Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host,
and today I have a very special guest, Brian
Swift. He is known as the Quad Father. He is
a testament to living his own life with no excuses.
He was born walking on two feet, and at the age
of 17, it was taken away due to a tragic accident.
Through trial and error, pain and joy, he walks
differently today. He walks with confidence,
grit, compassion, and the understanding that
life has a more powerful path. for him. He is
also the author of eight books. He runs a 501c3
nonprofit and he is host of a podcast and radio
show. But most importantly, he is a coach and
a facilitator of excellence, no matter what your
situation or your circumstance is. Welcome to
the show, Brian. Sheila, thank you for those
kind words. I'm excited and honored to be on
your podcast. Well, and I'm inspired. Like we
mentioned before, we hopped on and started recording
the podcast, just, you know, visiting your website,
learning about your journey and seeing all of
these books. You're quite inspirational. My hairs.
Thank you. Thank you. So let's begin. I did read
it was a football. Gosh, as a mom, this is so
hard, right? At the age of 17, your life took
a turn. A little bit. A little bit. So it was
the day after Christmas in 1979. And I played
everything. I played football and basketball
and baseball. I was meeting about a dozen friends
at the park to play, you know, like a Christmas
football game. I happened to just be running
with the football. Somebody tackled me from behind.
Here's the weird thing. I didn't land on my head.
I didn't get hit hard. A bunch, it was a group
of people just falling to the ground. nobody
landed on me. Nobody, it wasn't anything traumatic,
but that would be the last time I got up. Even
the doctors were like, man, you know, it's puzzling
because usually some of this doesn't happen in
those circumstances. Why it happened, I don't
know. I never really thought, believe it or not,
my, you know, I was so blessed and my mom was
very faith and is faith driven with like, we
don't know why things happen. You've just got
to keep moving forward. And I never worried about
the why, because that doesn't solve anything.
Why will never take anything, make my life better
if I find out the why, which most of us don't
find out the why things happen. So I learned
how to move on and just let it be. This is the
way it was going to be. Now, how good could I
make it? So that's how it all started. I'm just
taking it in because, like I said, as a mom and
my husband, you know, has been a football player.
He was a football player his entire high school.
My son was in the team. And, you know, with a
sport like football, there's so much positive,
right? You have the coach. It offers great life
lessons. Life lessons you don't learn in a classroom.
Life lessons you don't learn a lot of places.
You learn so much. Whether it be, I don't care
if it's on a basketball court, a baseball field,
a football field, track and field, swimming.
You learn things about yourself that you don't
learn in school. And it's such, same thing. I'm
a father and I have two boys and a girl. And
it came that time they wanted to play football.
That was a toughie. But you know what? I put
my faith in the good Lord's hands and said, you
know what? If somebody's going to get hurt, they're
going to get hurt riding a bike. on a skateboard,
doing something silly. It's kind of out of our
control. I wasn't doing anything wrong, anything
silly when it happened. I put my faith in the
good Lord's hands and my sons all played through
grammar school and high school and never had
anything serious. Well, that's a very strong
mindset, right? Because you're having to overcome
that. Oh, yeah. You know, I don't know, maybe
have that fear. Absolutely. So you're a very
strong man. And at the age of 17, how do you
cope with that? How do you move forward when
something like that happens? And I haven't gotten
into your present age, right? I'm still just
thinking of a 17 -year -old. Yeah. I have great
friends and family, and I have very old -school
parents. And my dad was tough love. And it was
like, you're not going to leave the, you know,
so I, so I got my neck fused and spent a week
in the hospital going through an operation and
had the halo put on. And then I went to what
is now the Shirley Ryan ability lab, which is
back then was called RIC Rehabilitation Institute
of Chicago, which is one of the top spinal cord
injury rehabilitation facilities in the country,
along with a handful of other ones. And in 1979,
my life, based on their statistics, read like
Stephen King novel. Like, oh, it's 1979, you're
a quad. Don't forget, 79, we didn't have social
media. We didn't have computers. We didn't have,
it was like, this is, they, you know, they basically
opened a book and said, yeah, okay, you're a
C6. You, you know, you probably won't be able
to drive. you know, going to school back then.
