Hello, my friends.
Patrick here with a very quick introduction because we've got something a little different.
I just wanted to let you know what it is before you listened.
You may have noticed we're playing with some new formats.
We're playing with some new ideas here on Chasing Excellence.
And that's what we've got for you today.
We have the first episode of a new series that we're calling The Purpose Effect.
This is a show designed by and hosted by our friend, Jameson Price, who you know by now if you've been listening for a little while.
Jameson has been a guest on the show before.
He's also stepped in for me in our training focused conversations, the ones he's been having with ben and cole that i think folks really like.
I'm really excited.
I'm such a big fan of Jameson.
I'm really excited to give him his own series, his own space to explore, to have conversations, to bring to you his own perspective.
So that's what we've got today.
The very first episode of The Purpose Effect.
I'm excited for you to get it.
So let's jump right in.
Hello everyone.
Jameson here out on a daily walk and anytime we do a purpose effect episode here on the Chasing Excellence podcast.
I'm going to kick it off with a walk and talk intro, something that just sets the stage for you guys for the conversation you're about to hear.
And today's conversation is with Ryan Rivard.
And Ryan and I have only been friends for a few months, but it's one of those connections and relationships that became immediately impactful and meaningful for me.
In our very first conversation, Ryan was very vulnerable and authentic and transparent in what he was willing to share with me and I was able to be the same and I came away from that conversation really encouraged and challenged.
And he does the same today in our conversation that you're about to hear, and I think it will be really, really useful For you guys, for anybody who finds themselves at a point in life where they would like to make a change, where they would like to grow or they'd like to go from point A to point B.
Ryan's story helps share perspective and encouragement and really timeless principles that will help anybody get from wherever they're at now to wherever they want to be, without losing their sense of identity or purpose in the process.
Brian's story starts early on suffering a tragedy in his family with the suicide of his grandfather, and then wanders into his own journey with substance abuse and addiction and overcoming that all the way to standing on top of Mount Everest and being one of the very few people on the planet who have accomplished that and realizing that maybe it wasn't really the point to where now he uses all of his experience up to this point in his life to serve others through his nonprofit.
So I think you guys will really really enjoy this conversation and find it meaningful and encouraging and challenging in all the right ways.
Enjoy.
All right, Mr Rivard Ryan Rivard, episode number one of The Purpose Effect here on Chasing Excellence.
We're going to jump straight into it, man.
If you guys are listening to this.
Obviously this is a bit unique and I am grateful that you're taking the time to listen to it.
And we want to respect, I want to respect.
I know that Ryan wants to respect every ounce or moment of time that you give us.
And so we want to make the most of it.
So we're going to.
Just going to jump straight into it.
So Ryan.
One of the things we're going to do on the Purpose Effect series is a question chain from guest to guest.
So you're guest number one, so you get to just answer my question, but you'll leave a question at the end for the next guest.
And so just to jump straight into it, here is the previous guest's question, and that's me.
What is a simple thing that somebody can implement to be happier day to day?
I would say for me, that's focusing on gratitude in my life.
I think that it's very easy to get caught up in where I should be or what I should have or what this looks like.
But if we focus on the gratitude and we really fill up our heart and our mind with that, there's not a lot of space for anger.
There's not a lot of space for fear.
There's not a lot of space for resentment, all the things that kind of hold us back.
That's what I would focus That's a great first answer to kick things off.
Is there a particular way that you, on a daily basis, practice gratitude, a protocol or a habit of some sort?
Yeah, I think even in the small things, from the time that I get up in the morning, I hit my knees and I just say thank you for another day sober, for another day of being alive.
A lot of people in their mindsets Even in the way that you talk, right?
You go to the gym and you're like, ah, man, I'm tired today.
It's sore today.
Or you go to work and you're like, ah, I got to grind through this.
And I think if you frame it a little bit differently and you think well, you get the opportunity to go do these things right.
These are things that you've looked forward to doing when you were younger or 10 years prior.
And you said, maybe I'd like to have this kind of life.
And so now you're having this life.
Right.
And you get the privilege to show up.
And so just say thank you for those things, even in the smallest moments, even if I'm just I'm riding my bike and it's warm out and I got my kids with me.
I just thank you for that opportunity.
And if you practice those little things each day, you know it's easier to kind of keep that mindset.
It doesn't have to be, oh, my God, you know, I won the lottery kind of deal.
It's just like, no, like I get to show up today.
I'm not injured.
My kids are healthy.
I get some time to like work out and be people like you.
Yeah.
It's cool, man.
Yeah, it's really good.
And it is interesting.
Like you said, the more you train it, the easier it does get.
But I have found that it never quite feels automatic.
It is easier to shift quickly into like, man, where is my head going right now?
Just be thankful.
Just be grateful.
But yeah, I have at least not shifted into. the automatic mode of gratitude.
I still have to be intentional about it.
I like my automatic mode still seems to tend or trend towards overwhelm, I guess, or being a lot of different places rather than whatever place that I am in.
And so I think yeah, just like you said, noticing what's around you, bringing attention to that very intentionally and then responding actionably by saying like thank you.
I'm grateful for this.
This can be very can be very humbling, can be very stabilizing in a lot of ways.
So, yeah, man, I think it's cool.
So simple thing that somebody can do to be happier is practice gratitude.
Be intentional about what you pay attention to and then be grateful for it.
I love it.
Cool, man.
All right.
So, Ryan, you have... been on a road of recovery.
You got sober at the age of 19.
You have started businesses.
You have built a family.
You have founded a nonprofit in alignment with those things that you have personally gone through.
You have summited Mount Everest, amongst plenty of other things.
Lots of accomplishments, lots of things to talk about.
I think the one thing that I want to dig into primarily today so this doesn't end up being an hours-long episode about all of the variety of things you have achieved is connecting it back to this idea of purpose and the purpose effect, the point of this series.
And the whole idea is that purpose is not who you are.
And it's certainly not what you do, but it's what happens when those two things are combined.
And when I look at what you have cultivated in your life, it seems very much like the things happening in your life and the things happening for other people around you are a fruit of who you are meeting, what you do,
And the one area that I think makes a lot of sense to talk about today is the DODEC method that you have founded.
