#200 | You Can Turn Life Into Anything: A Deeper Dive Into My Journey Ft. Jamie Damsker [Guest Interviewer] - Win Today

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And I promised myself that day that I'm never going
to carry this on as a six,seven-year-old kid.
I'm never going to put myfuture family through this and
the people that I love throughthis right now, and I've never
lost sight of that.
But if a kid that grew up in abroken household that was angry

(00:23):
at the world, grew up in abroken household that was angry
at the world, that wasn't themost athletically gifted and
perhaps didn't put a whole lotof investment into academics
until we ended up right here,can go on to then create now a
top 2% globally performingpodcast and a few other cool

(00:47):
things that you said about me,so can you.
So can anybody listening.
It's available.
Whatever you want trulywhatever you want is available
to you when you can push pastwhatever story you're telling

(01:08):
yourself, or rather, when youunderstand whatever story you
may be telling yourself that'sholding you back.
Welcome to the Wednesday podcast, a weekly resource thoughtfully
crafted to help people buildand refine discipline,
accomplish their goals, fortifytheir mindsets and be of service
to somebody in this world.

(01:29):
My name is Ryan Cass and I amyour host, and it is my mission
and commitment to deliveramazing episodes to you every
week, where you'll learn frommyself, or a renowned expert in
their field.
We love helping people win inevery aspect of their lives, and
you can help us win by sharingthe show with somebody that you

(01:50):
believe will benefit from it,subscribing and leaving a rating
and review.
We believe that everybody inthis world is meant to do
something great with their livesand we're here to help play a
role in that.
Thank you for tuning in andlet's win today.
All right, everyone, we'redoing something a role in that.
Thank you for tuning in andlet's win today.

(02:11):
All right, everyone, we're doingsomething a little different
today.
It's very special.
This is episode number 200.
And I have the opportunity tosit across from somebody that I
deeply admire, someone that Ilook up to, who has been on the
podcast before on episode 141.
And here we are, 59 weeks later, episode number 200.

(02:33):
And we are keeping a commitmentthat we made nearly two years
ago now that Jamie Damsker isgoing to host WIN today today,
and I am the guest.
So I get to be a guest on myown show and Jamie, nobody else

(02:53):
in the world I'd rather do thiswith.
So off to you, mr Host.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Thank you, ryan, and welcome to your podcast.
Thank you, I love saying thatit was.
I think you told me today, juneof 2023, when we declared this
was going to happen and itwasn't even your 100th episode
yet and for me it wasn't somecasual request or commitment.

(03:22):
I had no doubt, you know, ahundred plus weeks ago, that
we'd be here not necessarily inthis place, but we'd be here
doing this, and that's atestament to you and your
commitment and your perseveranceand your consistency, and we're
going to get into all that.
I could not be more honored and, most importantly for me, in
addition to sayingcongratulations on number 200,

(03:46):
like it's a significantmilestone but most importantly
for me, I appreciate the trustyou're extending to me to like,
take your baby and host it.
I have a sense, while we'llhave a good time and we're going
to dig into some things,there's probably a little bit of
something inside.

(04:07):
Like you know, this is yours,you've created it and you're
sort of taking your hand off thewheel and I appreciate you for
that.
So thank you, if anything.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
I see it as you're here to enhance it, and that's
how I experience you is.
You enhance lives, you'veenhanced my life and you've
enhanced the show, and you getto do it again.
I love it.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Thank you.
Well, my intention of thepodcast today and I can
appreciate that we're going tohave listeners and viewers who
are very familiar with you andthe format and your mission and
your story and even theincredible stories of your
guests you're likely going tohave some people who are new to

(04:47):
the podcast as well, and where Iwant to take us is to honor
them as well, not to belaborsome of the things that I'm
certain you brought up before,but to me, I have a desire for
us to one absolutely celebratean incredible milestone.
I have no statistics on howmany podcasts make it to 200.
And even if they do, I have asense Rarely do they do it with

(05:13):
the pace and consistency thatyou've done this, and while I
want to honor the podcast andcelebrate it where I'm sitting,
the podcast to me is simplyrepresentative of something
bigger in you and what you'reabout, and I'd love to use our
time together for the benefit ofnot just me selfishly, but your

(05:34):
viewers and listeners, to learna bit more about you.
Like to dig deep on the RyanCass that has you.
Celebrate your 200th podcastand look for the benefit of
everyone.
I have the benefit of knowingyou Like I've known you for a
few years.
We share a bit of a commonbackground, at least

(05:58):
academically.
We're sitting here at thecampus of our alma mater, the
Citadel.
We've been in a lot ofconversations together.
I've been a guest on yourpodcast.
I've watched your work not juston the podcast, other things as
well and I just have thisdesire for the world to know,
not just hey, here's a guy whohosts a podcast, he hit 200 and

(06:22):
there'll be more, but like whathas you do it?
And the last thing I want to sayis a bit of a preamble, which
is kind of drives what I justsaid.
You know, most people, whenthey come into the public eye or
they become known by a group ofpeople, have gotten to some
place that's notable, and yourguests are no exception, and

(06:46):
you're no exception.
And so for me it's almost likewhen you finally got a chance to
know who Tiger Woods was, oryou got a chance to know who
your favorite politician, yourastronaut or your favorite
successful business CEO is.
They'll put out books andthey'll talk about what works

(07:06):
for them and what doesn't, butthe thing that we can't see,
it's impossible to see, is TigerWoods in the middle of the
night hitting 500, pitchingwedges from the trap, or the
number of business failures thatthat person had before they
made it onto the Fortunemagazine cover to the likely

(07:31):
thoughts you've had, and I wantto talk about what you have
going on in your world to giveit real context that likely
likely, I'm not saying ithappened had you certain times
say is it worth it?
And I say that because there'speople who are listening and
watching, who, like they'regoing through their day-to-day

(07:51):
and for them, they think they'reordinary.
Now, you and I know they're notordinary.
There's no such thing as anordinary person and I would love
for them to get even just amodicum of a taste of when you
were on episode four or when youwere on zero and you were
thinking about it and you hadall these other things going on
in your life.
Or I want to briefly mentionfor the new people, what

(08:12):
happened on January 23rd 2019.
I think that's the date, likeall of those things that get in
the way, like they have, intheir way, their own version of
it.
In spite of that, you workthrough it, and if we could give
your listeners a taste of whatit took to get here to 200, and,

(08:33):
as importantly, what it takesto get you to 400,.
To me, as much as I enjoy thecelebration of 200, if one
person says to you, dude, thankyou for that conversation in
episode 200, as a result of thatI went out and did this with my
kid, which I didn't knowpossible, or I went and got that
job Like.

(08:54):
To me that would make all ofthis worth it.
So with that I have to share.
I made a list top of my headand I looked up a few things of
what you have going on in yourlife.
Like I want to give everyone anappreciation.
So we have this win today.
Podcast, that's obviouslysomething you're doing.
You've got your one dayorganization, which I kind of

(09:15):
consider the umbrellaorganization, one W-O-N I love
how you the play on the word oneday.
You have the unshakablediscipline, masterminding course
.
You're a public speaker,podcaster.
You have the Be the First OneScholarship you've put together
and I want you to mention that alittle bit, especially for
people who haven't heard of itthe Breaking Ribbons Fundraiser,
which is so heartwarming, whereyou give back to people who

(09:38):
have challenges of cancer, andhow that drives you for another
thing you do, which is thisultra-endurance athlete and all
the things that you've done andthe hundred-plus miles you've
run.
You've got the Champion Tribecommunity which you've shared
with me.
You've got the quarterly dinnerthat you do.
You've got your family, like.
You've posted things about yourcommitment to your family.

