In this transformative episode, Kyle Maynard, the first quad-amputee to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro without prosthetics, shares profound insights on leadership and overcoming challenges. Born without arms or legs, Maynard's journey is a testament to the power of resilience and a no-excuses mindset, as detailed in his book "No Excuses."

Maynard’s life story is not just about physical conquests; it’s a narrative that reshapes our understanding of limits. He discusses the pivotal role of his family and mentors who refused to let him surrender to adversity, highlighting that the real challenge is often a battle of the mind. This episode delves deep into strategies for enduring failure and coming out stronger, emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and incremental progress in personal and professional realms.

Listeners will discover how to cultivate resilience, why every setback is a setup for a comeback, and how leading by example can profoundly impact others. Maynard's experiences offer invaluable lessons in not just surviving but thriving through life’s trials, making this a must-listen for anyone facing their own mountains.

Want to learn more about Kyle's work? Check out their website at https://www.kyle-maynard.com.

Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylemaynard.

Key Points with Timestamps

• 00:02:00 - Introduction of Kyle Maynard and his unique challenges and achievements.
• 00:04:13 - Discussion on Maynard's approach to sports and adaptation strategies.
• 00:05:07 - Insights into how Maynard's parents encouraged normalcy and independence.
• 00:06:27 - Maynard's personal recount of overcoming repeated failures in wrestling.
• 00:10:31 - Reflections on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and the mental resilience required.
• 00:15:26 - The importance of mental toughness and its application in daily challenges.
• 00:20:36 - Maynard's perspective on managing energy and focus during extreme challenges.
• 00:25:58 - Discussion on the therapeutic effects of acknowledging and redirecting negative thoughts.
• 00:30:47 - Maynard's interaction with people and overcoming social barriers related to his disability.
• 00:44:04 - The role of inspiration in overcoming personal challenges and influencing others.

Transcript

00:00:14:15 - 00:00:47:17
Craig Andrews
Today we have a really special guest, somebody who has made a huge impact in my life. And we'll go into more details. But in some of the hardest, darkest days of my recovery, today's guest inspired me to keep going and. As we as you listen today, you know, we all have challenges in our lives. And, you know, I think there's a few themes that will come out today.

00:00:47:19 - 00:01:16:19
Craig Andrews
One is the importance of family and people in our corner rooting for us to succeed. another is the importance of persevering. another is just the importance of, you know what? You will fail. That will happen. You will have days where you don't hit your goals, and the importance of getting up tomorrow and starting again.

00:01:16:21 - 00:02:00:19
Craig Andrews
And today's guest has done that more than most people on the planet. Kyle Maynard was born without, arms or legs and, you know, lived a life of no excuses. Actually, that's the title of his book, No Excuses. And amongst many of his achievements, he is the first quadriplegic that, Or is that, I may have the term wrong, but the first person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro without prosthetics and, climbed other peaks as well.

00:02:00:21 - 00:02:09:00
Craig Andrews
And so I want you to listen in today, because this is going to be just a powerful, powerful story. Kyle, welcome.

00:02:09:02 - 00:02:11:20
Kyle Maynard
Thanks, Craig. It's an honor to be here.

00:02:11:22 - 00:02:38:21
Craig Andrews
Yeah. You know, we I first learned about you from your dad. Your dad and I used to work together. this was over 20 years ago, and, I remember, I, you know, I was I worked at the factory up in North Carolina. I was down Atlanta, supporting some of your dad's customers. And he just casually mentioned you, and he said, you know, about my son?

00:02:38:21 - 00:02:59:20
Craig Andrews
I was like, no. And he started telling me about you. And the more I heard, the more I was just amazed and, you know, at the time, I think, he said you were kind of like a life coach to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

00:02:59:22 - 00:03:19:09
Kyle Maynard
there is, there's a period of time he would, he'd just call up randomly. and just chit chat with my mom for a while. It was. It was that absolutely hilarious? Like. But there was the, you know, there was a lot of, like, media around that point in time to. Yeah, it was pretty wild journey.

00:03:19:11 - 00:03:25:05
Kyle Maynard
So, yeah, I did it 19 years old, 18, 19 years old. It's like, how do you even process that?

00:03:25:07 - 00:03:49:01
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, and there's so much I left out of your introduction, your, your your athletics, your different things. But let's and we're going to get to that. And I'm sure I got a lot of the technical terms wrong. Take take us back to me. so you were born with, you know, some type of congenital. And I came and say the words some some,

00:03:49:03 - 00:03:51:02
Craig Andrews
You're born without arms or legs.

00:03:51:04 - 00:04:13:20
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. So it's basically, unknown causes as to what, you know, caused it to happen. But that arms, you know, my arms end right at the elbow and the legs and at the knees. And so it's, you know, when I'm like you said, you know, I get them out and then I'm basically bare crawling down on all fours.

00:04:13:22 - 00:04:30:18
Kyle Maynard
So it's, you know, or, same with, like, wrestling, too. I was wrestling was my main sport, like, all through high school. And, you know, when I'm, when I'm doing that, like, I'm competing down on all fours, I started with, like, football, playing nose guard, defensive line. And so my goal was just wait.

00:04:30:18 - 00:04:35:12
Craig Andrews
Wait, wait, wait a minute. You played football? Yeah. Yeah, I should do that.

00:04:35:16 - 00:05:07:17
Kyle Maynard
My helmet and people's legs. As hard as I could do to go and take them down. That was my. That was my strategy for a long time. So, Yeah, my parents attitude, their, their whole mentality was growing up, you know, just to try to make things as normal as possible. Do not try to focus on all the things that I couldn't do, you know, to focus on the things that I was capable of, you know, even, you know, as a baby, you know, picking up, you know, crayons and learning how to go and like, you know, scribble in color outside lines until I could, you know, eventually learn how to color inside the lines

00:05:07:19 - 00:05:30:10
Kyle Maynard
just like any other kid. So it's, and their their attitude was kind of like to not just not focus on it, not focus on, you know, making the the disability a huge deal. And ended up being, I think, one of the most important things that ever happened to me. You know, it was really like kind of second nature wasn't like there wasn't there.

00:05:30:16 - 00:05:31:06
Craig Andrews
Were.

00:05:31:08 - 00:05:51:22
Kyle Maynard
There were definitely days where that were more challenging than others, for sure. But it wasn't like, a part of our everyday life by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah, yeah. Normalcy, I guess, is that just like the root of what they wanted to, to give to me as a kid?

00:05:51:24 - 00:06:03:10
Craig Andrews
Well, and I remember reading some story about you. You dropped your prosthetic spoon, and they didn't pick it up for you. They told you to work it out on your own?

00:06:03:12 - 00:06:27:01
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. Many times. I mean, it was, the probably, I mean, you know, to to deal with the spoon. I mean, it was hours and hours of failure. you know, and, and many other, you know, similar instances and, you know, wrestling. It was very much that same way, too, is, you know, I what I hated the sport.

00:06:27:01 - 00:06:55:24
Kyle Maynard
Like I had lost every single match when I first started competing, like 35 times in a row, like it was, you know, was really, really challenging. Like, I basically, like, begged to quit before, you know, 90% of the tournaments and, they wouldn't let me, you know, and not in the middle of the season, at least they were gonna, you know, if they're determined to like, have me stick it out, you know, finish what I had signed up for.

00:06:56:01 - 00:07:04:05
Kyle Maynard
So had I had not done that, then, you know, who knows? I think life would have taken a very different, very different path.

00:07:04:07 - 00:07:28:14
Craig Andrews
And, you know, the thing about the, the spin, when I read that, my immediate response was, man, that's really cruel. They wouldn't pick it up for you. And then I remember my own time in in rehab now, and I don't want to compare what I went through to what you have, because mine was very, very short. But, you know, when I was in rehab and I had to get dressed, I was like, hey, can you help me put my socks on?

