Ep. 139: Amputation, Adversity, and the Power of Reframing: Seb Lavoie’s Path to Resilience

In this deeply personal and inspiring episode of the Silvercore Podcast, Travis Bader reconnects with Seb Lavoie, a man whose life has been marked by incredible challenges and resilience. From serving in high-stress positions with the RCMP to facing a life-altering amputation, Seb opens up about the power of reframing adversity and the importance of maintaining mental and emotional strength.

Seb discusses his transition from a celebrated career in law enforcement to navigating the complexities of life after amputation. He shares candid insights into his coping mechanisms, including the critical role of humor and the significance of setting boundaries. Seb's story is a testament to the human spirit's capacity to overcome even the most daunting obstacles, and his approach to life offers invaluable lessons for anyone facing their own battles.

Whether you’re struggling with your own challenges or looking for inspiration to push through the tough times, Seb’s journey will leave you with a renewed sense of determination and hope.

 

https://www.instagram.com/slavccmdr/

 

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00:00 Introduction and Giveaway Announcement 00:55 Upcoming Giveaways and Social Media Engagement 01:24 Themes of the Podcast: Community and Positivity 02:30 Introducing Today's Guest: Sablevoix 03:32 Life Transitions and Overcoming Obstacles 05:31 Mental Resilience and Self-Doubt 08:51 Pushing Through Resistance and Achieving Goals 12:01 Evaluating Life Choices and Career Changes 22:07 The Importance of Meaning and Purpose 23:18 Stress Management and Career Reflections 33:55 Authenticity and Self-Validation 39:35 Dealing with Insecurities and Challenges 39:57 Facing Amputation with Positivity 40:35 The Burden of Helping Others 41:51 Reframing Adversity 45:04 Establishing Healthy Boundaries 01:02:11 The Importance of Self-Worth 01:09:07 Reflecting on Personal Growth and Impact 01:10:38 Transitioning to New Endeavors 01:10:48 Admiration for Jason's Philosophy 01:13:03 Evaluating Social Media Engagement 01:13:44 Embracing a Wellness Lifestyle 01:16:24 Future Plans and Community Engagement 01:21:51 Discussing the Trump Assassination Attempt 01:25:51 The Role of Training in High-Stress Situations 01:36:41 Excitement for a New Canine Companion 01:40:18 Conclusion and Future Podcast Plans  

 

What is The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader?

The Silvercore Podcast explores the mindset and skills that build capable people. Host Travis Bader speaks with hunters, adventurers, soldiers, athletes, craftsmen, and founders about competence, integrity, and the pursuit of mastery, in the wild and in daily life. Hit follow and step into conversations that sharpen your edge.

Kind: captions
Language: en-GB

Travis Bader: I want to start this episode
off by congratulating Justin Garant.

He's the winner of the Benelli game bag
and the hunter chef cookbook that was

being given away in conjunction with
podcast episode 136 with Michael Hunter.

If you wanted to get your own Benelli
game bag, You can head over to Stoger,

Silvercore club members get 25 percent
off all clothing, 10 percent off

all accessories and free shipping.

After wrapping up the combat flip
flops episode with Griff, I went

out and purchased a couple sets of
flip flops and one of the shemags.

And of course I applied the Silvercore
club discount to that as well.

For those curious about all the
different discounts, perks, benefits

of being a Silvercore club member,
head on over to the Silvercore website.

There's going to be links
in the description here.

Coming up in the very near future.

I would highly recommend to
everybody who's listening to

follow the Silvercore social media,
keep your ear to the podcast.

There's going to be some amazing
giveaways, including ATI.

Armament technologies.

They are makers of the
finest scopes in the world.

Marathon watches, been supplying allied
forces watches for a very long time.

Now, two very proud Canadian companies.

Make sure to stay tuned
to check that one out.

When I opened up my social media
this morning, I saw a post that

I was tagged in by Dana Dykema.

She had tagged me and Silvercore
in it, and she was talking about

the underlying themes in the
podcast that she really values.

One of which in particular
was that surrounding failure.

The main themes that I try to get across
over and over again in the podcast are

that of community, that of positivity,
of pushing ourselves to higher levels.

Of creating an awareness of the
potential that we are capable

of and to not be afraid to fail.

I don't know if it was Churchill
who said this one, but it's

often attributed to him.

Success isn't final.

Failure isn't fatal.

It's the courage to continue that counts.

If it's true that our lives are made up
of our memories and 90 percent of what

we think about today is something that
we thought about yesterday, perhaps by

exercising awareness, by interjecting
some critical thought and exposing

ourselves to positivity will allow
our tomorrow to be that much better.

Without further ado, let's
get this podcast rolling.

As you go through life, there's a
few people that you will meet that

will have a massive impact on you,
both personally and professionally.

Today's guest is one of those people.

And if you're a regular listener
to the Silvercore podcast,

you're going to recognize him.

And if you've paid attention, you'll
see that he marked an inflection

point in the podcast and really
helped expand the direction where

we go with it and what we do.

So without further ado, I want to
welcome back my friend, Sablevoix.

Good morning, brother.

Good morning, man.

You've had some things happen to you,
some cool life experiences, some.

Some interesting life experiences
since the last time we chatted.

And I really figured it's about time
that we kind of caught up and, uh, maybe

distilled a few of these things that
you've gone through, kind of got your

perspective on a few different things.

But maybe before I really get rolling,
I want to ask you, how are you doing?

Seb Lavoie: I couldn't be better brother.

Uh, things are, uh, you Very good at
the moment, as you know, I'm in the

transitional phase of departing British
Columbia and heading out to Alberta,

a nice rural property, 14 acres, log
cabin, green roof, rivers, mountains,

you know, on the border of Montana,
just an amazing, an amazing move that.

You know, but, um, I think sometimes
understanding what the end goal is

or what it is that you truly desire
and negotiating that with what

task you have at hand is critical.

So I already knew, you know, 10 years ago
or 15 years ago, that's what the direction

that I was wanting to take, but I hadn't,
I hadn't cemented what that was going

to look like in relation to my career.

And so obviously retiring in,
in 2021, open the door up for

a variety of different things.

And that is one of those things
that's occurring right now.

And I am beyond stoked.

You know, that's

Travis Bader: something that a lot of
people, they'll have visions, they'll have

ideas, Hey, hopefully, hopefully they're
saying, here's what I'd like to achieve.

Here's where I'd like to be.

But for a lot of people, they just sit in
their head as dreams and the path towards

that dream, if they haven't traveled
before, it seems almost impossible.

They have a very difficult time
seeing the next step or seeing

their way through to the end and
to actually achieving that dream.

Did you find, because I mean, this is
all new uncharted territory to you.

Did you find that there was difficulties
in both mentally transitioning yourself,

leaving your work and finding sort
of a new path in life and, and now

the big move out to another province.

And I mean, you've got your network
and everyone over here in British

Columbia, did you find that there is.

Obstacles and hurdles that you
had to overcome in order to kind

of mentally get yourself ready.

Seb Lavoie: I mean, the obstacle,
the obstacles are the way.

Right.

Yes.

I mean, it is just, you know, I'm,
I'm regurgitating here, but, but

the, the bottom line is it is, it
is the case and, and self doubt

consistently creeps into your own mind.

As well as not necessarily knowing
exactly the direction that you're

supposed to go into, or if you're even
going in the right directions, you know?

And so I think at the end of
the day, there's part of this

that's, that's, that's faith.

You know, it's faith, having faith that
you're capable of, of, of adapting to

changing circumstances, that you're
capable of picking the slack up.

Should anything go sideways that you
have enough in you and around you to

make something happen out of nothing.

All of those things are, are, are,
you know, Incredibly important

and to a certain extent anchors in
making these difficult decisions.

And so you can't just be coming out
of nowhere, set yourself a very,

very difficult goal and have never
negotiated difficulties along the

way to achieve a desired outcome
that not many people achieve.

And so you need to have
that knowledge about you.

And that's where, of course, you know,
engaging in a difficult things and

the things that are truly challenging
you, the things that are scaring you.

Is incredibly valuable because it also
teaches you what you can and can't

do, or what you can and cannot yet do.

There, I like that, I like that.

Travis Bader: No such
thing as a word I can't.

No, there isn't.

So, you know, people look at their job
and they'll say, well, I'd love to do

something different, but I can't leave
because I'm the breadwinner or I've got a

mortgage or I've got whatever it might be.

So, so I'm stuck, right?

Uh, or I'd love to, to move to a
different place that offers a greater

variety of what it is I'm looking for.

Like for me, space, right?

Greater space between myself and
my neighbors, greater access to the

outdoors, where I don't have to sit
in traffic for hours to get there.

And people will come up with all this
little checklist of, well, you know,

once the kids are out of school and maybe
once ABCD happens, did you have a list

of these things that kind of popped into
your mind that you had to systematically

go through and kind of check off?

Seb Lavoie: That is the propensity
and it's my propensity as well as it

is the propensity of the next person.

The difference is I, I,
I try to, at all costs,

Disabled the disabler, if that
makes any sense, because I will

become, I will become the disabler.

And as soon as I start focusing on
something that creates an apprehension,

you know, the body survival
mechanisms kick kicks into full gear.

And, and all of a sudden you're magnifying
the risk that's associated with the,

whatever it is that you are after.

But, you know, for me, I
was very aware of that.

I was very aware that I was, that I
was going to try to talk myself out

of it in a sort of surreptitious,
maybe even subconscious way.

And I, and knowing that as soon
as it percolates in my mind, I'm

able to address it on the spot,
essentially a reframing, right?

Yes.

There is no perfect way.

Yes.

Yes.

I may have to do this.

And so my, the question that I ask myself
every time that something like this,

Sort of creeping to my mind is what do I
need to do to get to where I want to go?

What in a, in an ideal world, if I
removed all fears, and if I removed

all apprehension with respect to where
I was, where I want to go, what would

I need to do and how would I need
to address it to make that happen?

And you will, you will very often
cognitively spew out the truth.

The answers, right?

Cause you, you, what you are doing is
you, you are now, you have a knowledge

and emotion, you have set it aside and
now you're, you're, you're brought the

focus back to your cognitive mind and
you start engaging your logical brain

instead of the fear center of the brain.

And so for me, Knowing that
that's the case is the key.

It's the self awareness that leads,
leads to that self regulation.

It's not that it isn't happening
is that when it's happening, you

recognize it and you move away from it.

You take that step out, so to speak, you
know, and look at the broader picture.

And so there's plenty of time.

And even without boring
you with the details.

Even if in our fight to, to get
there, to sell our home, do all this,

it's been a four months of ordeal
and we've had multiple lenders fall

through and we had multiple things
happening and it just was, there was

at least a hundred different times.

