WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.540 Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, 00:00:01.580 --> 00:00:03.660 everybody, and welcome to today's episode of 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:06.360 the Never Peak Project Podcast. I'm your host, 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:09.599 Coach Ranger. In 2024, I walked across the United 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:11.660 States of America, all the way from South Carolina 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:15.580 to California. And during that journey, I learned 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:18.019 a ton of different lessons about life, business, 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.480 relationships, and so many other things. And 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.100 in this podcast, my goal is to share those lessons 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:25.199 with you so that you can apply it to every facet 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:27.539 of your life, so that you can build a life worth 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:31.679 remembering. Never peak. In today's episode, 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.000 I'm going to be talking a little bit about an 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.320 experience that I had both in South Carolina 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:41.280 and how that affected a challenge that I took 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.479 on over in Texas, halfway across the country. 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:47.420 And it was amazing how this connection point 00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:49.280 from just a couple of bracelets given to me by 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.539 a first responder helped me do something crazy 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:57.460 of eating a 72 ounce steak. We'll get into that 00:00:57.460 --> 00:00:59.179 in just a second. But as always, thank you so 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:00.740 much for your time and attention today. Thank 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:02.979 you so much. And let's just jump straight into 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:05.620 today's episode. As I mentioned, today's story 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:08.400 really does start over in South Carolina. I was 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:10.859 only about seven or 10 days into my walk across 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:12.760 the country, only a couple hundred miles in. 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:17.040 And as I was leaving a small town in South Carolina 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:21.900 called Saluda, I was approached and stopped by 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:25.069 a man in a pickup truck. He he jumped out. He 00:01:25.069 --> 00:01:27.250 ran over to me and said, you know, I'm so glad 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:30.510 I saw you. I saw your interview on the news the 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:31.930 other day and I was really looking forward to 00:01:31.930 --> 00:01:33.790 meeting you. I'm so glad that it worked out. 00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:36.530 And I said, oh, well, thank you so much. I'm 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:39.370 honored and flattered that you would be willing 00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:42.010 to go take some time out of your day, especially 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:45.370 so early in the morning to stop and hunt me down 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.739 and say hi. And I noticed that he had like a 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:50.799 little bit of a scarf over his face. And I was 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:52.620 like, oh, that's interesting. He said, oh, you 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:55.200 know, like I just got off of work. He was a first 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:58.879 responder for the county. And he was like, yeah, 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:00.760 I'm on my way home right now, but I'm glad I 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.859 saw you. He pulled down the scarf and I noticed 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:05.859 that his face like looked a little bit deformed, 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:08.439 like it was burnt a little. I was like, oh, like, 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:13.430 yeah, no, no, no problem at all. He started talking 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:14.870 and telling me, he's like, you're probably wondering, 00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:17.229 like, what's going on over here. And I'm like, 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:20.349 well, you care to share the story. Yeah, of course. 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:23.389 But none of my business, really. He said, well, 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:28.590 you know, a few years ago, I was on the job and 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:32.189 I'm a firefighter, an EMT, first responder. And 00:02:32.189 --> 00:02:35.550 I was in a burning building and part of the building 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:39.240 had collapsed. And it ended up burning my I got 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.500 all these burns all across my body, obviously 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:44.560 also my face. And I spent some time in the ICU 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.539 and we weren't really sure I was going to make 00:02:46.539 --> 00:02:50.120 it. And I said, oh, wow, like what? What kept 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.180 you going during that time? Like, that's that's 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.819 insane. And he said that one of his buddies had 00:02:54.819 --> 00:02:58.500 commissioned a few bracelets to be made based 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:00.020 off of some things that they always