Sean Swarner - If you woke up with amnesia, how would you act if you were told you had special ops training

Hello and welcome to Wiley on Business a podcast where we explore how individuals and companies make dramatic breakthroughs and transform their businesses from a job to an enterprise with real value by enabling others to realize their full potential by being crystal clear on the vision of the business. My name is Jake Wiley and over my nearly two decades of business experience and client service owning a business as well as being a CFO, I've had the opportunity to see the difference between slugging it out to stay above water and exponential growth. On this podcast, I interview amazing leaders who have figured it out to get their perspectives on how they do it, and share it with you. His first goal was to crawl up eight feet from the hospital bed to the bathroom. He went on to redefine impossible by climbing 29,000 feet to the top of Mount Everest with just one lesson. From there, he has stood atop the highest point on all seven continents. He skied to the south and north pole and completed the Hawaii Ironman. I'm really excited to have Sean's wonders today's guest. Today, Shawn leads a series called The summit challenge, which is a series of challenges that reprograms your mind to overcome any obstacle holding you back from achieving what you want most in life. His message is right on point with everything we discussed in this podcast in terms of getting out of your own way. And I think you're gonna enjoy the discussion. Well, Shawn, thank you so much for taking the time with me. I'm really excited. I know that you probably do know this, but I'm enrolled in the summit challenge, which I know we'll get into and I've got some some thoughts and you know, some experiences already thus far. We'll hopefully get a chance to chat about some of that, too. But I guess to start it off, it would be great. You know, tell us a little bit about what's going on in your world right now. what's what's important to you?

What's going on my world? Well, first of all, this is not a real background. swaying palm trees in the ocean. That's a fake background. But it The beach is literally three blocks that way. So I'm, I'm in Puerto Rico right now. I married a lady who was born and raised here. Actually, we just we got married two years ago, February nights, we just celebrated our 10th anniversary. Happy anniversary. Thank you very much appreciate it, though. We're we're down here trying to turn her house into an Airbnb getting away from the coal because last I checked on my my nest thermostat at home in Colorado, I think it was 27 below or something crazy like that. So obviously had to turn up the heat call the neighbors and say like, Hey, you know, Don, can you can you go in there and check to make sure we don't have any broken pipes. I don't want to go home, we'll pull in my basement. But what's important to me is getting back, you know, knowing what my personal core values are and in helping elevate other people to to unique and levels they never thought they could be. And I mean, a perfect example is, every year I pick a group up Kilimanjaro as a fundraiser for a cancer charity. And with the cancer climber Association, what we do is we actually pay for a survivors trip every year. And then that survivor has to raise funds for next year's survivor kind of paying it forward. So anyone can go and I think I even I even asked you like Hey, man, you're killing anyone can go. But what what the biggest joy I get isn't the challenge. So I've been up to those Kilimanjaro now 20 times, the biggest kick I get the biggest fulfillment I get is getting people to the top. And it's it's almost like Christmas, you get to now I was gonna say an age, but you get to a stage in your life, where you get more out of giving gifts than you do receiving gifts. Like when you give your wife or your kids a gift. And the look on their faces is priceless. You know, knowing that you're changing their lives, or you're making them happy or whatever. The same thing about going up Kilimanjaro when people get up there. It's they always come up to me, you know, here's just slowing down. Because we wake up at 10 or 11pm all night long. When they get up there. A they're like what like, I'm gonna sell this to you're gonna kill it. Yeah, I'm gonna sign up first, right before you die. Because they're like walking zombies, you know, and then the sun starts to come up and it's the most beautiful sunrise ever. But when you get to the top because you're just physically exhausted, emotionally exhausted, mentally exhausted. And you've been going after this goal for the past, you know, say a minimum of six months you've been training for six months for the site. And then here it is the combination of all that work. And everybody always comes up to me just in tears hugging me and they always say thank you for getting me here. My response is always the same. I say, I didn't get you here. So in the in that split second that in that split moment, I can see the light kind of go off. You know, and then empowerment, you know. So I think in my life, I like being the guy to help others achieve amazing things. Because I've been there, I've done that. And yes, I love pushing myself and going beyond the limits. But I really help people, I really enjoy helping people understand how they can do it.

That's awesome. And I think, you know, you mentioned the core values, which is one of the first steps in the summit challenge, which we'll get to in a second, which I think is was kind of eye opening for me, which you obviously probably expected that. But, you know, I think, why don't you tell us a little bit of backstory about how you got to be where you are, right? Because, you know, I would assume everybody knows, but that may not be true.

