BeTempered Episode 86 - Built Through Consistency, Not Applause with Jeff Schmidt

What happens when the plan you built your life around stops working, and you choose not to walk away?

This week on BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Jeff Schmidt, Dan’s brother, for a real conversation about discipline, identity, and staying grounded when life forces a pivot. Jeff’s story begins on the farm and carries through football, education, and leadership, shaped by hard work, humility, and learning to serve when recognition disappears.

Jeff talks about chasing a college football dream at Dayton, embracing his role on scout team, and the moment a simple question from his dad gave him permission to step away from the family farm and chart a new path. He opens up about leaving college the first time, returning years later with clarity, and finishing strong with a 3.8 GPA.

The conversation moves into leadership and education, where Jeff shares what it was like stepping into administration, facing doubt, and learning to lead by focusing on the one student who needed him most. That same discipline carried into his personal reset through 75 Hard, dropping weight, building structure, and committing to challenges like the RAIN Ride and the Air Force Half Marathon.

Faith runs through the entire episode, especially through the “coffee bean” principle Jeff lives by. Do not let the environment change you. Change the environment. From family routines to daily habits, this episode is about staying grounded, choosing discipline, and becoming who you are called to be.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between who you were and who you’re becoming, this conversation will hit home.

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What hard thing are you choosing next?

Transcript

Sponsor Message & Cold Open

SPEAKER_06 0:04

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SPEAKER_02 0:29

I want to share something that's become a big part of the BTEMPERD mission: Patreon. Now, if you've never used it before, Patreon is a platform where we can build community together. It's not just about supporting the podcast, it's about having a space where we can connect on a deeper level, encourage one another, and walk this journey of faith, resilience, and perseverance side by side. Here's how it works. You can join as a free member and get access to daily posts, behind-the-scenes updates, encouragement, and some things I don't always put out on other platforms. And if you feel called to support the mission financially, there are different levels where you can do that too. That support helps us keep producing the podcasts, creating gear, hosting events, and sharing stories that we believe can truly impact lives. And here's the cool part. Patreon has a free app you can download right on your phone. It works just like Facebook or Instagram, but it's built specifically for our community. You'll be able to scroll through posts, watch videos, listen to content, and interact with others who are on the same journey. At the end of the day, this isn't just about content, it's about connection. It's about building something together. Not just me and men putting out episodes, but a family of people committed to growing stronger through real stories and real faith. So whether you just want to hop on as a free member or you feel called to support in a bigger way, Patreon is the door into that community. Because at the heart of Be Tempered has always been simple. Real stories, raw truth, resilient faith, so that even one person out there that hears what they need to hear, and Patreon helps make that possible.

SPEAKER_07 2:09

Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we explore the art of finding balance in a chaotic world.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Join us as we delve into insightful conversations, practical tips, and inspiring stories to help you navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience.

SPEAKER_07 2:22

We're your host, Dan Schmidt, and Ben Sparr. Let's embark on a journey to live our best lives.

Introducing Jeff Schmidt

SPEAKER_05 2:29

This is Be Tempered. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, episode number 86. For those of you who think my voice is a little lower, here in the great state of Ohio and Indiana and the Midwest, in the past seven days, we've gone from minus say five degrees to yesterday up to 65, almost 70 degrees. Yep. To this morning back down in the negatives with about 40 mile an hour winds. So and that's why we choose to leave in the Midwest. That's correct. Because we just love it. Mother Nature's bipolarness. Yes. But that causes my voice to change sometimes. So that's what you get. So I'm not trying to sound like Ben. That's just what you get. So Ben's trying to get lower. Just got to get lower. He's trying to sound like me. All right. Hey, today is a special day. Today I've got my younger brother, four years younger than me, Jeff Schmidt, joining us here on the podcast. He's a father. He is a husband. He's an administrator at a school. He's a leader in our community. He is trying to do his part just like we are to make this world a better place. So I'm excited for Jeff to be here. So, Jeff, welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

Welcome, Jeff. Thank you. It's an honor to be here.

Farm Childhood & Early Lessons

SPEAKER_05 4:01

So we've been talking about this for a while. I don't know where it's gonna go. Hold on. But I'm I'm excited. So you know how we like to start every episode is from the beginning. So talk about what childhood was like growing up for you on the farm.

SPEAKER_04 4:21

Well, since nobody watched episode one, um basically, you know, here we go. Childhood was just like Dan's. Um you know, the amazing, and I tell a lot of people, it's like, you know, my mom and dad had had one son. Um, they had a a daughter who passed away um just when she was born. And then they looked at Dan and they said, Man, we can do so much better. So um they had me and uh I'm the last one. So that means you're perfect. It's perfect, close to it, right? Um, so growing up was amazing. Um looking back, living on a farm is is why my wife and I bought a farm. And it's one of those things of I want my kids to experience what I got to experience. So we got to live um there on Route 40. I remember, I don't remember much about where mom and dad live now, uh, because that was the first farm they bought. But I remember moving to Route 40, um, the traffic, the craziness, the loudness, but also the obscene amount of animals that we had. And it was an amazing time. Um, even though we had to uh basically help dad all the time. Uh didn't matter what was going on if cows were out, which Dan experienced here about a couple days ago. Yes. Um, cows get you're welcome. Cows got out and uh had to go get them and put them back in um to having a hundred acres of wheat and uh the week-long extravaganza of putting that wheat in the barn and the smell um that comes with it. And just, you know, come July 4th, I still get kind of shaken up and scared, thinking that dad's gonna call us again and be like, hey, we're gonna do some wheat again, because that's not what I want to do anymore. Um grew up and uh all I did was uh show cattle, show hogs, had a great time doing that. Uh, was at the Preble County Fair and just had a had a good experience in childhood. Um, really thankful for the family that I have, um, thankful for for a parents who allowed us to fail and allowed us to grow, uh allow us to be different people. Um, you know, with with Dan and I being four years apart, um, and I said this when you got married, Dan was basically a hero to me and is somebody that I aspired to be. Um, and then realized that I needed to be my own person. So um, you know, anytime I talk to students that I know have older siblings, it's like, hey, be be yourself. Don't be who you think somebody wants you to be, or be somebody that you aspire to be, be you. And uh that's that's real important. And it it took me a long time to figure that out. Um, so I know I'm jumping. But uh earliest memories that I remember on the farm, uh I remember about fourth and fifth grade, I told mom, I was like, I want to learn how to ride a horse. And we had a horse named Gumdrop.

SPEAKER_05 7:25

Um, and uh she thought she was a cow. Yeah, it was bad because we had a we had a pasture to the west of our our house right along Route 40. It was a big pasture and and it had cattle out there. We had some mama cows and uh gumdrop, who was given to us for free. That's a heck of a name, first off. Yeah, Schmitt called her dewdrop. Yeah, dew drop.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

So mad.