Where everything in me said,
quit, stop, just wait another

year or wait another two.

But then I would reframe that too
and say another year, another two

time is your biggest currency.

You don't know that you have that.

You don't know that you
have that time at all.

And so if you are to do anything and
you keep on pushing it for, you know,

for later and later and later, how
many people have filled a graveyard?

With all kinds of later
project unfinished.

Travis Bader: Do you ever have,
and what I'm going to get you to

do, just, uh, is there a piece of
green tape in front of you there?

Yep.

Okay.

I may be, I have it in the
wrong spot or my camera moved.

If you can move a little
bit to you, there you go.

And I'll, I'll edit that out.

Do you ever have the
thinking in your head?

I mean, people will push for something
and I can make something happen and I can

push against all odds to make it happen.

And sometimes it winds at
my back and it just goes.

Am I pushing against the universe
and out of sync with things and

pushing for something that I'm
eventually going to look back and

say, like, why did I do it like this?

Do you have these thoughts?

Like the difficult part with the mentality
of all of the motivational and the self

help and you can do it and keep on pushing
is like, People being able to recognize

when they're pushing towards something
that's desirable, that's going to lead

them in the right direction, or maybe the
universe is saying, hold on, slow down.

Maybe there's, maybe there's a
different place we should be going.

Do you, do you have
those sort of thoughts?

Seb Lavoie: Yeah, I absolutely do.

And, and if I.

Was to use a case study.

Let's talk about Sean Taylor and I's book.

When we first came out to, to,
you know, to want to work on

that, on that book project.

And along the way, what we have found
is that every little step we took was 10

times harder than it should have been.

Everything that we had in place somehow
would There would be something that

would generate a different outcome.

And the person was either out
or, or we didn't have the help

that we needed or the person felt
ill or whatever the case may be.

And so it, it, it quickly
became very apparent.

And so it's important to look at
the totality of the circumstances,

not just what's happening, but
what was happening with us.

You know, and so I reassess what I
do when this happens is I generally

reassess our current situation.

Are we in the best possible
scenario or are we in the best

possible state to operationalize
our, our, our idea at the moment?

And so, yes, we have all these external
factors that are not going our way.

But are there internal factors that are
not optimized because this is where the

difference is, if I'm fully optimized,
I will push until I'm being told that

it isn't going to happen or it quits.

Travis Bader: Right.

Seb Lavoie: Right.

And that's, and that's okay.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But ideally, I will manage
the interconnection between.

The outcome and the goal and the
external factors and, and whether or

not I'm optimized to reach said goal.

And that's precisely what happens.

So that, that, that pushing an
endless push and never quitting

isn't always the best option.

If you're not optimized as the
individual or as the person.

That's wanting to do certain thing
you may have to reassess that

and say, I can work on our sense
exactly what we did with the book.

For example, Sean and I realized that
despite the fact that we had a lot of

good stuff, we weren't quite ready.

We weren't quite ready for the book.

To be as impactful as we wanted it
to be for, we weren't elevated at

a certain, at a certain level of
proficiency, if even in our communication

styles or even in formulating our
ideas or concepts that would, that

would make a meaningful difference.

So my end goal was to create
a book that helps in a book

that create meaningful change.

But I, we, both of us weren't
optimized in that realm.

And so for me, that was enough.

I have the, the external factors telling
me slow down, you're not ready yet.

And I have my own evaluation of our
current status and situation that

says, hold on, you're not ready yet.

Then that's the time to tactically
reposition, take, take a tactical pause,

you know, whatever you want to call it.

Cause it's not quitting.

No, because ultimately all we did was,
you know, You know, two years has passed,

we developed together and did all kinds
of things to get all kinds of projects.

And two years later, the end goal
that we had, you know, three years

ago is exactly the same, but our,
our capacity and our ability to,

to make it happen is, you know,

Travis Bader: I've always had a difficult
time, uh, just that, I guess, quantifying

actually analytically quantifying when
it's time to take a different direction.

Cause when I set my mind to something,
I'd like to be able to analytically

say, okay, A, B and C are going on.

It would be better to do this over
here, but, you Man, I don't want

to be running away from something.

And you know, when things get
hard, that's when most people quit.

And that's where I found success
in the past by pushing forward.

But I will get a gut feeling and I'll
just get this deep down gut feeling and

I'll sit there, maybe it's a guy thing.

And you try and you try and analyze that
gut feeling when you say it's not ready

yet, or I'm not prepared to do A, B,
C, D, or maybe I'm prepared to do it,

but the collateral damage is going to
happen to those people around me, isn't

something I'm prepared to take on yet.

Um, Do you just, I just rely on my gut.

Is that what you do or is there a
better way to be able to sort of

process that you kind of look at to
help put words to that gut feeling?

Seb Lavoie: Yeah, I do use
my gut and I use my gut as a

barometer, like something is up.

I'm having, I'm encountering some
resistance or, or I have internal

resistance or there's external
factors that are creating anxiety

or there's things I need to explore.

And I, so I use my gut primarily to
line up the, the sort of the, the

actions that I need to take to ascertain
whether or not I'm ready for whatever

it is that I'm asking to do or to be.

And so, no, there isn't an exact
science, but at the end of the day,

it's all about consequences too.

What are the consequences
attached to this?

Is this, is this, you know,
grievous bodily harm or death?

Is this, you know, dismemberment?

Well, I just look silly

Travis Bader: and we'll
talk about dismemberment.

Seb Lavoie: Yeah, exactly.

And, but, but if the, you know, if
the consequences that are attached

with whatever it is that you, you
are pushing for are not catastrophic.

Send it

Travis Bader: like,

Seb Lavoie: I, I generally,
I generally don't really hold

back on at all on any of those.

Uh, but, but I will hold back
on things that have, you know,

catastrophic consequences.

And when I say catastrophic consequences,
I mean, if it was to affect your

family in a very negative way or,
or, or your business in a way that

it'd be difficult to sustain living
or whatever, um, you know, obviously

those things, there has to be more.

There has to be more articulation
to myself behind the decisions

that I'm making or the, or
the direction that I'm taking.

But if it's just, if it's just that
I'm encountering a lot of resistance,

things happen where most people fail

Travis Bader: and

Seb Lavoie: most people quit.

Travis Bader: That's right.

Seb Lavoie: Right on the other side
of quitting is what you're after.

But what's difficult is it's
easy to have that conversation.

But when it happens, wheels to the
pavement and, and you get hit over and

over and over and over again, it's really
easy to take the path of least resistance,

which is okay, maybe now is not the time.

And so the answer is you
don't know if that's the case.

And so for me, unless there's catastrophic
consequences attached to this, I'm going

to push until I can no longer physically
or mentally and emotionally cannot.

Travis Bader: You know, I've
always kind of used the phrase

done is better than perfect.

And I've also looked at, um, what's
actually catastrophic because what's

catastrophic in my mind today is
A month from now, a year from now,

I look back like that was nothing.

And even the things that seem
catastrophic, you can go back on

and say, well, it seemed pretty
bad at the time, but look at the

better place I'm in right now.

Look at what I've learned from it.

And with the done is better than perfect.

If I'm building a project or doing
something, and I'll do it even with this

podcast, like I'll agonize over certain
parts of this and how should the intro be?

And how should that be?

And.

I've recently just kind of changed
things up a bit, and I'm trying a

few things out to, uh, expand the
value that we bring to the audience.

And I figure, you know what, if
I throw this out to the world,

that'll be the ultimate litmus test.

Maybe I'll look silly.

Maybe, maybe it'll tank a little
bit, but I'm going to learn

from this and, and move on.

Done is better than perfect
has been the one that's helped

me get through those points.

Seb Lavoie: Wasn't that
one of Patton's most

Travis Bader: favorite quotes?

Was it him who said that?

Yeah.

Okay.

I'd steal another one from him, which
is, uh, Uh, don't tell a person how

to do something, tell them what you
want to see achieved and let them.

Surprise you with the results.

Decentralized command.

Yeah.

It's massive, isn't it?

Decentralized command.

So you sent me a pretty cool
video and I watched the thing

through, it was about 45 minutes.

And so that's, that's a time commitment
for somebody with ADHD to go through.

I'm not going to lie.

I put my finger on it to play it at two
times speed, but, uh, uh, but I watch it

front of back and it was a neurosurgeon,
MIT Uh, educated neurosurgeon spent

about 20 years of his life doing
neurosurgeon stuff, working on spines

and learning about brains and wanting
to make a huge impact on people's lives.

And he up and quit and he made a massive
decision to change the direction of his

life to be more connected with nature.

And he boiled down what he was seeing
in the medical world of, uh, People

who would come into him for a problem.

They would have, let's say, degenerative
disc disease or balds in their spine.

And they're in a lot of pain and he
would operate on them and they'd be back

six months later or a year later with
the exact same problem, maybe in the

same place or different area, and And
there's other people who he would work

on and they would come into his intake.

He's getting ready to do surgery.

All right, here's your date.

And they come back and they'd be
like, yeah, you know, I still got

this bulge disc, but I'm pain free.

Like, do I still have to come in here?

And he was using a questionnaire
process to look at their lifestyle,

to look at where they're at.

And he noticed a, a trend and the
trend that he tracked over a number

of years for people who were seeing
positive results, hadn't Little

to anything to do with the medical
intervention that he was providing.

And if I remember correctly, uh, the big
points that he pointed out were diet and

he kind of pointed to a low sodium, uh,
more of a plant based don't get rid of

meat, but more plant based, um, sleep.

Prioritizing sleep, um, exercise, being
able to sweat, essentially get out

there and move and sweat, um, positive
social connections were massive.

And of course there's that Harvard
study that says that's the number one

predictor for happiness in people.

And I think, was there one more piece?

Because the one more piece I
would add would be purpose.

That was one that he didn't put
in there for general happiness.

Having a purpose combined with those
would, uh, would help a person.

But he looked at these pieces and he says,
I don't think I'm bringing the maximum

positive effect I can bring to people.

What if I started a YouTube channel and I
did my best just to bring nature to them?

And it was.

Kind of a, I mean, for somebody
to make that decision and leave

a well-paying prestigious job,
everyone's gonna be looking at him.

His friends are gonna be saying,
what the hell are you doing?

Why are you doing this?

They're gonna ask him to justify it
and he'll be, he said he felt foolish

and then he stopped feeling foolish
and other people felt foolish for him.

He said they were, see, looking at him
and feeling embarrassed, said he'd leave.

And I thought that whole thing was
really interesting for what he had

went through, but also what you
have gone through with your career.

You spent a fair bit
of time with the RCMP.

You got yourself to a position
coveted, worked very hard and you left.

Is there a similarity between
what this doctor was going through

and what you have gone through?

