From Paralysis to Perseverance: Ian Bowen's Journey of Resilience

Welcome to the Amberly Lago Show, Stories of true grit and grace. Thank you for tuning in today. I'm so grateful that you are here. You know, life is beautiful, but it's also hard. Oh, my goodness. We have challenging times that a lot of times will test our strength, our resilience, our faith, even our hope. And if you've ever felt stuck, if you are feeling a little bit of fear or if you just need some tips on how to be resilient and how to persevere and how to be positive, well, I have the guest for you today, so make sure you stick around to listen to this entire show. You're going to want to hear his journey. I have Ian Bowen with us here today. He's amazing. His story, I cannot wait for you to hear. He is a coach. He's a motivational speaker. He is an owner of Fit Body Boot Camp. He is just an all around amazing human. He's got a top podcast. Yeah, that's right. Top podcast. You heard me, Ian, and I was so honored to be a guest on your show. So thank you so much, Ian, for being here on the Amberly Lago show.

It is an honor and a privilege to be here. Amberly. Thank you so much for having me. It is surreal to be sitting here speaking with you as you are, have been my. My mentor. You are my coach, my idol. And I found myself just listening to you like I was watching one of your. One of your shows, one of your other podcasts. So I've always wanted to have the opportunity to actually be here to talk to you. So this is super special for me. So thank you for having me.

Oh, my goodness. You are so kind. Well, you know what? I. Y', all, I just, like, messaged Ian today. I think when you get that gut feeling, when you get that nudge that when your heart whispers to reach out to somebody that you should, and I just had that nudge. I was like, you know what? I. I want in on the show because you truly are a miracle. I mean, you're. You're. Everything was tested. I mean, you. There was a time, and I'd like for you to share with the audience your story a little bit, how you. How far you've come, because it's pretty miraculous. And there's a lot of people that feel stuck, and I know that you're going to give them hope and inspiration and some real tangible tools. We're going to go into some of the systems that you use that have enabled you to go from really, really being stuck to where you are now. So can you tell us a little bit about your story so people can. Where you like what I'm even talking about? And they will be. They'll be just as amazed as I. They will be as. As amazed as I am if I can talk.

Yeah. So it was back in 2009 where I woke up in a hospital bed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. And from the chest down, I couldn't move anything.

Oh, man.

Feel anything. I was completely paralyzed from the chest down. Now, to give a little backstory to that story, about six weeks prior, I started to have some symptoms, if you will, some tingling sensations in my legs. Didn't know what they were from, so I really didn't give too much thought to it. I did what most men typically do, and that is just ignore it and hope it's going to go away, which it didn't. So that tingling sensation started actually to travel from my right leg to my left leg, then from my hips all the way down to my toes. And of course, I was wondering, what in the world is happening? Up until this point, I had been an athlete all my life. I was in great shape. I was 32 years old, and I had.

I had.

My life was all heading in the right direction. I had a promising job. I had two small kids. My daughter was six. My son was one. Life was great. And then life decided to slap me across the face and test me a little bit.

Yeah. Well, what was it?

So after that tingling sensation actually started to move through my body, and then I started to have some really serious pain underneath my chest. I went and got an MRI from my doctor, and they saw there was something actually growing on my spinal cord.

Something growing on your spinal cord?

But they didn't. At that point, we didn't know it was actually growing. At that point. It was just something was on my spinal cord. So my doctor said, hey, we got your MRI back. There's something on your spinal cord.

Where was it on?

Spinal cord was in my thoracic spine.

Okay. And that's like, in the middle of your back? Because for those of you who don't know, I'm like, was it like. That's where I thought it was. If it was from, like, the chest down, you couldn't feel anything.

Yeah.

Yeah. So anyway, I was just curious.

Yeah. Thoracic spine think, like, in between your shoulder blades.

Yeah.

And so my doctor said, I don't know what this is. We're not messing with anybody around here. I'm going to send you to A special. So off I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, which is like the specialist of specialists up there. They ran me through a battery of tests. They gave me their own mri, and sure enough, they said, yeah, you have something that's not on your spinal cord. It's actually growing inside your spinal cord.

Oh, my goodness.

And at this point in time, not only do I have these tingling sensations and this pain under my chest, now I'm starting to actually have some mobility issues.

