Against All Odds : From Learning Disability to Unimagined Success - Jason Pike : 113

The Army investigated, arrested, and tried to break LT. Col. Jason G. Pike. Since the age of seven, he has refused to be defined by his early learning disability diagnosis and instead bravely forged his path toward success. Jason's journey is chronicled in his National Best Selling Book, Soldier Against All Odds.
In this episode, we will delve into his book, his life journey, and how he turned his experiences into a platform to inspire and encourage others. Jason's story reaffirms that one can defy expectations and achieve the unimaginable with determination and perseverance.
Soldier Against All Odds is a beacon of hope and inspiration for anyone grappling with similar adversities. Jason's remarkable story is a striking example of how self-belief and tenacity can genuinely transform lives.

So, let's enjoy his story.
To connect with Jason: https://www.jasonpike.org/

Transcript

Daniela SM: 0:08

Hi, I'm Daniela. Welcome to my podcast, because everyone has a story, the place to give ordinary people, stories, the chance to be shared and preserved. Our stories become the language of connections. Let's enjoy it, connect and relate, because everyone has a story. Welcome, my guest is Lt. Col Jason Pike. From age seven, jason has shown everyone that he can succeed despite the odds. He refused to let his shortcomings define him and made his way in life. Here is his journey, equally represented by success and struggle. He pushed onwards with a stunning refusal to quit. His greed, resilience and remarkable vulnerability shine through. I had a great time meeting Jason. He was energetic, in full speed, and the conversation was the life of. I would have not met him if it wasn't for the podcast, so let's enjoy Jason's story. Welcome, jason, to the show.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 1:16

Hey, well, thank you very much. I appreciate being here. I got a book out I can share you some stories.

Daniela SM: 1:21

Yes, and why do you want to share your story?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 1:24

Because everyone said that I probably couldn't make it in the military or in education or any type of profession, and they had good reason to believe that. And so my story is one of inspiration, hope and survival, a refusal to quit that was sort of handed down to me from my father and that's why I wanted to share it, yeah.

Daniela SM: 1:47

Yes, and I appreciate it. When I met you for a pre-chat, it was quite inspiring to listen to you and your energy, so I'm glad you're here. So, jason, tell me, when does your story start? It starts when.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 2:00

I'm about eight or nine years old when I well, seven years old when I failed the first grade, I was diagnosed very early with a learning disability, meaning just understanding reading and writing are very difficult even now. Oh, by the way, I'm an author, go figure that one out. But really that's true and it was that was the first time they identified it as a professional educational psychologist. So I had two more times as an adult life, even after college education, where professionally most of your viewers and yourself, I'm sure, can do much, much better on any standardized test than I can, and so, though, I've got three college degrees that started at age seven.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 2:43

I was not expected to really do much, except maybe do manual labor. There was not a whole lot of expectations that were put placed upon me. That's kind of where it went. That's where it started, the story started.

Daniela SM: 2:55

So at age seven, when they told you that you had a learning disability, did it make you feel bad? Were you already thinking that you were never going to make anything or it didn't matter to you at that age?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 3:05

At that age I'm just looking at friends. I failed the first grade and so I had to repeat the first grade because of English and reading and writing. So to me I just said well, I guess I'm different, maybe not in a good way, but it wasn't really. It was more like I was missing my friends that went on to the next class. The parents were probably more disappointed than I was, but they didn't show it, they didn't label me. I just kind of knew that academics were probably not going to be in the cards, and that's the way I pretty much looked at academics of any type, of any sort, all the way up to the until I graduated from high school.

Daniela SM: 3:40

And so what happened? You didn't repeat any more, any more years, only the first grade.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 3:45

No, I just sort of got along. I was not in any college preparatory classes and even the high school counselor told me that any type of higher education would not be in the cards for me. That was well known. But I joined the military, the National Guard, a reserve force out of South Carolina. From there my career sort of started to change.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 4:06

I went into a criminal correctional facility in Fort Silla, oklahoma, in 1983, because I couldn't get my stuff together. I wasn't able to drink the water coming out of the fire hose and basic training that's the initial training that I had. And so what happened was they sent me through a different level of hill in that facility for about four hours and I decided at that point that I could probably do anything, regardless of what people say. I come out of basic training because I did make it, barely barely made it.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 4:37

I finished up my high school year and I decided that I was going to go to a junior college. A junior, it's a community college where you start from the basics, and I figured that I could do more than I thought or other people thought, because I had been through a different level of hell that I've never been through in the military or because of the. I went to a special facility because I was one of the worst privates and I came out of there maybe wired too tight or what have you I decided I was going to college and I was going to stay in the military and that's eventually what I did. I eventually went on to get three different. I got a bachelor's and two master's degrees. Eventually I did become a senior military officer but I decided I could do a whole lot more from thing I went through and the very initial stages of the military.