Seb Lavoie: Unquestionably.

So the one piece that that was
missing, the one angle that was

missing with him is stress management.

Yes.

Right.

Mindfulness.

Yes.

Mindfulness, stress management,
all the mechanisms that

feed into stress management.

And I think that as valuable as the
video was, When he's explaining and

giving us the rational explanation
as to why he left, what was really

critical to me is what he didn't say.

Tell me.

Well, it was quite evident that the
mechanisms that were employed by

the people that were getting better
were things that he couldn't do.

Yes.

Himself.

Yeah.

And so not only did he see that as
a problem for people recovering from

injury, but he saw it as a problem for
himself because he was heading down

the same path without a back injury.

And one of the things he said
to that effect was in relation

to, I probably won't live to be
60 if I continue down this path.

And just imagine, you know, being a
sought after neurosurgeon on call all

the time being dragged out everywhere
and doing some very, very complex work

with some people that Sometimes you
can help and other times you can't.

So there is a, there is a, there
is an emotional load that's

being carried as well on that
and, and, and a certain burden.

And so, you know, for me, when I,
when I, when I watched that, the,

the one feeling that came to sort of.

That flared up was gratitude and, and I
say gratitude and it sounds, it sounds,

you know, either rehearse or, or, or,
or tacky or, or, but the reality is I

felt gratitude that I realized early
enough in life that the things that I

adore doings and the things that I was
engaged in on an, on an operational front

and the things that I, that I'd made my
life meaningful over the last 25 years.

Also had an underlying
sort of hurting mechanisms.

And so, you know, whether it's.

Uh, exposure to trauma, like repeat
exposure and consistent exposure to

trauma, whether it's even dealing with
administrative stresses, you know,

from dealing with, with the nation,
the nation's Capitol or, or, or the

head office or, and, and, and, and.

And managing highly stressful, highly
consequential events in a, in a variety of

different ways, whether it was tactically
when I was, you know, in that kind of

position or even administratively, if
there, if the consequences attached

to whatever actions that you are
taking have a greater impact on the

collective, which can be catastrophic.

And so.

All of this is a lot of
stress and all you have to do.

And I remember in 2015, I
went to Hawaii for a vacation,

which is coming back next week.

So I went to Hawaii for a vacation and
I, and I'm like, you know, I love my job.

It really doesn't stress me out.

I can manage everything.

I'm good to go, all this stuff.

And I was going to Hawaii for three weeks.

I come back.

And I was wearing a Garmin and my heart
rate monitor was on just coincidentally.

I never set it up or anything.

And I sat down at my desk coming back,
post vacation, and I fired up my email and

within reading four or five email, I was
10 Heartbeat per minute above baseline.

Right.

And I remember thinking, I'm not
feeling stressed right now at all.

Like I'm not feeling an increase
arousal or stress or anything yet.

Here we are.

You know, there is a, there,
there is a physiological.

Consequence to the type of work
that I spent 20 years doing.

And we are seeing it with
a, with the suicide rates.

We are seeing it with, you know, the, the
amount of people that have severe post

traumatic stress disorder, occupational
stress injury, the amount of people that

are in depressive states that have to stop
working, all of those things are, are.

So I do believe this.

I do believe that a profession
like this has a timeline.

I do believe that we've extended
the timeline way, way past.

What is safe.

And if we look historically at some of
our members that worked for 30 and 40

years, most of them, if not all of them
are dead within a year of retiring.

There is a good high percentage.

Isn't there?

It's incredibly high.

And right now we are seeing it with
some of our, some of our highest flyers

that for, you know, Three decades of,
I've provided an incredible service or

extremely dedicated to a time obsessives,
some might say, and really, really out

there doing the thing and getting after
it and helping as much as they could at

every job and taking all the overtime
in the world, doing all this stuff.

And they are dropping like flies.

You're seeing them drop like flies.

And we're talking about people in
their early fifties or mid fifties

in great physical condition, people
that have, that have Taking care

of their bodies, all this stuff.

And so, so, so answer your question
precisely, you know, for me, I've had

a great career, no complaints about my
career, but I was very aware of the cost

of the, of the work, of the unspoken
cost of the work and the subconscious

cost of the work, which was in my case,
conscious, I knew it was happening,

even if I didn't fully understand
the extent to which it happened.

And so when I decided to go out
and explore life, I already had

built enough experience in managing
things that I, in which the external

factors were extremely complex and
successfully so that I wasn't worried

about what's going to happen with me.

I thought of it, it played on my mind.

It wasn't the safest option, but it
was But it also was, it also was a

great challenge and a great op and
something that I knew I would have

to step up for myself in, in sort
of a burn the boats type scenario.

And, and when you're left with, when
you left yourself no other choice, you,

you have To take actions and you have
to do the things that you need to do to,

to, to satisfy or to, to accomplish the
outcome that you're, that you're after.

And so when I watched this video
and I saw him explaining what he

was hoping to accomplish out of his
career, what triggers, so to speak,

made him realize that what he was
doing wasn't exactly in line with.

With what gave his life meaning and
that there was potentially a better

way to achieve the meaning don't
fall in love with your own plan.

Don't don't fall in
love with your own plan.

I don't care how much you invested in it.

Like, and the reason why I
say this is imagine this.

We have now an MIT train.

Neuroscientist, a neurosurgeon that has
10 years of experience and he's out there

in nature, focusing on his dog and, and,
and, and connecting with nature, but now

he brings this to other people and that
there's a great lesson in there because

if you want commitment to a cause, It
takes 10 years, 15 years of schooling

to get to the position that he was in.

And then he did it for 10 years.

And the money that's associated
with that position is really good.

Travis Bader: It's next level.

It's really good.

Yeah, it is.

Seb Lavoie: So, so now you have from
an outsider looking in, When now you

start, this is perspective for you and
it's not invalidation, it's perspective.

You can look at this and say,
okay, this guy was an MIT

trained neuros, neurosurgeon that
spent 10 years in neurosurgery.

He made a ton of money and he
made a decision that was better

for his wellness overall.

And that is the number one
priority at the end of the day.

And so, when you look at this
and you, you know, you've spent.

Three years in policing, for example,
and you did a six months course to get

there and you, you know, um, it's easy
to think that everything you've put

so much effort in that somehow, if you
don't follow the path that you were

established for yourself, that you're
going to do it wrong, but it isn't

the case, that path that you forged,
the information you've gained, the

knowledge, skills, and abilities that
you've gained are a part of who you are.

I don't care what you do.

It's never going away.

Like this guy, academic, academic
achievements, the fact that he was

able to negotiate what arguably non
arguably one of the hardest program that

probably is in, in the medical school

as, as given him the self confidence
that he needed to walk away from it,

Travis Bader: you know,

Seb Lavoie: all of that.

And now he goes into a
different venture with the same

analytical mind, with the same.

Intellectual capacity with the same
drive, with the same, all of those things.

So he's polished all of those tools.

He's bringing them into
a different context.

Like he hasn't negated what he did
for 20 years, that 20 years made him.

And so now he's able to address life,
you know, look, look, look, look at

life through a different lens, but
with all of that skills, knowledge,

and ability is going nowhere.

Travis Bader: There's a lot of power
in what you just relayed there.

And, you know, there's, there's that
logical fallacy of being pot committed

that so many people subscribe to.

I put all of this time in, I
put all this money into it.

It's going to pay off soon.

It's going to pay off soon.

And being able to stop regroup, take a
more desirable course of action by using

what you've learned through all of that.

I, I think there's a lot of power to that.

And you know, the other one was
don't get married to the plan.

I don't know if I'm paraphrasing
what you said there, but don't,

don't get married to the plan.

Don't get yourself so attached to
the plan that you had in place.

So the plan isn't giving you the outcome
that you're looking for, but you also said

something about looking for your meaning.

What gives your life meaning?

Seb Lavoie: Yeah.

Various things give my, give my life
meaning and all of those things are, are.

Somewhat interconnected.

And again, you know, we, as human beings,
we, we tend to silo things because it

makes us, it makes it easier for us and
more palatable and easier to process.

The reality is everything is
interconnected deeply and viscerally

and, and failing to recognize
that can cause, can cause issues.

And so for me, it's always been
at the core of it, helping the

collective in one way or another.

I just love, I just love to help people.

Yes, it really doesn't matter
in one, in what context it

could be, you know, physically
protecting them again against harm.

It can be mentally and emotionally
being present when they need a friend or

somebody to talk to or bounce ideas off.

It can be in a professional setting
and, you know, with coaching people

or, or, or going and, and, and do guest
speaking appearances and, and really

convey some critical information.

To, you know, to, to, to people so
that they can make better and more

sensible decision in relation to
the things that they're wanting to

do, or the things that they're stuck
in or whatever the case may be.

And so for me at the core, always been
that the, the vehicles that I use.

To, to accomplish that were many,
you know, I, I was a coach, I, I

had gyms, I did put my body and
my mind in harm's way to help.

I, I did step, step in
when the time was required.

I, you know, I, I, I, I was there
for anybody and who's anybody that

reaches into my DM and, and, and
is going through a rough time.

And, and more importantly for the
people that are very close to me

that have needed me along the way.

Not once have I not been there.

Right.

And so all of those things and continuing
to proliferate the message and continuing

to be out there, trying to not impart
wisdom, but share wisdom, you know,

and I, and I, and I always use this
word because really, when I come and

do an interview with you, I learn
as much from you as you do from me.

And we're, and.

It's a, it's a, it's an exchange, right?

But sometimes when you're looking at
a problem and when you're looking at

something through either the same lens
or at their same angle, it's kind of

like, um, brainstorming with yourself,
there is no brainstorming with yourself,

you know, the storm keeps going.

And at the end you spew out the
exact same outcome, which you

have cognitive bias towards.

And that's going to happen over
and over and over again until

somebody else comes in and says,
wait a minute, look at it this way.

Okay.

You know, so those are all
mechanisms that give my life meaning.

I'm not necessarily looking for happiness.

Happiness is, is one of those
things it's very fleeting.

And if you're looking for happiness
and this is your measure of success,

however you define it, you're going to
fail miserably multiple times in life.

But if you're looking for meaning.

You never fail, even if you're
on the wrong end of adversity or

something extremely difficult.

Travis Bader: That's the whole concept of
logo therapy, which is logo, logo, smart.

I, you know what, I don't, you're
gonna mess it up, but a logo, I'm

not even going to get into what the
Latin is, but essentially Viktor

Frankl, um, was the third VNE
school of, of, uh, psychotherapy.

Come up with this concept of logo
therapy, which is meaning searching for

meaning because you look for happiness.

You're never going to find it.

Happiness should be a by product
of your hard work and your efforts.

It's something that happens.

It's not something that you can obtain.