SPEAKER_05 7:49

I don't remember how we got gumdrop, but she spent so much time with the cows, she would lay down as a cow and her feet would be sticking straight out. Yeah, so people would drive by and they'd stop at the house and they'd be like, You got a dead horse. Like, no, she's just sleeping, you know, because a lot of horses most of the time sleep standing up. Yeah. And so I didn't know that. I just thought horses laid down to sleep because of gumdrop. So, anyways, yeah, well, I forgot about old gumdrop. She was awesome. Rest in peace. Yeah.

Sports, Identity & High School Decisions

College Missteps, Work, And Returning Home

Marriage, Fertility Struggles & Faith

Pivot To Teaching And Coaching

Creating Electives & Love For History

Coaching Setbacks And Reframing Purpose

Master’s Degree And Administrative Path

Middle School Impact And Be Tempered In Class

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I just remember trying to we would we'd be like, okay, we're gonna ride gumdrop. And so we get on her and we take her out in that 10-acre pasture, and her place was in the big barn. And so as soon as we turned to go back to the house, she would just take off and just you couldn't stop her. And she was going to her spot no matter what. So um, you know, I told my mom, I was like, I want to learn how to really ride a horse. And so mom and her, I guess allowing me to do that, contacted Gary and Marty Hayes. Uh, Marty is uh her dad owns the rodeo shop or owned the rodeo shop. And so they had horses, and um, so mom made a deal with them where I would be basically free labor um cleaning up horse crap and and doing kind of those things, and then they would teach me how to ride horses. Uh, and then Gary actually taught me how to rope horses. So um I was in a little britches rodeo and when I was in sixth grade and uh wrote a horse named Radar, and radar was awesome. I mean, it its ears would point down at that cow and you'd say go and it'd take off. And never roped a cow in my life, even though I trained for it. So it was all right. You know, it was a it was a good experience, it was fun. Um, really enjoyed that. Still can jump on a horse and go. It doesn't matter. Um so seventh and eighth grade, I found my passion and my love of football. Um, and so basically it's because Dan was in high school and it's like, okay, I want to be like Dan, so I'm playing football. Um had a gross spurt between seventh and eighth grade. Um, so I graduated from the offensive line to inside linebacker and running back, and then uh freshman year went back to defensive and offensive line. So um, you know, it was it was a good experience. High school um was kind of different for me. Um, I actually transferred my senior year to Eton. Uh, there's a backstory to that because basically, um after my junior year, Coach Daringer, who was um our head football coach, decided to go to Tri County North. And so he he left and they hired somebody, uh, Coach Wright, and everything was going well. And then Coach Wright decided he was gonna go somewhere else. And then they started dragging their feet on finding a football coach. And my number one goal, my brother played college football, so I'm gonna play college football too. And I there's nothing that's gonna stop me from playing college football. So they're dragging their feet, uh, and told my mom and dad, hey, this is not working out. This is something I want to do. What can we do? So Coach Neen was at uh Eaton and basically said, why don't you come over here? Um we knew the family from from the fair and stuff like that. And and so I opened and rolled to Eaton. So I was I always tell people I opened and rolled before open enrollment was cool, you know. So um had a really, really great experience at Eaton. Um still love National Trail, love everything about that school, love, love the culture there. Um, but it was just something that I felt like I needed to do to reach the goal of playing college football. Um thankfully I was I was able to to attend the same school as Dan at UD. Um was not athletically gifted enough to play there. Um looking back, I should have gone to a division two, division three school. Um but uh I always I know I never really got my footing because my number one goal was to get there. And I didn't have goals after that. And so four years go by, uh, get a degree. Really, uh my my GPA was not very good because I cared about Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Um, you know, some people joke and say at UD, you start on Wednesday and you end on Tuesday morning. Um, and so my GPA was 2.25. And I'm like, okay, now what? And graduated with communications management again, just like my brother, um, and got my first job at Sherman Williams. And holy cow, that was a different type of of job. Um, dealing with a lot of uh different characters, uh, learned a lot about how to communicate with different people, um, and uh realized that a store manager was not my type of job. So, and I wanted to move back closer to home because I was in Columbus at that time. Um, and so moved back closer to home, got a job at Farm Credit Services, and then was there for about a couple years, and then dad finally offered me a spot back on the farm. And if you would have asked me when I graduated high school, hey, are you gonna become a farmer? The answer would have been heck no. Um, just too, too difficult, too hard. Um, you know, and so but really thankful that dad offered me a spot back. Um was with dad for about 10 years. During that time, I met my wife. Um, Lindsay and I met on a YMCA volleyball court. Um, we knew each other in high school. I always I always joke because uh I did ask her on a date when I was in high school and she turned me down. Oh no. Um, because I used to date her best friend. So you know it's one of those crazy scenarios. Um, but I'm thankful for the fact that she said no because we probably wouldn't be together right now if if she would have said yes. So um, you know, so met Lindsay, and uh that's when when life really started happening. Uh and still was working on the farm with dad, had my own seed business, uh, sold chemicals and and things like that. And it's amazing how God puts things in your path, especially when you look back. Um because Lindsay and I had some fertility issues having kids, and our number one goal was, man, we want to have kids. And so it was very challenging to see friends who were just having kids left and right. And I mean, we were very happy for them and and stuff like that, but we still our number one goal was to have a family and raise a family. And so the sold crop insurance through uh a company called Water Street Solutions out of Chicago or Peoria, Illinois, and um that insurance allowed us to look at different avenues to have kids. And so um we did those avenues and and without that job, we could have never afforded what we were doing. And so uh again, God's plan. And it's amazing um how he has guided me, even kicking and screaming through my life, um, to be where I'm at today. And so uh we had um our first child we lost a couple kids during the time, had some some fertility issues, like I said, and um had a Lily. Lily is now and she'll be 12 here in February. Um just an amazing experience becoming a father. It's you can never truly understand what love is until you see that. And um very, very thankful for that opportunity to become her dad. Um, you know, still working on the farm with dad, still having the businesses. And you know, this is where my life took a turn to where I never thought it would. Dad and I were at the at the barn and um I was on the forklift and he looked at me and he's like, You just don't seem like you're happy. And I said, What do you mean? I'm you know, I'm having my own business, I'm doing great, I'm having a great time. I just you know, he's like, But there's something that's missing for you. And he's like, I want you to really think about what you want to do for the rest of your life. And to have a dad that's first open to that kind of communication with his kid is something that I strive to be uh with mine. And so I started really examining my life and saying, what what do I want to be? You know, my business was not where it should have been because of again, I didn't have a goal for that business. I just had a goal to own a business. And so I started thinking, I'm like, you know, I really like kids, I love sports. What's the best way to basically have those two things? And I thought, well, that's let's become a teacher. And then I'm like, okay, what was I good at in high school? Math? Nope. Science? No, English, I can barely talk. So no. Um so let's do social studies, right? And so um I decided I was going back to school. And that's something that you know, after you you're gone for been out of the education realm for 12 years, 13 years, it's like, wow, why in the world? And I had a lot of people, why in the world would you go back to school? Well, this is this is something I think I need to do. And so went to IU East, um, was working at National Trail as the uh credit recovery teacher, which was basically you didn't get paid very much, had a daughter that was coaching football, had a wife, mortgage, all that stuff. Um