Daniela SM: 5:24

Jason, can you explain a little bit more what happened when you said that you couldn't drink out of the fire hose?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 5:30

In basic training they tell you to do many things very fast. Do this, do that. There's acronyms. You have to learn things very quickly or you're not going to adapt, like everyone else was. I was not able to adapt to the initial parts of the military in the very beginning. What the drill sergeant did? The sergeant in charge he sent me and another soldier that wanted they wanted to break us, wanted to either kick us out or break us. One guy did break and we got out. I stayed in the military and I stayed in and graduated from the basic training.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 6:04

This criminal correctional facility was not meant for criminals. It was a motivational program, kind of like a drug deal. It wasn't probably legal for them to do that. What they did is they sent us there to either break us or make us in the military as a motivational technique a different level of hell than I was in already, which was pretty bad.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 6:25

We made big rocks into small rocks. We climbed over obstacle courses until our hands and our arms and our legs were bloodied and broken. I'm saying the uniforms were broken and torn and blood coming out. So we went through a whole lot of screaming and yelling constantly for four hours. It was sort of a scared straight type of a program. I came out of there, I didn't break, I stayed in and eventually I was able to graduate from the basic training. But that experience, which was only about four hours, and then just graduating from the initial basic training, which was three months, I thought that I could probably do a whole lot more. Sometimes, when you go to hell and come back, you feel that even though you think you can do a little bit more, it's kind of like don't break you, make you stronger thing, and that's kind of what happened with me.

Daniela SM: 7:17

And what went through your brain to not break and keep strong.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 7:23

Well, at that time I thought I was being kicked out of the military. At that time I thought I was going into criminal correctional facility for good, to be processed out or to go to a jail or to go to a further on. At the time there was no internet, there's no cell phones. We don't know. We just know that we done bad things because we can't do what the drill sergeant told us to do. That's what I thought.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 7:47

When I look back in hindsight, it was more of a motivational technique for us and also the entire platoon, because he threatened everybody else. Once we came back we were sort of guinea pigs and you're setting examples of guinea pigs. When we came back to the platoon we were all bloodied up, broken up, looking like hell, and then he had the platoon go look at us and he says if any of you don't do what I tell you to do, you're going to go to that facility. So he scared the entire platoon as well, because he was threatening them that they would go to the facility. But no one else did that. I know of just me and that other guy. That's where I got the initial concept of thinking I can do a whole lot more than what my advice, high school and other people say that I could do. It was at that point, it was forming in my mind right there.

Daniela SM: 8:41

Okay, your challenges didn't face you. You just thought I am strong, I can continue.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 8:47

Yeah, I just said I can strong, I can continue, get other people's help if I need help and just keep on going and just not quitting was basically what it was. I think maybe I don't know the drill sergeant probably saw that I was doing the best I could and I wasn't giving up. Who knows, he may have given me a few breaks, I don't know, but he knew that I was doing the best I could and I wasn't going to quit. I did keep working at things, whether it be putting my weapons together, practicing, whatever task I had. I would do that and he would see that, and so he knew that I was doing my best and wasn't goofing off at all. I think that's probably what set me up to graduate from there.