So let's get to that.
But kind of as a path to that, let's talk a little bit about your background first.
So, yeah, walk us through a bit.
You lost your grandfather to suicide at the age of seven.
You overdosed at 19 and then you summited Everest at 40.
So can you fill in the gaps of those kind of benchmark moments of your life and kind of give our audience, give the listeners, a bit of framework and kind of context and substance for what we're talking about today?
Sure, absolutely.
And thanks for all of this.
And just again, grateful for being on this podcast with you.
So thank you.
When I was younger, my father and I now have a much better relationship after getting sober.
When I was really young, he and my mother were not necessarily together and they didn't have the closest relationship.
And he grew up in circumstances where it was really tough.
And so he had a hard time being present.
And so my grandfather, my mom's father, when I was younger, was kind of that father figure to me.
And he would take me to his office to show me his work.
He'd take me out to the golf course and put me around with that stuff.
And it just... it made me admire what it looked like to be a man, to have these kind of things.
Unfortunately, what I didn't see was that, as I was getting older and older through the years, there were certain things that were happening in his business.
That was generational business, by the way.
And his partner did some things that ended up almost bankrupting the company.
While he was going through that, instead of talking about it, instead of using his community and the tools of communication to express his own fears, he decided to end his life.
One moment in my life impacted me so greatly that it really shut me down emotionally.
And I really struggled to then trust in those kinds of relationships.
And I at the time didn't know what drugs and alcohol were.
But I found other things, like my inhaler, which I used to have Pretty bad asthma when I was a kid.
And so I would use these things and it would make me feel better at the moment.
Right.
During that moment.
And that then started to progress more and more and more as the years went on, because the symptoms of everything that were circulating from that incident were growing.
And the ways that I was using drugs and alcohol to alleviate those symptoms and that pain started to dissipate and started to wane.
And so the more and more I tried, the more and more I realized it wasn't going to fill that hole.
And so eventually it got to a place where I was playing hockey at Penn State and asked to be on the team and didn't show up to practices, didn't show up to games because I was in that addiction.
And unfortunately, then I also got asked to not be on the team.
And that was a pretty quick process in a very short amount of time.
And my parents then were informed from a friend of mine that hey, I was Using these kind of drugs and alcohol and they came and got me back from school and tried to put me into maybe therapy and all that other stuff.
And it really just wasn't enough.
And so I ended up, 19 years old, overdosing in my front yard and fortunately had a friend with me at the time.
And that was kind of this light bulb moment.
And even when I was doing that, all the lights kind of turned out.
I could see this flickering light inside of me, like a flame that just didn't want to go out.
I realized at that moment, while my heart was stopping, that this wasn't the end of it.
And immediately then all of a sudden I started feeling this rush of blood.
And I could hear my name start getting louder and louder.
And this friend of mine that was yelling at me to breathe.
And that became one of the founding principles of everything that I do.
It's just remembering to breathe, remembering to take those moments.
And from that moment, I went back and I said, no, I need some help.
I talked to my parents.
It was a journey.
It took me a while, a few treatment centers and a few other things to really get in.
During that time, I ended up living out of my car.
I lived out of cheap motels and other things because they didn't want me home.
I was able to find my way.
I was fortunate that they never gave up on me.
I was fortunate to have.
But what I also realized is that at that young age I didn't have somebody like myself that came to me and said hey, your life could be this if you were able to get past this.
This part.
Right.
And you just let it go and you turn it over to something bigger than you and you trusted in the people around you and you believed in yourself.
And through that experience, little by little, you will start to gain your confidence.
You will start to build up who you are, really.
And you'll start to reach your potential.
And so, as going through this experience, I was in kind of an outward bound place that did treks and hikes, and they gave us a gym membership.
And so I was outdoors all the time hiking and being uncomfortable in the rain and the snow.
And I was going to the gym because I was a young male and I had a lot of testosterone and I
Needed to do something with my time.
And those things kind of became, in a lot of ways, my sanctuary, my church.
And they helped me gain confidence in myself.
And they realized that I could do things that were hard without turning to drugs and alcohol, without giving up.
And that became the foundation for everything else that I did.
And as soon as I started to get those things to click, everything started to accelerate.
And I was able to go back to college.
I went to a place in Minnesota that offered a sober program.
I ended up graduating with no credits, by the way, coming from Penn State.
But I graduated undergrad in three years, did the last two years in one year and still graduated with a 40, because I really was then focused.
And I realized that at that point, little by little, I started getting this glimpse that there are there really are no ceilings.
So fast forward.
I get a law and business degree from Chicago.
I start working in business and realize that I want to grow businesses and really inspire people.
And even at that time, with my wife who I'm still with at this point and we have four children told me hey, you know, I think that you need to be helping people.
I think that that's really your calling.
But when I was younger, in my early 20s, I realized, OK, maybe I still need to grow up.
I still need to build myself so that I actually have something meaningful to offer.
And so I did the school degrees and I did the corporate job for a little bit.
And then I started my own marketing agency and I built that up. over the years.
But I got to this point in the marketing agency.
I've got four children.
They're doing well.
I have a wife that supports me.
I have a business that's running.
Of course there's ups and downs, but I'm still able to move past this stuff and continue past that and realize that, Despite all of these things, I still feel like I'm missing something.
And I'm watching this documentary on Netflix.
And these gentlemen from Nepal are climbing the world's tallest mountains.
And they're doing it in world record breaking times.
And I thought to myself, OK, that's what I want to do next.
I want to climb a mountain.
And I thought that would provide more clarity.
Maybe that was the thing that needed to fill it up.
And sure enough, I reached out to them and there I was.
I was setting up that journey.
And within two years, two and a half years I was standing on the top of Mount Everest after doing two rounds.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
And I have to say, it was a remarkable trip.
And so many things were learned on that.
But especially the fact that the summit was not the point.
The point was the process and the journey and really why.
And when I came home, I thought to myself at first, all right.
I have this like epiphany, and all of the things that maybe I didn't fill up along the way will get full.
And it didn't happen.
Just like drugs and alcohol.
Like it didn't fill up certain things.
