Transform Your Life Through Self Improvement and Living Your Values with Ryan Fahey

Ryan Fahey: Good, Mike. Good. Thanks for having me on here. Um, and for listeners that are tuning in, welcome. Um, and yeah, get ready to, to hear some good stories here over the next little while.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, great question. So, you know, I often say if we're in the Burj Khalifa going up the, you know, the tallest building in the world, we would have a long time in the elevator to talk about it. But, um, but instead we're on a podcast. So, uh, just, you know, real quick, I guess what I really do is I kind of dance and play at the intersection of, uh, education and business. Uh, and really wellness and wellbeing in the wellness industry. Um, so I, I kind of work full-time for a nonprofit that supports health and physical education in schools. My writing really permeates into personal growth and wellbeing, and then in my business, uh, also focused on that [00:02:00] health and wellness side. But also on that entrepreneurship and, um, and, and business front. So kind of live there on the edge. Um, you know, there's like, probably like multiple boxes in the room and I probably jump in and out of those boxes, uh, if you're kind of painting a, a visual of that. So yeah, it's a lot of fun and, uh, who knows where I'll be in five or 10 years, but, uh, right now it's a lot of fun.

Mike Forrester: Yeah, I was gonna say, and it's, and it's been pretty busy for you, especially on the personal side. Congratulations on your new place, man. Having moved from, from Ottawa back over to, uh, eastern part of Canada. So what does life look like on the personal side for you today?

Mike Forrester: That's awesome, man. Congratulations again both, both on the little puppy and your new home, man.

Ryan Fahey: Thank you. Hopefully I'll slow down. I, uh, be like, okay, maybe I'll just take a couple months here before jumping into the next thing. So, yeah.

Ryan Fahey: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, we gotta get him a little life jacket so we can take him out, uh, on the beach this summer, so he doesn't, doesn't go underwater. But yeah, it should be fun this summer. Looking forward to it.

Mike Forrester: Yeah, I was gonna say, I can just see you guys getting like a surfboard and putting him on it. Letting him ride the waves in. There you go.

Ryan Fahey: Right, right. Yeah.

Mike Forrester: Well, let's jump back a bit. Um, actually, I guess quite a bit. So, um, you would at one point, like your passion for wellness came from having migraines at the young age of 12, but where so many of us might be like, well, this is just like, you know, a sentence for life. I'm stuck with migraines. That wasn't what, how you addressed it. Can you take us back to that time and what was going on and then how you moved through that diagnosis?

Mike Forrester: So did you keep up the habit of kind of journaling? Cuz it seems like that gave you some of the insight at that time. Is that something you still do as like a habit or activity for yourself to get clarity or insights?

Mike Forrester: Um, and I know that like, along the way, like your focus on wellness led you to like [00:10:00] leading physical, like, um, like group activity almost, I guess is like workouts, right?

Ryan Fahey: Yeah.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah. You know, this, this is kind of like the roots of my entrepreneur journey. Um, so, yeah, paint, paint this picture, too, uh, for listeners that are tuning in. So mid twenties or so, early twenties, drive around in this silver Hyundai hatchback with a 12 inch subwoofer in the back and, uh, you know, every time you turn on the music, the, the license plate on the, on the hatchback would just rattle. So I, for a while I thought I had loose wire on the sub, but then I realized it was just a license plate. Um, but yeah, then I'd throw in the sledgehammer. So I had sledgehammer in the back. I had bands and, you know, your, kind of, the program for the day and then, you know, some other things. And yeah, I just ran a, you know, mobile business out of the, out of the, the hatchback of the car. But, you know, prior to that, I was, uh, in University, I, I studied, uh, human kinetics, the, the science of human movement. Obviously, you know, you know, my story [00:12:00] from 12 years old being passionate about, about movement. Having the opportunity to study that, um, and really become a professional in that space was huge for me. And, and when I was in University, I kind of started my, my personal training business at that point. Um, and actually one of your former guests, Tony Horton, was a big inspiration of mine. Uh, I used to do a lot of his workouts in the winter, and, um, and I just love the energy and so I, kind of, you know, took the show on the road when I had the car and, and at that point in my life, I was kind of transitioning from University into this kind of career. Life that I was trying to, to create for myself. And so I had this window of opportunity just to kind of test and pilot and try something, and, um, and yeah, so every Wednesday I would drive my car up to a field in, in my hometown, uh, people would just drop in. They, you know, pay 20 bucks cash or whatever it was. And, uh, yeah, we, we, I didn't know how many people would show up. Um, I knew the music we were gonna play and I knew the workout I was [00:13:00] gonna do. And, and I think people really liked that. You know, they liked the element of surprise. They like, you know, showing up and also being like, I don't know what I'm gonna get today, but I'm gonna get something good. Um, and uh, and then, you know, it kind of created a little bit more of a community, which, which was really fun. Um, and when I think back to that, I have some good, fond memories of, of those days. You know, it was a very lean operation. Uh, there was not a lot of overhead just, you know, gas money and stuff, but, uh, yeah, just a lot of fun back, uh, back doing that. Yeah.

