From Kidney Failure To Finish Line with Mark Maselli

A red kidney bean in the palm of a hand changed everything. That small birthday gesture revealed a living donor, set a life-saving transplant in motion, and became the spark for a comeback that defies every expectation. We sit with author and leader Mark Maselli to unpack how a feared family diagnosis turned into fuel, how a simple online plea found three matches, and how gratitude and grit carried him from the recovery room to the marathon start line in 346 days.

Mark takes us inside the realities of polycystic kidney disease—aching joints, brain fog, and the emotional weight of a prognosis he grew up watching. He breaks down the practical steps that extended his runway: cleaning up his diet, dialing in blood pressure management, and setting a non-negotiable vision to avoid dialysis and get transplanted. When his function dropped to 18%, he asked for six months, humbled himself, and let the world help. The result? A donor discovered through a surprising family connection, and a transplant that delivered instant clarity and relief.

We explore the Maselli Mindset—vision, discipline, resilience—and how it shows up when the miles get ugly. At mile 22 he almost quit, then remembered who he runs for: his grandmother, his mom, others waiting in wheelchairs at transplant clinics, and anyone facing a wall they didn’t choose. He finished faster, found community in Spartan and running circles, and turned survivor’s guilt into survivor’s respect. Along the way, we dig into saying yes before perfect plans exist, building habits around gratitude, and crafting a life that aligns energy, purpose, and action.

If you need a reason to believe in second chances, or a push to start messy and figure it out on the way, this conversation is your sign. Follow Mark’s work, share this story with someone who needs hope, and subscribe for more comeback journeys. Your next mile could change someone else’s finish line.

Connect with Mark:

Website: https://www.masellimindset.com/

Facebook: Mark Maselli II

Instagram: @Markmaselli

Book: The Overcomer's Journey: Unlocking Your Potential Through Vision, Discipline, and Resilience

TikTok: @Mark.Maselli

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Mark Mostelli And His Mission
• 3:30 Family History And Early Fears Of Dialysis
• 9:10 Diagnosis Day And Defying The Script
• 15:40 Fighting Back With Diet, Discipline, And Hope
• 22:20 The Six-Month Ultimatum And Public Plea
• 28:40 Three Matches And A Stunning Donor Reveal
• 36:00 Transplant Surgery And Immediate Renewal
• 42:30 Recovery Mindset And Survivor’s Respect
• 48:20 Marathon Goal, Training Pain, And Purpose
• 55:20 Mile 22 Crisis And Finishing For Others
• 1:01:30 From Marathon To Spartan And Community

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome back to the Against Them Odds, the Less than 1% Chance podcast with your host, Marina Ponte, where we will hear stories of incredible people surviving against them odds. And my hope is that we can all see how life is always happening for us, even when we are at the less than 1% chance.

SPEAKER_01: 0:19

Hey, hey, welcome back to Against On Odds, the Less than 1% Chance podcast with your host, Marina Ponte. And I'm so excited for another amazing conversation today. So I'm gonna quickly introduce my guest because just to wait till you hear his story. So today's guest is Mark Mostelli, a working professional author and living proof that mindset can rewrite any story. After receiving a life-saving kidney transplant, Mark ran his first marathon just 346 days later, despite never running a race before. He's the creator of the Mostelli Mindset, a framework built from his athletic grid and his leadership experience, helping others overcome adversity and find purpose. He's now an associate director at a top airman-space firm and author of The Overcomer's Journey, Unlocking the Potential through Vision, Discipline, and Resilience. Get ready to feel inspired and fired up. Let's welcome Mark Nastelli. Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_04: 1:32

Thank you for having me. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:34

I'm so excited. So as always, I want to start off with what is your against all odds story? And just give us a little bit of a rundown of that journey and how it brought you to where you are today.

SPEAKER_04: 1:48

Okay. I think it should start when I was young. And the reason I'm going to start there is because it's going to set everything up. And when I was young, my I was born to teenage parents. And so I would spend a lot of time with my grandmother or aunts or whomever was available to watch me. And my grandmother on my mom's side had polycystic kidney disease. And what that is a disease where these cysts grow on your kidneys and it continues to grow and grow and grow, and your kidneys just expand until they no longer function properly. And so the year I was actually born, my grandmother was 47 and she had to go on dialysis. And when I would stay with her, she would take me with her. And of course, when you're a little kid, everyone seems like they're 100 years old.

SPEAKER_03: 2:37

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 2:38

It was one of those things when I would go with her to the dialysis center. These people looked different old, if that makes any sense. They looked yellowy, they looked sad, they looked hunched over. They all either used canes or walkers. A lot of them used wheelchairs to get around and they weren't very mobile. And of course, I would ask tons of questions and I would poke at the machines and stuff. And my grandmother would say, Well, this takes all my blood out of my body and it cleans it and then puts it back in. And I'm like, okay. I told her at that time, even at like four or five years old, I'm never going on dialysis. And I had no idea what that meant. I just knew that I didn't want to do that because it looked awful. And part of it was because she would be in a chair for like four hours, three times a week. And then when she would get home, she would sleep the rest of the day because it's so exhausting and so hard on your body to experience that. Well, start to fast forward, I find out my uncles have it, and then they ended up dying before they turned the age of 40. Two of them did.

SPEAKER_03: 3:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_04: 3:48

And I was like, wow. They drank, they smoked, they probably did some drugs, and they just weren't very healthy. And so that probably contributed a lot to that. And so I'm like, ooh, other things I shouldn't do.

SPEAKER_01: 4:01

Stay away from that, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 4:03

Right. Although I did end up becoming a drinker, but that's for another story, another day, right? And then when I was probably, oh, I don't know, I don't know how old I was was, but my mom was diagnosed and she went on dialysis at the age of 47.

SPEAKER_03: 4:22

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04: 4:23

And I was just like, oh boy, here we go. And so then fast forward a little bit more, and it was 2018, and I'd gotten back from a business trip and going back to the whole drinking thing, I drank a little bit too much before we flew home. And that Friday night, I was like, why am I still hungover? I just don't feel right. And I woke up in the middle of the night and I was peeing blood. And I and my first thought was, it caught me. I knew at the instant that I saw it that it had caught me. And I was like, I'm not gonna believe this. I went into total denial mode. I'm like, I'm just gonna wish this away. And I didn't tell my wife, I didn't tell my kids, I kept it a secret. I would like double flush the toilet every time because I just wanted no evidence of it. And I didn't go to the doctor until Monday. And they told me at the emergent care, they were like, Oh, it's kidney stones, but you should go to the hospital and get checked out. So I went to the hospital. Their first reaction was it's kidney stones, and I'm like, Yeah, I probably know different than you, but let's go ahead and go with that narrative, right? Like I was praying for kidney stones at that time. And so they ended up admitting me. They ran CAT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, you name it, all this blood work. And then around midnight, they had taken me to a room, and the doctor come in had come in, and I had still not called my wife yet. So she's wondering where I am, right? Of course. And of course, my phone had died.