Uh, in, in that, I think for a lot of
people is a, um, Is a bit of an aha

moment when they finally understand that.

And they realize that, that they will be
happy when they're doing things, whatever

it is, it goes towards their meaning.

And if that's being of service and
value to others, then And very often

that's where happiness will come from.

I find personally, because if my, my
idea of meaning is for me to be awesome

and me to be perfect, it's very self
centered and, uh, it's not going to fuel

that happiness for me, maybe for someone
out there, but I got to imagine that.

It's.

It's probably not the formula there.

Seb Lavoie: Well, there's a
lot of empty shells, right?

Let's go, let's call a spade a spade.

And so if you're an empty shell and
you're, you are seeking and looking for

constant, either external validation
or, or even gaining perspective with

the purpose in mind to self validate,
you're going to start doing things.

To pump yourself up because
there is an insecurity there.

There's a better way to do it.

There's a much better way to do it because
ultimately you can lie to everybody

around you, but you can't lie to yourself.

And you're, you're going to call
yourself out every single time you do it.

And eventually it will have
consequences that are, you know, not

the, not the, not the consequences
that you would, that you would like.

And so there's a better
way to do it, which is.

Action, the things that you
need to action, to be the

person that you say you are,

that's it.

And if you live with authenticity
and you, and you are investing

in the steps of the process to
make you the person that you are.

That you truly want to be, or the person
that you say you are, or the person

that you, that you, that you, you know,
that other people are perceiving you

to be, and that's what brings you joy.

Then you want to make sure
that you are that person.

What you see is what you get.

Travis Bader: Because you
can't have a disconnect.

If there is a disconnect in there,
you can't You'll know it and it's

going to show, it's just going to
rear its ugly head and in some very

Seb Lavoie: interesting ways.

It does.

And, and the problem with that is a
surreptitious ways in which, or the,

um, insidious ways in which, in which
it will affect you and insidious is

dangerous, you know, cause it, it's
almost, you can almost talk yourself out

of something is happening here, but really
what's happening is at the fundamental

level, your insecurities are impacting.

Everything you do.

And so now you're 17 layers deep on this
project or whatever the case may be.

And, and nothing is going the way
you wanted to, and all of this

is triggered by insecurities that
were never actually dealt with.

So if there are insecurities that are
not dealt with and you haven't optimized

yourself, you're, you're going to bring
these demons with you everywhere you go.

Dealing with

Travis Bader: these different
challenges and speaking of challenges,

you recently had an amputation.

That you've had to work through, um, you
know, you've approached that head on,

you've approached it with positivity.

You've been very brutally honest in
social media, about the process and where

you're at and how most of it you were
looking at is, Hey, things are great.

Things are going well.

And I got to imagine when you
talked before about being, uh,

being there for other people
when they reach out, it's good.

Gotta take its toll on you.

If you're of the mindset that you're
always there for everybody as they

reach out, and there's always going
to be people that don't even realize

the toll that they're putting on
others when they ask for help.

I remember what was that sign?

There's an old show called the
prisoner Patrick McGoogan or McGoogan

was the star character of it.

And on the intro to everyone, he'd
ride into town and there's a sign that

says questions are a burden unto others
answers are a prison unto oneself.

People don't realize the burden that
they're putting on other people by

constantly reaching out for help.

I, it's a multi part kind of question.

We could take it wherever we
want to go, but I got to wonder

about how you deal with that.

If you're going to be a life preserver
for all of these different people,

um, where we kind of draw that line.

And while you're dealing with your
own Things that are going on, whether

that be, you know, you've left work
in the transition phase, you've been

amputated, you've lost a leg, you've,
uh, you're dealing with learning to

be a new person, how to walk and,
and, uh, exercise and get around.

How are you dealing with that?

Seb Lavoie: So, so for me, it's all about
reframing and I use reframing Very, very

seriously and all the time consistently.

And I'll give you an example
of where that might look like.

Sure.

We know that if a person takes
the time out of their day to help

somebody in need, that person is doing
something that's, that's selfless,

that's difficult, but is meaningful.

If the person is going through a
hard time themselves, and they're

still out there for others, that's
a next level of that meaning for me.

Anyways, it, it, it adds to the
meaning of what it is that I'm doing.

And I've had people come back to me later.

When I sent you this email,
I never realized what was

going on in your own life.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

Thank you so much for
jumping on a zoom call.

Thank you so much for going for
coffee or whatever the case may be.

And so I actually thrive in that.

I thrive in that for a variety of
different reasons, but one of those

is I need to show up for myself.

I am going through my own ordeals.

I'm going through my own adversity and
now I have to negotiate my adversity

and perhaps helping somebody else that's
having a hard time, not to be confused

with not holding space for yourself.

Like, and that's a, it's
a feeling out process.

I can't tell to the, I can't tell
the next person that's doing way

too much for everybody, perhaps
that you should continue doing that.

If it doesn't feel right at the end
of the day, it needs, you need to do

what feels right for you in the moment.

And some people it's isolating when
they're dealing with adversity.

And then they come back and
help the collective stronger.

And that's the perfectly
good way to do it.

But for me personally, I just love
to be challenged and I love to

be challenged in a way that would
really, really impact most people.

You know, I love a real
challenge like this amputation.

That was a worthy challenge for me, you
know, I, and, and, and for me to have,

to continue engaging with the people,
to continue to be there for those that

needed me is, is just an added layer.

To this, to this sort of
meaningful enterprise that

I got going on here, right?

And you know what, let's
call a spade a spade.

Is it, is it a hundred percent selfless
or is it, or is it somewhat self serving?

It has to be, it's somewhat self serving.

It makes me feel good.

It makes me, it makes me spend less
time fretting on some of the things that

I'm going through and having, you know,
Engage with other people and helping.

And sometimes when I out there
having a conversation with somebody

and we're discussing all these
things, sometimes I get answers to

my own questions in the process.

So there is a certain part of this
that's, that is somewhat self serving,

but it's on an individual basis.

You need to, you need to know
where the limits are for you.

And that's, you know, a lifetime
of establishing boundaries.

And often what happens is I
have very healthy boundaries.

Very healthy.

Some people laugh all the
time at my boundaries.

You know, when, when I'm in a
social event, when I'm gone,

nobody gets says hi to, I'm gone.

I disappeared.

That's it.

There's no pass go.

There's no claiming 200.

It's like, see you later.

Right.

And everybody that knows me knows
that when Seb is done here, he's gone.

Yeah.

Right.

And, and those apply in a
variety of different dimensions.

But I may, I'm not ashamed.

Of my boundaries.

I have very clear.

And so that is an important skill to have.

If somebody doesn't have boundaries
and they're trying to live in the

way that I do, but without having
boundaries, now they're going to

get encroached upon all the time.

Right.

So.

Let's take something very simple.

A kid, a kid sends me a message.

He says, Hey, I've been
following your social media.

I really love the stuff you put out.

It's very motivating.

I w you know, I want to be
this, or I want to be that.

And I was, I was hoping to
get your thoughts on that.

Well, I got 900 podcasts out.

Yeah.

So here, you know, here,
here's a link to X, Y, and Z.

And if you have any remaining
questions, I'll be there after.

So that's my way of establishing
a certain boundary and still

providing, providing some help.

And so the question becomes,
do I have boundaries?

And if I do, what are some of the
mitigating factors or some of the

mitigating strategies that I can use?

To maintain my boundaries and
still accomplish the mission.

So the mission is this, the
mission execution is flowing.

And this is, this is the biggest
mistake that people make.

It applies to tactical operation,
but it also applies to life.

You have an end goal, you have
a plan, you have a mission.

They, they falling in love with
the mission is totally fine.

Falling in love.

In the way by which the
mission is accomplished is not.

Travis Bader: So when I

Seb Lavoie: said, don't fall in love
with your own plan earlier, I'm talking

about the execution plan, the execution
phase of the plan, which is which

action do I need to take to achieve
the outcome that I set for myself?

And so that's something that
has to be That has to be

extremely clear in your mind.

What is your mission and what are some
of the, what are some of the ways by

which you can accomplish the mission,
maintaining healthy boundaries.

Travis Bader: What were some
of the biggest challenges that

you've had with this amputation?

And I'll throw a couple
of things out there.

I mean, When you were, when it
first happened, you put a post

out and says, okay, let's hear it.

Let's hear the jokes.

Come on guys.

Right.

I mean, I'm sure everyone loves,
are you still enjoying the

Seb Lavoie: jokes?

Oh, absolutely.

Travis Bader: Okay.

Seb Lavoie: I got to tell you, man, if
I'm being a hundred percent honest, which

I always am anyways, um, I will say this,
my request to ask or to ask people to make

fun of me in that, at that time, Was the
absolute saving grace of the first three

days of my amputation, because what ended
up happening is, and I want to bore you

with the details, medically speaking, but
they, I was supposed to have a stint in

there that was supposed to prevent pain
and it wasn't working, it wasn't firing.

So I essentially raw dogged
an amputation for two days.

Right.

And when that happens, I And I'm
trying to distract myself from the 10

out of 10 pain and all those things.

And I jump on my social and I see a
news, a news clip of me fighting a

great white shark and having lost a leg.

And, you know, it just made me laugh
so hard that that is a natural thing.

That is a natural medicine for pain, for
adversity, for anything is to smile, to

laugh, to take it life, to take yourself
lightly, to not take everything so

seriously, you know, all of those things.

It was the single best decision I made.

As I was going through the process
was to say, let me have it.

What it also did is it prevented people
from getting in my inbox in a sort

of self pity, you know, and I just, I
gotta, I gotta tell you, man, I gotta

tell you, I have, I have this thing
where at the best of times, I absolutely

do not like compliments at all.

I, I, I don't, I'm the same.

And it's funny because my,
my fiance is soon to be wife

makes fun of me all the time.

She's like, you get so awkward when
we give you compliments, right?

And, and, and so if you think of it,
you, you make a post, you make a mean,

something that's meaningful that you think
may have a meaningful impact on others.

And now it becomes about you.

Um, you know, because it's like,
Oh, you're, you're the greatest.

You're this, you're that, you're that.

I'm not, what I'm doing
here is, is nothing.

And, and I'm going to,
I'm going to say this.

You look at a guy like
Mark Omrod, for example.

Right.

I have a below the knee amputation
and I'm not discounting the fact that

it comes with challenges, but you,
can you imagine, and it's an elective

amputation, I made the decision to do
it on account of the totality of the

circumstances and it served the purpose.

Okay.

You're, uh, you know, a 19, 20, 21
year old vet that's out there somewhere

patrolling and boom, three limbs missing.

And now you're coming back and now
you have to go through the, so I think

that as humans, we, we, when we assess
difficulty, we're not very good at it.

