ISI Brotherhood Podcast

155. The Power of No Limits: How Kyle Maynard Turned Obstacles into Opportunities for Greatness.

• Aaron Walker • Season 2 • Episode 155

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0:00 | 57:15

We're bringing this one back — because Kyle Maynard's story deserves to be heard more than once.

Born without arms or legs, Kyle didn't just overcome obstacles — he redefined what obstacles even mean. Raised by parents who refused to see him as disabled, Kyle internalized a mindset that carried him through 35 consecutive wrestling losses, MMA fights, CrossFit competitions, business ventures, and ultimately, a bear-crawl to the 19,340-foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

But it's not the feats that make this conversation unforgettable. It's the philosophy behind them.

"I just focused on the three feet in front of me."

That simple approach — turning the impossible into a series of manageable steps — is something every one of us can take into our own mountains, whether in business, relationships, or life.

Kyle also gets real about the hard moments: nights spent questioning his faith, dealing with public criticism, and sitting with his own doubts. Through it all, he's landed on a truth that cuts deep — there's a difference between reasons and excuses, and deep down, we all know which one we're making.

If you need a reminder of what's possible when you stop focusing on limitations, this episode is it.

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SPEAKER_00

Discover the brotherhood that sharpens you. The ISI community is free for 30 days. Join now at isibrotherhood.com forward slash community. Hey brothers, welcome back to the ISI Brotherhood Podcast, where we help men live the lives of impact in their five key pillars of life. I'm your host, Aaron Walker, better known as Big A to our community. But I want to tell you right now, buckle up today, we've got a man with us who has redefined what's possible. Kyle Maynard was born without arms or legs. He's wrestled competitively. He's climbed some of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Kilimajaro, and he's built a life and business around a philosophy that's simple to say but hard to live. And that's no excuses. He's probably no stranger to you. You've probably seen him on the ESPN feature or maybe the great big story documentary. He even was on ABC's 2020 special around the book that he's written. But today we're going to go even deeper. Not just the headlines, but the heart. Kyle, welcome to the ISI Brotherhood Podcast, man. It is such a pleasure to have you.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for having me, BA. I'm I'm I'm pumped about this. And uh yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for for all you do. I know you've touched a lot of lives, including mine. So I've I've gotten to know quite a few people who you've you've helped over the years. So uh man, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, listen, it is minuscule compared to the lives that you've touched. And we said even in pre-recording, it's really an honor to me that you're here because what an example you are. Our second core value is no excuses. And so we're kindered spirit at heart, right? Relationships matter most, and then no excuses. So I'm in your camp when it comes to no excuses, but you have redefined that term, like literally redefined it. I mean, I've sent out your videos and things as I was preparing for the interview to my family and to a lot of my colleagues and mastermind members. Yesterday I showed one of your video clips to our mastermind group that's been meeting together for about 11 years. And when I got through, there was dead silence. And they didn't say anything. And I'm like, so what do you say? And one of the guys goes, What's wrong with me? And it was so touching because he's like, I don't have any excuses, right? Compared to Kyle, I don't have any excuses at all. So I just want to tell you, man, you're touching a lot of people. But I want to start kind of at the beginning. I want you to, I want you to go back uh early, early uh from the beginning, and I want them to see the incredible achievements that you've been able to accomplish, but I want them to hear the real story that what shaped you long before the mountains came into view. I want people to know what shaped Kyle Maynard. So tell us a little bit of your backstory.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think uh, you know, family was is probably the foundation of it all for me. I feel very, very blessed and fortunate with the the family that I was born into. And I think if if it had been a different family, I think that uh things would have turned out a lot different for me in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_00

They uh there's you know you mean you're a media family, like your mom and your dad and your siblings, or do you mean the extended family or extended family too?

SPEAKER_01

Grandparents, friends, coaches. Like I've just I've been very blessed with a lot of like pretty amazing people in my life that you know I think that saw the potential inside of me instead of seeing the the challenges to give your audience a little bit more of a visual. My arms basically end at the elbow and my legs end at the knee. And you know, so when I'm getting around in you know airports or running errands, grocery store, all that stuff, like I'm in a wheelchair, and uh, but I don't use one at home. And you know, my family had the attitude of, you know, just to make things as normal as possible. Yeah. And uh I almost you know call it like a Jedi mind trick, like in Star Wars, where you know, uh there's that scene where they say, like, these are not the droids you're looking for, and they say, Oh, okay, these are not the droids I'm looking for. And my parents kind of did the same thing with the disability, where they said, you know, you're not disabled. And basically, you know, it was like, okay, cool, you know, not disabled. Like they just didn't really focus on that. There's a a quote that I learned later in life that's where the attention goes, the energy flows. And it's, you know, so true. It's if we put our attention and focus on everything that's wrong with the circumstance, we get more of that. You know, and so they wouldn't really allow me to like get stuck in that that place. Not that it didn't come up. I mean, you know, there's definitely some hard times, you know, that that came up as a kid for sure, but they just wouldn't let me dwell on it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so that took a lot of courage on your Mr. and Mrs. Maynard's part, your mom and dad. It was that just inherent in them? What was that taught to them that type of mindset? Because that's as far from normal as you can get, right? I mean, most people sit down and they're devastated and they're like, I don't know what we're gonna do, and they look for every excuse to kind of limp through. And but your parents are like, no, we're not doing that. We're gonna make this as normal as possible. Like you're gonna do these things. And you even got into wrestling, which was mind-boggling to me. And your coach, by the way, man, I would love to meet that guy one day. It looks like he was a huge inspiration to you as well. But was that your dad's initiative? Was that your initiative? Like even at an early age, you adopted that mindset of, hey, it is what it is and let's go, or was that learned over time?