(09:59):
It's amazing.
You're a big brother, seventhyear, I think.
I heard you say recently and ifI stopped right there, people
would go I'm exhausted, how doeshe do it?
But there's one more thing Ihaven't mentioned.
You happen to be a Boeingexecutive, a full-time job.
I mean, that's a lot.

(10:20):
It's amazing.
And seemingly in all of thoseareas and I know they ebb and
flow you come to it with anenergy and a rabid mindset of
service.
That's inspiring.

(10:40):
And I'm not saying it likeeveryone who's listening needs
to go out and have that longlist of things.
I'm saying it like I want themto listen to you because you've
got something to teach us you do.
Now.
I don't want to belabor thepast too much, but I think it
would be useful if you canbriefly tell us a bit about your

(11:04):
upbringing.
That, from everything you'vetold me and I've heard you speak
about, is really the catalystfor where you are today.
Would you just speak into thatand thank you.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, man, jamie, you need to host my podcast more
often.
I appreciate how you've broughtyourself to this discussion and
all of the work that you did sothat we can have a truly
powerful discussion today.
You said some cool things aboutme.
Maybe people hear that and theythink, oh wow, that's a lot of
stuff going on.
But to me, the greatestaccomplishment is helping one

(11:35):
person get where they want to goor to achieve their one day.
That's the coolest thing,regardless of what a rap sheet
might say about me and reallywhat fuels that.
Going into your question isgoing back to my earliest years
and the greatest gift that I'veever received in this life.

(11:58):
Now and I can say that with asmile on my face Now the
greatest gift I've ever receivedis coming up through a broken
household, a home with asystemic trend of alcoholism,
mental and emotional abuse.
Often.
I found myself playingmiddleman to my parents from a
very young age and developedsome anxiety because I see that

(12:22):
one of my first roles in life,besides being a son, was being a
protector, making sure that mylittle sister didn't see what
was going on when my dad, who Ilove to death, struggled very
deeply with alcohol and thatcame home and then a lot of
chaotic scenes would ensuebetween him and my mom that I

(12:43):
was often witness to.
That I don't wish on any youngkid to see, and I grew up angry
at the world, wondering, askingthe why me?
Question.
I'm the victim.
If I didn't have this going onin my house, then I could live a
life like Jamie, and I don'teven know what your life really
looks like other than the littletiny external picture that I've

(13:07):
received and then, coupled withthe story that I've told myself
that Jamie must have thisperfect life.
He doesn't have all this stuffgoing on at home.
I don't know that.
What I know now is that that'swhy I do so much to help people
and serve others and show themthat, regardless of what you've

(13:28):
come up through whether it wasmy situation as a little boy,
being angry at the world andseeing things that you would
never want a child to see tomaybe you did grow up in a home
with loving parents and therewas no chaos and there was
family was truly at the core itdoesn't matter.

(13:52):
We have the ability to createanything that we desire in this
world, really thinking aboutserving the little boy that I
once was and being able to showthat little boy that, hey, this
is actually this tough stuffyou're going through.

(14:12):
You could do so much with it.
And when people see that,because everyone's got something
that drives them or I believeeverybody has something that
drives them once they can seehow they can leverage that for
good, the world truly is youroyster.
And that's the now byproduct ofthe things you mentioned, that

(14:36):
the cool things I do today inservice of others really goes
back to that young Ryan beingthe middleman, thinking that,
man, if life just was differenthere, then I could do X, y, z,
when really had all the toolsthat I needed to succeed the
whole time, just didn't discoverthem until later years.

(14:59):
And now can help other peoplediscover that, hey, you've got
everything you need and we getto live a beautiful life.
And now can help other peoplediscover that, hey, you've got
everything you need and we getto live a beautiful life and
some gifts are just packaged alittle bit differently and
that's okay.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
That's beautiful.
Thank you for sharing that.
You have spoken before aboutlike you've impacted people of
all ages and you've shared thatyou gravitate towards the youth.
A lot of your public speaking,I know, is in middle schools and
high schools and there's justsomething about getting them

(15:36):
when they're younger.
It just you're.
In fact, I watch a podcastyou're on not too long ago and
your face lit up when you talkedabout it.
So I have two children, two boys, and one of them just graduated
high school last year.
One's a rising senior and ithas me wonder.

(15:58):
You know, they're great kidsand sometimes they speak into
really big things and oftentimesthey speak about things you go
yeah, that's what a teenagerworries about.
If you're with especially,let's say, a child who doesn't
have I'm gonna use this word, itcould sound funny the benefit
of that trauma like you had, thething that can really wake you
up your kid is just out therehaving a fine life.

(16:19):
How do you connect with them ina way where you can create
impact if there's no obvioustoehold or common trauma or
thing to get over, to sort ofrally around in the conversation
?

Speaker 1 (16:40):
regardless of if the child has something that is a
traumatic experience orsomething that's really heavy on
the heart versus maybe not.
I believe everybody has desiresand things that they love, and

(17:02):
I had a mentor of mine sharethat.
It's important to createconnection first over content
meaning.
Let's really get to know eachother before we dive into the
what.
So because the what we do, thatcould change any day and if
everything was taken away fromus, we'd still have things that
are truly meaningful, that welove, that we believe in, that

(17:25):
are truly meaningful, that welove, that we believe in.
So I would identify what thosethings are for that youth first,
and then build upon that andjust by being interested in them
and finding out what reallyexcites them, then we go from
there.
Then we go from there.
And if there is a child thatperhaps maybe has a traumatic

(17:52):
experience like I think about mylittle brother, josiah that has
not been closely connected tohis father, and getting through
to Josiah at first was a littledifficult, even though I was

(18:13):
working towards understandinghis interests, but when I got to
dig a little bit deeper as webuilt a stronger relationship
and got him to open up aboutwhat's really holding him back
with his father.
Every time I pick him up nowit's like a whole weight came
off his back.
He's singing in the car now.

(18:34):
He's dancing, he's doing allsorts of things.
He's being who he is when he'swith his mom, not with me.
But I believe it goes back tofind out what's interesting to
somebody, be interested in them,and then you get to do
interesting things, haveinteresting interactions.

(18:54):
So that's my best take on howto really connect.
Yeah, regardless of trauma ornot, be interested and usually
that's how someone will find youto be interesting and want to
spend more time with you andshare things and open up.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, you used the word connection before, which is
a word that resonates with me.
Do you find, given how societytoday we seem to have less
connection some of it's due totechnology and some of it's due
to the polarization in the worldhow has that affected your work

(19:35):
and the people you work with?
Has there been anything obviousabout it, anything that's had
you change your approach, oranything like that?
Change your approach or or,yeah, anything like that?

Speaker 1 (19:45):
I find that some people are slower to, or more
hesitant to, open up at timesand to break through that,
especially with the youth.
When I'm going to speak in aschool or even a college, a lot
of youth I find now are lesslikely to engage off the rip.