Yeah, no, not a problem. So I actually, Reader's Digest version. I'm 13 years old, I was diagnosed with advanced stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma. So my, you know, the cup of my teen years, here I am, eighth grade. And the doctor says, My parents, your firstborn son had three months to live. And no one wants to hear that, you know, especially someone who was completely outdoors, he completely athletic. I was a normal kid from Midwest, Ohio. You know, I had everything going for me. And little did I know that a knee injury that I got when I was playing basketball would end up changing my life forever. So I remember laying in the hospital bed and getting these tubes popped into me or these tubes put on my body. And I remember getting the chemo and ballooning up 60 pounds. I loved it. And I hate it. I loved it. Because I was 13 like I said, and I was getting a lot of attention, like the cheerleaders would come visit me I was like, awesome on a milk that's for housewares. But the truth of the matter is, even now when I look in the mirror, I still see that ball 50 pounds overweight role in my eyes. And because it was so impacting on my life, and so impactful in my life. In fact, I remember one morning I woke up and my hair was just coming out in chunks, you know, and I knew that was going to happen. So I went into the shower, and my hair all of it came out in that that time I was in the shower, and I remember collapsing to my hands and knees and just weeping I lost 60 pounds overweight and bald from head to toe. Right my eyeballs out pulling chunks of hair on the drain. So the water could could go down. You know imagine being in that situation where you you pretty much are hopeless. You don't you know fit in anywhere you you're thinking about your neighbor who's you know, across the street, two houses down? And what what's he doing when he's getting ready for school the same day that you're back on the shower floor? time? So I'm thinking okay, well, he's probably over there, worried about the latest hairstyle, latest shoes, whatever it might be. I'm literally over here on the shower floor worried about limit. So I was actually it was also in that same moment where I started looking at life a little bit differently. And I think this is where the whole beginning start. I didn't want to focus on not dying. I wanted to focus on living. And you can look at to from index on third I was 13 years old. And it is it boggles my mind how this stuff came to me. Because it I think literally it forced me to grow up. And I also realized in that moment, I pretty much had two choices, I can fight for my life or give up and die. And I obviously I didn't want to die I wanted to fight for my life. But going back to what I was saying about you know going after living as opposed to avoiding not dying. It's like if you if you walk down the street and you're telling yourself Don't trip don't trip, you're gonna fall on your face. But if you look at it from a different perspective, and you tell yourself stand tall walks, strong, same concept, different way of looking at it, but one's negative and one's positive and people don't even understand that. You know, you're pretty much drawn towards what you what your mind is on. Even if you tell yourself to not do something, it's still negative. Another example say you're leaving the house Don't forget to do something you know, don't forget to turn off the iron Don't forget stuff. So whatever we do you forget it, you know or you're going somewhere else. Don't forget the keys for that. Don't forget that your mind is focused in built that way. So that's what I learned when I was 13. And my first goal was literally to crawl eight feet from the hospital bed to the bathroom so I wouldn't soilless sheets so then I was Thankfully, I wasn't knock on wood. I was in remission for about a year from the first camp. And when I found that I was diagnosed with a second primary cancer completely unrelated to the first one, this time, I was 16 years old. And the doctors told my parents that I had an expiration date of 14 days this time around. So I know you have kids, but can you imagine a doctor saying, Hey, your firstborn is gonna be dead in two weeks?

Now, I mean, I, you know, from your story, you know, I, we actually sat down as a family and watched the movie. And, you know, just, I think I'm at an age now where, one, I can look back and say, like, what was I concerned about when I was 13? And just the Compare and contrast, like, to your point was, you know, like, is, is my hair looking good? Are my jeans stonewashed enough? You know, like, are they the right color? You know, like, Did we get this right? You know, is my la gear shoes like, do they light up enough? Like, those are the things that I was literally worried about? Probably when I was 13. And, you know, for you to kind of have some of those realizations and then kind of sit down and watch this movie with my family. And like, looking at my kids and seeing that, and just like I couldn't, I don't know how your parents did it.

