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ISI Brotherhood Podcast
A podcast for growth-minded Christian businessmen who desire momentum and accountability in their business, family, finances, faith, and personal wellness. Each week, Aaron Walker, also known as Big A, shares authentically from decades of business ownership, marriage, and raising a family. He takes on listener questions and deep-dive into FORGE episodes with tried and tested co-hosts. Subscribe and visit our website https://www.isibrotherhood.com/podcast
ISI Brotherhood Podcast
131. The Power of No Limits: How Kyle Maynard Turned Obstacles into Opportunities for Greatness.
What happens when someone born without arms or legs decides that "no excuses" isn't just a motivational phrase, but a way of life? Kyle Maynard answers this question through his extraordinary journey of redefining human potential.
Kyle's story begins with parents who refused to treat him as disabled, creating what he calls a "Jedi mind trick" effect—when they told him he wasn't disabled, he simply accepted it. This foundation shaped his perspective that would carry him through wrestling (despite losing his first 35 matches), MMA fighting, CrossFit competition, mountain climbing, and business ventures.
The centerpiece of our conversation explores Kyle's awe-inspiring climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, where he bear-crawled 19,340 feet to the summit. While this feat alone is remarkable, it's Kyle's climbing philosophy that offers the most powerful lesson: "I just focused on the three feet in front of me." This approach—breaking seemingly impossible challenges into manageable segments—provides a blueprint applicable to any mountain we face, whether literal or metaphorical.
Kyle shares vulnerable moments too—nights spent praying for arms and legs, questioning his faith, dealing with public criticism, and confronting his own limitations. Yet through it all, he's developed a nuanced understanding of the difference between reasons and excuses: "Everybody knows it at their heart, gut, soul level. The excuses we make are just to dodge responsibility."
Whether you're facing business challenges, relationship struggles, or personal mountains that seem impossible to climb, Kyle's journey offers both inspiration and practical wisdom. His story proves we're capable of far more than we realize—but only if we're willing to focus on possibility rather than limitation. As Kyle learned early and demonstrates daily: where attention goes, energy flows.
Connect:
- Connect with ISI Brothers: https://www.isibrotherhood.com/
- Join the ISI Community: https://www.isibrotherhood.com/isi-community
- Big A's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwalkerviewfromthetop/
- Kyle's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylemaynard/
Discover the brotherhood that sharpens you. The ISI community is free for 30 days. Join now at isibrotherhoodcom. Forward slash community. Hey brothers, welcome back to the ISI Brotherhood Podcast, where we help men live the lives of impact in their five key pillars of life. I'm your host, Aaron Walker, better known as Big A to our community, but I want to tell you right now buckle up. Today We've got a man with us who has redefined what's possible. Kyle Maynard was born without arms or legs. He's wrestled competitively, he's climbed some of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Kilimanjaro, and he's built a life and business around a philosophy that's simple to say but hard to live, and that's no excuses. He's probably no stranger to you. You've probably seen him on the ESPN feature or maybe the Great Big Story documentary. He even was on ABC's 2020 special around the book that he's written. But today we're going to go even deeper not just the headlines, but the heart. Kyle, welcome to the ISI Brotherhood Podcast. Man, it is such a pleasure to have you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me. Big A, I'm pumped about this and, yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for all you do. I know you've touched a lot of lives, including mine, so I've gotten to know quite a few people who you've helped over the years. So it's pretty neat.
Speaker 1:Well, listen, it is minuscule compared to the lives that you've touched, and we said even in pre-recording it's really an honor to me that you're here, because what an example you are. Our second core value is no excuses, and so we're kindred spirit at heart.
Speaker 1:Right Relationships matter most than no excuses. So I'm in your camp when it comes to no excuses, but you have redefined that term, like literally redefined it. I mean, I've sent out your videos and things as I was preparing for the interview, to my family and to a lot of my colleagues and mastermind members. Yesterday I showed one of your video clips to our mastermind group that's been meeting together for about 11 years and when I got through there was dead silence and they didn't say anything. And I'm like so what do you say? And one of the guys goes what's wrong with me? And it was so touching because he's like I don't have any excuses. Right, compared to Kyle, I don't have any excuses at all.
Speaker 1:So I just want to tell you, man, you're touching a lot of people, but I want to start kind of at the beginning. I want you to go back early, early from the beginning, and I want them to see the incredible achievements that you've been able to accomplish. But I want them to hear the real story, that what shaped you long before the mountains came into view. I want people to know what shaped Kyle Maynard. So tell us a little bit of your backstory.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think family was probably the foundation of it all for me. I feel very, very blessed and fortunate with the family that I was born into and I think if it had been a different family, I think that things would have turned out a lot different for me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1:You mean your immediate family, like your mom and your dad and your siblings. Do you mean extended family?
Speaker 2:Extended family too Grandparents, friends, coaches, grandparents, friends, coaches Like I've just I've been very blessed with a lot of like pretty amazing people in my life that you know. I think that saw the potential inside of me instead of seeing the challenges, to give your audience a little bit more of a visual. My arms basically ended the elbow and my legs and ended the knee, and you know. So, when I'm getting around and you know, airports or running errands, the grocery store, all that stuff, like I'm in a wheelchair and, uh, but I don't use one at home, and you know, my family had the attitude of, you know, just to make things as normal as possible, yeah and uh, I almost, you know, call it like a Jedi mind trick, like in star Wars, where you know, uh, there's that scene where they say like these are not the droids you're looking for and they say, oh, okay, these are not the droids I'm looking for.