And made me realize, okay, for one, you're capable.
You're capable of anything.
And there are no ceilings.
And you can come from the bottom of being homeless to climbing mount everest, like it doesn't matter who you are and everybody has an everest.
Everybody has some kind of mountain climbing.
And it continued to happen.
So with that knowledge and with that experience, i started to realize a bigger calling, and that's when i created the DODEC method, which is kind of like taking Everest to every day.
It's climbing higher without coming apart.
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I think that there are components of that.
I want to go back and kind of poke at a little bit, because I think there's so much value in different aspects of your story, but I also think we could just kind of stop it right there.
And that would be valuable for people just to hear your story.
And you have found a way to articulate it very, very powerfully in a way that's very potent and I think valuable.
So I have a ton of respect for your transparency and your willingness to share.
I know we've talked a little bit about this, as you were just sharing it with me personally after we got connected a couple of months ago.
And one of the things that we had found a bit of camaraderie on in that conversation is the fact that, no matter how healed grown, evolved you become, you never look back on the things that you would deem kind of the darkest or the hardest or the worst parts of yourself.
You never look back on those with like beaming amounts of pride.
And so every time you share, you choose to share and be authentic and transparent with people.
It's tough.
And of course, it gets a little bit easier.
And I think the thing that makes it easier over time is seeing its impact on others and the kind of potential freedom and growth that it provides for other people when you choose to be transparent and when you choose to share your story.
So I know that it gets more rewarding to share, but it never gets easier.
So I have a ton of respect for your continued authenticity and transparency in the way that you share it, because I feel the authenticity as you share your story in a way that you are deeply passionate about helping others, while holding space for the fact that you can still recognize that it caused pain.
You still feel some of the pain from what you experienced on kind of on behalf of others' actions.
And then I think you hold space for accepting the kind of pain that it caused you and others in those seasons of your life.
And it is such a necessary thing to be able to hold in both hands.
At the exact same time.
And so I have a ton of appreciation and respect for your willingness to share that.
And I want to go back specifically to kind of the we'll call it the middle portion of your story.
As you are kind of wandering into the initial stages of recovery, because I was just having this conversation with a couple of friends this week actually, in talking about the fact that everybody is recovering from something,
And it's similar to what you just said is everybody has their own Everest and there is an Everest inside of every single day.
And I think when it comes to recovery specifically, everybody is recovering from something.
And we have just culturally appropriated certain things more than others when it comes to recovery.
And so we look at things like substance abuse, and it's easy, from a societal or a cultural perspective, to point fingers at that.
And then to celebrate people's recovery from that as well.
But it's very black and white for some reason.
We look very specifically at that and go like one version is right and one version is wrong.
Whereas so many other types of recovery are done in secret.
The struggle is fought in secret.
And then the recovery and or healing either never happens, or even that component of things happens kind of in private or in secret.
And so what you are allowing people is the opportunity to experience some resonance in sharing your story and going like man me too.
And I can gain so much from Ryan sharing his process.
But there are so many folks who struggle with other types of things that are unwilling to share those things that could be so beneficial if they would open up about them.
But because it's not substance abuse in particular, and maybe it's deemed, maybe less important or maybe it's a little bit more taboo in certain ways, people don't communicate about it.
So all that to say, I think, no matter where you fall in your current season of life, you either have in the past, you are now, or you will at some point need to overcome something and recover from something.
So I would love to hear from you just practical insights on the biggest key components that drove your success, for lack of better terms at recovery.
So, as you were entering these kinds of early stages of growth and recovery and healing from substance abuse in particular, which was also a symptom of other things that you needed to grow from and heal from what were really really critical keys to success for you that people could grab for themselves and apply to their own elements of growth and transformation and recovery,
Yeah, I think, and thank you, by the way, for the compliments as well.
I appreciate that.
These are all good questions.
I have to admit, no matter what ism we call it, right?
It could be alcoholism.
It could be Gambling, it could be sex, it could be porn, it could be buying things, spending too much money.
I mean everybody in life, especially these days, especially with social media which again, I use all the time for my own business and my own value.
But it's so easy to get lost in these aspects of life as a way to cope with human connection.
You are seeking, but yet don't have.
And so you draw into the phone, you draw into the TV show, you draw into even the workout, whatever it is, and you use that as a crutch to get you through.
And what I've realized is that everybody has many cups in their life, right?
And the first cup that you fill up is usually the one that you notice gives you the most joy and makes you feel good.
And so that could be.
I was early as a kid where you're like oh, I'm the funny kid in class, or I'm good at sports, or I'm smart or whatever that looks like.
And as you develop into a professional life, the same thing goes there.
And it's like oh, I want to be the best at work, or I want to make the most money, or whatever that looks like.
But when you do this, you fill up only one cup.
And in the beginning, as you're filling up this cup, it feels good, right?
It's like having that first drink.
Okay, it takes the edge off.
But you continue to fill the cup and fill the cup and fill the cup.
And eventually, the cup is overflowing.
So the feeling that you get from that initial part of it goes away.
Because no matter how much more you fill up that cup, it won't get any more full, right?
It's at its capacity.
And the problem is, is that you're only focusing on that one.
And somehow you feel like all right if I fill up this success cup, whatever that looks like, that somehow it'll fill up the cups with my family or my friends, or really feeling good enough about who I am personally.
And the truth is, is that it won't.
So consistency has to come into your life, right?
You have to be able to block off time and you have to be able to be patient with yourself.
Nobody in life has become successful, including myself, at recovery, at business, at summoning Mount Everest from literally day one, where they go out and they say okay, I'm going to go and do this thing.
Even in climbing Mount Everest, I had to climb two other mountains and it took me two years.
And even in that process, I tore my left knee and it set me back.
Like there's so many things that happened to even just get to the mountain.
And so you have to be patient and understand that anything worth having is also worth waiting for.
And if you truly align yourself with those things, they will eventually come true.
It just might not happen immediately when you think it's going to happen.
Yeah, so...
As it relates specifically to kind of starting a journey to transformation and, in this context, recovery.
Specifically, you would just highlight the importance of playing the long game and patience as you are starting.
Yeah.