SPEAKER_03: 6:01

So it was one of those things it died at like eight o'clock.

SPEAKER_04: 6:05

And so when I finally plugged it in at midnight, it was like, Where are you?

SPEAKER_03: 6:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 6:11

So I called her and I was like, Hey, you should probably come up to the hospital. And the doctor was there, and she's like, I have to tell you something, so prepare yourself. And as the words came out of her mouth, I knew what they were gonna be, and it was you have polystic kidney disease. And to me, it was a massive punch in the gut. And it was also one of those things where I had worked it up so much in my head over time that what that meant to me is that was my death sentence. Yeah, I was going to die like my uncles did, I was gonna die like my grandmother did, and I was just gonna live a miserable life on dialysis until I died. Yeah, and it was just such a depressive moment. And my wife showed up, she consoled me, we talked about it. I stayed in the hospital for the whole week, and while I was in the hospital alone most of the time, because my wife had to go to work and take care of the kids and just life, I had to think and I said, Okay, I've got two young boys that are gonna grow up without a father, like I did. Or they're gonna have a dad that is a badass and can fight back and rewrite the story. Which dad do you want your kids to have?

SPEAKER_03: 7:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 7:37

And I said, Well, the second one sounds much cooler. So I didn't accept it. I I accepted the fact that I had it, but I didn't accept what the outcome was going to be.

SPEAKER_03: 7:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 7:50

I took time and I finally met my who would end up being my nephrologist, and I said, This is my game plan. I am going to get a transplant before I have to go on dialysis. My plan, no matter what happens, is no dialysis. I'm going to get a transplant and I'm going to live life. And I became focused on that. And I'm like, what can we do to extend the kidneys I have now? Because when I got diagnosed, I had 24% kidney function.

SPEAKER_01: 8:22

So and just to because my brain obviously doesn't know any of this information. So that means that from both kidneys, they're 24% was functional. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04: 8:39

So what that means is all those toxins that are in your body, when you eat really fast food, when you eat processed foods, when you drink alcohol, when you just don't do the things you're supposed to do, all those toxins get trapped in your body because your body can't process them out of your body fast enough.

SPEAKER_01: 9:03

Because your kidneys filter all of that, right?

SPEAKER_04: 9:06

Your kidneys filter all that out. And I had chalked it up to just getting old. My achy joints, my sore back, my brain fog. I was like, I'm getting dementia at 40 years old, right?

SPEAKER_03: 9:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 9:22

And that was the kind of if we're gonna call it a good thing about the diagnosis, was it explained so much of why I felt like trash for so long. Because it was about four or five years before I got diagnosed that I was just I was noticing how bad I felt every morning when I woke up. And it gotten to the point where I couldn't even sleep at night because my back was so it was so sore. And after I was diagnosed, that my it was my right kidney where a cyst had ruptured, and that was what was producing the blood.

SPEAKER_03: 9:57

Got it.

SPEAKER_04: 10:04

And about every three or four months I would get kidney stones, and then I would wish I'd never ever said that because that was the most painful thing that I think I've ever experienced.

SPEAKER_01: 10:13

Yeah, my ex-husband had kidney stones at one point, and I saw him like rolling around in the floor, right? Yeah, and I was like, I've had three kids. He's like, This is equivalent to that.

SPEAKER_04: 10:27

Oh, it's off, and it's like four or five days of just pure agony where you take off work and just lay in bed crying because it just hurts so much. And so, like towards the end, there it was just my back was so sore that I just I wasn't getting good sleep, and it just was it was awful. But I ended up changing my diet. I actually even went vegan for a while. Oh, okay, because animal protein is a little bit more challenging for your kidneys to process, and when you only have 24% function, yeah, you're really taxing them. So I went vegan for a while, which I'm a I am a carnivore to the core. And so no animal products was really challenging for me, but I did it, and I tried to exercise more, even though that was difficult as well. Yeah, I even lost weight, but my weight would yo-yo because it was just one of those your body doesn't function properly, you know. And the thing I'd learned is your kidneys are tied to everything that your body does. And I had no idea. I was like, oh, they just make you pee. And it's like, no, no, no. It's connected to your heart and it affects your blood pressure. I was on blood pressure meds, I was on all these medications, and and that was to use the popular terms these days. That was triggering as well, because I saw my grandmother take pills, yeah, and she took she was taking like 17, 18 pills a day, like four times a day, kind of thing. And I'd ask her, Oh, well, what's that pill for? Oh, that's for my blood pressure. Well, what's this pill for?

SPEAKER_01: 12:03

Well, the blood pressure medicine makes me it's like it's like it helps one thing, but then it like deteriorates all these other things.

SPEAKER_04: 12:12

Yeah. So it was around 2022, my doctor finally said, Listen, you are at like 18% kidney function, you have to go on dialysis, and you are now because you can't become you can't get onto the transplant list until you're at 20%. Oh and it was one of those like I'm sick but not sick enough to be on the list, and it yeah, that's it's just one of those like frustrating bureaucracy things. But in in any case, she's like, You're gonna have to go on dialysis and you're at 18%, and I can't uh in good conscience keep you off of dialysis anymore. We're gonna have to do that. And I'm like, Okay, I hear you. Can you give me six months? I'm gonna find a donor. And she's like, good luck with that. I will give you six months. But if you don't find one by the end of six months, then we're gonna have to put you on dialysis. And she started going through the options because there's at-home dialysis that you can do, or you can go do the machine, and so we were contemplating all that. Actually, she was, I wasn't. I was like, it's not happening.

SPEAKER_01: 13:25

She was preparing for you, and she was preparing for me. I'm gonna do this my way.

SPEAKER_04: 13:31

Now I'm yes, and I put a plea on Facebook, and I don't have a ton of Facebook friends. I'm one of those people that it's like, if I don't know you, you're not gonna be like my Facebook friend. Yeah, or at least I used to be that way. Now that I'm trying to grow my social media, I'm like anyone's welcome.

SPEAKER_03: 13:48

Anyone is welcome, yes.