Speaker 2:And my parents kind of did the same thing with the disability, where they said, you know you're not disabled and basically you know it was like, okay, cool, you know not disabled. Like they just didn't really focus on that and there's a quote that I learned later in life. That's where the attention goes, the energy flows, and it's, you know, so true it's. If we put our attention and focus on everything that's wrong with the circumstance, we get more of that, you know. So they wouldn't really allow me to, like, get stuck in that that place. Not that it didn't come up, I mean, you know there's definitely some hard times. You know that came up as a kid for sure, but they just wouldn't let me dwell on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that took a lot of courage on your Mr and Mrs Maynard's part. Your mom and dad Was that just inherent in them? Was that taught to them that type of mindset? Because that's as far from normal as you can get right. I mean, most people sit down and they're devastated and they're like I don't know what we're going to do. And they look for every excuse to kind of limp through. And but your parents are like no, we're not doing that, we're going to make this as normal as possible, like you're going to do these things. And you even got into wrestling, which was mind boggling to me and your coach, by the way. Man, I would love to meet that guy one day. It looks like he was a huge inspiration to you as well. But was that your dad's initiative? Was that your initiative? Even at an early age, you adopted that mindset of hey, it is what it is and let's go. Or was that learned over time?
Speaker 2:I think for them they understood that one of the things that was going to have to happen if I was going to, you know, live a normal life was to, you know, take risk with things. And you know, and they knew that there were some things that were going to be difficult. Wrestling was one of those things. For sure I, in my first two sports I played, were football and wrestling. And football I played nose guard, defensive line, and you know, I just tackled people taking my helmet and smash it into their shins as hard as I could to bring them down, like and love it. You know it was that, uh was my first sport. And then wrestling, um, I started wrestling shortly thereafter and it was a totally different experience.
Speaker 2:I lost repeatedly you know, I lost 35 times in a row and, uh, you know when I was a kid all right, let's stop right there for a second.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to a small kid. You lost 35 consecutive matches. Did you want to quit? Or you're like I'm not quitting oh yeah, I'm gonna to do this or did you try to quit, like what happened during that 35 loss?
Speaker 2:stretch. Yeah, I begged to quit. I mean, that's why it's you know, kids, you know, at that age I was 11 years old and I couldn't have made a long-term decision for myself. I was done with the sport. I hated it. You know, my mom and dad knew better and they knew that I needed to. At least the kind of compromise that they made with me was that I had to finish the season. What ended up happening was I lost every match in sixth grade, didn't want to do it again.
Speaker 2:My dad convinces me to sign up in seventh grade because he says you'll win a match because you'll find somebody who's there for a year, so you'll beat them. He tells me this big story about how he didn't win a single match his whole first year of wrestling growing up. And it wasn't until many years later I was interviewing his dad, my grandpa, for my book and I was asking my grandpa. I said, like, what was it like for my dad when he uh, also those matches that he want to quit and give up too? And my grandpa had no idea what I was talking about, cause he had no idea he didn't even wrestle he actually because he had no idea he didn't even wrestle.
Speaker 1:your dad didn't even wrestle dude.
Speaker 2:He actually he'd been, he'd been a good wrestler. But the funny thing was is that like he was like, oh yeah, he won a bunch of matches that year, so you know, it was that just kind of like was their mentality with things was just, um, I think, yeah, they knew that again, where the attention goes, the energy flows, like if they were going to try to keep things like you know, where I was focused on the positive and focused on what I was capable of doing, then you know I wouldn't be sucked down by the negativity yeah, so what kind of challenges do you remember early on, as you know, 11 years old, 12 years old, like you know what.
Speaker 1:What were you up against? Like I can't even go there in my mind, but take me there as to the challenges that you were experiencing as an 11 or 12 year old.
Speaker 2:There was, uh, there was. I mean, I'd say the toughest part of it was, um, you know, becoming aware of the disability and that, you know, life would be different for me and, uh, you know, I think it was before, you know, when I was going through all those losses, like I didn't see the other side, like of you know, I've been ended up becoming, uh, you know, wrestling. I stuck with football, I, you know, guys kind of got too big and I, you know, stuck with wrestling but I ended up becoming one of the top wrestlers in my weight class in the country. You know, I ended up like fighting in MMA, fighting the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships, like setting world records in weightlifting and, you know, opening up a CrossFit gym that I owned for 10 years. You know, speaking, traveling around the world, climbing some of the highest mountains in the world, like having New York Times bestselling book, like doing all of these things that, like, I never would have imagined or dreamed that I would have done before.
Speaker 2:You know, as a kid, I think I just, you know, hope is so important to hold on to Right, and I was, I felt hopeless a lot of the time, you know, and I remember there are nights where I'd beg and plead and pray and like I'd pray every night that I wake up and have arms and legs, and you know it was just a really like challenging period. But I think faith, too, is an important aspect. I think at that point Because you know, my family would always say that, like you know, god has a plan and you'll figure out. You know why you're born this way at some point, Were you ever mad at God?
Speaker 1:Were you ever mad about your situation?
Speaker 2:Did you question?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure, and I think I think everybody's lying if they said that they don't.
Speaker 2:You know, have moments of that where they get to that point too, you know, but I think it depends on how long and what degree you stay there though, you know, and but there's times, for sure, where you know things feel unfair and yeah, I've had that as an adult.
Speaker 2:My grandmother, who was everything to me, um, yeah, she, uh, she battled and passed from a glial blastoma brain tumor, you know, and just seeing her and the fight that she had to go through, but she used to teach me, like you know, as a little kid, three, four years old, she'd take me grocery shopping with her and some of the most powerful lessons of my life just practicing meeting people in the grocery store and just shaking people's hands, going up and and down the aisles of the grocery store. We'd just practice. You'd say hi, my name's Betty and this is my grandson, kyle, and I'd just shake people's hands, practice that and say hi, my name's Kyle, and she'd always say when people hear your voice and they see your face and they shake your hand, they'll totally forget about the disability.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is so good. Kyle, early on, did you have thoughts of other people that were complaining or had excuses so-called excuses? Were you thinking like you don't have a clue? Or were you, like, sympathetic with them as well? Were you an encourager and a motivator to others at that time? You certainly are an encourager now, but in your early formative years did you have a sense of encouragement for others? I think because my family.