00:07:28:16 - 00:07:42:03
Craig Andrews
And they handed me a grabber. They're like, here's a grabber. You figure out how to put your own socks on. Yeah. And and I hated that. I was like, come on, give me a hand. This is hard.

00:07:42:05 - 00:07:43:03
Kyle Maynard
Yeah.

00:07:43:05 - 00:07:54:13
Craig Andrews
And and, you know, for me, that was a that was just a matter of, you know, a couple months. But for you, that was years.

00:07:54:15 - 00:08:10:06
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. And I mean, it's still, you know, still comes up. I mean, there's there's times where, you know. Yeah, put it on socks or something like that, like some socks are easier than others, you know. And if my parents are around, you know, like it might be easier to have them, you know, or, like, a friend or something.

00:08:10:08 - 00:08:31:06
Kyle Maynard
might be easier to have them help me than to do it on my own. But, you know, had they not, like, given me that option to go and do it on my own, then I'd still, I know I'd be dependent on somebody to, like, all the time. So I think it's. Yeah, for sure, like a critical thing that like, people learn to be, you know, is independent as possible.

00:08:31:08 - 00:08:47:22
Kyle Maynard
But, you know, obviously within that kind of like I guess that ties to like the whole normalcy thing, you know, but they were just, you know, sometimes if there was scenarios where they could go and do it quickly, you know, I'm sure for your wife, you know, helping you, you know, on a pair of socks is a big deal, right?

00:08:47:22 - 00:09:23:16
Kyle Maynard
But like, obviously you have to like, have that like ability to be able to go and, you know, do it on your own. And like you said earlier before you started the podcast, right. That's like it's it's just the war of the mind. And I think that's what, you know, I think, you know, in our own ways what we're both trying to go and do and help people, achieve in different ways is, is very much that like the, you know, the freedom to, to win that war, to freedom, to win those battles, you know, whether that's getting up and going in for a workout, doing what we need to go and do there, whether

00:09:23:16 - 00:09:56:20
Kyle Maynard
that's, you know, I mean, could be as simple as, you know, eating the right thing could be as simple as, you know, or not so simple as, you know, whether it's like a career or know marriage, you know, business, you know, related things, you know, there's any number of different things that are, you know, that are significant issues, but it still comes down to, I mean, so much of it is that, like, you know, just that battle, you know, inside of our heads to go and, you know, decide like how we make the the meeting about certain things.

00:09:56:22 - 00:10:30:24
Kyle Maynard
I think it would have been, you know, would have been a lot more natural and easy for my parents to, you know, to take that path of, like having, you know, just made things easier for me and, you know, than they didn't. And, and I think that that, you know, opened up a lot more doors for me to be able to, to experience things in ways that I never really could have ever fathomed and seen and done, gone places that, like, I never would have been able to, on my own, individually.

00:10:31:01 - 00:10:49:24
Craig Andrews
Well, and I think one of the things, if I were to put myself in the mind of others because I, I mean, I felt a little bit when I read the story about the spoon, I was like, that would be really, really hard for me to say, work it out and just sit there and watch you struggle. And, you know, I think about different things that people are facing in life.

00:10:50:01 - 00:11:16:23
Craig Andrews
let's take, for example, somebody who has a loved one that's a drug addict or an alcoholic. Sometimes they have to make really hard choices that that can appear like abandonment, but ultimately for the best, for the person. And when you don't make those hard choices, you're really holding the person back.

00:11:17:00 - 00:11:44:12
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. And then that's something to, you know, one thing that they teach me is the fact that, like, every single person on the planet has some type of disability, you know, and so someone that's, drug addict or an alcoholic, you know, is it's not a disability that you can see on the outside as easily. It's something that like, is, you know, it's some something better.

00:11:44:14 - 00:12:10:00
Kyle Maynard
The battle occurs internally and, you know, with a whole range of different things, you know, mental health related, stuff and symptoms that like, you know, appear and manifest that are, you know, virtually all internal. Mine are way more external. And that was a difficult thing growing up was the fact that, like, I, you know, looked physically different than all the other kids that is around.

00:12:10:02 - 00:12:27:19
Kyle Maynard
And I didn't understand that to the fact that, like everybody, you know, that I would encounter had, you know, something to go in to deal with in their path in life. And that's that's a huge part of that's just life in general. Is that like, you know, we got that stuff to go and deal with. But it's

00:12:27:21 - 00:12:46:07
Kyle Maynard
You know, I think the, the same, same kind of concepts apply. But that was it that that was definitely a difficult thing as a kid, I think was just the fact that, like, you know, looking different than all the other kids, but they were just constantly going, tell me, you know, everybody's got something, you don't necessarily know what it is, but, you know, promise everybody, everybody's got their own thing.

00:12:46:09 - 00:13:11:20
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And. You know, there's so much in that because we look at other people's lives and we think that they have it all together. you know, we see, see people, maybe they're driving the, you know, the right car, living in the right house and, you know, things like that. But I like that. That's such a powerful perspective.

00:13:11:20 - 00:13:28:20
Craig Andrews
Everybody has something that they're trying to work. You know, they have their own type of disability. And you know, the thing that I shared with you that you were referring to was, you know, obviously I'm still on the path recovery people, most people, when they see me today, they say I had and I even had this happen yesterday.

00:13:28:20 - 00:13:51:19
Craig Andrews
They're like, oh, Craig, well, you're you're back to normal. I'm like, no, I'm not. You know, it's I'm still a long way off. It's just you don't see you don't see me struggling in moments. You know, you don't see me at five inches the morning, you know, puking in the grass on the side of camp Gladiator. you know, you don't see these things.

00:13:51:21 - 00:14:16:11
Craig Andrews
And this morning, I lost the battle. I I've been struggling with fatigue lately, which I think is a product of my lung capacity. but last couple weeks, I mean, fatigue has just been kicking my butt. And this morning, I woke up. I woke up at 430, plenty of time to get up and go to camp Gladiator and sat there, made excuses for a half hour.

00:14:16:11 - 00:14:21:14
Craig Andrews
And so I ran the clock out.

00:14:21:16 - 00:14:43:21
Kyle Maynard
Yeah, it's, I mean, it'll it'll happen though, too. I owned, CrossFit gym for about a decade and, you know, saw that battle occur within people all the time. And, you know, that's one of the mantras that we talked about, you know, is like, not dead, can't quit. was one of my, first Navy Seal friends, Richard McCullough, to go.

00:14:43:21 - 00:15:07:23
Kyle Maynard
Who's going say that as like, you know, it's this mentality of, like, yeah, not dead. Can't quit, you know, but that, you know, forces you in those scenarios. Then you'll end up in, you know, to the side of Camp Gladiator, 5 a.m. puking. But that is like actually do hopefully that's not happening all the time, But you know, be it, you know, I think it's like the times where it does happen.

00:15:07:23 - 00:15:26:23
Kyle Maynard
I mean that those are those are moments of huge growth. You know, the fact that like then you can go and continue to just show up the next day and do what you need to go and do, then I think it's. You know, I think it's, I think it's really powerful. And it happens to happens all of us.

00:15:26:23 - 00:15:54:07
Kyle Maynard
Do. You know, there's so many times where like the I talk about that like battle and the end that, you know, inside of us. I remember, especially with, like, the mountain climbing, you know, seeing, like some of the mountains for the first time and, like, just. Having this, like, feeling, you know, of, like, like when you see, like a mountain, like the size of Mount Kilimanjaro or the size of Manhattan, Kagawa in South America.