SPEAKER_04: 13:50

But but at that time it was like me, I think I capped it at like 150 people kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03: 13:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 13:56

And I put a plea out there, and my wife says, Do you care if I share this beyond the people you know? Yeah, and I said, I'm going to humble myself enough. I'm gonna put my ego aside. And I think that's like what we were talking about before the show, is a lot of people we tend to hide our stories, and I think part of that's a little bit of shame, but I think part of it as a man, and I know there might I'm gonna get you probably in your comments, you're gonna get oh boo hoo, poor white man. But I think as a man, there's pressure for us to not share stuff, and I think that there's a lot of that. Oh, you've got to keep it in because you can't be vulnerable, right?

SPEAKER_01: 14:38

Basically, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 14:40

And so I kept it all in, and so when she said, Can I share this? I'm like, I was a little apprehensive, and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna have to humble myself, I'm gonna have to be vulnerable because my choice here is do I let my ego win and then I don't get a transplant, or do I give in and possibly get the transplant? And which one's more important? And I'm like, the kidney's more important, so I'm like, go for it. Well, she shared it, then someone share. So then it started getting shared. The hospital that did my transplant called me around a month later and said, You have three matches already.

SPEAKER_01: 15:15

Oh my gosh. So, how does explain to me how this process works? So these people decide that they want to donate their kidney, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 15:25

And I had a link to you, it was uh University of California Irvine, which is a teaching hospital, so that was fun. It got to be like an experiment, but they have a link to give you, and I put the link in the post, and so as it started spreading, people would just click the link and then they would go in and fill out some information about themselves. Well, I think there were more than three people that had clicked the link and started to apply, but as they started weeding through, they narrowed it to three people that had a match. And what happens is I think the first thing they do is they do blood work on those people, and they do I can't remember, I think it's HLA, and I don't know what that stands for. I just know that was like a big thing, and it's basically these genetic markers, I think. Yeah, and it's somewhere I want to say it's like 20 markers that they run it against. And if you can get like 14 or so matches, and again, I'm not a medical professional, so no one takes this right all the disclaimers, but they found that those markers aligned, and they said you have three people that are good candidates for a transplant for you.

SPEAKER_01: 16:37

And then so I guess from that means that they're more likely to for your body to assimilate and not reject it, is that right?

SPEAKER_04: 16:49

Right. So, yeah, like the more markers that align, the less likely it is your body's gonna say, Oh, this doesn't fit, right? Yeah, and okay, and so it's kind of like fitting a square peg and a round hole kind of thing. It's like the more it fits into that hole, the better it works out. And of course, with my mindset, it was like, I don't care whose kidney goes in my body, it's gonna work out because I'm gonna I'm gonna wheel it if I have to.

unknown: 17:13

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 17:14

And it was crazy. So so this is where the story gets a little bit crazy and a little bit unbelievable, but it's a hundred percent true.

SPEAKER_01: 17:23

Okay, I love it. Give me this.

SPEAKER_04: 17:26

Is a I think a beautiful example of whatever your belief system is, whether you believe in God, whether you believe in the universe, whether you believe in whatever it is you believe in, it this will make you believe in that more, and that there's a bigger being out there looking out for us. When I met my wife, she had two older sisters that her dad had with a previous marriage, and then it was her and her brother that had the same mom. And February 14th, so Valentine's Day of 2020, my brother-in-law, my wife's brother, calls and says, Guess what? We have another sister. And we're like, what? And it was in between the two marriages, and it was like a wild trip in Spain ended up resulting in a middle daughter that no one knew about. She's my donor.

SPEAKER_02: 18:27

What?

SPEAKER_04: 18:28

Yes. She, for whatever reason, and the and here's the bigger, here's the bigger, what? So all of that was during COVID.

SPEAKER_01: 18:37

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04: 18:38

And so I would stay home and take care of the boys while my wife traveled to go meet up with the siblings. And so they went to Vegas, they went to Austin, Texas, they went to Nebraska. They all because they all live across the United States. And so they would find central points to meet, and I would stay home and take care of the boys. So I didn't meet her until 2022. And my wife and her have back-to-back birthdays. My wife is the 10th, and my donor is the 11th. And they all decided to have a girl's trip in San Diego. And my wife calls me on her birthday, or I called her on her birthday and said, Happy birthday. And she's like, Why don't you come down and visit us? And you can meet Bonnie. And I'm like, Oh, I don't want to interrupt a girl's trip, whatever. And she goes, No, no, I think it's really cool that you would come down and you get to meet Bonnie for the first time. And so I went down and I'm walking up, and she happened to come outside when she wasn't supposed to. And she's like, Who are these three people walking up? Because it was me and my two boys. And I think something clicked in her head that it was me. So she runs up, gives me a hug. We go inside, everybody's happy that I'm there. And then the oldest sister says, Hey, everybody, let's go outside and give Bonnie her birthday present. And we're, I'm like looking around for like a package or a new car.

SPEAKER_03: 20:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 20:00

And she stands up, walks over to me, and says, Put out your hand. And I put out my hand and she put a bean in my hand. And I looked at it and I go, Are you pregnant? And like my brain is reeling because I'm like, why is she telling me she's pregnant? And why is that a why is that a birthday present to her? Because I bean, I just was a weird association, right?

SPEAKER_03: 20:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 20:25

And she goes, No, you silly goose. Like, what is that? And I go, It's a bean. And she goes, What kind of bean? I go, a red one. And she goes. And like everyone's dying laughing at this point. Like nothing is processing at this point. And she goes, It's a kidney bean. And I go, Why would you give me a kidney? And as soon as I said kidney, it registered. And I looked up her and I go, No way. And she goes, Yes, I'm your donor. And it just, of course, the water works. Right. I think it was the first time my voice ever saw me cry.

SPEAKER_01: 21:00

Oh. And yeah, so she So that's how she told you that she would be your donor?

SPEAKER_04: 21:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 21:09

Oh. I'm gonna cry. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_04: 21:14

Yeah. So again, universe working, it's finest magic. I I just it was one of those here. I am, I've never met this person. She had no obligation to even put it out there.

unknown: 21:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 21:30

And much less the other two people that had been a match. And there were a few complications, so the transplant didn't actually happen until a year later. But I was able to stay off dialysis because my doctor said, okay, you have a match.

SPEAKER_03: 21:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 21:46

We're gonna just run with it, right? There's it doesn't make sense to put you on dialysis and then do a transplant five months later. So I managed to avoid getting on dialysis and I got my transplant on November 13th, 2023. And when I woke up out of anesthesia, I felt better than I had since probably 18 years old.

SPEAKER_03: 22:13

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04: 22:14

And of course, I was high as a kite on all the good drugs they were getting me, and I was still in that anesthesia haze, but my knees didn't hurt, my back didn't hurt, my brain fog was gone. The fact that I was still coming out of anesthesia and I was thinking clearer than I was before the transplant was just a testament to how much it was it was a godsend. And my wife walks in the room and she goes, Did they have you in a tanning bed? Because my coloration had changed. And everything just it just it was like, oh my gosh, this is a whole brand new life already. Like I'm 10 minutes out of the surgery and I already feel like a million bucks.