Speaker 2:Like I said, their mentality was to make things as normal as possible.
Speaker 2:Then I kind of you know it's weird Like I didn't really look at like myself as different, you know, until later on when I realized and so I think it was so important, I think it's, you know, I've, any time I get an opportunity to go and speak, especially to parents. You know, kids with disabilities, you know that I'd say that's kind of, you know, so critical to me was just to not make a huge deal about it, you know, to try to minimize things and try to, you know, just focus on the positive. And you know, I think the no excuses thing came around a little bit later where my um, I realized later that my wrestling coach, uh, he would, uh, he would say that to people where he would, you know, there would be kids that would be complaining at practice that they hurt their wrist or they hurt their ankle and he would say like, well, I would bet Kyle wishes he had a wrist or he had an ankle, and yeah, that would shut up on pretty quick.
Speaker 1:I bet it would. Well, let's talk about that book just for a second, no Excuses, and I highly recommend everyone that's listening to this episode get a copy of your book. I love the title because it's not just motivational, it's really a mindset, and that's what we try to teach in ISI. Brotherhood today is changing our mindset, but I want to get real just for a minute. In your mind, what is the difference between, like, a reason and an excuse? Because there are reasons that some things you know maybe are not going to work. How do you delineate between the two?
Speaker 2:I think that everybody knows it at their heart, gut, soul level and the excuses we want to go and make should just dodge responsibility and duck out on, and sometimes they're painful. Sometimes we mess up and we know that we could have done better, sometimes we're too hard on ourselves, but that's why there's got to be that introspection to go and see like, am I complaining about this thing, you know, or is it something that, like you know, is is legitimate? You know there's, there's cause, there are, there are real reasons to your point with that. You know, as a kid, you know my, my dream, before I played football or wrestled, was I wanted to be in the NBA, you know, and like I, you know I used to watch like NBA, like Atlanta Hawks games while I was, you know, sitting in my bedroom and you know I had a Fisher price basketball hoop that I would just go and shoot basketballs all the time and that was a huge part of my life back then.
Speaker 2:And you know, but I, no matter how hard I wanted it or worked at it or whatever, like, basketball was not going to be my sport. You know, it was just. You know other things I could do and you know that's kind of the case for everybody. It's not everybody's strong at everything. You know a lot of us, right. We have different strengths and weaknesses and we have to be able to tell the truth to ourselves about those things. And the truth of the matter is right, like you know, if you look at it like you're not going to dunk a basketball but yeah, like you know, 99% of other people aren't either.
Speaker 2:You're right, I'm six, four.
Speaker 1:I can't dunk a basketball and I'm six, four right, I do good to touch the net, much less dunk a basketball. So I'm with you, but for me it's been excuses though. But for you that's a great reason, and I love the way you delineated between the two. That's very helpful. But the things that you wanted to do that you could do, for the most part you've done do that you could do.
Speaker 2:For the most part, you've done. Yeah, there've been some, you know there've been. You know just, uh, there've been things throughout the years that I've. You know that I look back on and I know that I could have done differently or could have done better. And you know, by no means do I want to go and give the impression that I don't make excuses. The way I look at it is like you know, it truly is a mountain with no summit, no end. You know it's, it's always. There's always something there. I think, when we go and look and I think that, like, especially you know, in your audience, you know you have a lot of, like, high performing people and you know people with different loads of responsibilities that they're, you know, dealing with and attempting to go and live a balanced life in terms of family and spiritually, and you know all of that and what that entails. But yet, like you know, we're always out of balance in some area. And something you know in our life in some way or something. Sometimes it's in our control, sometimes it isn't.
Speaker 1:I think you said something really important I don't want our audience to miss is that you've got to prioritize what's important, like what is important in Kyle's life today for you. What is the order of prioritization today, the things that are important to you?
Speaker 2:I'd say, since, you know it's been interesting, you know, even in the amount of time that we've known each other, um, you know, I, uh, you know say, over the course of the last year I've I've learned a lot too, you know, I think that, like the younger me that was focused on primarily being an athlete, you know, I've had to realize that, like, I think that you know, there comes a time and most athletes careers, careers, and every professional athlete to some degree, it's like you retire and then what?
Speaker 2:And I think I've had some injuries in the last year and things that kind of came out of nowhere, Just doing a CrossFit workout and a workout I'd done before, and the next day my left arm it's walled up massively with bursitis, and for six to eight months all I could do was just swim, you know, and that was kind of the only thing I could, could do physically, and so it was a big, you know. So I had to look at other areas, you know, if it was going to go and provide me fulfillment and you know, just um, but I think it's given me a lot more perspective on what matters to me, Even just time with family and friends that I took for granted before, Just to be able to do that. I think I've been really fortunate Time to listen to an audiobook or a podcast or watch a TV show without thinking about what else should I be doing right now?
Speaker 1:Do you feel that pressure? Do you feel the pressure because your name is well known around the world and the accomplishments? Do you feel a sense of pressure to continue that or do you have a release from that?