said to each 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:04.139 other. And one of those bracelets was to never 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:09.860 quit. And the other one is still breathing, still 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:12.439 fighting. And that is wrapped all the way around 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.599 the bracelet. You know, he reached down to his 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.060 arm. He had them on his wrist. He pulled them 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:19.240 off and he handed them to me. And he said, you 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:21.120 know, during this journey, you're going to be 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.300 faced with some challenges that are going to 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:25.400 make you question why you even began this in 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.020 the first place. And I hope that these will act 00:03:28.020 --> 00:03:31.419 as a small reminder to just like to never quit. 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:33.710 And to remember that if you're still breathing, 00:03:33.830 --> 00:03:36.949 you're still in the fight. You can still do the 00:03:36.949 --> 00:03:39.870 thing. And he reminded me of a Jocko Willings 00:03:39.870 --> 00:03:44.129 quote, which was in the idea of if you can still 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:47.110 say the word good, you're still alive. And if 00:03:47.110 --> 00:03:49.530 you're still alive, you have some fight left 00:03:49.530 --> 00:03:52.069 in you. And with that, he hopped in his truck, 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:54.889 he took off. And from that day forward, I wore 00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:58.629 them on my left wrist throughout the entire journey, 00:03:58.689 --> 00:04:01.039 throughout the rest of the walk. And it was just 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.919 a stark reminder. Like I I never really had a 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.199 true moment when I really felt like I wanted 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:09.020 to give up. And I think it's for that first few 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:11.219 weeks. It was just that like adrenaline rush 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:14.000 of starting the journey. But then really like 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.500 seeing these constantly on my wrist, you know, 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:18.920 as I was pushing the cart, they were always there. 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:22.160 I could always read them even on the bad weather 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:25.019 days or the painful days or, you know, the days 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:28.079 where I just felt negative. Like I was able to 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.819 pull myself out of it so quickly. because of 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:33.680 this constant reminder i didn't really feel an 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.980 urge to quit throughout the journey i do attribute 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:38.839 a lot to the bracelets and like my mindset going 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.680 into the into the walk but it really came to 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:46.480 a helm when i was in amarillo texas now there 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.259 is a you know like a 50 60 mile stretch before 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.600 amarillo comes on the east side where you start 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:58.069 seeing signs for a free 72 ounce steak It's over 00:04:58.069 --> 00:05:00.089 at the Big Texan. They have this big steak challenge. 00:05:00.269 --> 00:05:02.170 You know, you get four and a half, whatever, 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:04.189 five pounds of meat thrown in front of you and 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:06.170 some sides. They put you on the stage in the 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:08.649 center of the restaurant and they say, you know, 00:05:08.670 --> 00:05:11.649 you have an hour to eat it. We're all watching. 00:05:11.709 --> 00:05:16.410 Good luck, champ. And I had made the joke on 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:18.189 my social media, like, I'm going to do the challenge. 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:21.209 Ha ha. And people were like, yes, do it and live 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:23.470 stream it or record it. Like, we would love to 00:05:23.470 --> 00:05:26.310 see that. I was like, OK, do I really want to 00:05:26.310 --> 00:05:30.279 do this? So when I got to Amarillo, my fiance 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:32.120 to come and see me and we hung out for a few 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:34.540 days. And one of those days that she was there, 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:38.040 I decided to do the challenge. Now, there's a 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.139 few other lessons that I did prior to that, but 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:42.920 I'll get to those another time about preparation 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.279 and mindset setting. And something I noticed 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:49.019 from the people that were sitting next to me, 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:50.939 like as I got up there, they'd already started. 00:05:51.019 --> 00:05:52.740 They were putting them next to me as we were 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:55.060 about to start at the same time or even people 00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:58.550 that joined after me. where they were very quick 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:00.689 to put their negative beliefs about themselves 00:06:00.689 --> 00:06:03.709 and their capabilities of completing the challenge 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:07.009 and try to like push that onto me. When I first 00:06:07.009 --> 00:06:08.689 sat down, there's a few people going already 00:06:08.689 --> 00:06:11.069 and they're saying, oh man, this is tough. Like 00:06:11.069 --> 00:06:13.370 I'm not even halfway and I only have 10, 15 minutes 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.250 left. Like there's no way that I can do this. 