Gratitude For The Grind: A Life Update
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Gratitude For The Grind: A Life Update
Forcing my writing habit back into existence
I’m sitting on the couch on a random Thursday night in September and just feeling immensely grateful for the grind of chasing my potential.
I feel like writing and I feel like shooting you straight on what it’s taken to build what I get to work on today.
I remember so clearly what it was like to have jack shit going on in my life that I was truly excited about.
That was my reality less than 5 years ago.
Job? Meh.
Fitness? Meh.
Hobbies? Meh.
Where I lived? Meh.
Today, I am attacking life with a totally different energy and intensity.
I haven’t written a thing in 4+ months, so here’s what’s going on…
I’m 4 months into fatherhood and my little man Jack Jack is doing all kinds of hilariously awesome baby things like…
learning he has a voice
learning how to eat his hand
learning how to stand (with me holding him up)
Right now, we’re having fun working on assisted squats and single leg balance as he’s figuring out how to use his body.
I expect he’s 99th percentile in lower body strength. Still working on holding that big ol’ baby head up tho! 🤣
Meanwhile….
Tribal Training has grown to be an organization with over 40 athletes - all of whom I coach and interact with on a personal basis.
I’m a week away from crossing the 1 year mark as a full time entrepreneur - and on the precipice of retiring my wife from her corporate job.
Life is wild, exciting, stressful, demanding and fulfilling.
And I just love it.
I feel I’m in the process of becoming who I’m destined to be.
I feel like I’m working on my life’s calling.
Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming and I feel in over my head, but what’s the alternative?
Wishing I was doing more with my life?
No thanks.
Looking Back At The Bandana Days
Most days I wake up at 5 am to build my business.
Most days I’m building after dinner and well into the night.
And this is nothing new!!!
I was working on my business…
when my business was sewing dog bandanas (and I barely knew how to sew)
when nearly every person in my life thought I was losing my mind (and wasting my time)
when every single measurable metric said: “this is not working”
when I doubted it would ever work out
when my friends were out drinking
when it wasn’t convenient
when I didn’t feel like it
And guess what? Every single ounce of effort paid off.
It was worth it.
Biz Milestones In The Past 4 Months:
#1: First Team Ultra - The Mo’ 50k in June
I flew to Indy back in June for a business trip with my mentor Zach Homol.
I got in Thursday night and was set to head back to Colorado on Saturday morning.
Jack Jack was 6 weeks old and I guess I was on some version of Newborn Baby Brain…
It was chaos getting out of town, my flight was delayed on the runway and I don’t think I had a clear thought until I got to my hotel at 2 am.
My head hit the hotel pillow and the idea immediately hit me:
6 of my guys are running a 50k on Saturday…
Why would I leave? Why would I not run it with them? Why would I not jump on this opportunity?
I chatted with Zach on it and made the call home at around noon on Friday to extend my trip.
With less than 24 hours notice, I ran a 50k side by side with my guys and coached them in real time through the finish line.
This gave me the idea for something I’ll mention in a bit…
#2: PR at Oregon 70.3 in July
While society wants dads to think they have no choice but to get fat, lazy, etc. when they have a kid…
I am actively fighting against that bullshit mindset.
My consistency in Ironman training over the past 3 years is starting to compound in a dangerous way…
I figured out keeping up with my training with Jack Jack fresh out Chels’ oven and absolutely smoked Oregon 70.3 in July.
My mindset was: if someone is going to rise up through these pressures, why can’t it be me?
And to top it off, Brandon raced with me and had his whole fam there to cheer him on and see him cross the finish line.
This is what it’s all about.
The day after the race, we drove an hour west of Salem and hit Pacific City Beach for an all time recovery day soaking up the accomplishment and post-race vibes.
Brandon and I are both already registered for Oregon 70.3 2024.
Want to join us for the experience? We already have a group of 5 guys locked in.
Send me a message.
#3: 2nd Tribal Training Camp in Boulder, CO in August
Brandon, Louie and Chris came out for 3 epic days of training.