There was no online. There was, I mean, my life
was like, you're not, you know, this is what
usually happens. You know, you try to get an
education, but that, you know, try to do this,
but this is the chance to try to. And I had this
list of like the way my life was going to be.
And internally, my dad said, no, it's not going
to be that way. And he lived that with like,
well, we got to get you measured for an electric
wheelchair. No, he's not going in an electric
wheelchair. He's going to push himself. You know,
I mean, I think they were realistic with, you
know, I'd love for my, I'm sure he'd love for
me to walk out, but it's like, no, I'm not bringing
an electric wheelchair home. So learn to push
it. And, you know, my mom was 100 % like, just
keep looking forward for, don't worry about the
statistics. Don't worry about what people say.
Your life will be as great as you could dream
it to be even from a wheelchair. And I. followed
that. And it has. If we move forward, right,
look at everything you've accomplished. You're
married. You've had children who are now adults.
You are making a difference, which I want to
learn more about your books. And then the pivotal
moment that you chose to make a difference and
to start this nonprofit. So tell us a little
bit about both. Sure. You know what? There is
no one moment. It is a lot of little decisions.
We've all been granted the ability to make choices.
And it's probably one of the biggest gifts we've
been given is the ability to choose. And I was
just blessed with the guidance of my parents
and my friends to choose to not to be a victim,
to choose not to worry about statistics. to choose
not to be what my life said it was supposed to
be in a historical statistical book. And I mean,
just to give you an idea, after four months,
I got out of the rehab on a Friday. I went back
to school on Monday, being picked up by a bus
back to high school so I could finish my high
school year and graduate. There was no waiting
around. There was no time to feel bad. There
was no time for, you know, woe is me. My parents
just wouldn't allow that. There was no sitting
in my bedroom. You know, there was no sitting
around. If you were sitting around as a kid,
you were put to work. So you stayed busy. So
even in the wheelchair, it was like, you know,
I just didn't stay in my bedroom. I didn't pout.
I didn't, my friends, you know, a lot of people
lose their support because they don't. They become
victims. And it is a horrible thing that happens.
But I didn't drive people away. I brought people
in. I shared my life. I shared the fact that
I wore a leg bag, that there were things that,
yes, I'm in a wheelchair. My friends folded it
up, threw it in the trunk, picked me up, threw
me in the car. We did things. So it was just
allowing yourself to be vulnerable and realizing.
There is no one moment that all the great and
beautiful things that have happened to me is
not based on one decision. It's a lot of little
decisions. They stack up. So what about the first
book? So, you know, I spent 20 plus years working
in. So I went to junior college, graduated in
two years, went up, went to St. Xavier University.
while living at home, which I chose to do instead
of going away because I could continue therapy,
continue to do things that would make my life
better, have the support at home. Maybe I was
less independent, but I saw the picture down
the line and I knew I could accomplish more by
staying at home and not trying to run away from
it and be all independent. So yes, I had some
support at home, but then I graduated from St.
Xavier's two years later. And I had this little
old nun that was the head of the criminal justice
department. It's like, what are you going to
do when you graduate? And I was like, you know,
Sister Dennis, that's a good question. She's
like, you're going to law school. And I'm like,
no, I'm like, I'm not that smart. I mean, I'm
first generation college. I was probably going
to go to the trades and make a great living in
the trades. Well, that wasn't going to happen.