Daniela SM: 9:27

And when you graduate from there, you kept in the military, of course, and then you went to different college.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 9:32

I stayed in the reserve forces for a while. I stayed as National Guard. We were the less than best. I did everything from the bottom, whether it be from a private or whether from academics or even from the military. I was an active duty in the beginning. I was National Guard.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 9:48

A good question some people have asked me is there's entrance tests to the military. How did you pass your entrance test? If I have a learning disability, that's a good question. I don't know. I don't know how I did that. That's a good question. I don't know the answer. Probably shouldn't pass any type of standardized test because I know I don't pass. I know I took the entrance test to the college twice and I know I was really low.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 10:10

But I come back from that facility and I finish up my 12th grade year of high school. I had failed the first grade, so I was a year older. I did that between my junior and senior year of high school. I decided then I was going to do my best I could on my last year and then try to enter into a community college and then go to ROTC eventually and become an officer. That's what I did. I went to a community college and it was a junior college that forgave any type of problems that you might have and they just allowed you in. That was really no type of. And then I went into a junior college and transferred to Clemson University, which is a more reputable college, and I got out of there Not in engineering and I didn't do it, didn't do it very quickly, I did it in educational.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 11:03

It was an educational degree, nothing very difficult and it was on the five-year plan. I went through ROTC now ROTC, reserve officer training Corps. That was much, much easier than Then then then getting the education because I'd already been enlisted, I'd already been through a lot of training and so ROTC was very easy for me. It was just getting the going to and getting the basics in the classes and getting the college degree. The reason you need a college degree is because I was one.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 11:33

Becoming officer, I felt that I could do more. I did become an officer. I did get my college degree a little bit took, took me a little bit longer, but I did. I mean and that's where it starts on as an officer and then I eventually went on to active duty. So but you said also that you have two masters. I have two masters degree. I got one masters at Clinton University and I got another masters at Colorado State University Later on, maybe like ten years later. So I was an officer at this time, with the first one with the National Guard and then the second one with the active duty.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 12:04

So what I learned eventually is if you've got a learning problem, like I do, you can get extra time for the test or Extra time for any type of test. I didn't know that. But if you get an educational psychologist to write down that you've got issues learning and reading and writing or you're slow or what have you, they can get give you more Attention or give you more time. I had to have extra time. I had to study extra, but then I also had to have extra time to process and then once I had that extra time, I did on average just about as good as someone who had prepared. That was normal or just you know. So that helped me out a lot and I did that. I use that eventually as a technique to get through various tests and things.

Daniela SM: 12:45

And you wanted to do the masters because you will move up in ranks on the military move up.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 12:50

Yeah, just like any professional, I was really thinking I might want to break out of this disability, whatever they call it. I said no, I couldn't break out of it, I couldn't just run through it, because it's just who you are. You can't break it, you can't fight it. You've just got a manager around it, and that took me a while to figure that out, but it's a management technique. It's not necessarily you can't just scrape it away from your, your, your skull or something and say it's gone. That's because it's just who you are and you manage around it. And I eventually did that and learned how to do that very well, not just with education, but with many other things in life.

Daniela SM: 13:27

But so you went through all these years knowing that there was something Different from you. However, you didn't have the knowledge or the assistance or the support to learn more.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 13:38

No, not really. For the most part I didn't talk about it. I never wanted to say anything. I was ashamed about it. I was ashamed just to go to the junior college. Because I was different.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 13:46

I knew that I process things differently. Some people call it a little bit form of autism. Some people call it a little form of Asperger syndrome. I don't know. I don't know what the thing is. Could some people have said dyslexia? I just know that processing is slow. I have a higher creativity level Well, creativity because I have to have something, so I'm pretty creative with things, how to manage things or how to manage around situations.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 14:13

However, to accomplish the job it did cause me trouble, especially in my younger years, on behavior. I've been arrested a few times, but I've got out of these situations and just kept on going Because I thought that I was untouchable. In the very beginning I said they told me I couldn't get a college degree. They told me, and I did all these things and I thought that I could do anything and I was sort of above the law in many ways. But that's not true. You can have confidence but you can't have too much like you're above everything, and so I had to get myself knocked down a few times to go on further. A lot of these stories in this book A Soldier Against All Odds are just really unbelievable stories when I don't think a lot of people would have stayed.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 14:54

I went through driving under the influence charges which we know in the military. You're out of here. That was a second time. I almost got kicked out Talked about the first time a DUI. I learned how to go through an appeal process and I got out of that. When I'm saying I'm, when I say I got out of it, that doesn't mean that it didn't affect me. It took two years to do it. Conventional wisdom is you're not going to survive anything like drugs or alcohol issues at all, because the military is much more strict than the civilian sector. The military they have a higher standard. I went through a two-year appeal process. That that may not sound that special to you, but in the military it is. Most people do not survive that I had to go through two years of showing that I have the ability and the strength and the you know, the knowledge to continue on with my career and that most people would just give up on that process.