(20:07):
Or who is this guy?
And one thing that I have foundto be a superpower is
vulnerability, and I share withthem my story, my flaws, the
things I've struggled with.
When I go in depth about thestories and the experiences that
I had as a youth, then I findthat most people see me as, hey,

(20:36):
that's what makes me human.
That's what makes me human,regardless of what a piece of
paper says about me and the coolthings.
Like I've come from no moreadvantaged background than maybe
you may think I have and whatI'm getting at is by sharing and

(20:58):
being open about my flaws andthe things that have torn me
down temporarily my flaws andthe things that have torn me
down temporarily.
It creates powerfulconversations with people.
People come, they want to openup, they start to share more
about their lives.
So I find that in the worldwhere it may seem more difficult

(21:21):
to connect, where I've beenmore vulnerable about my story
is where those walls I feel likeare broken down, because what
we see now, especially in socialmedia, is often highlight reels
and all these people that aresucceeding.
It looks like a lot of peoplehave quote the formula and they

(21:43):
might be intimidated by theperson on stage thinking this
guy's got the formula.
It's like no, the guy standingon stage right now, or wherever
I'm at, has developed a formulafrom a very, very dark place and
continues to refine the formula.
I feel like that's the journeywe're all on right now.

(22:04):
How cool would that be if lifewas just this linear path.
Actually, I don't even know ifit'd be that cool, because it's
the bumps that I feel like Iappreciate the most and what I
want people to be able toextract the most value from.
Every bump is a gold minefilled with lessons and growth

(22:28):
and the next best version of you, and by sharing that, I find
that I'm able to help break downthrough the walls and connect
with people faster.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, yeah, you're speaking into exactly what I had
hoped you would.
What I said earlier about it'snot all about the social media
glossy finished product.
It's raw and at times it couldreally bring you to a grinding
halt if you let it.

(23:04):
And everyone's got their ownversion of that, even if it's
small in comparison to what theymay see on the news.
Or, like the guest you had lastweek, the paraplegic, the
gentleman with the rugby axe andto hear.
And, by the way, if anyone'slistening, if they haven't
watched episode 199, please do.

(23:26):
It's very, very moving.
But there's a guy who he has abook, he has an attitude that
healthy people who can walkwithout thinking about it,
wiggle their toes out thinkingabout it, would complain about
things, and he takes nothing forgranted.
But he spoke about the darkpart in the hospital at first.

(23:49):
And it's so beautiful to beable to juxtapose, as you're
doing right now, the I was aboutto say before and after.
But it's really not.
It's just not that clean cut.
It's how it was and how it isslash could be, and I find the
messiness in that is reallybeautiful.

(24:10):
You talk often aboutgenerational impact and you do
it from a place of interruptingexisting generational curses or
downfalls, and what I infer fromthat is that you have an

(24:35):
implication that there's anopportunity to create different
generational impact.
An upgraded generational impactIs there in your current
journey, with all the workyou've done, whether it's youth
or grownups.
Can you think of one or acouple of examples where

(24:56):
something happened with theperson you were with, that you
went?
That's a generational impactthat just happened in front of
me, like the change wasbreathtaking.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Quite a few come to mind.
And what's really neat and thisis part of why I love this work

(25:34):
so much and every week, everyMonday, is an opportunity, I
believe, to spark that, andthere have been on numerous
occasions.
Maybe a particular episode cameout.
I've found the ones where I'vebeen most vulnerable about my
past, as I am right now, is aninvitation for somebody, one
person, to take perhaps a standagainst the generational curse

(25:57):
that they're facing and theywant to break.
So there have been multipleinstances of folks that have
tuned into an episode and havereached out to me that, ryan, as
a result of episode 100,whatever the case, 50, it's been
going on more and more, whichI'm grateful for.

(26:19):
Here's what I did I had aconversation with my mother or

(26:47):
father that we've allowed topersist in our household.
It's tough to extract just one,because I want to highlight that
a big reason why this continues, why we continue to show up and
why we're going to go to 200,300, 400.
Because it's so much bigger thanme, it's so much bigger than us

(27:10):
right here.
One conversation can literallyimpact generations, because we
can spark one person to make onedecision that is going to
change the course for theircurrent family, their future
family, and perhaps that's whatsets the tone for the future

(27:35):
cast family or the damskirfamily, or whoever is listening
am not extracting a singularinstance of this.
I've seen through the result ofbeing open whether it's on the
podcast, linkedin, anywhere thatpeople are making decisions

(27:55):
that maybe they wouldn't havemade at that particular moment
in time if it wasn't for pouringmy heart and soul out there in
the name of service and I feellike that's the greatest
accomplishment of all time isthat is sparking change in

(28:17):
another person's life, helpingthem get where they want to go,
helping them break agenerational curse.
It's the most, one of the mostbeautiful things I feel that
somebody can do if that's anopportunity that is available to
them in this world.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, I love it, If you're okay with it.
I'm not going to quite let youoff the hook of that question.
I want to ask a little bitdifferently and my intention of
doing so is I want to givepeople an opportunity to see
something for themselves, Likenot using the term, like

(28:54):
generational is analogous almostto talking about solving world
hunger.
It's a big thing, but it's soenormous I might not be able to
see even a near-term finish line, and I would love for everyone
in their own world and their ownchallenges to see an opening

(29:15):
from what you've experiencedwith this work you've done like
a light bulb that goes on like,oh, I could handle that and I
can do it pretty efficiently.
So I'm going to ask thequestion a little bit from a
different angle.
In all of the examples that youconjured up in my last question,
are there any examples of thefeedback you've gotten where the

(29:38):
person's velocity from theissue to a favorable outcome was
such that when they shared itwith you you had a thought like
that was fast.
The impact from the thought,the idea, from your influence on
them to the impact of theirlife, not just the hey, Ryan,

(30:00):
thank you, I'm going to go do Xas a result, which is beautiful
too, but they actually can pointat or share with you.
And as a result of that work, Xhappened in a short amount of
time.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Any examples that come to mind A particular person
reached out about and I don'twant you to violate someone's
privacy, so if you can shareenough detail to give context
without violation, that would begreat there was one individual
that was really struggling witha longstanding, tumultuous

(30:40):
relationship with a parent,relationship with a parent, and
they were desperately wanting toshift that, recreate it, take
it down a different course, buteither didn't know how or

(31:00):
perhaps didn't feel theinvitation to right.
It occurred to me that thisindividual was making up stories
about how everything wouldn'twork, creating stories about how
things wouldn't work versusapproaching it with some
curiosity.
That well, what if I do go andhave a conversation with my

(31:21):
mother about these certainthings that have been really
wrecking our relationship foryears now, and with the intent
that maybe it doesn't instantlysolve it, but it opens the door

(31:42):
for us to work on it together,because not all of these changes
, especially if we're talkingabout influencing or creating
generational impact, isn'tinstantaneous.
How awesome would that be.
I did this one thing and it wasall gone, solved, and I think

(32:02):
about even the relationship withmy father and where that was
and where it's gone.
It took years of work, yearsand inconsistent.
So, going back, this individualand their relationship with her
mother, she, as a result of acombination of a podcast and

(32:24):
some things that I'd beenvulnerable about, had a
conversation with her mother andpoured her heart out on the
table.
Put it out there here.
Mom, I'm coming at you with aplace from love.
I love you.
I love you and I want ourrelationship to the next five

(32:53):
years to look completelyopposite of what the last five
years have.
I understand that I may havecontributed X, y, z and, and I
could see how that probablycould have made you feel.
What does that do?
It lowers her mom's walls.
Now her mom comes in and thesefolks are working towards a

(33:18):
beautiful relationship and talkto each other now and from my
understanding, I'm sure there'sprobably been bumps along the
road, but there's love at thecenter now that I believe they
both wanted to get through toeach other but perhaps we're

(33:42):
creating stories about how theycouldn't do it and one person
took one step, shared what theybelieve, contributed to it not
working well.
And here we are now and that'swhat I wish a lot of people
would understand about justabout anything in life, whether

(34:02):
it's repairing or breaking agenerational curse, launching a
podcast, running an ultramarathon, anything.
One person, one thing, one step.
Let's start there.
You want to run 100 miles?
Put your left foot in front ofyour right foot.