Mike Forrester: Making, making sure that subwoofers still pumping it out, right?

Mike Forrester: That's so cool. I love it. That's the one thing, like in your story, you're not afraid to step out and try things. You don't know the, like, necessarily like the path. Like, you and I have had conversations, you know, leading, leading up to this. Man, I come from where if I tried something, I wanted to know all the way from A to Z and that was, you know, birth from my belief that if I failed or screwed up, that made me a failure. And so I wanted to know everything that was gonna happen. But you have such like a, a spirit of just, I'm gonna risk. Um, I'm gonna step out and give this a shot and see what happens. And I love watching that and seeing how it's played out. You know, a subwoofer in the back of your car, just opening the [00:15:00] hatchback and seeing, Hey, who's gonna show up? And, you know, how are we gonna work out? How are, how's community gonna grow, right?

Ryan Fahey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mike Forrester: So, um, you're touching, touching on a lot of things in that just having faith that this'll come about. Um, so I wanna step back a little bit. Like when you went to University, um, you said you were studying kinesiology and, and health. How, how was your time at University? Like, what was the experience and, and where, what was that season in life like for you?

Mike Forrester: So how did you keep yourself, you know, you, you go walking around the track, you make these decisions. How did you continue to stay engaged with those? Like, Hey, I made this decision, I'm gonna k, stay committed and see it through. What, what were you doing to keep yourself, um, you know, active, you know, function, hitting on those cylinders to complete the goals and the tasks that you've set out. What did you do?

Mike Forrester: And you were saying like you went running and that was something that, you know, you noticed when you were 12, hey, the migraines go away. Were there additional benefits that you were seeing as you were running or walking or going to the gym? Was there other stuff that, um, helped you with your goals?

Mike Forrester: Anxiety is something that's common for a lot of us. How did you, like what were some of the. The tactics that you were using, um, that some that did work, some that you tried and didn't work, you know, like what are, what are some of those tactics that you've used along the way to address the anxiety?

Mike Forrester: That's cool. Yeah, I think that like, that tenacity, that, that work ethic, [00:28:00] cuz that's, that is what we can control. There,

Ryan Fahey: Mm-hmm.

Mike Forrester: There will be other factors that are out of our control. We can't influence, but you're focused on what we can and what I think is interesting, you know, like you talked earlier about your professor saying, you know, Whoever was your, your English teacher, you know, needed to have a stern talking with, right? More or less. And then you end up turning around and not just doing one book, but three books that you've authored. How did you get from something which could be like an identity, right? Many of us will buy into something we can't do and identify ourselves with that weakness. How did you get from that point of not writing well to then becoming an author?

Mike Forrester: Think if you're gonna see yourself as Socrates, man, we gotta work on having a toga as like, you know, the picture for this fourth book here, Ryan.

Ryan Fahey: Right? Right? And I know like there's some authors out there really big on the stoics and like that, that's kind of coming back, you know?

Mike Forrester: Yeah.

Mike Forrester: Well, if they start coming in too much, Ryan, you can just, you know, go, go my way and shave it all off. So then, no one will notice.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, okay.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, that's a really good question. So, a lot of lessons, uh, I gotta say I learned a lot. Um, the publishing process is pretty much like, uh, I'm trying to think of what it's comparable to, but I mean, I feel like we know more of like, I'm trying to think, but anyway, it, it is like the wild west out there in terms of publishing, you know, if you live in a different, whatever country you live in could be different publishing laws. I learned that cuz at the time I was writing my second book, I was in the Middle East and to publish a book in, in the Middle East, in, in Abu Dhabi was just like a painful headache. And, uh, and as you know, my history with headaches, I don't want that. So, uh, so I waited until I came back to North America to publish. But yeah, it, it is really, um, a convoluted and confusing, [00:34:00] um, process. Which is why I, I now coach authors and help them to, you know, bring their book to life in an efficient way without those headaches. But the first time I did it, I had a lot of learnings I didn't realize, uh, for example, that you know, um, people would be so harsh on, on your content. Um, but that was something I learned early on. Another thing that I learned, is that you can have an incredible message, but uh, if you don't meet the market where the market is at, then it's not gonna get anywhere. And that was something I had to spend a lot of time in upping my marketing game and then my marketing tactics and things like that. Because there's algorithms with all of this now. And I didn't realize that. I was like, okay, when I press send, the whole world's gonna buy my book, then I realized nobody's buying it. So, and I was like, okay, now I need to learn. Why is that? So that's, that's, uh, you know, something that a lot of authors maybe don't think about is they think, [00:35:00] oh, I'm gonna, you know, craft this beautiful book, but, you know, maybe one person reads it because there's different ways it needs to be positioned for it to actually reach the intended market. So that was something that I learned the hard way. Another thing that I learned was, um, you know, I had a couple people in my ear. I had a great editor, but a couple people in my ear kind of giving me suggestions on content, and I probably listened too much to that, and it ended up really not panning out. Whereas I should have just stuck with like, almost like a true artist, right? Like, could you imagine going up to like, um, uh, da Vinci or Van Gogh and being like, Hmm, you know, I think you need to just like change this here. You know, it, it would, sounds crazy, right? But like when you're a writer, it feels like everybody has like an opinion, right?