Daniela SM: 15:46

Jason, you were in a roller coaster of feeling I can do it, I got a college, I can get in here, and then sometimes you made a mistake Due to your behavior, and then you get into real trouble. Then you feel really low. Your colleagues didn't help you because perhaps you they bully you.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 16:04

So it was constantly up and downs, constantly up and downs and the bullying was pretty much behind your back type of thing. But for the most part, yeah, did they know I was different? Oh, yeah, there was some assignments I did well and when I was not managed, yeah. But yeah, there was a roller coaster ride. It was ups and downs, wicked ups and downs. My colleagues, my peers, I sort of looked at me.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 16:27

Well, you know, I don't know, there was a few of them that said I'm okay, but I think you got it right as far as they looked at me a little differently, when I was placed in charge of troops or soldiers, I did pretty well. I thought I did very well as a commander or if I had any type of authority. I knew how to take care of soldiers. I was very compassionate to them, empathetic with them maybe a little bit too much and so, but I did do that. I did take care of my sergeants and things of that nature. So I did play a good role as a manager or a leader.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 16:57

Now other assignments staff officer assignments, things of that nature I didn't do too well in, but they're just really dependent on the job. And if I was left alone, like you are when you're a leader or a commander, and I allowed my troops to help take care of me which I need to take care of I did really well and then I could take care of them in my own way. But when I was micromanaged or sort of directed to do things, I didn't do too well. It really depended on the situation and there were many different situations in the military because every two to three years we moved to a different place. Even though we're in the army, we have to deal with different people and different little things across the spectrum of the military.

Daniela SM: 17:38

So you are very adaptable, for sure.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 17:40

I'm pretty adaptable. We have to be. Yeah, I've lived nine years overseas in five different countries, so I've got 31 years in the military. Pretty much eat every type of food that there is. Yeah, I'm pretty adaptable.

Daniela SM: 17:52

Okay, so you finished your studies and you were going around the world. Then what happened?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 17:57

Well, I did 31 years and what happened was at the end of my 31 years my mother was dying and I wanted to write a book. I just had it had been nagging on me, these crazy stories that are in this book. I didn't know how to write a book. I didn't know anybody who wrote a book before. I didn't know how I was gonna write a book and after she died I started talking about it with the family. My sister didn't. I don't think she wanted. She didn't want me to. She didn't want me to write about it. But let's see, if you write a book, a memoir, you had to be honest with yourself and eventually I got a ghostwriter. I went through Upwork website. I just was playing around. I put a description out on what I wanted to do.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 18:37

I went through about a three year process of writing this book, which was painful, very painful, put me in the hospital. I almost died because of this book. The flashbacks and the memories just, really just stressed me out and I was sitting in a chair for a long hour stressing. Blood clots started to form in my lungs and my legs from the sitting. The doctors thought that I was a smoker. Just been a drinker, not a smoker. He says well, you're gonna pretty much die. You not only do, you got blood clots in your legs and lungs, you've also got pneumonia. I was in the ICU for three days and it was because of this book. It's in the first page of the testimony. You'll see the details there that where I was scheduled to die, I reacted really well to the heparin blood thinner and the antibiotics. I eventually got out of there in five days. But no, it was because of this book. It was a stress. I've only had one or two anxiety attacks after that. But the ICU, the blood clots, that was the big one. That's where I was sitting down too long. I changed my behavior to where I'm sitting now, but most of the time I stand.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 19:42

This book, like any life, the way this thing, I had my ghost writer. He wanted to. You gotta show the dirt. You gotta show your vulnerability. I did not grow up showing vulnerability. The weaknesses that I have, that you'll see in here. All the details of a life. A life is gonna be dirty.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 20:00

See, this memoir is a little different than most, because I'm not gonna tell you that I conquered Afghanistan or did all these great and I did good things and I had a lot of years, I got a lot of awards, I've got a lot of degrees, but what I'm saying is this book comes to cross. Think of a senior manager that's in an organization or the Army and military telling you all their weaknesses and what they've done that are foul ups and screw ups and things of that nature. I'm not perfect. I had a whole lot of issues and a lot of, a lot of problems along the way and this is how I overcame them and these are the little ways. It's humor, but it's true humor, of how all these stupid things, theascos, failures that occurred and how I got around them and how I got through them. So the a lot of military, big military men will say I did this and did this and did this, I have a wonderful family and all that about it and I'm gonna show you.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 20:51

Hey, this is how I came along and I ain't that perfect at all and you and you'll maybe identify, or somebody will maybe draw some lessons out there.