You know, they're there. They're tremendous people. I've seen the movie, it's on Amazon Prime clubs. truenorth. But I've seen it probably 5060 times. And every time I watch it, my mom makes me tear up. I call her Mom, come on. What are you doing to me? But it's, I think life is all about perspective. You know, what you went through and what most normal, you know, normal people do, when they're teenagers is perfectly fine. It just, you have to understand that whoever you are in life, you know, where you are, in this moment, is because of all those seemingly mundane choices and decisions you've made in your past. In all those decisions have become a habit. So that's, that's what I learned in going through the second cancer, I was in a coma for a year in my life, and I only have one functioning lung because of it. You know, but because of what I went through, I've learned how to breathe, you know, and it's not off here to start a panic attack, you know that that's what most people do when they get nervous. They have this shallow breathing, right? When you're a baby, and when you're sleeping, maybe except for nightmares. Right sleeping, you know, you're breathing through your diaphragm. That's how you're supposed to breathe to utilize the full function of our lungs, which I've had to do consciously because only this one works. I have both but only my left one works. So practice and practice and practice year after year after year. It's become stronger and bigger. And I probably can't see it. But my left chest, my ribs actually stick out further. So I'm a little I'm a little deformed on my left side, but it works. Right, right. And then moving forward after that. I started well, we'll skip over my college years because I turned into Belushi from Animal House. I had a great time. My my, my values were a little different, cuz I think it was reliving my high school year that everything that was taken from me. But then I went to grad school and I was working on my masters and my doctorate down in Florida. And I wanted to be a psychologist for cancer patients. I figured I had a lot to offer, right? Well, while I was working towards my doctorate, I actually dropped out, I was working for jobs. And incident happened where I realized, look, if I continue down this path in my life, then I'm not going to be the person I want to become. So again, I started I was being pulled back by my my Midwest morals and ethics. You know what I call now my personal core values. And that's when I decided to climb Everest and use that literally as the highest platform in the world to scream Oh, and be the first cancer survivor to climb members. The left one my brother and I came with me. We packed up our Honda Civic, and we moved out west. And I will one of the reasons is because the highest point in Florida is the the top of the Four Seasons Hotel and and I know you're sitting at like 11,000 feet in Colorado. Right, right. Right. It's a big difference. You mungus Yeah. So then after that you're training and understanding that the concept of consistency is more important than intensity. You know, I actually was climbing the mountains and I did something every day to get my body ready. Because when I went to Colorado 10 months later, I was leaving for Nepal. And I started with Everest. So I started with the highest mountain in the world and people thought it was physiologically impossible to climb. Mount Everest with half half the lung capacity. But eventually I did. Yeah, most people like yeah, you're kind of crazy. But I did and I honestly think one of my favorite quotes is by Nelson Mandela. And it's it always seems impossible until it's done. Right. You know, going back to the what was it the four minute mile, right? Yep. Roger Bannister. Exactly. Once he did it, then how many other people that even high schools have done it, right. Same thing with anything in life. You know, if you don't think it's possible, if you think it's possible, if you don't think it's possible, you're right. Right. So then after Everest, I went and I climbed the highest mount on every continent ski to both poles. That's called explorers Grand Slam, which I think is a 73. It sounds like a Denny's breakfast platter, right. And then he and then completed the Hawaii Ironman triathlon. And I'm the, I'm the only person that worlds has ever accomplished all that. But going back to my purpose of what means most to me, is it started with Everest, and on the highest mountain on every continent, north south poles. And in Hawaii, I had a flag that had names of people touched by cancer, and whether they're in remission right now, whether they're fighting for the lives, or unfortunately, as we all know, people pass away, in moved on Memorial level, as a memorial. So my passion comes from people who are touched by cancer people who are going through a difficult time. And every time I see something difficult that gets in my way that wants to stop me, I think of everybody who is battling for the liars, and that keeps me going. But I also think of the end result and everything I've learned along the way to accomplish what no one in history has ever done before.

You know, there's, um, there's a quote that's on your website. And I'm gonna botch it, probably, but it really, really resonates with me. And I don't even know if it's a quote, or if it's just a saying, but it's like, you imagine if you're in a coma, right, and you wake up and you have amnesia, and you have no idea who you are. And people come in and tell you like, Hey, you were a former, special operative, you know, or you were this. So like, your mind starts to reframe around those ideas. And I think, to me, that was like one of those things that just registered immediately, you know, because you just assume that kind of like your day, and your life is a continuation of what it was yesterday. And like, there's momentum and inertia that keeps carrying you forward. And I think about that every day, right? Is it when i wake up? What am I doing? And is this like the life that I want to lead? And then if I'm like, Well, you know, but I've got to do this. And I got to do that. Like, this is what happens every morning. And then I think about like that, that what you put on your website there was like, What if I just woke up and I had no idea what I did yesterday. And somebody told me this, like, what would I do what I do something differently? And the short answer is yes. And we're going to get to this in like kind of the core values. But my question to you because it goes really fast. I think in the movie in the book in the story, even here is you're in Florida, right? And you just decide one day, I'm gonna do this right. And like the transition is massive for me, right? You go from, I'm going to be a psychologist or psychiatrist in for cancer survivors. And I'm sorry, I can't remember which one my wife's a psychologist. So I always assume that's what it is. Like, ologists Yeah, but you just have one day like, Nope, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna climb Everest, I'm gonna move to Florida. I'm gonna live in my car. We're just gonna figure this thing out. I've convinced my brother to go with me. Like, what? What happened there? Like, how did you like make just that absolute, like 180 shift? I mean, I know it's not a 180 because like, where you're trying to head you thought you're gonna help people but you're like, No, I'm gonna do this completely different thing. Like, can you talk about that for a second? Because that's that's the piece that just blows my mind.