Oh, gosh.

So I'm having trouble getting up from a chair and starting to walk. Now, again, at 32 years old, picture of health. This is a shock. This is out of left field. So the doctors tell me that, well, we think we know what this is. We have two possibilities, because the tests that we ran all came back inconclusive. But we think this is potentially a tumor that's growing inside your spinal cord. So it could be cancer, or it's this thing, this disease called neurosarcoidosis. And at that point in time, like, whoa. So you're either telling me that I

have either something really bad or. Really bad.

Yes. Or this disease I never heard of before.

Yeah.

And say, so they told me the only way that we can find out with 100% certainty what this is, is we have to go in and do a biopsy. And my neurologist was very clear. He said, this is a very risky surgery. You could be paralyzed for the rest of your life. However, we need to know what we're dealing with so we can diagnose properly and have a correct course of action.

Well, that. I mean, honestly, that's so scary. Actually, today, when I was texting you, I was texting you from my doctor's appointment where they want to do another spinal block on me. And I've had so many spinal blocks. I've had a spinal stimulator where they put metal leads into your spine. And today it's a new doctor. My other doctor that did the spinal cord stimulator was in California, and this is a doctor in Texas. And he said to me today, he goes, well, I'd like to do, you know, another spinal block. And I. I said, I've done dozens of them, and this is for complex regional pain syndrome. Yeah. And he said, well, they don't do them the way that I do them. And I want to do this spinal block because. To see if you're a good candidate for another procedure. And I said, what? You mean the spinal stimulator? And he was like, yeah. And I said, oh, no, I've already done that. I will never do that again. I said, I would rather live with this pain for the rest of my life than ever try that again. That's how bad it was. And on the way home, I called my husband, and I said, yeah, can you believe they actually want to try another. They're, like, thinking of doing a spinal stimulator on me. And my husband was like, well, it's been a long time since you've had that done. Maybe you should try it. I was like, hell, no. I'm not trying that. I don't want. It's scary with your spine, like, the doctor's telling you you could be paralyzed. It's like, oh, okay. That's all well, right. Also, Ian, especially when you've been an athlete your whole life. That's what's even more of. You know, any. I actually had a client of mine when I was in the fitness industry. He. When I was, like, bedridden for so long, he came to visit, and he was kind of wacky, but he goes, so, Will, if you're listening to this. Sorry about that, that I just said that about you, because he's gonna know. But, no, he goes. He goes, man, something like this, bad like this, if it would have happened to me, I kind of would have been in heaven. I like laying around watching TV and having people bring me food. And I was like, this is the worst that I. I feel like I'm in prison being shackled to this bed. Yeah. So what was going through your head when the doctor told you that?

Well, at that point, I was still pretty naive, I guess, is the best way to describe it. Because I'm thinking, okay, let's go in and do the surgery and let me recover and get back to life. Because I was actually training to run a 5k later on that. That summer. This was in June. The 5K was in August. Like, let's. Let's do the surgery. Let's get this thing going so I can start rehabbing.

Well, you know what? I think a little bit of that is probably a little bit of, like, you're. You're in survival mode. Okay, what do we have to do so I can. You were keeping your eye on the PR eyes, and I love that you have that mindset that you were like, okay, whatever we have to do, because I've got. I've got a run coming up. I mean, that's exactly how I would be thinking, too.

Right.

I swear that. I love that. But, see, a lot of people would be thinking Oh, I can't do this. They'd be, oh, woe is me. What do you think gave you the mindset to say, okay, let's get this surgery done? Let's. So I can run this race? Did you always have that type of a mindset?

Yeah, I think our. Our friend Bryce Henson, who likes to use this term factory installed. I think it may have been factory installed in me as a child. I just. I've had some. Some instances. Some great experiences, but they were difficult experiences, and they taught me that I needed to rel myself, and that if I did and if I believed in my own capabilities, that I could do some pretty incredible things. So when this obstacle entered my life, it was just, okay, you're giving me the information. I'm hearing it. What do we need to do to get to the solution? Because there. There is no other option here than let's go through it so I can get through it and get on with my life?

Yeah.

Little did I know it was going to change my life completely.

So take us to that next step. What happened next?