Speaker 2:yeah, for a long time, I have for sure, and uh, you know that can be equally debilitating.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's. I think I both was very interested in like the world of, like performance, um, but it kind of was like thrust into that. Like you know world you know at a fairly young age, like the speaking and you know performance culture, world like it's they're very closely intertwined and, um, I loved being around like high performing people and you know um, trying to learn, you know, whatever edge I could to be better at something. But that comes with the price too, sometimes, of like you know there's a lack of that balance comes with things I've learned, learned that. Like you know there's a lack of that balance comes with things I've learned, learned that.
Speaker 2:But you know the hard way too. I mean there's, um, you know I remember I was having a conversation with this about this a couple days ago actually, where I just I remember, especially when I first started speaking and traveling you know it was I had received a lot of media exposure at that point in time and you know, um, you know, 19 years old and launching a book on oprah and larry king and all this stuff, and I'm, you know, traveling around the world and like just going non-stop and like you know I remember you know a whole year would go by, you, you know, and I'd be like where did that go, like what even happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not all what it's made up to be. Sometimes is it All the glitz and glamour and the traveling, and it's good that you can be an influence, but at the same time, now, today, as a result of that, you're dealing with some of the repercussions of what's next. And what do I do now? Now, and how do I progress and how do I live my life to its fullest going forward? I want to talk about Kilimanjaro a little bit, because I'm sure everyone wants to hear what you were thinking. The ESPN piece shows just how intense that climb was. But before you even set foot on the mountain, you had to convince people that you could do it. It like, hey, you got to talk people in, like I can do this. What was the reaction from others when you first told folks that that was your goal?
Speaker 2:I remember the first friend that I told, uh, it was so the uh. The night, it was the night after I one of my first climbs ever and I had signed up last minute for a CrossFit competition and the first workout in the competition. There were like four workouts over the course of the weekend. All of them were brutal and intense, but the first one you had to do a thousand meter row in a rowing machine and then you had to sprint up, uh, stone mountain in, uh, in atlanta and, um, I don't know if you've ever been to stone mountain before, but it's a hair maybe like, yeah, not too far from you, it's, uh, you know, like 900 or so feet, it's, you know it's, it's sizable when you see it. Uh, but you know it's, kilmajarro was 19 340 feet, so it's a little different.
Speaker 2:And um, the I didn't have a pair of hiking shoes to use and I had previously used bath towels, you know, wrapped around my arms and duct tape, and I had the idea the night before this crossfit competition I thought that I was going to use leather welding sleeves and I thought it'd be tougher than that bath towel.
Speaker 2:The problem was is that it was also tougher than my skin and tore all the skin off the ends of my arms and it took me like an hour and 46 minutes, I think, to get to the top of stone mountain and, um, by the time I got up there my arms were all bloodied and like I was, you know, beat and uh.
Speaker 2:But I did it and got to the top and I was like, wow, you know I'd been to the top before and ridden the tram, but I think doing it under my own steam and what that meant to go and get there was a little different and I was obviously dead last by a lot. There was another guy that was like an Army Ranger, that was a wounded veteran that was doing it on crutches and had been partially paralyzed. I think he did it like 36 minutes, so I was an hour behind everybody else but did it, got to the top and I told my friend that night I said I'm going to climb Kilimanjaro and she said you're crazy, like there's no way you're going to do that After seeing what I looked like after getting to the top of Stone Mountain. And a year and a half later I think from that point, give or take, I was standing on the Kilimanjaro summit.
Speaker 1:You know, I watched both of those and I watched you climb that Stone Mountain and I watched you climb Kilimanjaro. That climb is no joke. Like I've got a buddy that did that. Alan Lindsay trained for two years to do that perfect condition guy. But there's world-renowned athletes that have been flown off of Mount Kilimanjaro because they couldn't make it. I mean world-class, world-renowned. We won't call their names here for the sake of maybe embarrassing a known personality. But you bear crawled up 19,000 plus feet, 19,000 feet, 230, I think you said Altitude is no joke. I mean somebody in perfect health, good condition. My buddy even said that he started having oxygen deprivation, started being nause. Like that's no joke. Was there a moment where you thought I might not make it? Or did you always know I'm getting to the top? Like what was going through your head as you were climbing that mountain?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was. Uh, there was a whole range of emotions that I went through. I mean, it was a long trip.
Speaker 1:And how long did it take? How long did it take to get to the top?
Speaker 2:We projected it was going to take. I think we thought it was going to take 15 days to the summit A couple of days down ended up. We did it in 10, not because I was making better pace but because we decided to change our route and we went up straight up the west side of the mountain, the harder side, the harder side. But it was also like I knew at that point I was so beaten up and broken that, like you know, I knew I could do anything for a day or two. But you know just the longer, slower route you know might just be too much for me and kind of a war of attrition. So we decided to take a risk and go straight up the west side of the mountain and the western breach and it worked and it paid off and we were able to do it.
Speaker 2:But I remember night four of 10, when it took us to hit the summit, I was in my tent and I was literally crying. My friends were playing a board game in the tent next to me and I could hear them laughing, joking and having fun and I just was greeting my teeth and angry and just thinking having a pity party for myself. It's just not fair that they're having fun laughing and joking and I was suffering the weight that I was. I felt like that night I was nearly ready, the weight that I was. And yeah, I felt like that night I was ready to, nearly ready to give up and quit.
Speaker 1:But I didn't. Yeah, did you make an attempt to tell your friends that, hey, I'm done? Or did they talk you in it? Or did you say, no, I'm going to do this regardless? Like what kind of inspiration was around you for this trip?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we kind of inspiration was around you for this trip. Yeah, so we kind of collectively got together. I didn't tell him. Right then I said, you know, myself the next day that I just wasn't going to allow myself to think about the pain that I was in. You know that I refused to allow, like I said, I keep saying it but the attention, where the attention goes, the energy flows, it's so true like I just wouldn't allow my mind to like focus on the pain. I wanted to go and focus on, you know, like, take my thoughts and focus away from that.
