August 15, 2025 • 57 mins
Walking through hell and coming out stronger isn’t just a metaphor for Nick Klingensmith—it’s the reality that shaped him. In this deeply moving conversation with Trucking Ray, Nick shares how he turned unimaginable pain into fuel for purpose. From battling cancer four times and surviving addiction to completing over 100 Spartan races, Nick’s transformation wasn’t just physical—it was mental, emotional, and spiritual. This episode isn’t just inspiration—it’s a roadmap for anyone who feels stuck, broken, or alone.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Survivor Turned Warrior
Nick overcame cancer four times, Type 1 diabetes, alcoholism, and multiple surgeries—and still became an elite endurance athlete.
✅ The Wake-Up Call
A challenge from his boss to do a Spartan race shattered Nick’s limiting beliefs and rewrote his identity.
✅ Mental Health for Drivers
Nick warns truckers about the silent trap of isolation: “Self-inflicted loneliness can kill. You need a tribe.”
✅ Fitness Can Save Your Life
He urges truckers to commit just 30 minutes of movement at each stop—and to stop saying “I can’t.”
✅ Fuel Your Body, Fuel Your Mind
Focus on protein-rich meals over sugar spikes. Better fuel means clearer thinking and better driving.
✅ Resources Exist—Use Them
Nick points to programs like Project 61 for free gear, support, and encouragement to stay active and accountable.
✅ Forgiveness Is Part of Healing
Letting go of guilt, shame, and self-blame isn’t weakness—it’s survival. “I don’t need to win like I did before.”
✅ Everyone Needs a Wolfpack
Find your tribe. Support systems are vital to real, lasting transformation—no one thrives in isolation.
This is more than a story—it’s a survival guide. If you’ve ever told yourself you couldn’t change, this episode proves you wrong.
Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Click here to join the conversation!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's up y'all?
This is your go-to guy,truckin' Ray.
You're listening to.
That's Delivered, the showwhere we talk about life on the
road, lessons learned and realstories that fill us and get us
through it all.
Today's guest is man.
He's been through it all.
He's been through the fire.
He came out forged like steel.
Nick Clemson Smith is amotivational speaker, a former
(00:30):
corporate leader, a Spartan racewarrior and the author of
Through the Fire, a memoir oftrauma, addiction and recovery.
His story is one that punchesyou in the gut, lifts you to
your feet and says let's do itagain.
This episode is for everyonewho has felt they were stuck,
(00:50):
lost or just like giving up, fortruckers out there that are
driving endless miles wonderingif anyone sees the weight that
they're carrying.
Well, nick sees you and hismessage is for you.
So let's get into it, and hismessage is for you, so let's get
into it.
Hey, nick, what's happening?
Man?
(01:10):
So happy to have you on theshow, just happy to be here, man
, that's awesome and you got agreat story to tell man.
I mean it's a lot to reallyabsorb that one man has been
through so much and has come out.
I mean you've changed the gamewhen it comes to feeling bad for
(01:32):
yourself.
You've changed that up and saidhey, I can make this into a lot
of things.
So, hey, man, I want ourlisteners to enjoy it and also
understand what you went through.
So it looks like a lot of itstarts with some addiction,
(02:00):
trauma and also facing yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
A lot of times people don't want to do that.
Um, can you tell us a littlebit about what it was like
starting out, kind of unravel,what it was?
You know the alcoholism, brokenrelationships and hitting
emotional rock bottom?
I mean, nobody's story is justone right.
Everything has.
You've got your backstory, yourorigin story.
You've got your work life, yoursocial life, all these
different things, your physicalhealth, your mental health, all
going at the same time likechaos theory, and sometimes they
intertwine.
They intertwine.
(02:21):
I like to say that one of themost pivotal moments was when my
boss, back when I was stillworking in logistics, he walked
into my office and he said hey,I want to do a Spartan race and
you're going to do it with me.
I looked up at him and I'm likethe fuck I am.
(02:42):
That sounds terrible to me.
An eight to 10 mile trail runwith obstacles and I'm supposed
to train for this shit.
Get in the mud with.
No, I had no intention ofmaking myself that uncomfortable
.
Wow, that's when I went homethat night and I discovered the
problem.
I already was thatuncomfortable because get this,
I was peaking.
I was two years sober at thatpoint I was a VP of sales.
(03:08):
I had like a hundred peopleworking for me.
We were crushing goals.
I was dating an amazing womanthat's now my wife and I had
just decisively beaten cancerfor the fourth time and I
realized that I was stuck and Iwas terrified to do something
about it.
And so that was one of thecatalysts for me, because I just
(03:31):
I just wanted to do somethingdifferent.
I just wanted to break thecycle, right, like so.
I'll go back in time a littlebit here.
I was first diagnosed withcancer the first time when I was
25 years old and I'm going togive you the abridged version
and ask away anything that youwant to pick on here, because
it's a story.
But in that period of time Iwas diagnosed with cancer four
(03:55):
times Type one diabetes.
I had shoulder surgery from abeach volleyball injury.
I had hip surgery from a beachvolleyball injury.
I had hip surgery from a beachvolleyball injury.
I had nerve damage as a resultof the first injury.
I was in two separate caraccidents, one of which was a
rollover fatality accident, bothof which gave me seven
(04:17):
herniated discs and multiplenerve damage permanent nerve
damage in multiple spots.
I almost died from meningitisdamage, permanent nerve damage
in multiple spots.
I almost died from meningitis.
I think I'm forgetting somethinghere, and there was a period of
time where alcohol wasn'talways part of my story.
Well, let's not let me go back.
Alcohol wasn't always a mainplayer in my story, and when I
(04:39):
was first diagnosed withdiabetes you know, I guess I'm
leaving a few other things outtoo.
So I was a competitive beachvolleyball player for about 20
years while I was in sales, bothin telecom and logistics, and
that was actually a hugepriority in my life.
That's where I got the shoulderinjury and the hip injury and
everything like that.
And when I was diagnosed withdiabetes is when I decided that
(05:05):
I was going to take control ofit.
You know, I felt like a victimfor a couple of days and then I
was like well, I'm diabetic.
Whining about it's not going tochange anything.
I was determined to manage it.
So I decided to quit drinkingand at that point in my life,
alcohol really wasn't that bigof a factor for me, you know.
It was just something thatwasn't like oh, I have sleep
(05:27):
apnea too.
That's what it is, cause sleepapnea made me not really want to
party that much anyway.
So it's not like you reallywanted more downers when you're
tired all the time, and uh.
So about a year after I wasdiagnosed with diabetes, my 25
year old sister killed herselfand I was back home with some
(05:47):
friends and we're I justremember I write about in my
book too we were having a fewBud Light limes and nothing bad
happened.
You know, the floor didn't openup underneath me, blood sugars
didn't get crazy, and so I wasback and something that was no
longer part of my life suddenlybecame all of my life, and so I
(06:10):
became a highly functionalalcoholic for about another five
or six years.
And I say highly functionalbecause my career peaked during
that time.
And also, I didn't go to jail.
I didn't go to hospitals.
I didn't lose my car.
There was one scuffle, but Ididn't get in fights.
I didn't.
There was one scuffle, but Ididn't get in fights.
I wasn't that type of a drunk,and so it was so easy for me to
hide and to lie to myself and toignore just how selfish and
(06:33):
destructive I was, and I thinkabout now too, just so many
times that I put my addictionbefore my job.
You know I was doing so wellthat I had all these ways to
continue to lie to myself.
And that's when I was diagnosedso well that I had all these
ways to continue to lie tomyself.
And that's when I was diagnosedwith cancer for the third time.
And that time was different,though, because that time they
(06:55):
told me that I have a tumor inmy neck and they don't want to
operate.
Now, spoiler alert.
Okay, it has been 11 years andthat tumor still takes up real
estate in my neck, but at thetime, all I heard was I had
inoperable cancer, and so Icrawled myself deep into a
bottle until I found myself abottom.
(07:15):
And that happened in July of2014, where I came to, had a
rare moment of lucidity, on thehallway floor of a Las Vegas
hotel, surrounded by cops andsecurity, being told that I had
to leave because I had been in afight and I tried to have sex
with a hooker in a broom closetwhile my girlfriend slept in our
(07:35):
room down the hall.
Whoa, I figured I could talkabout drinking 10 years of
drinking for an hour and a half,or I could just tell you that
story and drop the mic.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Wow, that is power packed.
That's a lot, man.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I know I gave this a terrible back and forth uh thing
here, but all these things areultimately connected because I
went home that next day and Igot sober, okay.
And you know, god willing,it'll be 11 years next July this
July and those first two yearswere wonderful.
I mean, I was just becoming abetter person.
(08:16):
I was cleaning up the wreckageof my past.
I even had other trauma thatfell into my life.
My mom died the next year.
I mean, there was things that Idon't think I would have been
able to handle if I was stilldrinking and I'm not saying it
was great when I was only a yearsober, but I'm reasonably
certain that cancer saved mylife because it helped me get
(08:37):
sober faster.
Okay, if I had still beendrinking when my mom died, I
think I would have drank until Idied, wow, wow.
So I gave you all the bad shitand then I gave you the turning
point.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I appreciate you putting all of this out there.
I mean, you realized you hadsomething to share when you had
all these things happening.
Some people keep it tothemselves and you would never
know what made you think thatyou should share this with other
people well, that definitelytook a while.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Um, you know, I had to go through my journey and I
don't mean the bad stuff, Ididn't know what was I, just the
mindset that I had throughoutall that was a victim.
I wasn't tough, I wasn't gritty.
I wasn't gritty, I wasn'tresilient.
I wasn't some positive guy likeI am right now.
I was a bitch, I was mad and Iblamed people and I used it as
(09:33):
excuses to not be my best, tonot live my best.
I used all those things as anexcuse to why I could justify my
behavior when I was drinking oh, if they only knew and this,
and that I mean I was literallydigging the hole the entire time
and I didn't know that.
So what ultimately had tohappen is first, I was
introduced to a new way of life,and I'm talking about when my
(09:56):
boss introduced me to that racebecause I had created this
mental bubble around myself.
All right, look, I got up to240 pounds.
All right, I was convinced thatI could never run because of my
diabetes, my knees right.
I could never adventure becauseof my sleep apnea and diabetes,
and I'm out of shape and Icould never lose the weight and
(10:19):
get fit again.
I could never, I could never, Icould never.
And then, all of a sudden, myfirst race.
Here I am running through thewoods.
And then, all of a sudden, myfirst race.
Here I am running through thewoods, I'm tackling obstacles
like a little kid.
No fear, no doubt, noinhibition.
It wasn't me against the world,it was just me in the world.
And I'm telling you something Ihad created such limiting
(10:39):
beliefs about myself that I wasliving in a bubble.
And when I jumped the fire thatday because every Spartan race
ends with a fire jump when Icame to the fire that day, I
redefined everything that Ipreviously believed about myself
and I wanted more.
I was like holy shit, I waswrong.
What else was I wrong about?
Let's go find out, right.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Let's speak about that.
You know being a young one youmentioned being a kid who never
felt like he was enough.
Now for truckers out therelistening, many who carried you
know their childhood pain oreven into adult life.
Alcoholism plays a big part ofbeing a truck driver as well,
because we're supposed to haveyou know.
You're not supposed to havethat in your system when you're
(11:21):
behind the wheel.
A lot of people struggle withthat.
Statistics are out there fortruckers, I mean.
So how did that early traumashape your battles later in life
?
What would you say to thosetruckers out there?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I'll tell you what you know.
I mentioned something aboutvictimhood earlier.
It's not entirely true.
Sometimes we need to have thatvictim mindset, and what I mean
by that is for a long time, allright Cause I mean we're talking
about.
There are things I haven'ttalked about here and it's I do
mention some in my book, butit's like my life wasn't an
afterschool special, but therewas plenty of trauma growing up
(11:57):
too, like things that led to youknow who I am, how I am, et
cetera, and train of thought wewere just talking about how do
we get the victim?
There you go.
So, anyways, for a long time Ineeded that, that, that anger,
(12:19):
let's call it what it is.
I needed that anger.
I was angry at the world, I wasangry at my parents, I was
angry for those who didn't loveme enough or didn't meet my
expectations.
I was angry and I used it likearmor and I needed it.
That's how I paid my own waythrough school, that's how I
made myself successful, that'show I literally did all those
things.
But there comes a point whereit begins to work against you,
(12:41):
and that's what I didn't see thedifference in, because me
against the world is the rallycry of the victim mindset.