So after the surgery, you know, waking up, the. The worst possible outcome, it happened. I was paralyzed from the chest down. And I think it was day two after my surgery that my. My care team came into my. My room, my recovery room, and started doing some, you know, neurological tests. And one of the nurses, I remember, had a push pin, and she started poking my feet and my shins and my legs and my belly and asked me, can you feel this? Can you feel this? Can you feel this? And nope, no. No. Can't feel anything. And so the doctors then started to give me my prognosis and kind of giving me painting a picture of my future. And they said, ian, well, we. We think you're going to be able to walk again, but you're probably going to need a walker or a cane or crutches or some sort of durable medical equipment. And I don't know if I just didn't hear them or, again, if I was just naive, but I asked them, well, am I ever going to be able to run again? And that's when they said, no, most likely not. And they kind of looked at me

like, are you crazy? We just said that we just told

you you're probably not going to walk again,

that they told you you could walk again. Because I'm. Were you thinking, oh, my gosh, I'm going to be paralyzed for life. Was there a moment that you felt that. That I'm going to be paralyzed for life?

You know, Amberly, oddly enough, no.

Really?

Yeah. I. When I woke up and I couldn't feel anything and I couldn't move anything, I felt like in my mind this was. This is temporary. And after they told me that I was probably going to walk with some durable medical equipment and not run again, that's when I decided in advance that that was not going to be my reality at that point in time. That was like a challenge. And I joke about this when I talk about it, and I thank my father, rest his soul. I joke that because of him I have an adverse relationship to authority. So when you tell me that I can't do something, you've just lit the fire, right?

Yeah.

For me to prove you wrong.

Yeah,

yeah. Because.

Right.

Like, you're not going to tell me that I can't. You don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of. And there's a saying by Les Brown who he. He says that never let someone else's perception of your capabilities become your reality. And I love that because that is so true. Like, I am not going to let. And I believe this is what we do as humans. Unfortunately, we allow someone else's view of us through their lens, whether that lens is foggy, cracked, crystal clear, whatever. But it's their lens. We allow what they see through their lens become our reality. And we don't need to do that. And when we do do that, it takes our power away, especially if it's somebody that you revere, that you hold in high esteem. So so many of us who go to a doctor or physician for something, whatever it is, and they tell us that you're not going to be able to do this, you can't do this, you shouldn't do this. We kind of take it as gospel because, well, they're the doctors. But what I come to came to realize is that doctors only know what they know. And they call medicine a practice for a reason. And there was no way that those doctors could tell me with 100 certainty that I was or wasn't going to be able to walk again or run again. They can only go off of what their experiences are and what their patients that they have dealt with before. But I knew with 100 certainty because I believed that I was going to overcome that obstacle and there was nothing that was going to stand in my way. And that's where the mindset really came in to save me.

It's so important. Mindset is so important. And I believe, you know, we can have all these thoughts. You know, I'M I. I struggle sometimes with self doubt. I can be my own worst critic. I've got a bully that lives in my head that tells me mean things. But I remind myself that we don't have to believe everything our own mind tells us. Yeah, how do you start to shift your mindset before we go on to like, where you gone now, when you're in that moment and you're struggling with the walker? Because I don't know about you, but I did not like having a walker. I think I had a walker for one day and I was like, I can't use this walker. Like, give me some crutches. Because the walker made me feel like I was a hundred years old. No offense against anybody that has to use a wall walker. That just wasn't me. I mean, I was in the prime of my career and an athlete my whole life and I'm like, I don't want to use a walker. But there was something about. Maybe it's because I was on. I'd been on crutches when I was a kid and crutches seemed like it was moving me in the right direction. So no offense to anybody who has to use walker. I get it. My dad is a walker. But was that hard for you, having to use the walker because you've got pictures on your Instagram and it shows you, you know, there in your walker. How did that affect you mentally?

Well, I mean, I think to your point, use having to use some sort of durable medical equipment when you have been athletes and you've identified yourself as someone who is physical, who can get up, get down, run, walk, jump, skip, hop, do whatever you want, when you want, how you want. And then all of a sudden you're relegated to this piece of equipment that you absolutely 100 need to move. That's. That's hard. That's a hard thing because now your identity is shifting with. Without your permission. So for me, with that, with that walker, it was actually, it was a step forward for me because before that they literally had to crane me out of my bed, up out of my bed and set me down into a wheelchair because I couldn't, I couldn't even sit up. I couldn't sit up in bed. I couldn't get myself out of bed. So once I got to the point to using a walker, that was a victory for me.