and so a very challenging time, but I found myself when I left IU East, I had a 3.8 GPA. And so the perspective of what life is like when I was in college at UD and all I cared about was partying, compared to now to actually having a dream of becoming a teacher right now and the perspective of you have so much going on in your life, but yet you can still do great things and and get a good education and be thankful for that. So um was looking to start my student teaching and was gonna go to Eton uh under Coach Ebrite and learn from him, but uh I did a thing called transition to teaching, which again, a God thing. I already had my uh my degree in communications management, my GPA was high enough high enough that I could actually uh skip student teaching per se and become a teacher without student teaching. And so I didn't know what what that entailed uh until Richmond High School had an opening as a US history and world teacher in the high school. And so I applied for it. Um during the interview, they must have liked me because before I left they offered me the job. And ironically, it was three days before school started. Oh wow. So long at prep time. Yeah. They're like, we want you to come back tomorrow and you're gonna have orientation and then we're gonna let you go. And so um forged through the fire. I learned how to become a teacher. Um Without student teaching. And some of the time I'm thankful for that opportunity, but I also think that I would have been a better teacher if I would have been able to be, you know, student teaching. So in Richmond for about a year, and I this is not where I want to be. They were going to actually move me to the middle school the next year. And I didn't know if I wanted to be a middle school teacher because I my aspirations were to be a coach. When I first started this, I wanted to be a head football coach. And so I was looking for schools that had openings for coaching and teaching. And lo and behold, Milton Union High School in West Milton, Ohio, had a um credit recovery job. I'm like, well, I've done that before. So went and got hired on it at Milton Union. Uh, was there for five years? And um also during this time, actually back before I became a teacher, um, we had twin boys, Luke and Jace. Um, who are amazing kids, uh, a lot of fun. Uh, they will be nine here in 12 days. So um, you know, it's it was now we we have three kids and I don't have a job. And again, I'm jumping backwards again, I'm sorry. Um and so we actually had to apply for the SNAP benefits, Wick. And basically what they give you uh in those benefits, bread, milk, uh, formula, and peanut butter. And then what else did they give you? Oh, tuna. I will never eat canned tuna ever again. Like that just was a bad taste in my mouth. And my number one goal was to get off of this. I don't want to be a part of this, and that's that's one of the reasons why I got the job at Richmond was because I knew, hey, if I get this job, we're gonna get off of this benefit thing, and I don't want to be on it. Um and so now we have three kids. Uh, was at Richmond. Now I'm at Milton Union. Um after the first year, the principal comes to me and she's like, you know, we need to start looking at doing some elective courses for history. And she said, I want you to to come up with about six or seven courses that you feel like you can teach, and we'll put them on there and see if the kids wanna want to take them. So I'm like, okay, that sounds great. So I come up with seven courses, thinking they'll pick three, you know, to to do to offer to the students. Well, they pick six. Um and we have seven, seven periods in a day. So I was teaching six different classes in seven periods. And the seventh period was actually my planned period, so I didn't have any students, anyways. So um, but I was teaching really cool stuff like military history, history of rock and roll, uh, the civil war. So, I mean, a lot of fun classes that um kids really enjoyed and I really enjoyed. And it really helped me develop my love for history um by coming up with those classes. So um during when I was in Milton Union, I I coached at Milton Union for two years. Uh, and then I kept on telling the coach, it's like, you know, he's like, Well, how long are you gonna stay? And it's like, I I want to move closer to home. If something opens up, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be taking that job as as much as I can. Stuff opened up, it never, never really transpired, never happened. So I stayed at Melton, like I said, for five years. Uh, but year, year three, I was coaching for two. He came to me and he's like, Hey, I have some older guys that coach with me, and they were gonna be really, really good. They had some athletes, I mean, crazy athletes. And he's like, We're I'm gonna have those guys coach, and so I don't have a spot for you. And that was a uh a kick in the throat, pretty much. And I was like, Well, what do I do now? Like, my my identity is a teacher football coach, not just a teacher. And so I asked him, I said, Could you do me a favor and call um Brad at Eaton? And so he did, and and Brad and I talked, he's the head football coach there, and and Brad offered me a job to come back and coach at Eaton, which was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. Uh, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I coached there for two years, um, and then parted ways with them just because some things didn't line up and um some opportunities that I thought I should have had did not transpire. And again, looking back, there's a reason why they didn't transpire. And so during that time, uh, I was looking at, you know, what what is my life gonna look like? Am I gonna continue to be a teacher and a coach, or do I want to do something else? And so I decided I need to get my master's anyways. And so I want to make an impact on kids. And the one the kids that I want to make an impact on are the ones that get in trouble a lot. And so I'm like, well, might might as well be an administrator because I'm gonna see them all the time. So I went back to UD. Uh, so now I'm coaching, I have three kids, full-time job, still have some of my business, um, and uh got my master's in admit in uh educational leadership from UD, um 4.0 GPA. Again, perspective. It's it's crazy to think about you have all that stuff lined up, but yet you still have time. And people are like, well, you buy your master's degree. Well, I still have to write those papers, you know what I mean? And that's a that's a struggle sometimes. Um and so then after I got my master's, I'm like, okay, it's time to to find an administrative job. And I'm still um, I I just finish up at at Milton and uh year five and trying to look for administrative jobs. I cannot pass the stupid principal test. I just I don't know why. And so I'm like, I'm taking it, I'm taking it four times, and um, I'm like, well, I need to find a job closer to home because of the kids and they're getting older. And so Tri-County North had an opening uh for seventh and eighth grade social studies. Never thought I'd be in a middle school principal or a middle school teacher, um, but decided to take it. And it was probably the one of the best schools I've ever been at. Um, the people that I worked with had the heart to help kids. Um they wanted to have kids be successful. They were willing to do whatever it took. And as a teacher, and and Coach Luce talked about this last week, you know, I'm not a tested subject, so I can do as long as I teach them, I can still do whatever I want. Um and so that's when Be Tempered came on. And I'm like, how can I use Be Tempered to help impact kids to make their lives better? Well, we do about once a month, we did a motivational Friday. And so sometimes it was your guys' interviews, sometimes it was other people's interviews, but I spent the whole day and it was just motivation, inspiration for these kids. Um and then they got to watch um some really impactful people come through this podcast, um, like Jason Coger and Sean. Um and uh so much so that they kept on saying, you know, your brother's gotta get Jason to come to Tri-County North. I'm like, well, heck yeah, let's do it. And so Jason came and did an amazing job at Tri-County North. And um, and it really got me thinking of how can we continue to to inspire and make an impact on these kids through other people's stories. And so wasn't really looking to leave um Tri-County North because I it was just in an amazing job um with amazing people. Um, but there were some principal spots that opened up. I finally passed my principal test. Thank goodness. Um, fifth times a charm. And uh so I interviewed at a couple local schools. Um, they just said you need experience, you need experience. And so I finally was like, I need to go find somewhere. And Greenville opened up. Uh, Greenville High School didn't know much about Greenville, except for it was in Dark County, uh bigger school, but decided, hey, if if this is what God truly wants me to do, I need to make this jump and I need to make sure that um I can get the experience to come back to Preble County and make an impact on these kids. So that's what I did. And that's year one. Um, holy cow, talk about a difference.