There. I kind of alluded to it. There's there was an event that happened. And I guess I'll just tell a story. Okay, I was I was bartending at one of the largest clubs in Jacksonville. Right. I was the the guy that was selling the liquor blowflies I have a bottle here and blow fire everything. And I was having a wonderful time making at that day. What I thought at the time was a lot of money. And I thought I was you know, hot. You know what? So I remember one night, I was working there. And a girl came up, I thought she was beautiful. She comes up with she asked me Can I have sex on the beach and your phone number? So I'm thinking inside I'm thinking, yeah, this is awesome, right? The outside I'm thinking, you know, a planet cool. Sure. Here you go, no problem. And I didn't give her my number. And this happened three or four times throughout the night. And as you can imagine, later on, she she came up and she was not exactly filbur and she looked at me she said, You know my my friends left me here. Take me home. And again inside I'm like, Yes, you know, but on the outside, I played it. Cool. So we got my, in that same Honda Civic that I mentioned, we got in the Honda Civic. No, I know every every girl love those. Yeah. And we were driving up and over a bridge over the intercoastal. And on the way down, I hear this coming from the passenger side. Wonderful, right? So I immediately pull over, open the door, she gets like the devil out of the door, she closes the door, I get where she's gonna like where she lives. Before she passes out, I pull up to the parking lot right outside her apartment, go around the outside of the Honda, pick her up and I carry her up three flights of stairs, right in my arms. And I'm holding here my arms, and I'm kicking the door at this point, and somebody comes in or somebody answer the door. And I just go I shout her out. And I'm like, does she belong to anybody, right. And I look inside, there's a pop on Chairman, there's little pops on chairs all around. So I walked in there, put her down and like the pop was on chair, there were a handful of people in there. And probably like three or four in the morning because I was you know, working the night shift there. And as a bartender, and as I was leaving on the coffee table, I saw lines of coke, heroin needles, and every pill you can possibly imagine, would I have no idea what they were right. And I've never done that stuff. I never will. And on my drive home, I started thinking about how I even got myself in that situation. You know, I owned my situation. 100% it was it was no one's fault. But my own, that I was I was going towards where you know where she was with those drugs and everything else. And when I got home later that night, I just laid there and I started thinking about how my choices in the past got me to where I was because that's not what mom and dad taught Shawn to be. And I think that was the moment when I woke up the next morning and I decided I need to change my life. Because if I continue down that path, it's gonna take me down a road, I don't want to go. And I that's when I dropped out of school. And I decided, Okay, I need to find something that that gives me more value that that there is more within my purpose, you know, more of what I want to do. And it was helping others. And it was reaching out and doing something for the greater good. So that was that was the turning moment of my life when I was 2324 years old or something like that. 25. And it was just a moment I'll never forget, because I could have gone down one path, or I could have gone down the other. But because of my personal core values, I decided to go down the road that I wanted to go down. You know, I guess I had I I came to a fork in the road and I went straight. Great.

Yeah, that's not that's not the way the movie cocktail turned out. Right? I can see the way you thought this was going right? And then you're like, wait a minute, this is that's a movie. Absolutely. Yeah, that's, you know, I think what's what's kind of neat to there is that like you could have just chosen, then to take an easy step, right? Like, I'm gonna go to Atlanta, and I'm going to climb Stone Mountain for cancer survivors. And guess what, you could raise money and some awareness there. Right? And it's, you know, takes about 25 minutes. But you said, No, I'm gonna go for the highest peak in the world. And that's exciting, right? Like, it's hard not to get excited about that. And I think that, you know, when I interview entrepreneurs, they kind of go down this route. The ones that have really made a difference are the ones that have a vision, that's just exciting, you know, and it's just, it's almost outlandish. And you can get people pulled into it. Was that the idea? Or you're just like, you know what, like, if I'm gonna do it, I'm just gonna go for the biggest and baddest there is like, what was your mindset there?

I think it was both. And as you were talking, I was thinking, you know, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward. So if I wanted, literally the highest platform in the world to stream hope that I was going to go after it. And I knew someone with cancer was, was eventually going to climb Everest. And if someone's going to do it, why not me? Why not for the right reasons, right? And I wanted to get as many people around it as possible and I wanted to use it to empower other people. Because I suppose if people hear of a guy who was once given three months to live once given 14 days to live was in a coma for a year of his life, was rented last rites and has one functioning lung can do all these crazy things that might give somebody some hope.

Yeah, and I think what stuck out to me too, in the story is, it wasn't like you just announced this and all of a sudden you have all these sponsors throwing money at you. I mean, you're literally selling all of them. your possessions to make this work, right? So you got to Everest and like you didn't even have enough money for your brother to go with you, right? Like he was a base camp. Because like, that's where you were and that this, you know, wasn't some like magical sponsor thing. I mean, eventually, like people came around but I think the story is so telling. And that like the perseverance like when you battle cancer, not once but twice, you know, you're a given, you know, a terminal diagnosis both times, you persevered through that you learned your lessons, then then you climbed Everest, and it was like its own battle in and of itself, not just as like, Hey, you got to get ready for it. But like financially, probably everybody looking at like, what are you doing? Like, it wasn't until you got there that people like, okay, okay, he can do this. This was a good idea.

It's funny, because I approached countless Everest organizations, you know, expedition companies in the state. And they told me that it was it was physiologically impossible climate with with half the lung capacity. And I didn't have the climbing data, right to prove that I could do it. Because when I got to base camp, and that that was the highest I've ever been in my life, right. So every step pass base camp, you know, was was my altitude PR?

Yeah, that's a that's, that's a that's a really interesting thought to you. Right. It's like you left Colorado. And you know, now that I'm actually sitting in Colorado right now for this interview. And I've done a lot of research on like, the highest peaks, as you're talking about, like, Hey, I made it up to 14,000 feet, right? You think about Everest is what? 29,000 feet, double that double that right? And I'm where I'm staying like I was telling you this probably earlier, but like just walking up the stairs, we're at 11,000 feet, from like, the first floor to the second floor, like I'm out of breath. Like, that's a big deal. It's literally Well, let's let's jump into the summit challenge. Because like that I'm super excited about I'm, I'm participating in it. But tell me a little bit about like how you got to if you've done the Grand Slam, right? You've done the Denny's thing. And you've, you've now said, okay, what's next, right? And you've taken these lessons, and you've kind of compiled it in the summit challenge. And now I'll, I'll let you lead the way, right, because I don't want to give away all the goods. But I've got some cool stories to share already. But like, tell me tell me about the summit challenge?

