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Welcome to the Journeymen Wilderness Rendezvous - The Drive Up!
Before you shift, a warning, an invitation, and a confession. Dear friend, before we start talking about gears, I wanna state something upfront. If you're going to trust me with your time, your soul, or your stuck places, you deserve to know where this is coming from. This book wasn't built in theory. It was forged in real experience.
Speaker 1:Mine. It's a story of grit, grace, movement, failure, and surprising momentum in unlikely places. I'm wired to go, to risk, to disrupt. It's not a branding strategy. It's my default setting.
Speaker 1:My whole life, I've seen the world through the lens of what could be done differently. When most people accept what is, I see what could be. I ask questions no one's asking. I notice what no one's naming. I've never been satisfied doing something one way just because that's the way it's always been done.
Speaker 1:Jesus wasn't either. He disrupted for the sake of love over law. That's what I want to be about too. Over time, I've realized I have a unique ability to process chaos. I can sift through noise, expectations, and complexity and pull out the one thing that matters most.
Speaker 1:I create safe space for different kinds of conversations. I challenge people to think differently, not just for the sake of innovation, but because they're stuck in systems that no longer serve them. I don't need the best idea to be mine, but I will fight to surface it, especially if it unlocks someone else's potential. I've built things and lost things. I've walked into rooms I wasn't supposed to be in.
Speaker 1:I've challenged norms and outlasted critics. I've led teams across oceans and found clarity in the waters of Alaska, the mountains of Bolivia, the wilderness of Montana, and in places most people never set foot. And in all of those spaces, I've discovered something deeper than productivity or performance. God often meets us in motion. Especially the kind of motion where you don't have all the answers, but you keep putting one foot in front of the other anyway.
Speaker 1:But here's the tension. Not everyone is wired like me, and not everyone's had the same open road. Some of you haven't been invited to move forward freely. Others have been boxed in, pushed down, or told to stay in a lane you never chose. And for those of you who've heard that lie or had a lid of concrete poured over your potential, I wrote this for you too.
Speaker 1:If you're black, brown, native, or Asian, and you've carried the weight of erasure, injustice, or always being the first or the only, I want to say this clearly. I'm sorry. I see you. I haven't lived your experience, and I won't pretend the path is the same for all of us. That matters.
Speaker 1:Because pressing into and across cultural, generational, or systemic norms might be the hardest gear you ever grab, but it could also be the most sacred and freeing. Still, I believe this with everything in me. You were designed for movement. This is for you wherever you are. Maybe not at my pace, maybe not on my trail, but the gear is in you.
Speaker 1:God put it there. And you don't have to stay where life, fear, culture, or even faith communities left you stuck. My parents modeled both the courage to pioneer and the hesitation to change. I watched them build through adversity and then stall when the cost of shifting became too steep. That same tension lives in me, and maybe it lives in you too.
Speaker 1:This book started as a letter to my younger self. One filled with care, conviction, and a lot of forgiveness. But I quickly realized I'm not the only one who needed it. I wrote this for anyone who knows they were made for more but is not sure how to move or if they are even allowed to. It turns out that is most of us.
Speaker 1:This book is your permission slip, your mirror, your nudge. It's about your professional life. It's about your work, your leadership, and your goals. But it's also about something deeper. It's about who you're becoming when no one else is looking.
Speaker 1:It's about your mindset, your purpose, and the kind of legacy you are building every single day, whether you realize it or not. You don't have to be a CEO. You don't have to be an adventurer. You don't have to have everything figured out. You just have to ask yourself one honest question.
Speaker 1:Am I still in the right gear? If the answer is no, good. You're exactly where this book begins. Let's shift together. Introduction.
Speaker 1:This is where it starts. My story, your reset. There's a moment in every life when you realize that what got you here won't get you there. Maybe that moment came with a job loss, a diagnosis, or a broken relationship. Or maybe it was something quieter, a whisper of discontent that kept rising up even as life looked fine on the outside.
Speaker 1:You were moving. Yes. But were you actually going anywhere? You were producing and providing. But were you truly present?
Speaker 1:I've lived through those moments more than once. One of the most defining came when I was 48 years old. At that time, life looked good. My business was thriving. My marriage was steady.
Speaker 1:My kids were doing well. But underneath all the success, I was coasting. I didn't even realize it until a doctor's report stopped me in my tracks. Based on my genetics and blood work, I had an eighty three percent chance of heart disease, stroke, renal failure or diabetes before I turned 58. That wasn't just a medical issue.
Speaker 1:It was a wake up call. One that disrupted more than my health. It forced me to rethink my habits, my priorities, my faith, and what kind of legacy I was actually building. That was the moment I realized I couldn't keep doing what I had always done. I needed to shift.
