League of Wildness,
I’ve failed an incredible number of times.
I got cut from my college Lacrosse team.
My first several business ideas crashed and burned.
I bailed off of El Capitan three times before making it to the top.
My business partnership failed.
My initial ‘career path’ turned out to be wrong.
…plus many more.
…plus many more.
Despite all this - I didn’t quit.
I just had to find a new path.
And eventually - everything worked out.
I think this is one of the hardest aspects of life - to change course.
I remember while firefighting a huge fire in Northern California we had just finished removing several thousand feet of fire hose and were about to load our trucks and head back to camp.
A call came over the radio that a mistake had been made and that we needed to immediately put back the thousands of feet of hose we had just pulled.
We were pissed.
Our crew boss (Tony) broke through the inertia and took action.
He loaded up several rolls of hose on his back and literally sprinted up the mountainside.
There was a sort of micro-heroicism in that action that immediately inspired us to follow in his footsteps.
It honestly became fun - in a micro-adventure sort of way.
In what felt like no time, we were back at the trucks, soaked in sweat, with our spirits through the roof.
We had defeated the evil orders of ‘Coop’ - the Incident Commander - and we felt unstoppable.
The most depressed and helpless times of my life have been when I either stopped taking action or felt like I was incapable of taking action.
A few years ago, a wildfire burned over 1,000 homes in our town in Colorado and left my family and I displaced for 5 months (our home did not burn down, it just needed to be cleaned about 7 times to be safe to live in…).
When I think back to that time period, I was in a stupor where I was going through the motions, but I wasn’t really making forward progress.
I also had this erroneous belief that I was incapable of doing things that needed to be done.
I felt trapped and that at any moment everything could come crashing down. Business, relationships - essentially my ‘entire life’.
I hate to admit that I ever had the thought - but at times I wanted to quit.
But deep down I knew that I never would - and I didn’t.
The real change came when I started taking action.
I think there is a HUGE misconception that you need to make change overnight.
It’s the classic hollywood montage where the main character goes from zero to hero in a 90 second training montage.
The obstacle is the way, but there is still an obstacle, and only through action can you discover the way.
The change starts with the first, most incremental action in a new direction.
And there never is a destination - but maybe the path simply gets a little better and somewhat ‘easier’ over time.
You know what else is true?
I did not go through this alone.
I did not go through this alone.
My wife was, and continues to be - my rock.
I’ve learned to ask for help - from her and from others.
We've also sought help together.
I used to have this ‘lone wolf’ mentality (and in some ways I still do) but I for sure have gotten better at asking for help.
I encourage anyone reading this to have no fear in asking for help.
You’d be delighted to see how eager most people are to help and the proverbial “weight off your chest” is real.
So here is an opportunity for me to ‘practice what I preach’...
If wild gym has helped to improve your life and you'd like to help - please consider recommending wild gym to your friends and family this holiday season.
Your organic, word-of-mouth recommendation is infinitely helpful and I appreciate your help.
And remember - our Ruck is rated 5-stars and we have a LIFETIME GUARANTEE so anyone you recommend will be well taken-care-of.
Simply forwarding this email or sharing us on social media are both meaningful actions that help.
I feel like after a few years of being lost in the wild - I’m remembering who we are and I’m extremely grateful to get to ‘be in the arena’ with all of you.
Thank you for your help, your support, and for being along for the journey!
Much love,
-Dan, wild gym founder
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