SPEAKER_03: 22:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 22:56

Yeah. And they told me, okay, usually it takes 10 to 12 days to get out of the hospital. But because we removed your right kidney, because that was the troublemaker, or both kidneys have the disease, but the bright one was the one that had the uh the kidney stones and the ruptured cyst, and it was just really infected, it was 22 pounds. When they removed the doctor said, I was almost gonna have to crack open your sternum to get it out of your body because it was so big.

SPEAKER_03: 23:26

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04: 23:27

Yeah, it was the size of like an American football. Right. Oh my gosh. And you're in a normal kidney size is the size of your fist.

SPEAKER_01: 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 23:36

So that was eye-opening for everybody of like, oh, no wonder you had back pain. You've got two 20-pound kidneys in your body. Of course you're gonna have back pain.

SPEAKER_01: 23:46

So were the are they were they both that big?

SPEAKER_04: 23:51

Both of them were that big. They did leave the left one in just because they really don't like removing a kidney when they put one in.

SPEAKER_03: 23:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 24:00

But because the right one was really infected and had created its own little sack of so that the infection stayed in that sack and had the ruptured cyst and everything. I insisted that they take it out and they go, Well, that just means you're gonna have to take longer to recover and it's gonna be harder to do all this stuff. I said, Okay, cool. Whatever, whatever you say. All right, you do not know who you're dealing with.

SPEAKER_01: 24:24

That's awesome. I love it.

SPEAKER_04: 24:26

And so they said, Yeah, it's gonna take you typically it takes 10 to 12 days. Since we removed your kidney, it's probably gonna take a little longer than that before you can get out of the hospital. I'm not a fan of hospitals, and so I was like, whatever I have to do to get out, I'm going to do, and I'm gonna get out faster than you said.

SPEAKER_01: 24:42

I'm gonna be the best patient ever. Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 24:46

I went in on Monday. Surgery went until like three in the morning on Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon, the physical therapist walked by just to introduce herself and say, Hey, I'm gonna come back tomorrow and we're gonna try to get you to stand up and maybe walk out of your room and back. And I go, Why don't we walk now? And she goes, You just had surgery. And I'm like, I don't care. I'm walking. And she goes, Oh, I know your type. She goes, I'm gonna have to calm you down, aren't I? And I'm going, probably.

unknown: 25:17

I love it.

SPEAKER_04: 25:18

So I stood up in my blood pressure tanked, and it was, I think it was more medically induced, but anyway, I just refused to say that my body was rejecting me. But but I got a little faint and she goes, Okay, we're not gonna go for a walk. And I said, Well, can I sit in the chair? I don't want to be in the bed, and then maybe later you can come back by and we'll go for a walk. And she goes, Okay. So we ended up going for a walk. I got released of the hospital on Friday.

SPEAKER_01: 25:42

Oh, watch me.

SPEAKER_04: 25:46

I was like, watch me. Right. And by Monday, I was off all my pain meds, and I did take the full three months to recover because they recommend three months before you go back to work and all that. But while I sat there, it was one of those, okay, I just had a transplant, I've got a new lease on life, I've got a new opportunity to live life again. And instead of surviving life, I'm going to start living life. I'm gonna start thriving, right?

SPEAKER_03: 26:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 26:18

And while I was getting worked up, I had flashbacks to the people that I saw at the dialysis center when I went with my grandmother, because the people going to the transplant center all looked like those people. And it was like, oh, so that delusion of old people look old when you're little wasn't the case. These people do look old. And in fact, when I showed up the first time, the nurse looked in the hallway and said, Is the patient coming? And I said, I am the patient. And she goes, What? Because I was walking on my own, I just didn't look like the typical stage four renal failure patient that they had seen. And that that triggered something in my mind of I I am different, and how do I use that to my advantage? And I wrote about this in my book of that survivor's guilt. Like, why did I get a transplant? Well, because I went out and got one, right? It I took action, and I think that's a key thing is you take action. But that survivor's guilt of why me and not other people, and part of it's my attitude, but I'll I also try to reframe that survivor's guilt into survivor's respect.

SPEAKER_03: 27:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 27:39

And because I have the ability to walk, because I have the ability to play sports or be active or anything like that, I'm like, let me do something that's gonna shock everybody, yeah, and really flip this upside down so that I can use this as my platform to inspire others, whatever their story is, whether they have kidney transplants, depression, new diagnosis of cancer, trying to take their lives to the next level, how can I inspire others? Because while I was recovering, I'd sought purpose in life because I felt like I had lost it.

SPEAKER_03: 28:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 28:19

And it's amazing how when you figure out what you want to do with your life, everything starts to align and it feels it it feels right in your body. Like the energy in your body feels right. The doing it even when you're tired doesn't feel like when you go to your nine to five job and you're doing it because you're having to do it. Yeah. And so I just I'm like, okay, what is something that's grand? What would really blow people's mind? And I'm like, let's run a marathon. And I told my doctor, he laughed at me. He goes, Okay, ha ha ha ha, right? He laughed it off. I would tell people, oh, I'm gonna run a marathon on my one year anniversary. And they're like, Okay, whatever. And I people were it was either okay, whatever, or yeah, that's never gonna happen. Yeah, you're crazy, or why would you want to do something like that? Like it, there was very few people that were like, right on, go do it, right? It's crazy because the internet's kind of that way, right?

SPEAKER_03: 29:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 29:23

Of there's a the a lot more haters than there are supporters.

SPEAKER_03: 29:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_04: 29:27

And so I'm like, that made me want to do it even more. I'm one of those people like bring on the haters, yeah, because it's just gonna fuel me to prove everybody wrong.

SPEAKER_01: 29:36

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 29:38

And so 346 days later, after my transplant, I was standing on the starting line of the Las Vegas Marathon, not knowing what the heck I was doing. I trained, of course. Okay, yeah, I was good.

SPEAKER_01: 29:51

That was my next question. I'm like, that is so cute.

SPEAKER_04: 29:54

Spent seven grueling months training, and really what made that training hard is my body was still trying to recover from a massive surgery. And for me to start running was insane for anybody, and it's probably not recommended, and I really wouldn't recommend it to other people necessarily. I would definitely recommend exercise. I wouldn't recommend trying to run a marathon after having a transplant as fast as I did, but to each of their own.