She's like, no, you're going to law school. Well,
you know, you don't tell a nun no. I went to
parochial schools. There's no debating. or talking
to nuns in high school, like Christian Brothers
of Ireland, that ruled the high school I went
to. So she's like, meet me after school. Yes,
Sister Dennis, and we're going to talk. Well,
the talk wasn't a talk. The talk was her telling
me that, no, I'm going to sign you up for the
LSAT. You'll get a study guide, and you're going
to law school. You know, I come home, and I'm
like, this nun thinks I'm going to go to law
school. I mean, when I told my friends, they
laughed. My parents were kind of like, you know,
whatever. Well, you know what? I ended up in
law school and three and a half years later,
I graduated from law school. And I worked in
the law field for a little bit, a year or so,
and something drove, it just wasn't for me. So
I went into corporate sales and training and
I spent 20 plus years having an awesome career.
Up at five, out of the house at six, to work
by seven, worked till probably five, came home.
and i started my life you know in between all
that i was playing wheelchair sports because
i missed that competing so i played quad rugby
i swam i did track and field you know i just
i moved forward with life i still dated um and
after about 20 years i felt there was something
more for me out there i had been very successful
in corporate I worked on 210 North Michigan on
the 27th floor. I had a corner office. But it
just wasn't fulfilling. And I left corporate
with five things I wanted to accomplish. First
one was spend more time with my family. Second
one was get more health. My health was diminishing,
battling the long hours, the driving. So it was
spend more time with my family, get my health
back. I wanted to become a professional or more
of a certified coach and speaker because I was
always speaking in groups, speaking at conferences.
So that was the third thing. I wanted to write
a book, one book, and I wanted to start a nonprofit.
And within two years, I had gotten my health
back, spent tons of time. over the next 10 years
with my parents and my family, became certified
John Maxwell coach and speaker, wrote my first
book called Up, Getting Up is the Key to Life.
And we started a nonprofit, a 501c3 nonprofit
called Swift Outdoor Accessible Recreation. So
first book, it is a bit of an autobiography of
my story. And there's a lot in there that would
take us too long to go through. working with
corporate and the way they viewed people with
disabilities, going through infertility, a lot
of trials and tribulations out there. You know,
so my book was kind of a, I'm sharing this not
to shine the light on me, but to open your eyes
and shine light on you that my life was supposed
to be this, but I chose for it to be something
different. I got married. I mean, I've been married
35 years. How many people are married 35 years
without or with a disability? We've adopted three
kids. And I don't say that because I don't say
I've got three adopted kids. I've got three kids
that we adopted as babies that I could not be
any more proud of and blessed to have. And we've
been through a lot of trials and tribulations.
But through our faith and communication and understanding,
We've made it work and I've been blessed to do
the things I do. And inspiring many and helping
many, including you do coaching and you do leadership
coaching. Tell us a little bit about what the
nonprofit does. So it's called SOAR. That's the
acronym, Swift Outdoor Accessible Recreation.
Part of what helped me deal with my injury. and
life was getting back out doing the things I
loved, which was fishing, hunting, going on long
rides, which now I couldn't get on a bike. But
I could push the wheelchair, and I got to a point
where I could do 5K marathons. I could do 5K,
10K marathons. Getting out with the kids, and
I got into coaching then, coaching football,
coaching basketball. I loved athletics still.
That I so believe healing happens outside. You've
got to get back out doing the things you love.
Being near Mother Nature, you know, there's a
process called grounding, or some people look
at it as earthing. I swear by it. I am the happiest.
Before I started this, I was outside. I was outside
with a book, reading in the sun. It's only like
55 degrees, but... For me, one sweatshirt, but
the sun's out. And you know what? I come in charged
up. And insurance doesn't pay for a lot of things
that people need to go back and do the things
they love. And that's where SOAR comes in. So
we provide things like therapeutic trikes for
people who might have MS or CP or some other
type of illness. We provide accessible ways to
fish. accessible ways to hunt with equipment.
None of this equipment is paid for by insurance.
We'll buy hand controls so somebody could drive
a car or a van and help them get their car or
van set up so they can get mobile again. It's
not the equipment we provide. We provide hope.
We provide freedom. We provide independence.