It sounds counterintuitivebecause you're like yeah me
against the world because you'regearing up for a fight, I get
it, but you can't be against theworld if you don't feel like
you're victimized of the world.
It's a victim response.
I don't need to win like I didbefore.
(13:03):
I don't need to beat everythingthe way before.
I don't need to beat everythingthe way that I beat some of the
trauma that I have held isfinding a way to let go.
It's a lot easier said thandone.
I'm 46.
We're talking about things thatare 40 years old, right, but
recognizing it, and you wouldask the question that I'm taking
a very long winded way ofgetting to, because of certain
parts of the story, of how I hadto realize but there was, you
(13:27):
know, there was the new way oflife, right, but then what had
to happen after that was to haveit almost taken away.
Because that second caraccident that I talked about, it
came when, after when, Istarted this endurance racing
journey, about six months afterthat, and in that six month
period I felt like I wasbecoming someone else, like my
body and spirit.
I liked who I was, and that'swhen I was hit by a second car.
(13:49):
That's what I got Severalherniated discs, permanent nerve
damage.
That night, my cat died.
Two weeks later, the lady whohit me died.
All I was doing was sitting ata red light, but I felt
(14:10):
responsible, and so I mean.
All this shit happened in onegoddamn day.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
For the most part, and you felt responsible for the
cat dying and that lady dyingin the car.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I mean, I'm deeply passionate about my pets.
I was just devastated about mycat dying, but for the woman
even though all I was doing wassitting at a red light and I
don't know if she was consciousor what, but she hit me, going
full speed, right the last thingthat happened to her was me.
It doesn't have to make sense,right?
If it made sense, it wouldn'thurt so bad.
(14:42):
And all that stuff happening atonce.
It was like everything inside ofme just wanted to give up.
I didn't want to drink, but Ijust wanted to give up, and I
just didn't know what that meant, though, but I had this despair
, right, and so the thing thatended up happening here and this
is where the mindset shifthappened, okay is you start, you
(15:06):
keep going back to work, I wantto give up on whatever, I quit,
but you keep showing up, yeah,and then, all of a sudden,
you're like well, I gotta take ashower, I gotta go to work, I
gotta eat sometimes we'll buyfood I gotta walk the dog, I
might as well start exercisingand I put another race on the
calendar, because you just youkeep moving forward, you keep
showing, you keep living yourlife.
The other things will get there.
(15:27):
But as I'm doing that, you knowI was flat man, I wasn't in it
and I was listening to thismotivational compilation on
YouTube like a couple of guysgoing back and forth about
victim or survivor.
Are you a victim?
Are you a survivor?
I'm like what's the fuckingdifference?
People have been telling me I'msuch a survivor my whole life
and I'm like what's the point ofjust surviving, of just hanging
(15:51):
on waiting for the next badthing to happen?
I'm like that is not what I'mhere for.
That's not why I grinded my waythrough college and worked full
time to get there.
I'm not here to survive, I'mhere to thrive.
And I threw a glorified tempertantrum and said that I will not
be defied by my circumstances,but rather my triumph over them.
That's one of the reasons Ilike doing really long, stupid
(16:13):
ass distance races because Iwant to show diabetes.
You ain't got shit on me.
I've raced with fuck cancerwritten on my chest.
I fundraise for the AmericanCancer Society.
It's the way that I punch backagainst cancer, right?
How do I?
With my alcoholism, I helpother alcoholics get sober,
because that's how I recover,and so I found that throughout
(16:35):
this whole journey that I founda meaning to my suffering and a
purpose to my life is that I cannow use what I have to help
others.
And so that's when I wrote thebook Through the Fire.
Now, I didn't know what I wasgoing to do with it.
I wrote it because I wanted towrite it.
The first version was like125,000 word ego manifesto.
(16:59):
It was like a movie poster withthe Rock and Jake Gyllenhaal on
the cover.
The second version is when Ihad to get honest because I
still had too much deflectionand excuses.
Right, it wasn't raw.
And so when I cut out 37,000words and I put this just raw
and honest, this is who I ambook out there I had no idea if
anybody would read it.
I just figured I had a messageand maybe that person who did
(17:20):
need it would find it.
And over the next two yearsthey found me and they told me
about themselves random asspeople telling me their stories
and how mine resonated withtheirs.
And that's when I knew I had astory to tell and something
different to give.
So 20, 18 minutes later, Ianswer your question.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You're great.
I love it.
People need to hear thosestruggles.
I mean the fact that you wrotea book thinking about could I
reach one person you met?
Ran into many individuals thathad the same impact in their
lives and can relate to yours aswell.
I think that's huge.
It's a great way to look atthings, for a focal point, to
(18:00):
keep pushing, to keep pushing.
I got many truck drivers outthere.
You know they push throughevery day.
You know they're like silent,silent battles.
You know there's signs thatpeople should look for.
What would you say to theseindividuals or people that love
them, to stop functioning but tostart healing?
What would you say?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You know one of the questions you had asked about
when I was able to share orstart sharing.
One of the hardest things I hadto when I was able to share or
start sharing, one of thehardest things I had to do was
the second version of that book,because I had to take a real
look at what happened.
I had to stop blaming myparents for things I did when I
was 35 years old.
I had to take responsibilityfor all of it.
(18:43):
And one of the other hardestparts is this when I was going
through the book and I'm justlooking at all the totality of
the shit that happened,including the things I'm not
even remembering right now and Istarted to get a little whiny
again and I was like man, whenis this going to stop?
And I'm like you know what it'snot.
(19:08):
I didn't get bad at Deltantan.
This is just a seat I sat in.
I'm a poker player.
This is life and you know what?
You don't get your share.
And then, all of a sudden,everything's going to be honky
dory, like life will continue tohit as long as you are alive.
And I'm like maybe I shouldlook at the fact that I'm really
fucking good at this, bring it.
And so that's when I realizedI'm like, fuck it, I am meant
(19:29):
for a long, hard climb, Likelet's take it.
And so when I that also meant,though, being vulnerable and
putting out my fear and talkingabout the things that I, the raw
things that I really did wrong,right, and the why I it?
Because I was afraid, because Iwanted validation from women,
because the real, honest,vulnerable truth and when I
(19:53):
realized I put all this stuffout there in the world, you know
what I stopped doing.
I stopped being afraid of whatother people thought about me.
It was sort of an eight-miledefense.
Remember the movie Eight Mile?
Yeah yeah, you know the lastbattle rap, right, eminem comes
out there and just drops all theshit they're going to say about
him and he's like, what are yougoing to say about me?
Well, that was kind of myapproach.
I'm like screw it, like let'sput it out there.
(20:15):
And when I realized thenbecause now you know, there was
a time where I worked in abuilding with 300 other people,
right, and I had all the socialinteraction and stuff like that,
but now I work from home Truckdrivers probably see more human
beings than I do, so how oftendo I get to interact?
How often do they?
When I started just sharing thethings, I was afraid of and
(20:38):
instead of getting and I meansharing publicly social media
where strangers are going to seeit, I didn't get.
I mean, yeah, you do.
Where strangers are going tosee it, I didn't get.
I mean, yeah, you do get someidiots, but you know what I got
people is.
I got people relating back tome.
That's it.
And you know what it showed me.
I'm not alone.
Whatever I'm going through, Ithink you know it's funny we
(20:59):
talk about.
Yeah, I get it.
I have been through a decentamount of stuff there.
But to be honest, you know whatI've discovered by speaking
about it.
I'm not special.
I'm not special.
Everyone has their own frame ofreference, but I take great
comfort now into my lack ofuniqueness.
I'm part of a tribe, I'm partof something, of something, you
(21:25):
know.
When I share this, I'm not onmy own anymore, and everyone has
stuff that they go through.
Just because there's differentseverities, the frame of
reference is what really matters.
If nobody's ever stubbed theirtoe before and that's the worst
thing that ever happened to them, then that's, you know, that's
cancer to them.
Who am I?
Who am I?
I don't have to experience itthe way they do.
You know I can, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
No, I like how you said that.
I mean, a big piece of thestory is your importance that
you put on serving or helpingindividuals.
It's a key part of yourrecovery.
So you have to acknowledge thepain that they go through.
You can't dismiss it, otherwisethey're going to be like who is
this guy?
He's got something better thanme all the time.
But yeah, it's not a one upthing.
(22:06):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I'll tell you that I just I had no idea what would
happen when I finally startedspeaking.
But it doesn't take long for meto see it, because whenever I'm
asked like hey, how's this,how'd it go, and I'm like I
always say I don't know.
I can never tell from the stage.
You know like you see, youwatch TV where 300 people stand
up and jump up and down for youand like, but if it's not that,
(22:29):
then I don't know.
But my, my barometer this iswhat I tell everybody is who
comes up to me after and sharestheir story with me, and that's
when I know I reach people.
That's all I need to know,because by me just opening up
and really cause, I like to talkabout not necessarily what I
(22:49):
went through, but the experienceof what I learned about it now,
because otherwise, honestly,like commiserating with someone
else who's just sort of like Ihave a friend right now who's
going through a tough time withcancer.
I'm trying to be the one personin his life to not tell him what
to do and, at the same time,not allow him to spend too much
(23:12):
time feeling sorry for himself.
Nobody knows how to deal with acancer patient and, to be
honest, I don't know how to dealwith another one either.
You know, I really feel like wehave our own unique experiences
here.
But you know and that's wherethat's how I think I can just
the little bit that I can helphim is everyone wants to tell
you what to do.
They always have an aunt or anuncle or a cousin who did this
(23:33):
or that and they read this onething on chat GPT, and blah,
blah, blah.
Well, you know what?
It doesn't matter, he's the onewho has to live or he's the one
who has to make that decision.
So I'm not going to be that guyfor him.
The other thing is everyone justdoesn't know what to do.
They act like you're alreadydead.
So they let you just mull in itand feel sorry for yourself.
(23:54):
But you're not dead yet, youhaven't even fought yet, you
haven't lost yet.
So, no, I'm uh.
That said, you're allowed to bein it, you're allowed to
process it.
It, you're allowed to processit.
You need to experience and feelit right.
You just can't let it dictateyour actions.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, that's how we kick, kick back Right and we we
take our emotions.
Instead of letting them crippleus, we use them like power,
like like a superhero, like that.
I mean, I'm looking back atyour wall and you've got a lot
of accomplishments there a lotof metals, a lot of ribbons.
That's, that's huge.
How many you got total?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Well, this is a outdated background this is
actually my old living room, andI moved about six months ago
but, um, I've completed 115spartan races um, six major
marathons, everything fromboston, chicago, new york and
berlin, and then maybe like 100plus other events and suffer,
fests and and counting.
(24:55):
Now, as crazy as this is,though, that's like eight plus
years of activity and work.
I have friends of mine who dothat a year, and, uh, it just
depends on their lifestyle.
Now, like, I've been at this awhile, you know.
So, of course, like, I have alot of them, but every year and
every race is a little bitdifferent, for me too.
Um, because it's always about meversus me, and in the first few
(25:18):
years it was about defying whatI thought I couldn't do, and
then it was sort of like justcontinuously toughing everything
out, like I called rocky balboamy way through it, you know,
just chin out, and as long asI'm still standing at the end of
the movie, um, but now I'm at aphase where I want to get
better at what I do, and I'm 46years old and I still think I
(25:39):
have room to improve, and Idon't just mean like get faster,
I mean get better.
I'm going to do my firsttriathlon this year, something I
swore I'd never do With MichaelLombard and Alex Bates another
couple guys in and around theindustry, and you know that's
something else that I'm alsofinding that I now have the
opportunity to influence theindustry itself in a way that I
never did before.
(25:59):
You know, even when I was, evenwhen I commanded the will of
100 other people, it had nothingcompared to being able to
influence positive habits andothers.
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
How do you coordinate it all?
You have someone that helps you.
Or how do you get some of thatstuff on the books and schedule
and show up on time and all that?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
for races or speeches , or for which part yeah, all of
them, yeah, how about that?
well, it's funny, you know, it'slike a lot of people that I
used to work will sometimes askme what do I do these days?
Like so what do you actually do?
Right, because they see speaker, but nobody.
Like, what do I do?
I do, bro, I do sales, that'swhat I do.
So I do what I've always done.
Um, my day looks very much likea lot of other people's, right?
(26:42):
I get up early, so probablyearlier than a lot of other
people, um, and I do my trainingfirst.