SPEAKER_05 29:11

Um talk about your first couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_04 29:15

First couple of weeks were a lot. Um, you know, a bigger school, there's about 770 kids. Um didn't really know what I was doing and uh still don't really. But um that's okay, neither does Ben.

SPEAKER_05 29:29

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_04 29:30

Hey, we're growing. We're growing. We're growing, I think. Yeah. So uh first first day there was a uh there was a fight, and uh I was like, whoa, like what TriConne North didn't have fights, like you know, plus we only had 50 kids in a class to where now we have 185, 190. Um and it just was a was an eye-opening experience, and I'd I'm like, did I make the right decision? Like, I don't know. Like that's a crazy thing to think about um the first couple weeks. Uh, but then it's like, okay, you're here for a purpose. Take a deep breath. Let's try to, let's try to make the best of everything. And that's, you know, when when it kind of switched. And Greenville's not perfect, no school is. Um, but uh I kind of realized that you know, I can be here and I can make an impact on these kids um for the better, even though some of them don't want it. But that one, like you guys say, the one um might want it, might want it. So um things have calmed down since that first day. Uh, and uh things are starting to get in a groove and and it's a great, great experience right now. And I'm I'm thankful for the opportunity to be there.

SPEAKER_05 30:46

That's good. And that's where you're at today. Yeah. So I want to back up on a couple of things because I think there's there's um obviously I know the story the story.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Did you know the story before your pre pre-call?

SPEAKER_05 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:00

I think we didn't even do a pre-call.

Becoming A High School Administrator

First Weeks At Greenville: Reality Check

SPEAKER_05 31:02

Jeez, Dan. We only had 40 some years of that. Um no, one of the things I I want you to expand upon a little bit because you know, I watched it. Obviously, you know, you talk about kind of following in my footsteps going to Dayton. And um, you know, really honestly, probably two different experiences for each of us there. And um, you know, not only academically, um, but also, you know, on the football field with Coach Kelly. I mean, we were both blessed to be uh coached by Coach Kelly, who I think you you feel very similar to how I feel him as a as a just an amazing man, a mentor, you know, just a kind of a father away from you know from mom and dad, uh, some tough love for sure. But, you know, with your experience, talk a little bit about that journey, you know, maybe from the beginning when you got there, what your expectations were. And then as things progressed and you started to realize that this was a whole different world than what I had dealt with, because what I want people to take from this when they hear your journey at Dayton is that you didn't quit. And you know, I came in when I when I started at UD, I think we had 47 freshmen come in. And by the time camp was over, I think at least 20 had quit. And by the time I graduated, we were down to 16. You know, so to play football there, you had to love it. You know, we weren't getting paid. Uh, there was no such thing as NIL deals. Um, there was no such thing as transferring schools. I mean, some guys did, but nothing like it is today. So it was just being in that environment. But your experience was completely different. You could have quit so many different times. So I want you to talk about your journey. And then more importantly, I want to talk about why you stuck it out and why you didn't quit.

SPEAKER_04 33:04

Yeah, it was uh it was different. Uh, when I came in my freshman year, I was all gun-ho excited. Um depth chart-wise, I was probably well, I came in as a a running back, a fullback.

unknown 33:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

Did yeah.

unknown 33:19

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 33:19

Number 35. There we go. And uh I was probably there was probably 10 fullbacks on the football team. I was number 11, basically, you know, so there's no hope for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

Do we need to explain what a fullback is anymore?

SPEAKER_04 33:35

Yeah, uh San Francisco has one. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_05 33:38

I don't know what a check use check.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

Yeah, it's basically a glorified lineman that wore a smaller number, basically.

SPEAKER_05 33:44

And a funny face mask.

SPEAKER_04 33:46

Yeah, and a funny face mask.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

Yep. And they're the crazy guys.

Loyalty, Perseverance & The Cost Of Quitting

SPEAKER_04 33:49

Yeah. Um, so freshman year, I I knew, and Coach Kelly always told us, right? You're freshman year, you're not gonna play. It's like, okay, that's cool. Sophomore year, you might play a little bit, um, be on the travel squad. My sophomore year, um, I was really, since I was number 11 on the depth chart, I'm like, coach, what can I do to try to get on the field? And again, my goal was to be on the team. And so um coach pretty much said, either either get a lot bigger and be on the O line or get a lot bigger and be on the D line. I'm like, well, Dan was on the D line. That sounds great. I'll be on the D line. And so gained like 40 pounds. Um negative part was it wasn't the right way to gain 40 pounds. Yeah, right. Um, and so looking back, especially now, like the the things I would have done differently, but again, I'm thankful for the opportunity. Um so never traveled my sophomore year, junior year comes. I'm like, okay, I can be like that person that travels. I traveled a couple games, nothing, nothing really major. Um, and then senior year comes and I'm injured prone, probably because I don't work like I should, and uh get injured and then realize there is no way I'm going to play a single down for the University of Dayton. And I said, but you know what? Like I'm here. Mom and dad have always taught us you're not quitting, right? So as soon as you decide to do something, just like when I transferred schools my senior year to Eaton, I made a commitment to Eaton that I was gonna play for them. Trail found a football coach. That football coach came to our house and talked to me about trying to talk me to come back to Trail. And I said, I I've already made a commitment to Eaton. I'm not going down on that commitment. I made a commitment to be at UD for four years, and I'm not going down on that commitment. So Coach Turner, who's an amazing guy, uh, just an unbelievable person. Um, I came up to him my senior year and I said, Coach, I know I'm not gonna play. I know it. I said, I feel like I can do more and make an impact more on this football team if I can be on the scout team. And he was just like, whoa. I don't, I've never heard a senior say that. Usually you have a senior who's like, I'm not playing, I'm done. I made a commitment to to play at UD. Um and so I spent my senior year on the scout team. You know, my my games were Tuesday and Wednesday of every week instead of Saturday. Um, never traveled, but still love the program, love the uh the accolades that we did get. Um, but it's just it was a never never quit type thing. And in my mind, I wasn't gonna quit. And number one, because I didn't want to come back to my dad and say, hey, I'm I decided to quit because he probably wouldn't have let me. Um but number two is is just one of those things I felt like I was gonna let the team down if I quit, even though I was gonna be on the scout team. So I've I've taken that to heart um because there was many times in my life that I wanted to quit. I mean, the week of the first week at Greenville, I thought, man, this is not something, but no, I can't quit. I gotta, I gotta keep going. And I think that's something that our youth needs to see nowadays because in the in the transfer world, in the NIL money, kids are are leaving schools for the simplest things instead of understanding that football and life is a team sport, right? There's people that depend on you to be your best, whether it's on the on the field, in the classroom, uh, behind the scenes, it doesn't matter. And you are important. And it's one of those things where you have to recognize I'm not gonna get the accolades, I'm not gonna be the the preseason all-American. Um, but I can help my team get better, and that's what I wanted to do.