00:15:54:09 - 00:16:29:14
Kyle Maynard
You know, it's it even blows away, like, you know, any mountain, like, range in, in, like Colorado. It's just like it's they're just so massive and I remember thinking in my head like, you know, what did I get myself into? Like, this is just X, like, what am I doing? And like that battle, you know, going up, you know, for the next like several weeks, you know, to go and maintain that kind of like the had to be ability to like, set that aside and continue to, to push forward is, you know, it's something that like few people experience.

00:16:29:16 - 00:16:45:10
Kyle Maynard
But that's like the I think the difference between people that like are able to achieve what they want to in this life and like to see the things that they want to see to to be able to experience the things that they want to experience. And then people that that don't, people that like, wish that they could so that.

00:16:45:12 - 00:17:08:02
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Yeah. And so, give some perspective on what's like climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I mean, so I, I mean, I climb Mount Fuji and you, you know, you go up takes few hours to get up to the top and, you know, a few hours come down. It's a one day exercise, but, Kilimanjaro. That's longer. How how long was that?

00:17:08:04 - 00:17:40:00
Kyle Maynard
So that trip was ten days up. Two days down. Aconcagua in South America was, I think it was like closer to 17. and like a handful down. So it was, you know, when you, when you're on a mountain for, like, you know, for two weeks and then, you know, with, with up in Pagosa especially to it was like we had, one shot, like a weather window that was clear enough for us to be able to go and, like, hit the summit.

00:17:40:02 - 00:18:08:02
Kyle Maynard
And it was literally like, it was just one shot. And if we didn't hit that window exactly, then we would have, we would have failed. And to me, like that, that battle that whole day, if, you know, coming that whole way and like, everything that that led up to, you know, to being there in that moment in time to then fail at that, you know, I was like, there's there's no way.

00:18:08:04 - 00:18:29:11
Kyle Maynard
And I think it's you just have to, like, set it aside. You know, you literally have to go and take those thoughts that are running through your head and, you know, just set it aside and focus on like, okay, you know, like.

00:18:29:13 - 00:19:02:06
Kyle Maynard
Basically like what the like the core realization that I had, you know, especially with like, the timeline, you know, was like, like thoughts in your head, they consume a certain amount of energy, right? Like literally like there's, you know, like the caloric count required to like, maintain your, like, active brain level and function as you're going through something, you know, like your brain is like a part of it.

00:19:02:06 - 00:19:31:15
Kyle Maynard
And I remember thinking like having the thought of like, all right, like I physically don't know if I have enough calories in me to to survive right now, you know, just to like to make it through the rest of the day. So literally any wasted thought that I had is just, you know, useless. I, I need to just go and, like, just shut it off because it's, you know, when your mind goes and wanders my buddy who's, he's a former Navy Seal and, like, combatives instructor for the Seal teams.

00:19:31:19 - 00:20:03:01
Kyle Maynard
But he said that one of his instructors when he first went in was like, he said it was, you know, like, the mind is like, kind of like a monkey, like swinging, like branch, branch through, like the trees, you know, and just clinging from, like, you know, thought that. And it's kind of constantly looking for, you know, what's like that next like thought wave to like that going to and you know, but like a lot of it is just that useless like chatter especially when you're going through something, you know, physical.

00:20:03:03 - 00:20:36:00
Kyle Maynard
And so just to block it out and not focus, like, you know, any, any effort towards that is, you know, a skill that typically you have to hone in that moment in time. For me, on an archipelago, I was like, you know, almost life or death kind of thing that like, just was like, okay, you know, like, I it was the first time where I ever felt like I was in, like, real, like, danger of pushing myself to the point where I, you know, I didn't know if, like, push to continue to push myself was going to become, like, dangerous.

00:20:36:02 - 00:20:47:08
Kyle Maynard
And that was a that was a scary thing in and of itself. But, yeah, a little different than like the, spoon trick as a kid.

00:20:47:10 - 00:20:47:20
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

00:20:48:00 - 00:21:11:04
Kyle Maynard
Right. And like, learning how to go and eat with the spoon. But it you know that feeling though, I remember of, like, blocking all that out and just continuing to go and plot on. I remember my guide, like, grab me by the like, way spell in the harness, like 15 minutes before we rounded the corner to the summit and told me to stop and look where it was.

00:21:11:04 - 00:21:29:15
Kyle Maynard
And like, I couldn't believe it. Like it was just like an overwhelming feeling of like, you know, to to be like, rounding the corner of the summit after, like, after everything. but that's, you know, I mean, it happens to all of us all the time. It's like, how much time, you know? I mean, I've, I've been in that kind of spot, too.

00:21:29:17 - 00:21:54:22
Kyle Maynard
I mean, even recently, you know, and like, I have to constantly. It's like a constant practice to remind myself, you know, the same thing. And it hits us in different ways at different points in time. You know, it's like, is this like pattern of thought? Is it useful? If it's if it's useful, then I think it, bears like, you know, some opportunity to engage with it and to like, discover what that the, you know, train of thought is going to go and lead to.

00:21:54:22 - 00:22:18:22
Kyle Maynard
But if it's not useful, then just to let it go, you know, let it go and move on. because you to beat yourself up over like going to work out for instance, like is, you know, that's not useful. But then at the same time, you know, you know, continuing to go and tend to avoid doing what you need to do, right?

00:22:18:22 - 00:22:20:20
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. It's also the same.

00:22:20:22 - 00:22:40:02
Craig Andrews
Yeah. What I'm going to do today is something that I hate more than camp gladiators. I'm going to go for a run. which sounds weird to people. It's a for me, it's a real battle of the mind, because when I start running before I go, you know, the mind starts taking off, and this is what you're talking about.

00:22:40:04 - 00:23:07:10
Craig Andrews
My mind starts taking off, and I start thinking, well, I pass out. If I pass out and while I crack my head on the cement, if I do that, you know, will somebody see me? Well, you know, will somebody come? And these are the battles I go into. And, you know, it seems weird until you've been through a period where you suffocated, you've never had the fear of suffocation.

00:23:07:10 - 00:23:20:20
Craig Andrews
My my oxygen. I'm sure you were measuring your oxygen a lot as you were climbing the mountain. If I run a half mile, my O2 drops down into the 70s.

00:23:20:22 - 00:23:47:03
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And. And, Oh, I know the. When I was in the hospital, when my oxygen dropped below 86%, somebody came running in my room, you know, trying to do something to get my oxygen back up. You. So, you know, something you mentioned a minute ago was the the caloric intake. And I don't think people understand how many calories the brain burns.

00:23:47:05 - 00:24:14:17
Craig Andrews
You know, it's like 2 to 4% of our body mass, but burns 20 to 25% of our calories, right. And so just having that energy consumed, you know, and yeah, again, I'm feeling fatigued and I'm burning energy talking myself out of going to Camp Gladiator instead of just I know, I, I knew I knew what I was talking myself out that I knew I would feel better after the workout.

00:24:14:17 - 00:24:27:01
Craig Andrews
I know I'd feel better about myself. I'd feel better physically if I just went and showed up, but I burn those calories instead on a more.

00:24:27:03 - 00:24:28:20
Craig Andrews
Yeah, and you know.

00:24:28:22 - 00:24:47:03
Kyle Maynard
I, I don't even know if it's like if it's actually a thing where like, you know, like, like shutting off those thoughts like, you know, like it's going to go and make a difference there. But like when you're in a spot where you know, every I know you can go and relate to this too. And some of those glycolytic later camp gladiator workouts.

00:24:47:05 - 00:25:15:17
Kyle Maynard
But like when you're in that spot where like every, you know, like you just like be have to use every resource. Just to get through whatever it is that you're doing, then, you know, what's the point of continuing to, like, have those, like, those thought trails like, you know, just run off and different directions in different ways?