Speaker 2:And, and it worked to some degree and I was able to increase my pace a good bit, um, but they knew and could see my face, you know, like I was hurting and uh, that's when we collectively came together as a group and there was risk associated with them too. You know, kind of going up the western side of the mountain, that was a more dangerous path. Um, you know, for them a lot of them is not necessarily what they signed up for, but yet that we had decided to stay together as a group. We could have, uh, could have split up and and you know they could have stuck to the original plan, but, um, everybody decided to stay together and and we ended up making it to the top together.
Speaker 1:Hey, I'm Aaron Walker, founder of Iron Sharpens Iron. Every successful man needs a band of brothers to push him to grow spiritually, personally and professionally. Each week I meet with like-minded Christian business owners in our mastermind groups. We share wisdom, tackle challenges and we hold each other accountable to grow not just in business but in life. Don't do life or business alone. Join the brotherhood. That will challenge, encourage and sharpen you. Visit isibrotherhoodcom and take the first step today. Kyle, how important do you think that friend group was, or having your band of brothers as a source of encouragement and strength and support? Do you think you could have done that alone, without any of those peers or colleagues or your friend group? Do you think that there's an importance in having that community around you?
Speaker 2:Well, for sure, I mean. What I learned from that, too, is that there were a couple people that were indispensable, and without them there's no way that I could have done it?
Speaker 1:Why were they indispensable?
Speaker 2:From every aspect of just you, you know, from the beginning idea to us coming to life. Uh, you know, I mean where we had to get the gear and figure out, like our you know funding, messaging, like everything that we're doing with it, you know, and how to film it. You know, I mean espn being involved to film and do do a piece. Like you know, there was a lot of logistical issues that we had to figure out, like the. The equipment was an enormous one, you know. Or it was just like didn't have a pair of hiking shoes, like what are we going to do there, you know, and had to seek out people that were going to help help me figure that out. So there were a couple of people that are indispensable, but frankly, there were, you know, like our group, too, went through some challenges because it was just, it was an enormous group at first that like kind of got whittled down a bit.
Speaker 1:To the core, to the real substance of the people that were really going to do this thing.
Speaker 2:Totally. And when we did their next climb on Aconcagua, the next big climb in South America, that was, you know, we made it an even smaller team in South America. That was we made it an even smaller team. It was just we had it was myself, my childhood best friend and business partner, Joey, and manages all the speaking engagements and we got to do over the years and I had a camera guy named David, we had an American guide named Kevin and we had 2 Argentinian guides. There was six of us on the mountain for over two and a half weeks on that one Mount Aconcagua in South America 22,000 feet.
Speaker 1:Right, that was no joke. Yeah, I love it because you had your core, you had your band of brothers, you had your guys, your community that enabled you to do this. Had your guys, your community that enabled you to do this? What did you learn about yourself that you didn't know as a result of going through those exercises? When you got to the summit and you're like man, what was a revelation to you?
Speaker 2:I think, you know, one of the things that I hope to get across to people, especially, you know, in a like, in a speech or an interview or something like that, right, like, one of the most important things is that I think we are capable of so much more than we realize. And you know, I've seen that like I've kind of gotten to like study that to some degree and you know, and we've gotten to meet people that like are, you know, I've seen that like I've kind of gotten to like study that to some degree and you know, and we've gotten to meet people that like are, um, you know that have done things that they didn't even think that they could do themselves right and um, but we don't know until we're pressed with that, we don't know, until we have to go and deal with that, and it could be a diagnosis. It could be an economic recession. It could be economic recession. It could be, you know, a number of different things we have to go through. You know period of, you know layoffs, um, you know it could be a divorce, could be a lot of things.
Speaker 2:And you know, you don't necessarily know what you're, you're made of until you have to like, retest it in some way. You have to go through it in some kind of way and it's um, I think it just had you know, standing at the top of the mountain after you've gone through everything to go and get there. Then you know you're overtaken by the beauty and the fact that you know you're only going to be there for a short time and you're just trying to take it in and experience it. But yet, at the same time, it's like, uh, I think the thing that that stays with you is the fact of, like, you come down and you know you look at what you've achieved, you're like, wow, I can't believe that I was there, I can't believe that I was doing that. Like, what a terrible idea. Sometimes, you know you're thinking like, but it's just an amazing feeling that.
Speaker 1:That didn't stop there, though. Right, you went on to conquer the next mountain, 23,000 feet. Just shy of that For the guy that's listening right now that feels like he's climbing his own mountain. Maybe it's his marriage, maybe it's business struggles, maybe there's financial devastation that's lurking on the horizon, maybe it's his health. What is the first thing that you would tell him to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a tough one because it varies so much in the circumstance, but I think to have faith and to know that, no matter what, you know that that, uh, that things not necessarily are going to work out in the right way, but that they have the capacity to, I think one of the most important lessons you know from you. Think about it spiritually.
Speaker 1:I was just watching, um, the last season of, uh, the chosen, you know about Christ when you say, when you say, looking at it spiritually, you're, you're a believer, you're a Christ follower. I am yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you know it's, I've studied, you know every religion you know, in different philosophies and things like that. I'm just a seeker in general, but I would consider myself a follower of Christ. First because, you know, I think what he taught was different than just about anybody else and I think you know one of the things in particular that, like, really struck me just the other day and watching the chosen, which is an amazing series about his life, you know it was, there was a scene like the one of the last scenes in the show currently, you know him, in the garden of Gethsemane, when he's been going through the betrayal and he's praying and saying, like God, you know, like, would you take this from me? You know, lord, like, please, like, just take this from me, like, and you know if it's possible. But then he says something that gives me chills to think about. But he says, he says I pray that your will is done, not mine, and you know it's. It's something that, like you know, we can't necessarily see the whole trail, we can only see the part of it that were granted the vision at the time. And I think for him to go and have that foresight, to go and say let your will be done, not mine, go and you know, say that the whole, the whole trail is is what is important, not mine.