Yeah, well, I love you say that. I love that you looked at it as like, okay, this is the next step forward. This is a victory. And I had to shift my mindset to like, Looking at it is a way. It is a means of transportation for me. Like, it's a. Like it's going to get me moving and able to do things on my own faster. But it was a. It was hard for me. It was. Mentally, it was hard. So I'm. I'm so happy to hear that you were like, oh, no, this is a step forward. And then how long did you use the walker?

Oh, wow. I was probably on that walker for a number of. A number of months before I was able to transfer from a walker to crutches. But even at that point, if I knew I had to walk a long distance, it was the walker for sure. Just because it gave me more stability, you know? And while in the hospital, lucky for me, I had been an athlete all my life. I had been weight training for some time since high school, so I had a lot of upper body strength, because without that, I really don't know how I would have been able to. To do any of the walker activities at the hospital, because literally, I had physical therapists behind me, pushing my legs, just make me move forward. And I had to, you know, just hold myself up onto that walker. But then you go into. When you go into public, right, and you have this walker and people are looking at you and what they think in their mind of someone who usually uses a walker and what they see in front of them aren't matching up, and they're looking at you like.

Especially because you guys, if you're listening to this and you're not watching it. Ian. Oh, my gosh. So Ian's buff. He came to the. We had a retreat at the house, and he was the token Bella. He came with his wife. And it was all the mastermind, ladies and Ian, and you fit right in. But it was part of the mastermind. We did photo shoots. So everybody got new pictures, and Ian comes back upstairs and got a tank top on. And everybody was like, oh, my gosh, look at those guns. I mean, he's got some guns. You can see if you are watching this on YouTube, he's got some guns. My favorite video, I swear, of that whole retreat is when you and I took a picture and we're doing our guns, and Dana comes up and she's, like, hitting up. Yeah. Laughing our biceps. That's the best. That's the best.

That was fun.

Yeah. So I'm sure people were like, what's up with this guy? He's got, like, this muscular upper body, but he's using a walker. Did you get comments from people yeah.

Oddly enough, a lot of people thought that I was in the military. Oh. And thought that I had been injured, and that's what they assumed. What was going on with my situation?

Well, I need to know what happened. Did they take the stuff out of your spine that was growing? What. How'd that get better?

Right. So sarcoid is. It's a. It's a rare form. Actually, the neurosarcoid is a rare form of sarcoid. Sarcoid is usually diagnosed as pulmonary neurosarcoidosis. At the time, back in 2009, 2% of all sarcoid cases were diagnosed as neurosarcoidosis. So rare form, rare disease, not curable. It's treatable. Oh, so they couldn't take anything out once they found out what it was, then they just treated the. The lesion, actually, what it was called, that was growing inside my spinal cord.

So is it gone now?

No, it's much smaller than it was, but it's not gone. I don't think it ever will be. But. But what they've told me is that the further I get away from the incident, the less likely I have a chance of it recurring.

Okay. So I haven't had any symptoms, or. Do you.

It's hard to say, because I do feel twinges from here from time to time that kind of bring me back to, oh, is this what I felt before? But my physical therapist, once I got home, she gave me a great way to think about that. She's like, when you have those twinges and those tingling sensations, why do you automatically think that it's a bad thing? Why couldn't it be that that's just your nerves growing back?

I like that. I'm glad she told you that. Yeah.

So I'm like, okay, that is a. That is a wonderful way to think about things and just put it in a positive light. Why does it have to be negative? Why can't this be a positive thing? So that's the way that I choose to. To deal with those things when they pop up.

Well, what would you say to someone who is. They have a negative mindset to help them switch that to a more positive mindset? What's the first thing they should do

depending on their situation? I think that they really need to, and I think we all need to do this, is think about the fact that we have a choice. We have a choice on how we respond to any type of situation, either positively or negatively. And if we have been dealing with our life, our situations, our challenges, our Obstacles in a negative way all this time. Well, let's look at how that's been working for us. And if we continue to do that, we know what's going to happen. Why not flip the script and choose to start dealing with things in a positive light, and let's just see what happens.

Let me tell you something.