00:25:15:19 - 00:25:34:04
Kyle Maynard
You know, it's like it just doesn't service, right? Like, you know. Yes. Like that those risk like exist inside of like doing anything, you know, inside of that. Yeah. But it's like I think what I try to go and do is when it happens, I think to try to just like acknowledge like, Okay. That's an interesting thought.

00:25:34:06 - 00:25:58:15
Kyle Maynard
And then just let it go at that, you know, and then but it was fascinating to hear. Right. Because it's kind of sounds like meditative or like Buddhist almost. Right. But then to go and hear that like, you know. Navy Seal instructors that were teaching people this. Right, like, that's like it. It was fascinating to hear that. Like,

00:25:58:17 - 00:26:25:24
Kyle Maynard
You know, and something that, like, I kind of just discovered organically as I was going through it with a lot of the climbs, it's not even really something that I knew back. And, you know, in, in wrestling, but like, you know, just the ability to, to have that like to be able to control that, like, you know, to have a dialog even with that, like, inner voice, you know, like the kind of like have like a negotiation of sorts, right?

00:26:25:24 - 00:26:56:10
Kyle Maynard
Like it's there for like self-preservation. It's there for like, good purposes. It's there to like, try to, you know, to try to help us in different ways. But it it doesn't always lead to productive. You know, ends, for instance, you know, I mean, somebody like you said like that's battling like addiction. That's a totally different, And totally different thing than we're talking about here.

00:26:56:12 - 00:27:19:04
Kyle Maynard
But still those like the same thought loops, you know, continue to, to play people. and you know, just that it it's I think no matter what, like it's a continual practice. It's a lifelong practice that like, no matter how many times we like, hear those lessons in different ways from different people and different, you know, different regards.

00:27:19:04 - 00:27:50:21
Kyle Maynard
I think it's it's a good reminder selves, of our ability to be able to, like, negotiate with that voice because it's it's always there. You know, I find myself like, you know, I've told you kind of recently about some of my, like, you know, challenges with, like, from a career perspective, you know, do I continue down like the, you know, motivational speaking path, or am I going to go and, like, look for other things that are more, you know, like a, like a career, like a, you know, traditional career kind of steady or, you know, consistent?

00:27:50:23 - 00:28:19:00
Kyle Maynard
What's that going to go and be like all those things, you know, I've, I've also found myself, you know, spending. Hours upon hours of like useless thought exercises, you know, like like fire exercises, like the lack of exercises, lack of, like mindfulness, lack of like, you know, just like having all of these fears and doubts in my head, you know, swimming around, you know, like, what if this, what if that, what if this, what if that?

00:28:19:00 - 00:28:36:24
Kyle Maynard
And like but it just doesn't. Does it actually serve anything. So what's the point then if that's the case? And I think we have to remind ourselves that a, the brain's job is the, you know, survival, and you try to go and protect us in different ways and try to go and like, look for all these different things that are going to come up in, you know, different ways in regards.

00:28:36:24 - 00:28:55:17
Kyle Maynard
But yeah, be like, is it necessary? I think is one of the first questions to go and ask, is it useful? And, you know, that's like you think about because a lot of times you just you don't know. And all you can do is like just focus on, you know, the, the next thing that's in front of you, right?

00:28:55:17 - 00:29:28:15
Kyle Maynard
Like, you know, like step by step, like bit by bit. That's very much the attitude that my parents had with, raising me, you know, was that mentality, not just me and my, my sisters as well. But I think with the disability, you know, their mentality was to try to, like I said, try to make things as normal as, as they possibly could and that's, you know, led to like, you know, even, you know, socially meeting people, you know, just reaching out and shaking somebody's hand.

00:29:28:17 - 00:29:46:09
Kyle Maynard
My grandma used to go and take me to grocery stores just to go and practice. That would go up and down the aisles of the grocery store cart and like, she'd be pushing that grocery cart in the, you know, in the store, shopping for groceries. And if there was like, somebody that was like in the grocery store aisle, we used to like, practice meeting them.

00:29:46:11 - 00:30:05:09
Kyle Maynard
she used to, like, push the cart up next to them and introduce yourself. And she'd say, hi, my name's Betty, this is my grandson. And I'd reach out and say, hi, my name's Kyle. And I go and shake their hand and, you know, she'd say, as soon as people hear your voice and they see your face and they shake your hand, they'll totally forget about the disability.

00:30:05:11 - 00:30:47:23
Craig Andrews
Yeah, that's so amazing. That's so amazing. Wow. Yeah. And it's, you know, there's a there's a discomfort that comes out now I'll tell you the tell you about the time that I faced it and, and I think it'd be helpful for people to know how they interact the, you know, so I got out of the hospital, you know, I was in a wheelchair for, you know, depending upon how you measure it, 2 or 3, maybe four months after I got out of the hospital, you know, one and one, like, one day the wheelchair was gone.

00:30:47:23 - 00:31:06:03
Craig Andrews
It was just sort of. A lot of it depended upon how far we had to go, you know? So if, you know, if if it was, you know, walking 50ft, then I could walk. You know, I got to the point where I could walk 50ft, you know, first it was getting to the point where I could walk, ten feet.

00:31:06:03 - 00:31:23:19
Craig Andrews
I remember my wife pulled the, pulled into the parking spot. I normally should bring the wheelchair around to my door, and I'd get out and I said, hey, I want to try something different. Let me meet you up on the curb. And I said, if you can get the wheelchair up to the curb, I'll meet you there.

00:31:23:21 - 00:31:49:06
Craig Andrews
And I'm sitting there with my hands on the car, you know, and going up. And there was this post up on the curb, and I went up and held onto that. And so it was one like a, you know, one day I was in the chair, the next day of his out. It was just this gradual movement. But I remember one time, I went to the movies and, and I had a piece of trash that needed to be thrown away.

00:31:49:10 - 00:32:03:09
Craig Andrews
There was a guy who checked, you know, check the tickets as we were walking in, and he was in a wheelchair and had a piece of trash, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. And he he was like, oh, let me take care of that for you. And it was really nice, and I felt bad.

00:32:03:09 - 00:32:22:12
Craig Andrews
And I'll tell you that the thought that went through my head was I felt like it was unfair for me to ask him to do that because he was, you know, clearly he was going to be in the wheelchair for the rest of his life. I knew I would only be in a wheelchair for a few months, and it felt bad for me to receive that gesture of kindness from him.

00:32:22:14 - 00:32:42:01
Craig Andrews
But it was a legitimate gesture, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that awkwardness. When you know when you're around. And and I love what your grandmom did for you, that one she helped you break through. But I think she was helping other people break through.

00:32:42:03 - 00:32:52:18
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. No, absolutely. And she was amazing with that. it was,

00:32:52:20 - 00:33:16:16
Kyle Maynard
You know, and it's something that, like, I think it just it stayed with me, you know, to this day, every time I, you know, go and meet somebody. Now, it's my first instinct is to go and reach out and shake their hand and like, you know, I sometimes forget the fact that, like, the person that's, you know, shaking, on the other hand, that they're.

00:33:16:18 - 00:33:26:05
Kyle Maynard
Not used to shaking the hand of a guy without arms and legs. Yeah. That that is it's a new experience, right? Like, I totally kind of forget the fact that that's the case. And, you know.

00:33:26:05 - 00:33:27:05
Craig Andrews
It's.

00:33:27:07 - 00:33:42:13
Kyle Maynard
You having that experience with the like, with the wheelchair is a fascinating one too, because it's it's like,

00:33:42:15 - 00:33:59:21
Kyle Maynard
You know, it's almost like. Like any other sort of, you know, insignia or thing that you go to where, like, it's like being in a club or something like that, like a motorcycle club or whatever, like a jacket. You go and see somebody that's wearing it. It's like, oh, okay. Like that's, you know how they. Yeah, it's like a like an expression.