Um, my job is a little bitunique because, as you
understand, social media is partof what I do.
It's so posting videos, forexample, is no longer fun.
But then you get up in thatworkday and then it's about
(27:03):
prospecting and trying to just Ispend my my sales efforts, for
speaking are probably differentthan a lot, too, where I'm
really spending a lot of time inthe industry that I've spent
now 20 years in.
So mostly what I do is I networkmy way through and trying to
find just organizations andcompanies and teams and events
where a message like mine willreally benefit the audience, and
(27:25):
then, uh, so that said, thecalendar's light and we're in
full prospect mode as far asraces are concerned, um, a lot
of that has to do with time andtravel, um, so, you know, for
several years, I mean, I wastraveling all over the world for
these things, um, whereas thatwas also two years ago when I
was an executive in logisticswith a nice, with a nice,
(27:47):
healthy salary, and now that I'ma motivational speaker, you
know, with a fairly lightcalendar ahead of me, we're
going to keep most of our raceslocal this year.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I feel you that's amazing, yeah, and I love the
real talk too.
Like you said, it's it's agradual thing.
You can't just jump into itthinking you're going to check
all the boxes and you first,like you say, you were me
against you or you againstyourself.
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
So, to be honest, I'm sorry I was going to say to be
honest, like you know, I mayreplace this background at some
point, only because I liked thediscussion piece, but I even I
posted a video on LinkedIn twoweeks ago and it was about
failure and I had a point to it,but what it was it was about 45
seconds of me failing obstaclesin comical fashion.
(28:38):
Nonetheless, all right, becauseI uh, I don't ever want someone
to think that I do what youcan't do, right.
It's vitally important to me.
And because this did not startwith this, it started with one.
You know, talking to a driverright now, it's going to drive
however many miles or sitthrough all this traffic or do
(29:00):
all this bullshit.
It starts with one same way.
I was on this run this morningthat I wouldn't even call it a
run.
It was so damn slow.
I'm like I'd be out here for anhour.
I'm barely moving and Iliterally thought to myself I'm
like, well, that's the exercisethen.
I just endure.
The hour had nothing to do withanything else, just you have to
suck it up.
Being out here, period, that'sit okay, I like that.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Hey, you got you're full of a lot of good knowledge
and insight for people to applyto a lot of different things.
Um, yeah, I, I do the samething with my podcast.
I don't want anybody to thinkthat it can't do this.
Yeah, I make mistakes, justlike everybody else.
I'm a human and I love that.
You put that out there.
That's great, yeah, and thenfrom corporate climb to a
(29:47):
motivational mission.
You climb the corporate ladder.
It sells leadership at Aramarkand Centus Was it Centus?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Nope, I was on the logistics 3PL side.
I was with Blue Grace for along time.
I was a consultant for about ayear and a half and then I was
with Shear Logistics for thelast couple years before I left
see some of that area rightthere.
I thought we could askquestions though the message for
(30:19):
truckers?
Speaker 1 (30:20):
uh, our community of drivers have you know, goes
unseen for long hours, like Isaid, if it's sleep deprived,
far from your family.
What message does someone likeyourself want to share with them
for just surviving right now,getting through the moment?
Maybe they're not at that pointwhere they're able to make
those transitions.
What would you say?
(30:41):
Would you say just say, suck itup, buttercup, or would it be a
gradual thing?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
You know I would.
Actually I would warn people,and what I mean by that is I'm
going to out myself a little bithere is I've become
increasingly antisocial andintroverted.
Not even introverted, that'snot the right word, that's a
personality, that's not anaction.
I've become increasinglyisolated, and I could see it
happening, but I think I startedto notice it too late.
(31:09):
Again, I work from home, likeI'm working by the computer, and
the fact is like I like talkingto people like this, but it's
also not the same, you know, andso I'm not leaving the house
enough, I'm not going todifferent and interacting and
seeing strangers enough.
And it's too easy to justify,like to yourself, that I don't
need to be involved in the world, or I don't need to go be in
crowds because I don't like themanymore, or whatever, or you
(31:31):
begin to lose track with friendsbecause, oh, I have nothing new
to say, or all the excuses thatwe might tell ourselves I can
just think of.
I've never been a driver, but Ican just see the isolationism
become self-inflicted at a point.
And I think it is imperativethat we, I need to make decisive
(31:54):
, deliberate actions to go bewith other people.
Everyone needs a Wolfpack,everyone needs a tribe.
Nobody survives alone, and so Imean that's part of the reason
why I like to engage online withvarious communities too,
because I mean you do see someof these people in real life.
It's not like, you know, we'renot gaming here, but still I
(32:16):
need to go be part of my actualcommunity everywhere I can.
So for those on the road, calla friend, call somebody you
haven't talked to in a while,you know, just just exist.
I was talking about a friendthat, uh, going through the
tough time with cancer.
I hung out with him a couple ofweeks ago.
You know, half the time I wasjust sitting next to him and we
weren't saying shit.
You know, we probably getsomewhere.
(32:38):
In this day and age, we feellike we always have to be doing
something and we're not.
You're coexisting with somebody.
You're not like spending timewith them.
It was good to just be there,that's all he needed, you know.
So just go be with people.
These behaviors isolating addsto isolating.
We have to actually take action, deliberate action the other
(32:58):
way, and just down the phone andsaying, yo, what up is probably
something that can change yoursor someone else's life.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Absolutely.
I remember looking at a movieback in 19, I think it was 1993,
the Pelican Brief.
I think I had Julia Roberts inthere.
She worked from home.
I'm like that is so weird.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
And we all do it, like a lot of us do it, and it's
like all the time now.
I mean, for what I do isperfect and I work with the dogs
, it's just, and you know, I'meither actively engaging with
other people or I'm like sort ofdoing creative stuff, and so
it's like it really is theperfect environment for me.
But I don't know, maybe Ishould just go out for coffee
more often, like, yeah, just gobe at like again, just because
(33:49):
it's not like I have a problemwith there, like my, the life is
pretty full.
But you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
There might, other than seeing some other people in
recovery, I might not seeanother person besides my wife
for like three or four days atthe time, and again she works
from home too and I try to say,hey, just go out, get coffee,
just do something, you know,cause she'll get phone calls
after phone calls, after phonecalls, before you know it was
(34:21):
late at night and on the weekend, you know, because she'll get
phone calls after phone callsafter phone calls before you
know it's late at night and onthe weekend, you know, if you're
trying to get caught up fromthings too, you can, that can,
take your weekend away.
So it's, it's, it's a big deal,and I think that's great advice
.
Or like the warning, like yousaid, warning people to watch
out for those, those certainbehaviors that we, we, we start
to adopt.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I see it in myself, because you know I get it.
You'd be like man, I have beenon the road for two weeks.
I do not want to go out tonight.
I don't care that it's hisbirthday.
Dude, get your ass up and go,just go Like, just go, just show
up.
Man, show up.
Let that be the message Justshow up.
It's also a mindset thing, too,because we should do things
that we don't want to do, andthat's what I remind myself
(34:57):
sometimes.
I'm like dude, I do not want togo to the sink tonight.
Come on, why can't I sit hereand do nothing, like I've been
at it for like a week and a halfstraight.
Fuck it, you know.
No, that means I need to go.
It's no different than goingfor a run when I don't want to
like yeah, don't be around otherpeople, because otherwise it
gets harder and harder.
And don't know, was it thismonth or last month?
It's men's mental health monthor mental health either way,
(35:20):
it's a real thing, yeah it isman.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
So you, you wrote the book.
Um, it's, it's brutally honest,I think, through the fire.
Um, what's the hardest chapterthat you had to write?
What's one of the ones you'remost proud of?
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I guess the hardest and the proud uh, the hardest is
when my cat died.
I never even edited it.
For all I know there's I don'tknow.
I've never looked at it sincethe first time I wrote it, um,
so we're not going to talk aboutthat anymore either.
And as far as the proudest youknow, I like the message at the
end I, um, I.
(36:00):
Obviously it's in the firstperson and so it could sound
like I'm beating my chest alittle bit, but I'm really
trying to do is set the stagefor you.
You decide to live your lifeLike we may have longer to the
starting line than we may want.
That's what I like to talk, saydiabetes, for example.
But I get to run the same raceand as long as I accept that
(36:22):
maybe it's going to be hard,maybe there's going to be
failure, maybe there's going tobe penalties and setbacks and
disappointments, I'm going tocome through the fire.
One how I know this scoreboard?
Because you have every othertime before and that's why
anyone else right now goingthrough something I guarantee
you, I know for a fact you willcome through it, and the way
(36:43):
that I do is because you comethrough every other thing.
So far there is no evidence tothe contrary.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, Made it this far right.
Why?
Why give up?
If you want to predict thefuture, they say, look at the
past.
So if you already did somethingthat's monumental, that you
were able to break through, whycan't you continue to do that
again?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And at the end of the day, I mean there will be more
pain, there will be morechallenges, and they manifest in
different ways, but the mindsetthat we use to approach them is
the same, in different ways,but the mindset that we use to
approach them is the same Aphysical obstacle versus a
mental obstacle, an emotionalobstacle, some sort of
existential obstacle?
It doesn't matter, it's all thesame.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
I like that man You're pushing through.
I think you're going to help alot of truck drivers out there
or even people in the salescommunity.
I mean that's very stressful.
You're always chasing that sale.
You're never done.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
You know you, they're , they're, they want to call you
all the time that's what mysecond book selling inspired was
really was really aimed at, wasdeveloping that mental
endurance for a long salescareer.
You know, we get it in our headsometimes that success is
linear or that the mountain isjust you just climbed to the top
(38:04):
and when you get there you'redone Like I climb mountains on
weekends carrying heavy shit andobstacles.
You never just go from up downto the top, you switch backs and
up and down and around andthere is no peak, there's just
another plateau.
And that's where I was on thecouch, on that plateau eight and
(38:28):
a half years ago when my bosswalked in my office Because I
was peaking and the reason Ifelt stuck was because there was
more to climb and I knew it butI didn't want to, and so I
needed that like that catalyst,that first step, just because I
knew there was more to climb.
And now I realize there's alwaysmore to climb and I think you
know if you're perfectlycomfortable where you are in
(38:49):
life on that plateau, cool, Goodfor you.
If you start to feel thattension right there, that's what
that's when you you know thereis more for you to give and
you're not giving it, and that'swhen you need to look to make
that other move.
I mean, some people can existon that plateau forever, but the
most bitter people I ever metthey're not the ones climbing,
(39:12):
they're the ones who are on theplateau and they're pissed that
they need to climb again.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Right, I like that, but he pushed through and it
(39:40):
proved himself that he could dobetter, not just for himself,
but as for his wife, his futureson.
So, yeah, it was a beautifulstory that a lot of people were
motivated by, and now you'reliving that.
You're the real life.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Rocky Balboa, that's awesome yeah, not exactly.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
That's good man.
Yeah, I mean life can be messy.
I mean there's still progressto make.
Progress to make, um, what'sthe most important?
Um telling your story or yourbook that, uh, you felt you
finished when you got there.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
You reached that moment probably the greatest,
you know, fuck yeah moment thatI ever really had was running
the boston marathon.
Um, I've had some awesome races, you know.
I've achieved, like through thefire really chronicles my
pursuit of a Spartan trifecta,which are those cool red and
(40:28):
green-blue medals behind me.
But really I ran the BostonMarathon in 2018 for the first
time and I mean I probably don'tknow this, but there was a
no-reaster that year.
It was arguably the worstweather conditions in the
history of the Boston Marathon,but I grew up there.
I'd been in the marathon adozen times.
(40:48):
I used to skip school or skipwork and go watch the Red Sox
and go see the marathon and sortof be there running it.
But I never wanted to run ituntil the bombing and I just I
was so mad after the BostonMarathon bombing and I just I
didn't, didn't know how to punchback, and so I was like you
(41:11):
know what?
I'm going to run the BostonMarathon one day, Fuck those
guys.
And uh, when I was actually in2017, I was supposed to run the
Chicago Marathon and that's whenI got in that car accident and
I was unable to run for a coupleof months.
So I just got mad and was like,well, I'm going to find out how
to get into Boston.
And so Boston for me was really.
It was sort of choosing to besomeone, to become someone else,
(41:36):
because I emerged from thatthat moment of despair where I
wanted to give up, you know.
And then, six months later, Irun the Boston marathon.
Uh, I raised $10,000 forcharity in the process.
Um, it was just such anincredible experience and again
I got hypothermia.