Senior-Year Scout Team And Commitment

SPEAKER_05 38:16

It's impressive. I mean, it it was impressive. I'm proud of you as an older brother. Um, because it was, you know, the success that I have had, I had there, and and selfishly, you know, wanting you to have that same success and recognizing that that wasn't gonna happen, and then just watching you stick it out. I mean, it's it was it's impressive. I think there's so much for people to learn from it, like you said, especially in this day age, where as soon as something gets tough, as soon as you realize, you know, you just watch some of these kids in high school, college especially, you know, when things get tough or they don't go your way, you just jump ship. And I'm really concerned for these young people, uh, when they get out of school, when when sports are over, whether that's in high school, whether that's in college, whenever it might be, and you get into a job and it gets tough, are they gonna quit because they've been able to quit their whole entire life or been able to jump ship their whole entire life? I think loyalty in school and business and all these things, I think loyalty is gonna be one of those things that's just gonna slowly fade away. And that really scares me.

unknown 39:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:30

Um, because that can translate into your family. You know, that can translate into giving up on a marriage, you know, to you know, giving up on your kids. And uh I I hope that's not the case, but I hope that what people gain from from that story of you, you know, persevering and going into coach to Coach Turner, who is an amazing man. You're right. I'd love him to death. He recently retired here the past couple of years. He was our defensive line coach at Dayton and actually was our campus. Adams head football coach my senior year, and he'll never let me forget that. They beat us 21 to 20 in a monsoon. I'm sure Sean doesn't forget that either. But uh Jacob.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

I threw an interception. I talk about it. I threw an interception inside our own 20, and that's how they scored a touchdown. Yes, I remember it.

SPEAKER_05 40:21

Yeah, just throw the ball away, Sean. Yeah. Yeah. Life lessons. Thanks for that still burns. But Coach Turner, amazing man. And you know, and I I I try to put myself in coach's position to have a senior come to you who you'd coached his older brother, and here's younger brother coming to you senior year saying, Coach, I'm not gonna, I know I'm not gonna play, but I'm okay with playing on a scout team. And for those that don't know, scout team is is that's typically the the younger guys, freshmen or sophomores, who are preparing the upperclassmen, you know, the first and second teamers to get ready for that week's game. So you are the other team in practices, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays were our heavy hitting practices. So those, like you said, those were your game days. Yeah, you know, uh, but you were always there to support your teammates, uh, your you know, your friends, your brothers, everybody on the team. And so it it's an impressive feat um that you stuck that out. So I'm proud of you for that.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

And great leadership from a senior. Yeah. I mean, imagine that leadership, you know what I mean? Hey, listen, like, I I know I'm not gonna make an impact, and I don't want to just be on the travel team. Like, I want to help this team get better. Yeah. So you, you know, you're selfless, you go down there and you know, the scout team's hard anyway. I mean, every week you learn brand new game plan, brand new scheme. Like, that's tough.

SPEAKER_04 41:36

Good thing they have the cards. Yeah. But you still gotta read. It didn't, yeah, you didn't have to say that. But you know, I I look back and it's like I did that to myself. I didn't put in the work that I needed to um to be successful. And I'm not saying if I if I put in all the work, I would have been successful. I probably wouldn't have because I wasn't in the right position. I shouldn't have. And I don't want to look back and say, what if, right? I should I should have gone to a smaller school. But again, you make that commitment to that team. There's nothing that's gonna stop me from from doing what I can to make them better.

SPEAKER_05 42:16

At what point did you decide you were gonna be your own person? You know, you talked about following me, um, you know, to Dayton, same number, same position, all those things. But what at one point in time did it click for you where you were like, you know what? No, this this is my life.

Becoming Your Own Person

SPEAKER_04 42:35

It's it's been recent, honestly. Um you know, when I I still aspired to be like you probably until I'd say four or five years ago. Um, you know, after when I was at um Melton Union when I when I decided to not coach at Eton is when you showed me 75 Hards. And so it's one of those things that reading those books, I I never read when I was I didn't care to read. I didn't want to read anything, right? And so that allowed me to read things that said, you know, be your own person. Here's how you can build a legacy, but just be you. And so that's that's where it changed to me. Um now we still have the same vision, I feel like, of of helping people and and making an impact, especially on youth, but you're doing it a different way than I am, and I'm I'm leaving my mark differently now, and I'm I'm thankful for that. But at the same time, I have pillars in my life of people that I still look up to that I strive to be like, not strive to be. And that's the big thing, and that's what changed.

75 Hard: Hitting Bottom To Breakthrough

SPEAKER_05 43:57

So 75 hard. Oh man. So talk about that. I mean, everybody's heard me talk about it then, and uh Sean's done it, and uh, you know, it was it was life-changing for me, and I know it was for you. So talk about that journey.