00:33:59:21 - 00:34:32:08
Kyle Maynard
Right. But something that you can't do away with. So there's I think like an automatic like kinship that they get to establish between like people and, you know, chairs, you know, you realize like very quickly, you know, when you're in a chair that the world's not set up for, like people in wheelchairs, right? Like just going in and like going to, you know, like a, like a curb cut, you know, ticket, like, you know, like, up, up a curb is they, they're not they're not everywhere.

00:34:32:10 - 00:34:50:06
Kyle Maynard
Yeah. It's way better than it used to be. It's way better than, like, you know, almost anywhere else in the world. But, you know, it's still not. It's still not everywhere by any stretch of the imagination. And so, you know, it's I think it's,

00:34:50:08 - 00:35:28:09
Kyle Maynard
It's neat that you had that experience and realization, but I think, you know, at the same time, too, you know, from that normalcy perspective, my guess is, you know, that that like guy that's like offering to going there the thing away for you, you know, just him just doing his job. There's, Some of my favorite speeches that I've given to have been for, different organizations that, like, provided jobs for people with disabilities and, you know, and seen, like, you know, somebody that's gotten a job that, like, has had like massive uncertainty as to whether or not there's going to be anything that they can do.

00:35:28:11 - 00:36:05:22
Kyle Maynard
You know, that like I think is like, it goes beyond like a job for that individual, you know, that. Then when they, you know, they have that like bang, it's like a, yeah, something bigger, something bigger than that, just that and like the, like the, I guess, like this job satisfaction, the life satisfaction that comes from, you know, when you go and see somebody get a job that, like, doesn't necessarily know if they are going to be able to like, just do any, anything of any new normal, sort of like sort, it's, it's pretty remarkable.

00:36:05:22 - 00:36:28:03
Kyle Maynard
And there's some organizations, you know, that I've kind of go and give speeches for, that have done that, you know, whether it was like unraveling, you know, like jumbled printer wire or like, you know, there's, you know, or like, you know, call center, for, like, you know, you call into, like, get your passport, renewed here.

00:36:28:03 - 00:36:55:09
Kyle Maynard
You talk, you talk to somebody in a wheelchair. you know, seeing, like, somebody in a wheelchair that's like sitting in, like a jam, like, you know, printer wire or the like. It's it's pretty cool to see, like, you know, those are, like, relatively like, simple jobs, but at the same time, they're meaningful in the sense that, like, they provide that thing for somebody that didn't necessarily know if they'd ever be able to to do something on their own, which is pretty cool, which is pretty cool.

00:36:55:11 - 00:37:37:00
Kyle Maynard
And certainly it's just such a such a factor. Right. Like, I know that that's that's one thing that you said that like struck me so much was, you know, you, you and so having never interacted before and, having no idea what you're, oh, your, your path and, you know, journey had been like, right, we totally, totally unknown and unknown to me that like, you had gone through what you had gone through and that my story had helped you in some way, you know, that provided me something that was like, you know, that I that I've had before, but yet, like, I think like, but rarely.

00:37:37:00 - 00:37:51:01
Kyle Maynard
Right. Like it's like a special kind of like thing where it was like, wow. Like you never did. You never know what somebody else has gone through. And I it makes me wonder how many other times that, you know, might have happened or occurred that I have no idea about.

00:37:51:03 - 00:38:18:09
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And I mean, just so everybody listening, you know, knows what's going on the, the, you know, I used to, you know, when I got home from the hospital, you know, I had, a PT come over and we would go do, you know, go do some things and, you know, initially, the goal was to be able to walk one lap around the cul de sac.

00:38:18:11 - 00:38:39:00
Craig Andrews
That was my goal, to be able to walk one lap around the cul de sac. And it took a while to get there, you know, and, my team would follow me with my wheelchair. And, you know, I still had a whole bunch of crap in my lungs from Covid. And, and I get these deep coughing fits.

00:38:39:02 - 00:39:02:03
Craig Andrews
And I remember one time the, you know, I'd gotten all the way around, and I don't know if I had done it one shot, but I remember I was sitting in the wheelchair at the top of my driveway, which is down a little bit of a hill, and I was just in this nasty coughing fit, and my, said, hey, why don't I just push in?

00:39:02:05 - 00:39:25:06
Craig Andrews
Now, anybody ever dealt with PTSD know that they never say this. You have to be in really bad shape for it to say, hey, let me give you the easy way out, because they never give you the easy way out. And so I must have looked pretty sad, but I just knew and I just remember I kind of, you know, hopefully I didn't take it bad.

00:39:25:06 - 00:39:52:24
Craig Andrews
I just kind of barked out. And so I will walk and the, you know, it was moments like that that knowing even though we had not met, knowing your story and knowing the things you had overcome, the voice that kept resonating in my head at times like that was, if Kyle can do it, I can do it too.

00:39:53:01 - 00:40:29:17
Craig Andrews
And you know, it's that little extra push. It's that little extra push. And you, without a doubt, you've inspired me. I mean, beyond ways that I could ever express. Because, yeah, there's hard days during recovery. There are days you just want to give up. It's hard. It sucks. And, And I think it's, you know, that's an important role that you, you've played in lives that that you'll never meet, people you will never meet, you've inspired and.

00:40:29:19 - 00:40:34:18
Kyle Maynard
Yeah, it's something to it's,

00:40:34:20 - 00:40:54:10
Kyle Maynard
It's interesting. Is that like, it goes counter to like, what my parents taught me? You know, what we talked about at the beginning of the podcast, right? Like, it's, like that normalcy mentality that my family had growing up, not focusing on the disability. When people started telling me that I was, like, inspiring for the first time, it went counter to that, if that makes sense.

00:40:54:12 - 00:40:59:23
Kyle Maynard
Like it was,

00:41:00:00 - 00:41:06:11
Kyle Maynard
It kind of was like,

00:41:06:13 - 00:41:25:05
Kyle Maynard
Yeah, it it was, it was just it was weird. Do give you, like, a couple, like, weird examples, like my, there was a day and one of my my younger sister, Mackenzie, she from school, and she was like, mom, mom, there's a guy at school, like, doesn't have, like, an arm and was like, I wonder how he does this.

00:41:25:05 - 00:41:35:05
Kyle Maynard
What I did was that. And my mom was like, you realize, like, your brother doesn't have arms or legs. And she was like, kind of like, whoa, yeah, I guess you're right. Like, I didn't really think about it.

00:41:35:07 - 00:41:39:13
Craig Andrews
Hey, you know, you got.

00:41:39:15 - 00:41:56:17
Kyle Maynard
and there have been a million other moments kind of like that where, like, you know, just. They made. Life normal. And,

00:41:56:19 - 00:42:22:03
Kyle Maynard
You know, so to be inspiring, you know, to it, it was like, okay, that that took some getting used to, you know, but then I think, you know, it's like like again, you said the connection that you had having worked with my dad, him having reached out, you know, and like, you know, you sharing that like, hit in a different kind of way, you know, where it's like, kind of a reminder, right?

00:42:22:03 - 00:42:45:01
Kyle Maynard
We all need, like, the kick in the butt sometimes to go and, like, you know, to help, you know, just to remind ourselves, you know, why it is that we're doing what we're doing. And, so I want to thank you for that, because I think that that's been like a very, very special, helpful thing to go and think of, like just, you know, how interconnected all that is.