I mean, it was 18 degrees andsleeting rain.
(41:56):
At the start it was 40 mile anhour, headwinds the entire time,
torrential downpour.
It was a hell of a story.
And that one was just, you know, when I crossed that blue and
yellow line for the first time.
It meant so much to me, Nice.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
What about that?
When you're at the start line,you kind of walk me through that
.
You're at that line andeverything's about to happen and
you got there and you putyourself there in that moment.
Describe to us what it's liketo start a marathon and what
goes through your mind.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh man, I can't even tell you the Venn diagram and
algorithms of thoughts that aregoing through my head.
I'm a type one diabetic.
So, number one I am just doingmath, I'm doing math, I'm
counting my sugars time to when.
The last time I ate something,the next time I eat something,
(42:48):
how long until the race goes,how much?
Blah, blah, blah.
I mean it does not stop.
It's like a beautiful mind anduh, the hell's his name.
Uh, will hunting from goodwillhunting.
Um, just just doing like thisall the time.
So that's nerves, because Ihave to manage my blood sugars
and I don't know what's going tohappen next.
Number two I have to pee.
I could have just peed, itdoesn't matter, I have to.
(43:09):
That's happening in there ahundred percent of the time.
Um, besides that, there's oneritual.
I?
Um, my wife is with me, uh,anytime before I.
If she's not racing, uh,anytime before I jump in the
start corral, I always tell herI'll see her on the other side.
Um, I always say a quick prayerbefore every race.
I just get down on the knee andI say I pray for strength and
(43:32):
uh, after that I just try tokeep it loose.
Um, I learned this when I playedvolleyball.
I have an incredible hecklegame All right.
Now, back when I was drinkingespecially I was just I could
talk shit and, uh, most of thetime it was for fun.
And so if we were like, jokingaround, we're friends, right,
I'm playing against you andsomebody else, whatever, and I'm
(43:53):
talking all sorts of shit.
You're talking shit, we're justhaving fun, I'm probably
playing great, okay, but let'ssay we don't like each other and
it becomes a little moreadversarial, okay, a little bit
more like you know, not jokingand I want to beat you.
I don't care if I'm five timesa better player, I'm still
losing that game.
I don't play a little like that.
And I realized that back in theday.
(44:14):
I just need to be happy andloosey-goosey.
There was a time back uh, Ialmost never drank when I played
volleyball because I wascompetitive, but um, one time
back in Tampa in like 2008, Iremember it rained for like an
hour and a half or something inbetween games, so my buddy and I
just got hammered at the bar.
We had no idea that we weregoing to resume the game and we
(44:34):
ended up playing this topFlorida team who plays on the
AVP, and we took them to 18points.
They were so mad when theycouldn't put a ball away on us.
I think it was just because wewere so loose, but anyway.
So I realized uh, I hadrealized a long time ago that I
just can't.
Some people can dial in.
That's why I don't reallyresonate with guys like grant
(44:55):
cardone or even, um, relentlessthe guy wrote the book
relentless andless and certainthings that are just I need to
be in a, I'm competing for meand I really can't have this
death to my opponent,adversarial type attitude or
you're just not going to get thebest out of me, so I need to.
(45:16):
I go into that event, into thestarting line, and that's when
I've done all my prep.
I've meditated and visualizedevery obstacle or every mile
where the water stations are.
I have a race plan which isgoing to go to shit.
It doesn't matter.
But once I get in the corral itsort of wants to just woosah
and just unlearn.
You know, find a friend, dosome fist bumps and just enjoy
(45:39):
the community.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
I like that.
Enjoy the community.
Enjoy the community.
I like that.
Enjoy the community, enjoy theride.
You know you got to.
You can I don't know, you canfeel like every moment is just
drudging, every moment and youcan, you know, hate it and try
to look for that finish line.
Or you can just like, if you'rein a truck, you kind of gaze
off and enjoy driving into thatcanvas, driving into that canvas
(46:07):
, and even if it's just a openroad and you see the mountains
ahead of you, even if thosemountains are full of snow, I
mean still you enjoy the driveand the moments journey.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
That's good you know you mentioned there was a race
in cincinnati, uh, this pastweekend.
Well, actually it's perfectslopes, indiana but, um, I
remember racing there two yearsago and this is one of the
hardest races I had ever done.
It was surprisingly difficult,um, but there was this one area,
cause it's a ski mountain andit was like a thousand degrees
(46:34):
out and, uh, we just findourselves along this Creek and I
live in Florida.
Okay, it's beautiful, but it'sflat and boring.
Okay, I moved down here beforeI started racing, I was a house
cat, I'd go to the beach andthat's it.
So, you know, all of a sudden,to find myself kind of climbing
up a mountain on the side ofthis rocky creek, like it was
(46:55):
just this cool moment ofserenity, like it was just me in
the world.
And, as you mentioned that,like you know, I'm just
picturing, of course, course,I'm sure anybody, any truck
driver listening to this, isprobably stuck in traffic
cursing the thought.
But I'm thinking, man, how coolwould that be?
Like out on that open road,like maybe I'm the only one out
there to see that scene for justa moment, and not worrying
(47:17):
about becoming a YouTube videotoday.
But it is those, those raremoments.
I mean, that's what life is allabout.
Right, I'll tell you what.
Uh, there's a mountain race thatI've been chasing.
This is my, this is my big goal.
It's in Killington, vermont.
It's a Spartan race.
It's a 31 mile obstacle courserace with about 18,000 feet of
(47:37):
climbing.
I have failed that race threetimes.
It's got the highest DNF ratein the country.
It's the hardest race they have.
And, uh, two years last year,um, I DNF it.
I uh.
As a matter of fact, I gotreally bad cramps and I had to
tap out after 10 miles.
But just before that 10 miles,early that morning, I was about
3,500 feet in the air, justabove the clouds.
(47:59):
When the sun was rising, youcould see for miles.
It was just the most majesticthing I'd ever seen in my life,
and it didn't matter how hard Ihad to suffer to get there, it
was worth it.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
That sounds beautiful , it was gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Like I was grinding up the mountain suffering of
this dude's like hey, turnaround.
Like what Holy shit it was?
Like it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
That's great, wow, yeah, taking those moments like
that really help you, you know,get through life, and you can
always reflect back on those andnobody can take those away from
you.
Those are embedded in your mindand those are yours and um
going out, getting those, thoseraces going out, getting it.
Hey, you did yourself a solidon that one.
That's awesome.
I think so many other peoplecan too.
I appreciate you coming on theshow sharing your story.
(48:51):
I can't thank you enough todayfor the insight, the inspiration
that you're able to give fromyour journey and your obstacles.
Your life is like a marathon.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
It's an ultra.
This is what I would like tosay.
Life is like an ultra.
Marathons have uh, marathonshave clearly marked mile markers
.
You know they're on pavement.
(49:24):
Ultras don't even have mapssometimes, and they could be 30
miles or 250 miles.
So it's, and anything that evercould go wrong absolutely will
go wrong.
That's why I like running theultras.
It's good practice for life.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Yeah, I mean, think about being cancer four times
and then now you get to helpindividuals with that.
I mean, that's, that's a lot ofunknown factors there that you
got through.
What, uh?
What would you say that someonethat's struggling with cancer
right now uh, maybe that arelistening to the podcast what
would you say to them?
Speaker 2 (49:53):
Man, you know my.
I decided a long time ago myapproach to my disease and to
each their own disease and toeach their own.
However, my approach is that Idon't handle my disease.
My doctors do.
My job is to live my life aslong as I can as best as I can,
(50:17):
and that's it.
I would say that for someoneelse going through it.
Something I did not do very wellabout was talk about it then
and I isolated and that wasprobably the wrong approach.
But I don't, I'm not going totell anyone else how to handle
their illness, but I will saythat there's nobody who's going
through anything right now.
(50:38):
Who's the first person or theonly person ever to go through
it, and whether or not you'resomebody who wants to share your
story now to get your ownsupport or you're somebody who
can share your story later togive someone else support, you
have a gift and it may not feellike it and I understand that
(50:59):
not everybody's going to make itthrough either.
But those are the actions wecan take.
I don't get to control theother thing.
Speaker 1 (51:08):
Nice, I like that.
I do.
You can make it so complicatedthat you're trying to do too
many things and, like you said,you focus on living your life as
best you can as long as you can.
I like that.
I think a lot of people willresonate with them on that.
So thank you for sharing that.
And to all the drivers outthere if you're listening to
(51:29):
this in your cab or you'rewondering if your life could be
different, let Nick be the proof.
He's the one that's able to gothrough these challenges and,
like I said, turn lemon intolemonade.
You know they can come at youleft and right, so he took those
and he made a great drink withit.
(51:49):
That's awesome, man.
Thank you so much.
I thank you.
Anything else you wanted toshare before we go?
Maybe it was something I missedor anything like that.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
You know, the only thing that I would want to, one
thing, one thing that I'm highlyskilled at is breaking things
down to the wildly specific andstupidly simple, and usually
what gets in our way of takingthese action steps towards our
life is what you mentioned weovercomplicate it, and so you
know there's a few of us havebeen on this this just large
kick of trying to influence andchange the culture of health and
(52:23):
fitness in the industry.
And so one thing I want to tellanyone listening who is
thinking that they want to dothe same thing schedule it.
Step one you may not have aregular schedule, but you have a
schedule.
You know you're going to have agood 10 to 12 hours when you
ain't got shit to do, soschedule it 30 minutes as soon
(52:45):
as you get to where you're going, get out the truck and do it.
What are the things you can do?
Simple shit body weightexercises, squats, lunges.
If you follow Michael Lombard,he actually put a bunch of
videos up of stuff he used to doin his sleeper glute bridges,
stuff like that 30 minute walkis something that will literally
save your life.
Number three nutrition.
(53:06):
Again, I'm going to keeptalking about Lombard right now
and today's 6'9".
So he's got the Lombard 69,which is sort of like a 75 hard
but far more intro and really alot of that focuses on nutrition
.
He talks about getting protein.
So I know you know we talkedabout where you're driving and
stuff like that.
You may not have the bestoptions for where you're going,
but there are certain things youcan plan for in advance.
I'm not just saying high sugarprotein bars, but, like me, I
(53:29):
don't travel without nuts.
High protein, high good fat.
So again, simple steps that wecan take to influence our life.
Number four books and resources.
And number five there's lots oforganizations out there that
are actually trying to promotesome of this health right now.
Project 61 is one that comesinto mind right now.
So I just want to keeppromoting this message, man,
because I have the ability to.
(53:51):
This is not something thatanybody inside a brokerage knows
about or talks about and, as amatter of fact, I don't think
enough truck drivers are talkingabout it themselves and I just
want you to know how stupidlysimple it can be to take the
first action.
Just schedule 30 minutes.
You're going to be somewhere.
Schedule it.
If you had a doctor'sappointment, you'd go.
(54:12):
If your wife or your husband orif your kid had an important
thing, you would go.
So if it's important, scheduleit.
The life you save may be yourown.
Speaker 1 (54:21):
That's right.
I couldn't say it better.
I like that.
I think that's something we allneed to hear Kind of you know,
push ourselves to do that.
We're all going to be sittingthere, you know.
You got your head down on thephone.
It's not helping you.
If anything, it's probablymaking it worse.
So, getting out of the cab andbeing a little uncomfortable,
just have some gloves if youdon't want to touch the ground.
(54:42):
But, like you said, using yourbody weight, use the truck in
itself.
There's a lot of hooks on thetruck.
You can use the tires.
You just got to get creativebecause your life is important
and it matters that you make ita top priority.
And, like I said, it's too easyjust to fall into that rut and
(55:03):
I think you're helping.
Inspire me.
Yeah, I gotta do some moremyself.
So I used to really do a lotmore weights and now I I kind of
slump off a little bit so Ireally want to get back to it.
So, weight to really help me agood way to work out when you're
not working out, because thosemuscles are still agitated like
that.
So, yeah, great job.
Speaker 2 (55:23):
If I was coaching you , I'd say when are you going to
do it?
Speaker 1 (55:26):
Yeah, I know, right Today, Right after we get done,
right, my man, that's it.
Yeah, that's good.
So, yeah, I got to do some moremyself.
I think everybody else outthere, we all, can push
ourselves to be a little bitbetter.
Even if you're doing greatthings, like yourself, Nick, I'm
sure you're constantly tellingyourself you can do more.
(55:46):
So find that way, you can dothat.