And I think another thing too is and maybe we've had this conversation, I think we might've talked about it, but everybody carries this shame about whatever that thing is that they're holding on to.
Yeah right, and this is part of this dodeca method that i've created like every high performer knows, the feeling right from the outside, it looks like you're winning, but on the inside something's off.
Yeah, you fill that up with whatever it looks like and you continue to fill that up because you have that shame and you don't want to share that experience with somebody.
But every time in my life where it's like hey, my relationship is struggling with my wife, or I wasn't the greatest father today with my kids, or struggling with this client, or I got an injury, or this deal didn't work out.
Whatever that is, if you hold on to that and you feel that shame and you carry that around for one, nobody sees that right.
It only hurts you.
It doesn't provide any value to you.
It's not like fear where it motivates you, right?
And it keeps you aligned.
It really is like putting more weight into your backpack when you're climbing up Mount Everest than necessary.
It's like you're climbing Mount Everest and it's already hard, right?
You're already climbing your own mountain.
Why throw rocks in there?
The rocks aren't – you don't need to bring them.
They're not necessary.
They're not water.
They're not food.
They're not family.
They're not friends.
They're not things that fill you up.
So let go of that shame.
And every time that I've been worried that somebody won't share that kind of experience or they'll judge me.
I guarantee it.
The person has looked me straight in the eye, whether men or women, and said oh, I've done that too.
Or that's it.
That's all that you did.
OK, let's move past.
And so it immediately made me realize it's just me.
It's just me holding on.
The other thing that I would suggest is any time that you start to. get in to here.
The voices come in and they're negative voices.
It's like, I'm not good enough or I didn't do that well or messed that up.
Look at somebody else in your life and reach out to them.
Ask them how they're doing.
Be of service, because what it does immediately is it takes that out of your.
You can only have so much space.
And so now you divert your attention towards somebody else.
And on the flip side, it also gives you a sense of purpose and sense of meaning, because you can provide some value to them.
And so immediately it flips that script in your head where it's like okay, I'm not good enough to know.
I'm actually good enough and I'm providing some value to somebody else that needs help.
It's not that you're trying to ignore the problems that you have, but it allows you to break that cycle in your head that goes over and over again focus on and then hopefully provides you an opportunity to lead into the things that you're struggling with.
But ask them first what you can help them with.
Yeah, man, that's...
Those are three extremely powerful things.
And again, regardless of what it is that you are struggling with or regardless of what it is that you want, the process is often the same.
And it is the simple process of like, I'm currently at point A and I would like to get to point B or C or so on and so forth.
And those three elements of...
Consistency with patience, understanding that, like you, are accepting a journey, that you're accepting the beginning of a journey here and you're accepting a process.
And you know that, if you commit to this journey, in this process, that the outcome is going to be something greater than your current existence and your current reality.
But what you're really accepting is the journey, not even the outcome, and certainly not the destination.
So patience and consistency as you are beginning is so critical for the purpose of longevity and actually eventually ending up at the space that you want.
But I often think about the fact that like, man, people...
If you are currently struggling with an ism of some sort and what your desire is is sobriety.
That's a very clear point A to point B, And I don't think that people have that kind of clarity most of the time.
They just have this kind of arbitrary sense of meaninglessness or purposelessness.
And what they want is a fuller, better, more fulfilled, happier, more confident version of life.
And you can't really put specific parameters around that.
And so it really is as simple as like just begin the journey, because wherever you end up is going to be better than where you are now.
If you will just trust the process, trust the journey that you are on, be patient and realize that.
Even if you could articulate and imagine what point B is.
It's probably not going to look like that anyways, but you're still going to be so much happier with it than the version you even imagined if you will realize that the point is the process.
As you have said, the point is not the summit.
Mm-hmm.
And so yeah man, I think that element of patience and consistency is so critical for people in order to actually achieve transformation.
And then the other two things that you shared, I feel go hand in hand, which is selflessness and service to others and not living with any secrets.
And that metaphor is beautiful.
Like the thing that you're doing is already hard.
Summiting Mount Everest is hard.
Living life is already hard.
It's going to have plenty of challenges on its own.
Why pack yourself down with so much extra weight?
And what's so interesting about that is those stones or those rocks that you throw in your backpack, that we'll call shame, somehow and for some reason, are ones you can't really take out all by yourself.
And it requires living without secrets so other people can help pull those things out of your pack.
And I've experienced that firsthand.
I know you've experienced that firsthand.
And the kind of of humility required to finally open up and be like dude.
I have messed up and I need help.
That's what starts pulling those things out of your back.
And sharing that with trusted people who are almost always going to, like you said, come to you and go like hey, what you did is not okay.
Where you've been is not okay, but I am here to go in lockstep with you, side by side, to get to something better.
And that leads directly into your next point, which is go ahead and start being that to somebody else, to the capacity that you are able.
And that is like the transformation journey, man.
Be patient, be consistent.
Don't have any secrets and start serving other people as soon as you can.
And life is just immediately better.
And so I think that is powerful and such a beautiful thing for people to take away from your story, specifically because it is such a clear point A, point B, point B, point C, all the way to Z, And now we're like writing a new alphabet, almost in terms of your transformation process.
And I think taking away those three things as as application points for people as they consider here's where I'm at and here's where I want to go, is so important.
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I want to talk a little bit about Everest specifically, because I think that's something that people are so curious about.
I mean, it's a huge deal.
I don't know what the stats are in terms of, like total people who have summited it, but I know it's quite small and I know you're one of them.
So I would love to talk a little bit as we end about Everest specifically.
But before we get to that.
Let's talk about the Dodec method.
Absolutely.
I think that that's the component of your work.
That's going to make the most sense in application here, because the thing that you shared as you gave us kind of the cliff notes version of your story is I checked the box on the process of recovery.
My family was healthy.
Like my marriage was healthy.
I got back on track.
Basically, I have accomplished all of these things.
Most people would look at my story and go like transformation success.
And then I summited Everest as kind of the pinnacle final moment of look how far I've come.
I came from the bottom to here's where I have arrived.
And you said to yourself, it's just not the point.
And then we get back to the point as it always is.