SPEAKER_04 44:11

So um man, it was uh right at the end of the school year, and it's it's that one day when I called um called Eaton football brad. I called him and I said, I'm not gonna be coaching with you anymore. You know, there was a couple of things that happened, um, some jobs that I thought I deserved at Eaton, that they decided that no, we didn't, they were gonna go a different route, which that's fine, you know. Um, so I was on a I was on an all-time low. Like I didn't know what I was gonna be, right? My football coach, like coaching experience didn't go the way I thought it would. I thought I'd be with at Eaton for a long time. I thought I'd become a teacher there. Um, and then you sent me the 75 hard um from Andy and listened to it. And I told you, I remember I told you it was like on a on a Wednesday, I called and I was like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do it Monday. I'm gonna start Monday. And you're like, no, you're starting now. And so then that bully right now. I was about to say Dan Bushy. That's so um, so I'm like, fine, I'll do it. Um when I started 75 hard, I was 328 pounds. And so I remember that first outdoor workout. I was like, I'm gonna walk and I'm gonna see how far I can walk in 45 minutes. And it was like 1.8 miles. And I was like, oh boy. Old me would have been like, you know what, it's time to quit, right? But then I thought back to football and I'm like, no, there's no quitting. I made a commitment and I'm gonna do this right now. Have I failed at 75 hard? Oh yeah. Multiple times. I already did this past one too, right? But the the cool thing about it is in the mindset shift is the next day is the next day. It's time to get up and go again, right? And so, and it's also taught me you need to have goals in life. You need to have goals every year to what you inspire to be. You know, we we're coming up on um the new year here, January 1st, where everybody, and Murph talked about this this morning, right? Come January 1st, we're gonna have so many people here at Dubai.

SPEAKER_05 46:31

We can't get our spots, right?

Weight Loss, Mindset, And Daily Discipline

SPEAKER_04 46:32

He's gonna start etching his name into that treadmill that he uses. Um, so you know, it's it's one of those things now when I make a goal, I aspire to keep it. And um, you know, I it was life-changing, it was unbelievable. Uh, I met or I not I didn't meet, I read about certain people like Damon West, uh, the coffee bean guy, who's unbelievable. Um, and his impact on the world is so so amazing. Um, John O'Leary, Ed Milette, all these people. And it's like, wow, I can make a difference. I can do something impactful um for that I feel like I can do. I don't have to be somebody else. And so I went from 328 to about 250, uh, which is where I'm at now. Uh, and I'm uh but I've I've I I've thought about it with a 75 hard since I started to now, which is about three years. Um I've probably missed a total of three days where I didn't work out twice a day, right? My big thing is the food. I love to eat. And so that's a Schmidt trade. Yeah, man. And so that's one of the things that that's usually what causes me to fail. Um, but the cool thing is I get back up the next day and we we roll again. And so uh I and I hope my kids are seeing that and I hope they see that transformation. And and I'm not perfect, I'd not even close, right? There's only one perfect person that is Jesus, and he uh died on the cross for my sins, and I'm thankful for that. And so um I fail all the time, I still fail, you know, and uh but man, you get up the next day and you just go, and that's all that matters, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 48:30

So well, and I think you know, something else that is pretty cool to watch as an older brother was you know, not only seeing you go through 75 hard, and and I know, I mean, you know, uh since we've all done it correctly, um, you know when somebody doesn't do it correctly, um, and they may say that they did, but you you can tell because there is a mind shift change in that person. And when they get to the end of those 75 days, they're terrified about going back. Yeah. And then you start to recognize after that fact that if you feel yourself slip a little bit, you know it. And you want to instantly jump back on and start getting back after it. But a cool thing that you had done, and I don't know how far after it was that first 75 hard, but you did a couple big events. Talk about those because you know, from 328 pounds to even 250 pounds to do what you did is impressive.

Big Challenges: RAIN Ride And Half Marathon

Setting New Goals And Modeling For Kids

SPEAKER_04 49:28

Well, I'm I'm thankful that I have a dad that does big things and still dreams, right? And so dad did a thing called the rain ride, and it's basically right across Indiana. So you start in Terre Haute and then you end in Richmond. And I when I was going through 75 Hard, I remember telling you, I'm like, I'm gonna do the rain ride and I'm gonna run a half marathon and um put money where your mouth is. So I signed up. I'm like, well, now I gotta do it. Like, I'm committed, it's time to go. Um probably didn't train the way I should have trained, uh, but um I did finish the 165 miles on the bike. Um, and it was a coming down Earlham uh on the on that street into Earl into Earl College, seeing everybody there cheering me on was just amazing. Like I lost it. Like, and I still I still get goosebumps seeing it. And everybody's like, well, you know, a lot of people finish that anyways. Yeah, but it's a whole different ball game. I thought about quitting about Indianapolis. Like my legs started started hurting, and I'm like, you know, my my faith journey wasn't as strong as it is now. Um I'm like, God, either let me do this or give me my phone and I'll call Lindsay and have her come pick me up, you know? And I saw a guy who was about, I would say, 75 years old, and he had one leg. He had a wooden leg. Well, probably not a wooden leg, but you know, he had a leg. And he was doing it. I'm like, if this guy can do it, surely I can. And I'm like, okay, we're gonna keep pushing. And then there was a caravan of about 20 riders, and I said, I got to join them guys. And so from Indiana or Indianapolis, there's about 35 miles before the next stop, I joined that group. And it we flew. It was like 25, 26 miles an hour. It was awesome talking to people, learning about their stories. Um, just something that if I didn't join that group, if I didn't see that person, again, God putting things in your life, I would have failed miserably. I would have, I would have called Lindsay and said, come get me. Um, the worst part about that bike ride is seeing the water tower in Wayne County. Because you're like, I'm almost there. I I see it. And it's like, you're still a ways away, my boy. Right. Um, coming down, I told Dan this, and I think he put on the podcast, uh, there is a cemetery that is right there. And I thought about pulling off and seeing if they had my marker yet. Like I was I was ready to be done, you know. Um, so I finished that, and it was it was awesome. It was a great experience. Uh I went with um a guy by the name of Manfred and uh his family. Uh they had somebody that would do sag stops and they so they would stop and get drinks and stuff. Well, they went way ahead of me. They were more athletic than I could ever think of. And so they were done and and I finished, which was great. Uh, and then I'm like, okay, what's next? And what's next was the Air Force half marathon. That was actually worse than the 165-mile bike ride. Because I didn't I didn't know there was that many hills in Dayton. Like, holy cow! I thought that was a flat place, but it was not. But I also learned that water is important. You know what I mean? I didn't drink that much when I was running because I'm like, I did it, I did a half marathon the the week before just to make sure that I could do it. And I'm like, I didn't drink that much water there. But I I my wife will not let me do a half marathon ever again because she's like, I thought you were gonna die. And so um, but it was an amazing experience. I got my kids were there to see me finish. And that's that's the cool thing. When you look at your kids and they they don't have to say they're proud, but they know, like you can see it in their eyes, and that's the coolest thing ever. And so those two things um happen back to back. And um, but then I noticed like this past year, well, this year right now, 2025, I didn't have any goals. Like my goal was to become a principal, and I got that job, I got that goal. But as far as doing something else, I didn't have any other goals. So it's like, okay, 2026 is coming. I better think of some goals that I want to do. And so um I told my wife, I said, my number one goal is I'm gonna run a 5K every day. Run, walk, run, walk, all that stuff. So um I added up and it's like you can do a 5K in thir in 48 minutes if you run and walk, or you can do it in in 45 minutes if you do a four-minute pace. It's not that bad. And so my goal, and now it's on everybody here. There you go. Right? Murph's gonna talk to me about it. You heard it here first. Um, it's a 5K every day. And so I'm not doing that for me. I'm doing that to show my kids that we have to have goals in life. And so I also told them, I said, you are going to write down a goal for this next year, and we are going to do it together. And we're gonna try to, we're gonna make sure that you attain that goal. So that's my that's my ultimate goal for the rest of my life is to have something that I'm pushing forward to for that year. And so, what's it gonna be in two years? I have no idea. We're gonna see how this one goes and and and finish this one before we look ahead.