Speaker 2:And if you look at, like, what christianity is, what would have become of christianity without the crucifixion? And it's a really tough, you know, challenge, right Like what he taught and lived, you know was amazing. But, you know, had he lived and gone into hiding, you know, and hid from the Romans, you know, it would have been a completely different story. So God was able to go and take that circumstance and, you know, use it into something that created, you know, something, you know, beautiful. And I think that's kind of the lesson that my family tried to teach me since I was a kid. You know that, going back to my grandma, you know helping, you know me learn to shake people's hands in the grocery store. You know it's just if they knew that, like if they just put one foot in front of the other and had it in a positive direction, that things would turn out that way eventually direction that things would turn out that way eventually.
Speaker 1:Kyle, what a demonstration of total faith when he said not my will, but yours be done, he let go. He let go of the reins, and he was even willing to say whatever happens as a result of this, I'm good with. That's true obedience and that's true faith. And, man, such an admirable statement that you just made in regards to that. Thank you for that. I know a lot of guys are listening right now and they're thinking well, I'm not climbing mountains, but, man, when I think about it though, kyle, you've run businesses, you've written books, you've done speaking. What do you think is one mountaineering principle that applies directly to business or leadership?
Speaker 2:So I can tell you and I can kind of give you a condensed version of this. But one of my favorite lessons I ever learned and it's something I think about a lot now was so it was on Anak and Kagawa in South America and, um, we had to deviate from our plan. Uh, uh, I was going about half the speed of a normal climber and we'd go halfway to our camp. So from base camp to camp one I'd go camp halfway, and then the rest of the way to camp one and halfway to camp two and the rest of the way to camp two, and but between camp two and camp three, which is a couple thousand feet of elevation change, you know, going up to about 20 000 feet high. It was too exposed to the wind and the wind would literally pick the tin up at night and like, felt like, even when we had cover from it, like we weren't, you know, we felt like we're going to get thrown off the side of the mountain. So we couldn't camp halfway. We had to do so. I had to do twice as much as I had done before in one day. I didn't know if I could do it and I thought my guide told me he said, like, my job as your guide is your life to protect your life, not your summit. So he said if you don't do this in a certain amount of time, like eight to 10 hours, then we aren't going to allow you to attempt the summit. And I thought, okay, I don't know if I can do it, but I want to find out.
Speaker 2:And I turned it into a game. You know, when I'm hiking, I'm crawling down on all fours and my vision was kind of blocked by my ski goggles and I literally just I turned it into a game where I just tried to focus on, like there was just like the three feet in front of me and that's the only thing I would do. I wouldn't look up to see how far I had to go, I wouldn't think about you know how far we'd come or whatever. I just would focus on the three feet right in front of me. And I kind of turned it into a game by. I wouldn't allow myself to sit and rest, like I just would do three feet at a time. I'd pause, but I wouldn't sit and I would, you know, take a breath and I do another three feet and take a breath, and do another three feet and incremental consistency.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I ended up like I mean, yeah, I increased my pace a tremendous amount and, like the focus, yeah, I think I ended up making it like five or six hours where, you know, my guide said the cutoff was eight to 10 and, um, you know it, just, it ended up being wild, but it was literally like I've kind of got to the point where it's pretending in my head that that was, you know, the only three feet in the world that existed.
Speaker 2:There wasn't any three feet beyond that, nothing else to go and think about, like you know, just three feet at a time. And you know, the truth is I've never met somebody that's so tired that they can't go another three feet. And if you ever were at that point where, like you know, you collapse and die from exhaustion, then you won't even remember that last three feet. You know, it's literally just that. You know it's so. You know it's kind of like a mental hack where you know I just say that there's never been anybody that's ever been so tired, they couldn't go another three feet, and that's kind of how.
Speaker 1:I've been taking it myself. So that principle in business or in leadership is just focus on what's before you and let's accomplish that. Let's do a good job. Let's lead well in this three feet Right. Let's accomplish this goal for this shorter period of time and then think about the next three feet afterwards. I love that. I love the intentional focus and it's not looking so far down at the goal, but it's the task at hand. Let's get that done. The goal will take care of itself.
Speaker 2:I think there's just, you know, there's so many things that come up that you know we don't want to address, like we have to sometimes right Difficult conversations, um, you know, challenging decisions, all those things where we get paralyzed, you know, and just consumed by it, and where we've kind of forget the fact that, like, bring ourselves back to like what is you know, what are the next, what's the next three feet look like it might be the next three hours. You know it might. It's just you know what's right in front of me to go and deal with. And there's really, you know, from like an Eastern philosophy perspective, there's only that right, like they teach, like the power of you know, like of now and you know, presence of mind, mindfulness, like is all about that is just focusing on, like you know what's right in front of me to go and deal with.
Speaker 2:Like all of that stuff isn't, isn't happening. Like you know it's not. Like you've got a, like a Jaguar that's waiting in the bush to come attack you. You know it's like you, yeah, but like our nervous system gets hijacked to the point where we feel like that's the case a lot of the time and it becomes becomes a big issue, but a lot of the time, I think we bring ourselves back to that three feet, and that too is like we find there. I think that we're capable of so much more. You know that we are capable of going through it. We are capable of, you know, enduring or whatever it is that we have to do. You know, right there in front of us.