So that's great.
So we're not stuck, you're notbroken and you're just in the
fire and, like he says in hisbook, you can get through it and
you forge through and becomesteel and you're also motivating
others.
So iron sharpens iron, thankyou.
(56:07):
So, yeah, make sure we checkout the book through the fire on
Amazon and also visit yourwebsite.
Is stridemotivationcom Anyother ways that people should
get to know you?
I mean you do some publicspeaking.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
I am all over the internet at stridemotivation
social media.
But absolutely, you can checkout my website.
I'd love to book a call and seeme on stage somewhere.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it, man.
Thank you for coming on theshow.
It's your guy Truckin' Ray, andkeep the wheels turning out
there.
Keep your eyes on the road, offof the cell phone there's too
many distractions out there, wedon't need any more.
And also take care of yourheart and your mind, just like
Nick.
Yeah, so we'll catch you nexttime, and that's Delivered.
What's up y'all?
This is your go-to guy,truckin' Ray.
You're listening to.
That's Delivered, the showwhere we talk about life on the
road, lessons learned and realstories that fill us and get us
through it all.
Today's guest is man.
He's been through it all.
He's been through the fire.
He came out forged like steel.
Nick Clemson Smith is amotivational speaker, a former
(00:30):
corporate leader, a Spartan racewarrior and the author of
Through the Fire, a memoir oftrauma, addiction and recovery.
His story is one that punchesyou in the gut, lifts you to
your feet and says let's do itagain.
This episode is for everyonewho has felt they were stuck,
(00:50):
lost or just like giving up, fortruckers out there that are
driving endless miles wonderingif anyone sees the weight that
they're carrying.
Well, nick sees you and hismessage is for you.
So let's get into it, and hismessage is for you, so let's get
into it.
Hey, nick, what's happening?
Man?
(01:10):
So happy to have you on theshow, just happy to be here, man
, that's awesome and you got agreat story to tell man.
I mean it's a lot to reallyabsorb that one man has been
through so much and has come out.
I mean you've changed the gamewhen it comes to feeling bad for
(01:32):
yourself.
You've changed that up and saidhey, I can make this into a lot
of things.
So, hey, man, I want ourlisteners to enjoy it and also
understand what you went through.
So it looks like a lot of itstarts with some addiction,
(02:00):
trauma and also facing yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
A lot of times people don't want to do that.
Um, can you tell us a littlebit about what it was like
starting out, kind of unravel,what it was?
You know the alcoholism, brokenrelationships and hitting
emotional rock bottom?
I mean, nobody's story is justone right.
Everything has.
You've got your backstory, yourorigin story.
You've got your work life, yoursocial life, all these
different things, your physicalhealth, your mental health, all
going at the same time likechaos theory, and sometimes they
intertwine.
They intertwine.
(02:21):
I like to say that one of themost pivotal moments was when my
boss, back when I was stillworking in logistics, he walked
into my office and he said hey,I want to do a Spartan race and
you're going to do it with me.
I looked up at him and I'm likethe fuck I am.
(02:42):
That sounds terrible to me.
An eight to 10 mile trail runwith obstacles and I'm supposed
to train for this shit.
Get in the mud with.
No, I had no intention ofmaking myself that uncomfortable
.
Wow, that's when I went homethat night and I discovered the
problem.
I already was thatuncomfortable because get this,
I was peaking.
I was two years sober at thatpoint I was a VP of sales.
(03:08):
I had like a hundred peopleworking for me.
We were crushing goals.
I was dating an amazing womanthat's now my wife and I had
just decisively beaten cancerfor the fourth time and I
realized that I was stuck and Iwas terrified to do something
about it.
And so that was one of thecatalysts for me, because I just
(03:31):
I just wanted to do somethingdifferent.
I just wanted to break thecycle, right, like so.
I'll go back in time a littlebit here.
I was first diagnosed withcancer the first time when I was
25 years old and I'm going togive you the abridged version
and ask away anything that youwant to pick on here, because
it's a story.
But in that period of time Iwas diagnosed with cancer four
(03:55):
times Type one diabetes.
I had shoulder surgery from abeach volleyball injury.
I had hip surgery from a beachvolleyball injury.
I had hip surgery from a beachvolleyball injury.
I had nerve damage as a resultof the first injury.
I was in two separate caraccidents, one of which was a
rollover fatality accident, bothof which gave me seven
(04:17):
herniated discs and multiplenerve damage permanent nerve
damage in multiple spots.
I almost died from meningitisdamage, permanent nerve damage
in multiple spots.
I almost died from meningitis.
I think I'm forgetting somethinghere, and there was a period of
time where alcohol wasn'talways part of my story.
Well, let's not let me go back.
Alcohol wasn't always a mainplayer in my story, and when I
(04:39):
was first diagnosed withdiabetes you know, I guess I'm
leaving a few other things outtoo.
So I was a competitive beachvolleyball player for about 20
years while I was in sales, bothin telecom and logistics, and
that was actually a hugepriority in my life.
That's where I got the shoulderinjury and the hip injury and
everything like that.
And when I was diagnosed withdiabetes is when I decided that
(05:05):
I was going to take control ofit.
You know, I felt like a victimfor a couple of days and then I
was like well, I'm diabetic.
Whining about it's not going tochange anything.
I was determined to manage it.
So I decided to quit drinkingand at that point in my life,
alcohol really wasn't that bigof a factor for me, you know.
It was just something thatwasn't like oh, I have sleep
(05:27):
apnea too.
That's what it is, cause sleepapnea made me not really want to
party that much anyway.
So it's not like you reallywanted more downers when you're
tired all the time, and uh.
So about a year after I wasdiagnosed with diabetes, my 25
year old sister killed herselfand I was back home with some
(05:47):
friends and we're I justremember I write about in my
book too we were having a fewBud Light limes and nothing bad
happened.
You know, the floor didn't openup underneath me, blood sugars
didn't get crazy, and so I wasback and something that was no
longer part of my life suddenlybecame all of my life, and so I
(06:10):
became a highly functionalalcoholic for about another five
or six years.
And I say highly functionalbecause my career peaked during
that time.
And also, I didn't go to jail.
I didn't go to hospitals.
I didn't lose my car.
There was one scuffle, but Ididn't get in fights.
I didn't.
There was one scuffle, but Ididn't get in fights.
I wasn't that type of a drunk,and so it was so easy for me to
hide and to lie to myself and toignore just how selfish and
(06:33):
destructive I was, and I thinkabout now too, just so many
times that I put my addictionbefore my job.
You know I was doing so wellthat I had all these ways to
continue to lie to myself.
And that's when I was diagnosedso well that I had all these
ways to continue to lie tomyself.
And that's when I was diagnosedwith cancer for the third time.
And that time was different,though, because that time they
(06:55):
told me that I have a tumor inmy neck and they don't want to
operate.
Now, spoiler alert.
Okay, it has been 11 years andthat tumor still takes up real
estate in my neck, but at thetime, all I heard was I had
inoperable cancer, and so Icrawled myself deep into a
bottle until I found myself abottom.
(07:15):
And that happened in July of2014, where I came to, had a
rare moment of lucidity, on thehallway floor of a Las Vegas
hotel, surrounded by cops andsecurity, being told that I had
to leave because I had been in afight and I tried to have sex
with a hooker in a broom closetwhile my girlfriend slept in our
(07:35):
room down the hall.
Whoa, I figured I could talkabout drinking 10 years of
drinking for an hour and a half,or I could just tell you that
story and drop the mic.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Wow, that is power packed.
That's a lot, man.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I know I gave this a terrible back and forth uh thing
here, but all these things areultimately connected because I
went home that next day and Igot sober, okay.
And you know, god willing,it'll be 11 years next July this
July and those first two yearswere wonderful.
I mean, I was just becoming abetter person.
(08:16):
I was cleaning up the wreckageof my past.
I even had other trauma thatfell into my life.
My mom died the next year.
I mean, there was things that Idon't think I would have been
able to handle if I was stilldrinking and I'm not saying it
was great when I was only a yearsober, but I'm reasonably
certain that cancer saved mylife because it helped me get
(08:37):
sober faster.
Okay, if I had still beendrinking when my mom died, I
think I would have drank until Idied, wow, wow.
So I gave you all the bad shitand then I gave you the turning
point.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I appreciate you putting all of this out there.
I mean, you realized you hadsomething to share when you had
all these things happening.
Some people keep it tothemselves and you would never
know what made you think thatyou should share this with other
people well, that definitelytook a while.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Um, you know, I had to go through my journey and I
don't mean the bad stuff, Ididn't know what was I, just the
mindset that I had throughoutall that was a victim.
I wasn't tough, I wasn't gritty.
I wasn't gritty, I wasn'tresilient.
I wasn't some positive guy likeI am right now.
I was a bitch, I was mad and Iblamed people and I used it as
(09:33):
excuses to not be my best, tonot live my best.
I used all those things as anexcuse to why I could justify my
behavior when I was drinking oh, if they only knew and this,
and that I mean I was literallydigging the hole the entire time
and I didn't know that.
So what ultimately had tohappen is first, I was
introduced to a new way of life,and I'm talking about when my
(09:56):
boss introduced me to that racebecause I had created this
mental bubble around myself.
All right, look, I got up to240 pounds.
All right, I was convinced thatI could never run because of my
diabetes, my knees right.
I could never adventure becauseof my sleep apnea and diabetes,
and I'm out of shape and Icould never lose the weight and
(10:19):
get fit again.
I could never, I could never, Icould never.
And then, all of a sudden, myfirst race.
Here I am running through thewoods.
And then, all of a sudden, myfirst race.
Here I am running through thewoods, I'm tackling obstacles
like a little kid.
No fear, no doubt, noinhibition.
It wasn't me against the world,it was just me in the world.
And I'm telling you something Ihad created such limiting
(10:39):
beliefs about myself that I wasliving in a bubble.
And when I jumped the fire thatday because every Spartan race
ends with a fire jump when Icame to the fire that day, I
redefined everything that Ipreviously believed about myself
and I wanted more.
I was like holy shit, I waswrong.
What else was I wrong about?
Let's go find out, right.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Let's speak about that.
You know being a young one youmentioned being a kid who never
felt like he was enough.
Now for truckers out therelistening, many who carried you
know their childhood pain oreven into adult life.
Alcoholism plays a big part ofbeing a truck driver as well,
because we're supposed to haveyou know.
You're not supposed to havethat in your system when you're
(11:21):
behind the wheel.
A lot of people struggle withthat.
Statistics are out there fortruckers, I mean.
So how did that early traumashape your battles later in life
?
What would you say to thosetruckers out there?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I'll tell you what you know.
I mentioned something aboutvictimhood earlier.
It's not entirely true.
Sometimes we need to have thatvictim mindset, and what I mean
by that is for a long time, allright Cause I mean we're talking
about.
There are things I haven'ttalked about here and it's I do
mention some in my book, butit's like my life wasn't an
afterschool special, but therewas plenty of trauma growing up
(11:57):
too, like things that led to youknow who I am, how I am, et
cetera, and train of thought wewere just talking about how do
we get the victim?
There you go.
So, anyways, for a long time Ineeded that, that, that anger,
(12:19):
let's call it what it is.
I needed that anger.
I was angry at the world, I wasangry at my parents, I was
angry for those who didn't loveme enough or didn't meet my
expectations.
I was angry and I used it likearmor and I needed it.
That's how I paid my own waythrough school, that's how I
made myself successful, that'show I literally did all those
things.
But there comes a point whereit begins to work against you,
(12:41):
and that's what I didn't see thedifference in, because me
against the world is the rallycry of the victim mindset.
It sounds counterintuitivebecause you're like yeah me
against the world because you'regearing up for a fight, I get
it, but you can't be against theworld if you don't feel like
you're victimized of the world.
It's a victim response.
I don't need to win like I didbefore.
(13:03):
I don't need to beat everythingthe way before.
I don't need to beat everythingthe way that I beat some of the
trauma that I have held isfinding a way to let go.
It's a lot easier said thandone.
I'm 46.
We're talking about things thatare 40 years old, right, but
recognizing it, and you wouldask the question that I'm taking
a very long winded way ofgetting to, because of certain
parts of the story, of how I hadto realize but there was, you
(13:27):
know, there was the new way oflife, right, but then what had
to happen after that was to haveit almost taken away.
Because that second caraccident that I talked about, it
came when, after when, Istarted this endurance racing
journey, about six months afterthat, and in that six month
period I felt like I wasbecoming someone else, like my
body and spirit.