Wrestling Losses And Refusing To Quit

SPEAKER_01

You know, I think for them they understood that uh, you know, one of the things that was gonna have to happen if I was gonna, you know, live a normal life was to, you know, take risks with things. And, you know, and and they knew that there were some things that were gonna be difficult. Wrestling was one of those things for sure. I uh my first two sports I played were football and wrestling. And football, I played nose guard defensive line, and you know, I just tackled people, taking my helmet and smashed it into their shins as hard as I could to bring them down. Like I love it, you know, it was that uh was my first sport. And then wrestling, um, I started wrestling shortly thereafter, and it was a totally different experience. I lost repeatedly, you know, I lost 35 times in a row. And uh, you know, when I was a kid, all right.

SPEAKER_00

Let's go stop right there for a second. Let's go back to a small kid. You lost 35 consecutive matches. Did you want to quit? Or you're like, I'm not quitting for anybody. Like I'm gonna do this, or did you did you try to quit? Like what happened during that 35 loss stretch?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I begged to quit. I mean, that's why it's you know, kids, you know, at that age, you know, it was 11 years old, and I I couldn't have made a you know long-term decision for myself. I I was done with the sport, I hated it. You know, my mom and dad knew better, and they knew that I needed to, you know, like at least the the kind of compromise that they made with me was that like I had to finish the season. And um what ended up happening was I lost every match in sixth grade, didn't want to do it again. My dad convinces me to sign up in seventh grade because he says you'll win a match because you'll find somebody who's their first year, so you'll beat them. And he tells me this big story about how he didn't win a single match his whole first year of wrestling growing up. And it wasn't until many years later I was interviewing his dad, my grandpa, for my book, and I was asking my grandpa, I said, like, what was it like for my dad when he uh lost all those matches? Did he want to quit and give up to? And my grandpa had no idea what I was talking about because he had no idea.

SPEAKER_00

He didn't even wrestle.

SPEAKER_01

Your dad didn't even wrestle, dude. He actually he had been a he had been a good wrestler, but the funny thing was is that like he was like, Oh yeah, he won a bunch of matches that year. So, you know, it was that just kind of like was their mentality with things. It's just um I think you know, they knew that again, where the attention goes, the energy flows. Like if they were gonna try to keep things like you know, where I was focused on the positive and focused on what I was capable of doing, then you know, I wouldn't be sucked down by the the negativity.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So what kind of challenges do you remember early on as, you know, 11 years old, 12 years old? Like, you know, what what were you up against? Like I I can't even go there in my mind, but take me there as to the challenges that you were experiencing as an 11 or 12 year old.

Hopelessness And Grandma's Grocery Lessons

SPEAKER_01

There was uh there was, I mean, I'd say the toughest part of it was um you know becoming aware of the disability and that you know life would be different for me. And uh, you know, I think it was before you know when I was going through all those losses, like I didn't see the other side, like of, you know, I mean, ended up becoming uh, you know, wrestling I stuck with football. I, you know, guys kind of got too big and I, you know, stuck with wrestling, but I ended up becoming one of the top wrestlers in my weight class in the country. You know, ended up like fighting an MMA, fighting the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships, like uh setting world records in weightlifting and you know, opening up a CrossFit gym that I owned for 10 years, you know, and speaking traveling around the world, climbing some of the highest mountains in the world, like having New York Times to selling book, like doing all of these things that like I never would have imagined or dreamed that I would have done before. You know, as a kid, I I think I just you know hope is so important to hold on to, right? And I was uh I felt hopeless a lot of the time, you know, and and I remember there are nights where I'd beg and plead and pray, and like I'd pray every night that I'd wake up and have arms and legs. And you know, it was uh just a really like challenging, you know, period. But I think faith too is an important aspect, I think, at that point. Because you know, my family would always say that like you know, God has a plan and you'll you'll figure out you know why you're born this way at some point.

SPEAKER_00

And um were you ever mad at God? Were you ever mad about your situation? Did you question?

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, for sure. And I think I think everybody's lying if they said that they don't you know have moments of that where they don't get to that point too, you know. But I think it depends on how long and what degree you stay there, though, you know, and but there's times for sure where you know things feel unfair. And yeah, I've had that as an adult. My grandmother, who was everything to me, um, you know, she uh she battled it and passed from uh uh glioblastoma brain tumor, you know, and just seeing her and the fight that she had to go through. But she used to teach me, like, you know, as a little kid, three, four years old, she would take me grocery shopping with her. And some of the most powerful lessons of my life, just practicing meeting people in the grocery store and just shaking people's hands, going up and down the aisles of the grocery store, we'd just practice, she'd say, Hi, my name's Betty, and this is my grandson, Kyle. And I'd just shake people's hands, practice that, and say, Hi, my name's Kyle. And she'd always say, when people hear your voice and they see your face and they shake your hand, they'll totally forget about the disability.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, that is so good. Did Kyle early on, did you have thoughts of other people that were complaining or had excuses, so-called excuses? Were you thinking like you don't have a clue? Or were you like sympathetic with them as well? Were you an encourager and a motivator to others? At that time, you certainly are an encourager now, but in your early formative years, did you have a sense of encouragement for others?