Mike Forrester: Dude, I, I will say this, like from what you've shared about, um, the, in the process, you know, being careful who you have alongside of you, speaking to you and giving him that wisdom, man, that, that goes far beyond just even, you know, self-publishing, but who do we take guidance from in you know, like [00:37:00] self-improvement, how they see us? You know, as far as being a, a, a husband, a father, you know, career, that, that's like universal, I think. Who, who has our ear and is speaking into us? I love that. Um, the one thing I, I did want to ask is, okay, so we talked a little bit about how, you know, I was risk averse, right? I didn't wanna make a mistake, cuz I was afraid I would be identified as a failure and, you know, blacklisted, um, you are really risk tolerant and you're ready to step out there and give things a try. How can you, like through, like your personal growth coaching, how do you guide somebody to increase their risk tolerance to be able to say, Hey, I can make a mistake, and that's okay. How do you guide somebody to that point?

Mike Forrester: Yeah. And discovering and owning your values, dude it's something I had no clue, and so I was just wandering like, I was like a raft on the ocean, right? Just going about, I had no clue. And once you, you determine and decide upon your values, dude, it's, it gives you a rudder and a sail to, to go with, you know? Um.

Ryan Fahey: Mm-hmm.

Mike Forrester: It's, it's life changing. So, yeah, that's absolutely a, a, a pillar of what, you know in the coaching I work through as well, cuz it's like, man, at least know why and, and who and what is driving you, you know? It's just.

Ryan Fahey: Mm-hmm.

Ryan Fahey: Well, I don't wanna lock myself into a day here too, too, too early. But, um, I'm hoping it's out by, uh, December, November, December, 2023 for your listeners. Uh, that's the, the goal. Um, and yeah, it is gonna be, well, I shared on Twitter the other day that two words have come to mind in this writing process with this book. And the two words are soul filling. It is just filling my soul the more that I write this. And I think if you're in your twenties, thirties, really any kind of decade of life, uh, I think you'll pick some stuff out of it. But it is, I, I think we're at a tremendous, a tremend we're, we have a tremendous opportunity right now. And, um, and that opportunity to kind of, like we've been talking about, Mike, about recreating ourselves, um, but also kind of figuring out who it is that we are along [00:43:00] that way. Um, I think it's just something that we can't take for granted and how do we actually navigate that, and that's really what the book is gonna be about. So I'll share more when it gets closer. But yeah, I'd love to come back, you know, maybe next season or something and chat with you more about the struggles and things I learned in that process. But, um, so far so good. And, you know, I'm really enjoying the writing process, which also just fills me and, uh, and I hope it really comes out in the writing of this one.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, so the best place is definitely, uh, through, through email, so you can connect with me, um, just Faheyconsulting@gmail.com. Uh, my, my email's also on my website, so be just Google, Ryan Fahey. I think it's the top hit. So you can find my site there, uh, connect me via email. I'm also pretty active on Twitter. I don't know if Twitter's are live or dead or open or closed. I never know what's going on with Twitter, but I'm still on there. Uh, so if people are using Twitter, you can just uh, tweet me @wellnessrf. Um, and then, uh, you know, good old LinkedIn is always a great space as well. So yeah, if folks just wanna reach out, uh, you know, definitely mention this podcast, uh, that way we, we can kind of have some mutual things to chat about and love to keep the conversations going for sure.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah. Yeah, good point, Mike. So it's uh, Ryan, and then last name is F A H E Y. So it actually looks like Fahe, but pronounced Foy. So if you're in Boston and you're listening to this, it's definitely Foy, but, uh, Eastern Canada, we say Fahey, so, um, F A H E Y. There you go.

Mike Forrester: Perfect. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure cuz it's like, the other Ryan might not, you know, be able to, to provide all the, the, the guidance that you would, so.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, that's true.

Mike Forrester: Well, Ryan, thanks so much, my friend. I appreciate it. Thank you for joining me today.

Ryan Fahey: Yeah, thanks for having me, Mike. And um, yeah, looking forward to more conversations down the road.

Mike Forrester: Absolutely, my friend.