Once you reach this element of self-actualization if we're going to use Maslow's hierarchy you reach this point of health, strength and vitality.
Clarity from a personal perspective what are you supposed to do with it?
But you're supposed to give it to other people.
And I think the DODEC method is how you have functionally started to give your process to other people.
So give us the brief overview.
And then I think maybe what I would love to talk specifically about are kind of the six pillars.
I guess, if you will
And correct me if I'm wrong on that language, but. kind of the six pillars of the DODEC method.
And then let's talk specifically about the high performer assessment.
Sure.
Absolutely.
No, I appreciate it.
So real quick too.
I think, on that last note, the Everest in your life can even just be your daily grind, your week.
Yeah.
Right.
There are so many people that go through the week and they cannot wait to Until the weekend hits.
And then they're like, oh, now I'm like getting through it.
That is the point to really highlight in your life.
That is the point to look at.
And that's the same thing with Everest.
It's like, oh, I can't wait to get to the summit.
But the truth is, is that the entire process to get up and get down is far more important.
That's what keeps you alive.
And so if you can live your life where, every day, the process you are in love with, then you're never going to work.
Right.
Then you're never like having this problem of OK, I can't wait till I get to there, because there is every day.
There is.
I love the journey that I'm doing and I'm in love with the day and how it looks and how I've structured it and what I get to do.
And then it doesn't really matter what the goal is anymore.
Yeah, which I think is important to say, like it doesn't turn into easy.
It just turns into worth it.
Exactly.
It's just flipping the mindset.
So the DODAG method.
So the DODEC method is how you fix all of what we're talking about without earning down what you've built right.
So it's born out of the 23 plus years of recovery endurance leadership fatherhood, the summit of Mount Everest, but it's a complete operating system for aligned achievement.
It rewires how you move, how you think, how you connect, how you decide and execute and expand.
So the person who shows up at work is the same one your family gets at home.
And so this is not like a motivational kind of thing.
It's an integration you can live with.
It's not about what the view looks like from the top, but it's about who you become on the way up.
Yeah, very much, as I have dug into it myself and taken the assessment.
It really feels like the practical application of how to live with integrity.
The key component being what you just said the version of you one place is the version of you everywhere.
And you could go your whole life fooling people with that, but you're never going to fully fool yourself.
And the moments brushing your teeth, staring at yourself in the mirror, the moments that you know how many different versions of you existed that day.
And so I really enjoyed the time I have spent with it thus far.
Because I really feel like it's that.
It's like the field guide for how to live with integrity.
Appreciate it.
Yeah.
So the DODEC method, as you've discussed, it's six pillars, two principles each.
So it's basically a 12-dimensional framework, when we look at it, that aligns your body, your mind, your relationships.
Purpose, performance and spirit.
So success stops costing you yourself, so to speak.
The six pillars as we break them down.
The first one is physical presence.
It's broken down into two principles.
So vitality is the first one.
And in that, we focus on breath, movement, recovery, cold exposure, those kind of things.
The second one is discipline.
So structure, nutrition, sleep, daily non-negotiables.
And the outcome that we get from this principle as we work through it is your body becomes your anchor.
It's steady energy on command.
The second pillar is mental fortitude.
So that one focuses on awareness, which is like pattern recognition in your day pattern stacking or habit stacking, trigger mapping and then resilience.
So stress adaptation, response over reaction.
And the outcome from that is allowing you to become calm under the pressure and your mind works for you, not against you.
The third pillar is emotional integrity.
So that's broken down into vulnerability, which is what we've talked about like truth over performance, connection right.
Trust, empathy, repair.
And the outcome from this is a goal to have real relationship, leadership and people that they can actually follow.
The fourth pillar is purpose and identity.
So that is broken into vision, your why, which I live by every day.
It's so important.
And we define that and we embody that.
And then the alignment that you have from that why.
So the decisions that match who you are becoming.
And hopefully then the outcome is the noise up here starts to quiet and the direction sharpens.
So even what you talked about initially, where you're having all these ideas, it's a very common problem, especially for people as they start to scale and grow and they start to see success then people come out of the woodwork and they're like oh I got this idea this to really focus on the specific thing that you want to do so it's easier to say yes because you know that it is aligned with your why and no because you know that it isn't hmm The next pillar, the fifth one, is performance and impact.
And so that focuses on mastery, really getting good at the systems for focus, execution and what creates the margins in your life.
And then as we talked about, service.
So lifting others as you climb.
And this outcome of that is really, then focusing on scaling your life without losing your soul and legacy that you're going to leave then, for either your family or your wife or your next generation, over the hustle that you create.
And the last one, of course, is the spiritual sin.
And this is different for everybody, of course, but it's focused on really presence.
So being silent and having gratitude and having awe, like we talked about, and expansion.
So how that looks for you, in your own faith, your own curiosity, the next mountain that you may have to climb.
And the outcome then is creating awareness, fulfillment beyond achievement, so feeling success even when you get to that end of the race and you have that syndrome, feeling like what's next.
Yeah, core belief from all of this is the summit is ours, the mountain is you specifically,
So the way that I frame this out is basically either in a private or cohort kind of session.
And we do high touch connections partnerships, meetings like this, where you and I will build, test and lock in your personal operating system.
And it's not like this course, right?
It's very unique to you.
It's a co-creation.
It's accountability.
And I've created it where it's evergreen.
So you can take this workbook that I have in the 12 week program that we go through and you can do it again next year.
You could do it with your wife.
You could do it with your significant other.
Yeah.
From this, some of the things that you get is that compass, this Dodek compass that we talked about.
You have an alignment as to what your true north is, what your south is, what grounds you and what then you do at the end of the day and the beginning of the day, what rises and sets.
We then build out this peak state routine.
So what really formulates well for you AM, PM?
What are the event triggers that happen in your life?
And how do we work around them so that you are cognizant of that as you move forward?
And from that then we can create again relationship, operating rhythms alignment scorecards dashboards, all this kind of stuff that's built down.
But yeah, I mean the milestones that I have seen and talked with.
What I love about it and again it's a huge compliment is the people that I've gone through it so far that have completed the program.