SPEAKER_01

I think because my family, like I said, their mentality was to make things as normal as possible. Then I kind of, you know, it's weird. Like I didn't really look at like myself as different, you know, until later on where I realized. And so I think it was so important. And I think it's, you know, I've anytime I get an opportunity to go and speak, especially to parents of people, you know, kids with disabilities, you know, then I'd say that's kind of you know, was so critical to me, was just to not make a huge deal about it, you know, to try to minimize things and try to, you know, just focus on the positive. And, you know, I think it the no excuses thing came around a little bit later where my um I realized later that my wrestling coach, uh he would uh he would say that to people where he would, you know, there would be kids that would be complaining at practice that they hurt their wrist or they hurt their ankle. And he would say, like, well, I would bet Kyle wishes he had a wrist or he had an ankle. And yeah, that would shut up on pretty quick.

Reason Versus Excuse In Real Life

SPEAKER_00

I bet it would. Well, let's talk about that book just for a second. Uh, no excuses, uh, and I highly recommend everyone that's listening to this episode get a copy of your book. Uh, I love the title because it's not just motivational, it's really a mindset. And that's what we try to teach in ISI Brotherhood today is changing our mindset. But I want to get real just for a minute. In your mind, what is the difference between like a reason and an excuse? Because there are reasons that some things, you know, maybe are not going to work. How do you delineate between the two?

SPEAKER_01

I I think that everybody knows it at their like heart, gut, soul level, you know, if you uh and you know, the excuses we want to go and make to just, you know, dodge responsibility and you know, and and duck out on like, and sometimes they're painful. You know, sometimes we mess up when we know that we could have done better. Sometimes we're too hard on ourselves, you know. But like that's why we like there's got to be that like introspection to go and see, like, am I complaining about this thing? You know, or is it something that like you know is is legitimate? You know, there's there's because there's there are there are real reasons to your point with that, you know. As a kid, you know, my my dream before I played football or wrestled was I wanted to be in the NBA, you know, and like I you know, I used to watch like NBA like Atlanta Hawks games while I was, you know, sitting in my bedroom and you know, uh had a Fisher Price basketball hoop that I would just go and shoot basketballs all the time. And that was a huge part of my life back then. And you know, but I no matter how hard I wanted it or worked at it or whatever, like basketball was not gonna be my sport. You know, it was just um you know, other other things I could do. And you know, that's kind of the case for everybody. It's not everybody's strong at everything, you know. A lot of us, right, we have different strengths and weaknesses, and we have to be able to tell the truth to ourselves about those things. And but the truth of the matter is, right, like, you know, if you look at it like You're not gonna dunk a basketball. I'm not gonna play basketball, but yeah, like you know, 99% of other people aren't either. You know, it's like the lot. You're right.

SPEAKER_00

I'm 6'4, I can't dunk a basketball, and I'm 6'4, right? I do good to touch the net, much less dunk a basketball. So I'm I'm with you. But uh for me it's been excuses, though. But for you, that's a great reason. And I love the way you delineated between the two. That's very helpful. But the things that you wanted to do that you could do, for the most part, you've done.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, there have been some, you know, there have been, you know, just uh there have been things throughout the years that I've you know that I look back on and I know that I could have done differently or could have done better. And you know, it and by by no means do I want to go and give the impression that uh that I don't make excuses. The way I look at it is like, you know, it truly is a mountain with no summit, no end. You know, it's it's always there's always something there, I think, when we go and look. And I think that like, especially you know, in your in your audience, you know, you have a lot of like high-performing people and you know, people with different loads and responsibilities that they're you know dealing with and attempting to go and live a balanced life in terms of family and spiritually and you know, all of that and what that entails. But yet, like, you know, we're always out of balance in some area and some, you know, in our life in some way or something. Sometimes it's in our control, sometimes it isn't.

SPEAKER_00

I think you said something really important I don't want our audience to miss is that you've got to prioritize what's important. Like, what is important in Kyle's life today for you? What is the order of prioritization today, the things that are important to you?

Injuries Balance And Success Pressure

SPEAKER_01

Uh I'd say since you know, it's been interesting, you know, even in the amount of time that we've known each other, um, you know, I've I've uh you know, say over the course of the last year, I've I've learned a lot too. You know, I think that like the younger me that was focused on primarily being an athlete, you know, I've had to realize that like I think that you know, there comes a time in in most athletes' careers and every professional athlete and to some degree, like, you know, it's like uh you retire and then what? Right. And you know, I think I've had some injuries in the last year and you know, things that kind of came out of nowhere. Just doing a CrossFit workout and uh workout I'd done before, and you know, the next day my left arm had swelled up massively with like bursitis, and for six to eight months all I could do was just swim, you know, and that was kind of the only thing I could could do physically. And so it was a big, you know, so I had to look to other other areas, you know, if it was going to go and provide me fulfillment and you know, just um but I think it's given me a lot more perspective on on what matters to me, you know, and it even just time with family and friends, uh, you know, that yeah, I I took for granted before. You know, just to be able to do that, I think I've I've been really fortunate and you know time to listen to an audiobook or a podcast or watch a TV show without thinking about like what else should I be doing, you know, right now. Like, you know, just do you feel that pressure?

SPEAKER_00

Do you feel the pressure because your name is well known around the world and the accomplishments? Do you feel a sense of pressure to continue that, or do you have a release from that? Yeah, for a long time I have, for sure. And uh, you know um, that can be equally debilitating.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think it's I think uh I both was very interested in like the world of like performance. Um but I kind of was like thrust into that like you know world, you know, at a fairly young age. Like the speaking and per you know performance culture world, like it's they're you know very closely intertwined. And um I loved being around like high performing people and you know um trying to learn you know whatever edge I could to be better at something, but it comes with a price too, sometimes of like you know, there's a lack of that balance that comes with things. I learned learned that the you know the hard way too. I mean, there's um you know, I remember I was having a conversation with this about this a couple days ago actually, where I just I remember, especially when I first started speaking and traveling, you know, everyone was and received a lot of media exposure at that point in time, and you know, um you know, 19 years old and launching a book on Oprah and Larry King and all this stuff, and I'm you know, traveling around the world and like just going non-stop. And like, you know, I remember you know, a whole year would go by, you know, and and I'd be like, What where did that go? Like, what even happened?