Well, it's, it's a, it's a concept that's taken years to put together. And it's started from people post, they didn't even know it. But people were planting the seed in me, and planting the seed in my brain. Because every time I would give a keynote presentation, it never failed. There was a long queue of people to talk to me. People come up and say, you know, you changed my life. You've given me so many good tips and tools, and you've given me help. But there would be a handful of people who would come up and say, that's a great story. But how did you do it? Then I started thinking, Well, what do you mean how you know, and it happened? I noticed this trend, you know, how did you do it? Like I said, my first goal was to crawl to the bathroom. And I ended up, I ended up climbing 29,000 feet. So after a while I started thinking Alright, well maybe put something together. As I mentioned earlier, I take a group up Kilimanjaro every year. And the average success rate on Kilimanjaro, for every every group on the mountain, is 48%. Wow. Meaning 52% of the people who attempt the mountain, don't make it to the top, every single group that I've taken up there, and I've like I said, I've been up 20 times with 98%. So when I started thinking about what's, what's the difference? And then I kind of put those two together, the person asked me, How did you do it in the difference between us and our group and everybody, everybody else's groups. And it because I do something different on the mountain when I do something different every day to help empower people and understand why they're doing that. And I send out a questionnaire to everybody before they leave, about why they're on the mountain what they want to accomplish, you know, just certainly deep question. And that way, when when people do turn into the walking zombie, when they're going up to the summit, I get behind them and I know exactly what motivates them is tough love, hey, you're never gonna make it? Or is it encouragement? Hey, you can do this? Or is it that deeper belief, the deeper purpose like hey, just remember why you're here. And that instantly triggers because if I if I'm yelling at somebody, and they hate that, they're gonna start crying. I don't want I don't want, right, I heard him. But I find out exactly what helps motivate people. Then the concept went from there to Hey, let's let's do this ultimate Kilimanjaro experience, where I take C suite exact presidency, entrepreneurs, whatever, on this immersive expedition on Kilimanjaro, where we do something more organized. So I had everything ready to go we were gonna do seven days up and down the mountain and then celebrate with a 40 so far, where we kind of, um, we kind of unpack everything that we learned on the mouth, then we got the bid, you know, the the pandemic that has like, got crap, we can't do that. So what am I going to do? Then I thought, Okay, well, I want to offer this to more people, because not not everybody is going to be able to do Kilimanjaro. So then, that's why I started putting it online into seven different comprehensive personal challenges based on someone's core values assessment that I put together, that will help them figure out what their top 10 personal core values are, and how they're actually living those values. And then based on time, so it's not a, hey, I want to lose 15 pounds for a wedding next week, or next month. type of program, it's I want to follow, I want to change my diet, and I want to lose and be healthy for the rest of my life type of program. So it helps people replace bad habits with good habit, while they're being conscious of what means most of them. So that proverbial carrot dangling out in front of themselves. If you don't like carrots, you know, use something else. But if you know what you value most you can, you can accomplish anything. So it takes takes people through mindfulness, the compound effect. Through neuroplasticity, they change their brains, vivid visualization, I mean, it's all in this one program that helps people through this linear path to basically I don't want to say this linear path to enlightenment, but this linear path to becoming who they want to become, you know, and also, if you look at a lot of very wealthy individuals, I know numerous millionaires and a few billionaires, and a lot of people just, they're not happy, they're not fulfilled, they want more, they want more, they want more. And I'm the same way. You know, I started with Everest, you know, I when I want to climb mountains, I want more, I want more from life. But once you start understanding what you value most, you can be comfortable with that. So that was that's what the summit challenge does, it helps people put put energy into what they value most to live the life they want to live.