(34:23):
Or you want to run a marathon.
Put your left foot in front ofyour right foot.
Or you want to run a marathon?
Put your left foot in front ofyour right foot, put your shoes
on, go out the door, staycommitted.
Things will get better or youwill get closer to your desired
result.
I wish there was.
Rather, I feel that we don'toften take action towards the

(34:45):
things that we desire the mostbecause we create all of these
complexities that really aren'tthere, and that's something that
you've really taught me andmade such a huge impact on my
life.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
On Don't make this about me now.
This is your celebration, but Igive you credit for that.
I appreciate you for that.
I give you credit for that,thank you.
I love that story and that wasa result of a direct interaction
with you.
Or is that that person watchingone of your podcasts?

Speaker 1 (35:19):
A combination of.
I knew this person Right, theyhad listened to a particular
episode, because some of mysolos I mean I, I continue to
lay everything out on the table.
Yeah, and it's a form of sure,it's a form of healing for me
and becoming more grounded inthose things.
But more so I see it as it's aninvitation and encouragement to

(35:45):
others.
Hey, by being vulnerable or bytaking the opportunity to share
your story or what's going on,it doesn't need to be on a
podcast or the whole world, butjust get it out.
Even if you have to start juston paper and it's just with you,

(36:08):
great, let it out.
And then to one person, man,that's where I feel like you
really get to begin toexperience the endless
possibilities that we have forour lives.
And so how can I contribute tothat to the world?
Okay, well, this happens to beone vehicle in which, every

(36:31):
Monday, I get the opportunity todo that.
Maybe, and maybe, maybe it'sthat invitation for the one
person that needed it the most.
Whether they've listened to theepisode previously, to their
subscriber, this is their firstone they're listening to.
I believe it's an opportunity,week in, week out, and that's

(36:51):
one of the many reasons why wecontinue to come back, why we're
at 200 and why this is going tokeep going.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
Yeah, I guarantee it will if I have anything to do
with it.
So you speak about that firststep, that first just do the
first thing.
Do you still find times whenyou're just taking inventory of
your life where you discoverthere's a thing you haven't done

(37:20):
that about before?

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Is there anything if?

Speaker 2 (37:43):
I'm hearing you correctly that perhaps I deeply
desire that I haven't taken thefirst step towards yet, or maybe
you have, but not too long agoyou discovered hey, I haven't,
and I've gone to do it.
What I'm desiring to discover,from your perspective, and the
only one you could speak aboutaccurately is yourself what has

(38:06):
you, when you discover that andmaybe it's in the past for you,
which is fine what has you nothad taken that first step?

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Well, what occurs to me is most useful to share here
is being in a committedrelationship, and you know
Christina, my girlfriend.
Some folks know Christina.
Christina is the first womanthat I have.
We'll call it formally dated orcalled a girlfriend at the time

(38:41):
.
We've been together for abouttwo years now, but leading up to
that it's been seven yearswhere I intentionally shied away
from relationships, and that'sbecause the one prior to that I
thought I had life figured out.
When I graduated from here, thisbeautiful place that we're

(39:03):
sitting in, that we both callour home and our alma mater, I
thought I had life figured outin that I was dating a woman for
about two years.
That met at a leadershipconference in Atlanta.
She went to USC and we bothmoved out to St Louis.
She was going to graduateschool at Washington University,
which is a prestigious privateschool.

(39:25):
I had my job at Boeing, linedup in a prestigious rotation
program.
Life was made, I got it.
I got that.
I got it.
All I gotta do is work for thenext 20, 30 years, work my way
up the corporate ladder andwe're gonna get married, have
kids and it's just nothing elseto worry about and got one of

(39:48):
the another great gift in mylife that about a year in we had
just moved to a new place, gotthe dog we were volunteering at
a dog shelter.
Got our great Pyrenees Izzy andshe had a six-week break in
between year one and year two ofgraduate school Went to go
travel the world as one should.

(40:09):
When else are we going to havesix weeks off in our working
lives?
It's a little difficult.
Are we going to have six weeksoff in our working lives?
It's a little difficult.
And at the end of that I sensedthat something was off and I had
that similar gut feeling that Igot as a child when I knew
things were about to go down atthe house, and that intuition

(40:33):
has fortunately served me wellbut at times creates unnecessary
anxiety.
I came home from work andeverything was gone, Place
cleared out, and I wascompletely shaken.

(40:54):
And I was completely shaken.
And at that point the story Itold myself is relationships are
bad.
How did you get yourself inthis position?
How did you not see this coming?
You're a failure.
Look at what your parents havebeen through.
Your parents are divorced.
Look what you saw growing upwhen your father got caught Like

(41:17):
I'm not going to, I'm not goingto invest in a relationship.
So of course, in the meantime,over those seven years, I had
dated many great women.
But when it came time to thecommitment discussion, I was out
not willing to take a step, notwilling to open my heart up to

(41:42):
my own fault and continuing toleverage the story that I told
myself that I'm going to gethurt again.
No-transcript, and let's seewhat happens if I empty it.

(42:24):
And although the last two yearsthey haven't been perfect but
have grown I don't know whichrelationship is absolutely
perfect but have grown so muchand found really did what I told
other.
What I tell other people to dois you know, lower, lower your

(42:49):
walls and you get to experiencepossibilities.
Through this I've gotten toexperience a whole different
side of myself and work throughthe false stories that I've been
telling myself for seven years.
And now I get to catch myselfoccasionally when I might be

(43:09):
seeping back into that previousversion of oh, don't do that,
you're going to get hurt.
Hold on, what evidence do Ihave that supports that claim?
I don't, but that's somethingthat I'd say I'm proud of and
that I'm no longer living a lifewhere I feel that other people

(43:36):
are going to intentionally hurtme and I deserve to have loving
relationships and to createloving relationships.
And if that is true, then wemust step forward and be open to
this great woman here and herewe are, man I hope she watches

(44:00):
this, just that one segment.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
So I want to add a little bit of color to what you
said and with the intention ofit serving your listeners.
What I heard you say is inresponse to my question.
It's a beautiful example youused about what?
Has you not take that firststep?
It's a story and mostimportantly, or what I mine