I liked who I was, and that'swhen I was hit by a second car.
(13:49):
That's what I got Severalherniated discs, permanent nerve
damage.
That night, my cat died.
Two weeks later, the lady whohit me died.
All I was doing was sitting ata red light, but I felt
(14:10):
responsible, and so I mean.
All this shit happened in onegoddamn day.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
For the most part, and you felt responsible for the
cat dying and that lady dyingin the car.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I mean, I'm deeply passionate about my pets.
I was just devastated about mycat dying, but for the woman
even though all I was doing wassitting at a red light and I
don't know if she was consciousor what, but she hit me, going
full speed, right the last thingthat happened to her was me.
It doesn't have to make sense,right?
If it made sense, it wouldn'thurt so bad.
(14:42):
And all that stuff happening atonce.
It was like everything inside ofme just wanted to give up.
I didn't want to drink, but Ijust wanted to give up, and I
just didn't know what that meant, though, but I had this despair
, right, and so the thing thatended up happening here and this
is where the mindset shifthappened, okay is you start, you
(15:06):
keep going back to work, I wantto give up on whatever, I quit,
but you keep showing up, yeah,and then, all of a sudden,
you're like well, I gotta take ashower, I gotta go to work, I
gotta eat sometimes we'll buyfood I gotta walk the dog, I
might as well start exercisingand I put another race on the
calendar, because you just youkeep moving forward, you keep
showing, you keep living yourlife.
The other things will get there.
(15:27):
But as I'm doing that, you knowI was flat man, I wasn't in it
and I was listening to thismotivational compilation on
YouTube like a couple of guysgoing back and forth about
victim or survivor.
Are you a victim?
Are you a survivor?
I'm like what's the fuckingdifference?
People have been telling me I'msuch a survivor my whole life
and I'm like what's the point ofjust surviving, of just hanging
(15:51):
on waiting for the next badthing to happen?
I'm like that is not what I'mhere for.
That's not why I grinded my waythrough college and worked full
time to get there.
I'm not here to survive, I'mhere to thrive.
And I threw a glorified tempertantrum and said that I will not
be defied by my circumstances,but rather my triumph over them.
That's one of the reasons Ilike doing really long, stupid
(16:13):
ass distance races because Iwant to show diabetes.
You ain't got shit on me.
I've raced with fuck cancerwritten on my chest.
I fundraise for the AmericanCancer Society.
It's the way that I punch backagainst cancer, right?
How do I?
With my alcoholism, I helpother alcoholics get sober,
because that's how I recover,and so I found that throughout
(16:35):
this whole journey that I founda meaning to my suffering and a
purpose to my life is that I cannow use what I have to help
others.
And so that's when I wrote thebook Through the Fire.
Now, I didn't know what I wasgoing to do with it.
I wrote it because I wanted towrite it.
The first version was like125,000 word ego manifesto.
(16:59):
It was like a movie poster withthe Rock and Jake Gyllenhaal on
the cover.
The second version is when Ihad to get honest because I
still had too much deflectionand excuses.
Right, it wasn't raw.
And so when I cut out 37,000words and I put this just raw
and honest, this is who I ambook out there I had no idea if
anybody would read it.
I just figured I had a messageand maybe that person who did
(17:20):
need it would find it.
And over the next two yearsthey found me and they told me
about themselves random asspeople telling me their stories
and how mine resonated withtheirs.
And that's when I knew I had astory to tell and something
different to give.
So 20, 18 minutes later, Ianswer your question.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You're great.
I love it.
People need to hear thosestruggles.
I mean the fact that you wrotea book thinking about could I
reach one person you met?
Ran into many individuals thathad the same impact in their
lives and can relate to yours aswell.
I think that's huge.
It's a great way to look atthings, for a focal point, to
(18:00):
keep pushing, to keep pushing.
I got many truck drivers outthere.
You know they push throughevery day.
You know they're like silent,silent battles.
You know there's signs thatpeople should look for.
What would you say to theseindividuals or people that love
them, to stop functioning but tostart healing?
What would you say?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You know one of the questions you had asked about
when I was able to share orstart sharing.
One of the hardest things I hadto when I was able to share or
start sharing, one of thehardest things I had to do was
the second version of that book,because I had to take a real
look at what happened.
I had to stop blaming myparents for things I did when I
was 35 years old.
I had to take responsibilityfor all of it.
(18:43):
And one of the other hardestparts is this when I was going
through the book and I'm justlooking at all the totality of
the shit that happened,including the things I'm not
even remembering right now and Istarted to get a little whiny
again and I was like man, whenis this going to stop?
And I'm like you know what it'snot.
(19:08):
I didn't get bad at Deltantan.
This is just a seat I sat in.
I'm a poker player.
This is life and you know what?
You don't get your share.
And then, all of a sudden,everything's going to be honky
dory, like life will continue tohit as long as you are alive.
And I'm like maybe I shouldlook at the fact that I'm really
fucking good at this, bring it.
And so that's when I realizedI'm like, fuck it, I am meant
(19:29):
for a long, hard climb, Likelet's take it.
And so when I that also meant,though, being vulnerable and
putting out my fear and talkingabout the things that I, the raw
things that I really did wrong,right, and the why I it?
Because I was afraid, because Iwanted validation from women,
because the real, honest,vulnerable truth and when I
(19:53):
realized I put all this stuffout there in the world, you know
what I stopped doing.
I stopped being afraid of whatother people thought about me.
It was sort of an eight-miledefense.
Remember the movie Eight Mile?
Yeah yeah, you know the lastbattle rap, right, eminem comes
out there and just drops all theshit they're going to say about
him and he's like, what are yougoing to say about me?
Well, that was kind of myapproach.
I'm like screw it, like let'sput it out there.
(20:15):
And when I realized thenbecause now you know, there was
a time where I worked in abuilding with 300 other people,
right, and I had all the socialinteraction and stuff like that,
but now I work from home Truckdrivers probably see more human
beings than I do, so how oftendo I get to interact?
How often do they?
When I started just sharing thethings, I was afraid of and
(20:38):
instead of getting and I meansharing publicly social media
where strangers are going to seeit, I didn't get.
I mean, yeah, you do.
Where strangers are going tosee it, I didn't get.
I mean, yeah, you do get someidiots, but you know what I got
people is.
I got people relating back tome.
That's it.
And you know what it showed me.
I'm not alone.
Whatever I'm going through, Ithink you know it's funny we
(20:59):
talk about.
Yeah, I get it.
I have been through a decentamount of stuff there.
But to be honest, you know whatI've discovered by speaking
about it.
I'm not special.
I'm not special.
Everyone has their own frame ofreference, but I take great
comfort now into my lack ofuniqueness.
I'm part of a tribe, I'm partof something, of something, you
(21:25):
know.
When I share this, I'm not onmy own anymore, and everyone has
stuff that they go through.
Just because there's differentseverities, the frame of
reference is what really matters.
If nobody's ever stubbed theirtoe before and that's the worst
thing that ever happened to them, then that's, you know, that's
cancer to them.
Who am I?
Who am I?
I don't have to experience itthe way they do.
You know I can, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
No, I like how you said that.
I mean, a big piece of thestory is your importance that
you put on serving or helpingindividuals.
It's a key part of yourrecovery.
So you have to acknowledge thepain that they go through.
You can't dismiss it, otherwisethey're going to be like who is
this guy?
He's got something better thanme all the time.
But yeah, it's not a one upthing.
(22:06):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I'll tell you that I just I had no idea what would
happen when I finally startedspeaking.
But it doesn't take long for meto see it, because whenever I'm
asked like hey, how's this,how'd it go, and I'm like I
always say I don't know.
I can never tell from the stage.
You know like you see, youwatch TV where 300 people stand
up and jump up and down for youand like, but if it's not that,
(22:29):
then I don't know.
But my, my barometer this iswhat I tell everybody is who
comes up to me after and sharestheir story with me, and that's
when I know I reach people.
That's all I need to know,because by me just opening up
and really cause, I like to talkabout not necessarily what I
(22:49):
went through, but the experienceof what I learned about it now,
because otherwise, honestly,like commiserating with someone
else who's just sort of like Ihave a friend right now who's
going through a tough time withcancer.
I'm trying to be the one personin his life to not tell him what
to do and, at the same time,not allow him to spend too much
(23:12):
time feeling sorry for himself.
Nobody knows how to deal with acancer patient and, to be
honest, I don't know how to dealwith another one either.
You know, I really feel like wehave our own unique experiences
here.
But you know and that's wherethat's how I think I can just
the little bit that I can helphim is everyone wants to tell
you what to do.
They always have an aunt or anuncle or a cousin who did this
(23:33):
or that and they read this onething on chat GPT, and blah,
blah, blah.
Well, you know what?
It doesn't matter, he's the onewho has to live or he's the one
who has to make that decision.
So I'm not going to be that guyfor him.
The other thing is everyone justdoesn't know what to do.
They act like you're alreadydead.
So they let you just mull in itand feel sorry for yourself.
(23:54):
But you're not dead yet, youhaven't even fought yet, you
haven't lost yet.
So, no, I'm uh.
That said, you're allowed to bein it, you're allowed to
process it.
It, you're allowed to processit.
You need to experience and feelit right.
You just can't let it dictateyour actions.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, that's how we kick, kick back Right and we we
take our emotions.
Instead of letting them crippleus, we use them like power,
like like a superhero, like that.
I mean, I'm looking back atyour wall and you've got a lot
of accomplishments there a lotof metals, a lot of ribbons.
That's, that's huge.
How many you got total?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Well, this is a outdated background this is
actually my old living room, andI moved about six months ago
but, um, I've completed 115spartan races um, six major
marathons, everything fromboston, chicago, new york and
berlin, and then maybe like 100plus other events and suffer,
fests and and counting.
(24:55):
Now, as crazy as this is,though, that's like eight plus
years of activity and work.
I have friends of mine who dothat a year, and, uh, it just
depends on their lifestyle.
Now, like, I've been at this awhile, you know.
So, of course, like, I have alot of them, but every year and
every race is a little bitdifferent, for me too.
Um, because it's always about meversus me, and in the first few
(25:18):
years it was about defying whatI thought I couldn't do, and
then it was sort of like justcontinuously toughing everything
out, like I called rocky balboamy way through it, you know,
just chin out, and as long asI'm still standing at the end of
the movie, um, but now I'm at aphase where I want to get
better at what I do, and I'm 46years old and I still think I
(25:39):
have room to improve, and Idon't just mean like get faster,
I mean get better.
I'm going to do my firsttriathlon this year, something I
swore I'd never do With MichaelLombard and Alex Bates another
couple guys in and around theindustry, and you know that's
something else that I'm alsofinding that I now have the
opportunity to influence theindustry itself in a way that I
never did before.
(25:59):
You know, even when I was, evenwhen I commanded the will of
100 other people, it had nothingcompared to being able to
influence positive habits andothers.
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
How do you coordinate it all?
You have someone that helps you.
Or how do you get some of thatstuff on the books and schedule
and show up on time and all that?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
for races or speeches , or for which part yeah, all of
them, yeah, how about that?
well, it's funny, you know, it'slike a lot of people that I
used to work will sometimes askme what do I do these days?
Like so what do you actually do?
Right, because they see speaker, but nobody.
Like, what do I do?
I do, bro, I do sales, that'swhat I do.
So I do what I've always done.
Um, my day looks very much likea lot of other people's, right?
(26:42):
I get up early, so probablyearlier than a lot of other
people, um, and I do my trainingfirst.
Um, my job is a little bitunique because, as you
understand, social media is partof what I do.
It's so posting videos, forexample, is no longer fun.
But then you get up in thatworkday and then it's about
(27:03):
prospecting and trying to just Ispend my my sales efforts, for
speaking are probably differentthan a lot, too, where I'm
really spending a lot of time inthe industry that I've spent
now 20 years in.
So mostly what I do is I networkmy way through and trying to
find just organizations andcompanies and teams and events
where a message like mine willreally benefit the audience, and
(27:25):
then, uh, so that said, thecalendar's light and we're in
full prospect mode as far asraces are concerned, um, a lot
of that has to do with time andtravel, um, so, you know, for
several years, I mean, I wastraveling all over the world for
these things, um, whereas thatwas also two years ago when I
was an executive in logisticswith a nice, with a nice,
(27:47):
healthy salary, and now that I'ma motivational speaker, you
know, with a fairly lightcalendar ahead of me, we're
going to keep most of our raceslocal this year.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I feel you that's amazing, yeah, and I love the
real talk too.