Speaker 1:I needed to live differently. I needed to grab another gear. This book isn't about grinding harder or going faster. It's about waking up to the story you're actually writing. It's about moving with purpose instead of pressure and choosing not to coast through the parts of life that matter most.
Speaker 1:What you'll find in these pages isn't a system to fix you. It's a collection of stories, reflections, and practical decisions to help you live with clarity and courage. Starting now. Where the Engine First Stalled. You deserve to know where this message comes from.
Speaker 1:Not because this book is about me, but because what I'm sharing didn't come from a theory or a stage. These ideas were formed in boardrooms, back roads, and quiet spiritual wildernesses. They were shaped by both victories and setbacks through seasons of loss and laughter, And they've been tested in some of the most sacred places I know, like the campfires where my grandkids ask real questions about life, faith, and purpose. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, the son of a state trooper and a bank teller. When I was three, I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Speaker 1:Her family moved often, from Alaska to California to Spokane, Washington. Always chasing stability but rarely finding it. I was the oldest of three, the only boy, and raised in a home where hard work was expected and perfection was often the standard. My dad set the bar high. That came with its challenges, but it also instilled a kind of grit in me that would shape everything that followed.
Speaker 1:Even as a kid, I had a drive to build and explore. I was selling praying mantises at five, owning a fly shop at twelve, and tying and casting in an international fly fishing conclave at sixteen. That early mix of risk and responsibility stuck with me. At 18, I joined my parents' company, Telect, as its first employee. I didn't just show up.
Speaker 1:I poured myself into it. Over the years, I helped grow the company into global markets, navigating economic collapses and leading innovative pivots. I eventually served as president, CEO and chairman. We reached a valuation north of $1,000,000,000 and came within the reach of an IPO, only to have it pulled back at the eleventh hour. But the most important lessons didn't come from the successes.
Speaker 1:They came from the setbacks. When our IPO failed, when global shifts hit our business, when family dynamics stretched thin, I began to realize that leadership required more than skill. It required humility. It demanded reinvention. And it called for deeper questions than most business plans are willing to ask.
Speaker 1:When we sold Telect in 2017, it closed a huge chapter in my professional life. But it opened a much more personal one. That's when I started to focus on what really matters. Legacy, identity, purpose, and living a life that still had fuel in the tank. Under the hood.
Speaker 1:If there's one word that describes how I approach life and leadership, it's disruptor. I have a radar for stuck systems, stale thinking, and unspoken tension, and I don't walk away from it. I lean in, not to create chaos, but to help people grow. Because when something feels off, it probably is. And when coasting replaces calling, something needs to change.
Speaker 1:That wiring shows up in my strengths finder profile. Strategic, responsibility, achiever, activator, and futuristic. These aren't just personality traits to me. They're the lens I lead through. I'm a strategist by nature.
Speaker 1:I think quickly and I'm always scanning for the clearest path forward. I value integrity deeply. I don't just dream. I take action. I don't just imagine what's next.
Speaker 1:I build it. I'm also an ENFP, which means I live with passion, move with intuition, and care deeply about connecting people to what could be. I believe that vision without action is just daydreaming, and action without reflection burns people out. I'm drawn to movement, but I've learned to listen along the way. My best work often happens at the intersection of insight and energy, where ideas turn into action that actually matters.
Speaker 1:At the very center of it all is my faith. I believe I'm holy, chosen, redeemed, and free. Not because I've earned it, but because of the grace of Jesus. I've been married to Terina for more than forty one years. She's been my copilot through every upshift and every curve.
Speaker 1:Together, we've raised three incredible kids, Mitchell, Spencer, and Sheila. And now we're in the joy filled chaos of grandparenting, James, Georgia, Harrison, Elliot, Teddy, Reed, and Zoe. My family is the track I run on. They're the reason legacy matters to me. But let's be honest, family hasn't always been easy.
Speaker 1:I've had to unlearn old patterns and face parts of myself I didn't want to see. I've made mistakes. I've coasted through seasons when I should have leaned in. But I've also rebuilt. I've made amends.
Speaker 1:And I've come to believe that our truest legacy isn't measured by what we build, but by who we become and how we love. Fuel for the Road Ahead. This book is not a self help manual. It's a soul wake up guide. It's for those who feel stuck or restless.
Speaker 1:It's for leaders who are quietly burned out. It's for parents who feel like they're running out of steam. It's for entrepreneurs, pastors, mentors, and friends who are tired of pretending everything is fine and who are ready to live with honesty, depth, and conviction. No more hiding. You'll find real stories here.