Why not?

I have to flip the script a lot. I mean, coming home in traffic today, and I was like, Really? I have four miles to go, and it's going to take me 25 minutes for four miles. And I started going. I. Well, I'm going to be real honest, because we keep it real on the show.

Yeah.

I was like, man, I'm sick of this traffic. I hate this traffic. That's what I was, like, saying in my head. And then I was like, amberly, Everly, Emily, stop. I was like, wait a minute. No, this is perfect time right now for me to call my granny, to call my mom, to call my sponsor, to call the people that, you know, like, I really care about. And this is the perfect time. It's quiet. There's no interruptions. I'm here. And so that was how I was able to flip the script. But I think we all have that ability to script flip the script. But what helps me a lot with that is the power of pause. Like, wait a minute. Pause. Let me just pause. Actually, I've thought about getting a pause tattoo. I have a friend that has a pause tattooed on her arm, and she will physically look down and, like, touch the pause. Press pause. Yeah.

That's great.

Well, you always. I mean, seriously, I'm gonna have to ask Dana if you always have such great attitude, I'll ask your wife. But you. You have such a great attitude. You're always smiling. That's one of the things that I was really drawn to, you and your energy. So, you know, Ian and I met at a Fit Body Boot camp conference where I was speaking, and. And Dana was like, you better get out of that chair, because we had Q and A after that. Q and A was fun. That's just a fun. Those are my people. It's just a fun group of people I love. And so Dana was like, go ask her a question. You go, go, go. I love your wife. And so you asked the question. And then you even came out in the lobby and talked to me for a while. And I told you this when I was on your podcast. But out of all the conversations, I remember our conversation the most, like, so much because of your story, because you went from this you know, with a walker, being paralyzed, using a walker to now you run marathons, that is amazing. And it's the power of your perseverance. It's that positive perseverance. So tell us, how can somebody start to get more of a positive, like, get positive, but also get that, like, persistence and perseverance? How can you do that?

Yeah, yeah, that is the key. The positive persistence has been what has worked for me, and I think that it has been pivotal. Being in the fitness industry for almost 12 years now and working with clients over those 12 years, mindset is huge, and positive persistence is paramount to success. So what I've. What I've noticed and what I've used on my rehabilitation journey is five things, five steps. And the first is. And it's an acronym, and the acronym is rinse R I N S E. And the first thing is remember. And that is all about remembering that we can do hard things. So when we are in that tough spot, when we're in that negative mindset where we are thinking that we have the world, the weight of the world on our shoulders, we're backed up against the wall. We just don't know how we're going to make it through this challenge. We have to think back in our lives and remember that we've been in this situation before. Scenario may be different, environment may be different, timing may be different, but we've been in a situation before. We were up against it, and we didn't know how we're going to succeed, but we found a way. And that can be something as simple as remembering when you were a kid learning how to ride a bike or learning how to swim, right? Like you just didn't figure it out. You had to go through it, and you did. You finally did, right? So remember that you have what it takes to succeed. And here's the thing, too, that every situation that we're in, if we're paying attention, we learn something from it. And every challenge that we take on, when we achieve success, I like to think that we take a tool away from that, a metaphysical tool, if you will, and we have this metaphysical backpack on our back that we carry with us at all times. And every time that we make it through a challenge, we take that tool and we put in our backpack. And when the next obstacle comes, you take that tool out and you start pounding the stone on the next challenge. And when you cross that barrier and you succeed, you take that, you put in your backpack, and when the next hurdle comes, you pull those out. So you take all Those experiences that you've had in the past that have gotten to you, where you are right now. And remember that you can do hard things because you've done it before.

I love it.