Like you said, it's it's agradual thing.
You can't just jump into itthinking you're going to check
all the boxes and you first,like you say, you were me
against you or you againstyourself.
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
So, to be honest, I'm sorry I was going to say to be
honest, like you know, I mayreplace this background at some
point, only because I liked thediscussion piece, but I even I
posted a video on LinkedIn twoweeks ago and it was about
failure and I had a point to it,but what it was it was about 45
seconds of me failing obstaclesin comical fashion.
(28:38):
Nonetheless, all right, becauseI uh, I don't ever want someone
to think that I do what youcan't do, right.
It's vitally important to me.
And because this did not startwith this, it started with one.
You know, talking to a driverright now, it's going to drive
however many miles or sitthrough all this traffic or do
(29:00):
all this bullshit.
It starts with one same way.
I was on this run this morningthat I wouldn't even call it a
run.
It was so damn slow.
I'm like I'd be out here for anhour.
I'm barely moving and Iliterally thought to myself I'm
like, well, that's the exercisethen.
I just endure.
The hour had nothing to do withanything else, just you have to
suck it up.
Being out here, period, that'sit okay, I like that.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Hey, you got you're full of a lot of good knowledge
and insight for people to applyto a lot of different things.
Um, yeah, I, I do the samething with my podcast.
I don't want anybody to thinkthat it can't do this.
Yeah, I make mistakes, justlike everybody else.
I'm a human and I love that.
You put that out there.
That's great, yeah, and thenfrom corporate climb to a
(29:47):
motivational mission.
You climb the corporate ladder.
It sells leadership at Aramarkand Centus Was it Centus?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Nope, I was on the logistics 3PL side.
I was with Blue Grace for along time.
I was a consultant for about ayear and a half and then I was
with Shear Logistics for thelast couple years before I left
see some of that area rightthere.
I thought we could askquestions though the message for
(30:19):
truckers?
Speaker 1 (30:20):
uh, our community of drivers have you know, goes
unseen for long hours, like Isaid, if it's sleep deprived,
far from your family.
What message does someone likeyourself want to share with them
for just surviving right now,getting through the moment?
Maybe they're not at that pointwhere they're able to make
those transitions.
What would you say?
(30:41):
Would you say just say, suck itup, buttercup, or would it be a
gradual thing?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
You know I would.
Actually I would warn people,and what I mean by that is I'm
going to out myself a little bithere is I've become
increasingly antisocial andintroverted.
Not even introverted, that'snot the right word, that's a
personality, that's not anaction.
I've become increasinglyisolated, and I could see it
happening, but I think I startedto notice it too late.
(31:09):
Again, I work from home, likeI'm working by the computer, and
the fact is like I like talkingto people like this, but it's
also not the same, you know, andso I'm not leaving the house
enough, I'm not going todifferent and interacting and
seeing strangers enough.
And it's too easy to justify,like to yourself, that I don't
need to be involved in the world, or I don't need to go be in
crowds because I don't like themanymore, or whatever, or you
(31:31):
begin to lose track with friendsbecause, oh, I have nothing new
to say, or all the excuses thatwe might tell ourselves I can
just think of.
I've never been a driver, but Ican just see the isolationism
become self-inflicted at a point.
And I think it is imperativethat we, I need to make decisive
(31:54):
, deliberate actions to go bewith other people.
Everyone needs a Wolfpack,everyone needs a tribe.
Nobody survives alone, and so Imean that's part of the reason
why I like to engage online withvarious communities too,
because I mean you do see someof these people in real life.
It's not like, you know, we'renot gaming here, but still I
(32:16):
need to go be part of my actualcommunity everywhere I can.
So for those on the road, calla friend, call somebody you
haven't talked to in a while,you know, just just exist.
I was talking about a friendthat, uh, going through the
tough time with cancer.
I hung out with him a couple ofweeks ago.
You know, half the time I wasjust sitting next to him and we
weren't saying shit.
You know, we probably getsomewhere.
(32:38):
In this day and age, we feellike we always have to be doing
something and we're not.
You're coexisting with somebody.
You're not like spending timewith them.
It was good to just be there,that's all he needed, you know.
So just go be with people.
These behaviors isolating addsto isolating.
We have to actually take action, deliberate action the other
(32:58):
way, and just down the phone andsaying, yo, what up is probably
something that can change yoursor someone else's life.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Absolutely.
I remember looking at a movieback in 19, I think it was 1993,
the Pelican Brief.
I think I had Julia Roberts inthere.
She worked from home.
I'm like that is so weird.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
And we all do it, like a lot of us do it, and it's
like all the time now.
I mean, for what I do isperfect and I work with the dogs
, it's just, and you know, I'meither actively engaging with
other people or I'm like sort ofdoing creative stuff, and so
it's like it really is theperfect environment for me.
But I don't know, maybe Ishould just go out for coffee
more often, like, yeah, just gobe at like again, just because
(33:49):
it's not like I have a problemwith there, like my, the life is
pretty full.
But you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
There might, other than seeing some other people in
recovery, I might not seeanother person besides my wife
for like three or four days atthe time, and again she works
from home too and I try to say,hey, just go out, get coffee,
just do something, you know,cause she'll get phone calls
after phone calls, after phonecalls, before you know it was
(34:21):
late at night and on the weekend, you know, because she'll get
phone calls after phone callsafter phone calls before you
know it's late at night and onthe weekend, you know, if you're
trying to get caught up fromthings too, you can, that can,
take your weekend away.
So it's, it's, it's a big deal,and I think that's great advice
.
Or like the warning, like yousaid, warning people to watch
out for those, those certainbehaviors that we, we, we start
to adopt.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I see it in myself, because you know I get it.
You'd be like man, I have beenon the road for two weeks.
I do not want to go out tonight.
I don't care that it's hisbirthday.
Dude, get your ass up and go,just go Like, just go, just show
up.
Man, show up.
Let that be the message Justshow up.
It's also a mindset thing, too,because we should do things
that we don't want to do, andthat's what I remind myself
(34:57):
sometimes.
I'm like dude, I do not want togo to the sink tonight.
Come on, why can't I sit hereand do nothing, like I've been
at it for like a week and a halfstraight.
Fuck it, you know.
No, that means I need to go.
It's no different than goingfor a run when I don't want to
like yeah, don't be around otherpeople, because otherwise it
gets harder and harder.
And don't know, was it thismonth or last month?
It's men's mental health monthor mental health either way,
(35:20):
it's a real thing, yeah it isman.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
So you, you wrote the book.
Um, it's, it's brutally honest,I think, through the fire.
Um, what's the hardest chapterthat you had to write?
What's one of the ones you'remost proud of?
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I guess the hardest and the proud uh, the hardest is
when my cat died.
I never even edited it.
For all I know there's I don'tknow.
I've never looked at it sincethe first time I wrote it, um,
so we're not going to talk aboutthat anymore either.
And as far as the proudest youknow, I like the message at the
end I, um, I.
(36:00):
Obviously it's in the firstperson and so it could sound
like I'm beating my chest alittle bit, but I'm really
trying to do is set the stagefor you.
You decide to live your lifeLike we may have longer to the
starting line than we may want.
That's what I like to talk, saydiabetes, for example.
But I get to run the same raceand as long as I accept that
(36:22):
maybe it's going to be hard,maybe there's going to be
failure, maybe there's going tobe penalties and setbacks and
disappointments, I'm going tocome through the fire.
One how I know this scoreboard?
Because you have every othertime before and that's why
anyone else right now goingthrough something I guarantee
you, I know for a fact you willcome through it, and the way
(36:43):
that I do is because you comethrough every other thing.
So far there is no evidence tothe contrary.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, Made it this far right.
Why?
Why give up?
If you want to predict thefuture, they say, look at the
past.
So if you already did somethingthat's monumental, that you
were able to break through, whycan't you continue to do that
again?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And at the end of the day, I mean there will be more
pain, there will be morechallenges, and they manifest in
different ways, but the mindsetthat we use to approach them is
the same, in different ways,but the mindset that we use to
approach them is the same Aphysical obstacle versus a
mental obstacle, an emotionalobstacle, some sort of
existential obstacle?
It doesn't matter, it's all thesame.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
I like that man You're pushing through.
I think you're going to help alot of truck drivers out there
or even people in the salescommunity.
I mean that's very stressful.
You're always chasing that sale.
You're never done.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
You know you, they're , they're, they want to call you
all the time that's what mysecond book selling inspired was
really was really aimed at, wasdeveloping that mental
endurance for a long salescareer.
You know, we get it in our headsometimes that success is
linear or that the mountain isjust you just climbed to the top
(38:04):
and when you get there you'redone Like I climb mountains on
weekends carrying heavy shit andobstacles.
You never just go from up downto the top, you switch backs and
up and down and around andthere is no peak, there's just
another plateau.
And that's where I was on thecouch, on that plateau eight and
(38:28):
a half years ago when my bosswalked in my office Because I
was peaking and the reason Ifelt stuck was because there was
more to climb and I knew it butI didn't want to, and so I
needed that like that catalyst,that first step, just because I
knew there was more to climb.
And now I realize there's alwaysmore to climb and I think you
know if you're perfectlycomfortable where you are in
(38:49):
life on that plateau, cool, Goodfor you.
If you start to feel thattension right there, that's what
that's when you you know thereis more for you to give and
you're not giving it, and that'swhen you need to look to make
that other move.
I mean, some people can existon that plateau forever, but the
most bitter people I ever metthey're not the ones climbing,
(39:12):
they're the ones who are on theplateau and they're pissed that
they need to climb again.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Right, I like that, but he pushed through and it
(39:40):
proved himself that he could dobetter, not just for himself,
but as for his wife, his futureson.
So, yeah, it was a beautifulstory that a lot of people were
motivated by, and now you'reliving that.
You're the real life.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Rocky Balboa, that's awesome yeah, not exactly.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
That's good man.
Yeah, I mean life can be messy.
I mean there's still progressto make.
Progress to make, um, what'sthe most important?
Um telling your story or yourbook that, uh, you felt you
finished when you got there.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
You reached that moment probably the greatest,
you know, fuck yeah moment thatI ever really had was running
the boston marathon.
Um, I've had some awesome races, you know.
I've achieved, like through thefire really chronicles my
pursuit of a Spartan trifecta,which are those cool red and
(40:28):
green-blue medals behind me.
But really I ran the BostonMarathon in 2018 for the first
time and I mean I probably don'tknow this, but there was a
no-reaster that year.
It was arguably the worstweather conditions in the
history of the Boston Marathon,but I grew up there.
I'd been in the marathon adozen times.
(40:48):
I used to skip school or skipwork and go watch the Red Sox
and go see the marathon and sortof be there running it.
But I never wanted to run ituntil the bombing and I just I
was so mad after the BostonMarathon bombing and I just I
didn't, didn't know how to punchback, and so I was like you
(41:11):
know what?
I'm going to run the BostonMarathon one day, Fuck those
guys.
And uh, when I was actually in2017, I was supposed to run the
Chicago Marathon and that's whenI got in that car accident and
I was unable to run for a coupleof months.
So I just got mad and was like,well, I'm going to find out how
to get into Boston.
And so Boston for me was really.
It was sort of choosing to besomeone, to become someone else,
(41:36):
because I emerged from thatthat moment of despair where I
wanted to give up, you know.
And then, six months later, Irun the Boston marathon.
Uh, I raised $10,000 forcharity in the process.
Um, it was just such anincredible experience and again
I got hypothermia.
I mean, it was 18 degrees andsleeting rain.
(41:56):
At the start it was 40 mile anhour, headwinds the entire time,
torrential downpour.
It was a hell of a story.
And that one was just, you know, when I crossed that blue and
yellow line for the first time.
It meant so much to me, Nice.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
What about that?
When you're at the start line,you kind of walk me through that
.
You're at that line andeverything's about to happen and
you got there and you putyourself there in that moment.
Describe to us what it's liketo start a marathon and what
goes through your mind.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh man, I can't even tell you the Venn diagram and
algorithms of thoughts that aregoing through my head.
I'm a type one diabetic.
So, number one I am just doingmath, I'm doing math, I'm
counting my sugars time to when.
The last time I ate something,the next time I eat something,
(42:48):
how long until the race goes,how much?
Blah, blah, blah.
I mean it does not stop.
It's like a beautiful mind anduh, the hell's his name.