(44:26):
within this idea of it being astory, is what accompanies that
story, at least in your case andI would say it's in every story
is there's a fear.
There's a fear of whateverhappened in the past is going to
happen again and it couldfreeze us.
And what I love about what youshared is most people can relate

(44:49):
to a relationship issue, maybenot as traumatic as coming home
to an empty house, but crossedwords with a spouse, a child,
who doesn't want to behave, andeven expand it more, ryan, which
is what I love what you justshared.
Someone takes a risk on abusiness and it fails, or

(45:12):
someone loses their job andthere's a withdrawal.
There's a, the stories thatcome with it and the the like
what you did for seven years.
I'm I can't say this like it'svery accurate, but it could be
somewhat.
You paid a cost for seven years.
Now it turned out fine,christina, and there's people

(45:34):
who are watching you right nowlearning from your story no pun
intended that they've got theirown stories.
That would hold them back fromtaking the first step in fill in
the blank, and we all get tofill in our own blanks.
Is that accurate?
Am I saying it back to you in away that's useful?
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, and that's why I believeit back to you in a way that's

(45:55):
useful.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Absolutely yeah, absolutely yeah, and that's why
I believe it's so important thatpeople are mindful and take
inventory of the stories thatthey're telling themselves.
I've found and this was as aresult of attending the Create

(46:19):
Powerful course two, three yearsago, maybe even longer than
that One of the most powerfulquestions that I believe one
could ask themselves, especiallyin a moment where they may be
finding themselves in creationof a story that they don't have
evidence to or that, oh, this isgoing to happen again, this
business is going to fail, thiswoman's going to cheat on me,
whatever the case may be, themost powerful question, one of

(46:42):
the most powerful questions, Ibelieve, is what makes that true
?
What makes that true right now?
How do you know, or what hasyou saying, that this business
is going to fail?
Is it because the last businessdid Well?
Is this business probably setup differently?
As a result of that, I wouldimagine?
Okay, but it's so easy to then,if we don't catch ourselves

(47:09):
auditing what's taking place inour minds, and perhaps ask that
question I'm sure there's otherones that could accompany that,
or that's just the one that Ihave in my arsenal that allows
me to then examine the evidence,and oftentimes I can't turn up
any evidence.
So keep going, keep going,folks.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
I that.
I find that to be very useful,even though that voice in your
head is screaming not to Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (47:41):
Yeah, and it will always visit you because we're
humans, obviously we're humanbeings, but that's our human
paying a little visit to yourshoulder.
I don't know if you can do that, jamie Ryan, I don't know if
you got it.
Man, I'm going to run 100 milestomorrow and I know, at some

(48:02):
point around a track 400 lapsaround Stonyfield to raise money
for a couple of nonprofits, I'mcertain that at some point that
human or that voice is going tocome visit me.
Maybe it's at mile 20.

(48:23):
Hey, you should slow down.
You might not make it, youmight not have what it takes,
and I can believe that and I canfind a way to justify, just
like many people can justify.
Yeah, maybe I don't have it.
What evidence do you have?
I've already ran 30 or 40 miles, so just keep going, don't let

(48:50):
this guy on the shoulder win.
We're more powerful than that.
We're powerful creators.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
By the way, I'm laughing at how casual you just
said.
Yeah, tomorrow's Friday at noonI'm going to run 100 miles.
I mean, most people don't liketo drive 100 miles.
But most importantly and Iwould say when people watch this
, it'll be after the fact it'llbe too late, but it goes to the
character of the man in front ofme Tell everyone why you're

(49:18):
running that 100 miles.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
Running 100 miles to raise money for two nonprofits
here in Charleston, southCarolina Charleston Hope and
Queston Recovery.
May is Mental Health MonthMental Health Month.
Both of these organizations arecommitted to improving mental
health in the lives of youth andyoung adults.

(49:40):
So this is what we'd like tosay is more than the miles.
So, by doing something reallychallenging and my friend, sean
Rhodes, started this idea, sothe credit all goes to Sean I
just so happen to beparticipating and running some
laps, but we are going to dosomething hard to inspire people

(50:04):
to challenge themselves in away that maybe they haven't
before and, as a result,encourage people, hey.
And, as a result, encouragepeople, hey, contribute.
If you want to run one lap, youcan contribute a dollar or $10
to run 10 laps.
Whatever you want to do, let'smake this an event where we're

(50:27):
going to challenge our bodiesand minds in service of others
and, as a result, we get to helptwo amazing, amazing
organizations.
So it's going to be a blast.
There's going to be dozens ofpeople out there running all
different distances.
What I find to be most specialabout this, having done a couple

(50:48):
of these through BreakingRibbons, is there's people that
will come out and run more thanthey ever have before, because
they're surrounded by a greatcompany that is committed to a
great cause.
So I can't wait to see thattomorrow there's going to be
people running their firstmarathons, their first ultra
marathons, their first 100 miles, their first five miles, and

(51:14):
all of it is going to be specialand we get to help people and
it's going to be a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
Yeah, that's inspiring.
Thank you, I'm so glad that youmentioned it.
We can't not say somethingabout the podcast on the 200th
episode, to be clear.
So 200 episodes, that's overthree and a half years, that's

(51:43):
46 months.
Have you skipped a single?

Speaker 1 (51:48):
week, not since week 64.
So when I first started I wasnervous, bought into the stories
.
What if no one listens?
What if no one subscribes?
What if the interview sucks?

(52:08):
All the things that stop peoplefrom the things that they want
the most.
So I remember I put out a few.
There was only one period oftime where there was a three
week gap, but that was in 2021.
But since then there have beenepisodes consistently, every,

(52:34):
every consistently, almost everyweek, until 64, but at 64 to
now 200 and now declaring to 300and beyond.
Not a single Monday missedsince 2022, september of 2022.
So this will be and that's whereI was sharing with you and even

(52:59):
with christina before coming inhere that sure that my streak
is 140 ish, something like that,weeks in a row, but I don't
really see it as something toquote celebrate.
It's just a part of who I am.
We don't really see it assomething to quote celebrate,
because it's just a part of whoI am.
We don't talk about how manydays in a row we showered, why?

(53:22):
Because it's hopefully a partof what we all should be doing
every day.
Yeah, jamie, I brushed my teeth365 days in a row, great.
Well, you should right.
This is something that I see asa part of me and bar none.

(53:42):
Every Monday, my commitment isto deliver, and knowing that
it's so much bigger than me,again, it's every Monday.
Sure, there's going to bepowerful conversations with
amazing guests all over theworld.
There's going to be more peoplethat I have the pleasure of

(54:05):
speaking with, just like you,jamie, and people will learn
from the guests.
But then also, again, I reallysee it as just something so much
bigger.
It's an invitation, it'sinspiration to do the thing that
maybe you've been wanting to dofor so long, and this just so
happened to get you over thehurdle.

(54:25):
Win today is way bigger thanRyan Cass way bigger than Ryan
Cass, and I'm really happy thatit's become that and am stoked
for what it will become in thefuture.