And that will help you focus on and know that you will be able to succeed in the future. And then there is I, which is all about imagine. And this is something that was really important for me while I was in hospital. Laying there in hospital bed, paralyzed, not being able to move, that's all I could do was imagine. And when you could imagine yourself so vividly and so clearly with detail, already being the person that you want to become, already having accomplished what you set out to do, or already having breaking broke through that wall that's ahead of you, when you can envision that and use your imagination, you actually start to draw that towards you. When you put that energy out into the universe of this is who I'm going to be, this is what I'm going to do, no matter what. And you're using that imagination, you invite the universe in to give it to you, and then you have the in. And this, we already talked about this a little bit, and that is noticing your small wins. Like, when I noticed that I was able to use a walker, that was a victory. When I noticed that I was able to move from a walker to crutches, that was a victory. Even though my. My goal was be able to walk again someday, run again. Those small steps, those small victories, noticing them was super important. Because what I found is that even with my clients that I work with, that we are so focused on the end goal that we are not focusing on the journey and all of the small victories that we pile up along the way. So when we get defeated, I'm not getting there fast enough. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to achieve my goal. Let's hit that pause button you talked about and let's look back at how far we have come and let's get excited about the progress that we have made, because that's going to give you the fuel and the energy to continue to push forward. And in doing so, you start to do what the S stands for and rinse. And that is shift your mindset. Because what I noticed in my own experience is that you have to shift your mindset. Instead of focusing on the things that you can't do, you need to focus on the things that you can't do. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have, to the best of your ability. And if that's all you can do. That's all you can do. And usually that's enough. But what I noticed with our members that walk in on day one into our gym, sometimes they come in defeated. They come in using some no, no words which are try, can't, won't, don't, sorry. These are five words that I tell our members you are not allowed to use in this space because those are all words of negativity, powerless words that lead to defeat. We want to be using I can, I will, I must. As you mentioned, the words that come out of here go right into here. So when you shift your mindset and you start to focus on the things that you can do, you start to empower yourself. You start to actually give yourself more courage and confidence to continue to push forward, because you have that I can, I will, I must mindset. But here's the thing, and here's the crux of it. It's not all rainbows and sunshine, right? That's where the E comes in. And that's about expect, as you know this as well as anybody else on your journey to success, on your journey of recovery, you better expect it to be difficult. It is not going to be easy. Nobody is going to hand it to you. No one's going to say, here's your goal on a silver platter. It's going to be hard. But when you expect the journey to be difficult, you start to formulate mental fortitude. You start to get your body and your mind ready for the next challenge. Because we all know it's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when and when you expect it. When you expect it to show up. When it does show up, you can look at adversity and say, oh, I was expecting you. I'm ready for you. It's not a surprise. It's not going to smack you in the face. You were ready for it. So when you're able to expect those adversities to come, you have the tools that you need to deal with them. And in being an entrepreneur, as you know, well, shoot, just being a father, a husband, just a human being, challenges are going to arise. And if you are ready for them, you can handle them much better.

Oh, that's so good. Can we just listen to you all day? I mean, just keep on teaching us. Well, you do workshops and stuff, and I love all that you've been sharing on your social media. This is so good. And I'm sure we're just getting a small nugget of what you coach and what you teach and the workshops you do and what you share from stage. I love that so much. I always say we need to work on our resilience before we need it. So when adversity or challenges come our way, we're prepared for it. And I love that you. You know, when you were talking about the in. In rinse, I just said today about what about instead of finding light at the end of the tunnel, what about if you find light throughout the whole journey? Like, what if there are ways to find the light throughout the whole journey? And. And I do think so many people are caught up on the end goal. And I'm guilty of that.

I've.

I mean, I can get into a place where I'm like, I just need to get this done because I need this to happen on this date. And then. But that's a very dangerous thing because what happens is we're like, okay, as soon as I've done the TED Talk or as soon as I've published the book, you know, a lot of people say, well, as soon as I buy the Ferrari or as soon as I buy the mansion, then I'll be happy. But we really have to learn to. I'm gonna just say my book. Find the joy through the journey little book thing there that I just threw in. I can't help. But it's so true, though. It's.

Yeah.

Instead of focusing on just the end results or just the end goal, to me also, that is very. That. That's hard. I mean, look, I'm a recovering alcoholic, and I still go to my. My 12 step meetings, and even we were reading out of the big book today, and one of the things in the Big book said there was an alcoholic. We tell stories at the beginning of the month every month. And there was an alcoholic who couldn't imagine, like, going the rest of his life without having a drink, but if he just focused on the 24 hours ahead of him, he's like, sure, I could do that. And then another day came. Sure, I can do this. And, And, And I. A lot of times when I have an, like, a lot on my to do list, I focus on one thing one day at a time to. To get me. And then really find ways to tap into joy along the journey. I'm curious what brings you joy in

working out? Amberly?

Me too. Right.