We provide opportunity. That's what really matters.
nine -year -old and we get them a therapeutic
trike and they could go out riding for the first
time with their two brothers and sisters. And
you're sitting there and the parents have tears
in their eyes knowing that this is the first
time. I didn't affect that little girl. I affected
a family. I affected the neighborhood, their
friends. That's the difference. And you know
what? I get that. That's selfish. I get that
feel good. And that is like a shot of sunshine.
And I'm blessed to be able to do that. So you
provide that freedom. You provide movement, right?
Because if someone is needing the equipment,
you're giving them a lot more than the equipment.
It's what comes with it. So, you know, when you're
going to ride, you're going to take away the
little wheels in your bicycle the first time.
You're fearful. When you get behind the wheel
of a car, you're fearful. How do you help people
overcome fear or how do you overcome fear? First
of all, I do a lot of mentoring with these people
and not just the people who are disabled. I do
a lot of mentoring with mom and dad or husband
or wife, able -bodied people. I do as much mentoring
for as disabled people. First of all, 93 % of
what we fear never happens. Just think of that.
93 % of what we fear never happens. And only
3 % of what we fear is as bad as what we fear.
And it turns out as bad as what we think. So
the bottom line is 97 % of anything we worry
about either doesn't happen or happens at such
a minimal, it's so minimal, it's not what we
feared. And I help people. start to create perspective
on what they're fearing. So what's the worst
thing that happens? You fall off the bike. I
mean, you fall off. If you were able -bodied,
you would be falling off your bike. I guarantee
it. Anybody who's ridden a bike has fallen off
a bike. And I try to help create perspective.
And then I get them thinking about what's in
front of you, not what's behind you. You know,
not about you. You are. So part of getting over
your disability is just letting it be and not
perseverating on it and just letting it be so
you can concentrate on moving forward. So understanding
statistics of fear, it doesn't probably help
people a lot. Some people maybe that are very
analytical, it helps. But getting them to focus
on what do you want to do next? What do you want
to do? You want to be able to get in the hot
tub? You want to be able to scuba dive? You want
to go back to work? You want to take class? What
do you want to do? Get them to think forward.
That's why the windshield is gigantic and the
car in the rearview mirror is this big. What's
behind us is so minimally important. It's what's
in front of us that's possible. And I believe
COVID had an effect on this. COVID stopped people
from dreaming and believing in themselves and
took away a lot of people's confidence. And I
try to get people to dream again and think about
what's in front of them because there's nothing
you can't achieve. I mean, I may never walk again.
I don't know. Maybe one day I will. I don't worry
about that because I got like 10 things I got
to focus on. You know, my next book, something
with the kids, you know, celebrating something
with the family. My plan is, you know, what are
your hobbies? What do you like to do? You know,
I do a lot of woodworking. What's your hobbies?
What did you do before? Let's figure out how
to do it again. So my other question when we
were talking about the fear, and I thought, oh,
he may even answer that. We also use the words,
I can't, or we don't believe that we are able
to do that to move forward, right? Because one
thing is to say, look forward or move forward.
But then we've got those limiting beliefs sometimes.
How would you help someone overcome that limiting
belief? So I talk quite a bit when I'm speaking,
whether that be a keynote speech or somebody's
asked me to talk to their sales team about self
-limiting beliefs. Do you realize how many people
never get started living their life because of
fear? And it's all because, and now you could
be a victim and say, you know what, I had a horrible
childhood. Yeah, maybe you did, but that was
your childhood. And yes, you know, your parents,
you know, weren't able to give you the car you
wanted, the big computer, a nice phone, whatever
it is. So I start to plant stories and explain
this. First of all, why do people who have been
given everything, love, support? independence,
financial wealth. They've got technology. Why
do so many people who've been given it all fail?
They begin every resource. They've got it all.