When they get done, the next question is well, can we go for another 12 weeks?
Can we continue?
And I love that.
And that's definitely something we'll work on.
But again, the milestones are like waking up rested.
Energy holds through dinner.
You're not like dumping all your energy on your family when you come home from dinner.
You have fewer fires at home.
You have more outcomes in terms of like, reflecting on priorities, not pressure, repairing conversations, that closed loops, not open wounds.
You have what we talked about like a clear yes, no filter.
Yeah, anxiety drops from that and then progress because of that rises, yeah.
So yeah, hold that.
If somebody's listening to this, they're like well, that sounds good.
I would like those things prior to doing 12 weeks with you and taking a full, deep dive into this.
Of the six, is there one that you have found is wouldn't speak in absolutes here, but in as much as you have the confidence to say?
Is there one of the six that you have found to be the most useful starting point for people?
Well, so on that, I have kind of like this mini course that I've built out and the assessment that you took, but that helps you create an alignment score and goes through that.
But the mini course kind of breaks down each one of the pillars.
And I think that I would advise people to go through that and watch those because.
For everybody in life, the way that I've created this is it's very unique to your story.
I'm not trying to say, hey, my experiences are the be all, say all of how you run your life.
I use the things that I've gone through, which there are a lot of different things that I've gone through a lot of failures, a lot of struggles, but also a lot of success.
And I take those things that I've learned and that have continued to help me with my family and my success in life in general to pass that on to you.
But we work together on what you're struggling with, which is why, when you're taking that assessment, it tells you your score and kind of gives you a breakdown as to what pillar you might need to focus on.
So the best that I can answer that is after somebody takes that assessment, that will provide you the answer.
Yeah, that's a great answer, because I think even as a starting point, it has to be personalized.
Right.
Because if, if I was asked that, if somebody came to me and they were like hey, I need to work on all of this,
Well, which one do you think I need to work on first?
Any good coach should respond with asking questions in order to better understand how to diagnose and kind of prescribe a certain action plan or plan of care, treatment plan, whatever you want to call it, or protocol, as I would refer to this as.
Because when I look at this list, I'm like oh well, I definitely think that everyone should start with number four being purpose and identity, because everything's going to flow out of that.
But then I immediately go like well, really starting with number seven is going to make more sense, because you need to be connected to something transcendent and larger than yourself as you begin this process.
But then I come back to this simplification of going.
Well, if number one, being kind of your body, is completely dysregulated, we really should just start there.
Because you're going to have a really hard time dialing any of the rest of this in if your body is such a significant barrier.
And we are just kind of living the consumerist comfort, addicted lifestyle that we have all have been fed and sold.
And so yeah, I think that what you have given people in terms of this tool to self-identify and self-prescribe the first step is as valuable as anything else.
So we will definitely link all of this stuff kind of in the notes for people to access for sure.
But just quickly, where can outside of our notes?
In particular, where is the best place for people to find these resources?
Yeah, so I do have some in my social handles in the Linktree link there.
On the DODEC method.
There's several different links for the assessment and I can pass you the URL, but it's the dodecmethodcom.
And then it will take you.
The first place is to a landing page that kind of gives you again an overview of what this looks like and what it could look like for you, which then allows you to then fill out the form to take the assessment.
And the assessment is a great place to start.
And again, there's no pressure on it, but truthfully. it also changes as you move through time.
And so, you know, what you feel this year might be different from next year.
Sure.
And so that's where that assessment's a great foundational place.
And the great thing is is we take it at the beginning of the 12 weeks and we take it at the end and we kind of see the difference in alignment and how you learn from that.
But yeah, those are the places that would be the best.
Yeah.
Cool.
Yeah, I can see a bit of the maybe pushback in terms of like, I don't know if this is for me.
I don't know if I'm a high performer.
Well, my argument to that would be if you're listening to this podcast, you fit the category.
You are somebody who is chasing and or striving to become a better version of whatever it is you are today.
Not to say that what you are today is drastically broken and in need of significant repair.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but why would we not take whatever version of ourselves exists today and improve upon it tomorrow, so that we can continue to kind of evolve into that kind of highest version of ourselves and alignment to what we're created to be and also serve the people around us better?
And so I think if you're listening to content like this, it is for you, but I could see the pushback being like well Ryan, I'm not an entrepreneur.
I'm not a business owner and I'm certainly not summoning Mount Everest.
I'm just like, I'm just living the day to day.
And then you've spoken a bit to that already, but I think to wrap up the Dota conversation specifically, Can you be a little bit more explicit about how this applies to the person, like you said, living the daily grind lifestyle and some of the particular benefits that they would gain in terms of symptoms that they are maybe experiencing on a day-to-day basis right now because of misalignment in one two, three or all of these six pillars?
Yeah again, i've heard that question several times actually, and so i am.
I have a session with a woman coming up a little later today, but i've worked with all different kinds of groups And people and anywhere from hey, I've created successful businesses.
I've already done this and I've had coaching, executive coaching.
I don't want to do this executive coaching kind of thing.
It's not that it's not some rah, rah, rah kind of thing.
It's figuring out how to optimize your life so that you don't have to struggle so much.
Right.
It's putting in the work now is I teach my kids.
Do you want to have hard life now and an easier life later?
Or do you want to have an easy life now and harder life the rest of your life?
And any point at time.
Like I said when I was 19, if I had this framework, it probably would have saved me a lot of struggle and pain throughout the years, because I would have been able to say no to the things that weren't aligned with me.
I would have been able to say yes to the things that were, and I would have had that clarity.
And so my hope is that, even as you're building your life, even if you're just stay at home mom or a stay at home dad or you know you don't have any kids and you're just like Hey, I just show up to work and I feel good when I'm.
Recreating is something that allows people to really have such clarity on here and here and in the physical presence, to optimize you, to be the fullest person that you can be, every aspect of your life.
And when you go and be that, you don't know what's going to show up next day, right?
There is going to be a time in your life where somebody is going to need you.
Something is going to be hard.
You're going to lose a family member.
You're going to need to show up in a way that helps somebody else.
I guarantee it.
I promise you this.
And this provides the framework so that you can do that every day, so that it doesn't just take you off guard.