Yeah, you know, when you talk about the core values is really the beginning of the program there. And it's the foundation for everything. But you have to go through this exercise, you know, like I, you know, I'm maybe I'm unique, but you're probably telling me that I'm not is that like, I didn't really identify them, you know, like, I kind of had a feeling of like, what was important to me. But when when I sat down and actually decided, hey, here are these are my core values, right? And then you kind of look at it, and then it goes back to that that whole waking up from a coma like, what would you do differently if like, so then I kind of like framed my core values around, like, how am I living these right now? In and then the surprising thing is, like he said this all the time is that like, when you look at your core values, and if you're not living, the ones that you truly believe are like, what are you going to do? Right? And that's been a good shift for me, right? It's been a great shift for me to look up every morning, right? I sit down with my core values. And I think about them, right? And I think about like, Okay, how am I living them? How am I going to be focused on this today, versus the inertia and momentum of what you would say are my past choices like that have driven me to where I am today. And, and they're different, right? And then I think about like, Okay, if I woke up from a coma, and I didn't remember who I was, like, what would I get up today and do and it's just little, little tweaks, you know, it's just a little tiny tweak. So for example, like getting healthy. And it's been like, for the past year, it's been something that's been never been really unhealthy. But I haven't been like the epitome of health. And it's because I work and I travel and I do all these things. And I decided, Well, okay, I'm going to make this an absolute priority over the past year. And then I sat down with the core values. And I thought about it, and I was like, Am I really doing that? Like, am I really doing it? Like, yes, it's not a zero on a scale of one to 10. But it's definitely not a 10. So I found like a you know, and I looked in this, like, what would I if I could have anything we would have? I was like, Oh, I have a perfect personal chef. They will cook meals for me every day, right? Like, we're just good for me. And I didn't have to think about it. And I would probably like broaden my horizons. And I would have all these amazing things like happen where it's like, you know, I didn't know, cumin tasted that way. And like all of a sudden, these Indian dishes are amazing. I was like, well, I can't afford a personal chef yet. We're like, it doesn't make sense. Because we're traveling all around like what I just drag these people. There are services that do this, right, they'll ship them to your door. And all it took was make me just to think about it for a couple seconds. And now I have meals that show up at my door. They're already cooked. They're amazing. And I eat those and they have all the nutrients and macker you know macronutrients and all the cool things that I'm supposed to have that have already been crafted and they taste amazing but It took, you know, looking at my core values to really say like, well, what am I doing? You know, like, what am I doing? Right? I'm making bad choices because I'm, I don't, I'm not I don't have like where I'm trying to go. And it just like one little shift, right? It took me about an hour one morning to figure all this out. And all of a sudden, like, this happens every day. So I have like a personal chef now. And I'm healthier than I have been. And like, it's just it's small things, right? It's not like, Okay, I've got to like, lose 80 pounds, and then I'll be good. It's like, No, I'm just making small tweaks. And I already feel so much better. And we're talking like, a couple of weeks here. So, one, I just wanted to share that story, because it works. And I think your the emphasis on the core values is just so kind of mind opening, right? Because like nobody does that. And then to it's just little steps, right? Like just continuingly to do it and be focused on it every single day. So like I think about it in the morning, I think about at the end of the day.

Yeah, it becomes who you are. But how are you making that? making that one little change? There's something that you'll learn about in the the summit challenge called the compound effect, making that one little change? How else has it impacted the rest of your life? or other areas of your life?

Well, I think for me, right, it's already let me let me take a step back, right? Because I think if I think about some of what I want, personally out of my life, is that I want my kids to look up at me and see anything as possible, right? Like, that's the legacy that I want to give to them is that anything is possible. And you just open your mind, and you challenge yourself, and you just do these things. So this one little change, right? is already proving that like helping me live the life that I want to be for my kids, because it's not just like, oh, dad's eating different food than we are when we sit down for meals. But why? And how did he do that? Like, we have conversations about it. And it's, it's tipping me further in the direction of like, what you're saying is like, what are my values? Like, what do I want out of this life? And how are they going there? So just this tiny, tiny change, right, I made a decision. I did it One morning, I pulled out my credit card, I ordered a week's worth of food, and it showed up at my door. And I'm like, this works. Holy cow, right? Like something I've been talking about for probably 10 years, right? I want a personal chef that just fixes all this stuff for me. And now I have it. And it just exists. It's exist out online. And for those of you care, I'm it's trifecta. Like that's the group that I'm using, like, I have no affiliation with them. But like, it's been great. And that change resonates with me. And I think this is probably where we're going the compound effect they haven't gotten there yet. Is that now like, I've done one little thing, I feel differently. I feel like I'm getting closer to the person that I want to be. And I think that that also is impacting the other decisions that I'm making. So like, when I sit down in the morning, think about what am I going to do today? It's like, Well, okay, well, this is what I did the other day, and it's had this much of a change to me. What else can I do that's like that small things. And they'll just I'm sure, like, this is what the compound effect is, again, I haven't gotten there is that it'll just snowball themselves.

Absolutely, absolutely. And I'm, that's, that's some some great feedback. And I'm super happy save early one, I'll talk about how, like, I get a joy out of empowering other people, knowing that your experience with a summer challenge makes me feel amazing, you know, knowing that it's changing your life, because one thing leads to another which leads to another which leads to another. And you'll also learn in the program, that you know, your future self isn't who you are now, in a lot of people have this this concept, this idea of, hey, I want to be, you know, a millionaire, I want to be this, I want to be that, but it's not the stuff that people if you focus on the stuff, you know, that's, that's great, that'll never make you happy. You can have like my buddy with his private jet, that doesn't make him happy, right? It's inviting friends on the jet in that experience that makes them happy. Right? You know, so when people project themselves in the future, you know, when I get the new client, when they get the new house, when I get whatever, I'll be happy that that's not true. You need to have value yourself before you can put value in something else. And once you learn that, throughout the program, you will just you can do it over and over again and learn and learn and learn and learn and learn. And then just like you said, it becomes a habit. And if people just focus on what means most of them, if not then going after someone else's dreams and goals. If they're going after what they want on their terms, for the reasons that mean the most of them. You know, and I've never seen in all the research I've done, you know, let's look at the self empowerment industry over the past 5060 years. It's always been one guru, sitting in front of everybody, hey, do this, do this and you'll get this and often more than not, it's Hey, you know you, if you do these two things, you'll make a million dollars in a month in or whatever, you'll make him a million or her a million dollars in a month because of all the people who are signing up for the program. Right? work that way. What happens is and what most people aren't doing and why I put another reason I put this program together it because I think it's the next evolution in the self power industry. It's, it's a program that has kind of like a wide net, or let's say, their guidelines, you know, like bumper bowling, or you toss the ball down there, and it kind of keeps you in the path, those those are your personal core values. But the reason this is different is because it is a program that will work for anybody. But it will work specifically for what you want to become based on the work that you put in on those personal core values. And I think more more gurus need to be more focused on others as opposed to themselves. And I think that where the the self empowerment industry is going to start changing a lot, it's not just going to be the people saying, hey, do this and this, and this will be a result. You know, we have two ears in one mouth for a reason. If we listen to everybody on Earth, everybody has a story. And we can learn something from everybody on the planet. No, because we all have a different perspective. But once you tap into what means most to you, based on your personal perspective, you're not living vicariously through somebody else. You're not wishing you could have done something else, or you're not wishing you could do that. You know, you're content with what you have. Yes, you can always go for more when you're happy in the moment. Yeah, I