They've got all the resources to succeed. Why
don't they? Why is it the guy who doesn't have
the love, doesn't have the support, doesn't have
the money, doesn't have the technology? Why do
those, so many of those people succeed? They
don't have the resources. And I'm going to tell
you. The best resource you could teach somebody
to have is not to worry about the resources,
but focus on being resourceful. If you are resourceful,
you will succeed despite all of that. Now back,
how does that kind of fit in? So I'll tell you
and try this. Every time you have a self -limiting,
get out a pad of paper. And every time you have
a self -limiting belief, write it down. Do that
for a week and just look at the bombardment of
negativity we have. So back to statistics. How
many thoughts do you think an average person
has a day? 5 ,000? I'm throwing a number out
there. I think it's more around 60 ,000 thoughts,
believe it or not. A lot subconscious, a lot
conscious. 85 % of those to 90 % of those thoughts
are negative. If we are telling ourselves 45
,000 times subconsciously or consciously negative
thoughts, no wonder any of us have the ability
to even smile. Out of that 60 ,000%, 85 % of
the repetitive thoughts are negative. That's
horrible. Here's the good news. Our minds are
malleable. Our minds, so I've studied neurolinguistics
programming. Our minds are malleable. We can
reshape the way we think. We can reshape what
our life's, what you want it to be. And it starts
with identifying the negative thoughts and writing
them down. Do it for a week. And then you have
to go back and, and this is part of what I do
with coaching, you have to go back and revisit
them. And then start changing words you use.
So I had one person that was like, everything
sucks. You know, this sucks, that sucks, that's,
this sucks, my life sucks, work sucks. You know,
I mean, everything was, it sucks. I said, you
know, that's such a negative thought. Well, no,
it's really not. I'm just kind of explaining
the way it is. No, it's a negative thought. Replace
that sucks with that's interesting. Because when
you say something sucks, you've put an exclamation
point and totally decided that it sucks and it
will always suck. And that means your life sucks.
When you say that's interesting instead of that
sucks, you leave some room for interpretation
and possibilities that it doesn't suck. It's
a moment in time and that maybe it's not as bad
as saying that sucks. And you're not putting
an exclamation. You're leaving more of a question
mark on it, which is less negative than that
sock. So I start to help people replace words.
Instead of using this, start to say this. And
it's just a process over time. I didn't get this
way in two years, three years, seven years. I've
worked at it hard, hard, hard. You know, so that's
the path that I start with helping people get
rid of that limiting beliefs. that self -doubt
that lack of confidence and we just build it's
one step at a time but i help them reprogram
their mind and help them move forward in a way
better life is too short to get up and think
it sucks every day so so who do you serve are
they children are they adults what does that
look like so from the source standpoint we will
help anybody who is disabled get equipment. Children,
vets, moms, dads, any age, anywhere in the USA.
We have helped people get equipment and whatnot.
In terms of who I help from a coaching standpoint,
it's usually not children because they don't
understand the concepts. It's usually, it could
be the parents or the kids. It could be... And
a lot of times it is the parents of kids who
are going through it to help them understand
the mindset and what's possible because they
don't see it either. And I probably spend 40
% of my time coaching people with no disabilities
because my opinion is it's worse to be mentally
disabled, to be mentally paralyzed. and physically
paralyzed. And I help people able -bodied. I
don't care if you're a president, vice president,
all the way down to, you know, the janitor. I
help them become mentally unparalyzed. So it
sounds like you serve individuals. You're not
after teams and corporations. You're serving
individuals in different stages of life. Yes,
but I do get asked to speak to teams. You know,
I do get asked. to provide different perspectives
to sales teams or um one of them was a they they
they were a nurse a company that does private
nursing and home health and they had four offices
one in illinois indiana tennessee and whatever
and all the executives and leaders were getting
together and they asked me to come in and talk
to them because it was just going through changes
and there was so much negativity and people weren't
seeing the light So I do, you know, if any of
them individually wanted to talk to me, I would
gladly do that. So a lot of speak, I was, you
know, there was a lumber company in North Dakota
that, you know, their sales team was just, they
weren't producing. They were struggling and they
asked me to, and it was over Zoomed, you know,
would you, you know, they said, I said, I come
out there. I don't, you know, I'm not, I don't,
I'd rather do it, you know. I can travel, but
so we did it over Zoom and I spent, you know,
three, I should say two half days kind of getting
them to rethink about what they're doing and
their possibilities and admit that maybe what
they're doing isn't working and they're getting
in their own way more than what they're feeling.