Daniela SM: 21:01

Even though that you were feeling ill and you nearly die, you still thought that this was kind of like a cathartic, or you just wanted to tell your story.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 21:09

Oh, I just wanted to tell my story. Something that I had that was nagging on me, sort of like a passion that you have that overtakes you, almost like an obsession, and I said I got to do it. I never quit anything, so if I quit this I'm gonna really look bad. I wanted my father to write a story. This is about him and me, but I'm telling you my story through him. I tell a little bit about my father, yeah, and so I thought I got to do this thing. I understand that reading and writing are my worst subjects, so that stressed me out too, but I had I did have help, a lot of anxiety of Lots of issues, dirt. I was sitting down. I wasn't exercising like I used to. That's what also formed the blood plot.

Daniela SM: 21:49

I see, I see Sounds fascinating and I love that you took that approach. So I guess you telling the story like that now you are free from all your guilt or whatever you were feeling before- it was the hardest, probably the hardest long-term project I've ever done in my life.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 22:07

I've been through a whole lot of things. I would rather go to Afghanistan, I'd rather go to war than have to do another book again. I don't, but it's done now, so it's done.

Daniela SM: 22:18

Wow, that's incredible. Well, I find it super interesting and, of course, we have to read your book. So the book took three years, and then what happened when he came out?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 22:28

Oh gosh, they told me to do podcasts. Since I met you back in March, I've done over 25 podcasts and I've gotten the word out. It's become a number one bestseller according to Amazon and the the statistics of what they do it. And now we're we're working on a second book, but I it's gonna be about how to get your veterans benefits. It's a self-help guide. We got examples of how to do that, but I'm not gonna kill myself on this one. I guarantee you that. And see this one a soldier against all odds right here. This was the one I'm nearly died on, so the other one we're working on is gonna be not as intense. It's not gonna be as crazy as this one.

Daniela SM: 23:04

Wow, that's incredible, jason. I love that you are here telling your story. Colleagues, read the book to your family. What about your sister? What do they say about the?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 23:13

book. Sister and brother Don't say a damn thing to me. I think they want to stay silent. It's see, this is my story. I'm telling it from my perspective. We didn't grow up to be out there. We're more like a restricted family when we grew up, and even in the military, you don't say your vulnerabilities, and so now I want to tell the stories out, and so my mother and my father passed away, so I thought that it would be a good time after that. Now my colleagues a lot of them are either Admiring me very, very much or they're like a little bit over here at distance, but most of them have admired me. If you just look at the reviews, you're gonna see a whole lot of colleagues that have come online on Amazon and that's where it's at. It's on Amazon. It's on Jason backorg. You'll see the reviews over a hundred reviews and a lot of them are my soldiers. Or are there colleagues that I've worked with around over the years?

Daniela SM: 24:04

Looking back and all the things that you have shared today. You have achieved so much compared with other people. Maybe maybe other people got medals for being number one and whatever, but you have done against the odds, how you said, and also you have done things that are out of the ordinary For people like you. You know, in the military people are no vulnerable like you say. Yeah, we're not vulnerable, we're. I didn't grow up in a family that was vulnerable the military is.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 24:30

We do not show our weaknesses, we don't show our vulnerability. I grew up with storytelling Don't tell me what a plural and noun is or things of that nature, I don't know but I understand storytelling and so I wanted to always tell this story. My dad was a great storyteller, so I thought that I could try to work off him and I have a have a book that's meant in our memories At least in my family memories and that'll be out there. It's always been something that it's kind of what a bucket list. It's a big, big bucket list that's gone. You know getting this out and you know Giving a little bit inspiration and hope to other folks. Yeah, you, I've always felt that I was blessed in some way, sometimes only one or two times cursed, but I thought I was blessed most of the time because I wasn't supposed to do this.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 25:16