Yeah, it's great, man.
Becoming more and more convinced that the whole point is just being fully who you are, fully where you are, fully when you're there.
Because what else do you have besides those things?
You are you, not someone else.
You are where you are and you are when you exist.
And why not be absolutely present, maximally present for those things and making maximal impact on those things?
Because you, just like you said, you just never know what's going to come and maybe nothing as quote unquote, extreme as summoning Mount Everest ever enters your life per other people's perspectives or measurements.
But your life in and of itself is the grand adventure.
And the day to day is that, man.
And why not be fully and totally present for it, kind of as the main character of your own story, and not spending your life wishing you were somewhere or someone else?
And I think that what you have designed here is a process, a protocol, a framework, a method that you needed, that you didn't have.
And that's the thing, man.
I think that that's what we do.
We create things that other versions of ourselves prior to now needed.
I see that in the work that you do.
I know that that is highly motivational in the work that I do is what did I need in order to potentially have avoided what I didn't avoid?
And I think that what you've created is the thing that you needed that you didn't have.
And who knows?
That if you're listening to this and you engage with the DODEC method or you go on this journey, who knows what you will create that somebody else needs because of it.
Yeah, and it's just so important.
That's my inspiration of it is that you will take it and pass it into something even greater than what I've done.
And it'll be unique to you.
And God bless.
Why not?
We should share in each other's successes.
For sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Every success is way more satisfying when shared anyways.
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, we will share all the content and info and resources about how to access Dodec for sure.
Let's finish up with a couple of maybe Everest anecdotes, if you will.
And so I think people would be curious to hear very specific experiences that you have.
That would be kind of the stories you would tell around the fire side.
Yeah.
Some of the hard things, the scary things, the lessons that you did learn specifically on the mountain.
Give people a peek behind that curtain a little bit.
Yeah, absolutely.
So Everest, there were I think there's less than 800 Americans in history to do it at this time.
And I think I'm sure there's more, but I'm maybe one of two or three people in Minnesota.
But you know a lot of the stories that you watch and the things that you see.
They don't share everything that goes on.
Right.
I mean, it's this glamorous, like glorious, highest pinnacle of achievement that human endeavors could be.
But at the same time, your mental capacity and your ability to show up really needs to be on point, because it is far more a mental challenge than it is a physical challenge.
Not only in the sense that everything in your body will at some point during this adventure say I'm done.
I don't want to be here anymore.
But you will see things that probably are only seen in war.
I mean, the dead bodies are real.
You get to see them all the time.
You get to see people that you're with that maybe don't come home.
And those are the stories that people don't share.
And far more people die on the way down than they do on the way up.
Because everybody, like I said in this journey, right, you're searching to reach that goal.
The goal is not the summit.
The goal for me was to come back home to my family.
That was the goal.
If I reach the summit while doing it, God bless.
Then I hit two things.
But if I got an hour and a half from it and they said you needed to turn around, I hoped I had the courage to say okay, let's do that.
Because the ego is so valid at that point and you're so close, reaching something so great, and realized that today isn't the day, time isn't the time.
Unfortunately, I didn't have to deal with that.
But the next day that I was there through the Hillary steps which is the last section doing exactly what I was doing, at the exact same time a section of that broke and six people fell and died.
And It wasn't because they didn't train enough.
It wasn't because they weren't successful enough or grateful enough or whatever it was.
They just happened to be there at the wrong time.
And that's the challenge with Everest and some of these mountains is that you are putting yourself in a position that you could potentially not come home.
You have to really be cognizant of that, why and I asked my wife and my oldest daughter, before I left, what their opinion was
And at first they were like you know, you're just going to do it anyway.
And I said no really please, please be honest.
And they said well, here's the truth.
You have been very intentional about your training.
And you are going with the most successful team on Everest at this point.
And I know that you're not going to die on the mountain.
I know you're going to come home and do something better than this.
And this is just part of the journey.
And so having that support system was huge.
Having my wife say that to me was huge.
And it really gave me the faith and the confidence that, okay, Like, I'm going to do this.
So I think one of the biggest things that I learned, two things.
When your body, your mind are going through a process like this, your mind is saying, OK, I'm done.
Now the unfortunate thing about Everest versus maybe a high rocks competition or CrossFit Is, when you're done, you give up and you get back in your car and you go home.
Yeah.
Right.
You know, kind of.
Yeah.
Sucks.
But on the mountain, if you give up, you don't come home.
I don't have that opportunity.
Nobody's coming to get you.
Nobody's coming to save you.
Hmm.
And so your mind will say, okay, well, I'm done.
Like I can't go past it.
And what I realized is your body is so much more capable.
You're really only about 40%, 50% of where you're really at.
You can push through something so much greater.
And we can practice that in every day, whether it's a cold plunge for 15 seconds, building up to three minutes, whether it's like a workout that first intimidated us and now we're doing it every other week.
All of these things we can build into a practice and that kind of mindset, right?
That kind of daily routine and that consistency is what you eventually do to then get up your own Everest.
One of the best things that I had for the mountain when I was at Camp 2.
You're at 22000 feet and you look up and you still got to go like 7000, 8000 feet.
And it's like as high as another mountain in Colorado.
Yeah.
Like how could I possibly continue to go another mountain?
Like I'm already crushed.
And really, again, if you focus on being at the top, that's the hardest thing.
You're always going to be focusing on that.
So what I focused on was the things that I could do right now, which was all right.
I can walk 10 steps.
That's all I need to do.
And so I would count 10 steps and then I would do it again and over and over and over again.
And I just repeated that in my mind.
And eventually I was standing on top of that mountain.
It's awesome, man.
That is wildly applicable to challenges faced in day-to-day life, for sure.
And yeah, and I think that people, oftentimes even I, as I listen to you share have the comparison model come into my mind.
I ran a an ultra this past weekend with a buddy who was trying to PR his distance in a certain amount of time and went to support him.
And there were times, as as I was trying to chat with him regarding providing a little bit of coaching, some challenge, some motivation, that I was thinking even to myself like well, we're not Ryan on Everest dude.
Just like, let's just take the next step.