something that's come up this year. And I think that going through the summit challenge, it's also really kind of struck home with me. So I turned 40 in about a month. Right? So maybe I'm having a midlife crisis, or you know, just really reflecting on things. And you know, to your point earlier sitting down and watching a movie, I've got a 10 year old, he's not very far from being 13. Like, could I imagine that right with my 10 year old like going through this. But what I've also kind of recognized about myself, and I've gotten a lot better through this whole year, that's been a great year for me with COVID. Because I've had a lot more time in my my brain and then traveling around. But like I was already starting to write myself off, right, Mike, you're getting, you're too old for that, like, it's too late to think about doing some of these things like, you should have picked that path when you were younger. Right? If you wanted to do this, like you should have started there. And then I could just kind of dawned on me. And then again, like that point about waking up from a coma, it's like I could have been anybody. And I still could actually feel better today than I probably have in a decade, right when I was in my 30s. And that means that like, there's still so much that I can do. So therefore, like instead of the world, like getting smaller and trying to get more comfortable in thinking that like comfort is like what you're looking for, and then you work towards retirement, and then you live out your golden years, like playing golf. Like I don't want any of that. And this year has been the year of just kind of looking at it saying like, that's not who I am. I wanted to be adventurous. I've still got a great, you know, healthy body, like we can go out and do things. We can go like the whole Kilimanjaro thing, like that sounds great. Right? You know, maybe you're a god, I'm like, Oh, you know, maybe when I was in my 20s. But now like my mind is, you know, I'm putting my mind in a different place. And you know, one just like shifting these small things. And I think going back to the whole core values, just looking at them and saying like, okay, here are my values, like one of them's adventure, right? Like adventure is high on my list. Like, how am I living that today? I think I'm actually doing a pretty good job, right? Like, I'm turning that corner. But a year ago wouldn't have been. Right. And it's just little things and saying like art health family, like all these things, are my doing what I should be doing today, or am I not? and reflecting on that every day is like changed my mind. Right? And it's just blowing my mind. And it's so exciting to be like sitting in the seat while I'm talking with you. So thank you, but to like, just what's still possible. And that's, that's been a recent awakening. So one, thank you for the work that you've done. And like the fact that like, you climbed to Everest with one long. It's just another one of those things. It's like, well, I've got to I could probably do that. Right. Like, I don't know if I will, but like, maybe I could. I'm in Colorado. You started in Colorado. Could I get there? I don't know. Right? Probably so.

Absolutely. Absolutely, man. And it's funny. Like you're writing yourself off. You're thinking it's time for you to do the time for me to start putting a Will my grandma's 98 years old. She still lives by herself. You still have 50 years ahead of you. Yeah. So, so many people don't understand that. They get in the rut. Like you said, for the past 10 years, you know, you feel better now than he did for the past 10 years? It's because I'm guessing all those decisions you made, which are our bet 90% of the population, the world is on autopilot. Yep. They're just going through the motions. Yeah, maybe for the past 10 years, you just didn't think about all these choices you were making. You just didn't like out here at do that at do this. You know, but once you once you're more intentional on your choices, you become a completely different person. Yeah, I mean, we,

you think like, it's you, when you have your career, right? You kind of grow up in your career, and you end up going in a certain direction. But I had a moment where I was like, you know, I could start over completely. Like, what if we lost everything? Like, what would I have? I would have my family, which is amazing. Right, then I have extended family that would probably be willing to help me get back up on my feet. So what's the worst thing that could happen? That really anything? You know what I mean? It's like, I would have everything that matters to me surrounding me. And we could really be focused on doing exactly what I want to do anyway. it to your point, is it like, yeah, it's on autopilot. But you're also getting like messages from everybody else. Oh, you shouldn't do that. Like, you know, my mom does this to me, I'll tell you to offer that, you know, and it's like, right. And I'll tell you, I'll give you a specific example. So like during Coronavirus, you know, like, we all shut down like we pulled our kids out of school, we've been home. My oldest boys have gotten into skateboarding, right? Like that's been super important. Right? Like, that's what they want to do. And I was taking them out to the park and just watching them skateboard for two hours at a time. Just sitting there watching them do it. And I was like, Well, you know what, while I'm here, I could get some exercise and do it with him, right? Like that would be maybe special. So I started skateboarding. And of course, my mom was like, way too old for that, like, you could get hurt, you could do that. And I was like, I just had this realization, I don't want to live my life that way. And it just like dawned on me, it's like, you can't live like that. Right? Okay, you might get hurt. As a matter of fact, I did, I cracked a couple ribs. And that's like, if you haven't, if you haven't cracked a rib, or had to deal with that, like that is that's painful. There's like, a couple months where it's like really hard to sleep. But I still do it. I still get out with their with them, because it's special for them. And it just shows me like, it's part of my mindset now that I'm not to offer these things. And I can do these things. And I'm not going to let like the world dictate like, to me what it should be like to be a 40 year old person, you know, and like what I should be thinking about. And that's been that's been, it's just been a great year. And like you getting involved in the summit challenge. It's just been phenomenal, right? Because one, it's like help, helping to like, validate what I'm doing, or what I've already kind of done in a way that's like, to your point, like mini little steps, little steps to keep it up and like get the momentum and get this snowball rolling. So like, I'm just, I'm more excited about the possibility for the future for me, for my family, and what we're capable of than I ever have. And like you're playing a part in that.