Like the market sucks. People don't want to buy.
There's too much competition. You know, those
are all limiting beliefs. Then maybe the market
sucks. But you know what? Somebody's going to
go out there. They're going to make a million
bucks. Why not you? Well, no, I asked because
you're a lawyer. So you've got a lot of skill
sets all going on. You have your sales training
because you worked in corporate. And then you
have the nonprofit. So I didn't know if it was
geared towards a specific niche to help identify.
And people, I mean, it is great to have a niche.
But I'm so all over, it's hard to, I don't want
to disqualify anybody. If you think, oh, you
know, just help people with disabilities. No,
I probably work with people without disabilities
more or as much as people with disabilities.
So, because you don't have to be in a wheelchair
to be disabled. I know a lot of people walking
around that are mentally paralyzed that I wouldn't
trade seats with. And I think I don't know numbers
and I don't know statistics, but I do know there
is also, you know, a rise in that mental health.
And I think, you know, technology, as much as
I'm an advocate for it and I, you know, try and
leverage it and teach people how to use it, I
also see, you know, the negative side effects,
right? And what it is doing to the... Younger
generations and it's bringing isolation. It's
bringing more insecurities. You're having to
deal with all these filters and profiles that
look perfect. And I don't know how much harder
it is to grow up now than it was in those 70s
that we spoke about earlier when we didn't have
these things. So I think you'd be great in so
many different aspects. Thank you. And I agree
with you. Um, any technology we have is great,
but once it goes unsupervised and, and I see
it, I see, you know, coaching, I see parents
hand their, their five -year -old a, you know,
when they're being annoying, their, their, their
thousand dollar telephone to behave. No, how
about turning around and telling your child,
don't interrupt mom, have a seat and wait till
I'm done. Parenting is stopped. Here's a thousand
dollar phone. Go play. Here's a $2 ,500 computer.
Go play. Get out of my hair. I want to be your
friend. I was, you know what? I didn't care about
being my kid's friend. I was, I didn't, I didn't,
my job as a father was not to be their friend.
My job as a father was to raise them, provide
them with wisdom and love and expose them and
prepare them for a horribly tough world. I cannot
be your friend and do that at the young age.
We will be great friends as you get older, but
I don't care if you like me or love me now. It'll
all come together. And guess what? I got three
kids that think I walk on water and I'm the tough
dad and I'm the, yeah, but you know what? I got
three kids that they think I walk on water and
I'm so blessed and it's all, it's all come together
for them. Oh, and I'll give you an example. When
it came college time. My kids all wanted to go
away to school. I have 99 % of the kids are going
to school away. And I said, here, do you want
to be in this much debt, this much debt or no
debt when you're done? You want $100 ,000 worth
of debt, 50 ,000 or no debt in four years, which
would be the best scenario? Well, I don't want
debt. Okay, well, you know, mom and I have saved
this much amount of money for you, which nowadays
didn't pay for as much as it did. is we're saving.
So we're here. We're going to help you because
you want to go to school. And we get that. But
here's the stipulation. You're all going to junior
college. Yeah, I'm the bad guy. Yes, I'm whatever.
Call me whatever you want. I really don't care.
You're going to go to junior college for two
years and you're going to get out of junior college
debt free. In two years, if you still want to
pursue a college education, we will support wherever
you want to go. If you want to go into the trades
after that, go into the trades. If you want to
join the army, join the army. If you want to
start your own business, I will help you, guide
you, support you. But two years of junior college,
I had three kids that got out of four -year universities
debt -free. They got out and started to listen
to their friends complain about the debt they're
in and the situations they're in. Oh, dad wasn't
such a dummy. He didn't do this for himself.