SPEAKER_01: 30:21

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 30:23

And so I decided in my head that each mile I would dedicate it to like the first mile was for my grandmother, I ran one for my mom, I ran a mile for my uncles, I ran a mile for a friend of mine, her brother passed away a month before my transplant of kidney disease, and he was so sick that he wasn't even healthy enough to receive a transplant. So, like I started, I just used all of that for fuel. And when I got to this point where my body felt like it was just gonna stop, and I sat down on the curb, and it was about 22 miles, and I sat down on the curb and I'm like, I quit. I just can't do this. And I sat there and I was running through my head of like, how what am I gonna tell my doctor? What am I gonna tell my kids that I my wife, what am I gonna tell these people? Like, I got this far, but then I quit because I just didn't feel like I could do it anymore. And then I remembered my purpose, which was this is to inspire others. This isn't about as much as this is about me doing something amazing, this is really for those people that can't do this. This is for the people in the waiting room that have a wheelchair or a walker and wish they could walk because their kidney disease has done this to their body. And here I am able-bodied, and I'm giving up. I don't think so. And so I stood up and I finished that marathon. And the last four miles that I ran, I ran those four miles faster than I had the previous miles, just because something clicked in my head of like there's a greater purpose in me pushing me forward to do this. And when I crossed that finish line, it was just like the weight of the world lifted of like, here it is. It was very, very overwhelming because as I was approaching the finish line, all those thoughts were like kicking in, and I was just getting overwhelmed with the emotions of look at what I'm about to accomplish.

SPEAKER_02: 32:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 32:27

And to make it worse, my donor hops out onto the track. Oh my gosh, he gives me a high five about a hundred yards away from the finish line. I was just like, Come on, man.

SPEAKER_01: 32:40

All of the emotions. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04: 32:43

I went and I sat down and I started crying. I like it, it was crazy. I wanted to cry. I was even vulnerable enough to let it out, but it just wasn't happening. And then the medics came over and they're like, Are you okay? And they started freaking out. And I'm like, I'm just having a little bit of an emotional breakdown right now. Just ignore me. They're like, Well, we have to check you out since you sat down. And I'm like, All right, so I went over to the little tent and she's like, We're gonna get you this, and we're gonna, and I go, trust me, I'm fine. I was having an emotional moment. I just had a transplant a year ago. My donors came running out right before the finish line and gave me a high five, and now she's crying, and she's like, Oh my gosh, no wonder you're and the guy that went and got me the water bottle, he hears part of the story, he starts crying, and I'm like, Oh man, what if I started?

SPEAKER_03: 33:30

No, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_04: 33:32

But that's what kind of told me that was the powerful impact story that I was going for, and so yeah, it was like about a month later, Christmas break from work, and I sat down and I started typing, and it was just like 47 years of just everything that I had been through just coming out, and it was just it was such scrambled garbage that I ended up spending like two months organizing it. That was so that was earlier this year, and uh yeah, I ended up publishing self-publishing and put a book out there. I started an Instagram page, which I think it took me about five months to even figure out. I was like, okay, boomer, right? I know how technology works. I have a technology degree, but it just was one of those like, how does Instagram work and understanding the algorithms and all that? And how do I get more viewers and how do I get more followers and all that? So that was a learning process in itself. But the feedback that I've gotten in terms of sharing my story and trying to inspire others has been very positive. And I just didn't stop at the marathon. I've done, have you ever heard of Spartan? Yeah, it's kind of yeah, Spartan.

SPEAKER_01: 34:44

I've done Spartan before.

SPEAKER_04: 34:45

I've done multiple Spartan events, I've done tough mutter events, I've run other road races.

SPEAKER_01: 34:50

Those are my favorite. Those are the mud ones.

SPEAKER_04: 34:53

There's such a great metaphor for life, the Spartan events, because on your road to success, on your road of life, you are going to face obstacles. Yeah, and you could either let that obstacle stop you in your tracks or you can overcome them. Yeah, and I just see the kidney transplant thing as an obstacle, and I overcame it. And I think that's the true message behind why I'm here, why I have my story is to inspire others that they're not roadblocks unless you let them be roadblocks. You have the power and ability to rewrite your story, rewrite the narrative, change the narrative, and become the person that you were meant to be. And I think people forget about that. And if I can inspire people to do that, then I'm fulfilling my purpose in life.

SPEAKER_01: 35:46

And so you Yeah, I feel like I could visualize that transplant in your life being that very last obstacle on like one of my favorite mud runs was oh gosh, it wasn't trying to think, I don't remember even the name right now. But the hardest obstacle was always that wall that you had to like run and then jump to try to grab the edge so that you could pull yourself over. Usually was like the last obstacle of any of the mud runs. And I just remember like that was I would see people go to the corner and walk up like a ladder instead of doing it. The feeling of like actually doing that, and it just feels like, oh my god, what an accomplishment. And I'm still here and I still made it, and oh my gosh, now I'm looking down and seeing who else I could help like jump over that wall.

SPEAKER_04: 36:53

Yeah. And they always put the hard ones at the end of the course too, when you're the most tired.

SPEAKER_02: 36:58

You're so exhausted, and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 37:02

But yeah, I think those are awesome and they teach you to not give up and help others. That was a big thing, too. Like Spartan events tend to be a little bit more individual, yeah, it in my experience, but Tough Mutters, that vibe was so different because it was like everybody's there to help everybody else. And what I found in the running community is everyone's supportive of each other, yes. As much as we want to beat each other on whatever, yeah, it's very supportive community. I grew up playing hockey and it was like cutthroat. It's like you're on the other team, I'm going to do whatever I can to smash you and devastate you. There's no supporting other people, right? Yeah, but the running community, the Spartan community, it's a brotherhood, sisterhood, whatever you want to call it. It's just this crazy environment where we all know what we're gonna go through together and we're gonna support each other through that. And I think that's another metaphor for what you're doing with this podcast. What I'm hoping to do with my story is create this big community where people that have been through it help each other and help others get through their big thing. Yeah, we could look society is crazy right now. I've been around for a while. This is the craziest society's ever been, yeah, and there's so much hate.

SPEAKER_01: 38:27

Unnecessary, yes. I was just about to say the same thing.

SPEAKER_04: 38:30

What are we even mad at?

SPEAKER_01: 38:31

Why, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_04: 38:32

Like, what are we even mad? Like, if you woke up, if you woke up, you are already winning.

SPEAKER_01: 38:40

You are winning, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 38:41

You have a roof over your head, if you have food in the cabinet, you are winning life. Why are you mad?

SPEAKER_01: 38:49

Yeah, why are you mad? And why do you want to stop other people from achieving that? Why it's like it just choose kindness? I don't know. Like, where did that get lost in translation? Choose kindness, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04: 39:05

Be kind to others, do one to others how you would like I was getting ready to say there there's a very popular book that has a very popular quote in it.