Kilimanjaro Doubters And The Dark Night

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. It's not all what it's made up to be sometimes, is it all the glitz and glamour and the traveling? And it's it's good that you can be an influence, but at the same time, now today, as a result of that, you're dealing with some of the repercussions of what's next and what do I do now, and how do I progress and how do I live my life to its fullest, you know, going forward? I want to talk about Kilimajaro a little bit because I'm sure everyone wants to hear what you were thinking. Uh, the ESPN piece shows just how intense that climb was. But before you even set foot on the mountain, you had to convince people that you could do it. It's like you got to talk people in, like, I can do this. What was the reaction from others when you first told folks that that was your goal?

SPEAKER_01

I remember the first friend that I told. Uh, it was so the uh the night, it was the night after I one of my first climbs ever. And um I was uh had signed up last minute for a CrossFit competition. And the first workout in the competition, there was there were like four workouts over the course of like the the weekend, you know, all of them were brutal and intense. But the first one you had to do a thousand meter row on a rowing machine, and then you had to sprint up uh Stone Mountain in uh in Atlanta. And um, I don't know if you've ever been to Stone Mountain before, but it's you know maybe like yeah, not too far from you. It's uh you know, like 900 or so feet. It's you know, it's it's sizable and you see it. Um, but you know, it's Kilmajaro's 19,340 feet, so it's a little bit different. And um the uh I didn't have a pair of hiking shoes to use, and I had previously used bath towels, you know, wrapped around my arms in duct tape. And I had the idea the night before this CrossFit competition, I thought that I was gonna use leather welding sleeves, and uh be tougher than the bath towel. The problem was is that it was also tougher than my skin and tore all the skin off the ends of my arms. And it took me like an hour and forty-six minutes, I think, to get to the top of Stone Mountain. And um, by the time I got up there, my arms were all bloodied and like I was, you know, beat and And uh, but I did it and I got to the top, and I was like, wow. You know, I didn't I'd been to the top before and ridden the tram, but I think you know, doing it under my own steam and you know what that had meant to go and get there, you know, was a little different. And uh I was, you know, obviously dead last by a lot. And there was another guy that was like an army ranger that was a wounded veteran that was doing it on crutches and had been partially paralyzed. I think he did it like 36 minutes. So I was a you know hour behind everybody else, but did it, got to the top. And I told my friend that night, I said, I'm gonna climb Kilimajaro. And she said, You're crazy. Like, there's no way you're gonna do that. After seeing what I looked like after getting to the top of Stone Mountain. And uh year and a half later, I think from that point, give or take, I was uh standing on the uh Kilimanjaro summit.

SPEAKER_00

You know, uh I watched both of those and I watched you climb that uh Stone Mountain and I watched you climb Kilimajaro. That climb is no joke. Like I've got a buddy that did that, Alan Lindsay trained for two years to do that, perfect condition guy. But there's world-renowned athletes that have been flown off of Mount Kilimajaro because they couldn't make it. I mean, world-class, world-renowned. We won't call their names here uh for the sake of maybe embarrassing uh a known personality. But you bear crawled up 19,000 plus feet, 19,000 feet, 230, I think you said. Altitude is no joke. I mean, um somebody in perfect health, good condition. Like my buddy even said that he started, you know, having oxygen deprivation, started being nauseated. Like like that's no joke. Was there a moment where you thought I might not make it? Or did you always know I'm getting to the top? Like, what was going through your head as you were climbing that mountain?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was uh I there was a whole range of emotions that I went through. I mean, it was a long trip.

SPEAKER_00

And my how long did it take? How long did it take to get to the top?

SPEAKER_01

We projected it was gonna take um, I think we thought it was gonna take 15 days to the summit, a couple days down. Ended up, we did it in 10, not because I was making better pace, but because we decided to change our route and we went up straight up the the west side of the mountain. The harder side. The harder side, but it was also like I I knew at that point I was so beaten up and broken that like you know, I knew I could do anything for a day or two, but you know, just the longer, slower route, you know, might just be too much for me and kind of a war of attrition. So we decided to take a risk and go straight up the west side of the mountain and um the western breach. And uh and it worked and it paid off when we were able to do it. But um, I remember, you know, you know, night four of you know, 10 when it took us to hit the summit. I was in my tent and I was literally crying. My friends were playing a board game in the tent, you know, next to me, and I could hear them laughing and joking and having fun, and I just was like gritting my teeth and like angry and you know, just thinking, you know, having a pity partner for myself. Like it's just not fair that they're having there having fun, laughing and joking, and I was like suffering the way weight that I was. And um, you know, I I felt like that night I was ready to nearly ready to give up and quit.

SPEAKER_00

But I didn't know. Yeah, did you make an attempt to tell your friends that hey, I'm I'm done, or did they talk you in it, or did you say, no, I'm gonna do this regardless? Like what kind of inspiration was around you for this trip?