At that we're not, we're, we're, we're
actually not very good at knowing

what's, what's truly, truly difficult.

And, and what are the spectrums of
difficulties that are going to be?

And so, and I think part of this is
you don't want to be elitist, right?

Like, Oh, you're just a
below the knee amputee.

And we see it in amputee world.

It's actually quite funny.

There's a bit of drama like this, but
one of the things, one of the things

that's important to realize is that
seriousness is only as serious as you.

Apply it against the
situation that you're in.

That's a decision that you make.

Nobody else can tell you this is
really hard because for somebody really

hard means walking two kilometers.

Travis Bader: Sure.

Seb Lavoie: For somebody really hard
is running a hundred miles and for

somebody really hard is running 10
times a hundred miles back to back.

I, the spectrum is infinite.

It's an infinite spectrum of difficulties
and we are really bad at assessing, you

know, what's truly, truly difficult.

And so I came to the conclusion
and for me, what, what has worked

best over the years is to assign,
to, to, to not assign a specific

level of difficulty to an event.

It just is.

So instead of being like, Oh, that's going
to be really hard, it changes nothing.

Like me thinking that it's going
to be really hard is an emotion.

The work still has to get done.

The actions still have to be taken.

And I still have to take certain
steps to make certain things happen.

Travis Bader: Just is.

Seb Lavoie: So you can stand in front
of the board at the gym, watching

the workout being Being laid out on
the board and be like, Oh my God,

this is going to be really hard.

And you start getting in your head
and you start interfering the process.

You start doing all this, or
you can look at this and they,

this is what I have to do.

Just is like a knowledge, the fact
that, you know, you're unsettled

about it, perhaps put the emotions
aside and look at it objectively.

It's the work that needs to be done.

There's neither good nor bad,
but thinking makes it so.

A hundred percent.

And I think a lot of people, it's
greatly under or under appreciated,

and it's greatly misunderstood.

People think that things are coming
with an associated value of difficulty

or an S you know, and it's like,
it doesn't, what is it for you?

Mm hmm.

Like, how do you feel about, you know,
and it's, and it's so interesting because

it's almost like, um, anecdotal stifling.

Like if somebody is coming in and
telling you how difficult something

is, then automatically at that point.

It's difficult to you, right?

And this is how people talk themselves
outta doing all the all kinds of stuff.

I'm not gonna go to the special
operation selection because a friend

of mine who's much fitter than me
or much faster and stronger, it

didn't make it, so therefore I won't.

Mm-Hmm, . You know,

Travis Bader: it's a very odd
kind of group think that I see

people subscribe to quite often.

So one person thinks a certain way,
the group starts thinking a certain

way they did a, um, who was it?

Uh, it was Tim Cook and
I think it was Elon.

I think that the two of them were
in an interview, they're talking

about, uh, how they hire people,
how they bring people on and.

The one big takeaway that I got
from it was individuals who are high

performers that go into a low performing
environment will quickly adapt to that

low performing environment and vice versa.

You can bring a low performer and put
them in the group of high performers.

And they'll quickly adapt to that.

And this kind of group think
mentality is so massive.

If you're hanging around, people
are like, Oh, this is hard.

Oh, this is difficult.

And that becomes your bar
and that's your world.

And it's, you're constrained within
this little sphere of, well, here's my

limits and here's as far as I can go.

And I, I think, uh, having the mindset
and maybe that comes from, you I

guess, forging your own path to a big
extent, as opposed to, uh, trying to

surround yourself with other people
with a larger fear, having your

own path where you have an infinite
sphere in different directions.

They can get kind of go to, I'm just
kind of thinking out loud as I go

through here, because I can definitely
say there are those with larger spheres

that I will talk to and I'll look at,
and I will say, okay, that sounds good.

Uh, in certain areas, is that what
you do, or are you, are you kind

Seb Lavoie: of creating your own sphere?

I think it's a combination of both.

I think if you're surrounded, if you're
surrounded with the right people around

you, the people that elevate you,
the people that bring out the best

version of yourself, the people that
will call you out every time that,

you know, you're doing something that
people Perhaps this is substandard

or, or, or that you're limiting your
potential or that you're lacking

vision or whatever the case may be.

I mean, if you're surrounded by people
like this, it's, it's, it's a great.

It's a great check in, you know, a
periodical check in where you, where

you, where you actually get to say,
okay, where am I in relation to others

that are doing all these things?

And I think that that occurs naturally,
but generally what happens is people,

instead of embracing that and saying,
I can now elevate myself, there's a,

there's an attitude of resistance to
what I, what it is that I'm seeing.

Like, so if the person, you
know, works out more than I

do, oh, but they love to work.

They love to get up in the morning.

And they love to work out if
this person does X, Y, and Z.

Oh yeah.

Well, but you know, uh, uh, I've
done, you know, and so again, an,

an emotional reaction or emotion
or a chain and emotional reactions

to a variety of different things.

They have zero control over, and
that's not what the purpose is.

If you want to optimize yourself,
you need to look at it differently.

Can I be a little bit better here?

Can I engage a little bit more here?

Can I do this?

And if your friends are going,
are out there getting after it and

getting things done and moving the
needle and helping others, and this

is the sphere that you're in, you're
in the, you're in the right spot.

As long as you have the right attitude in
relation to what you are discovering about

yourself or the things that you are doing.

If you start playing a possum, or
if you start putting your head in

the sand, you're doing it wrong.

It's not going to work.

I don't care if you surround
yourself with the best.

The best of the best.

So you need to be engaged in the process
of actively seeking the chinks in your

armors and so that you can reinforce
areas of your armor that are lacking.

Where are your chinks right now?

Well, right now my leg is, uh,
you know, um, For me, there's,

there's, it's constant, right?

I have chinks in every
single dimensions of my life.

So it's just a matter of, can I
bring a little bit more polish here?

Can I bring a little bit more finish?

Can I build it a bit more,
you know, resilience?

Can I be, can I build it a bit more?

Ability to communicate,
like all of those things.

And so I'm in a constant state of self
evaluation constantly, and, and I'm

not suggesting that sometimes it's not
obsessive, you know, it can be obsessive.

And, and I think that maintaining
a healthy perspective.

On the reality of things.

So I will use an analogy.

I will use a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu analogy,
just because, just because, because what

is the conversation with our Brazilians?

So, so I'll give you an example.

Um, you know, you're looking
at the world class grapplers

as, as it stands right now.

And really.

From a competitive standpoint, belts
don't really matter all that much at all.

You have like guys that are at the top
level slaughtering world class black belts

and their blues and purples, which is much
lower ranks, but their skill level in the

way they develop and the way they train
and to train full time and all of those

things has, has the propensity to create.

Grapplers such as this.

Now, if they train with the right people,
it's the possibilities are endless.

And so when you look at this as a
recreational grappler or somebody that

did Jiu Jitsu as a, as a matter of self
protection in the context of maybe an

operational career or whatever the case
may be, or even, even just for self

defense purposes, when you look at this.

You now start questioning, like I'm a BJJ
black belt, I've had it for three years.

I'm technically a first Dan now,
just a matter of receiving it.

But when I look at an operation,
an operating context, so let's go

to a gym full of solid black belts
that are competitive black belts.

I'm now at the bottom of
the totem pole, right?

Like from a, from a competitive
or from a, from a competitive

standpoint, take that same person and
bring them to a lineup at the bank.

Mm hmm.

And now what?

Right.

Yeah.

Like, and so I think it's, it's
really, really healthy to understand

that you can always be better, but
everything has a cost and equal,

equal or opposite reaction, or
sometimes disproportionate reaction.

It's necessarily not equal.

Right.

Right.

So you could go, so you could go, for
example, you could say, okay, I want to be

as good as a, as a competitive grappler.

I now need to train eight hours a day.

Well, something is going to give
on account of you having to do

that and many things probably.

Right.

And so.

There's two, there's two portions to this.

Where can I be

and where, where am I in reality?

If I'm comparing myself to people that
don't do this for a living and where

is it that I'm an X and an acceptable
range or ratio of those two things that

make me fulfilled, that make me capable.

That make me performing well enough
that I'm satisfied with this, you know?

So it's a constant, it's a constant
evaluating what's being done out there.

What's better, who does it better?

How can I get better?

All of those things.

And then an evaluation or a risk
assessment associated with that decision.

If I'm to do it as good as
this, what has to give for me

to make that happen, you know?

And so for me, I just got really
good at kind of striking the balance.

And I'm very comfortable with that.

When I tell people I'm a recreational
black belt, they're like, they

always say, why do you say that?

Why do you say that?

Because I am.

Sure.

It's different, you know, and, and, and,
and telling you that I'm not a competitive

black belt does not take away from me.

That you're a black belt.

It doesn't define me at all.

It's just a part of who I am.

But what's even more a part
of who I am is authenticity.

And I can't stand here and tell you
all black belts are created equal.

Cause it's just simply not the case.

Sure.

Right.

So the least amount of your self
reflection are causing you to, to

get your hackles up and to start.

To want to, I, you know, to want to hide
or to, or to, or to want to sugar coat or

do all of those things, as long as actions
are taking to be the person you want to

be, your self worth will be at a level
where those things no longer affect you

in the same way, but it takes practice
and you need to take it on the chin.

Travis Bader: It's interesting
you bring up self worth.

That was something that, uh, Chance was
talking about recently and he says, you

know, I've always had a difficult time
valuing myself and the idea of self worth.

And I think that's a common thing.

I think that's pretty common for a lot
of people to, um, you know, maybe part

of it's being Canadian and humble, right.

Maybe part of it's, uh,
insecurities, um, Maybe it's cause

we're always comparing ourself.

If we look at self worth, well,
I'm sure I'm a black belt,

but I'm not that black belt.

Right.

And that black belt will say, sure,
I'm that black belt, but I'm not.

I think that's something that
a lot of people struggle with.

And you also brought up the fact that you
have a difficult time taking compliments.

Are those two things, uh, is there
an intertwining in there at all of,

um, um, Difficulty with compliments.

Cause I, I have a difficult time
when, when people give me compliments,

I have a hell of a time with it.

The biggest compliment I can ever get
is for someone to say nothing, but just

to live their life in a better way.

If I was able to affect
them in a better way, right?

That, that would be a compliment to me.

Why do you think you have a
difficult time with compliments?

And can you talk a little
bit about self worth?

Seb Lavoie: Yeah.

Like I, I don't know is the answer.

Okay.

Travis Bader: Fair enough.

Seb Lavoie: So

Travis Bader: you're like me.

All

Seb Lavoie: right.

So when it comes, when it comes
to, when it comes to my difficulty

accepting compliments, I, I, I
remember being like this as a kid even.

Yes.

So, so this is not, this is
not something new at all.