00:42:45:01 - 00:42:56:15
Kyle Maynard
And, that the vast majority of, of those things, you know, you don't hear about, you know, a lot of people don't have that like,

00:42:56:17 - 00:43:25:05
Kyle Maynard
You know, the outgoing nature to reach out and say. You know, the impacts of this had on them. Right? But like, am I we've had other people that have said, like, whether it was like, you know, battling something, another disability, gout, you know, something like that, that you'd never be able to see on the outside. But like some of the other guys going through significant amount of pain.

00:43:25:07 - 00:43:43:17
Kyle Maynard
Salame like, you know, it's kind of the same thing. Like having those moments where, like, they're just like you and that guy, you know, with it, you know, saying like, I will deal with this and you're going to hear like a subject, you know, that you've impacted somebody and, you know, those kind of moments is is powerful. Because I think that we all go and help people in our own ways.

00:43:43:17 - 00:44:03:23
Kyle Maynard
Right? Everybody, every one of us like, has some sort of calling, some sort of, you know, thing to offer to the world and different kinds of ways. So, thank you for sharing that with me, because I don't hear that all the time. And it helps me, I think, continue to like, pursue my calling.

00:44:04:00 - 00:44:31:02
Craig Andrews
And I would suspect that, you know, there there's a range of people. There are people who. would thank you, but just don't think to. And I think for those who are listening, you know, if you ever had to on one side of under thanking people or ever thinking maybe on the side of overthinking, because you never know when might need some encouragement.

00:44:31:04 - 00:44:58:00
Craig Andrews
but then there are people who probably think, well, cow, he didn't hear from me. He's he's too important. He's, you know, he's a big deal. He'd only hear from somebody small like me. And, you know, the reality is, I think it encourages you. It fills your tank with fuel to hear from anybody that's inspired, you know, that you've inspired to push harder to get through those hard days.

00:44:58:02 - 00:45:22:15
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah. You know, let's go here for a moment. There was, you know, so I can't remember how much my story had told you. And, for the listeners, the, you know, I went on the ventilator with Delta variant of Covid. And basically, if you were on the ventilator with Delta variant, you died. That was the outcome.

00:45:22:17 - 00:45:49:20
Craig Andrews
And I you know, it was weird because when I would go to doctors, I'd have to tell doctors, hey, don't treat me like your other patients. I'm weird for a number of reasons. You know, you've never treated somebody like me. And it felt very lonely. Felt very lonely. And I remember, somewhat somewhat recently, I met connected with the first person that I had ever met that survived Delta variant, on the ventilator.

00:45:49:22 - 00:46:17:17
Craig Andrews
And I was so excited to talk to him. I was looking forward to the conversation. And we jump on zoom and we start talking. And they were just focused on talking about, you know, all their other ailments and you know, how this is hard and this is hard. This is hard. And it kind of came across that their identity was one of a victim, that they were one the victim, you know, of Covid.

00:46:17:19 - 00:46:41:17
Craig Andrews
And I never called that person back. And I was like, that's not who I would be. I'm the guy that survived that. And, you know, I don't want, you know, yeah, there were some things done wrong in my medical care, but I'm not victim. And that's not who I want my identity to be. And so I think that's.

00:46:41:18 - 00:46:58:17
Craig Andrews
I'd be interested in your take on that as, as you run into people, there's, there's community and people that have had a common struggle with you. But there's a difference between having community and being a victim. And how would you draw that difference?

00:46:58:19 - 00:47:03:14
Kyle Maynard
Oh, if for sure. I mean, I've seen it in like, you know, what comes to mind?

00:47:03:16 - 00:47:04:12
Craig Andrews


00:47:04:14 - 00:47:32:23
Kyle Maynard
So I was born at, Walter Reed Military Hospital. My dad was in the Army, and, Was contemplating, like, you know, re enlisting when, when I was born, but he decided to get out and go back to school, went to engineering school, which then led him on the path and, you know, and that meeting you and having a career and, the electronics industry and.

00:47:33:00 - 00:47:53:05
Kyle Maynard
But going I would go back to Walter Reed to go and like visit a lot of like the veterans that were like, you know, dealing with, you know, being recent amputees and, some of the most meaningful, you know, powerful interactions I think I've ever had experiences, you know, and just being there, you know, always wanted to have served, too.

00:47:53:06 - 00:48:00:03
Kyle Maynard
I think growing up. Yeah, that was a huge thing. And but knowing that, that wasn't going to happen with.

00:48:00:03 - 00:48:02:01
Craig Andrews


00:48:02:03 - 00:48:42:23
Kyle Maynard
With a guy, you know, it was going to happen with, like, jumping on a plane, going after bad guys. So but I remember, like, pretty quickly I gathered that like, you know, they say that, right? Like first impressions, right? You can tell so much with the kind of like where somebody is at psychologically with I just that first impression and I would see like the first impression that I would have from meeting somebody in their state of mind and where they're at and, you know, could see then like six months later or a year later where they'd be and the, the, the mentality, the attitude, all of that, like I had so much to do

00:48:42:23 - 00:49:12:00
Kyle Maynard
with. What people ended up, you know, producing and like what their life looked like down the road. You know, some people to your point, you know, get like just consumed with that like victim mentality and. you know, I don't want to say by any stretch of the imagination, I don't think that, like, you know, that there's that happens every time that it's a mental related thing.

00:49:12:00 - 00:49:39:11
Kyle Maynard
Right? Like some things you just physically can't go and do. But, give you an example like, yeah, no matter what my attitude is about, like playing basketball, I'm never going to be a very good basketball player. But yet, like yesterday, my nephew was over at my nephew and nieces were over at the house and like, just playing basketball, you know, with him and, like, shooting basketballs, like I could going, you know, I can do that.

00:49:39:13 - 00:49:59:09
Kyle Maynard
But, like, no matter what, my mindset that is around, like, playing basketball, I'm never going to be I'm never going to be a basketball player. It's just not going to be in, you know, in my wheelhouse or things. So it's like they think they're like, what we're talking about here is like a very specific set of like that victim mentality around like certain like.

00:49:59:11 - 00:50:08:10
Kyle Maynard
You know, certain things, certain topics, certain issues. And, you know, it's,

00:50:08:12 - 00:50:27:17
Kyle Maynard
But it's, it's so clear to see, like, the quality of life that like, somebody is able to go and create for themselves. Right? Like that's that's like it's like it's like what, what is that, like creative, generative force that you're bringing into the world, right? Like, what is that mentality, you know, like, and how does that show up in different things that like it, you know, inspires you to go and do in different ways?

00:50:27:17 - 00:50:57:14
Kyle Maynard
Like my grandmother taking me through the grocery store and shaking people's hands. That was a product of her looking through the world, through that lens of how can she help me best realize my normal life? Yeah. And, you know, been looking for those opportunities where that would be the case and, you know, showing up and, and and shopping with her, which is something that we would go and do and something that we would go and do fairly regularly, really like it was like a practice.

00:50:57:16 - 00:51:15:02
Kyle Maynard
I think that's another thing too, that like, doesn't get talked about like as much with like the mindset world because people kind of like hear a lot of stuff and they're like, okay, like I think I've got it like figured out, right? Like, okay, that makes sense. Right? Like positive mental thinking. Like, that's going to go and make a difference in my life and blah, blah, blah, like, but I think that like hearing something where it's like, you have to go and make it like a practice.

00:51:15:02 - 00:51:44:02
Kyle Maynard
You have to like think like going to routinely kind of like remind yourself, right? Like, you know, I think it's so the we you just you can't hear it one time and then forget about it. I think you got to be able to, like, focus, like, You know, and like, kind of routinely like, remind yourself, like, where is this showing up in my life now that I could go and, you know, use this in different kinds of ways?