But it's so unhelpful in terms of the comparison of the challenge, because the challenge sits at a threshold, a specific threshold for everybody.
And you very specifically trained yourself for that challenge to whatever degree you could.
And then you mentally accepted that you were going to have to overcome certain thresholds, probably moment by moment, at some point in time.
And so, whether it is running an ultra or whether it is just doing a daily workout, that is the challenge that you are currently at the threshold for, right now.
And the principles apply the same to both, which is How do I take just the next 10 steps?
How do I take just the next step?
Because consistently as you were talking about earlier consistently focusing on the process and being patient, is how you will end up surprisingly, at the top of the mountain.
Like, oh, and here we are.
I did get from point A to point B. I did get from the base to the summit.
And I did it by being patient and consistent step after step.
And so I think that's so powerfully applicable for people, regardless of what they are chasing or what they are recovering from and in the process of growth and transformation.
So I appreciate you sharing that.
It's really powerful.
Let's close out with how would you help somebody choose their next challenge?
Because I think oftentimes people will overshoot and go like, I'm going to change my life.
So I'm going to go summit Everest, but they have never really done anything remotely challenging up to this point in time.
And How would you help somebody choose the appropriate, for lack of better terms, micro-Misogi of sorts, the thing that does put their body and their mind to the test at an appropriate threshold in an inappropriate way?
Because I think that is a pretty important arena or crucible for transformation is challenge in that way.
Very just... raw, honest, practical, physical challenge.
So how would you help somebody choose what that thing can be for them?
Yeah, I mean, I think, as you look around to your peers or your colleagues or people that you admire, that's a good place to start right.
So if you want to become Something in your life and you start surrounding yourself with those kind of people, you will eventually also become those kind of people, Right?
So anything goes with the negative.
Right.
If you're hanging out with people that you don't want to be like unfortunately, you'll probably start being like those people too.
So you really have to choose your circles well and continue to elevate those circles.
And as you elevate yourself, your circles will elevate.
So if you're looking at something next to do.
Think about that perspective.
Like look at people that you admire and be like man.
I saw this guy do this high rocks competition.
Or I saw this guy do this Ironman.
Or I saw this guy do this hundred mile bike race or you know an ultra marathon, and then break it down by little steps.
And they're like, okay, well, I want to do this Ironman.
Cool.
Well, that's a triathlon. it's greatest extent.
And so I need to do some kind of like micro try.
Right.
And that you're going to start as like, all right, cool.
Today I'm going to start swimming for 15 minutes and just swim for 15 minutes, or I'm going to run.
And you start to build that into your routine.
And then maybe, as you come to a couple months, then you're like cool, maybe I'm going to try this one day, on a Saturday or Sunday or whatever, and I'll go run 15s or swim 15, run bike and all that stuff in the same day.
And that's how you start to build that up.
And then sign up.
Sign up for these races.
It holds you accountable, right?
Yeah, it's so good.
Go sign up and then show up and then go in there because you will surprise yourself as well.
And you'll do one of these, like smaller triathlons for instance, and you'll be like wow, that was really hard, but I did it.
I did it.
Do it.
And once you get that confidence in there, then you're like, cool.
Yeah.
Game on.
Let's go.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So good, dude.
I think I feel like I'm constantly like preaching a paradoxical message that competition is definitely not the point, but it is so, so important, because competition is not a a comparison trap.
It's meant to be like a crucible of personal growth.
And at some point you just committed that you were going to climb Everest.
And it's on the calendar, and it's there and you are headed in that direction, no matter what.
And I think for, it's more important.
To your point, the point you've made many times in this conversation, is more important to recognize that the objective is coming back down from the peak, getting back into your daily life and applying the lessons learned to your day to day, recognizing that you have an Everest in the, in the everyday.
You have a challenge in the everyday, and that is more important for sure.
But stepping into these particular and specific arenas and these challenges just helps crystallize that yeah, and it just it makes the dosage far more potent so that you can apply it to your day-to-day.
Because the day-to-day thing man, it can get.
It can get very arbitrary, it can get very hard to measure and it can get very like am i challenging myself or am i not?
Yeah, And it's just like you know what?
Pick a thing, put it on the calendar, go do the thing.
And I promise you, you will end up different and better if you approach it appropriately.
If you don't let your ego win, you will end up better in the day to day for it.
And it will begin to have principles and points of application to how you choose harder and choose better things in your day-to-day life as well.
So I think it's so valuable, man.
I'll leave you with one last thought on that too.
Two important parts, because I am hugely competitive, hugely.
And I have a friend that we train together and it's not a race just as we're training.
I'm like, everything's a race.
But the truth is, At the same time, as you go through your own Everest, that isn't a race.
Nobody cared how quickly I got up Everest.
Nobody even had a practical understanding of what that means.
It really only mattered if I got up Everest.
Even if I didn't, It's showing up.
It's showing up to try because there's plenty of people that don't do that.
They don't even go to the mountain.
So just show up and try, right?
Certain places in your life, like you said, where the competition is awesome and it drives you and it helps you become better and it helps the other person become better.
They push off of each other.
You feed off each other.
But in life, as you're going through it, one, not everything has to be an Everest.
And two, sometimes, like you said, the point, it's just the journey of it.
It's just not signing up and making it happen.
Yeah.
So good, man.
All right.
Well, let's continue the question chain.
As the very first guest of this podcast series, you will leave a question for the next guest, not knowing who that is.
So what question would you have for them?
What is your why?
That'll be a great starting point to the next conversation.
Cool.
Ryan, thank you, man.
We will talk again.
And I imagine many more times, even in this format.
And we'll stay in touch.
But if you guys are listening, which if you heard that, of course, you're listening.
How would you have heard it otherwise?
Check out the notes.
We will link access to all of Ryan's kind of assets and resources and particularly that assessment, that high performer assessment as well, in the notes.
But enjoyed the conversation, dude.
Thank you for sharing.
Yeah, thank you, man.
Jameson, it was great, dude.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for being here.
Two quick things before you go.
The crew does that together.
Daily lessons, monthly challenges, a Friday Chase Club chat club.
All of it at the link in the show notes and chasingexcellence.email.