SPEAKER_01: 39:15

Just say, yeah, yeah, I agree. I am a huge believer of just be kind to people because that's how I want to receive and the thing is if I help you shine, that doesn't take away shine from me.

SPEAKER_04: 39:30

No, there's enough shine to go around.

SPEAKER_01: 39:33

There is enough shine to go around. I agree.

SPEAKER_04: 39:36

Like, like, why are we trying to pull others down? Like, I laugh so hard at comments on the internet that are trying to tear people down that they're doing good things, and I'm like, who hurt you, man?

SPEAKER_03: 39:48

Yeah, man. I agree.

SPEAKER_04: 39:50

What are we doing here? So a fun little story. There's a guy in the ultra running community, his name's Andy Glaze, and he has run. 100 miles every week for the last 300 and well now he's like in week 302, but for the last 300 and something weeks, he's run a hundred miles every week. And then during some of those weeks, he's run like the Cocodona 200, the Moab 240. These are ultra marathons where you're running 240 miles in three days, kind of.

SPEAKER_03: 40:22

Oh my god. Right.

SPEAKER_04: 40:23

Like these people are just at the next level of testing their bodies and what they're capable of doing. Well, leading up to week number 300, he started posting on his feed, hey, you guys can come run with me as I try to do 300 miles in my 300th week. And I'm like, that would be so cool if I could run with him. Turns out he lives in probably 30 miles away from where I live.

unknown: 40:52

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04: 40:53

And he was gonna be running not very far from where I live. And so I shot him a message on Instagram and I said, Hey, is it alright if I come run with you? And he's like, Absolutely, the more the merrier. And I'm like, I was thinking, this guy has a hundred thousand followers, he's known throughout the ultra-running community, he's like one of the OG ultra marathon guys. He's a pillar in the community, he's a fireman where he lives, just all-around great guy. And I show up, and it's him and probably another 10 other people that I didn't know, and they're like, Hey, welcome. Thanks for joining. And I ran the last 10, a little over 10 miles with them, and they didn't ask me, Well, how many marathons have you run? Yeah, it wasn't about yeah, it wasn't about oh, can you run this pace or can you do this or can you do that? It was like, hey, how you doing? They and they just welcomed me, and there's another guy, there's another guy that joined right where I joined him too, and he's talking, and and everybody's just being a part of a community and being part of something bigger than who we are. Yeah, and when we got done, it was so amazing, and he was the sweetest and nicest guy, and I'm thinking, this guy's an ultra marathoner that runs he can run a hundred miles in like 17 hours or something like that, and here I am struggling to run 10 miles, but he didn't care, he absolutely didn't care. And I think that's the community that that we're living in where these runners are so supportive of each other, and I'm like, why can't we why can't the world be like this?

SPEAKER_01: 42:32

Yeah, let's copy paste.

SPEAKER_04: 42:34

Yeah, paste.

SPEAKER_01: 42:37

Yeah, I agree. I think that it's so powerful to, and again, why I started this podcast is because it doesn't matter what I went through or what you went through or what anyone is going through, the fact that we can have the vulnerability to speak up about our stories allows that flashlight in the darkness of somebody else's circumstance. It doesn't have to be that they need a kidney transplanter, it doesn't have to be that they survive cancer or whatever. Everything is relevant to whoever is it's happening to, right? So it could be that it's depression, it could be massive anxiety, and with the light shining from our story, we can bring them to that light rather than having them feel that darkness all around. And I think that's where again, why I started the podcast. I feel like that's why we need to share stories, why we need to be so open and vulnerable, because other people need that in order to feel strong enough to keep going. And I think that's where it becomes really, really powerful in this space.

SPEAKER_04: 44:04

It's so awesome that you said that. And I'm like, did she read my book?

SPEAKER_01: 44:08

I have not yet, but I will.

SPEAKER_04: 44:10

Because I start the book off with like a little short story, and it was one of those things that kind of like I had already submitted my manuscript, and as I was driving to work, this story just came to my mind, and it was talking about the darkness and how we get so used to being in the darkness, and if we can take a step out of the darkness, we can become the light. And not to spoil alert here, but at the end of the book, I bookend it with now that you understand that you're the light, you can be the light for others to come out of darkness. So that you you saying that was like, oh my gosh, I'm on the right show here.

SPEAKER_01: 44:49

This is where it feels like it's all purposeful, it's all part of the plan. I wholeheartedly believe that life is always happening for us and not to us. It's the way it's a perspective of what we look at it. And and I think that people come into your life, there's always a purpose or reason, and or they're there for a lifetime. And sometimes you never know who's gonna be on your podcast, and you're gonna be like, oh my god, this flowed so amazing. This felt like it was powerful and purposeful and right, and who what who can we can connect with. And I'm such a believer in just trusting the process of obviously taking action for what I want, but trusting the process of what comes our way, because when you're in that right energy space in that right field of energy, it it attracts like attracts like, right? So it just we need this to continue to grow so we can continue to attract more of this energy. It just feels great.

SPEAKER_04: 46:05

Yeah, I always take a very calculated risks. Like I'm a risk taker, but I'm also very calculated in the risks that I take. And part of that is just like a little bit of nervousness of what am I getting myself into?

SPEAKER_03: 46:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 46:20

And what over the last two years, I listen to audiobooks and I've listened to probably a hundred plus audiobooks over the last two years.

SPEAKER_03: 46:28

Me too.

SPEAKER_04: 46:29

And one of them, the guy said, Say yes. Your immediate answer should always be say yes and figure it out later. Yeah, part of that really to me is take action. You might not know what you're doing whatsoever, but just take action and things will fall into place. You'll figure it out along the way. It'll be messy, it'll be ugly. And part of that it's gonna be messy, it's gonna be ugly, just start anyway. Is too often we want that perfect plan, we want everything laid out, we want the sun to be out, and it's 72 degrees with a slight breeze, but not too strong of a breeze, and like you're never gonna have the perfect conditions. So just go, right? Just go. I used to start an LLC, I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's starting the business, and I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote a book, but I did it. I had no idea what I was doing when I was running a marathon, but I said yes, I committed, I figured it out along the way, and I did it. And once I started doing that, it was so freeing because I wasn't shackled by this concept that I have to be perfect to make it work. It's ugly, but it was fun and it made a greater story than exactly having the perfect plan.

SPEAKER_01: 47:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 47:53

So just take action.