Speaker 1:Kyle, that is so good man, that is so, so powerful I was thinking about last year at our live event. Our theme was breaking barriers, unleashing growth by facing our fears. What's one of the or the most scariest thing that you feel like you've ever attempted? Was it one of these mountains? Was it something else? Is it something totally different?
Speaker 2:yeah for sure, I mean, I think. Well, I I'd say like there's always a relativity to it at the time. You know, like climbing one of those mountains was inconceivable in high school. But yet, like you know, in high school I remember being terrified before if I found out like, oh, my opponent, you know wrestling that day, is going to be a state champion from another state or something you know, and that would I remember battling nerves from that massively. Uh, I remember being scared out of my mind asking my senior prom date to the prom, you know, and, like you know, just didn't necessarily know what her response would be. She said yes, and I barely even heard it cause I was so nervous.
Speaker 2:You, I remember, wow, you know, just competing in, uh, weightlifting mma competitions, fighting mma in the cage, like the whole process to to get that, like the you know, I had to experience there like a lot of like haters and doubters and people that were saying crazy things on the internet. Like I had more, like six times more people Google my name for the MMA fight than even when I was on, like you know, oprah and Larry King, and all of that, like you know, just this massive influx of both positive and negative emotion. For the first time I had to go and deal with like people saying that it was just doing it for attention. You know like, come, take a chainsaw and cut off my arms and legs so I can get on TV too. You know people just saying crazy stuff and you know, behind the end, you know anonymous, like internet screen name, like people are going to go and say anything.
Speaker 2:So I mean, there's been different points where I think like there's a lot of like this, the fear and doubt and certainty, speaking, you know, standing on stage. I remember when I first started speaking, scared out of my mind when I first started, like you know, just hated, like the, the fear that I felt there. But I think all of those moments motivated me to like develop a sense of you know mastery kind of around it, like to some extent. Like I mean, when I say mastery, I say that kind of loosely and lightly because I think it's one of those things that we never really truly harness. You know it's. It's always something that we can learn more about. You know ourselves and and doing what we're we're afraid to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's it's kind of like you've learned. Do you feel like you've learned to run into fear?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, uh, I mean, I think that's, that's, that's the the, you know it's, it's, it's a huge part of the, of the solution to it but also to, you know, I think having the courage to know what to say you know no to at times, um, you know it's, it's not always like trying to like force our way through something right, like to take the our way through something right, like to take the square peg through the circle hole and hammer it through. And I know, a lot of times, people with our mentalities, you know with, like, you know, performance related, like you know, drive, like, can do that. And yet, like some of the worst decisions I've ever made, I think you know I've been trying to do that, trying to force my way through something where you know I shouldn't worry. You know, just learning to go and say no to something is like such a critical, powerful thing. One of my favorite things I ever heard from a business leader was he went through this guy I think he was a tech company CEO and they went through kind of like a big growth period and went from 80-some-odd employees to a couple hundred and really wanted to go and keep the same culture inside of the company and he couldn't do the interviews to hire people anymore himself, and so they had to outsource it. And the way they did it was he had everybody list out.
Speaker 2:Like when the interviewing team for a new candidate would come through, you'd say like choose. You know to rank them on a scale from one to 10, but you can't choose seven. He said seven is neutral, seven is Switzerland, seven is you know? Like yeah, you're not going to pick a side. So if you have to choose eight or six, then it's decisive as to like whether or not the individual has potential. And you know generally, something that's an eight or higher you'll do, and something that's a six or lower you won't. And so I've applied that to a lot of things in my life, like if it's, you know, not, something that's like an eight or higher, then I, you know, don't have interest in doing it. Yeah, that's like an eight or higher, then I don't have interest in doing it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really good systematic way in order to decide. I like that. Thank you for sharing that. You know what I've learned about you after studying you a little bit and having conversations, getting to know you a little bit. You're a little bit of a prankster also and there's a funny story that I want you to share as we end, kind of lighten things up a little bit. That you and some of your buddies did. You convinced them to help you with a project. Do you know the story I'm referring to?
Speaker 2:There's a few. I'm assuming the one might have to do with tomato puree sauce.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, ted, tell that story real quick as we end.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was at a church camp down in panama city, florida, and, uh, we were I just mess it around and get into trouble, me and some buddies and decided that we were going to go into, um, the kitchen and like get a can of tomato puree sauce and went out to the beach and it was like you know the style, like they dumped this whole can on me and my arms and legs and started screaming shark and everybody on the beach like came riding up and there was a huge group around and one girl was bawling, crying she's like.
Speaker 2:I called 911. The ambulance is on the way. I popped up and I was like, hey, I popped up and I was like, hey, we should be showing up. I'll see you guys later.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're a mess Kyle, you're a mess buddy. That is so good. Hey, just real quick. Just a couple of things I'm curious about.
Speaker 2:What's a favorite quote that drives you, that's an inspiration to you? One of my all-time favorites was Ralph Waldo Emerson. He said do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Speaker 1:Wow, he was talking about Kyle Maynard when he wrote that. No question about it. What is one non-negotiable daily habit?
Speaker 2:Like I'm going to do this regardless. I'd say I mean okay. So to be candid, like you know it.
Speaker 2:it changes for me at different times, like you know I will go through periods, seasons, um, you know, like I said, deal with an injury where, like you know, exercise is an important thing for me and, I think, important people don't realize how important it is for brain health, performance, like you know, mood stability, all that you know. And when I dealt with the injury I remember thinking, you know, like I just sucked and I kind of lost that for a little bit, but like to do, just to do with something, you know, whether you know walking a little bit. You know, and somebody that, like, is way deconditioned, that has to just start. You know, walking around the neighborhood. Once you know, walking to the mailbox and back, you know, whatever it is, it's relative to you. You can go and do. You don't have to be doing ultra marathons, but you know, for me, when I went and learned that lesson of just, you know, go swim, yeah, move, and it doesn't happen every single day, but you know, most days when I do it I feel I feel better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Now I can understand that. A couple more questions. What's the best piece of advice that you, kyle Maynard, have ever received from someone?
