relationships or injuries or whatever,
but it's just remembering I am in this. I'm in
this fight to the end. I'm going to take out
this fight or this fight's going to take me out.
But until that last second, I'm going to give
it all that I have. I think that another thing
I noticed, like it was like in high school football.
Once you start getting down in points, people
start giving up. They lose that morale. And I
think it's more so about like feeling in yourself
when you're losing that morale and being able
to pull yourself back up and say, no, like we're
in this until the very end. Like until that.
Time says zero. And until we legit can't do anything
else about it, we need to give our all to the
situation. So I guess that's what finishing a
huge stake and giving myself the tummy of a lifetime
taught me about perseverance and getting through
difficult times. So I think that... I've gone
through enough. I mean, there, there's so many
more, um, even just looking at it. Um, let me
see. I'm gonna give you one more. It's already
an hour long. Let's do it. So, uh, sunburns.
So when I was in, I think it was Oklahoma, one
of my first days, Um, that was when the sun and
the heat was starting to pick up. I got this
gnarly sunburn. I think it was a few days after
I found Walker, actually. Um, I got this really
bad sunburn. It was like on my neck and my face
and it just kind of hurt. Right. And, um, I was
on the phone with Julie, my fiance. I was telling
her about it. And I said, do you have anything
that can, do you know of anything that I can
get that can fix this? Um, you know, it, there
gets to a point when you're just so tired and
exhausted that you're just like, can somebody
give me the cure hall, please? Like, I'm tired.
I don't want to think about this. And she said,
um, go to the store, go through the nearest store.
You can find and see if you can get any kind
of aloe. And I said, will that fix this? And
she said, you know, it won't fix it. What was
it? Um, Oh, I said, I want this to be done as
fast as possible. Can you fix this? And she said,
you can't speed up healing, but you can encourage
the process. And I think that that was, I don't
know, it made me stop in my tracks and I kind
of forgot about how bad it hurt, the sunburn
on my neck. But you can't speed up healing, but
you can encourage the process. I think that that's
a lot about, you know, the way that we feel pain
or grief or regret is just kind of understanding
that there is no big cure -all, right? Like I
met people on the walk where they had loved ones
that passed away or there was one individual
who said that her son had wanted to walk. This
was an experience that Andrew had that her son
had wanted to walk across the country, but he
had taken his life or he had died. And she was
so glad to see Andrew doing that. And it's just
so interesting seeing how people deal with grief
or loss or pain. Again, comparing something so
silly and basic to something so big and huge.
It's serious, but it's, it's all these things
are just metaphors, right? And when I say you
can't speed up the process, but you can encourage
healing, it's like you can't, there's no cure
all that you can take to speed up the process
of grief of a loved one passing, but there's
things you can do to make yourself more comfortable
or, or appreciate that. a breakup or a big relationship
issue. Like there's nothing you can take. You
can't drink it away, but there's going to be
some things that you can do that can encourage
that process of healing and getting past it.
So, um, again, I know that this episode is a
little long and a little messy, but, um, that's
what we're here for, right? Is to hear Ranger
Ramble about, um, This big, cool, crazy thing
he did in 2024. So I think that that is about
where I'm going to hop off for today. I think
I left you with like five to seven ish half baked
or maybe fully baked concepts or ideas. Please
let me know if anything resonated with you. I
would super appreciate it. And thank you so much
for your time attention to stay tuned to the
end of the month. I'm going to be releasing more
episodes that are walk centric. Today was a few
things that I learned about myself or humanity
or I don't even know from the walk. I do want
to do an episode that is more so in line with
things that I regret or things that I wish that
I could change from my walk and a lot more. So
I am super excited to see what everybody else
has to think, see what. We can kind of create
from this. So thank you all again for your time
and attention. In the show notes, as always,
is a link to book a 15 -minute coaching consultation
with me if you're interested in learning more
about coaching. 15 minutes, completely free.
Just put in your name, sign up for a Calendly
slot. We can have a conversation, see if there's
anything I can do to help you out. If anything,
we'll send you off with some resources or contacts
of somebody that can help you out, whether it's
in your personal, professional, or relational
life. Just let me know. But as always, remember
that the best is yet to come as long as you are
willing to make the decision every single day
to never settle, never quit, and never peak.
I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye.