🎙️ From Trauma to Triumph: Rory Paquette on Faith, Resilience & Purpose
Guest: Rory Paquette
Host: Dwight Heck
Podcast: Give a Heck
🔥 Episode Overview
How do you turn trauma into triumph? In this powerful episode of Give a Heck, Dwight welcomes Rory Paquette, a coach, author, and host of multiple podcasts who transformed a near-death experience and a painful past into a mission of faith, healing, and impact.
Rory’s story is a masterclass in resilience. From surviving childhood abuse and family hardship to embracing his calling through coaching and podcasting, he shares how faith became his armour and purpose his compass.
💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- How to overcome childhood trauma and break generational cycles
- Faith-based strategies for personal growth and emotional healing
- Turning adversity into a platform for impact through storytelling and service
- The power of small, consistent changes in building a resilient mindset
- Why sharing your faith journey openly can inspire transformation in others
⏱️ Chapter Summaries
00:00:02 – Introducing Rory Paquette: A Journey of Resilience and Transformation
Dwight introduces Rory Paquette, a podcaster, coach, and author who overcame life’s darkest moments to become a beacon of hope. Rory’s story of surviving abuse, supporting his family through hardship, and transforming pain into purpose sets the stage for an inspiring conversation about resilience and faith.
00:04:11 – Overcoming Childhood Trauma and Breaking Generational Cycles
Rory shares his experience growing up in an abusive household and how it shaped his approach to fatherhood. He discusses breaking negative generational patterns, emphasizing the importance of creating a safe, loving environment for his children and maintaining close relationships with them into adulthood.
00:08:49 – The Impact of Family Hardships on Personal Growth
Rory recounts the challenges of caring for his siblings and mother during her cancer battle, while dealing with an abusive stepfather. He explains how these experiences forged his character, teaching him to handle difficult situations and instilling a sense of responsibility that he’s passed on to his own children.
00:21:00 – From Crisis to Calling: Rory’s Journey to Coaching and Podcasting
Rory discusses his near-death experience and how it led to a renewed sense of purpose. He shares how writing books and starting podcasts became cathartic experiences, allowing him to help others while processing his own journey of personal growth and transformation.
00:49:50 – The Power of Podcasting: Building Communities and Sharing Faith
Rory explains the missions behind his three podcasts: Power of Man, Podcaster Nation, and Wake Up the Lions. He discusses how each show serves a unique purpose, from supporting men through life’s challenges to creating a platform for open discussions about faith and spirituality.
00:59:45 – Finding Strength in Faith and Purpose
Rory reflects on feeling “bulletproof” and “wrapped in God’s armor” after his near-death experience. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing one’s purpose and trusting in a higher plan, encouraging listeners to remain open to discovering their own unique calling in life.
✨ Summary
In this inspiring episode, Dwight sits down with Rory Paquette, a coach, author, and podcast host who transformed a life of trauma and near-death experience into a powerful mission of faith and service. Rory shares how growing up in an abusive household and supporting his family through hardship shaped his resilient spirit. His journey from crisis to calling led him to write a transformative book and launch three impactful podcasts that serve men, faith communities, and aspiring creators.
Listeners will gain insight into how faith can fuel personal growth, how adversity can become a platform for impact, and why living authentically is key to discovering your purpose. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to overcome challenges and live a life of intentional transformation.
🔗 Connect with Rory Paquette
🌐 Website: Buzzsprout – Rory Paquette
📘 Facebook: Rory Paquette
📸 Instagram: @rorypaquette
🔗 Connect with Dwight Heck
🌐 Website: Give A Heck – Live Life On Purpose
📺 YouTube: @giveaheck
📱 Instagram: @give.a.heck
🧵 Threads: @give.a.heck
🐦 X / Twitter: @give_a_heck
💼 LinkedIn: Dwight Heck
🎧 Podcast Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser
Apple Podcast:
Spotify Podcast:
YouTube(watch and listen):
🎙️ Transcript – Give a Heck Podcast
Episode Title: From Trauma to Triumph: Rory Paquette on Faith, Resilience & Purpose
Host: Dwight Heck
Guest: Rory Paquette
[00:00:02 – 00:02:06]
Welcome back to Give A Heck the Show. We challenge ourselves to live intentionally in a chaotic world, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Today’s guest didn’t just survive life’s darkest moments. He transformed them into a mission. A year ago, Rory Paquette was lying on the floor of an emergency room, unable to breathe. As he blacked out, he thought it was over. But surviving that surgery gave him a new outlook on life and a renewed sense of purpose. Rory is a professional podcaster, coach, author, and speaker. Currently holds three powerful shows, the Power of Man, Wake up the Lions, and the Podcasters Nation, with a fourth on the way. He’s written two books, the Lone Wolf Selling system, make more money, increase your sales and take back your life, and also a book called the 5% diet, how to lose 40 to 400 pounds and take back your life, and is working on books three and four. His coaching programs, Power of One and Wake up the Mic are helping men and podcasters transform their lives. And through the rising Tide system, he’s helping creators monetize quickly and authentically. But Rory’s journey isn’t just about accolades. It’s about grit. He grew up in a home marked by abuse, fought to protect his siblings, supported a mother battling cancer, and gave blood to just feed his kids. He built an umpire, lost it all, gained it back, and nearly died. Today he stands bulletproof, wrapped in God’s armor, and filled with faith. This episode isn’t about redemption, resilience, and radical transformation. Pardon me. It is about. It’s about how pain becomes purpose and how your story, no matter how broken, can become someone else’s lifeline. I’d like to welcome you to the show, Rory. Thanks so much for agreeing to come on and share with us some of your life journey.
[00:02:07 – 00:02:15]
Wow, Dwight. I’m honored to be here. And that was one heck of a intro. Seriously. Pun intended.
[00:02:15 – 00:02:25]
Oh, right on. And sorry for the people listening to the bio. I kind of messed up some words at the end sometimes, you know, I get. I get words. Salad, I call it. It’s all mixed up.
[00:02:26 – 00:02:33]
Wow, that was beautiful, man. It really made me tear up. I was like, wow, you’re really talking about me. You don’t get to hear all that about yourself all in one.
[00:02:33 – 00:04:10]
But you should, though. You should, though, right? We talked. We talked about intros, and some people don’t. I’ve never. People that read my intro when I’m on podcast, they just read what I have on Pod Match. They don’t put any effort into it. And I’m not disrespecting. Him, that’s fine, right? I put it up there to make life easier for him. But yeah, like I told you before we hit record, I was quite impressed getting to know you when you had me on your show. She’s so gracious. They had me on your podcasters Nation. And I look forward to further interaction between us too. But this isn’t about me. This is about a Rory. And everything that you’ve accomplished is just mind blowing. And there’s so much commonality between you and I in regards to, you know, not everything in life, but just our tenacity, our stick to itiveness and never letting you know, always believing in God that God’s going to help us, give us strength and still relies on us to do it ourselves. God isn’t going to do it for us, right? We still have to do it for ourselves. Just be aware, people listening. When God sends you, people accept them, right? Let them help you. Right? That’s how he helps. Anyway, so to your origins. Your origins are very, very interesting in regards to the fact of, like I mentioned in the bio, some of the things you went through, you know, taking care of your siblings, a stepfather that was worse than your first father. Can you tell me your origin? Obviously in your voice to as much as you’d like to share from your earliest recollections right up to where you are today, whatever you feel is, is pertinent in regards to your origin.
[00:04:11 – 00:06:47]
Yeah, I appreciate that, Dwight. The again, you know, hearing all that all put together is just, it’s, it’s mind blowing. So it’s. Thank you again for the way you phrased all that. It really, really, it means a lot. The only reason that I, I kind of start with those things and that I put them out there to folks is because it is really pertinent to where I am now. It’s pertinent to the man that I’ve become and it gave me certain things I had to overcome. So, you know, when you have a father who is just verbally and physically abusive and is a card carrying alcoholic, then there are just things that you deal with on a day to day basis that, you know, border and life threatening, of course, but that change your, your whole life growing up, it’s, it’s not a normal childhood. You don’t get to just sit there and play with toys and, and go to school and watch TV and you know, learn there’s no safety. You’re always looking over your shoulder. You’re constantly worried. And that’s the type of thing that carries with. And what I’ve found with the work that I’ve done with men who have faced similar situations is that men either follow in those and they have nothing to do with that life, and they go way out of their way to make sure that that never impacts their life or their children. And that was where I went. You know, I, for instance, I. I don’t drink, not because I’m worried about being an alcoholic, but just because. Why open the door, you know, to it? It’s just one of those things I make sure that. I mean, I’ve never raised my hand to one of my kids, never would. I understand. Some people spank. Okay, hey, I’m not here to judge. But with my life growing up, can’t even imagine doing that. And my kids, even today, we’re still very, very, very close because I’ve invested that in my children as my wife. And I raised them so that when they got to be older, they would still want to have me in their life, you know, and I could still impact it because I had no impact that was positive in my life from any of my real male role models. And I know how tough that was to overcome and having to kind of learn those things. So, you know, that’s. That’s sort of a start to the. The origin story, so to speak. Yeah, exactly. The whole conversation. That, that’s. That’s kind of where it starts. But it’s a huge core piece of. Of who I am today. And so that’s. That’s why I start there.
[00:06:48 – 00:08:44]
Well, that’s fantastic. Thanks for sharing that. It. It is so true. People watching or listening learn behavior. You are either going to go one way or the other. You’re going to stay on the hamster wheel and continue on with generational teachings that are broken, or you’re going to do the exact opposite. There’s. It’s. It’s not yes, no, maybe it’s yes or no. You’re either going to do. You’re going to either going to do, or you’re. You’re not going to do. I know with my childhood memories, there was things that I refused to do when it came to my children, when I had children. And initially, sometimes I’ve, you know, be honest with everybody. I’d slip in and out of it going like, you know what? Oh my gosh, my parents. Not that my parents were bad or beat me, but there was things I didn’t like about the learned behavior, that of how they disciplined or how they educated. Like that old phrase or, you know, you’re better to be seen than heard. Right. Whereas I, My kids would want to be inter. Involved with conversations and I’d say to them, you know, oh, and I’d realized I was about to tell them to be quiet and when all they were. Was inquisitive. As adults were allowed to be inquisitive, why not children? Right? We just got to teach them the appropriate amount of inquisitiveness and sometimes. And not to interrupt. Right. But learned behavior is so powerful. So I appreciate you sharing that. How did. I’d like you to share some more details in regards to the. So when your, Your dad was out of the picture and you had a stepfather and your. Your mom was battling cancer, you’re. You’re a young man trying to get your kids, your siblings, part of me off to school. What did that do to you today? When you look back at that, how did it affect you? Like you mentioned some of the things, obviously how you treat your children, right? No, no corporal punishment. You don’t drink by choice, because why open that door? Can you tell me how did that affect you, you know, watching all that you were going through?
[00:08:49 – 00:12:08]
Yeah, for sure. It definitely did. It was, it was really kind of, Kind of strange when, when it all hit, when we found out my mom had cancer when she was bedridden, you know, recovering from surgeries and things like that. You’re getting hit with the potential idea of losing your mom at that point, because, I mean, let’s face it, it’s cancer, you know, so you have no idea what’s happening next. You have a stepfather who is, you know, more violent than the first guy. He wasn’t more violent towards me. He was more violent towards my younger brother. And I didn’t always know that that was the case. So, you know, I find myself in a position as the oldest, you know, child of being a protector for everybody at one point. And I didn’t know it was coming. I didn’t ask for it. But when it’s heaped upon you, you have two choices. You either shrink from it or you run to it. And I embraced it and I said, okay, well, I have to make sure that my mother can heal, so he’s not allowed to hit her anymore. And when I realized he was beating up my brother, I, you know, came home, pretended to be sick, came home from school one day, caught him doing it, stopped him physically from doing it. And then he decided to take it all out on me and got so mad that I stood up to him that he Put me in the hospital. But even then I came back as soon as I got the hospital and was like, we can go again, let’s go, because this ends now. And it did. It ended because he left when he couldn’t keep acting the way he needed to act. And when he was confronted for who he really was, he took off. And so then I was like, oh, well, I just protected everybody. But now there’s no way to pay the gas bill, so I guess, guess I better figure this, this out. So I had a part time job and was doing sports also. And I would just take my paycheck and pay as many bills as I could, you know, work with my mom trying to do that, had a car that I had, you know, paid for myself with my part time job and I would take my brother to school, make sure my sister got where she had to go, all that kind of thing. And it’s just one of those situations that I’ve carried with me my whole life. No matter how low things get, you either handle it or you don’t. And it’s like you just said, you know, there’s not a yes, no, maybe there’s a yes or there’s a no. You know, there’s a do it or there’s a don’t. And so I learned at a young age, you know, as a teenager, look, when stuff is heaped upon you like this, you handle it or you don’t. And I’m very glad that I chose at that moment to handle it because I’ve lived my whole life that way. And I see now that I’ve actually taught all three of my children that that’s how you handle situations. You either handle them or you don’t. And so all three of my kids, there’s nothing wishy washy about any of them. There’s no indecision with any of them. They may not always make the right choice, but boy, they’re making the choice and they’re moving forward and they’re owning it. And that I’m sure came from everything that I put in them somehow, just by the way I live my life. So it’s really gratifying now, you know, at 55, to look back and go, wow, a lot of suffering in those first 20 years of life, but a whole lot of good right now that came out of it.
[00:12:08 – 00:13:13]
Oh, absolutely. I look at my children and I like how you put that. You know, they make decisions. It’s right now you may not agree with it. I, I go through that all the time with Five of them, they’re making decisions and, or I’ll try saying to them, you know, maybe you should think of it about it that way, because I do coaching and I’m trying, and they, they literally just roll their eyes and, or, you know, they just nod their head, whatever, and they still go do what they’re gonna do. And they either it’s a win or it’s a lose. There’s no in between for that either. And I’ll just say to them, okay, so it didn’t turn out the way you wanted it, because I had a heard recently in the last year, say to me, I wish I would have listened to you. And I said, well, that’s okay. That’s in the past already. Did you learn from it? Are you learning from it now? If you do it a third, a second and a third time, you ain’t learning. Right, Right. You’re on the hamster wheel and you’re, you’re just following everybody else. It’s okay to make mistakes, Right. It’s not okay to not learn from it and, and grow, right?
[00:13:13 – 00:13:17]
Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Couldn’t agree with you more.
[00:13:17 – 00:13:53]
Right. So, you know, at the end of the day, though, you also have gone through adversity. Adversities. I’ve never heard of anybody doing this before in your life. Selling blood to support family. Right. I’ve never heard of that. I’m not saying that’s bad whatsoever. In Canada, we don’t get paid to donate blood. It’s you donate blood or you don’t donate blood. Right. I know the Americans, you guys are, are lucky in the sense your, your healthcare system realizes if we don’t pay for it, we’re not going to get enough. Right. So that’s an advantage for you.
[00:13:53 – 00:13:54]
Yeah.
[00:13:54 – 00:14:09]
So, so how, how did that affect you? Do you look back at those times and, and think to yourself, wow, like, I, I actually did this for my family. Right. Is it a humbling pat on your back experience? How did it make you feel? How does it make you feel right now?
[00:14:10 – 00:16:50]
Right now? It makes me feel bulletproof. And that’s, that’s why I use that phrase. The. You know, no matter how bad things get, there’s always a way to, to fix something. Right. And, you know, I, I had, we had a couple of rough moments in my life. I mean, I don’t have a shortage of rough moments in my life, unfortunately. But after a very, very big crash, I owned real estate companies, and 2008 hit in the United States, and that was a huge economic Crash for us in the world of real estate. And I ended up losing everything. I mean, I had built myself a small empire really. You know, I had five offices in two states. We were continuing to expand. I did it all without owing any money. I mean, it was all self done and just through blood, sweat and tears, you know. But then in order to survive what happened in 2008 with our government, I ended up, you know, having to leverage things just to keep things going. And once you start leveraging, then you can lose it all. And unfortunately, that’s what happened. And when we lost it all, we lost it all hard. I mean, it was like everything, house, cars, clothes, toys, it was, it was all gone. Sold everything we possibly could sell. I still went out, worked as many jobs as I could, did everything that I possibly could to keep us going. But there were times when, you know, the money just wasn’t there and credit wasn’t there anymore. And, you know, if you need food on the table, you got to find a way to get it. And so. Well, you know what, they used to pay for blood donations, now they pay for plasma, which you know, I’ve also done in the past, but they paid for straight up blood donations. And they didn’t have everything networked either, like from this end of town to that end of town to the town over. So I’d go to four or five spots in one day, give them blood and taking a nap and waking up and going to the next spot to get blood, you know, and they’re like, like, hey, why are we using your right arm? Well, because you can’t use my left arm because there’s holes in it, you know. Now they won’t let you do that. You can only give blood once a day. But I, I mean, when you’re willing to do that and then you have money to go to the store and pick up some dinner and go home and feed your kids, you really do feel like, you know what? I’m, I’m literally willing to give my life to make sure they have what they need. And as weird as that might sound, there’s something very empowering in that because, you know, you’re willing to do whatever you have to do to take.
[00:16:50 – 00:16:56]
Jesus did it. Jesus for us. Right? You look at. Right, right. Willingness, everything.
[00:16:57 – 00:16:57]
Not just blood.
[00:16:57 – 00:17:06]
That’s what I mean. Right. So there is, that’s very impactful what you just shared. Sorry for interjecting there, but it, it just.
[00:17:06 – 00:17:07]
Okay.
[00:17:07 – 00:18:42]
I, I felt like a wash over me in the fact that, you know, we are Jesus We’re God’s children and at the end of the day we can choose to follow the path right or not follow the path. There’s no in between in that either. So we follow the path. We, we don’t follow it when it’s convenient. We follow it good, bad, indifferent, ugly. And you to do that for your family, it speaks volume for your character and your connection to God because you have your own cross you’ve beared, right, that you’ve walked with. Yeah, just like Jesus, just like we all do. But what do we learn from that journey? How do we use it to help others? Do we sit back and lose everything? Or do we do like you did? Well, donate blood and do whatever you can to put food on the table. I’ve been through those experiences. So broke when oh eight hit part of me. I had only been in the industry for six years. I was still relatively new, doing well 08 affected everybody, not just the US it affected real estate, it affected mortgages, it affected absolutely all forms. Nobody. Everybody’s wallet shrunk. They didn’t want to do anything. They were afraid to spend. So my business being in finance and insurance, it dried up. So it was a struggle. And that was the same year I got all five or part of me for my five kids full time moved into my house. I didn’t have part time joint anymore. It was full time. Right during the crash.
[00:18:42 – 00:18:42]
That’s right.
[00:18:42 – 00:20:58]
So there was a lot of praying, there was a lot of nights of quiet desperation. What am I going to do to feed these kids? What? How many times can I rob Peter to pay Paul? Right. How many times can I, can I ship credit around? So I appreciate that honesty and that sincerity. We just got to do what we got to do. God, every one of our kids is God’s children. Or just put in a place to be their parent, to be there, hopefully their, their guiding light based on God’s principles. Much as we can. They’re going to make their own decisions. We already talked about that. You get to a certain age, right. Even the decision of whether or not they’re going to be Christians. Right. All we can do is worry about you and I. Right? Absolutely pointed in my life. That’s where I, I’ve had to give up when I talking to my kids and they’ll say things that I don’t necessarily appreciate. I’ll just. Does it serve me to respond? What would, what would Jesus do? He, you know, he. I used to say that to my kids when they were younger. My one daughter had A button. She brought it home from when she was still practicing Christianity. She’d come home from youth group and, you know, what would Jesus do on her chest? Now? I would perfect wear that everywhere. Right. What would Jesus do to. To allow anything to happen in our lives? Right. I just use that as a. As a part of my core values are faith, family, work. I think we talked about that before. So of course, everything I gauge is going through a filtering system. Right. And that is what Jesus do. So I appreciate you sharing what you shared. I’m going to get into a little bit of how did this affect you? So your whole life, your origin story, you got a calling to coach others, right. Somewhere along the way, you got a calling that you should coach others. And through. Through empathy, though, you’re a person that from what I’m hearing, you’ve always had that empathetic heart because in order to be tenacious or even do what you did to support your fa, your siblings and then your own family, you have to have empathy. Is this something that you realized or have you developed your empathy in then? How does it all tie together to the coaching that you got into? Coaching?
[00:21:00 – 00:26:06]
You know, I think that’s a great question. I think that I’ve always just been that way. I mean, that. That’s almost a. An easy way out in terms of the answer. But I think I learned that from my mother, you know, because again, when you have a father who’s beating everybody up and then you have a stepfather who’s beating everybody up, you’re constantly in a position of, yes, you worry about yourself, but more than that, you worry about everybody else. You know, and there were plenty of times when I was growing up when, you know, I knew he was getting ready to, you know, beat on my mom. And I would go out and yell at him or something, or I would go out and throw something at him, you know, or I’d go out and, you know, cuss at him, you know, with a word that I didn’t even know if it was a cuss word or not. I was, you know, too young and stupid. But the whole idea was almost like drawing the fire, you know, like, hey, bring it here. Because I didn’t want him hitting my mom. I had to do the same thing when, you know, my stepdad was in the picture and my mom was trying to recover from cancer. I mean, he didn’t care she was trying to recover from a cancer surgery. He’d still act the way he acted. So, you know, when you are doing that and you’re sort of putting yourself between others and harm. I think that carries over hard. And that is a huge part of who I am now. I’ve always, you know, I have a, you know, a men’s group, and I counsel men on being fathers and husbands. And one of the things I’m always telling them is, you know, the people who depend on you have to be more important to you than you are to you. And a lot of people give me grief on that because they’re like, well, you have to fill your own cup first. And, you know, if the plane’s going down and the mass drops down, you got to put your mask on first. I’ve heard all that stuff. But the way I intended is if there’s four people at the table and there’s three pieces of chicken, you’re the one that doesn’t eat because it was your job to pick. To pick up the chicken, you know, so I’ve always taken that attitude of that empathy and that making sure everyone else is taken care of first before I am. I did in my marriage. I do it with my children. And I think that that really drew me to coaching. First thing I ever coached was a T ball team with my oldest son when he was 5. You know, because it was a bunch of kids running around getting hit in the face with baseballs and a couple of dads who didn’t really care and sort of got roped into volunteer coaching. And I was like, you know what? I’m gonna handle this. And. And all the guys were like, great, I don’t want to do it. You do it. And we just started actually teaching them. And the reason I was teaching them wasn’t to make them all star athletes, was to take care of them. You know, if you hold the baseball mitt like this, where it’s upside down, the ball goes in and then comes out and hits you in the face. If you turn it around and put your elbow out, well, it goes in and either you catch it or it drops to the ground, but it doesn’t hit you in the face. And so that’s how I started coaching was I taught all the kids in the team Captain America’s shield with your glove, and they’re either catching it or knocking it down. And everybody else in the little league started using that exact same, you know, term and teaching catching the same way. And I got into it again, not because we wanted to win games, but because I wanted to protect the kids, you know, in this sport. And then that really just evolved, you know, into all Right. How do I teach them what they need to know so that they can get better, so they can play at the next level? How can I help them build their confidence? You know, I would have. I kind of had a reputation in the Little League, for instance, where folks who had kids that were maybe on the spectrum or kids that were a little, you know, emotional, maybe developmentally or whatnot, they always ended up on my teams because I would take two minutes and get down on one knee to talk to the kid, you know, eye to eye and try to connect with each kid. And so, yeah, that. That’s been a part of my coaching since moment one, now that I’m doing it professionally, and this is how I make my living. I treat my clients the same way. If I’m coaching somebody on being a better father, I go in and I’m like, hey, I need to know what’s really happening with this particular man. You know, what is he really trying to do? I’m not giving him some cookie cutter. Here’s my, you know, five worksheets, and, you know, here’s our group, and here’s your medallion and everything else. It’s. It’s one on one. It’s, let’s talk. What’s really going on, where’s the pain, you know, that kind of thing. And I coach podcasting the same way because, as you well know, what you want out of your podcast, what I want out of my podcast, what, you know, that person, that person, that person all want out of their podcast. Totally different things. So you can’t coach everybody the same, because everybody wants something different, you know, and some people just want credibility. Some people just want to have fun. Some people want to do something and feel a sense of accomplishment. Some people want to make money. So that empathy is a huge part of who I am and what I do and why I coach.
[00:26:07 – 00:26:08]
That’s amazing.
[00:26:08 – 00:26:11]
I would say it’s all. It’s all definitely intertwined.
[00:26:12 – 00:27:40]
Started with your mom, though. I love that. Mine did, too. Yeah, mine did, too. My empathy and my mom’s ability. And you mentioned about a cup being full or cup not being full and all the, you know, put your oxygen mask on first. I get why people do that. The little cliche sayings and stuff. There’s nothing wrong with them. But at the end of the day, your cup was already full. You wouldn’t have been able to do any of that stuff if your cup wasn’t full, if God wasn’t filling you up already. People are always looking for extraordinary. You know, I gotta See this miracle happen. I gotta see this happen. I gotta have all these things happen before I believe, before I feel grateful and full. I can fill my cup up when I wake up in the morning and say, thank you, God, for letting me be alive today. Thank you for giving me another shot. I welcome you into my name, into my day, Lord Jesus, and into my family and friends day. I do say this. People that are listening watching. That already starts my cup filling up. I go into the washroom. I do what I need to do because I have that. I’m grateful. Thank you, Lord. Running water. I can shower. Wow. Oh, thank you. I get to make a cup of coffee. Each one of those things are filling my cup up by my choice, Right? So I agree with you. We can. We can serve and we can give to our families and we can do all that stuff if we’re leaving with a grateful, gracious heart, in my opinion, right? So.
[00:27:40 – 00:27:41]
Amen. Amen, brother.
[00:27:42 – 00:28:36]
That empathy just keeps on building and building and building. So much so that I attracted some more than one. Had her on twice. An empathy coach friend of mine that I’ve met personally when I spoke on a stage in Salt Lake. And she was just amazing. She sat me down. I’ve got to know you. This last year and all our calls, I’m finally getting to meet you. She gave me a big hug. We got a break here between speakers. Sit down. I want to ask you some questions. And she all of a sudden, she says, you’re 100% empath. Not just kind of. She says, no wonder you had trouble raising four daughters, right? The radar. The radar and dad being the antenna, picking it all up. Right? But, oh, yeah, I digress. Anyway, you know, it’s just. I’m the same way, brother. Empathy started with my mother and. And I just kept on letting go. But how did it start with my mother? God, it all goes back to him.
[00:28:37 – 00:28:38]
Yep. Absolutely.
[00:28:38 – 00:29:48]
All goes back to what Jesus sacrificed for us. And. And are we living even close to what he wanted us to live? Right. Try to be a mirror reflection, which is almost. It is impossible. How can we be him? But we can sure follow some of the paths and lessons and teachings by being a good man, being a good person, raising our children, and doing whatever it takes to serve others. And that’s just so, so admirable, brother, that you’re doing what you’re doing, especially everything that you’ve gone through. So, you know, I appreciate you and I’m sure those that have had help from you, thank you as well, if they don’t tell you, I’ll tell you, right? You’ve already been coaching me just from getting to know you, just being on your podcast and just conversations with you, it’s so enlightening. I really appreciate that. So we’re going to talk a little bit about, you know, from ER to entrepreneur, right? You literally were in the hospital, just about died, and through all that you became, you know, an entrepreneur that is changing people’s lives. Can you share some more of that part of the story, what happened with you?
[00:29:50 – 00:32:55]
Yeah, absolutely. And that’s pretty accurate, unfortunately. The I was already an entrepreneur many times in my life prior to, you know, that particular health battle that I had almost a year ago. The I mean, like I said, I had owned real estate companies, I had owned other businesses, you know, I had owned a few marketing businesses and sales and things like that, but I did a lot of coaching. Started coaching men two years prior, but I was doing it kind of part time, you know, and so I still had the full time job, but I was doing coaching on the side, so to speak. So it was a group, it was a great second income, it was a great side hustle, but it wasn’t my full time career job. I had started podcast coaching for folks because as you know, when you keep podcasting and you have a lot of episodes and you’re doing it reasonably well, people ask you all the time, well, how do you do this, how do you do that? And so at some point you go, maybe I should coach this, you know, and see if I can help folks out. So I was doing that, but it was still very, very part time and I still felt like I had to hang on to this other full time job. I had to make sure that I had this money. And my wife had been all over me, she’s like, look, the kids are all grown, they’re all gone. We don’t need this big huge 2500 square foot house anymore. Why aren’t we downsizing, you know, paying off bills, living lean and mean and making ourselves mobile so that we can just go visit everybody, you know, and visit the grandkids that we hope are coming soon, right? You know, that type of thing. And I was holding back. I’m like, no, no, not until I get this much put away or not till I get that much in the bank, right? Because you know, it’s never enough, right? And I never enoughed my way into carrying pneumonia around for over a year that got worse and worse and worse every month until finally my left lung completely filled up. With fluid shut down. It had a layer of, like, this icy gel all around it, preventing it from moving. And a big chunk of my right lung was filled up, and what was left of my right lung just went, uncle. I give. You know, I can’t. Can’t support this anymore. So one night, I was sitting there, and my breathing was getting more and more shallow as we went, And I looked at my wife, and I was timing it, and I said, you know, honestly, I don’t want to alarm you, but at this rate in between breaths, I’m not going to be breathing in about 20 minutes. We need to go. And so she threw me in the truck, and she broke, like, eight laws getting me to the emergency room. Got me there faster than any ambulance could have in any circumstance. And I made it into the emergency room. I was walking up to the counter, and I remember, like, reaching for it as my vision went out and just going splat, right on the floor. Next thing you know, I’m in the back someplace with nurses and tubes and everything else, and, you know, being brought back because I just totally stopped breathing. I couldn’t inhale anymore. My lungs had completely stopped.
[00:32:55 – 00:32:56]
Wow.
[00:32:56 – 00:33:16]
And, yeah, so that. That’s the medical thing. And, you know, they tried 100 different things to try, like, drain them and everything else. And they finally said, look, after two weeks of trying all these other things, we just have to go in. It’s a major surgery. It’s not going to go well. I mean, we’re going to do everything we can. We hope you make it.
[00:33:17 – 00:33:18]
Wow.
[00:33:18 – 00:34:49]
You know, but you’re 55. You’re not in great shape, and this is really awful. So I went, well, if this is where God’s put me, then this is where God’s put me. You know, let’s do what we got to do. Great surgeon. I said, you know what? He was Italian. I said, you know what? God sent me an Italian guy, all right, because I’m Italian, so that matters. And I went, all right. He sent me an Italian heart surgeon, you know, a pulmonary guy. I said, this is a sign. We’re going to be fine. And I went in, and afterwards, I found out I had about a 20 chance of surviving it, But I didn’t really know that going in. Maybe I just didn’t hear that. Maybe I didn’t want to know that. I think my wife might have known because she wasn’t in great shape when I was going in, but came out, and he said, hey, it’s going to be about 18 months until you’re back, you know, not feeling this surgery. And that was less than a year ago. So I still feel it. You know, I sit in my podcast chair and, you know, try to move sometimes and it feels like I’m on fire. But wow, I. I did make it. And, and I am better than I have been in years. Changed my life completely. And when I was in that hospital for, you know, over a month, I. I just said to my wife, I said, I’m never going back to work or doing anything that I don’t want to do ever again. I don’t know how much time I have left, but all the time I have left is for me, for you, and for our kids. And I’m going to do something that matters.
[00:34:51 – 00:34:52]
That’s amazing.
[00:34:52 – 00:35:14]
But. Yeah, and, and when I came out, she’s reminded me of that like 10 times. But that’s where I am now. And that’s. I do this for a living. I love every minute of it. You know, I do interviews all day long. I get to meet awesome people like you, you know, and I appreciate that. The life I’ve always wanted to have and I actually get to have it now, so I, I’ll take it all day.
[00:35:16 – 00:37:28]
That’s. That’s awesome. You know, how many times though, do we have life altering things happen to us, like tragedies, loss of. Of someone, major health scares. I went through a couple myself already this year in 2025. And does it slow me down, honestly? Yeah, of course it does. But it doesn’t change my gratefulness and my gratitude and the fact that I know, you know, this too shall pass. I always tell this too shall pass. Do I have a. Do I have a start and a stop date? Not necessarily. I don’t know. But I just keep on turning to my faith, my family. And work’s always the last and work should be the last and enjoyable work, like you were just saying, is so crucial to us living a life that’s intentful on purpose. Right. So congratulations again, brother. Your. Your story is fantastic. Those that are listening or watching, I hope you are, are getting a lot from this because at the end of the day, there’s no quit in winners, right? Winners never quit and quitters never win. I used to tell, you know, I used to tell my one daughter that. I remember she was getting bullied. She was in grade one, I think it was grade one. She come out to the vehicle and she’d be crying because she was getting bullied by some mean kids. And I looked at her and I started saying to her, you know, whenever you get out of the vehicle, I look at her and I said, no matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, I’m going to make it. And I said, say that to dad. Right. And I started. You know, I wasn’t a coach yet. I was, you know, I was at that point in time, I owned a computer consulting firm. But I just knew, right, that she would be protected. Did things work out the way she wanted to? Well, not necessarily, but at least I was trying to up up her energy level or her ability to have. Be like, you would say, the shield. How do you put the armor of God? Sorry, I can’t remember from what I was reading, when you were talking, when I was reading on you and stuff. But, you know, I was trying to wrap her in the fact of confidence that it would pass. Right. And she never revert to being like those kids. Right?
[00:37:28 – 00:37:29]
Yeah, yeah.
[00:37:29 – 00:37:30]
100.
[00:37:30 – 00:37:34]
Yeah, I do use that phrase for sure, in Wake up the Lions. We talk about that a lot. But yeah.
[00:37:34 – 00:38:34]
Oh, right on. Right. Yeah. The armor of God is so true, though. It starts and we allow it to have little cracks. Right. We allow it to have the ability for others to influence us. So thank you so much for sharing that. Let’s talk about your books and how cathartic it can be to write books. I don’t know if it was for you, but I know I only wrote one book. I don’t have what you’ve got going on, but my book was very cathartic for me. It taught me how to, you know, it taught me things about myself. I really didn’t know I’d be reading back what I wrote, even after I got it back from the editor. And I’d be like, I’d cry or I’d laugh and I’d go like, wow, I need what? I didn’t even realize that about myself. Pat, Pat, Pat. The next time, kick in the pants. You gotta change that. Right. What was it like for you writing your books? Right. Was it a cathartic experience and what inspired you to write them, specifically that. The lone wolf selling system and the 5% diet.
[00:38:44 – 00:38:45]
Hey, there you are.
[00:38:45 – 00:38:46]
Yeah. All right.
[00:38:46 – 00:38:47]
Got you back.
[00:38:47 – 00:38:48]
Got you back.
[00:38:48 – 00:44:52]
Got you back. All right. Yeah, I appreciate the question. When I wrote the first book, it was. I just was going to write a book. I was like, you know what? It’s time to write a book. I’ve always wanted to write a book. I was learning how to do it on Amazon back when that was new self publishing and whatnot. So And I said, all right, I’m going to do this. I’m going to put this out there. And of course, in my mind, I’m like, it’s going to be the country with this book. And I. I love doing it. I loved writing it. It was very cathartic because it made me think of all kinds of things that. That I had taught people before because I used to be a sales trainer, you know, in a lot of different ways and several different businesses, but in real estate especially, I used to travel and train other offices, you know, and their agents and stuff on how to sell. So it was really important for me to get this out, to do this after the fact. I’m like, wow, this. This is really bad. This is. This book is terrible. You know, I can’t believe I put this out and put my name on it. But then a really funny thing happened. I’m in the workforce, and I get a job managing an advertising sales team for a newspaper, right? And one of the reps there finds my book online, and they’re like, whoa, wait a minute. You wrote a book? And like, all of a sudden, this sales team that wasn’t quite sure who the new boss was that was coming in, you know, like, do we listen to this guy? All of a sudden, they were like, hey, whatever you tell me to do, I’m doing. I had this ridiculous amount of credibility with them all of a sudden because they found me on Amazon with my name and a book. Now, you know, at that point, I went, all right, so I bought books for all of them and handed it out, and I said, this is now required reading. We’re going to talk about this at our sales meetings. And it was like the reverence that came with that back then was just crazy. And I went, okay, wow. But I learned right at that moment the. The credibility, the. The image, the branding, you know how that all hits you? Because I lived it, you know, in real time. And I said, wow, I need to remember this moving forward. When I started the podcast, I had a very similar situation. You know, it was, wait a minute, you have a podcast. You know, what. What does that mean? You have a podcast, and then, you know, you show somebody, you can tell them, hey, I have a podcast. And they go, okay, I don’t know what that means, really, but great. And then they look it up in their phone, you know, or you send them a link, right? You text them a link, and then they open it and they go, wait a minute. This is you. I just said, I have a podcast. This is what I do, but people just don’t connect it. Then when they do, they really do look at you differently. And so I said, you know, I. I need to remember these things. And now that’s part of. Of what I teach and what I coach. You know, when. When you’re a guest, for instance, you know, if you’ve written a book and you guessed on a podcast, all of a sudden people that, you know, go, wait a minute, you’re real now. Because I saw you get interviewed on a podcast. I’m real. The book’s real. This is all real. Yeah, thanks so much. You know, it’s not me playing around, but anyway, so I learned a lot with the first book, you know, and it carried over into everything that I do today. The second book was really a. It was very personal, and it was a story of my. My weight loss journey. I had. You know, I’m sure a psychiatrist or a therapist could have a field day with my head if they got up in there and, you know, with free rein. But somewhere along the way, it resulted in me, you know, comfort eating, you know, and, you know, when. When everybody else is more important, they’re all getting the good food, you know, the expensive chicken and everything else, and I’m eating ramen noodles, you know, which are terrible for me, you know, and everything else. So, I mean, the. The dollar menu at McDonald’s, you know, so that they can have good food at night. I ballooned. I was almost £400. And I mean, it was the most ridiculous, most unhealthy, just awful situation for me ever to have been in. And it was. It was all behavioral, you know, it wasn’t really because I had a health, you know, a pituitary gland or anything like that. It wasn’t a thyroid. It was stupidity and behavior and trying to find, you know, peace and comfort someplace. And so the book is my story of realizing how bad I had gotten by, you know, talking about a. An incident, you know, that happened on a Father’s Day, which was another really low point, and what happened after I realized it, you know, and getting back in touch with. With God, with my direction and saying, how have I allowed this to happen to me? This is nobody’s fault but mine. And too many times I had tried diets. They hadn’t worked too many times. People I knew said, oh, take this shake, take this pill, whatever it was. And I said, you know what? I got here by eating a little more all the time and doing this to myself. So the way to get out of this is to just start eating a little less all the time and undo it. And so I created the 5% diet, and that’s the book, the 5% diet. And it’s the most simple idea on the planet. You know, if you normally have a Quarter pounder of cheese and a large fry and a Coke, well, take 5% of your food and throw it in the trash. So that’s, you know, handful of fries, garbage. I just ate less today than I did yesterday at lunch. Do that for a whole week. Then next week you have a qualifier where now I’m going to get the quarter pounder cheese, a medium fry, and a Coke. And I’m still taking the 5% out. Now I’ve eaten significantly less than I normally eat. I did that. I lost over £100.
[00:44:52 – 00:44:53]
Wow.
[00:44:53 – 00:46:36]
It was huge. What. What happened? And it took about, you know, seven months to really feel it and see it, but I lost it. I lost it in such a. A casual, gradual fashion that I didn’t have, like, all kinds of loose skin hanging on me or anything. I mean, my body actually adjusted with it, you know, kind of like the deflating balloon, you know, and as I was going through that, I said, I need to help other people with this. And I said, I’ve got to document this for somebody else. I don’t care if only one person buys this book. I’ve got to share this with. With somebody. So I wrote the book, and it’s my story of what I went through, how I did it and everything else. And it’s actually done pretty well. You know, I’ve gotten a lot of. Had a lot of conversations about it. I started guesting on podcasts then with that book, talking about it and everything else, and that’s kind of where I got exposed to podcasting. And that process was. Was freeing for me. I really felt like that was the last stage of letting go of the weight that I got rid of. And I’m still a big guy. I mean, I’m a big Italian guy. Me and my boys were all linebackers. It’s how it goes. But, you know, I’m not like that. I’m not like that. So, you know, I can go out and walk and make it, you know, someplace. It’s. It’s all good. I can walk through the store without assistance. You know, I couldn’t before, and it was brutal. But. So those are my two books that I have written so far and kind of the story behind them, and I’ve got two more coming, so those are going to be very different. But hopefully just as impactful, at least for me and for maybe a few others who decide they want to read them.
[00:46:37 – 00:46:40]
Right on. So I get to have you on a few more times. That’s awesome. I like that.
[00:46:40 – 00:46:41]
I love it.
[00:46:41 – 00:49:04]
Oh, of course. So agreed. This is a verbal contract. Any. Anyway, you know, the, the dieting thing and, and, and, you know, I look back in my own life and how it’s affected me and I’ve gone up and down and, and I depressive eat people call it whatever you want. Border, medium, deportment, acid, eating whatever and, and putting too much caloric intake in and not burning enough. Of course I’m going to gain weight. So I went through that myself. In the last couple years, I had lost lots of weight. I was down to, you know, about 170 pounds and feeling good about my life and then got lazy in the way I treated things. 20, 23 rolled around and I just went to Europe and I’m eating, I’m in Italy, I’m eating Italian, man. Come on. I’m a pastor freak. And, oh, hanging out, Rome, hanging out and, you know, in Milan and different places. And the amount of food I ate, it was just crazy. And I come back and I gained like 10 over 10 pounds. And I thought, ah, whatever, I’m just gonna enjoy life. I, I kind of let myself slide mentally and it’s just snacking at night, doing things that I wouldn’t normally do. Put on a TV show, eat a bag of chips, do this, do that. Things I hadn’t done in years. Next thing I know, I ballooned up to 210 pounds in a matter of gaining 40 pounds. It’s not as relative as your weight gain and weight loss, but it’s still. That happens with people. People watching or listening. If you are in that trap, get that book. What, what Rory’s talking about. Reducing what you eat is the most important thing. I started just, I started just at the beginning of July tracking all my macros again and what I ingested and reducing what I have. And it’ll actually say, you’re going to be this weight. Based on this, you should be, you know, this many weeks you’re going to be at this as long as you follow this. So I sometimes need to have something slap me upside the head to keep me on track. I just don’t, you know, I’d love to say that I’m strong and I can always avoid that cheesecake. All right. No, don’t put any of the, the strawberries or cherries on top. Just give me the cheesecake. I’m gonna.
[00:49:06 – 00:49:07]
Give me the cheesecake.
[00:49:07 – 00:49:49]
I’m just gonna eat it naked. Right. So I get what you’re saying. I appreciate your vulnerability, but again, I just wanted to share a little bit that would get more commonalities. So, you know, you have the three different podcasts, and I want people to understand a little bit about them and how they serve different parts of your mission. Would you mind. Would you mind sharing a little bit about all three podcasts and how they play plug into Rory’s grand screen scheme? Part of me of. Of helping people. We’re here.
[00:49:50 – 00:50:24]
Okay. There you are. Sorry, I lost you for a minute. Yeah, yeah, I got you. We’re back the. No, not at all. I appreciate the question. I do have three podcasts that are out there currently that have been released. I have a fourth one that I’m releasing this week. So, I mean, hey, first time ever talking about it is on your show. Wow. But the first one in. Let’s see, it looks like I lost you.
[00:50:25 – 00:52:03]
Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on with. With the Internet. I just did a speed test on my side. It doesn’t say it’s. That I have anything wrong. So I don’t know what’s going on if it’s just a discrepancy between you and I. It’s been happening throughout the whole podcast. I don’t know. I don’t know if maybe, like I said, I just checked mine. See here, I’m gonna pause it for a sec. So, again, I really appreciate you sharing about, you know, what you’ve dealt with in regards to writing the books, what the whole meaning of each book was, and how it can help people. I do know, though, that in order to do anything in life that a habit that’s negative, people immediately think they need to change it overnight. Right? You gained 50 pounds. You gained 100 pounds. We’ll just use weight as an example. Taking that magic pill that’s going to make you lose it in two, three months isn’t healthy for your body. All these colonics and all these different things. Oh, just drink water with lemon in it or lime or whatever. And you know, these different diets, you need to take it off as slow as you gained it or part of me slower than you gained it, because you also affect your heart, you affect your organs, Right? So besides that, go buy the book. We’ll just leave it at that and go on to the next topic. Go get Rory’s 5% diet and move on. Right? Start somewhere. Takes a Baby step. It’s called Amazon. Typing it in purchase and get it shipped to you. Right, Right.
[00:52:03 – 00:52:03]
Yep.
[00:52:03 – 00:52:40]
One little baby step can lead to a whole explosion and climb in your life that you’ve never realized was possible. And Rory is a coach in a book. And if you really need it after the fact, reach out to Rory. Right. We’ll make sure that that’s in the show notes. So back to talk about the Power of Man, Wake up of Lions, and the Podcaster Nation, because we have a little bit of Internet issues. Talk to me about. Obviously, we don’t have a lot of time about those three podcasts and what they’re supposed to. What your whole idea, not what they’re supposed to do, but what your whole creation is of these podcasts and how they can assist and help people.
[00:52:41 – 00:58:02]
Yeah, wonderful. I appreciate the question. My flagship podcast, the first one I ever did and the one that’s still going very strong, we’re about to hit 300 episodes on that one, is Power of Man. And the idea there is that when I was going through some of my worst times, I was alone. And so I. I didn’t have anybody to talk to. I had nobody to go to for guidance. There weren’t, you know, mentors out there to go talk to and find. And so I just decided I. I want to talk about everything that’s happened. I want to start conversations with men, and if I can help one man, one father, one husband, not feel completely alone when he’s going through this type of thing, you know, in his life, then it’s worth doing. And that was why I started the podcast in the first place. Since then, it has come through that way. It really has. We’ve developed a huge following, a very loyal following in a lot of ways, and it’s been just an unbelievable experience. I’ve got to meet all sorts of incredible men. We have had a lot of veterans who have really made it their home and are avid listeners and participants in it. And so that’s been very rewarding for me also. And it’s just been. It’s been great. And my sons now are getting more involved in that. They are realizing this is how my dad raised me, was in these Power of Man principles. And they didn’t really realize it when they were being raised, but now that they’re both planning families of their own and either married or getting married, they. They are seeing it now. And so now they’re very interested in it and they’re getting involved in it. So it’s been. That’s that’s what that podcast is. Second one is the Podcaster Nation. We’re about 150 episodes in that, give or take. That was because I realized that as podcasters, we didn’t have anybody highlighting us that I saw. And I said, you know what? If I did a show that allowed podcasters to be highlighted, to say, here’s all these different podcasters. Here are their stories, here’s why they’re doing the podcast they’re doing, and would that work? Would that be helpful? Would it help other podcasters grow? I could grow my show, and they could each grow their shows by being a part of my show. So it was like, win, win, you know, type of thing. And as soon as I launched the Idea, I put one post in one Facebook group, and I got 135 responses. And we launched immediately. And I was interviewing, like, all day long, just trying to get this thing going, and it has taken on a life of its own. And the beautiful part about the Podcaster Nation was that when I was in the hospital, for everything we talked about earlier, Podcaster Nation, folks that I had interviewed were. Were reaching out, were really trying to support me, going through all my health issues, because I was being open about them on online. You know, that’s what I do. And it was just amazing. I realized at that moment when I formed that podcast and when we really got it going, how the podcaster community really operates, and that it really is just this. This bond. You know, when you are a podcaster, you have a mutual respect for, in and from all these other podcasters. It’s such an incredible community. And even though I had been a part of it for a while, I hadn’t realized that piece of it until I got that podcast together. And that was just really amazing. And so I. That’s why I keep doing it. You know, it’s how I met you. It was for that particular podcast. And then the third one it was. Was formed. It’s funny because you actually said the exact line at the beginning of this episode, or maybe it was in our pre interview. But people would come on my other podcasts and they would say, is it okay to talk about God here? And, you know, then it would be, do I need to tone down the God thing? You know, And I just went, look, I respect every religion out there. I don’t know why everybody doesn’t, but I don’t think any Christian should ever feel that way. Why does anybody ever feel like they can’t talk about their faith if they’re telling their story? So I’m supposed to go on and tell my, you know, on a show and talk about my story, but not talk about my faith. I mean, that’s. You’re leaving out a huge chunk of the story. And as I sat there and I was complaining to my wife out loud about it, I’m like, I just don’t understand, you know, why this is the way it is. And it wasn’t her voice, but there was something that hit me really hard that. That let me know, what are you doing about it? And my answer was, oh, nothing. Apparently, I’m complaining about it, and that’s all. And I stopped and I went, you know, I know how to do this. I know how to make a podcast and how to launch one. I know how to make one successful. I’ve done it twice. And Wake up, the Lions was born. And I just said, you know, well, I’m going to do a podcast where people can come on, talk about their testimony, talk about spiritual warfare in our lives, talk about building discipleship, and be proud of their faith. And it’s not any kind of hate. It’s nothing against any other faith. It’s just people coming out and saying, hey, I’m proud of mine, and this matters in my life. And now that’s taken off, so it’s been a lot of fun.
[00:58:03 – 00:58:04]
Well, that one’s awesome.
[00:58:04 – 00:58:05]
Yeah.
[00:58:05 – 00:58:10]
Because that. That, that. That’s a. You’re sharing your life conversation with God.
[00:58:11 – 00:58:11]
Yes.
[00:58:12 – 00:58:12]
Right?
[00:58:12 – 00:58:12]
Yes.
[00:58:12 – 00:58:38]
In a blunt way. It’s just you’re sharing your connection to Jesus and you’re sharing your life connection with God. The hills and valleys, your improper interpretations of what God’s trying to do, where it’s caused you some trials and tribulations, and how when you open up your mind to listening to God, and I say that because I’ve prayed about stuff and didn’t like the answer. And the next morning when I woke up and prayed about it again, when the first answer was the right answer.
[00:58:39 – 00:58:40]
Right, Right.
[00:58:41 – 00:58:49]
So apologize for interrupting about that. But, yeah, I really, really like that. Wake up the lions. That’s a great, great thing. All three of them.
[00:58:49 – 00:58:51]
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, man. I appreciate it.
[00:58:51 – 00:58:52]
Such a servant. I love that.
[00:58:53 – 00:58:55]
Trying. Trying to be.
[00:58:55 – 00:59:44]
You’re doing more than trying, man. I always say to people, trying is lying. Either do or you don’t. Right. And you’re doing. So I don’t think it’s just try. I know that’s your humility coming through, and I appreciate that. But you are doing, brother. Right. If nobody tells you, I’m telling you, you’re doing it. Keep it up. So we’re coming to the end of the show. There’s so many other things I wanted to talk about. Two last final things, and we’ll wrap it up here. Tell me what you know. We talked a little about what it’s like to be wrapped in God’s armor and finally being bulletproof. You know, can you talk a little bit more in detail about that, about how you discuss, you know, being wrapped in God’s armor? Obviously, it’s probably a lot on that podcast, Wake up the Lions, but, you know, what does it mean to you to be finally bulletproof?
[00:59:45 – 01:01:24]
I think that I came to that realization when I was recovering, when I was in the hospital. When you. When you’re having these conversations with your wife and you realize that there was a really good chance you shouldn’t be having that conversation at that moment, that, you know, I should have been gone. When that hits you, you kind of realize, you know what? The devil has thrown everything he can at me so far, and I’m still here. And so I must have a purpose for being here for God to have kept me here. And I don’t know what that is, but I’m going to open myself up to finding it. And when you, when you get that realization, you really do feel as though you have done exactly that, wrapped yourself in the armor of God and said, you know, they took their best shot, evil took their best shot at me, and I’m still here, and there must be a reason. So it brings a. It brings with it. When you have that armor of God, you’re trusting more than ever, that nothing can penetrate it. Right? And so I describe it that way because I just really believe with every fiber of my being, with my heart, with my mind, that God has a reason for me. And I wake up every day thankful that I woke up and eager to go out and find the reason. And it’s just. It’s a great way to live. I’ve never felt stronger in my life. And that’s why I equate it to wearing the armor of God every day. Because honestly, Dwight, I feel like nothing can. Can get me anymore.
[01:01:25 – 01:02:43]
Well, that’s. And that’s awesome, because when we realize that we can pass tomorrow, right? Today is the present we woke up. Be grateful for it. Now we have this opportunity to share and. And develop ourselves by serving others and continuing to grow. You. You, if you do pass today, if some tragedy happened after this, you’re leaving this world with. With a great Legacy and a smile on your face. Right. I don’t know how. I don’t know what’s. That’s the way I look at it. I don’t fear death. I used to. But we won’t get into that conversation. That can be for your other podcasts. I used to. I used to fear it when I was younger. It was horrible how it encapsulated me. And it was because of that fear of sometimes how Christianity, my Catholic faith, can make you, you know, a lot of religions, organized religions, great fear. And they control by fear instead of controlling by learning, by knowledge, compassion, empathy. I’m not cutting religions down. I’m just saying at one point in time, that’s what it was. And it create the guilt in me. And I feared it. Right. I don’t anymore. But we’ll continue on with finishing up the podcast. I appreciate you talking about that. I do feel like I’m wrapped in God’s armor, personally.
[01:02:43 – 01:02:44]
Right.
[01:02:44 – 01:03:19]
And that I’m. And that I’m bulletproof and the days where I don’t. It’s not that I’m not bulletproof. It’s that I forgot to be grateful, even for the bad opportunities, even for the bad things that happen. What did I learn from it? And, and, and actually be aware and think about it, sit in that moment and what should have been done differently in my life. So, last final question, my brother from another mother, Rory, if you could leave our listeners with one piece of encouragement, something from your own life, proving it’s always worth giving a heck and never giving up, what would that be?
[01:03:20 – 01:04:09]
It’s always worth giving a heck. I love that. I love that. And never giving up. I would leave everybody with the idea that you are here for a reason and you have a purpose. And even if you don’t know what it is yet, stress the yet. Okay, you will. You have to open yourself up to find it. You have to trust that it’s going to be there. But you have value. You have a purpose. So even if you’re. You’re doubting what it is and you can’t figure it out, don’t ever doubt that you have one. And every day that you wake up and you open yourself up to say, what is my purpose? Please show me you come that much closer to finding out what it is. Don’t ever. Don’t ever doubt that. That’s what I’d leave with.
[01:04:09 – 01:04:15]
Great closing message. I appreciate that. What’s the best way, Rory, for people.
[01:04:15 – 01:04:26]
To reach you honestly on Facebook or Instagram? Just with my name at Rory Paquette right there on the screen. That’s it. And send me a message on either one. I respond to everything.
[01:04:27 – 01:04:56]
Right on. For those new to the Give a Heck podcast, whether you’re watching or listening, check out the show notes@giveaheck.com you’ll see a picture of Rory as well as detailed show notes, as well as a full unedited transcript of the show as well. For those that like that, and I do get people that enjoy reading, it’s all there, as well as the links to reach out to Rory. Thanks again Rory. I really appreciate you coming on. I’m going to wrap up the show and I look forward to our next conversation. Brother.
[01:04:56 – 01:04:57]
Thank you brother. Me too.
[01:04:58 – 01:06:04]
So before we close, remember your story isn’t over. Whether you’re lying on the floor or standing on a stage, your purpose is waiting for you to show up. Give a Heck. Give it loudly because the world needs your voice. This has been Rory sharing with us some amazing information, bringing us raw truth, unwavering faith, and a voice forged in fire. If this conversation moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear that survival is just the beginning and transformation is always possible. If this episode resonated with you, please share it. Please share it with everybody that you love and care for. Maybe even share it with an enemy. Who knows, Maybe you’ll change their lives and you’ll create a connection of communication to restore right a friendship. You never know. Leave a rating. Review this on YouTube or whatever your favorite podcast platform. It tells the algorithms that this show is worth it and it’ll serve it up to more people and I really appreciate it. Until next time, remember that it’s never too late to give a hack.