So one of the things that. That fill me up is being able to get a workout in the morning, because I know if I don't get it in the morning, it's probably not going to happen anytime else of the day because everything else, life happens. As you know, we have six kids and we own a business and so life's pretty busy. So get the workout in and then

what time do you work out? What time do you work out?

So I'm. So I'm up at 4 and then I do my, my morning routine, which is I do my morning meditation and then by 4:45, I'm usually hitting the weights.

So that's why you're always so positive and smiley. It's because you do the work. Do you get that people? He does the work. That's a secret. But what time do you go to bed if you're getting up at 4:00'? Clock?

9:30.

Okay, that's good.

Going to bed at 9:30, getting up, get my workout in. And then I slide back into bed with Dana with my wife for 15 minutes of cuddle time. Oh, and then we get up and we have a cup of coffee with each other every morning.

Y' all are the cutest couple ever.

That, that fills me up to the brim.

That is awesome.

I love that quiet time, that snuggle time. There's something about like just the energy of that kinesthetic connection of feeling somebody that you love so much sitting next to you and vibing with them and vibing, like mashing your auras together. And it's just, it's a, a beautiful thing. So that's how I start my day. And after that it's like, okay, I am set to enter the world. Let's go. And in the mornings, you know, when the boys are in school, I mean, as soon as 615 hits, if, if I haven't gotten all that in, too bad, too sad. Life is happening. Here we go. Breakfast bus school. Let's go.

Yeah.

So it's important to make that time so really important to make that time in the morning that I basically get myself ready and do the things that I need. Like, I guess it's my self care, you know, do the things that I need to do to get myself into a place so I can be the best version of myself for my clients, for my family, and for everybody else that I'm going to interact with for the rest of the day. Yeah.

Well, how. I've got a question for you. I want to backtrack a little bit because I want to know, like here you're working out every morning. You're just so active. You look like you're ready for, you know, a fitness competition. How long did it Take before you went from walker to marathons.

Yeah. So it was probably about a year and a half going from that hospital bed to a walker, to the crutches, to two canes to one cane to no cane. And it was probably about two and a half years where I actually ran my first 5K. And I emphasize ran because it was, if you remember, early on in. In our interview here, when I said that I had a 5K to do in August.

Oh, yeah.

I did that 5K. Wow. But I didn't finish it. So I showed up in my. With my walker. I had ankle braces on both of my ankles because I couldn't. I could. Now, at this point in time, I could move my legs under my own power a little bit, but I still couldn't feel my feet. So I would always roll my ankles and not feel. So I had to have these ankles shin orthotics in my shoes. And I made it a mile. And after that, I was exhausted. That was it. That's all I had. So. But out. But again, that was a small victory.

Yeah. Yeah.

It wasn't. I didn't do the 5K. That was my goal. I made it a mile, and that's all I could do. And I gave it everything. So I was proud of myself for that.

Well, that is something to be proud of. Look, Ian, I remember when my first goal was to be able to use crutches for long enough, like, have my leg down long enough to make it just a few feet out of the living room, around the corner to use the bathroom on my own. That was a victory. And so when you're listening today, I want you to really realize, like, what Ian did to get to where he is, it wasn't overnight. And I think a lot of times people think that things just happen fast. And, you know, with things moving so fast, between social media, I mean, tick, tock, I see my daughter, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, and she doesn't really have much patience. I see that when we're driving, believe me. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. It's like, can you have some delayed gratification? But I just really want you listening to. To hear, like, this is a process. And whether, you know, I. I pray none of you ever find yourself, you know, paralyzed, but we've all been hit by something. And whether it's in our finances, our, you know, our entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial journey, our relationships, that good things take time, great things take even longer. And now what you're doing is so great. And, I mean, you're Coaching. And now you have a coaching program. You're coaching other people on how to really succeed. So I'll ask you where people can find you next. But what is the definition of success to you?

For me, it is really living with positive persistence, because I think when we can embody that, that can permeate through everything that we do. And just to. To hit reverse here for a second, it took me 13 years to go from that hospital bed to running my first marathon.

Wow. Thank you for sharing that.