Speaker 1:Some gritty and some redemptive. You'll meet a framework I call WTF, which stands for willing to fail. You'll explore identity, forgiveness, spiritual resilience, and how to build a life that actually fits your design. We'll talk about why coasting can slowly undo you, why perfection is a lie, and why failure, when seen clearly, might be your greatest teacher. This isn't about fixing your life.
Speaker 1:It's about facing it. It's about waking up to what's real, letting go of what's not, and choosing to live fully awake and fully alive. You weren't made to drift. You weren't made to hide behind productivity or pretend everything is fine. You are made to live from a deeper place with honesty, courage, and purpose.
Speaker 1:I'll go first. Come with me. Course one, a rally cry. Lap one, coasting will kill you. Stop staying in your lane.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you a question. When you're driving and you hear your tire squeal, what's your first reaction? Panic. Right? That sound hits like an alarm bell.
Speaker 1:Most people assume it means they're about to lose control. But I've learned that it's actually a signal that you're still gripping the road. The squeal happens when that small patch of rubber is fully loaded, digging into the pavement and holding on right at the edge of its traction. It's the sound of capacity and clarity, not collapse. But what do most people do when they hear it?
Speaker 1:They overcorrect. They slam the brakes. They pull back from the moment instead of leaning in. That's where most of us lose control. Not from being too close to the edge, but from bailing out before learning and feeling what the edge can teach us.
Speaker 1:I learned this firsthand at Bondurant, a Grand Prix driving school in Phoenix. On day one, the instructor crammed 15 of us into a passenger van and gunned it around the track. Tires screaming, van tilting, one poor spouse in the front seat practically yelling, Jesus, take the wheel. But the instructor wasn't being reckless. He was teaching us something critical.
Speaker 1:The squeal meant we were still in control. The vehicle was gripping the road. We were finding the fine line between chaos and performance. He had seat time, years of experience living at the edge where the tires hold the weight they were built to carry and the rubber patches pushed to full use just before it breaks free. He knew how to stay calm and trust the small fiberglass seat, thinly cushioned and bolted straight to the frame because that's how you feel the road.
Speaker 1:And that's exactly what life demands from us too. We all need seat time. We need moments where we trust God, trust others, and trust our true self even when everything around us says this might not hold. The squeal isn't a sign we're losing control. It's a signal for growth.
Speaker 1:Cruise control is comfortable until it's not. Here's the problem. Most people aren't driving. They're coasting. Cruise control is easier.
Speaker 1:It feels like safety, predictability, no effort required. But it numbs us before it kills us. It dulls our awareness. We stop checking the gauges. We stop scanning the horizon.
Speaker 1:And before we know it, we've missed the signs. At 48, I felt fine. Regular checkups, premium life insurance, no major red flags. But when my wife was diagnosed with lupus, it took us ninety days to see a specialist, only to find out she was dangerously low in vitamin D. That wake up call made us both look in the mirror.
Speaker 1:At my parents' suggestion, we went to the prevention center, where we met Doctor. Amy Donine, co author of Beat the Heart Attack Gene. What I learned there shocked me. I had severe inflammation, a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis, and a metabolic age of 60, even though I looked and felt much younger. Then came the stat that shook me: an eighty three percent chance of stroke, heart attack, renal failure or diabetes by age 58.
Speaker 1:I was coasting and it nearly cost me everything. Over the next fourteen years, we made major changes. Nutrition, weight training, supplements, regular checkups. At 61, my metabolic age is now 42. But it didn't happen by accident.
Speaker 1:We had to up shift then, and we'll have to do it again in the future. Coasting might feel easier, but it's an illusion. It's sleepwalking towards slow decline. Through the windshield. In both driving and life, there's a big difference between keeping an eye on the dashboard or rearview mirror and actually watching the road ahead.
Speaker 1:In organizations, many people stay glued to the controls, metrics, data, routines. They know if the fuel tank's full, the lights are on, the tires are aired up, but that's not leadership. That's maintenance. That's going historical. Someone has to be looking through the windshield.
Speaker 1:We have to be watching the horizon, reading conditions, anticipating obstacles, scanning for opportunity. Without that vision, even the best run systems will crash into the future unprepared. Leadership, whether in our family, business, or personal growth, requires more than stability. It requires awareness, boldness, movement. It requires someone who won't just manage today, but will prepare for what's coming.
Speaker 1:Your pit crew. Even the best drivers don't win races alone. They have a pit crew. A team that knows them inside and out. People who aren't afraid to speak the truth, who refuel them when they're empty, and who help them get back in the race when everything falls apart.
Speaker 1:Their strengths pour into the driver, and together they find success. We all need that. I've had pit crews in different seasons. Small groups, business leaders, old friends, a coach named John Townsend, who once challenged me to form a protection team. Later, my mentor, Bill Thrall, helped me formalize a group of seven people who know me, love me, and speak truth into my life.