And I think.

I, I think to a certain
extent, I was a ambivert.

So I was a, you know, a person
that had the capacity to be

extroverted and introverted.

I've

Travis Bader: never heard
that term before now.

Ambivert.

Seb Lavoie: Ambivert.

Okay.

And for me, I find that,

Compliments piece or some of those
things seem to bring the introvert in me.

I want to, you know, I kind of want
to go into hiding and I'm sure a

psychologist listening to this is going
to be, Oh, we got some trauma here or

something, you know, and I'm not, I'm
not suggesting there is by any stretch

of imagination, but, but the reality is.

It makes me extremely uncomfortable.

And, and to a certain extent,
if you said to me, okay,

here's what we're going to do.

You're going to, you're going to
post as you normally do the regular

content on your social media, you're
going to have these conversations

and everybody will bring a piece of
their wisdom to what you just posted.

But you will never again
be externally validated.

I would take that in a heartbeat.

I legitimately do not need it at all.

But what I do need, and what I
like to see is people bringing

a little bit more wisdom.

So I start something,
I put a post out there.

Some will say that
there's wisdom in there.

It's, some will say that perhaps it's
inspiring or whatever the case may be.

Cool.

But what do you have
to contribute to this?

Thanks.

Right.

Right.

Because we're ultimately what happens
is we live life as passengers in a car,

and sometimes it's a driverless car.

I'm just sit here in the passenger seat,
waiting for somebody to do something,

Travis Bader: anybody

Seb Lavoie: to take the wheel,
any external factors, anything

is impacting me directly because
I'm not engaged in a process.

I want you in a, um, what's the word?

Um, there is a word for a, a, a, a style
of education where you educate and the

person reframe what you've taught them,
and they come out with the, uh, with,

with their own version, so to speak.

And, right.

I'm forgetting.

Iter, the word iterative.

No.

Um, no.

There's, there's a, there's a,
there's a, a really good word for it.

And now I, I can't, I
can con constructivism.

Constructivism, okay.

Constructivism.

Yeah.

I, I believe that's what it is.

So in constructivism is
exactly what should be.

In my opinion is here's all this
wisdom, all these technical data, all

these things that I'm providing you,
you assess this, assess all of this

against your own skills, knowledge,
and abilities, and you come, come

up with a hypothesis of your own.

In relation to something.

And now we're really moving
the needle forward because it's

easy to jump on a bandwagon.

Oh yeah.

That was a great post.

Love it.

Next.

Right.

You know,

Travis Bader: passenger in a bus,
somebody else's driving for you.

Seb Lavoie: And so what
do we know about that?

Well, I'll tell you what we know.

You can sit in the
passenger seat of a car.

And go to the same location five
times and never know how to get there.

You got that.

Yes.

But if I say to you, I need you to
take the map book, I'm dating myself

here and I, and I need you to.

To monitor X, Y, and Z and tell me
when the next turn is and what the

street name is and all of those things.

When you ask that person again to drive
back to that location, they're in a

much better position to do that because
they were engaged in the process.

And most people live life disengaged
and engage in other people's lives.

So, so you see external things.

You're like, Oh, that's cool.

That's cool.

That's cool.

That's cool.

But you disengage in your own life.

And so that's why I always, I love
when people are engaging in the post.

So I post something.

It's, it's, it's thoughtful.

It's, it's, it's maybe sometimes at
times intellectual, it might be a

variety of different things for different
people, or maybe it's completely

at odds with how you see the world.

And if that's the case,
then I want to hear it.

Like let, let it, let it formulate
some sort of a hypothesis or

let's, let's formulate something
that I can now think about.

And now, now we're
expending the knowledge.

And I mean, we've seen
it on all platforms.

You've seen it on your
silver core podcast.

You, you know, you're growing an idea as
you were developing it, as you're talking.

Travis Bader: And it's

Seb Lavoie: the same with the collective.

The collective is really good at
that because you have all these

different perspectives coming
in, all these smart people with

incredible backgrounds, and they're
bringing a different angle to this.

And next thing you know, your
own thought process has evolved.

Adaptation is good.

Evolution is, is excellent.

Travis Bader: What do you think
about Jason, and I'm going to

butcher his last name, Subkowicz,
how do you pronounce that?

Subkowicz.

Is that how it's pronounced?

I believe so.

Okay.

Subkowicz.

Subkowicz, yeah.

Um, he recently made, put a
post up there on social media.

He was working really hard to try and
share what his journey and positivity.

And he says, you know,
it's just not for me.

This is, uh, it's not the path for me.

Um, I don't know.

I can identify with some of that.

I can definitely identify with the,
uh, uh, the, the tool of social

media being used to be able to bring
other people up and to assist others.

What are your thoughts on that one?

Seb Lavoie: I feel the exact
same way as Jason does.

I didn't, I wasn't on social
media until 2017 and at the

time I was running my team.

I was listening to Metallica in the
back room, you know, creating ops plans,

going from operation to operations.

And I was.

Singularly focused on my work and my guys
and the things that we needed to be doing.

And so I never worried about that.

And some of the guys would
make fun of me for that and,

and, and it was all good funds.

And I, I owned it as I
do anything else in life.

And, um, and eventually I saw it as a,
There was a, there was a way there was a

way for me, perhaps, to continue impacting
the collective by taking that route, which

was supposed to be a temporary state of
affairs and quite, if I'm being honest,

it still is a temporary state of affairs.

I do not stay and remain stagnant.

And so once I spent five,
six, seven, eight, 10 years.

Putting all kinds of content
out there, trying to help the

collective do all this stuff.

My mission here is done and I
can, I can make a correlation

to my mental health walk.

You know, we just hit 60, you
know, certain things started

happening that made me re evaluate.

And I came to the conclusion and
the realization that those 60 walks.

That I've done out of good, out of the,
out of the, you know, out of goodwill and

all of the sacrifices that were associated
with this are not without their cost.

That's right.

And so for me at 60 mental
health walk, it was done.

Travis Bader: Yeah.

Seb Lavoie: Right.

I, I now I'm passing the buck.

I've, I've, I've given the torch.

Yeah.

The torch precisely.

And I've, and I've.

And I've engaged in a process
wholeheartedly, but I have reached my, the

end of my capacity to continue doing that.

Now I'm going to morph and
do something else, right?

I'm going to do something else.

And so I, you know, when I look at
a person like Jason, I don't know.

I, I have an incredible amount of
respect for, by the way, for a variety

of reason, but primarily he's got
a great heart and, and just, I love

his philosophical take on things.

I love, I love our present.

He is for everyone.

I just love how he lives.

Like I love everything about how
he walks the walks and, and talks

to talk, but also I know that
this was counterintuitive to him.

And I'm sure.

With some of the, some of the inherent
negative backlash that you get, what

it does is it brings, it brings,
he's, he's in a peaceful environment

doing peaceful and meaningful things.

And he brings a certain
layer of negativity.

Yep.

Right.

And.

You don't need it.

You, you absolutely don't need it.

You don't need to be
reading all the comments.

You don't need to be out having arguments.

You don't need, you know, can, can you
read says his best, you know, it's like,

I'm at the age now that if you tell
me that the sky is pink, I'll say yes.

Of course it is.

Like, you know, he's, he's done with
trying to convince people against

their will and people convince against
their will or to some opinions still.

Right.

And so for me, I actually love that Jason
did that because it poked me, it poked me.

It said, what about you?

I kind of figured it with,
where are you at with that?

Right.

And that's why I told Jason,
I said, as soon as, and I've

been very open with this.

When I'm in a, when I'm in a place and
a, and a, at a time in my life where I

feel Like I've provided enough and that
I've given enough of myself and sacrifice

enough of myself and those around me,
because let's call a spade a spade,

like taking the time to have all these
conversations, doing all those things is

taken away from the time that you could
be spending with your family and friends.

And so there is a cost to this and
it's, it's a collective sacrifice.

It's not just my sacrifice.

And so when I look at this, it's not
just It, it tells me when is your turn,

you know, when are you re evaluating.

When you need to reprioritize and,
and go in a different direction.

Did you ask yourself that question?

Oh, a hundred percent.

Immediately.

And?

Immediately.

Well, so for me, it's, it's,
it depends is the answer.

It depends where everything
else goes, right?

Cause I have all kinds of plans.

And so when some of those plans starts
going, some of those will require a

certain level of social media engagement.

It's, it's the way it's the
nature of the beast right now.

Right.

But as far as having, you know, a
Uh, uh, an open public page with

like regular updates and, and, and
pictures that are pretty polished.

And, you know, that's the
piece that I don't, I don't,

that's not sustainable for me.

I, I, I, I'm not interested
in doing that forever.

And so it's going to be a
matter of negotiating and.

Or, or evaluating where
I'm at in space and time.

How do I feel about my contribution and
where it's going and the reality of my

current life and, and, and doing the
things that are meaningful for me, which,

you know, consist of generally being
in the woods, walking around, hiking.

I like that.

Yeah.

What does your next step look like?

Well, so

I'm essentially moving from the
city to a 14 acre property in

a rural setting that has no, skip
the dishes, no . I like it lot.

I know, I do too.

And so one of the things I,
I really want to pick up that

I've never done is hunting.

Travis Bader: Ah, yeah.

Seb Lavoie: Yeah.

So of course that goes without saying
and, and it's almost shameful that

I've been on this podcast three or
four times, and I'm not even a hunter.

Well, I've never hunted in
Alberta, but I do have my

Travis Bader: wild card, which is
a requisite for hunting in Alberta.

And I do know people in Alberta
who are very good hunters.

So I think

Seb Lavoie: we're, I think
we can figure something out.

Awesome.

So, yeah, I'm, I'm being told I need
to do a couple of courses and I'm

in, I'm in, I'm in to get all that
done, but I want to do some of that,

but what I want to do is really live
the life that I currently live, but I

have to go to various places to do it.

And so I'll give you an example of this.

Um, you know, uh, my days of working
50, 60 hours a week are done.

It's never happening again, unless
I'm working temporarily for, you

know, for a short time to try
to get something accomplished.

There's no problem doing that.

But my days of, of sacrificing health,
wellness, and everything on account

of making a buck are done, done.

And so what I want to do is, so what I
do now is, you know, I go to the gym,

I get my training in, I do a little
bit of work in front of my computer,

a little bit later, I'll go on a run.

Well, I'll go on a hike, I'll take my
dog, Achilles out, I'll do all of those

things, but I'll try to have multiple
modalities in a day wellness modalities

that is right in a various pillars, all
interconnected doing all this stuff.

So what I want to do is I want to
go out there, I want to build a gym.

Like, so a functional gym, I want
to build a mat space cause I want

to have some people coming in
so I can continue doing jujitsu.