Teen years. So, yes, it did not happen overnight. And I think a lot of us need to give ourselves, to use one of your words, some grace. And we need to pat ourselves on the back for the work that we are putting in, because social media, as you mentioned, we flip through that, we turn it on, and that's all we see is success. And that has become our expectation. And then for some reason, when we get into our own lives, we. We forget that, oh, yeah, this takes work. Yeah. This takes long obedience over time in the same direction. To steal one of Ben Newman's lines. That is so true. But we have to give ourselves a break, and we have to look back and be proud of the things that we've done up until this point and realize that, hey, if I continue to do this, if I continue to be focused, if I continue to put the work in, I'm going to get to where I need to be. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be next month, but this is what it's going to take. You have to do the work. And doesn't matter what season of life you're in, that equation does not change. Yeah, you got to put the work in over time to be successful. And along the way, you might as well be positive about it. You might as well be thinking, I can, I will, I must. You might as well have a smile on your face. You might as well lift as many other people up with you along the way and be persistent in your pursuit of happiness, because life's going to try to knock you down again. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. But if you continue to just keep moving forward with those five principles that we talked about, when life comes knocking, you're able to rinse and repeat over and over again.

So good. Ian. Oh, my goodness. So what? I know you have a lot of things coming up.

Yeah.

And I have loved seeing you so much. So I loved seeing you and you, y'. All. He was so amazing. So him, Dana and Ian came to the unstoppable Success Summit last event which was last March or last April. One of those.

April of this year.

April of this year. And then I got to see you at our Mastermind retreat, which was so much fun. And then I just got to see you. I was speaking in Des Moines. I'd never been to Des Moines. And I got to see Dana and you and De Mo, which was so much fun, especially dancing with Dana.

Oh, yeah, yeah. You guys were getting down.

Yeah, it was so fun. I love seeing you. I feel like if I go, I got. It can't be too long. I have to see you and Dana in person. I was telling her that. I was like, we got to figure out how every couple of months we're going to see each other in person. So what's the best way for people to find you, see what's what you're up to, see what stages you're on next, get be a part of your coaching program and also listen to your podcast. Where can they do that?

So, yeah, the podcast is up. It's rolling. Having a lot of fun with that, interviewing some amazing people such as yourself. So very fortunate and. And grateful to have the opportunity to do that. So that's everywhere. Search for the Positive Persistence podcast with Ian Bowen, Apple, Spotify, everywhere. You can find your. Your podcasts on socials. You can find me at IanR Bowen. And actually in the process of launching a new website. So as soon as we got that up, we will make sure that we put that out there. But I spent a lot of time on Instagram and Facebook so you can search me there again at Enr Bowen. And I would love to connect with your viewers and your listeners and help them any way that I can and just add value because I feel like if there is a reason that I was put on this planet and I went through what I had gone through, this is it to help people go through the same journey and to help them lead their lives with positive persistence.

Oh, yeah. Well, go ahead and give us the name of your website so I can put it in the show notes. Because actually I was thinking about, I was like, people are going to listen to this. I want them to be able to find your new website. And by the way, y', all, I've seen it. It's. I mean, well, it's not up, but I've seen the. The draft of it and it is gorgeous. It is such a great website. But what is it? Tell us the name of your website so I can put that in the show notes and people can find.

So it will be the positivepersistence.com the positivepersistence.com Got it.

Awesome. Awesome. Well, Ian, you are amazing. Thank you so much for being on the show. You guys, take a snapshot if you're listening to whether it's on Spotify or Apple or if you're watching on YouTube, take screenshot or a snapshot and tag us us on Instagram. When I see that, I. It just fills my heart and I share it, too. But tag Ian and I on Instagram. And thank you so much for being here, Ian. Thank all of you for tuning in. And I want you to know we've got the unstoppable success Summit coming up. April 25th and 26th.

Do not miss it.

Oh, my goodness.

It was awesome this year. It's going to be even better next year. Can't wait for that.

Yeah. I'm so, so, so, so excited, so.

And I can't wait to read your new book. Looking forward to that popping out next year, too.

Oh, yeah. Am I crazy to be doing a book and an annual event? Oh, well, let's see if I'll still be. I'm going to have positive persistence. I'm gonna. I'm gonna rinse.

You already have it.

It. I'm going to rinse. I'm going to rinse and replace factory installed.

Amberly, you've got it.

I got it. I got it. Okay, well, thank you all for tuning in, and we'll see you next week.