(54:46):
I was sitting here yesterday,actually in the room right
across from us, just journalingabout what is my ultimate dream
and where do I see things goingin life and when I really think
about this podcast and itspotential and just the direction

(55:08):
it's going.
Obviously, someday, I imaginethat this room we're sitting in
will be my own unique studio.
There'll be some differentstuff on the walls, more people
will be excited for every Monday, and perhaps even we get to the
point where it comes outmultiple times for a week and

(55:32):
more people are talking aboutthe impact and the
transformation that it's helpedcatalyze in their lives, because
it's not me that's doing it.
It's them making the choice andthey're doing the work.
Maybe this episode played thismuch of a role in it and that's

(55:52):
all we need.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
Yeah, and I want to give you a little more credit
than it's just like hey, Ishowered every day.
There are certain social normsand pressures that I believe
make like brushing your teeth ano-brainer, or hey, I've never
walked out of the house and goneto work in the nude, like

(56:16):
things like that.
What you're describing I'mgiving you a little more credit
than you are with the podcast isyou're taking extraordinary,
making it ordinary and, like Igive you credit and anyone can
do that Like you didn't likecorner the market on that, nor
did I, and I would want everyonewho's watching and listening,

(56:37):
who's been hearing your story,to know they've got their own
version of that they can do,whether it's tell my spouse I
love them every day, or go tothe gym every day, or you fill
in the blank.
So I just want to let you knowthat it's not as casual.
As you said, ryan, I see yourpodcast as an extension of you.

(57:02):
So over the past, well, it'sbeen more than just 3.8 years
because you've had some breaksin the first 64.
Can you identify when you thinkabout your earlier podcasts and
coming right up until the lastone I saw, which is 199, when

(57:23):
you think about how you showedup to them.
Can you draw some?
Can you put language to someparallels in what's been going
on in your life, as far as youevolving and transforming
outside the podcast?
That is reflected in how youbring yourself as the host to

(57:43):
the podcast.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
So, if I understand that, or for the way I interpret
that is, what are some externalinfluences that have
contributed to the podcast?
What do you see?
How has that evolved over time?

Speaker 2 (58:01):
In you as the host of the podcast.
What's happening outside thathas the impact on you?
I'll call this inside in thepodcast oh man.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
All sorts of things.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
A couple that stand out.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
When I think back to the beginning, to present day,
and some of the things that have, I'd say, enhanced the podcast
over time that perhaps have beenattributed to things going on
outside of the podcast.
First, as I've releasedepisodes that have really dug

(58:49):
into things, that certain thingsthat I've never shared with
anybody else but have been openenough to share here, and then
receiving the feedback of howthat's greatly benefited other
people, it's made me even moreexcited to one.

(59:09):
It's made me more confident asa, as a host, as an interviewer,
as a solo producer, sometimesof just me on the camera.
It has greatly impacted myconfidence there.
But I'm a student outside ofthis and as I've become this and

(59:40):
as I've become more and moreinvested into the pod, where
it's going, where I believe itcan go, I've taken what I've
seen from some of the folks thatI admire the most, whether
they're podcast hosts, whetherthey're performance coaches, and
made my best effort toincorporate that into my
language, into the types ofquestions that I'm going to ask.

(01:00:03):
I've found that I've been ableto create much deeper
conversations with guests andreally get into the extract, the
meat and bones that maybe theyhaven't shared on other shows.
Um, what I'm getting at is I'vefound that by deeply investing

(01:00:29):
in personal development andagain I'll give credit to where
it's due and really because thisis true to me and that by
investing in resources andcourses such as Create Powerful
and truly doing the work totransform myself, I'm finding

(01:00:51):
that the level of conversationsthat are taking place here now,
whether it's with a guest orwith just me pouring something
out into the world, hassubstantially enhanced the show,
its perceived value and benefitto listeners.

(01:01:11):
So this isn't just me casuallylogging on.
All right, I'm going to get myepisode out there on Monday.
This is work and it's a lot ofintense study outside of here.
I believe success leaves cluesand while I'd say I'm not
chasing fame or notoriety, I doagain envision this show being

(01:01:36):
much more highly recognized thanit is now because of the
underlying mission and intentthat this is what helps create
change in people's lives andinvitations, week in and week
out, for people to experiencethe best version of themselves.

(01:01:58):
And in order for that to betrue and take place, I've got to
constantly invest in myself,study myself.
What were my interviews likeback then?
What sounds good, what doesn't?
Let's make some changes here sothat we can continue to deliver

(01:02:21):
on the value.
And I'm sure when I go onepisode 400, I'm going to listen
to episode 200 or 300 and saywho is that guy, just like I do
in the early episodes.
I still go back and listen tothem sometimes.
Sometimes I get hard on myselfand say put that out there.

(01:02:41):
What the heck was that?
But being my own scienceexperiment has gotten this show
to where it is now, and it's mycommitment to show up in the
best way possible to whoever isgraciously paying me the time

(01:03:04):
and attention on a Monday orwhenever they tune in, that
they're going to get somethingthat's going to help them grow.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Yeah, thank you.
I love that.
When you and I were talking acouple of days ago in prep for
this, there are three thingsthat you shared with me and I
would love for you to speak intothem and with whatever is on
your heart or your mind to share, and the first of the three

(01:03:34):
which I love was you can createanything.
So what is it about that ideathat you would want to share
right now?

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
I believe we're all powerful creators, and that's
something that has evolvedsubstantially over the last few
years, in that the only thingthat we can't do is whatever we
say we can't do.
What has me so convicted inthat is, even if we look at this

(01:04:09):
journey right here, go back tothe very, very beginning, and
really how I describe myself topeople sometimes is I'm just a
man keeping a promise to alittle boy, because I remember
there was a particular night inmy life.
Police showed up at our homeand there'd been many nights

(01:04:31):
like this, but my dad had justgotten caught Not to go too deep
into that, and I promisedmyself that day that I'm never
going to carry this on as a six,seven-year-old kid.
I'm never going to put myfuture family through this and
the people that I love throughthis right now, and I've never

(01:04:52):
lost sight of that.
But if a kid that grew up in abroken household, that was angry
at the world, that wasn't themost athletically gifted and
perhaps didn't put a whole lotof investment into academics

(01:05:13):
until we ended up right here,can go on to then create now a
top 2%, globally performingpodcast and a few other cool
things that you said about me,so can you, so can anybody
listening.
It's available.

(01:05:35):
Whatever you want trulywhatever you want is available
to you when you can push pastwhatever story you're telling
yourself, or rather, when youunderstand whatever story you
may be telling yourself.
That's holding you back.
I wasn't a gifted runner.
Growing up, I was one of theslowest kids on my team.

(01:05:58):
I used to throw up afterbaseball practice when we'd do
long Indian runs.
And here we are now about to goand run 100 miles tomorrow,
having ran the Boston Marathonand qualified three years in a
row having ran 150 miles.

(01:06:18):
I don't say that to toot my ownhorn.
I say that again to go back tothere was a time in my life
where I thought running 10 mileswas impossible, thought that
running 10 miles was impossible.
One thing, one action, one step.

(01:06:42):
Repeat that again and again andagain and again and again.
Put out a podcast episode everyMonday.
Again and again and again andagain and again.
Study where you haveopportunities to improve.
Take action on that.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.