Speaker 2:What comes to mind, I think, with that is and I've seen how true it is is attitude is contagious and uh, you know I think contagious. And uh, you know, I think it's. You know, especially in any sort of like leadership role, even inside of, you know, family and friend groups, inside of you know, moments where you have to, you know, step up, I think it's, um, you know, attitude itself is just as truly as, like, there's a contagion element to it. You catch it from other people. I think we look at other people in those situations and we react. We have to be conscious of that, I think, and take responsibility for it and realize that that is the case, even if we are scared or uncertain, just to realize that we're in control of our attitude as much as we possibly can be another strong push for community being around other people that can help with that, and uh yeah, without it, you know, there's not any of that one mountain, whether it's literal or metaphorical.
Speaker 1:What do you still want to climb? What do you still want to do?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think um, or metaphorical what do you still want to climb? What do you still want to do? Yeah, I think um. So what comes to mind with that is um, you know, I've, uh, I've dated some amazing girls over the years, but I've not, uh, settled down and gotten married. I've been closed a couple of times, but I think that, like marriage and the family, kids at some point, something you know to that effect, you know, I, I think that that would be an amazing thing to be able to experience. So, yeah, I've got, I think. In the meantime, you know, my nieces and nephews are are very special to me and, uh, cool, I bet you're a great uncle.
Speaker 1:I bet you're a great uncle to those kids. So way to go uh, thank you.
Speaker 2:No, I think, uh, yeah, I feel very fortunate, um, yeah and yeah, and uh, yeah, just, it's, it's just special. I think like something special about being around like kids, you know, like little kids like to, just, you know, they're like just so, like free. And I remember my oldest niece one time when she like kind of first became like aware that I was born a little bit different, like I remember, um, we were like coloring together in like a coloring book and she was like, uncle kakai, like you don't have hands, I was like, yeah, no, I don't, I was born that way. And she was like, oh, okay, I just went back to the color went right on.
Speaker 1:yeah, that's so good. The innocence man is really beautiful, Kyle, I want to wrap up with something kind of practical. If you could give our listeners a challenge to start living a life of no excuses today, what would that word of encouragement or challenge be from you?
Speaker 2:be from you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, you know, to think back on some of the things that we've talked about today, you know, if you were to pick something in your life, you know the odds are there's, you know, some area of life that has, you know, gone out of balance and out of whack, and that there's certainly some sort of excuse that's there, whether it's something that has, you know, gone out of balance and out of whack, and that there's certainly some sort of excuse that's there, whether it's something that we, you know, say, or you know, or we try to just hide, you know, but it's kind of always the case, right?
Speaker 2:And if nothing really comes to mind, well, maybe that's the excuse too, right, maybe it's the fact that we aren't really testing ourselves or stretching ourselves in the way that we could. So, I think to you know, think about something that's tangible. You know, listening to this is all well and good, and but you know it's just entertainment if there's not anything that's actually done with it. And so I think, if you know, if you were able to, you know, really take it and do something with it, then, um, you know, in those moments where we find out that we're capable of more than we realize. Those are some of my favorite things I've ever gotten to experience is people that have said you know some phenomenal things of you know you're like I heard your story.
Speaker 2:You know, whether it was speak somewhere or an interview or something like that, and they'd say, like you know, I gave up doing X, y or Z or I started doing it. You know A, b or C and you know that, and then this was like the effect that they had from it, whether it was you know amazing adventures, or you know, meeting a life partner or starting a new business I mean all kinds of stuff that I heard over the years. It's been pretty, pretty incredible. So I'd encourage everybody that's listening to you know, go through that. You know thought and you know. If in fact it works and you're able to like, overcome and do what you need to do, then come back and tell me, tell me about it, tell us about it, you know, because I think that that helps keep us going.
Speaker 1:What I hear you say is implementation right, Otherwise it's just entertainment. So, Kyle, how can our audience keep up and follow you? What's the best way to reach out, or the best way to follow you? What's?
Speaker 2:the best way to reach out or the best way to follow you. I think there's probably the best way. People can just type my name into Google. You see, I've got a website If people wanted to reach out. I'm not super active on social media. I don't use it a whole lot. I know that probably it's one of those things that I could be doing more of myself too, but it's one of those things that I prioritized. That's, um, you know a whole other thing, right, I could be making excuses about that too.
Speaker 1:Just not my favorite, but you know, in terms, of yeah, well, yeah, go to google then, and you, know a lot of videos out there, a lot of content out there.
Speaker 1:That's really good, kyle. I want you to know, buddy, how much I've enjoyed today and how much I've enjoyed this opportunity to interact with you and to interview you and hear your heart, and it just makes it even that much more inspirational to me. So, thank you, first and foremost, for being on the ISI podcast today, and, brothers, I hope you guys are really hearing this not just the story, but the invitation. You may never climb Kilimanjaro, but you've got mountains in your life right now that you need to overcome, and the truth is the summit is waiting for you. So here's your challenge.
Speaker 1:I want you to identify one excuse you've been holding on to and write it down, call it out and replace it with one action step this week no waiting, no stalling, no excuses. I know, without a doubt, you can do it, kyle. Thank you so much for showing us what's possible. We have been inspired today by this and I'm excited to see you guys next week to interact more with you on the podcast. So, kyle, thank you again, buddy. Thanks, big guy, I appreciate it. All right, you too, buddy.