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:19.370 Like this is so hard. I'm in so much pain. And 00:06:19.370 --> 00:06:21.209 the people that were sitting with me at the same 00:06:21.209 --> 00:06:23.360 time that I was starting. They're like, man, 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.279 I'm scared. I don't think I can do this. Like 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:27.439 before the before the plates even put in front 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.720 of them. And same thing with people that started 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:32.639 after me. Like, you know, I'm 30, 40 minutes 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.720 in pretty much done and they're sitting next 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:37.360 to me. They haven't even gotten their food and 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:39.139 they're already putting those beliefs and that 00:06:39.139 --> 00:06:43.420 negativity out there. Now, the reason I bring 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:45.860 this up is because they didn't have that never 00:06:45.860 --> 00:06:48.639 quit, that never that never settle that that 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.259 if you're still breathing, still fighting mentality. 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:53.250 And I saw this, like, it made me think of when 00:06:53.250 --> 00:06:55.649 I was back in high school on the football team 00:06:55.649 --> 00:06:58.050 when, you know, we'd be down by two or three 00:06:58.050 --> 00:07:00.629 touchdowns at halftime and people, you could 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:02.629 just kind of start seeing the fight in their 00:07:02.629 --> 00:07:05.269 eyes give out. Like, they'd already given up 00:07:05.269 --> 00:07:08.329 and we still had plenty of time. That is something 00:07:08.329 --> 00:07:09.949 I kept trying to tell people, like, as they were 00:07:09.949 --> 00:07:11.350 sitting next to me and they're saying, oh, there's 00:07:11.350 --> 00:07:14.069 no way I can do this. I don't know. And I kept 00:07:14.069 --> 00:07:15.949 being like, no, dude, like, look at your time. 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:19.560 Like, you have time. Don't quit now. Like, let 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:21.600 the timer tell you when you're done. Why are 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.860 you deciding right now that you are done when 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.180 you still have 45, 50 minutes left? Like, you 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.319 gave out before, like, you even had a chance 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:33.540 to try. And I feel like that's something that 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:37.040 so many of us do once we kind of have that stake 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.920 thrown in front of us. Like, there's the Dunning 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.399 -Kruger effect, how, like, when we first start 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.360 seeing something, we kind of have that, like, 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:47.689 high confidence but very low wisdom. And it's 00:07:47.689 --> 00:07:50.670 like that peak of like where you know nothing, 00:07:50.769 --> 00:07:52.350 like you don't even know what you don't know, 00:07:52.410 --> 00:07:54.449 but you're just excited to do it. I feel like 00:07:54.449 --> 00:07:56.209 a lot of people do that when they see that steak 00:07:56.209 --> 00:07:57.910 challenge. They're like, oh, I can eat a lot. 00:07:57.990 --> 00:07:59.810 Like my friends tell me I have a bottomless pit. 00:07:59.910 --> 00:08:03.610 But then they kind of hit that that valley of 00:08:03.610 --> 00:08:06.370 despair once the steak is thrown from them, once 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:09.189 they really see what that challenge is going 00:08:09.189 --> 00:08:12.069 to be like and what it's going to take to. Get 00:08:12.069 --> 00:08:14.449 from zero to one from where you are to where 00:08:14.449 --> 00:08:18.129 you want to go. And then as you kind of start 00:08:18.129 --> 00:08:20.589 realizing what you need to do in order to make 00:08:20.589 --> 00:08:23.050 a possibility and happen, you kind of say that 00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:25.550 like, you know, that slope of enlightenment until 00:08:25.550 --> 00:08:27.649 you kind of hit that plateau where it's more 00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:30.870 sustainable and can actually do the work. But 00:08:30.870 --> 00:08:33.750 what people do is they sign up for things, they 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:35.210 say they're going to do something. And then as 00:08:35.210 --> 00:08:37.309 soon as they see how hard it is, they get stuck 00:08:37.309 --> 00:08:40.809 in that valley of despair. And that's just what 00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:46.710 was. happening to all of these people that were 00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:50.470 sitting down when the stake was put in front 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:53.889 of them. And I guess what I'm really trying to 00:08:53.889 --> 00:08:56.909 get out here is when it comes to the big things 00:08:56.909 --> 00:08:59.990 that we want to do in our life, if you are excited 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:04.029 about doing it and you're ready to sign up or 00:09:04.029 --> 00:09:05.929 put yourself out there, put yourself in the ring, 00:09:05.990 --> 00:09:08.690 you have to be prepared for that valley of despair. 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:12.190 I was able to kind of prepare myself beforehand. 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.379 By having that mentality of it's going to take 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:18.919 what it's going to take. I'm not giving up until 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:22.059 that time is done. Whether you're in a time event 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:24.860 like a sporting event or the goal of whatever 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:27.360 you're doing is to just keep going and not quit. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:31.139 Like that's really all it is, is making the decision, 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.279 that commitment to yourself that regardless of 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:37.860 what happens until this external factor, in this 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:40.759 case, the time limit of an hour until that timer 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:43.730 goes off. And I still have food on my plate or 00:09:43.730 --> 00:09:46.210 I finish it before then. Like, I'm not stopping 00:09:46.210 --> 00:09:49.970 until I'm done. And that's something that I've 00:09:49.970 --> 00:09:51.889 noticed with some of the coaching and consulting 00:09:51.889 --> 00:09:54.690 clients that I have is they start something new. 00:09:54.730 --> 00:09:56.610 They're really excited about it, especially especially 00:09:56.610 --> 00:09:58.970 in the business consulting side. They're excited 00:09:58.970 --> 00:10:01.250 about it. But then they kind of hit this low 00:10:01.250 --> 00:10:04.629 point where they're like, oh, I didn't realize 00:10:04.629 --> 00:10:08.700 it was going to be this hard. And that's really 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:11.279 where the value of a coach or a mentor or consultant 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.600 comes in is they kind of go, yeah, it's hard. 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:20.379 But we're still in the game. We are still here 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:25.200 to fight and to win and to play the game. When 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.059 it comes to the low points of your life or it 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:32.899 comes to these pieces, this time frame, the snapshot 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:37.210 of. that valley of despair there's there's two 00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:40.450 main pieces that you need in order to get out 00:10:40.450 --> 00:10:44.509 of it the first one is confidence and the second 00:10:44.509 --> 00:10:49.230 is wisdom the knowledge and experience that you 00:10:49.230 --> 00:10:52.590 have and when you're confident in something that's 00:10:52.590 --> 00:10:56.909 not really based on a whole lot of actual um 00:10:56.909 --> 00:11:02.169 occurrences or action but wisdom knowledge and 00:11:02.169 --> 00:11:06.440 experience is when you lack confidence, I would 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:08.860 suggest the thing that you need the most is action. 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.340 In the case of the steak, when I first sat down 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:14.600 for it, my confidence was at a high. Then they 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.539 put it in front of me and it did waver a little 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:19.480 bit. But I knew that if I wanted to get past 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:22.159 that wavering of confidence, all I needed to 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.399 do was to keep eating, keep cutting, keep putting 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:27.919 a bite in my mouth, just like with the wok. And 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.399 the moments that I was wavering in confidence 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:34.429 and it didn't feel great. I knew that as long 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:36.649 as I put one foot in front of the other and I 00:11:36.649 --> 00:11:40.210 kept making strides towards getting to the other 00:11:40.210 --> 00:11:44.110 side, that's all I needed to do. So when my coaching 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:46.610 consulting clients are feeling like they're in 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:49.009 that valley of despair, it's just a reminder 00:11:49.009 --> 00:11:52.669 of what inputs will you do today? What actions 00:11:52.669 --> 00:11:55.870 can you take that will plant the seeds now that 00:11:55.870 --> 00:12:00.269 you'll harvest later? What steps and bites need 00:12:00.269 --> 00:12:03.340 to just. be done and that's the question that 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:06.980 i want to pose to everybody listening is if you're 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:09.740 feeling unconfident if you're if your confidence 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:12.879 in yourself is wavering what do you need to do 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:18.480 to just keep going and not settle not quits. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.399 If you need some help figuring that out, if you're 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.759 kind of feeling like you're at that valley of 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.480 despair, I would love to talk to you and love 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:26.200 to support you. Feel free to book a free 15 -minute 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.320 consultation. The calendar link is in the description. 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:30.159 It should be one of the very first links. Go 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.120 and hit that, schedule a time, we'll hop on a 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:34.740 call, and we'll just do a laser session to help 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:37.419 you figure out your next steps and what you need 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:40.879 to do. As always, thank you so much for listening. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.159 Your support and attention mean the most to me. 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:46.720 As always, The best is yet to come as long as 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.120 you are willing to make the decision to never 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.940 settle, never quit, and never peak. Thank you 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:54.620 so much. I'll see you in the next one.