And I've already had MMA fighters
contact me, say, Hey, we're going to

come train with you, all this stuff.

So I'm in for that, but also I want
to have sauna, hot tub, cold plunge,

you know, and I'm 20 minutes from
Waterton Lake or Waterton Park.

So the, the, the, the provincial
park, one of the most beautiful

provincial park in Alberta, um,
there's police lake next to me.

Which you can go in for either swimming
or fishing or doing all of those things.

So I want to do some of those things.

So right now I'm in the wellness
phase of my life, and it's probably

been since I would say five years
ago that I've put in an incredible

amount of emphasis on prioritizing
that above almost anything else.

I also want to.

Help the community as cheesy as
this sounds, because that's a

very tight knit community over
in Cardston where I'm going.

And I want to be there and I want
to be, I want to engage in that.

I want to engage in this.

Somebody need, you know, needing us
real time wheels to the pavement.

We're in, I want to re
spool We Defy Canada.

We Defy Canada has not gone anywhere.

I don't quit on things.

I just set them aside because I
need to reprioritize with Sean

and I are finishing the book.

We're probably six months, six,
seven months away from that.

Amazing.

Um, I want to start a retreat.

I would like to have a,
uh, a wellness retreat.

Aim that people wanting to
get into first response world,

the corporate world as well.

I would love to do a decompression retreat
for people that have left high stake jobs.

And that can be in any sort of context
for them to learn how to change the way

they do life, because on, on account of,
you know, how they lived life for so long,

and maybe not having had the exposure
that I've was blessed to have and, and,

and making, and I want to do it not in a.

Scripted way where I teach them things
that we know academically, I want them

to experience things, you know, so, so
go and do equine therapy by riding horses

in the mountains, go do a little bit
of rock climbing so that even if you're

scared, so that you can work through the
kinks of pushing yourself outside your

comfort zone and gain some valuable.

Insight.

Mm-Hmm.

about yourself, your life,
and how you do things.

I want them to have some
self-defense mechanisms.

So there's gonna be some, you
know, jiujitsu, some standup,

some whatever is needed, but
also some situational awareness.

I wanna do some resilience classes
and have some academic piece coming

in there and bring some people that
truly exemplify all those values.

Mm-Hmm.

and people that walk the walk to come
in and guest and instruct on those.

And, you know, I hate to say
it, but you're, you're coming

at some point my friend.

Hey, I'd be honored to be there.

Travis Bader: I'd be

Seb Lavoie: honored to

Travis Bader: be there.

Seb Lavoie: But those are, those are
projects that I have at the moment.

And, uh, you know,

I also made a way through a thesis I need
to finish as well, which I always seem

to find, you know, further down the line.

Travis Bader: Yeah, that's, uh,
well, that's an interesting one too.

Did, did you, uh, did you go with
the thesis that, uh, that we were

talking about before the, the

Seb Lavoie: possibly
highly controversial one?

No, actually I didn't.

Okay.

And the reason why I didn't is
because it would have been very

difficult to find empirical, um,
you know, information about that.

And also it would have had, it would
have encountered all kinds of resistance.

And that I'm at the point now
where I need to finish my degree.

That's all.

Travis Bader: Yeah.

You know?

Seb Lavoie: And so, and one of the
things that I'm very passionate

about has been Haiti, right?

And so Haiti, um, there's,
there's, there's, there's

a complex landscape there.

And so, and it ties right into,
you know, The, the nature of my,

of my, um, T of my, um, degree,
which is international security.

Right.

And so I re re sort of refocused on
Haiti and it's great because it's recent.

There's a lot of recency.

There's a lot of recent events and there's
also a long tracking history with Haiti.

And so we're able to, you're able to,
you have enough of that empirical data,

but you also have enough of the anecdotal
stuff and you have enough of everything

else that you need to build a thesis
that's meaningful, that fills a research.

Travis Bader: Well, I'm, I'm
looking forward to reading that one.

You know, to change tracks here
a little bit, um, just, and I

know I'm kind of throwing it
out here from, from left field.

What was the best joke you ever got on
the, uh, when you put the call out for

the, uh, uh, after the amputation there?

Seb Lavoie: Well, we
already spoke about it.

It has to be the shark.

It was the shark one?

So, but there's a, but there's
a, there's a continue, there's

a continuation to the story.

So basically what happens is, is, is a
friend of mine, uh, Makes a news clip

and the news clip is, is a man saves
his girlfriend by fighting a great

white and loses a leg in the process.

And of course it's me that's on the
cover and there's a great white, you

know, they have the great white hanging
from a, you know, as if somebody fished

it out of the water after or anything.

What happened was, I guess one
of my fiance's, Alex's friend.

Or colleague was reading this
and she thought this was the most

heroic thing she's ever heard.

And so what she started doing is telling
all of her family and everybody about

this incredible dude that Alex is with
that fought a great white to save her.

And you know, and everybody's in
awe and we get to this, this event,

Alex was working event and this
person was there working with her.

And when we started talking, she was
all confused because she didn't realize

that this whole thing was a joke, right?

Like I didn't actually fight a
great white and I'm not a hero.

Travis Bader: Here.

I thought when we left the
hospital, you'd be wearing like

an IHOP shirt or something.

Seb Lavoie: Oh, man.

Oh, it was, it was beautiful to see
the disappointment in her eyes when

she realized I actually wasn't a hero
and I didn't fight a great white.

Travis Bader: That's funny.

That's

Seb Lavoie: funny.

Travis Bader: Yeah.

What about, uh, there's the other thing
that we kind of talked about a little

bit at the beginning of this podcast,
which was, uh, in recent events,

depending on when this guy comes out,
uh, the Trump assassination attempt.

Uh, you've got a background in
international security, you've got a

background in leading teams for executive
protection and, you know, everyone and

their dog seems to have an opinion and
be an armchair security expert on this.

You've actually got.

Some background and can speak
with some authority on this.

Uh, what were your thoughts on,
uh, the assassination attempt?

Seb Lavoie: Well, I
have a lot of thoughts.

It, it depends which segment we're
looking at and we're evaluating, right?

So one of the things, one of the things
that, um, That I will prioritize when

I, when it comes to form, formulating
an opinion or forming an opinion

in relation to something is there's
generally a lot more than meets the eye.

So understanding that there are
limitations to what you are watching

and those limitations are not to be
understated because you are going to miss

critical Pieces of information that were
either not known to the person at the time

that made a certain decision or, or, or,
or that you, or that makes it look like

somehow all that information was available
to everybody because you're getting

a bird's eye view of the situation.

Sure.

So that's very dangerous to do that.

And I try not to do that as best I can.

Certainly.

There, there are a lot
of questions, right?

There's a lot of questions like we're
talking about 130 yards away from, from

the presidential stand where he was and
with a clear shot, like how was that

roof left unattended is very basic.

Now, if that roof was
500 yards away, Okay.

I can see that happening, right?

You, you, you're going to have to
stop expanding your perimeter at some

point because manpower is a reality.

Like you're going to, you're going to
need to be able to, to, to staff those

positions and make sure that you can
maintain those positions and still have

your core group where they need to be.

Now, when you look at.

Some of the reactions, uh, of
the, of the secret service.

And I've worked with secret service in
the, in the context of close protection

before I've worked primarily with
cat and counterattack team, which is

their sort of the SWAT team that's
attached to the close protection team.

And the cat has a, a bit of a different.

Uh, sort of tasks set or mission set.

But when you look at the executive,
the close protection team themselves,

there's a lot of questions there.

There's a lot of questions, you know, if
you are to use your body to body bunker,

so to speak, uh, a, a, a very, very
large individual who's six, three and.

Quite imposing.

It's going to be very
difficult to do that.

If you have, if your detail
is very small, right.

And there, unfortunately there was
a lot of that going on, which would,

uh, exposed, you know, the upper
torso, the head, and there was a, it's

almost like there was an assumption
that it was only one shooter, whereas

that's another, another thing you
would never do always one plus one.

If there's one, there's
going to be others.

And I don't care how secure you
think the site is, your site was

just proven to be Insecure, right?

Right.

Cause somebody was there
capable of doing this.

So that means that any sort of
levels of security you had on

that site has now been completely
negated as far as you're concerned.

And you need to treat this as if
there is an additional shooter.

A hundred percent.

So having him at waste, you know,
folded in half, covered by his,

uh, by his people ASAP is a.

Is a, there's no negotiating with that.

Like that needed to happen
a lot faster than it did.

There may be reasons why it didn't.

And that's the reason why I
say we have to be careful when

we're armchair quarterbacking.

There's, there is all kinds of
questions that can be asked.

And I know there's all kinds
of conspiracy theories out

there and all kinds of things.

And sometimes conspiracy
theories are not conspiracies.

Sometimes they're real, you know, and
so, and so, but the only way to know

that is to have intricate knowledge of
every, of the timeline of everything

that occurs and, and be able to establish
who knew what, when, and what are

some of the things that happen now,
some of the hands and feet skills.

And some of the things that we have seen,
there's, I have thoughts on that as well.

So there is a lot of memes being
put out there, one of the ladies

having a real hard time reolstering
her pistol, doing all this.

And the propensity has been to
jump on a gender bandwagon, right?

One of the, one of the, one of the
good friends I have, her name is

Jen LaSalle, has spent an entire,
almost over a decade, if not more

assigned to our prime minister.

And she is.

Uh, a team leader or was a team leader in
a absolutely incredible woman, like really

fit, really capable, you know, shoot,
move, communicate, do all of those things.

She would, she would have made
this girl look like, you know,

a completely different human.

And so, but now when we're, when we start
attacking the gender piece, What, what

does that say about women like Jen that
are out there doing the right thing or

training hard that are doing those things.

So I do not like this.

And we're also taking a sanitized
view of this because she just

had the Superbowl, right?

Let's call a spade a spade here.

If your job is executive protection
on the level five dignitaries,

such as the president of the
United States, and somebody just

shot him, that was your Superbowl.

Travis Bader: Yes.

Seb Lavoie: Okay.

The stress response that you will
have in relation to this is extremely

hard to, to emulate in training.

Travis Bader: Sure.

Really hard through the

Seb Lavoie: roof.

So is it possible, I'm just being
devil's advocate, that she struggled with

arousal more than she did with the rest.

And so, you know, we know as, as you
get more and more aroused, the fine

motor skills are going out the windows
and, and things are being impacted.

Travis Bader: Sure.

Seb Lavoie: Now,

when the, when the military special
operation communities looks at this.

They probably, you know, it's been
quite evident that there was a lot of

condemnation on these types of things,
but also the, the soft military community

needs to understand that their skillset
that was acquired, wasn't really

acquired until they got into battle.