Uh, will hunting from goodwillhunting.
Um, just just doing like thisall the time.
So that's nerves, because Ihave to manage my blood sugars
and I don't know what's going tohappen next.
Number two I have to pee.
I could have just peed, itdoesn't matter, I have to.
(43:09):
That's happening in there ahundred percent of the time.
Um, besides that, there's oneritual.
I?
Um, my wife is with me, uh,anytime before I.
If she's not racing, uh,anytime before I jump in the
start corral, I always tell herI'll see her on the other side.
Um, I always say a quick prayerbefore every race.
I just get down on the knee andI say I pray for strength and
(43:32):
uh, after that I just try tokeep it loose.
Um, I learned this when I playedvolleyball.
I have an incredible hecklegame All right.
Now, back when I was drinkingespecially I was just I could
talk shit and, uh, most of thetime it was for fun.
And so if we were like, jokingaround, we're friends, right,
I'm playing against you andsomebody else, whatever, and I'm
(43:53):
talking all sorts of shit.
You're talking shit, we're justhaving fun, I'm probably
playing great, okay, but let'ssay we don't like each other and
it becomes a little moreadversarial, okay, a little bit
more like you know, not jokingand I want to beat you.
I don't care if I'm five timesa better player, I'm still
losing that game.
I don't play a little like that.
And I realized that back in theday.
(44:14):
I just need to be happy andloosey-goosey.
There was a time back uh, Ialmost never drank when I played
volleyball because I wascompetitive, but um, one time
back in Tampa in like 2008, Iremember it rained for like an
hour and a half or something inbetween games, so my buddy and I
just got hammered at the bar.
We had no idea that we weregoing to resume the game and we
(44:34):
ended up playing this topFlorida team who plays on the
AVP, and we took them to 18points.
They were so mad when theycouldn't put a ball away on us.
I think it was just because wewere so loose, but anyway.
So I realized uh, I hadrealized a long time ago that I
just can't.
Some people can dial in.
That's why I don't reallyresonate with guys like grant
(44:55):
cardone or even, um, relentlessthe guy wrote the book
relentless andless and certainthings that are just I need to
be in a, I'm competing for meand I really can't have this
death to my opponent,adversarial type attitude or
you're just not going to get thebest out of me, so I need to.
(45:16):
I go into that event, into thestarting line, and that's when
I've done all my prep.
I've meditated and visualizedevery obstacle or every mile
where the water stations are.
I have a race plan which isgoing to go to shit.
It doesn't matter.
But once I get in the corral itsort of wants to just woosah
and just unlearn.
You know, find a friend, dosome fist bumps and just enjoy
(45:39):
the community.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
I like that.
Enjoy the community.
Enjoy the community.
I like that.
Enjoy the community, enjoy theride.
You know you got to.
You can I don't know, you canfeel like every moment is just
drudging, every moment and youcan, you know, hate it and try
to look for that finish line.
Or you can just like, if you'rein a truck, you kind of gaze
off and enjoy driving into thatcanvas, driving into that canvas
(46:07):
, and even if it's just a openroad and you see the mountains
ahead of you, even if thosemountains are full of snow, I
mean still you enjoy the driveand the moments journey.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
That's good you know you mentioned there was a race
in cincinnati, uh, this pastweekend.
Well, actually it's perfectslopes, indiana but, um, I
remember racing there two yearsago and this is one of the
hardest races I had ever done.
It was surprisingly difficult,um, but there was this one area,
cause it's a ski mountain andit was like a thousand degrees
(46:34):
out and, uh, we just findourselves along this Creek and I
live in Florida.
Okay, it's beautiful, but it'sflat and boring.
Okay, I moved down here beforeI started racing, I was a house
cat, I'd go to the beach andthat's it.
So, you know, all of a sudden,to find myself kind of climbing
up a mountain on the side ofthis rocky creek, like it was
(46:55):
just this cool moment ofserenity, like it was just me in
the world.
And, as you mentioned that,like you know, I'm just
picturing, of course, course,I'm sure anybody, any truck
driver listening to this, isprobably stuck in traffic
cursing the thought.
But I'm thinking, man, how coolwould that be?
Like out on that open road,like maybe I'm the only one out
there to see that scene for justa moment, and not worrying
(47:17):
about becoming a YouTube videotoday.
But it is those, those raremoments.
I mean, that's what life is allabout.
Right, I'll tell you what.
Uh, there's a mountain race thatI've been chasing.
This is my, this is my big goal.
It's in Killington, vermont.
It's a Spartan race.
It's a 31 mile obstacle courserace with about 18,000 feet of
(47:37):
climbing.
I have failed that race threetimes.
It's got the highest DNF ratein the country.
It's the hardest race they have.
And, uh, two years last year,um, I DNF it.
I uh.
As a matter of fact, I gotreally bad cramps and I had to
tap out after 10 miles.
But just before that 10 miles,early that morning, I was about
3,500 feet in the air, justabove the clouds.
(47:59):
When the sun was rising, youcould see for miles.
It was just the most majesticthing I'd ever seen in my life,
and it didn't matter how hard Ihad to suffer to get there, it
was worth it.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
That sounds beautiful , it was gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Like I was grinding up the mountain suffering of
this dude's like hey, turnaround.
Like what Holy shit it was?
Like it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
That's great, wow, yeah, taking those moments like
that really help you, you know,get through life, and you can
always reflect back on those andnobody can take those away from
you.
Those are embedded in your mindand those are yours and um
going out, getting those, thoseraces going out, getting it.
Hey, you did yourself a solidon that one.
That's awesome.
I think so many other peoplecan too.
I appreciate you coming on theshow sharing your story.
(48:51):
I can't thank you enough todayfor the insight, the inspiration
that you're able to give fromyour journey and your obstacles.
Your life is like a marathon.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
It's an ultra.
This is what I would like tosay.
Life is like an ultra.
Marathons have uh, marathonshave clearly marked mile markers
.
You know they're on pavement.
(49:24):
Ultras don't even have mapssometimes, and they could be 30
miles or 250 miles.
So it's, and anything that evercould go wrong absolutely will
go wrong.
That's why I like running theultras.
It's good practice for life.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Yeah, I mean, think about being cancer four times
and then now you get to helpindividuals with that.
I mean, that's, that's a lot ofunknown factors there that you
got through.
What, uh?
What would you say that someonethat's struggling with cancer
right now uh, maybe that arelistening to the podcast what
would you say to them?
Speaker 2 (49:53):
Man, you know my.
I decided a long time ago myapproach to my disease and to
each their own disease and toeach their own.
However, my approach is that Idon't handle my disease.
My doctors do.
My job is to live my life aslong as I can as best as I can,
(50:17):
and that's it.
I would say that for someoneelse going through it.
Something I did not do very wellabout was talk about it then
and I isolated and that wasprobably the wrong approach.
But I don't, I'm not going totell anyone else how to handle
their illness, but I will saythat there's nobody who's going
through anything right now.
(50:38):
Who's the first person or theonly person ever to go through
it, and whether or not you'resomebody who wants to share your
story now to get your ownsupport or you're somebody who
can share your story later togive someone else support, you
have a gift and it may not feellike it and I understand that
(50:59):
not everybody's going to make itthrough either.
But those are the actions wecan take.
I don't get to control theother thing.
Speaker 1 (51:08):
Nice, I like that.
I do.
You can make it so complicatedthat you're trying to do too
many things and, like you said,you focus on living your life as
best you can as long as you can.
I like that.
I think a lot of people willresonate with them on that.
So thank you for sharing that.
And to all the drivers outthere if you're listening to
(51:29):
this in your cab or you'rewondering if your life could be
different, let Nick be the proof.
He's the one that's able to gothrough these challenges and,
like I said, turn lemon intolemonade.
You know they can come at youleft and right, so he took those
and he made a great drink withit.
(51:49):
That's awesome, man.
Thank you so much.
I thank you.
Anything else you wanted toshare before we go?
Maybe it was something I missedor anything like that.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
You know, the only thing that I would want to, one
thing, one thing that I'm highlyskilled at is breaking things
down to the wildly specific andstupidly simple, and usually
what gets in our way of takingthese action steps towards our
life is what you mentioned weovercomplicate it, and so you
know there's a few of us havebeen on this this just large
kick of trying to influence andchange the culture of health and
(52:23):
fitness in the industry.
And so one thing I want to tellanyone listening who is
thinking that they want to dothe same thing schedule it.
Step one you may not have aregular schedule, but you have a
schedule.
You know you're going to have agood 10 to 12 hours when you
ain't got shit to do, soschedule it 30 minutes as soon
(52:45):
as you get to where you're going, get out the truck and do it.
What are the things you can do?
Simple shit body weightexercises, squats, lunges.
If you follow Michael Lombard,he actually put a bunch of
videos up of stuff he used to doin his sleeper glute bridges,
stuff like that 30 minute walkis something that will literally
save your life.
Number three nutrition.
(53:06):
Again, I'm going to keeptalking about Lombard right now
and today's 6'9".
So he's got the Lombard 69,which is sort of like a 75 hard
but far more intro and really alot of that focuses on nutrition
.
He talks about getting protein.
So I know you know we talkedabout where you're driving and
stuff like that.
You may not have the bestoptions for where you're going,
but there are certain things youcan plan for in advance.
I'm not just saying high sugarprotein bars, but, like me, I
(53:29):
don't travel without nuts.
High protein, high good fat.
So again, simple steps that wecan take to influence our life.
Number four books and resources.
And number five there's lots oforganizations out there that
are actually trying to promotesome of this health right now.
Project 61 is one that comesinto mind right now.
So I just want to keeppromoting this message, man,
because I have the ability to.
(53:51):
This is not something thatanybody inside a brokerage knows
about or talks about and, as amatter of fact, I don't think
enough truck drivers are talkingabout it themselves and I just
want you to know how stupidlysimple it can be to take the
first action.
Just schedule 30 minutes.
You're going to be somewhere.
Schedule it.
If you had a doctor'sappointment, you'd go.
(54:12):
If your wife or your husband orif your kid had an important
thing, you would go.
So if it's important, scheduleit.
The life you save may be yourown.
Speaker 1 (54:21):
That's right.
I couldn't say it better.
I like that.
I think that's something we allneed to hear Kind of you know,
push ourselves to do that.
We're all going to be sittingthere, you know.
You got your head down on thephone.
It's not helping you.
If anything, it's probablymaking it worse.
So, getting out of the cab andbeing a little uncomfortable,
just have some gloves if youdon't want to touch the ground.
(54:42):
But, like you said, using yourbody weight, use the truck in
itself.
There's a lot of hooks on thetruck.
You can use the tires.
You just got to get creativebecause your life is important
and it matters that you make ita top priority.
And, like I said, it's too easyjust to fall into that rut and
(55:03):
I think you're helping.
Inspire me.
Yeah, I gotta do some moremyself.
So I used to really do a lotmore weights and now I I kind of
slump off a little bit so Ireally want to get back to it.
So, weight to really help me agood way to work out when you're
not working out, because thosemuscles are still agitated like
that.
So, yeah, great job.
Speaker 2 (55:23):
If I was coaching you , I'd say when are you going to
do it?
Speaker 1 (55:26):
Yeah, I know, right Today, Right after we get done,
right, my man, that's it.
Yeah, that's good.
So, yeah, I got to do some moremyself.
I think everybody else outthere, we all, can push
ourselves to be a little bitbetter.
Even if you're doing greatthings, like yourself, Nick, I'm
sure you're constantly tellingyourself you can do more.
(55:46):
So find that way, you can dothat.
So that's great.
So we're not stuck, you're notbroken and you're just in the
fire and, like he says in hisbook, you can get through it and
you forge through and becomesteel and you're also motivating
others.
So iron sharpens iron, thankyou.
(56:07):
So, yeah, make sure we checkout the book through the fire on
Amazon and also visit yourwebsite.
Is stridemotivationcom Anyother ways that people should
get to know you?
I mean you do some publicspeaking.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
I am all over the internet at stridemotivation
social media.
But absolutely, you can checkout my website.
I'd love to book a call and seeme on stage somewhere.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it, man.
Thank you for coming on theshow.
It's your guy Truckin' Ray, andkeep the wheels turning out
there.
Keep your eyes on the road, offof the cell phone there's too
many distractions out there, wedon't need any more.
And also take care of yourheart and your mind, just like
Nick.
Yeah, so we'll catch you nexttime, and that's Delivered.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.