Why The Right Team Matters

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so we kind of collectively got together. I didn't tell them right then. I said, you know, myself the next day that I just wasn't going to allow myself to think about the pain that I was in, you know, that I would I would refuse to allow, like I said, I keep saying it, but the attention where the attention goes, the energy flows. It's so true. Like I just wouldn't allow my mind to like focus on the pain. I wanted to go and focus on, you know, like take my thoughts and focus away from that. And and it worked to some degree. And I was able to increase my pace a good bit. Um, but they knew and could see in my face, you know, like I was hurting. And uh that's when we collectively came together as a group, and there was risk associated with them too, you know, kind of going up the western side of the mountain that was a more dangerous path. Um, you know, for them, a lot of them is not necessarily what they signed up for, but yet that we all decided to stay together as a group. We could have uh could have split up and and you know, they could have stuck to the original plan, but um, everybody decided to stay together and and we ended up making it to the top together.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, I'm Aaron Walker, founder of Iron Sharpens Iron. Every successful man needs a band of brothers to push him to grow spiritually, personally, and professionally. Each week I meet with like-minded Christian business owners in our mastermind groups. We share wisdom, tackle challenges, and we hold each other accountable to grow, not just in business, but in life. Don't do life or business alone. Join the brotherhood that will challenge, encourage, and sharpen you. Visit isibrotherhood.com and take the first step today. Kyle, how important do you think that friend group was or having your band of brothers as a source of encouragement and strength and support? Do you think you could have done that alone without any of those peers or colleagues or your friend group? Do you think that there's uh an importance in having that community around you?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I for sure. I mean, there was I really learned from that too is that there were there were a couple people that were indispensable. And without them, there was no way that I could have done that.

SPEAKER_00

Why were they indispensable?

SPEAKER_01

From every aspect of just, you know, from the beginning idea to us coming to life, uh, you know, I mean, where we had to get the gear and figure out like our you know, funding, messaging, like everything that we were doing with it, you know, and how to film it, you know. I mean, ESPN being involved to to film and do do a piece, like, you know, there was a lot of logistical issues that we had to figure out. Like the equipment, equipment was an enormous one, you know, where it was just like didn't have a pair of hiking shoes, like what were they gonna do there, you know, and had to seek out people that were gonna, you know, help help me figure that out. So there were a couple people that are indispensable, but frankly, there were you know, like our group too uh went through some challenges because it was just it was an enormous group at first that like kind of got whittled down a bit, but um to the core, to the real substance of the people that were really gonna do this thing. Totally. And when we did their next climb on Akincagua, the next big climb in South America, that was um you know, we we made it an even smaller team. It was just um we had it was myself, uh my childhood best friend and business partner Joey, and uh manages all the speaking engagements. And um, you know, we got to do over the years. And I had a camera guy named David, we had an American guide named Kevin, and we had two Argentinian guides. There was six of us on the mountain for over two and a half weeks on that one, Mount Aconcagua in South America.

SPEAKER_00

22,000 feet, right? That was no joke. Yeah. Yeah, I love it because you had your core, you had your band of brothers, you had your guys, your community that enabled you to do this. What what did you learn about yourself that you didn't know as a result of going through those exercises? Like when you got to the summit and you're like, man, what was a revelation to you?

Faith When The Trail Looks Dark

SPEAKER_01

I think it uh you know, one of the things that I hope to get across to people, especially, you know, in a like in a speech or an interview or something like that, right? Like one of the most important things is that I think we are capable of so much more than we realize. And you know, I've seen that, like I've kind of gotten to like study that to some degree, and you know, and gotten to meet people that like are um you know that have done things that they didn't even think that they could do themselves, right? And um, but we don't know until we're pressed with that. We don't know until we have to go and deal with that. And it could be a diagnosis, it could be an economic recession, it could be, you know, a number of different things they have to go through, you know, a period of you know, layoffs, um, you know, it could be a divorce, could be a lot of things. And you know, you don't necessarily know what you're you're made of until you have to like retest it in some way, you have to go through it in some kind of way. And it's um I think it just you know standing at the top of the mountain after you've gone through everything to go and get there, then you know you're overtaken by the beauty and the fact that you know you're only gonna be there for a short time and you know, just trying to take it in and experience it. But yet at the same time, it's like uh I think the thing that that stays with you is the fact of like you come down and you know, you look at what you've achieved and you're like, wow, I can't believe that I was there. I can't believe that I was doing that. Like, what a terrible idea sometimes, you know. You're thinking like, but it's just an amazing feeling.

SPEAKER_00

That didn't stop there, though, right? You went on to conquer the next mountain 23,000 feet, uh, just shy of that. Uh for the guy that's listening right now that feels like he's climbing his own mountain, may maybe it's his marriage, maybe it's business struggles, maybe there's financial devastation that's lurking on the horizon, maybe it's his health. What is the first thing that you would tell him to do?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's a tough one.

SPEAKER_01

Um because it varies so much in the circumstance. But I think I think to have faith and to know that no matter what you know that that uh that things not necessarily are going to work out in the right way, but that they have the capacity to. I think one of the most important lessons, you know, from if you think about it spiritually, I was just watching um the last season of uh The Chosen, you know, about Christ.

SPEAKER_00

When you say when you say looking at it spiritually, you're you're a believer, you're Christ's follower. I am, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay. And you know, it's I've studied you know every religion, you know, and different philosophies and things like that. I'm just a seeker in general, but I would fuck consider myself a follower of Christ first because you know, I think what he taught was different than just about anybody else. And I think you know, one of the things in particular that like really struck me just the other day and when watching The Chosen, which is an amazing series about his life, you know, it was there was a scene, like the one of the last scenes in the show currently, uh, you know, him in the Garden of Gethsemane when he's being you know going through the betrayal, and he's praying and saying, like, God, you know, like would you take this from me? You know, Lord, like please, like just take this from me. Like and you know, if it's possible. But then he says something that gives me chills to think about.

SPEAKER_02

But he says he says, I pray that your will is done, not mine. And you know, it's it's something that like you know, we can't necessarily see, you know, the the whole trail, right?