They acquired technical skills and
tactical skills and operational

skills, but really where the meat,
where the wheels meet the pavement

is where the true learning happens.

Well, that's a very, very
difficult scenario to achieve

in the policing context.

Yeah.

Travis Bader: You're not putting
people in true, true situations

over and over again to get that,

Seb Lavoie: that training and experience.

A certain level of inoculation.

And so, and there was a lot of criticism
on this special, on the, on the

secret service and, and on police in
general, but I got some news for you.

A lot of these secret
service guys are former,

Like, so it's not, it's
not so black and white.

There's also another thing here.

The last time a presidential candidate or
a president, uh, a president was, uh, was

attacked in, in such a way was in 1981.

Travis Bader: That's what Reagan.

Seb Lavoie: Correct.

In 81.

So anything that hasn't happened since
1981 is contributing to a certain

level of political instability.

Complacency, and I don't care, I don't
care how you try to, you know, spin it

or whatever it will inherently happen.

It will happen.

And if there is a problem, like say
your current administration isn't

supporting necessarily the, the, the,
the fiscal burden that's associated

with your work or those types of things.

Now, what you, what you start doing, As
you need to, to impose risk mitigating

strategies and risk mitigating
is not risk eliminating, right?

It's only, what can we do based upon what
we have available to us in this time,

at this point, and unfortunately, this
thing that we know could be something.

Now needs to be left alone because
we don't have anybody to do it.

And so the rest of it is quite dangerous.

Like when people say some cop was
approach and provided the information

or a cop showed up on the, on
the roof and the guy pointed his

rifle at him and he, and he left.

Did he leave or did he, He got up on
the rooftop and the rifle was pointing

at him and he ducked down, right?

Like, what do you, what do you
expect him to do in that case?

And I know with the, the,
the propensity as well, okay.

Action versus reaction.

My friend, you show up and the guys
that drop on you and he already

knows what he's about to do.

You're going to fall flat on your
face every single time it happens.

Yeah.

We've seen it over, over in the scenarios.

I can put you in this room right
here, put a gun in front of you.

And I can say to you, I will
put a gun in front of me.

Let's, let's change this.

I'll put a gun in front of me here and
I will sit here with my hands on the

table and I will have a, an operator
or somebody coming in or a cop coming

in with their gun pointed at my chest.

And I will retrieve that gun and
shoot them almost every single

time before they can react.

Action versus reactions.

You know, humans have to observe, they
have to orient, they have to decide, and

they have to act all that takes time.

The person that's already knowing
what they're about to do as

only one thing to do action.

That's, that's all that needs to happen.

And so there it's much faster, all this
to say that there is a lot of factors

here and it's important that we look
at the totality of the circumstances

when it comes to sort of mudslinging
and like the whole, but what's also

important is to be blatantly honest, you
know, from the secret service side, like

feelings, a hundred percent there are.

And so how do we address this?

And I mean, had it not been for Trump,
Moving his head in a very particular way

at a very particular time, call it divine
intervention, call it whatever you want.

Sure.

Um, we would, we would have, we would be
looking at the prospect of very different,

a very different landscape right now.

In fact, I don't know how
bad this could have been.

Travis Bader: Oh, it would be really
bad, regardless of what your opinion

is of, of Trump, one side or the other,
it's as bad for democracy in general.

Seb Lavoie: As far as divisiveness,
I don't think, I don't think it would

have created a bigger, a bigger gap.

And I think that to a certain extent,
this, this unfortunate event, um,

has brought people together from
both parties and not everybody.

But it has, it, it seems to have
cemented that we're here for a

common goal and we've been fighting
each other this entire time.

And you, you, you can see sort of a,
uh, a bit of a shift in the landscape.

Now, will that last people have
short memories, as we know?

Very short.

Yes.

Travis Bader: But the other thing
they're doing and I'm liking is putting

some responsibility on the media
for how they're reporting and how

people are inciting violence against
other people, just through how they

broadcast through the text through.

But through whatever, and there is
a social responsibility, like that

teacher at UBC here, who's now under
investigation, who is saying, uh, and I'm

paraphrasing, uh, too bad, too bad Trump
didn't get shot and too bad it could have

been so much better if he was, um, there
is a social responsibility on people

who have a voice and who have influence
over others to be not inciting that

Seb Lavoie: sort

Travis Bader: of divisiveness.

Seb Lavoie: Sir.

I couldn't agree more just before I launch
into this, there's something I've, I kind

of forgot that I want to add in there.

You know, when I was talking about
the lady, it was having a hard

time reostering and all this stuff.

I just want to be crystal
clear, right there.

We know that most, most.

Law enforcement agencies are highly
restricted when it comes to training.

And when you look at a close protection
agency that follows the presidential

candidates and a variety of other
people, past presidents and whatnot,

I assume that there is, there probably
is a lack of training there, right?

And so some of the physiological
responses to stress are going to be

exacerbated if the training isn't
where the training needs to be.

So we can't just look at this and be
like, okay, well, this was all nerves.

Because it possibly wasn't right nerve
where a factor, there's no question

understanding how the gravity of the
situation as an agent that's working

this, but also understanding that that's
precisely where you're there for you.

And that needs to be at the forefront of.

Everything you do, every step you take,
every punch you throw or don't throw,

every gym session, every range session,
every bullet you fire, all of those

things have to have that in the back
of your mind, my ability to perform

my job to the best of my ability.

Is other people's lifeline,
like it, you know,

Travis Bader: there's no way around that.

I think one of two things would likely
happen from that for this individual.

Who's this, the height of all these
different memes, like, did you see the

David Attenborough AI voice meme where,
uh, David Attenborough, the documentary

filmmaker for, um, Wildlife and it's
this little voice over in the background

of, oh, here we see the internatural
environment and here's where she hones

in on her professional acting skills of
pretending she's drawing the pistol again

and doing a deep scan of the environment.

Like it's really funny, not for her.

So I would imagine that one of
two things are going to happen.

One, she's going to say, maybe this
isn't for me or two, she's going

to say, all right, let's, let's get
back to some training and let's,

uh, let's pick this up a bit.

MF.

And how a person deals with that
sort of thing is going to be, uh,

uh, very important, but you said
there's another point to all of

this that you were jumping into.

Seb Lavoie: Um, that was the, sorry,
the original question you were asking

here, which now escapes my mind.

So what was it again?

I don't know.

I forget you.

I was hoping you could kind of help me

Travis Bader: there.

Seb Lavoie: No,

Travis Bader: um, I can't
remember what it was now.

Well, I'll tell you this much.

Um, I'm, I'm pretty stoked to see
where you're, Moving with your

life and where things are going.

I love the fact that you're constantly
evaluating and taking a look at,

am I bringing the most impact for
myself and for those around me?

Uh, I like the approach that you've taken
with the, um, the mental health walks.

You've done a lot of good with
those and you've passed the torch

and hopefully they continue.

Um, I'm stoked to see what things are
going to look like for you in Alberta.

That's, uh, that's, that's going
to be the next big transition here.

And I, you know, when we're off air
here, I've got a bunch of ideas for you.

So I'm going to be throwing them your
way just to see if, uh, if anyone are

up your alley or if they hit, is there,
is there anything that we haven't

talked about that we should talk about?

Seb Lavoie: We should talk about
the fact that I been wanting an

alibi dog for over a decade again.

Yeah.

But it's something that you just can't.

So they're, they're also referred
to as the central Asian shepherd.

Okay.

And, you know, I have Achilles, my
Malinois, of course, I, I'm, I'm just

all into the simple breeds, you know,
the breeds that are super easy to train.

Oh yeah, so easy, so easy to work with.

And so, uh, so one of the things, one
of the things that I, that I did is

I recently put a deposit on an Abai.

So I will.

Did you really?

Yeah.

So it's, it's, the litter is
supposed to be, uh, to be born in

December or November or December.

And so next sort of, you
know, winter ish Yeah.

I should, I should have an alibi on
the property and that's super exciting.

Travis Bader: No

Seb Lavoie: kidding.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So what are they known for?

What's that breed known for?

Well, they're, they're shepherds, right?

So they're, they're, they're protecting
the flock is their, and their flock is

essentially their family unit, their
territory, and they are extremely

capable and they're extremely capable.

And there's various stories out there
of them, you know, fighting and.

Beating wolves and, and things.

And, and when you talk to wolf experts,
they, you know, some of this has been,

some of this has been questioned at time,
but there is no question that there,

there is individual anecdotal stories of
these, some of these dogs, like growing

to incredible length to, to protect.

And I think that being in an
environment where grizzlies are going

to walk through your yard and all
this stuff is probably a great idea

to have 130 pound alibi, you know,

My cute Malinois that, you know, is, is
really cool for social media, but, uh,

probably wouldn't do anything.

A little too lovey dovey now.

Yeah.

Somebody, somebody compromised
him, not to name anybody.

Travis Bader: Yes.

Yeah.

I say the same thing about my dog.

I'd be like, you guys have
got what you look for, right.

But I mean, it's, uh, there's a
dog trainer that we've had on the

podcast here and Ron Bamey's yeah.

And, uh, I was talking to him
a little bit back and forth.

He's like, you're going to end up with
a lap dog, Trav, you know that, right?

I get it.

I get it.

Uh, but I'm, I'm like you, I'd
love to have another dog, but

it needs to have, uh, space.

Uh, where we're at right
now, I live in Ladner, got a

beautiful place, got some space.

And, uh, But I, the types of dogs
we're looking at are higher energy.

They need a lot of places to roam around.

And so I figure our next dog, we're
going to get, I'm going to have

to do the same thing as you get,
get some acreage, get some place

where they can actually run around.

Seb Lavoie: Absolutely.

And you get, there's a lot of,
you know, Cool stuff you can do.

They got perimeter collars, you know,
where, where it, because it's important.

I mean, you have a dog breed, that's
a big and strong dog breed like this.

You want to make sure that there's a
level of control and we're going to

have, we're going to have some fencing
and things and, and, and, and, and.

And kennels, you know, for them,
because also it has like very thick

fur and it, it gets hot really quickly.

So the winter is perfect.

And also where I'm going in
Southern Alberta, actually the

average is something like minus 10.

So the, so the bad, no, the winters
are not like the winters are say

in Calgary, for example, you know.

And you probably get a
fair bit of sun there too.

It's the sunniest place in the country.

That's right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I have a seven acre available in
case you want to build on it, by the way.

Travis Bader: Well, just maybe a little
workshop with a little shed upstairs.

Do a little blacksmithing.

I'm in.

All right.

I love it.

Well, Seb, thank you so much for
being on the Silvercore podcast.

Again, we're going to do our next
one, I think is going to be held

in Alberta at your new place.

I'm going to bring the show on
the road and we'll do it there.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome, brother.

It was my pleasure.