Oh, dad, you kind of forced us to make a pretty
good move here. Let's see. I don't have a $500
payment. I don't have a school payment. I don't
have a $600 car payment because he wasn't going
to let me buy the car I wanted. He let me get
a car that worked. Yeah, I was the bad guy. I
know your friends have been given and ride nice
cars. You're driving a nice car. Why? Because
it gets you from A to B. And when you can afford
a nice car. giddy up you can go buy a nicer car
but all of a sudden it all came together and
all of a mom and dad became smart so love it
now you also have a book about i think it has
the word dad in the title it it does i did a
i co -authored a book with um 20 gentlemen And
if this is the one you're talking about, because
I know it's not on my website, called Godly Fathers
Make Godly Men. Oh, are you talking about The
Quadfather? Yeah, you have a bunch of books.
That's why I'm trying to remember the names,
but you have Father or... Yes, so I wrote a book
called The Quadfather. So after a bunch of years,
and you get into this entrepreneurial world,
and it's like, you got to brand yourself. What
do you mean you got to brand yourself? Well,
you got to be known for something. Well, OK,
I had crossed spending 40 years pushing myself
in a manual wheelchair, which is unheard of out
there. And I was out on a ride and I don't know
if I was having a conversation with somebody
or somebody passed me and and it came to me.
You got to brand yourself as the quad father.
It's kind of catchy. It's different. And it really
talks to. what you've done. So I wrote a book
called The Quadfather because it is 100 % raw,
honest, tough love book. And what I do is I address
every excuse that I've heard from people with
disabilities, people without disabilities, and
basically called, you know, it's BS. You know,
you can do this. This is not a reason to stop
this. So I basically answer every negative excuse
on why people cannot thrive and put it into a
book called The Cloudfather. Love it. I thought
maybe it was fatherhood. So we're going to skip
and fast forward because you have many, many,
many books. I mean, we could spend hours talking,
but your latest book, what is that called and
what is it about? So the one that my latest book,
I started a trio called Swift Fixes. And they're
more of a booklet, but they talk like one is
about how to overcome pain. Because if you rely
on the pharmacy world and pain medication, I've
seen too many people zombied out with other major
side effects. I believe there's holistic ways
to deal with pain. The other one is about setting
goals and moving forward in life. Like, how do
you move forward? So I wrote three books in that
kind of direction, or my last three. And then
the one that came out that, and I don't talk
about it, I should, is a compilation of about
20 people. like their entrepreneurial journey
and the lessons and wisdom. And that actually
was an international bestseller that sold United
States, Canada, and Mexico. So that's it. And
yes, I am working on another book. And it's really
probably going to address more that mental health
and being mentally paralyzed. So is that your
next milestone? Yes and no. So one would be the
book. The next milestone would be to raise, I'd
love to raise $500 ,000 for SOAR and be able
to help more people. I want to impact a million
people in 26, which is two months plus away.
I want to impact more people in a bigger way.
And the only way I can do that is with this help
and support. of the public and uh companies corporations
foundations to support soar so that we could
support others and my goal is we've never made
near that amount and you know some people think
it's it's a big jump to try to make it one year
like well you know you've if your goals do not
scare you then they're not lofty enough your
goals should be slightly frightening that would
be That's frightening to think because I don't
like failing, but I don't fail often because
of a course I teach called sometimes you win,
sometimes you learn. Because you don't fail if
you learn. As long as you're learning, it's not
a failure, it's a lesson. And some people look
at failures and it so deprives them of that motivation
and inspiration and confidence and self -belief.
Sailing is just a stepping stone if you use it
the right way. It's not a stumbling block. So
many people have all these stumbling blocks in
front of them. I take them away. It's not a stumbling
block. It's a stepping stone. You're wiser now.