SPEAKER_01: 47:54

So I had like in my brain and my heart starting a podcast probably five years before I did. And I was and I didn't understand that tug at for the longest time. And I went to a mindset conference with one of my mindset coaches, and he was like, All right, your goal today is to take massive action on something that you've been holding back on. And I'm like, ooh, like they immediately, like, your belly's like, oh gosh, okay, hold on. And I didn't even know what the action was gonna be, but I was like, okay, I'm committing to it. I'm starting a podcast. I'm gonna start it on June 1st. This was like, I want to say May 10, 9th or 10th, something like that. And I was like, June 1st is gonna be my deadline. I'm gonna start a podcast. I don't know what it's gonna be anything. I don't know anything about it. I don't have graphics for it. I don't have anything. And I started to talk to some people in the conference, and one of my friends is like, oh, I use this platform. And so my massive action that day was to sign up for the platform and have it. I didn't have anything to put in it. I did nothing. I just I signed up and I started to put it together. I left that conference. I want to say it was like May 11th or 12th, and came home and literally got to work. I created the graphic, the intro, the name, how I wanted it. I did my first episode, solo episode. I was just telling my story, why against all odds, and and went from there and didn't have much of a plan except for it's gonna come out every Friday and I'm gonna do something on a weekly basis. I don't know whether it's with somebody or by myself, I'm not sure. It's just gonna happen. And I I did the first year or my first season, and then I told my boyfriend, I was like, man, I it gets a little nerve-wracking like when you don't have an episode or uh something scheduled or whatever, and to edit and do everything on the same week. I really want to be able to like have a few like in my pocket so that I'm not like hustling every week on the same thing. And so that for that second season, I found this Facebook group and I was like, all right, I need to find some guest. And I put it out there and I had 40 people sign up. And I was like, oh my god, that's not what I was expecting. But yay for that. And that was like season two, and and then I was like, all right, next season, like I took a break because I started a new career and it was just busy, crazy season. And so I took a bit of a break and then I went that same mindset coach did like a Facebook group that he does every year, and he asked more for my help with it since I've been his alum for a long time. And as he's motivating other people, I'm like, all right, it's time again. I'm starting, I'm starting season three. I put the post out there and I fixed the questionnaire and like I fixed a bunch of stuff, and I was like, all right, this is it. And now I'm uploading to a week. So I've it has to just it feels right and it feels like it's gonna flow, and I'll take action and see where it goes from there, and then kind of revamp and take action again and see where it goes from there. And I think that's where the the perfect plan can't be necessarily what you're waiting on because that's never gonna work.

SPEAKER_04: 51:49

Yeah, no, I love that. That's such an awesome story, and it just goes to show that when your purpose and your action align, everything starts to figure itself out. Like you it I was talking to my wife about this the other day. It's crazy because the more I take action towards what I'm going for, more doors start to open. And it's like once once you go through the door that the universe allows you to go through and you take that leap of faith, it's like the universe says, Oh, well, you were brave enough to go through that door, so I'm gonna open five more.

SPEAKER_02: 52:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 52:29

And if you're brave enough to go through those five, I'm gonna open up 20 more. And then next thing you know, you're overwhelmed by how many doors there are, and you're like, Oh my gosh, uh there's so much stuff, I don't know that I can do it all. Because, like at this point, yeah, I'm gonna start an online coaching community. I want to start doing one-on-one coaching, I want to start doing public speaking, and all those things are starting to line up. And I'm like, I've got a nine to five job.

SPEAKER_01: 52:54

Yeah. That I and it and from what I see, it's not a like a regular kind of job.

SPEAKER_04: 53:01

Right? Yeah. And I'm in that, and I'm actually in the throes of writing my second book. I have a podcast idea that I want to do called The Comeback, where it talks about comeback stories. And it's I guess in some a lot of regards, similar to what your yours is, and but it's and again, if I start one that's similar to yours, I'm not taking shine off of yours. We're gonna shine together, right?

SPEAKER_02: 53:25

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 53:26

So it's just one of those things like the snowball effect. Yeah, and maybe that's the word to call it is the snowball effect of as you start to gain that momentum, just doors start to open for you, and it's like, okay, now what? Like, I'm in the works of getting on a TED talk.

SPEAKER_02: 53:43

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04: 53:44

And then everything's gonna change, right? And so I I'm at that point in my life where it's like, okay, which one am I gonna do? Am I gonna do my career or am I gonna shift my career to being what I want to do and what my purpose is? Yeah, and I've set a goal by the time I turn 50, which is 13 months from now.

SPEAKER_01: 54:05

Okay, yay, that's so exciting.

SPEAKER_04: 54:07

That that's the kind of like make or break point. It's either I'm full-time Maselli mindset, LLC, and everything that encompasses, or I go back to being just corporate guy. Yeah, I have a feeling it's gonna be the first one.

SPEAKER_01: 54:23

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_04: 54:24

Very strong feeling.

SPEAKER_01: 54:25

I feel it in my belly, and my belly never like glides to me.

SPEAKER_04: 54:30

I yeah, I think I have the fire and the tenacity to make that happen, but it's starting to get to where podcasts line up and it's like, well, I'm gonna be a little late to work today. And or I try to schedule my I have every other Friday off. So I if I'm a if I'm gonna be a guest on a show, I try to put it on that Friday. Saturdays are perfect, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 54:48

But and that's that was the evolution. I used to record, like I had open schedule, and now I only record on Saturdays and Tuesday nights because I had to put boundaries in it's my purpose, but it also needed to align with my life in a way that I wasn't overwhelming myself, and it still felt good because the moment that it didn't feel good that I could handle it, then it felt like that energy shifted, and I never want this to be any kind of energy that is going to be not flowing, right? Yeah, it's to feel like you want it to be counter to your yeah, your like I don't need this to be like, oh, I have to record. I love recording, yeah. So that part is it energizes me, but I also need to make sure that I'm like mindful of time with family and work and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_04: 55:54

I think it also gives you structure too, right? Of okay, if I record on those two days, then I can also dedicate Wednesday mornings and Friday evenings to do editing. Yeah, and then I can upload on Sunday mornings before I go for my long run or whatever it is. I've got a long run tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01: 56:15

Oh fine. See, I love my mud runs because I like the obstacles. I am not a fan of the running aspect of it, and yeah, I've just that's okay. I like to work out, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 56:29

In fact, I'm gonna go to the gym after this, but yeah, it's that it's finding the moments that work for you that also align with your energy. I love that. It's such a because it you're right, if it doesn't align, then it does become work.