00:51:44:04 - 00:52:18:10
Kyle Maynard
and I love what you said to I think with, like, you know, the oversharing of, like, gratitude, like to on that side as opposed to, like, erring on the side of, you know, I'm not sharing stuff. It's, You know, it's because you never know. You never know necessarily. Like what somebody else is going through. And, you know, what the, the sharing of that, like, can make a, yeah, can make an enormous difference.

00:52:18:12 - 00:52:50:17
Kyle Maynard
So, I just want to let you know that I appreciate you for that because I think that, you know, what you've been through in many ways is very different than, you know, what I've experienced. But the fact that, like, like the specific the specificity of that moment in time with the I think is awesome because it's like, that's exactly why it is that I've done what I've done in so many different ways.

00:52:50:19 - 00:53:15:11
Kyle Maynard
I mean, there's a self entry side of things, obviously, to be sure, but like, like that moment in time, you know, for those moments, you know, you know, for the thousand plus speeches I've given and all that, like, you know, there was for those moments, you know, for people, they have that kind of like that breakthrough where they could go and say like, you know, I know, I like I will go and do this at this.

00:53:15:12 - 00:53:18:01
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah.

00:53:18:03 - 00:53:29:24
Kyle Maynard
You know, no matter what it is that I have to go in to deal with through that. Right? Like it's like I say with, like mountain climates and stuff too. It's.

00:53:30:01 - 00:53:35:23
Kyle Maynard
You know, 90, 95% of the hikes for me suck.

00:53:36:00 - 00:53:38:07
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

00:53:38:09 - 00:53:39:13
Kyle Maynard
They're not fun.

00:53:39:15 - 00:53:40:08
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

00:53:40:10 - 00:54:24:22
Kyle Maynard
They're painful, they're brutal. They're like. They're really. Yeah. They're challenging in different kinds of ways. And. But yeah, I have to remind myself that, like, that is my view. That's my unique perspective. Right. Like that's the only perspective that I get. And it like kind of like resets things in different kinds of ways. And I think it, you know, it makes the like, you know, it turns something that like would be, you know, like, like arduous and like painful or whatever, like, you know, makes me want, you know, want to quit to like, you know, turns it into something and transforms it into something that's manageable and something that's manageable.

00:54:24:22 - 00:54:36:06
Kyle Maynard
I think then, you know, into something that like, provides like inordinate, you know, beauty inside of the the other parts that don't suck.

00:54:36:08 - 00:55:05:14
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah. You know, this is, I could go on for another hour. but we should wrap up. There's a few themes that I've heard come out in this conversation, you know, and that that lead to success. one is you have to have cheerleaders in your corner. and, you know, your parents have definitely been that for you.

00:55:05:16 - 00:55:37:19
Craig Andrews
others have been that for you. you have to have cheerleaders. another is you need people journey journeying with you, you know, and I think about when you were going up that, that mountain and your guy grabbed your belt and said, look where you are. You know, we need people in our life to help us see where we are and what we've achieved, you know, to help us keep going.

00:55:37:21 - 00:56:08:14
Craig Andrews
you know, another takeaway is there are days that we will fail, but that doesn't make us a failure. It's picking up the next day and then conquering and another thing is we need people in our lives that inspire us and that obviously that's the role that you even though we had never met. You played that role in my life during my, recovery.

00:56:08:16 - 00:56:17:23
Craig Andrews
And I think there's one, one that I would add to that is we need to live a life that inspires others.

00:56:18:00 - 00:56:27:16
Kyle Maynard
If. Yeah. It's,

00:56:27:18 - 00:56:37:19
Kyle Maynard
There's a. Everything quote that comes to mind. He says your actions speak so loudly, I can hardly hear you say.

00:56:37:21 - 00:56:40:22
Craig Andrews
Wow, I love that.

00:56:40:24 - 00:56:52:15
Kyle Maynard
And it's. But yeah, I think it's, you know, for the people that are, are listening to this, you know, it's.

00:56:52:17 - 00:57:09:13
Kyle Maynard
I my invitation as it is with all like the speeches that I go and give, you know, is to go and consider and think about like, what's the biggest excuse you're making that's keeping you from reaching what it is that you're capable of?

00:57:09:15 - 00:57:10:15
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

00:57:10:17 - 00:57:30:15
Kyle Maynard
And, you know, if everybody that's listening to this word is going to take on their biggest excuse, how different would their lives look? And, you know, just a handful of months,

00:57:30:17 - 00:57:35:11
Kyle Maynard
You know, they think it's,

00:57:35:13 - 00:57:57:03
Kyle Maynard
And it's it to be that inspiration. Others just to realize too, that, like, you don't necessarily know, right. Like that. Like they just making that decision and saying like, okay, I'm going to go ahead and do this. you don't necessarily know what's possible. Like I mentioned at the beginning of, you know, losing over and over and over again with, wrestling matches, right?

00:57:57:03 - 00:58:22:24
Kyle Maynard
Like I lost my first 35 matches, like in a row, like I was terrible was being beaten by everybody. And then by the time I was a senior in high school, it had reversed itself entirely. You know, I won 35 varsity matches as a senior and, placed, you know, several state champions along the way. And, like, was.

00:58:23:01 - 00:58:42:03
Kyle Maynard
I a match away from becoming a high school All-American in my weight class? I never could have seen that. That would have been possible. You know, I never could have seen that that that would have happened. It occurred to me, you know, when I first started, I was so bad, you know, it was it was so. Brutally painful to go through those losses.

00:58:42:03 - 00:59:13:05
Kyle Maynard
But I never would have been able to go and see, you know, whatever to be able to said. Yeah, to do just a handful of years later, you know, same for you too, right? Like that gradual, incremental like improvement and growth, you know, just to continue to head to where you want to go. And yet whether it's, you know, I mean, like what one of my favorite quotes that I've heard too is like, true rehabilitation is not just like getting,

00:59:13:07 - 00:59:41:11
Kyle Maynard
Not just getting the like, function that we had back, but it's about becoming better than we were previously. Right? So it's not just getting to that, like three mile point where you were, you need to run in three miles in the hills in Texas. You know, it's it's getting, you know, getting back, you know, being at a point where you're, you're doing six, six, seven miles, you know, and like, with the same level of exertion, as it were previously.

00:59:41:13 - 01:00:09:05
Kyle Maynard
And I think that you can do that. I don't know, you know, I'm not a doctor. Right. Like I get I don't want to like, on your medical team, but yet like. I know the power of, you know, people to just, you know, come in and do what they need to do bit by bit, day by day. And people that, you know, that's my favorite thing, I think, with like the CrossFit gym was seeing people that, like, came in and were super deconditioned.

01:00:09:07 - 01:00:41:08
Kyle Maynard
But through consistency and doing what they needed to do and plotting, you know, just continuing to plod and make me path like the, you know, the like their path and the direction. A positive one, whether the just meant even just showing up, you know, three days a week, 3 or 4 days a week, taking into consideration like, you know, active, you know, rest or recovery is like, you know, like a really important factor, but like, they would be there 3 or 4 days a week, no matter what.

01:00:41:10 - 01:01:00:24
Kyle Maynard
And, you know, my wrestling coaches wife was one of those people. She came in and, like, could barely do a push up on her knees when she started. And a couple years later, 3 or 4 days a week, she's doing handstands. You know, she her daughter, who's a collegiate cheerleader, came in to go and do a workout with her over Christmas vacation.

01:01:00:24 - 01:01:08:11
Kyle Maynard
A lot of her forget, like, she, like, couldn't keep up with her mom and her daughter was in the bathroom like, puke and.

01:01:08:13 - 01:01:09:14
Craig Andrews
Crazy like, like.