Wow. But again, just like getting someone to the top of the mountain, you know, I'm not doing it. That's true.

Shawn, this has been a great conversation. I cannot thank you enough for for spending the time with me, being kind of like my personal Sherpa here, helping me you know, get along the way but also knowing that it's me, right? And like helping me see that and get over the momentum and just the inspirational videos. One other thing I'll touch on, right, it's like going out and find the inspirational videos. You have this question? Is there like did it take? Was it easy? Or was it hard? And my feedback is it was really hard, right? Because you have to sit through a lot of videos to figure out what actually resonates with you and when you do you know now you have this like library of stuff that's like when you hit it like you feel the emotions and sometimes you just need that right? You need to like touch those and like have something to like okay, like, Hey, I woke up maybe I was on the wrong side of the bed this morning. You pop in the video and you're like Ah, that's it. That's the feeling I need it

Yeah, it's amazing going I know we're wrapping up but going back to that it's reminds me when I was filming the actually I just I just got I just got an email from myself the sonic challenge the time is now I'm getting the past messages just want to make sure the perfect You know, I'm so I'm like four or five weeks ahead of you. Okay, you're really reading these messages. I wrote them a while back and I just want to make sure that perfect. But going back to when I was filming that one was what was it? Where are we going with this? Oh,

you talk about my truenorth No. Are the videos, the videos, right? Yeah,

I lost my train of thought and my train of thought when I saw an email come in. That's all right. No, sometimes I do get I get chemo brain. And that's a perfect example. I remember I was talking about filming it. Oh, that's right. So on social media, you know, so many people post those videos. And then they get the likes, they get the hearts, they get whatever. But how many people? Does it actually speak to? How many people read a quote, and it hits them on a personal level? And they actually live that quote? Yeah. Which is why the one of the one of the background research in looking for videos that you were looking for, they have to hit you on a personal level to make the cause you to, to be to be emotional on them to take action. Because 99.9% of people who probably like those videos, give them a thumbs up whatever. They don't know anything. It doesn't change their life. Yep. They're like, Oh, that's great. And then next year, they're just doing scrolling. But when you find something that speaks to you on a personal and emotional level, that's what gets you going. Yeah, it's,

I'm still looking, by the way, right? You know, I know, it's supposed to have seven. And it's been a couple of weeks, and I'm still looking. And I feel like, you know, personally, I might be a little bit behind, but like, I think I got it right, is that it's got to resonate with me, you know, there's like certain certain quotes in certain videos, you know, there's like the Steve Jobs, your commencement address. That's one of my videos, it's a little bit long. But he talks about when I wake up in the morning, and I look at myself in the mirror, and if I look at myself in the mirror too many days in a row, and I don't like what I'm doing, I'm gonna make a change. And sometimes you like, you almost have to have like the audacity to just say that that's how I'm gonna live my life. Like, to your point about like, that may not resonate with people who like, Oh, that's a great quote. Like, I love that quote. Yeah, they go punch the clock every day, and don't make any difference. Whereas like, now I look at it. And I was like, well, do I like what I'm doing? Like, right now. I'm, like I said, I'm doing as well as I've ever done. I'm very happy, like having these conversations. It's not easy, right? Like, it wasn't an easy to start and like reaching out and start putting these things together. But it's been amazing. And those are the things that like, to your point, you got to find the quotes, you got to find the things that resonate with you and not just look through because like they're out there every day. It's your point, you know, I mean, you could spend an hour looking at him like, Oh, I looked at all kinds of inspirational stuff today. That's like, yeah, there. Maybe it's a good video, maybe it was well put together. But did it speak to you? Is that something that you'd get up in the mornings when maybe you're like, the old self is coming back out? you punch the video and you're like, Okay, I'm back on track, right? I'm like, that's important. Yeah, Shawn, where can we find you?

Yeah, you just go to shots Warner comm Sean's Warner comm This is this has been amazing. Really appreciate the opportunity to connect the top. Absolutely.

That concludes this week's show. Thanks for listening. Please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform or directly on the site. Your comments are truly appreciated, good, bad or indifferent, and we'll help make the show better. This is Jake Wiley with Wiley on business and we'll talk again two weeks