I wasn't supposed to graduate college, I was not supposed to go and achieve these ranks and all the ribbons that you'll see. This was not in the cards, according to the experts, and I defied the experts, and so once these things kept going on throughout my life. You know you talked about that roller coaster and every time I went up. I went down, went up, I thought, wow, I didn't like the crazy roller coaster ride. I mean, I wish I could be normal. My mother always said, son, why can't you be normal like everyone else? I said, well, I don't know how to be, I just know how to be me. And she walked away mad at me. But no, and I did, wish I was a little bit more normal, without all the ups and downs, cause everybody else, you know everybody has ups and downs, but why does mine have to be so down? I just said that's just the way life is gonna be, apparently.

Daniela SM: 26:04

I like your answer that I just don't know how to be normal. I know how to be me. That's pretty good. Exactly so, jason, after 31 years of being in the military and you decided to leave, how was that feeling?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 26:17

Oh, I was burned out. I had post traumatic stress syndrome. I had been through so much, I had been totally drained and exhausted. I was burned out after Afghanistan. Then I took a Germany. I retired out of Germany. It took two years over there. Didn't really do a whole lot over there, I just tried to ride my time out.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 26:34

Then I just sought medical help, A lot of mental health therapy, things of that nature, and tried to get back into the workforce eventually. But I wanted to just focus on my mental post-traumatic stress and things of that nature and I did. And then I eventually got into a federal position with the Centers for Disease Control. I did that for a few years and then I went ahead and published the book. When I published the book I quit the federal force, the Centers for Disease Control, because I wanted to focus on the book, the podcasting and the expression of the book. But yeah, that's kind of how this thing has been since retirement. Retirement was a transition, was a problem because you've been moving around, You've been going up the ladder. Disassignment, that's assignment, and then now all they're ever known was my battle fatigue. I don't even know how to dress. I would just put on one uniform all my life and now I have to dress. So you have to adapt to a different type of environment than you're used to.

Daniela SM: 27:29

Yes, and you're full of energy, as I can see from looking at you. So what do you do? All day you can be sitting only on podcasts. I'm sure you have to channel your energy.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 27:38

This morning I did wind sprints for about 50 minutes and then I went to a sauna. One of my therapy sessions is go from a sauna to an ice bath and when I'm in the sauna I do sit-ups and sit-ups. But no, I do have a lot of energy. I try to find ways to get this energy out every day. I'm 57 years old. Physical fitness is a big part of me. It has always been because I was in the military.

Daniela SM: 28:02

OK, you do sit-ups on a sauna. Sauna, yeah, I do sit-ups in the sauna.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 28:06

And what I want to do is get really hot and sweaty. And then I get out of there and I jump into an ice bath and then I start to shiver. And then I'll go back to the sauna, get really hot and sweaty and go back to the ice bath and get shivery. That really does a whole lot to me. It makes me feel calmer afterwards.

Daniela SM: 28:22

And how long do you stay in the water? Five minutes, ok.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 28:25

Usually to a point of shivering.

Daniela SM: 28:27

But you're always traveling, so how do you manage to find a sauna and a cold plunge?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 28:32

I was in Korea for six years. So if you go to a city such as Atlanta, houston and Dallas some of the bigger cities they'll have these Korean saunas and that's where you're going to find them. But you'll have to Google Korean saunas In San Antonio, texas that's where I live at. They've got a evolved human therapy and they've got one there. It's a new thing and I learned about this over in Korea years ago because I used to go out. I lived out in the villages in Korea, and in Korea they have these things, these saunas and these ice baths. These are just facilities all over the place, and so now I find ways when I'm traveling to find them. And if I can't find that, I can always get a sauna at a gym and then just use a cold shower.