01:01:09:14 - 01:01:19:13
Kyle Maynard
The workout with her mom, who was, you know, a grandparent. And, like. But as a grandparent, she was in close to the best shape of her life.

01:01:19:15 - 01:01:20:19
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

01:01:20:21 - 01:01:42:05
Kyle Maynard
So it's possible, you know, to go and to get back more than you had before. And, you know, you might not have gotten to that place. All the other experiences like just, you know, that's I think something that like, I, I've really become like kind of more aware of in the last like a little bit is, you know, just.

01:01:42:07 - 01:02:00:08
Kyle Maynard
All the things have gotten to experience like, you know, to go and look at like just, you know, the day to day with, like, you know, friends and family, like how lucky I am to just be alive. Like, and anyone this listening to this, you know, just to go and like take a breath, you know, to go and look on, you know, everything.

01:02:00:08 - 01:02:10:18
Kyle Maynard
You know that like we get to go and experience like, just how lucky we are to to be alive.

01:02:10:20 - 01:02:37:06
Craig Andrews
Which, No. Absolutely. And that's, you know, my wife and I wrote a book, you know, we were trying to speak to some of the people struggling with the grief because they lost a loved one during Covid. And one of the ways that we ended that book, you know, because I realized that there there are people that are upset with us because I lived and that doesn't make them bad people.

01:02:37:06 - 01:02:47:05
Craig Andrews
They're just struggling through the the grief of they lost a loved one and they're like, why didn't I get that? And here's the reality.

01:02:47:07 - 01:03:06:12
Craig Andrews
Life is a gift. And this is kind of how we end in the book. And I believe it's a gift that comes from God. And if God has given you the gift of life, you every day you wake up with the same question I, I wake up with I. For me, it's abundantly clear that my life is a gift.

01:03:06:14 - 01:03:16:07
Craig Andrews
And so I have to answer each day, how am I going to use that gift? But I think that's a question for everybody.

01:03:16:09 - 01:03:19:17
Kyle Maynard
And.

01:03:19:19 - 01:03:31:24
Kyle Maynard
You know, I think it's, what I kind of get reminded with that is.

01:03:32:01 - 01:03:52:12
Kyle Maynard
From that the end, like the, the gift from God perspective. Right. Like what we don't often times see is gifts initially can be. And I think some things can be made that way. You know, it's,

01:03:52:14 - 01:04:16:04
Kyle Maynard
And that, that is like, you know, it's a choice. You know, you don't have to. There's other that says that you have to, like, look at what you've gone through as a gift, or there's something that says that I have to go and look what I've gone through as a gift. But for some reason we've chosen to. And that I think in a lot of ways, like it.

01:04:16:05 - 01:04:43:10
Kyle Maynard
It turns it into something, you know, turns it into something that like that wouldn't otherwise have been a gift that becomes that, which is something that is, you know, within the control of, of anyone, pretty much regardless of what it is that they're going through, barring certain circumstances. I mean, there's like to be real with certain stuff, like, like I said, like I'm never going to be a basketball player no matter what, no matter how well like hard I go and focus on that.

01:04:43:10 - 01:05:09:13
Kyle Maynard
And, you know, it's just it's never going to going to happen. And yet at the same time, you know, I miss out on all the other, you know, countless things that I can go and do and be part of and, and be thankful for, you know, spite of that. So, you know, and to think about, like the, you know, the, the perspective of the vantage point.

01:05:09:15 - 01:05:35:08
Kyle Maynard
That you know, God. Right? Like that, like something that's like far beyond our understanding with stuff. You know. Yeah. It's it's a striving I think is that like, you know, kind of what I've, I've learned, you know, it's a striving to be and to be Christian is to be Christlike. Right. Like, is to like, To aim to be like that.

01:05:35:10 - 01:05:41:18
Kyle Maynard
Right. So to like that, to to just.

01:05:41:20 - 01:06:00:15
Kyle Maynard
To be striving closer to like the, the aim of looking at those things in our life, understanding like, okay, not all of those things are then my control, but what what things are there that,

01:06:00:17 - 01:06:21:14
Kyle Maynard
Yeah, that I'm missing out on. And that's that's what led me to the mountains more than anything else, was like that call of like, what's available, you know, what's what's available for me to be able to go and see an experience that I can, you know, like in my wheelchair that can't get me there. But I have the desire to go there.

01:06:21:16 - 01:06:23:04
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

01:06:23:06 - 01:06:28:18
Kyle Maynard
Right. That's the.

01:06:28:20 - 01:06:33:03
Kyle Maynard
And it's,

01:06:33:05 - 01:06:42:02
Kyle Maynard
Yeah, I can say without a doubt too, that, like.

01:06:42:04 - 01:06:46:21
Kyle Maynard
Either experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

01:06:46:23 - 01:06:49:03
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

01:06:49:05 - 01:07:22:18
Kyle Maynard
it's, But yeah, I think again, it's, you know, as a final closing thought, you know, one of the themes that we've talked about to like repeatedly through this and like, I can tell that you're dealing with this. I'm dealing with this, but it's like to make it, you know, to make it a practice. To realize, you know, like there's this Zig Ziglar quote, I think, you know, it's a good thing to close on, but he says, like, I think he said something like.

01:07:22:20 - 01:07:36:14
Kyle Maynard
motivation is like washing and requires like daily use or daily effort. Something like that. That's it's not,

01:07:36:16 - 01:08:00:04
Kyle Maynard
It's not just something, you know, that, like, it's like an every now and then kind of thing. It's like a continual lifelong thing that shows up in different kinds of ways and different kinds of processes. it teaches us, you know, a lot in, in different kinds of ways a lot of the time and points at a time where we're not so grateful for it.

01:08:00:04 - 01:08:26:04
Kyle Maynard
So like to to have that practice of like, okay, this is happening in my life now, you know, that expected that's what I've gotten from you more than anything else, you know, is that like, there are no guarantees you're living your life normal one time point in time and then bam, you know, hit by a mack truck, and then what are you going to go and do that is, it's, you know, it's a different kind of like courage that I've had to go to deal with.

01:08:26:04 - 01:08:49:04
Kyle Maynard
But it's something that I will carry with me as a consequence of you. And then you haven't shared that with me. this. Listen to this. I don't know what it is that you're going through. I don't know what it is, your handle. But I do know for sure that, like, whatever that big business uses, that's, And the way of dealing with that, you know, you'd be better off without it.

01:08:49:06 - 01:09:08:14
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Wow. That is powerful way to end. Kyle. Thank you for being inspiration to me. Thanks for being an inspiration to others. How could people reach you? So the,

01:09:08:16 - 01:09:09:04
Craig Andrews
For people that.

01:09:09:04 - 01:09:29:17
Kyle Maynard
Want to learn more and get a lot of what we've talked about, we just talked. Right. But like to give people kind of like a visual. I've a lot of stuff. There's a lot of like content on YouTube. I think it's a good place to go and look for people that are like, you know, curious to like see some of the hikes, see some of the gear wrestling, jujitsu, weightlifting stuff like that, like that.

01:09:29:19 - 01:09:53:08
Kyle Maynard
there's a lot of content on YouTube and, and then so just type Kyle Maynard in the YouTube and then my website is, the best way to go and, and reach out. just Kyle intercom. and I occasionally will go and like, check on, like Instagram and stuff like that, but I'm not too big on social media, so, but yeah.

01:09:53:10 - 01:10:07:04
Craig Andrews
And then your book is no excuses, no excuses. Kyle, thanks for sharing your story. leaders and legacies. And again, just there, there's no way I could thank you enough for the inspiration that you've been to me.

01:10:07:06 - 01:10:10:14
Kyle Maynard
Thanks, Greg. Thank you. Appreciate really.