(01:07:03):
You can do anything Like.
I don't see why this couldn'tbecome one of the top podcasts
in the world.
What's it going to take?
Keep showing up, keep studyingthe craft, sharpening the craft,
if someone listening wanted tostart a show or launch a

(01:07:24):
business.
It's not going to turn into anovernight wonder tomorrow.
I wish it does.
I'm sure we all do.
I'm rooting for you, whoever'slistening.
But I believe that's one thingthat we have such an opportunity

(01:07:45):
that we may have lost sight ofand that may perhaps social
media may have can wronglydissuade us or persuade us that
all these things come instantly.
You know, here's my 30 secondreel to show you when you're
really willing to put forth thecountless hours towards whatever
it is it's most that occurs toyou is most meaningful,

(01:08:07):
important.
You can do it.
You already have all the toolsyeah and I'm just.
I continue to prove myself rightwith that and in doing so,
share the lessons with people soperhaps they can get there
faster, but ultimately so theycan see hey, you can do this,

(01:08:34):
you can do this.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
It reminds me of a quote.
Whether you think you can oryou think you cannot, you're
right.
Henry Ford, one of my favorites.
Yeah, very appropriate.
The second thing you said andwe've touched upon it.
So if there's anything else yousaid and I love this
consistency wins, and you justtalked about it as part of the

(01:08:57):
first one.
Is there anything else aboutconsistency that you would want
to say or haven't said?

Speaker 1 (01:09:05):
I believe it could be summed up in that consistency
always wins.
But rather, a lot of people mayask how can you be so
consistent?
Perhaps sharing some thingsthat have helped to remain so
consistent may be a benefit tofolks listening.

(01:09:26):
So this podcast has come out140-ish weeks in a row, every
Monday, without fail, just as anexample.
Part of what keeps meconsistent outside of this is an
invitation every Monday, and Isee it as a tool to help people
grow, and that's my, I feel, ismy commitment to make a

(01:09:46):
difference in this world,commitment to make a difference
in this world.
I declare exactly where this isgoing when episode 100 came out
and when you commented on thatpost roughly two years ago.

(01:10:08):
Now we're literally right onschedule and by putting it out
there in the world that, hey,we're going to hit number 200
and 300 and 400.
I value being my word and Idon't want to put something out
in the world that I'm going tohave 300 episodes.
So 100 weeks from today or fromthe release of this episode,

(01:10:31):
episode number 300 will come out.
That's my declaration and nowit's my opportunity to go and
execute on that, because I valuebeing my word.
So, people, when you share yourgoals with a group of people, or
when you write down your goalsor write down what you're going
to do, studies show you're 42%more likely to accomplish it

(01:10:54):
because now it's mentallyprogrammed in your mind.
When you share it with a groupof people, studies show that
you're roughly 70% more likelyto accomplish it.
So how can you become 70% morelikely to accomplish anything in
this world?
Be clear on what it is thatyou're gonna, that you're gonna
do.
Put it out there.
If you value being your word,you're you're gonna take more

(01:11:19):
action than you would have hadnobody known about it.
Yeah, and that's.
That's my simple playbook fordeveloping consistency.
It's all simple, by the way itis.

Speaker 2 (01:11:29):
It's all simple by the way it is, it's all simple.
You said something when wefirst started about the
complexities and I smiled,because we, as human beings, are
masterful at making everythingmore complex it needs to be, and
we make messes as a result,ryan.
The third thing you said wasabout the work being therapeutic
in its relationship to yourrelationship with the past.

(01:11:53):
What would you want to shareabout that?

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
yeah, when I shared the greatest gift I've ever
received in my life and I'msmiling about it again.
There was a time in my lifewhere one period those years
growing up certainly was notseen as the greatest gift in my

(01:12:15):
life, nor was I in a place torecognize it as such.
The more that I speak on it andshare and extract the goodness
from it, and share and extractthe goodness from it, I feel as

(01:12:39):
if it's the more that I becomefriends with it or at peace with
it and I've found it to help meheal, and that when I talk
about it now, it's not that Icompletely forget all of the
difficult times.
Those are very vivid memories,but what's present for me is how

(01:13:01):
this has created this right now, today, and all of the good
that has come from it and by, Ibelieve, by talking about the
things and studying the thingsnot just talking about it, but
really studying the things thatmay have been most impactful in

(01:13:22):
your life and maybe, at the time, very traumatic and painful you
can wire yourself toimmediately focus on how that's
helped you versus how thatbrought you down.
I shared another one in thatwhen I came home from work that

(01:13:46):
one day in St Louis,everything's gone.
I remember I fell to my knees,I was crying, everything.
I was bawling, thought that Iwas a failure, and I can tell
you, with a smile on my face,that's another just amazing
thing that happened for me.
I believe things only happen forus in life, not to us, when we

(01:14:09):
train ourselves to view it fromthe lens of growth and
opportunity.
How do you do that?
Study it, spend time with it.
Again, you don't need to put itout in a podcast If you do,
great, but get it out of yourmind, put it on something, and

(01:14:32):
then you'll see the things thatmaybe you would have never seen
before.
And so when I do share thesethings, even right now, again,
this is a therapeuticconversation in that I know I
believe to be true that withoutthose things, I don't know if I

(01:14:57):
would, if I would have ended uphere, if we would have come to
to know each other and build anamazing relationship and God
knows what else you know.
But I wouldn't trade thosethings for the world.
And it's my wish that,obviously, if we got to write
the book of our lives, if weowned every chapter, there would

(01:15:23):
be no divorces, there would beno adultery.
There would be no these crimes,these heinous things that we
see on the news that isheartbreaking.
There would be none of that.
But weous things that we see onthe news that is heartbreaking.
There would be none of that.
But we don't get to write allthe chapters.
We get to write most of themand we get to write many
chapters as a result of thechapters that we didn't have

(01:15:46):
full control of.
But we always have control ofour response and my response to
those things is man, so muchgood, so much good.

Speaker 2 (01:15:58):
Yeah, ryan, when we first began, I sort of teased a
date and it's one of thechapters that you didn't write
January 23rd 2019, and you'vespoken about it before getting
hit by the vehicle and being inthe hospital.
And one thing that I took fromwhat you shared is what I guess

(01:16:21):
you can call a gift.
You experienced both of yourparents in the hospital room and
maybe for the first time in along time or as far as you can
recollect, they could actuallybe in a room together.
And I'm sort of glossing overall the details only because
you've shared it before, but Idon't want to miss anything

(01:16:44):
that's important.
The question I have as you'veevolved, like you think about it
now, here we are in 2025 andyou think back to six years ago
do you learn anything new?
And I'm just using thatexperience simply for the

(01:17:04):
purpose of the question, andit's a chapter Do you learn
anything new?
Thinking about it now, like, asyou evolve, do you see it
differently, and does yourlessons learned evolve about it?

Speaker 1 (01:17:15):
Absolutely yeah, and I believe that's where you can
read a book one time, learnsomething.
You can read a book for theseventh time in a row and feel
as if you're discoveringsomething for the first time,
like wait, that wasn't there.
It's like no, yeah, it was thewhole time, but you may not have

(01:17:36):
been awake to it at that moment, so it couldn't speak to you
the way it is right now.
So when I think back to wakingup in that hospital room and
seeing my parents there, afteryou know, I just got hit by an
suv and they're, of course,amicable.