SPEAKER_01

Like we can only see the the part of it that were granted the vision at the time. And I think for him to go and have that foresight to go and say, like, let your will be done, not mine, is to go and you know, say that the the whole the whole trail is is what is important, not mine. And if you look at like what Christianity is, what would have become of Christianity without the crucifixion? And it's a really tough, you know, challenge, right? Like what he taught and lived, you know, was amazing, but you know, had he lived and gone into hiding, you know, and hid from the Romans, you know, it would have been a completely different story. So God was able to go and take that circumstance and you know, use it into something that created, you know, something you know beautiful. And I think that's kind of the lesson that my family tried to teach me since I was a kid, you know, that going back to my grandma, you know, helping you know me learn to shake people's hands in the grocery store. You know, it's just if they they knew that like if they just put one foot in front of the other and headed in a positive direction, that things would turn out that way eventually.

Three Feet At A Time Leadership

SPEAKER_00

Kyle, what a demonstration of total faith when he said, Not my will but yours be done. He let go, he let go of the reins. And he was even willing to say whatever happens as a result of this, I'm good with. That's true obedience. And that's true faith. And man, such an admirable statement that you just made in regards to that. Thank you for that. I know a lot of guys are listening right now and they're thinking, well, I'm not climbing mountains. But man, when I think about it though, Kyle, you've you've run businesses, you've written books, you've done speaking. Um what do you think is one mountaineering principle that applies directly to business or leadership?

SPEAKER_01

So I can I'll tell you and I can kind of give you a condensed version of this, but um one of my favorite lessons I ever learned, and it's something I think about a lot now, was so it was on Mount Okancagua in South America. And um we had to deviate from our plan. Uh uh I was going about half the speed of a normal climber, and we'd go halfway to our camp. So from base camp to camp one, I'd we'd go camp halfway and then the rest of the way to camp one, and halfway to camp two, and the rest of the way to camp two. And but between camp two and camp three, which is a couple thousand feet of elevation change, you know, going up to about 20,000 feet high, it was too exposed to the wind, and it was the wind would literally pick the tin up at night and like felt like even when we had cover from it, like we weren't, you know, it felt like we're gonna get thrown off the side of the mountain. So we we couldn't camp halfway. We had to do it. So I had to do twice as much as I had done before in one day. I didn't know if I could do it. And I thought when my guide told me, he said, like, my job as your guide is your life to protect your life, not your summit. So he said, if you don't do this in a certain amount of time in like eight to ten hours, then we aren't going to allow you to attempt the summit. I thought, okay, I don't know if I can do it, but I want to find out. And uh I turned it into a game. You know, when I'm hiking, I'm crawling down in all fours, and I I my vision was kind of blocked by my ski goggles. And I literally just I turned it into a game where it just tried to focus on like there was just like the three feet in front of me. And that's the only thing I would do. I I wouldn't look up to see how far I had to go. I wouldn't think about you know how far we'd come or whatever. I just would focus on the three feet right in front of me. And I kind of turned it into a game by I wouldn't allow myself to sit and rest. Like I just would do three feet at a time. I'd pause, but I wouldn't sit. And I would, you know, take a breath and I'd do another three feet, and take a breath and do another three feet. And incremental consistency. Yeah, and I ended up like, I mean, you know, increased my pace a tremendous amount and like the focus. Yeah, I think I ended up making it like five or six hours where we're you know, my guide said the cutoff was eight to ten. And um, you know, it just ended up being wild, but it was literally like I kind of got to the point where it's pretending in my head that that was you know the only three feet in the world that existed. There wasn't any three feet beyond that, nothing else to go and think about, like, you know, just three feet at a time. And you know, the truth is I've never met somebody that's so tired that they can't go another three feet. And if you ever were at that point where like you know, you collapse and die from exhaustion, then you won't even remember that last three feet. You know, it's literally just like that, you know, it's so you know, that's it's kind of like a mental hack where you know, I just say that there's never been anybody that's ever, you know, been so tired they couldn't go another three feet. And you know, that's kind of how I've been taking it myself.

SPEAKER_00

So that principle in business or in leadership is just focus on what's before you and let's accomplish that. Let's do a good job. Let's lead well in this three feet, right? Let's accomplish this goal for this shorter period of time. And then think about the next three feet afterwards. I love that. I love the intentional focus. And it's not looking hard down at the goal, but it's the task at hand. Let's get that done. The goal will take care of itself.

Facing Fear And The Power Of No

SPEAKER_01

I think there's just, you know, there's so many things that come up that you know we don't want to address that like we have to sometimes, right? Difficult conversations, um, you know, challenging decisions, all those things where we get paralyzed, you know, and just consumed by it, and where we kind of forget the fact that like bring ourselves back to like what is, you know, what are the next what's the next three feet look like? It might be the next three hours, you know, it might be it's just you know, what's right in front of me to go and deal with. And there's really, you know, from like an Eastern philosophy perspective, there's only that, right? Like they teach like the power of, you know, like of now and you know, presence of mind, mindfulness, like is all about that, is just focusing on like, you know, what's right in front of me to go and deal with. Like all that stuff isn't isn't happening. Like, you know, it's not like you got a like a jaguar that's waiting in the bush to come attack you, you know. It's like you, yeah, but like our nervous system gets hijacked to the point where we feel like that's the case a lot of the time. And it becomes becomes a big issue. But a lot of the time, I think if we bring ourselves back to that three feet, like and that too is like we find there, I think that we're capable of so much more. You know, that we are capable of going through it. We uh we are capable of you know, enduring or whatever it is that we have to do, you know, right there in front of us.