SPEAKER_05 55:15

So I think that's important. I I similar, I try to do things that terrify me. And um, you know, they terrify me because they push me to get there. So um I I think it's important for everybody, whatever that might be, whether it's a 5k a day, whether it's just getting out and going for a walk every day, whether it's, you know, to start strength training, whatever it is, I think, you know, you've hit on the fact that for you goals are important. And I and it's not, you know, you can't achieve all of them, right? But you can shirt certainly strive to get there. And I think that's that's uh that's very important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:52

Do um where do you think you'd be without your dad pushing you there on that day on the farm?

SPEAKER_04 55:59

Man.

A Father’s Nudge And Finding Calling

SPEAKER_03 56:00

Because that must have been such a tough transition, you know, like going back to the farm, working there with your dad, like it was a great time. Yeah. And then, you know, him seeing that you're not happy. What do you think it would have clicked for you to make that step without your dad?

SPEAKER_04 56:14

Eventually, yeah. But um having that reassurance of it's okay, right? You know, when dad offered me the spot back on the farm, it's like I'm gonna be a farmer for the rest of my life and we're gonna dry it, we're gonna do all this stuff together, it's gonna be awesome. Um, I didn't want to let him down, right? And that's the big thing. You don't want to let your parents down. And to have him say, hey, it's okay, and I want you to go live your life is something that I am gonna treasure for the rest of my life. And so um I don't know where I'd be, honestly. Uh but I know again, and I I've said numerous times on this thing, God puts things in your path and looking back, um telling my dad, hey, Jeff's not happy, and he needs to go somewhere else and let him do that, right? How hard would it be for a parent to to tell their kid, hey, you're not who you're supposed to be, so go find who you're supposed to be. Is something um that looking as a parent that would be hard to do, right? I'm I would I could see parents saying, you know, and and I'm reading, it's called the legacy, the legacy life right now by the owner of Hobby Lobby. And he's like, you know, sometimes you gotta let your kids experience other things, even though you want them to do this one thing, right? Dad probably wanted us both to be farmers, right? But he also understood, coming from the background that he had, you gotta live your own life and you gotta be your own person. And we have the best support staff and mom and dad, and they are there to help us do whatever it takes to be who we feel like we need to be. And so I'm I'm extremely grateful. You know, God you don't get to choose your family, but I'm sure God picked, I'm sure thankful God picked my parents to be my parents.

SPEAKER_03 58:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:22

That's good, man. All right. He killed it, man. Here we're an hour and seven minutes in night, and you're to the last question.

SPEAKER_04 58:30

Woohoo!

SPEAKER_05 58:32

So if you could sit on a park bench and have a conversation with someone living or deceased, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_04 58:38

You know, we talked about this before, and um I have two people um because they one person has made a human human a big impact on my life, um, starting 75 hard, and that's Damon West. I wanna, it's been my ultimate goal to meet him, shake his hand, and say thank you. Um, and if no, if there's people out there that don't know who Damon West is, Damon West is a career criminal um who was sentenced to 65 years in prison, um, but got out in seven and a half because he basically changed who he was in that prison and made that prison better through the coffee bean message. Uh, and we don't have to talk about that, but you can share it.

SPEAKER_03 59:25

Yeah, so that's a great one.

The Coffee Bean Philosophy

Legacy, Family Bonds, And Gratitude

SPEAKER_04 59:26

So basically, Damon West, um, when he got sentenced to 65 years in prison, his mom told him, She's like, There's three things that I want. And if I don't get these three things, you're not a part of this family. And it's basically you're not going to get any tattoos. And in a prison, that's very hard, right? You're not gonna join a gang. Again, that's extremely hard because gangs are families in prison. And you come back the man that we expect you to be, or you don't come back at all. And it's like, whoa. And so Damon West was sitting there before he got into prison. He was in a a jail and um trying to figure out how to do those three things for his mom. And there was a person by the name of Mr. Jackson who is a career criminal. He said, Damon, I want you to imagine life as a boiling pot of water. And we're going to put three things into this boiling pot of water and we're going to see how they change based on the pressure and intensity of that water. So it's going to be a carrot, an egg, and a coffee bean. And he says, Damon, when I put a carrot and a pot of boiling water, what happens to the carrot? And Damon's like, well, it becomes soft, mushy, right? He's like, Yeah, it goes in hard, but it comes in, comes out soft and mushy. So you might get raped, you might get beaten, you might get ste or might get killed. You don't want to be the carrot. He says, when I put an egg in that pot of boiling water, what happens to the egg? He says, it comes a hard boiled egg. He's like, right, you're going to have tattoos all over you. Your mom's not going to recognize who you are. It goes in soft, but it comes out hard because of the pressure in that. And you become basically a career criminal in the prison system, you become you join a gang. And so she he's like, you don't want to be that egg. And he says, if I put a coffee bean in a pot of hot boiling water, what happens? And Damon said, I don't I had no idea. He's like, Well, it changes the name of water to coffee. And he said, Because that coffee bean oozes out stuff to change the name. That's what you need to do in the system. You need to be that positive light, that person that people come to to ask for advice and and be that just to make the prison system better. And so he took that with him and he got out in seven and a half years. And now he's probably the number one motivational speaker in the world. And um that message changed my life. The coffee bean message. And I actually have a a jar of coffee beans on my desk. Um and I wear this bracelet all the time. And it's one of those things I have students come in, they're like, why do you have coffee on your desk? And that's an opening. That's an opportunity to share the coffee bean message with them. And I actually have some students that don't call me Mr. Schmidt, they call me Mr. Coffee Bean. And so, you know, that's a that's a huge uh honor and a badge that I carry with a lot of pride. Um, so he'd be one of them. And then number two, um Grandpa Schmidt. Grandpa Schmidt died when I was really young. Don't really know much about him. Um I know he he fought in the Pacific. He was a prisoner of war uh in World War II, but I would just love to sit down and and talk to him about his past. Um and just you know, they they talk about changing generations for 150 years. I think Grandpa Schmidt started that change. You know, he was a funeral director, a very successful funeral director. Um I think dad said he averaged like 160 funerals a year. Grandpa Schmidt knew a bunch of people. I remember going out to dinner with with grandpa and we would be almost done with our food, and he wouldn't even sit down and eat yet because he's still talking to people, right? And so he created a positive impact on all those people in their darkest times. And so that's that's what I'm hoping to do to these kids that are in trouble, but to just realize, hey, there's there's somebody there for you. But grandpa would be somebody that I would sit on the park bench and talk to for days with. So those are the two. That's good. You got anything else to add?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:50