(01:17:57):
Now, one thing I I think aboutis or that that has come clear
to me more recently, as now Ishare the lesson with others is
we're often holding on to thingsfor no reason other than we

(01:18:19):
think we need to hold on to it.
That that instant right there,that instance, was a clear
example that, had I not been hitby that car and my parents were
in this room right now, if itwas January 23rd 2019, if they
were in this room, just thethree of us normally wouldn't be

(01:18:42):
fun.
Why?
Because at the time, a lot ofexperiences, memories,
resentment from the previous 20years were all coming back up to
life and they would go at it.
Now their son is, I want to say, a life-threatening situation,

(01:19:04):
but I know that there were.
I mean, I guess if you get hitby a car going 40 miles an hour,
that's pretty life-threatening.
I guess if you get hit by a cargoing 40 miles an hour, that's
pretty life-threatening, butfortunately I wasn't in the ICU
or anything, but I was about topotentially go under an
emergency surgery.
They realize none of this stuffmatters.
That's why I believe it'simportant to really examine what

(01:19:28):
do we have in the backpackright now.
Sometimes I feel as if we'requick to blame or judge people
for responding to certain thingsin the way that they are Not to
justify a poor response fromsomebody or somebody acting in a
certain manner.
But it's important tounderstand.
Hey, what was it about thatmoment that may have bugged you

(01:19:54):
so much?
If you were walking around witha 50-pound rucksack all day and
it's the end of the day, you'reprobably pretty darn tired,
probably not going to have awhole bunch of tolerance for
things that maybe you would havehad you been fully energized in

(01:20:17):
that moment.
We often, I believe, walk aroundwith things in a 50-pound
rucksack filled with a bunch ofjunk that we don't need.
That, then dictates our currentreality, and so what has become

(01:20:39):
more clear to me about thatmoment, and my reminder to
myself and to others, orencouragement to others, is what
are you holding on to right now.
That is not serving you well,and if you were to let go of it,
what would happen?
What would the result be?
I'll probably be way happier orI'll feel less stressed.

(01:21:02):
Okay, why don't we drop it?
Most people can't justifyholding on to the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:21:12):
No, but they'll still hold on to it Like your parents
.
Yeah, but you were a catalystfor them to, at least in that
amount of time, drop a storyenough to where they could
coexist in a room.
Yeah, yeah, it's prettyremarkable.
I wouldn't recommend anyone gethit by a car to get their
parents to do that.

(01:21:32):
But it's likely those storieswere their identity.
Like it's yeah, it's a powerfulexample of dropping a story and
then what's possible when youdo yeah, yeah, it's amazing,
it's a beautiful thing, it is.
Ryan, before we wrap up, isthere anything that's present

(01:21:55):
for you, given the opportunityand I know that you don't want
to make too big a deal about 200, because it's just another
episode, but it's a milestone Isthere anything that I haven't
asked you or that you haven'tspoken into, that's inside of
you that you absolutely want toget out right now and share with
the listeners?

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
I'll go back to, everyone has the tools they
already need.
I love to beat that one intothe ground and I really do
believe, hey, if I can do this,so can anyone else.

(01:22:35):
Whether it's a podcast oranything, I wish and I can't
reiterate it enough that peopleget to experience themselves as
powerful creators and that theytruly possess the ability to do

(01:22:57):
anything, and I mean literallyanything.
Maybe we could put a tinyasterisk in there, jamie, that,
uh, let's say, you and I wantedto be an nba center.
We might need to wear stilts orsomething like that, but
generally speaking, outside ofthat, and not to say it's
totally impossible, right, itwould only be us putting that
confine on ourselves.

(01:23:17):
But generally speaking,whoever's listening, you can do
anything.
Yeah, you have what it takesright now.

Speaker 2 (01:23:27):
Yeah, and while you use a dramatic example or an
extreme example of an MBA centerand I agree with you where we
pay a price with what you'retalking about is in the little
things, the things that are soreachable and doable, exactly

(01:23:47):
like we would trying to be anMBA center.
It's that big in our minds.
It's the separated parents whowould fight to the death because
of the stories they held.
And if someone could, I hopethat one person out there heard
what you said several times thatyou've already got it inside of
you.
You're enough.

(01:24:07):
You have the tools.
Drop the stories.
Yeah, thank you.
You're enough.
You have the tools.
Drop the stories, yeah, thankyou.
So, ryan, on this podcast, welike to finish with something
that you like to call the rapidfire session, and for those who
haven't, and the shorthand forit is, you know, one gem, one
step, one book, and you did itto me.

(01:24:29):
I'm going to do it back to you.
So, for the folks who are newto this, if we were in an
elevator going up and we'regoing up three floors and a new
person came on each floor andthey ask you a question, which
I'm going to ask you related toone gem, one step and one book.
You've got basically the timeit takes, not basically you have
the time it takes for theelevator to go one floor to give

(01:24:49):
them response to the next.
So, for one gem, what's onequote?
One quote, one mantra,something that you live by or
drives you or inspires you, thatI could take, put in my back
pocket because I just got on thefirst floor, that would
instruct me towards taking thatfirst step.

(01:25:09):
What would it be?

Speaker 1 (01:25:11):
Well, I appreciate you preserving the tradition
here and we're still going upthe elevator.
So one gem is one step, oneaction, one person.
Take one step.
Take towards what you want.
Take one action, help oneperson.
You will change your realityand make a.

(01:25:35):
Now the camera in which themicrophones were connected to
for this discussion died.
So the last two questions isone step and one book.
Jamie asked what's one step todevelop more consistency and
achieve your goals, and thesimple answer is write down what

(01:25:56):
you want, share it with a groupof people, take action towards
it.
And the next question, and thelast one that we always close
with, is what's one book thatyou recommend people read in
2025 to enhance their mindsetsand go on this goal-setting
journey and live their bestlives?
Atomic Habits by James Clear.

(01:26:18):
That is, in my view, one of thepersonal development Bibles.
This was such an amazingconversation with Jamie and I
can't thank him enough forcoming on here and interviewing
me on WIN today for episodenumber 200.

(01:26:39):
And I can't thank y'all enough.
Whether you're listening tothis for the very first time or
you've been a listener, you'vebeen a loyal listener.
I really appreciate you guys,and every Monday truly is an
invitation to step into yourgreater being, to move closer

(01:27:04):
towards your goals, to take astep that you wouldn't have
taken perhaps if it wasn't for apowerful discussion like this.
Perhaps if it wasn't for apowerful discussion like this,
we're going to go to 300, 400,500.
Continue changing lives,continue improving and enhancing
the show I believe this isstill very much in its infancy,
but we're not stopping is goingto become the show that I often

(01:27:33):
share as a dream, meaning thatthis show someday is taking up a
lot more of my time, in thatit's basically like a full-time
job.
I can't wait.
No doubt it'll happen when youreally focus on optimizing your

(01:27:58):
being and focusing on a processof becoming, versus arriving at
destinations anything that youwant in this life.
It's never a matter of if.
It's only a matter of when.
Thank you so much.
Let's go, you.

All Episodes

#200 | You Can Turn Life Into Anything: A Deeper Dive Into My Journey Ft. Jamie Damsker [Guest Interviewer]

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Boysober

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#200 | You Can Turn Life Into Anything: A Deeper Dive Into My Journey Ft. Jamie Damsker [Guest Interviewer]