SPEAKER_00

Kyle, that is so good, man. That is so, so powerful. I was thinking about last year at our live event, uh, our theme was breaking barriers, unleashing growth by facing our fears. What what's one of the or the most scariest thing that you feel like you've ever attempted? Was it one of these mountains? Was it something else? Is it something totally different?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think well, the I I'd say like there's always a relativity to it at the time, you know, like climbing one of those mountains was inconceivable in high school. But yet, like, you know, in high school I remember being terrified before if I find out like, oh, my opponent, you know, in wrestling that day is gonna be a state champion from another state or something, you know. And that would I remember battling nerves from that massively. Uh I remember being scared out of my mind asking my senior prom date to the prom, you know, and like you know, just didn't necessarily know I what what her response would be. She said yes, and I barely even heard it because I was so nervous. You know, I remember you know, just competing in uh weightlifting MMA competitions, fighting MMA in the cage, like the whole process to get to that. Like the you know, I had to experience there, like a lot of like haters and doubters and people that were saying crazy things on the internet. Like I had more, like six times more people Google my name for the MMA fight than uh even when I was on like you know, Oprah and Larry King and all of that. Like uh, you know, just this massive influx of both positive and negative emotion for the first time. I had to go and deal with like people saying that it was just doing it for attention, you know, like come take a chainsaw and cut off my arms and like sucking it on TV too, you know, people just saying crazy stuff. And you know, behind the you know, anonymous like internet screen name, like people are gonna go and say anything. So I mean there's been different points where I think like there's a lot of like this the fear and doubt and certainty. Speaking, you know, standing on stage, I remember when I first started speaking, scared out of my mind when I first started, like, you know, just hated like the fear that I would have felt there. But I think all of those moments motivated me to like develop a sense of you know, mastery kind of around it, like to some extent. Like, I mean, when I say mastery, I say that kind of loosely and lightly, because I think it's one of those things that we never really truly harness. You know, it's it's always something that we can learn more about ourselves and and doing what we're what we're afraid to do.

SPEAKER_00

You feel like you've learned do you feel like you've learned to run into fear?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I uh I mean I think that's that's that's the you know, it's it's it's a huge part of the of the solution to it.

Prank Story And Rapid Fire Wisdom

SPEAKER_01

But also too, you know, I think having the courage to know what to say, you know. A no to at times. Um, it's it's not always like trying to like force our way through something, right? Like to take the square peg through the circle hole and hammer it through. And I know a lot of times people with our mentalities, you know, with like you know, performance related, like, you know, drive, like, can do that. And yet, like some of the worst decisions I've ever made, I think. You know, I've been trying to do that, trying to force my way through something where, you know, I shouldn't worry, you know, just learning to go and say no to something is like such a critical, powerful thing. Well, one of my favorite things I ever heard from a business leader was um he went through this guy had a, I think he was a tech company CEO, and they went through kind of like a big growth period and went from you know 80 some odd employees to a couple hundred, and um you know, really wanted to go and keep the same culture inside of the company, and he couldn't do the interviews to hire people anymore himself. And so they had to outsource it. And the way that he did it was he uh had everybody list out like when the the interviewing team for a new candidate would come through, he'd say, like, choose, you know, to rank them on a scale from one to ten, but you can't choose seven. He said seven is neutral, seven is Switzerland, seven is, you know, like you know, you're not gonna pick a side. So if you have to choose eight or six, then it's decisive as to like whether or not the individual has potential. And you know, generally something that's an eight or higher you'll do, and something that's a six or lower you won't. And so I've I've applied that to a lot of things in my life. Like if it's you know, not something that's like an eight or higher, then I you know don't have interest in doing it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's a really good systematic way in order to decide. I like that. Thank you for sharing that. You know what I've learned about you after studying you a little bit and having conversations, getting to know you a little bit, you're a little bit of a prankster also. And there's a funny story that I want you to share as we end, kind of lighting things up a little bit, uh, that you and some of your buddies did. Uh you you convinced them to help you with a project. Uh, do you know the story I'm referring to?

SPEAKER_01

There's there's a few. I'm assuming the one might have to do with like tomato curee sauce. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Ted, tell that story real quick as we uh Yeah, that was uh So it was at uh church camp actually down in uh Panama City, Florida. And uh we were I just messing around and getting into trouble, me and some buddies and decided that we were gonna go into um the kitchen and like get a can of tomato puree sauce and went out to the beach and it was like you know the chunky style. Like they dumped this whole can on me in my arms and legs and started screaming shark. And everybody on the beach like came riding up, and there was a huge group around. And one girl was balling crying. She's like, I called 911, the ambulance is on the way. And I popped up and I was like, hey, we should joke. I'll see you guys later.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you're a mess, Dow. You're a mess, buddy. That is so good. Hey, just real quick, just a couple of things I'm curious about. Well what's a a favorite quote that drives you that's an inspiration to you?

SPEAKER_01

One of my all-time favorites was uh Ralph Waddle Emerson. He said, Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

SPEAKER_00

Well, he was talking about Kyle Maynard when he wrote that. No question about what what is one non-negotiable daily habit? Like this, I'm gonna do this regardless.

SPEAKER_01

I'd say I mean, okay, so to be candid, like, you know, it it it changes for me at different times. Like something that like, you know, I will go through periods of seasons. Um, like I said, deal with an injury where like, you know, exercise is is an important thing for me. And I think important people don't realize how important it is for brain health performance, like, you know, mood, stability, all that. You know, and when I dealt with the injury, I remember thinking, you know, like it just sucked and kind of lost that for a little bit, but like to do just do with something, you know, whether you know, walking a little bit, you know, somebody that like is way deconditioned that has to just start, you know, walking around the neighborhood once, you know, walking to the mailbox and back, you know, whatever it is that's relative to you, you can go and do you don't have to be doing ultra marathons. But you know, for me, when I went and learned that lesson of just, you know, go swim, yeah, move. And it doesn't happen every single day, but you know, most days when I do it, I feel I feel better.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. No, I can understand that. Couple more questions. What's the best piece of advice that you, Kyle Maynard, have ever received from someone?