You've learned lessons. It's not a failure. Sometimes
you win, sometimes you learn. It's not sometimes
you win, sometimes you lose. That's the saying
that's been out there. I don't believe in that.
I believe sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.
If you're learning, you're not losing. Oh, love
it. Mine is you can't fail if you don't try.
Absolutely. It's true. My children have reminded
me of that. And then it ended up leading to things
I didn't imagine could happen in a good way.
So I love your mindset. I love your positivity.
How can we help you reach your goal for 2026?
No. Not everybody could give financially. Trust
me, I get that. Some of our biggest donations
might have been 50 bucks from somebody who couldn't
spare $50 and whatnot. But being able to share
our information, share our links, not just on
social media, but you sit back and think about
all the people that you know that aren't on social
media, send them an email. Give them a call and
say, hey, you know what? I'm kind of collaborating
with this organization. I've met this man that
runs a 501c3. You as a company. And now is a
perfect time because corporations, companies,
foundations, most of the giving they do is in
December. Because they forget that they have
this money they need to spend for tax purposes.
And all of a sudden it's like, oh. That's right.
Or they had a way better year than they thought
they were going to have. And it's like, well,
let's, you know, a lot of businesses are very
benevolent and they want to spread the love and
the success. Those are people you probably won't
find a ton on Facebook, but you'll find them
on LinkedIn or you know them. You know somebody
who's a VP, a president. Our biggest donor overheard
a conversation of a friend of ours. at a thanksgiving
party and our friend was at the thanksgiving
party and two people two people were having a
conversation and the guy brought up well you
know we're looking for non -profits to give money
to she went over and introduced herself told
them about soar and they have been our one of
our biggest donors it just came out of she heard
a conversation so it's just amazing just being
aware that we exist and then taken being Being
present and being intentional about reaching
out to people is what's going to do it. What's
going to create this sustainability relationship
because we could help companies. I mean, if a
foundation or an organization wants to get involved
and maybe they're struggling with sales, man,
I'll come out or I'll do a Zoom sales training
or help reset your salespeople's mindset. I mean,
so I'm a believer everybody should win. We all
could win. There's enough out there for us all
to be successful. There is an abundance out there.
You just have to look for it and understand what
that's been. And that doesn't mean that we have
setbacks. You know, sometimes we get driven in
this, I call it a divine direction that might
feel like a setback. Maybe it is, but there's
a reason for it. And we don't always know that.
But just keep believing and have faith that there's
a reason. and that you still are driving towards
this divine direction. So that's how you can
help. And where do we find you? Is there a website?
So what are your social media handles? Yeah,
so you could go to Swift Outdoor Accessible Recreation,
and you could find SOAR. If you're looking a
little bit like coaching, just go to brianpswift
.com, B -R -I -A -N -P as in Patrick. S -W -I
-F -T dot com. And I will send you personally
the information about the fundraiser we're having
and just some stuff about SOAR and things of
that nature. You can find me on LinkedIn. I'm
out there under Brian P. Swift. You can find
me on Facebook, both Brian Swift and SOAR. And
then on... And SOAR is S -O -A -R. Just make
sure that we spell it correctly, not SOAR like
my muscles are eating SOAR. Because, yeah, it's
an acronym for Outdoor Accessible Recreation.
And then you could find me on Instagram under
the underscore quadfather. And then I started
my second podcast, which is SOAR. It's SOAR.
driven by the quad father. Great conversations,
just like we had now. A lot of inspiration, a
lot of wisdom that I just like to share with
people. Oh, well, thank you so much for joining
me today. I will make sure to put all of those
links in the description so that we can help
you reach that goal. Thank you so much. I love
what you do. I love the name of your podcast.
Keep doing it. That is your divine direction.
And it's going to bring you to great places.
Well, thank you. And thank you all for tuning
in to another episode of Milestone Moments in
Business and Leadership. Until next time.