Daniela SM: 29:16

I see Interesting. Thank you for sharing that. And, Jason, through your time while you were having soldiers, did you meet people that were like you and how do you treat them Well?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 29:29

as a commander, I was always very compassionate and empathetic towards everybody's special needs or things of that nature maybe too much so. I was really good as a commander or as a leader, as a father or someone who leads or someone who can show the way or the light to kids or younger folks. I was always good with that. There was just other situations where they gave me the details and tried to tell me what to do on the details, like if you were to tell me to fill out a spreadsheet or to do this, it would take a whole lot more energy from me and brain power than it would be an average person Like, for example, when I was in the Centers for Disease Control, I had help. I had a nephew and a niece who would come online and help me out a little bit, filling out things and things that I don't know. I learned how to get help. I learned creative ways around things, especially if I had to do them. That's what's difficult is for me to do the details.

Daniela SM: 30:23

Jason, and you are not even a bit curious to know what you're learning?

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 30:27

disabilities- Not really. I'm pretty much. Because I've lived through it so long. I have been identified three different times as someone who's just a slow learner. My processing mechanism is much, much slower. I think that's the best way you can probably diagnose it. Those folks who have diagnosed it just means I just take a lot, a lot, a lot more time to do a task which in the military or in life you can't. You don't have a lot of time, but I can compensate around that If I get other people's help or I do other things. Then that's how I found creative ways to get around this.

Daniela SM: 31:06

Well, obviously you have weaknesses, but your strengths are definitely empathy and compassion that perhaps other people didn't have it. That's your talent.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 31:17

Yeah, I'm a very good commander of empathy and talent. The competition and the backstabbing that occurred in any organization I was not good with, because everything's competitive as you move up a ladder, whether you're in the executive branches or whatever. They look at me as they can tell that maybe I'm not at their standard and then therefore there's I could be a possible easy pushover. That's part of the things I never did like. But give me some soldiers, give me a commander.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 31:45

What have you and I do better than they are probably because there's a lot of brutal, brutal, unsympathetic commanders and people out there who treat their soldiers really, really bad.

Daniela SM: 31:56

Well, I am glad to hear that you were the good leader, Jason. I think it is incredible that you managed to remember all these details and put it together in one book.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 32:05

Well, what it was. It was somebody who was interviewing me just like you're interviewing me over and over and over again, sometimes on the same subject over a period of years, and it was squeezing the lemon out of the juice and he was writing it down, writing it down, typing, or he was recording it and then typing it, and then he got it all. He threw some stuff out that weren't relevant and it was just a long, painful process. This is all it was. It's not like I remembered all this stuff. I went through a squeezing over a period of years to get this stuff out. That's a story of its own.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 32:38

And I went through the audio book. I'm the person, I'm the narrator. Someone says, well, if you're going to do a book, you ought to do an audio book. I said, okay, when I did the audio book, when I started reading through the manuscript, I came up with more stories. I remembered those things. So when I thought it was over, it was not over. I thought, wow. And then my ghostwriter says when that stuff happens to you, just keep on talking. Whatever it is what comes to your mind that you remember at that moment, because I can't write too well, just go ahead and speak it into the system there and then I'll capture it now and that's how we went through that. But that was by accident, it wasn't planned, and we got a lot more juice out of these stories by going through me doing the narrating part of the audio.

Daniela SM: 33:19

I think it's wonderful that you are narrating it, because that makes the book so much more fun to listen to. So, Jason, I am. It is incredible how proud you are of the product of your book and all your life. So I am excited that you are here and that you were able to share all these. I'm grateful for that because your energy and your willingness to go against all the odds it is amazing and inspiring. So thank you so much for sharing. Well, thank you very much for having me.

Lt Col. Jason G. Pike: 33:52

Yes, you can find the book Soldier Against All Odds on Amazon. Put it in your browser A Soldier Against All Odds and you'll see a many, many podcasts too many podcasts, I think and then you'll see the description in my website, jasonpikeorg. Jasonpikeorg, yeah, I appreciate your support and your willingness to interview me.

Daniela SM: 34:14

Yes, no, it has been a pleasure and thank you for the gift of getting to meet you All right.

Daniela SM: 34:19

I hope you enjoyed today's episode I am Daniela and you were listening to, because Everyone has a Story. Please take five seconds right now and think of somebody in your life that may enjoy what you just heard, or someone that has a story to be shared and preserved. When you think of that person, shoot them a text with the link of this podcast. This will allow the ordinary magic to go further. Join me next time for another story conversation. Thank you for listening. Hasta pronto.