SPEAKER_01: 56:44

Yeah, and then I don't want it to feel like that because this feels good and fun. And even my new career in so I I started working for a hospice company, the same hospice company that we use for my dad when it just felt very purposeful, like they were there to help me with one of the toughest moments of my life. So now I'm working there and trying to help as well. But I'm more of the quality performance improvement aspect of it. So behind the scenes, but still it feels still purposeful. I don't ever want to go to a job that I'm like, oh, here we go again, because then they're not gonna get the best of me. And I have a lady at work that calls me the purple energy girl because I always have a smile on my face, I always have some kind of purple on, and I want to radiate out what I want to receive. And so I am coming into work with my purple energy and making sure that everyone can feel it so that they look forward to going through their day as well.

SPEAKER_04: 57:56

There's worse things you could be called, right?

SPEAKER_01: 57:58

Yeah, exactly. I love it.

SPEAKER_04: 57:59

If you're known for bringing positive energy, I'm thinking not a bad reputation to have not a bad reputation, not at all. It's funny bringing up hospice. My wife is actually a hospice nurse.

SPEAKER_01: 58:08

Really?

SPEAKER_04: 58:09

She's working hospice this weekend, but she's in pediatric hospice.

SPEAKER_01: 58:13

So we have a pediatric team, which is really it's the ones that's a hard team that clings on to, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Their team manager is probably one of the toughest, like the softest and toughest people that I know.

SPEAKER_04: 58:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 58:28

Because it's definitely a very tough team to be a part of.

unknown: 58:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 58:32

Yeah. I and I'm not trying to diminish old people or people that have but they've had to change the lives of life.

SPEAKER_01: 58:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 58:38

It's a little it hits different when it's a kid.

SPEAKER_01: 58:41

It hits it hits so different. We have had a patient that has been on services for years, and I celebrate that one. Like I'm so happy that we've been able to help their family prolong this a little bit more. And it's tough. It really is tough to experience, tough to think about. But yeah, I commend your wife. That is not an easy thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 59:04

In touch on something that she's dealing with right now. You know, they they I think they had like a merger or they were bought by another company, and so they're switching laptops and to different software, and and she's dealing with that, and she's like, This is not what I signed up for.

SPEAKER_03: 59:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 59:19

I am here for the kids and for the kids' family. I don't care what software we're loading stuff into, just make my job easy so that I make this part of my job easy so that I could focus my attention and energy on helping who I really need to help. Most of it is not helping the kid, it's helping the parents deal with the fact that they're losing their child.

SPEAKER_01: 59:41

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04: 59:42

And so that's the aspect of her job that she's like this computer stuff and the software stuff and having to do different time cards. She's like, This stuff makes me not want to go to work, but it's the kids and the families that yeah, that keeps you going.

SPEAKER_01: 59:59

Yeah. Absolutely. It's crazy. So just to wrap up, what limiting beliefs or roadblocks do you feel you had to overcome in order to get to where you are today?

SPEAKER_04: 1:00:14

So on limiting beliefs, I think we have a tendency as people to put limits on ourselves that don't belong there. And in fact, I even wrote about it in my book about limitations are self-imposed. Right. And the one of the examples I use is Jim Abbott. He was a major league baseball player. He was born without a right arm. And not only did he play Major League Baseball, he was a pitcher in the major leagues, and he threw a no-hitter for the Yankees. Now, when you're a little boy growing up playing baseball, if you don't have an arm, what do you think the number one thing people are telling him? You're never gonna play Major League Baseball. And if he were to believe that, he would have never played Major League Baseball, much less thrown a no-hitter for the New York Yankees. Who does that? Right? So if we can get past the fact that we ourselves are the ones that put limitations on ourselves and ignore what other people put on us, if we can get over that, we can accomplish way more than we could ever believe. Oh, I could never run a marathon. Have you ever tried? No. Then how do you know? You might not run the fastest marathon that's ever been run, but I guarantee you, if you put the work in, you can run it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:43

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 1:01:44

I've never started a business before. Good. Try it. It might fail. Guess what? Fail forward and learn from your mistakes and then do it again. And do it again and do it again. The only reason you're not going to achieve success is because you've put that limitation on yourself.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04: 1:02:04

So that that belief limitation connection, if you believe there are no limits, guess what? There are no limits to what you can achieve in life.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:14

So you can even find a kidney.

SPEAKER_04: 1:02:16

You can even find a kidney when people tell you dumb ideas.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:22

Who finds a kidney on social media?

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:24

Right? This guy.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:26

That's awesome. And uh to close it off, what daily habits or rituals would you say that has helped you reach your level of success?

SPEAKER_04: 1:02:36

Number one thing, and this is something that I didn't start until after the transplant. And I've had by all standards, I've had success in life. And I think I've been so hard on myself that I never really recognized it until after the transplant.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 1:02:51

But the number one thing that that I think has been a major shift is waking up every morning with gratitude. The first thing I do when I wake up is be like, okay, I'm awake. Thing number two, I rub the area where my kidney is, my new one, and I said thank you. And I just say a little thank you to my donor and just express gratitude for having that. And then I try to live with gratitude throughout the day.

SPEAKER_03: 1:03:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 1:03:25

That has been an absolute game changer because what it does is it shifts your mindset. Instead of looking for negative in your life, you start to find the positives in life.

unknown: 1:03:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 1:03:38

And you're gonna find what you're looking for. If you're looking for negative, you're gonna find negative. If you're looking for purple blankets, you're gonna find purple blankets, right? So if you go through your day looking for the positive because you want to have something that you can have gratitude for the next morning. So when you wake up and you're like, all right, here are my three things that I'm grateful for, yeah, you're gonna find things that are good throughout the day. And that just that's that snowball effect, that positive snowball effect that just changes your perspective and it bleeds it. Like if I come up to you, or in your case, you show up to work and everyone like, oh, there's bubbly purple, happy person. You are changing their perspective and their way of dealing with the day, right?

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 1:04:25

So yeah, just live with gratitude.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:28

Yeah, I love it so much. Oh my gosh, seriously, Mark, this has been absolutely amazing. Your story is so powerful. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I'm so incredibly grateful.

SPEAKER_04: 1:04:41

I'm grateful that you had me on, and this has been a very fun and good experience. So I appreciate you having me. And yeah, thank you for the talk.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:49

Yeah, absolutely. Listeners, oh my gosh. I hope you got as much from this conversation as I did. And I'm gonna put all of Mark's information in the show notes so that you can connect with him and stay connected to him, and maybe you'll end up being one of his coaching clients. And we can see that that that grow from its inception to what it's gonna be. And so I'm so excited for what's to come for you. And I hope that anybody that's listening to this will follow along this journey with you because I think it's gonna be amazing. So thank you again, and thank you for listening. And whether you listened with your ears or with your eyeballs, I am so excited that you got this far. And as always, peace out, guys. Love your life. Bye.