SPEAKER_01

Uh what comes to mind, I think, with that is, and I've seen how true it is, is um attitude is contagious. And uh, I think it's you know, especially in in any sort of like leadership role, even inside of you know, family and friend groups, inside of you know, moments where you have to you know step up, I think it's um you know attitude itself is just is truly is like there's a contagion element to it, like you catch it from other people, and I think we look at other people in those situations and we react. Um so we have to be conscious of that, I think, and take responsibility for it and realize you know that that is the case, you know, even if we are scared or uncertain, you know, just to realize that we're in control of our attitude as much as we possibly can be.

SPEAKER_00

Another uh strong uh push for community being around other people that can help with that. And uh yeah, without it, you know, there's not any of that. One mountain, whether it's literal or metaphorical, what what do you still want to climb? What do you still want to do?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think um so what comes to mind with that is um you know, I've uh I've dated some amazing girls over the years, but I've not uh settled down and and gotten married. I've been close a couple times. But I think that like marriage in the family, kids at some point, something you know to that effect, uh you know, I I I think that that would be an amazing thing to be able to experience. So um, yeah, I've got I think in the meantime, you know, my um nieces and nephews are are very special to me.

SPEAKER_00

And uh I I bet you're a great uncle. I bet you're uh a great uncle to those kids. So way to go.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, thank you. No, I think uh yeah I feel very fortunate.

Challenge One Excuse This Week

SPEAKER_02

Um Yeah, just it's it's just special.

SPEAKER_01

I think like something special about being around like kids, you know, like little kids, like to just you know, they're like just so like free. And I remember my oldest niece one time when she was like kind of first became like aware that I was born a little bit different. Like uh I remember um we were like coloring together in like a coloring book, and she was like, Uncle Kaka, like you don't have hands. I was like, Yeah, no, I don't. I was born that way, and she was like, Oh, okay. And just went back to the color, went right on, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's so good. The innocence man is really beautiful. Kyle, I want to wrap up uh with something kind of practical. If you could give our listeners a challenge to start living a life of no excuses today, what would that word of encouragement or challenge be from you?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I would say, you know, to to think back on some of the things that we've talked about today, you know, uh if you were to pick something in your life, you know, the odds are there's you know, some area of life that has you know gone out of balance and out of whack, and that there's certainly some sort of excuse that's there, whether it's something that we, you know, say or you know, or or we try to just hide. Um you know, but it's kind of always the case, right? And if nothing really comes to mind, well maybe that's the excuse too, right? Maybe it's the fact that we aren't really testing ourselves or stretching ourselves in the way that we could. So I I think to you know think about something that's tangible, you know, listening to this is all well and good. And but you know, it's just entertainment if there's not anything that's actually done with it. And so I think if you know, if you're able to, you know, really take it and do something with it, then um, you know, in those moments where we find out that we're capable of more than we realize, those are some of my favorite things that I've ever gotten to experience is people that have said, you know, some phenomenal things of you know, you're you're like I heard your story, you know, um whether it's heard me speak somewhere in an interview or something like that, and they'd say, like, you know, I gave up doing X, Y, or Z, or I started doing it, you know, A, B, or C. And you know, that and then this is like the effect that they had from it, whether it was, you know, amazing adventures or you know, meeting a life partner or starting a new you know, new business. I mean all kinds of stuff that I heard um over the years. It's been pretty pretty incredible. So I'd encourage everybody that's that's listening to you know go through that you know thought. And you know, if in fact it works and you're able to like overcome and do what you need to do, then come back and tell me. Tell me about it, tell us about it, you know, because I think that that that helps keep us going.

SPEAKER_00

What I hear you say is implementation, right? Otherwise, it's just entertainment. So Kyle, how can our audience keep up and follow you? What's the best way to reach out or the best way to follow you?

SPEAKER_01

I think there's the probably the the the best way. Um, you know, people can just type my name into Google. You see, I've got a website. Uh, if people want to to reach out, I'm not super active on social media, I don't use it a whole lot. I know that I that probably it's one of those things that I could be doing more of myself too, but uh you know it's one of those things that I prioritized. That's um a whole other thing, right? I could be making excuses about that too. Just not my favorite.

SPEAKER_00

But you know, in terms of Yeah, well, yeah, go to Google then and you know, you have a lot of videos out there, you have a lot of content out there that's really good. Kyle, I want you to know, buddy, how much I've enjoyed today and how much I've enjoyed this opportunity to interact with you and to interview you and hear your heart. And it just makes it even that much more inspirational to me. So thank you first and foremost for being on the ISI podcast today. And brothers, I hope you guys are really hearing this. Uh, not just the story, but the invitation. You may never climb Kilimajaro, but you've got mountains in your life right now that you need to overcome. And the truth is the summit is waiting for you. So here's your challenge. I want you to identify one excuse you've been holding on to and write it down. Call it out and replace it with one action step this week. No waiting, no stalling, no excuses. I know without a doubt you can do it. Kyle, thank you so much for showing us what's possible where uh we have been inspired today by this, and I'm excited to see you guys next week uh to uh uh to interact more with you on the podcast. So Kyle, thank you again, buddy.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00

Uh everybody