Speaker 1:My wife was the first person I asked. In 2024, I presented them with a 12 page self assessment, which included my strengths, style, convictions, and wiring. We spent eight hours over three meals walking through it. At every section, Bill would ask him, is this true of Wayne? This was one of the most clarifying experiences of my life.
Speaker 1:Why? Because over time, distortion creeps in. We start believing counterfeit voices. People who don't know us, don't love us, and have no business shaping our identity. Sometimes my own personal trinity of me, myself, and I only makes those voices louder.
Speaker 1:But my pit crew, they guard my truth. They protect my calling. They keep me from coasting. These are my destiny defenders, and we all need them. We all need people who remind us who we really are, even when we're not in the same room.
Speaker 1:Destiny defenders call us back to truth when we forget, and they believe in us when we start to doubt ourselves. Baby steps and new roads. I know this might all sound intense, but here's the thing. You don't have to go from zero to a 150 overnight. Growth isn't about flooring it past the pack.
Speaker 1:It's about showing up for the lap you're in. When I started track driving, I didn't hit top speed right away. Lap after lap, my confidence grew. My capacity increased. Eventually, pushing past 100 became possible.
Speaker 1:Each lap taught me something new. Not because I was fearless, but because I was willing. At some point, I needed a driving coach to help me reach the edge where the tires start to squeal. That's what matters. Not perfection, not performance, just willingness.
Speaker 1:Your path doesn't need to look like mine. You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't need a five year plan. You need permission to explore, to experiment, to stretch. Last year at Petty Creek Mountain Ranch, I invited a group of guys to try something different.
Speaker 1:No fly fishing, no shooting, just hands on work. We ran the sawmill, operated the excavator, learned the skid steer. Most of them have never touched that kind of equipment before. By the end of the day, they were lit up, talking, laughing, coming alive. Because trying something new reshapes you.
Speaker 1:It opens up new pathways. It stirs something deeper than routine ever could. And that's what this book is about. Saying yes to discomfort. Saying no to autopilot.
Speaker 1:Trying something even when you don't know how it ends. So scratch the Scottish Highlander bowl with a rake. Sit by the fire with a cigar and a journal. Sleep under a sky with zero light pollution. Or just reclaim thirty minutes from scrolling and invest in something that actually feeds you.
Speaker 1:Do something that wakes up your soul. That's how you grab another gear. And that's where we're going from here. In the chapters ahead, we're going to talk about identity, courage, calling, failure, relationships, grit, purpose, and legacy. We're going to name the stuff that keeps you stuck and walk straight through it together.
Speaker 1:You weren't built to coast. You weren't designed to survive. You were created to live fully engaged, fully awake, and fully alive. This isn't a self help book. It's a soul wake up manual because here's the truth.
Speaker 1:The life you were meant for is just beyond the gear you've been afraid to shift into. Gear check. Whether you're on the track or at the range, you don't move forward without a pause. You stop. You recalibrate.
Speaker 1:You make sure you're dialed in before the next move. You check your gear. You make small adjustments that could change the whole outcome. That's what this moment is. Don't breeze past this.
Speaker 1:What you just read was meant to light a fire. The questions that follow each chapter aren't just reflective. They're catalytic. They're meant to move you to spark action to get something real in motion. What did you learn?
Speaker 1:And what are you going to do with it? So pause, dial in, and answer honestly. Where are you pretending to drive but really just coasting? What do the people closest to you see that you're avoiding? Write it down.
Speaker 1:What's one thing you've never done but need to try in the next thirty days to wake something up inside of you? It doesn't need to be big. It just needs to be bold enough to disrupt the drift. To download a printable version of the gear check questions at the end of each lap, visit grabanothergear.com/gearcheck.
Speaker 2:To the It's a call to come back living, shift a gear and make some room. I had friends who saw the drifting, saw the weight I tried to hide, said you're chasing all the dashboards, but your soul ain't on the ride. And the spirit hit the brakes hard, pulled me up to see the view. Son, the future's on the windshield, not the rearview stuck on you. You can't outrun the questions when they're carved into your bones, you can't build a life worth living if you're driving it alone.
Speaker 2:Because coasting will kill you. While you swear you're doing fine, it'll numb you in the silence, make you leave your heart behind. But the road is wide with mercy. And there's grace inside the turn. If you stop your quiet dying and let your spirit start to burn.
Speaker 2:There's a danger in the idle. There's a cost to stay still. There's a truth you can't escape from. You were made for something real. Every gear you fear to grab now is the place you're meant to grow.
Speaker 2:And the only way to live again is to push the pedal low. Because coasting will kill you, leave your legacy undone. But the squeal out on the asphalt says your story ain't yet run. So rise up from the drifting.