Highlight of the weekend for me was our “Epic Adventure Day” that included my pals
and Adam Holz.
We rode up to Brainard Lake (10k feet elevation) and had my film guy Kevin driving as SAG.
Kevin had our swim bags, run gear and breakfast burritos ready when we showed up.
We scarfed down the burritos, then swam in the lake and ran laps around it before riding back home down through the canyons.
It was a freakin’ GNARLY training day. We faced 50+ mph winds on the ride into Brainard and lake temps were well under 50.
Gordo claimed it a “CBD”… Character Building Day 🤣
#4: First public speech at the Do Hard Things Conference in August
I hosted a breakout session and decided to go full keynote with the opportunity.
I spoke on endurance, how it changed my life and how it does the same for others - specifically within Tribal Training.
I had a lot of fun weaving my story into stories of my athletes and looping in larger stories from psychology, the Bible and mother nature.
Even though I was so pumped with how my speech went, I had so many negative thoughts after.
Thoughts like…
my message didn’t land
my message wasn’t for this audience
I fucking suck and just completely whiffed
I had to work so damn hard on my mindset in the 24 hours post speech to not feel completely defeated and depressed.
I had to remind myself… this is what growth feels like sometimes.
#5: First Endurance Accelerator Cohort in August.
I finally launched the course I’ve been building for 8 months.
This is my 8 week group program that fast tracks people into the Tribal Training systems and community.
6 guys bought directly into this program and I included 3 recent 1 on 1 onboards as well.
This changed absolutely everything about my business…
The weekly group calls clicked.
The lessons helped these guys make progress.
The guys built relationships and connected their training to their purpose as men.
It was my opportunity to truly say…
“This is how you make endurance work in your life and how you bleed it for maximum personal growth.”
The big unlock with the cohort was the speed I got feedback with 9 guys on calls.
With 1 on 1 athletes, I could hear the same struggles, needs, etc. from a few different athletes over the course of a full year before I fully connect them all together and catch the common theme.
With the group approach, I 100x’d the speed of that entire process.
Side note: I was blown away that these guys were all chasing 70.3 and beyond.
I had some dumb ass idea that the people who joined would want to start by running a 5k or 10k…
AS IF I HAVE COACHED A SINGLE PERSON TO THOSE GOALS 🤣🤣🤣
Big Business Lesson:
The mind will tell you absolutely anything… if it helps prevent you from taking action.
I spent months in paralysis by analysis trying to perfect this course without actually knowing who it was for, what it helped people do, etc.
As soon as I heard these guys were doing 70.3s, I was like…
“Oh.. well here’s what you need to know and here’s what you need to do.”
Simple, actionable, effective.
Next Endurance Accelerator starts September 25.
Want to join?
Looking Ahead
We have 5 huge in-person events set for the next calendar year.
8 athletes at Muncie 70.3 in Sept. ‘23 (7 first timers and first race I’ll be at supporting)
10+ athletes Ironman Florida in Nov. ‘23 (7 first timers)
15+ athletes running Zion 100 ultramarathon together in April ‘24 (this idea was born from The Mo’ 50k experience)
Ultra Camp in Feb. ‘24 prior the race
5 athletes already committed to Oregon 70.3 in July ‘24
Man Must Build
I’m using this post for 3 things:
to document what I’ve been doing
to kickstart my writing habit again
to encourage you to take action building the mind, body and opportunity of your dreams
Too many people are waiting for the perfect business idea, perfect workout program, perfect life circumstances to finally start becoming the person they know they’re destined to be.
I’m here to say forget all that shit.
The skill of acting is more valuable than any business plan or perfect circumstances.
You must act and you must work your ass off.
That’s what worked for me at least.
Gratitude For The Grind: A Life Update
Ryan, first off, congrats on multiple fronts. First of course, on becoming a dad. It seems like you are leaning in, in all the right ways. And second, on building your business brick by brick while maintaining a healthy balance between your family and training. Truly a life integrated. Super inspiring man and hope you can continue the writing practice as well so we can follow along with your journey. Thanks again for sharing it!