Any favorite stories of Dan?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:51

Oh man, we don't have enough time. Here we go. No, I don't I mean it wa it was an honor. It was it was something that I really cherished looking up to Dan and uh watching him play football. Um was something that I'll I'll never forget. You know, you go to football games, you have a lot of kids that play on the side and stuff. I was not one of those kids. I wanted to watch my brother play. And so um I'd basically sit by myself and and just watch the game. And I learned a lot about game. I learned a lot about life from Dan. Um you know, he's he's a great man, a great father, uh great brother. And we've we've gotten a lot closer the last couple years. Yeah. Um, and I I'm thankful for that because you know, growing up, we probably gouges eat other eyeballs out, you know, a couple of times and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:45

So I think I'm paying for all the um trials I put you through right now with my boys.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:52

And it is cool because uh, you know, my son Luke, he's a basketball player, football player. He he looks up to Nate and um probably because he's not with him a lot, right? He only sees him in his gun. Yeah, I'm just kidding. Nate's perfect. Yeah. But you know, going to the Y every morning, um, especially Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, Luke goes with me just so we can play basketball with Ryan. Um, our family is very, very close. And um, we get closer every day. And just uh the Sunday night dinners are are an amazing thing that we do. Uh thankful for mom to to do that. And she gets mad if we don't show up.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:29

And um that's how you carry that tradition on though. You know, yeah. I mean, if she didn't get mad, then you guys would be like, uh, we can just yeah, no.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

Yeah, you don't you don't say no to mom on Sunday nights. Yeah, it's very hard. Yeah, so awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:42

That's something I think that everybody should strive to to do. But it's it's so amazing, I tell you. That's one thing that I wish my family would have done. I mean, looking at it and you know, getting the cousins together, and you know, obviously you two getting you guys together, but especially the cousins, you know, it just makes it such a tight bond.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:01

Yeah. Anything I should have asked you that I didn't I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:06

Anything you want to ask Dan?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:10

Dan. Yeah, I don't, I mean, there were some things back in the day that happened that I was like, why don't we push up on time?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:22

Oh, well you know, gotta go. I appreciate you coming here, man. I I uh appreciate you sharing your journey. Um, you know, you you're an amazing father, you're an amazing husband. It's it's fun to watch your kids grow. It's fun to watch you grow, you know, to see the transformation you made from from 75 hard to you know that 320-some pound man to where you're at today, and then just recognizing, you know, when when you fall off the wagon that you just you just got to get right back up and get on it. It's impressive. And uh so you know, again, I'll I'm I'm a 75 hard supporter through and through. Everybody's heard me talk about it, but if you find yourself in a rut, you know, and you're looking at a new year's resolution and you want something that's gonna push you, do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:09

Oh yeah.

Community Gratitude Walk & Closing

SPEAKER_05 1:07:10

And don't say I'm gonna do it on Monday. You know, start today. Just do it. And um, you know, when you think you don't have the time, you're gonna see that you do. Oh, you're gonna see all the time that you waste. Um, so it's impressive. But thanks for coming up here. Thanks for sharing your story. We'll keep uh keep rocking and rolling and all those good things. And everybody, we uh we've got some exciting stuff coming up in 2026. Uh this episode airs on Friday.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:37

Yeah, the second. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:38

So what do we got going on on Saturday? Oh third. Gratitude walk, number one. Yeah, this is our first gratitude walk. It'll be at Hayes Arboretum here in Richmond, Indiana. Be at the East Side parking lot, which is on Hayes Arboretum Road. And yep. Yeah. Woodside Drive. That's Woodside Drive. Yeah. Hayes Arboretum Drive and or Hayes Arboretum Road at Woodside Drive. There's a parking lot right there. That's where we'll be nine o'clock Saturday, which will be tomorrow. Yes. And it's just simple. You don't have to sign up for anything. You don't have to, it's not a run. It's just a simple walk. As many people want to come, families, all ages. We're just going to go for a simple walk. We're going to show you what a gratitude walk looks like. And uh hopefully that'll help some people get started in uh 2026 to uh to better their lives and uh you know start them on a path of of uh you know doing some good things and helping to continue to make this world a better place. So we hope to see as many of you that show up on uh Saturday, on tomorrow, and uh let's pack that parking lot and go for a walk.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

Looks like a pretty good uh lot of people interested in it. I think we saw as of today, which is I don't know what today is. Well today's Friday. Well, yeah, but I mean when we're recording this right now, Dan, is uh 65 people, I believe, that was interested this morning.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:06

Yeah, we'll see, man. It'll be awesome if we can pack that place and show them if you haven't seen the Arboretum. That's my that's my heaven on earth. So um, yeah, we hope to see you all there. So come show up and support us. Uh, we got a bunch of gear for sale on the website. Check it out if you want to support the Be Tempered mission. We got some all all kinds of other exciting things coming up that we'll continue to release and we'll keep Sean busy in his in his new office and uh and plugging away. So we're excited. Uh like, share, do all those things, go out and be tempered.

Sponsor Message & Patreon Reminder

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Patrons, a clear choice.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:07

I want to share something that's become a big part of the BeTempered mission: Patreon. Now, if you've never used it before, Patreon is a platform where we can build community together. It's not just about supporting the podcast, it's about having a space where we can connect on a deeper level, encourage one another, and walk this journey of faith, resilience, and perseverance side by side. Here's how it works. You can join as a free member and get access to daily posts, behind-the-scenes updates, encouragement, and some things I don't always put out on other platforms. And if you feel called to support the mission financially, there are different levels where you can do that too. That support helps us keep producing the podcasts, creating gear, hosting events, and sharing stories that we believe can truly impact lives. And here's the cool part. Patreon has a free app you can download right on your phone. It works just like Facebook or Instagram, but it's built specifically for our community. You'll be able to scroll through posts, watch videos, listen to content, and interact with others who are on the same journey. At the end of the day, this isn't just about content, it's about connection. It's about building something together. Not just me and men putting out episodes, but a family of people committed to growing stronger through real stories and real faith. So whether you just want to hop on as a free member or you feel called to support in a bigger way, Patreon is the door into that community. Because at the heart of Be Tempered has always been simple real stories, raw truth, resilient faith, so that even one person out there that hears what they need to hear, and Patreon helps make that possible.