From Impossible to Achievable: A World Record Mindset | Chad Hymas

Chad Hymas: Transforming Tragedy into Triumph

In this thought-provoking episode, Chad Hymas shares his inspirational life story, beginning with a tragic accident that left him with severe disabilities. At the age of 27, a ranch mishap resulted in a broken neck, paralyzing Chad and confining him to a wheelchair. Instead of succumbing to despair, Chad chose to focus on his capabilities and positively impact others. He discusses the early days of his recovery, the crucial role his father played in his journey, and how he went on to set a world record by traveling 513 miles in a wheelchair from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. Through overcoming immense challenges, Chad became a renowned speaker and mentor, touching lives worldwide with his message of resilience and positivity. Listeners are encouraged to draw inspiration from Chad's journey and re-evaluate their own perceived limitations.

Doing What Must Be Done by Chad Hymas: https://a.co/d/iMtGVsB 
www.chadhymas.com

00:00 A Parent's Perspective on Tragedy
00:52 Chad Hymas: An Inspirational Journey
01:12 The Life-Altering Day
02:56 Ignoring Warning Signs
03:57 The Accident and Its Aftermath
04:29 Overcoming the Victim Mindset
05:22 The Power of Positive Influence
07:13 The Emotional Aftermath
08:44 Adapting to Change
10:40 The Importance of Perspective
18:52 Chad's Message to the World
22:03 Navigating Life's Challenges
23:12 Family and Fatherhood
23:28 Lessons in Leadership
26:55 A Father's Influence
28:58 Finding Purpose After Tragedy
33:56 Honoring a Mentor's Legacy
34:36 The Ultimate Marathon
42:25 Reflecting on the Journey

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Transcript

 I'm just saying, what if it was one of your kids? What if you were looking at one of your kids flat on their back and you knew that there was no cure and they were going to be on the back or in a wheelchair or incapacitated for the rest of their life at age 27 and have their whole life ahead of them.

They've got a great family. I could just ask you, wouldn't you want to switch in places? Would you do it? I would, I would rather do that than to  Comparison has been the thief of all my joy. When I compare myself to you guys out playing catch with your kids, How good of a dad do you think I am? I'm a horrible dad.

When I compare myself to another man walking down the street holding his wife's hand, I am a very miserable husband and a depressed husband. But when I do what I can do, with what I have, we're Maybe not just an inspiration to each other, allowing others to realize what they have in their lives and not take that for granted or put it by the wayside.

When you focus on what you do have and not necessarily what you have lost, more comes to you in that process.  

Author of the book, doing what must be done. World record holder. The wall street journal calls you one of the 10 most inspirational people in the world. And you have shared your message with some of the biggest brands in the world.

In fact, you've been inducted into the national speaker hall of fame, Chad Hymas. We are so honored to have you today. Take us back to that special day that is in your memory when you were 27 years old. 

That's a life altering, life changing, and nearly life ending day. I think kind of a cool thing about that day is, is, uh, prior to that, it's important to mention that I had married the gal that I dated in high school, and we had shared, uh, we'd been married for six years to that point, and we had shared two little boys.

One was three, and the younger one was one. And I had started my dream of being a, you know, being a parent. A rancher and a farmer and using a landscape development as a platform for that. So the reason why that is all important is I was at work on that Tuesday when I was 27, it was April 3rd, 2001 running about 212 people on landscape development crews, and I received a phone call from my wife telling me that the little boy.

The younger one of the two had just taken his first two steps and she wanted me to hurry home to see him take those first two steps and also to teach him how to do his first layup. So a basketball is kind of a big deal and I have a three foot or had a three foot rim in the garage that was three feet off the cement floor and just a regular size rim so I could teach him how to dunk at an early age.

And that's the whole goal. And so I, uh, set things up in Salt Lake City and Made my trek out to, out to the ranch and made a decision to stop by the ranch first to feed the elk. So we raised elk on the ranch and wanted to get them fed so that I wouldn't have to go back out later on. And, uh, I could devote my time to shunt down the boys that night.

I hopped onto the tractor and I loaded up a bale of hay that weighs more than most vehicles and lifted that bale up 15 feet. And I saw a red light flashing on the dashboard of the tractor. And it was a warning light that my tractor was slow. And, uh, I, I saw that and I, I chose to ignore it and I ignored it because I was in a hurry.

That's the obvious reason. But the unobvious reason is I'd made that tractor work with low hydraulics before and never gotten caught. And I think that's it. You know, that's one of the principles that I teach when I share messages abroad is that just because we don't get caught doing something and we know what's wrong makes it right.

And frankly, that's why I sit. I mean, I'm not sitting because I I don't know right from wrong. That's not why I'm sitting. I'm not sitting because I'm a bad person per se, or that I'm negligent or that I'm even ignorant or that I'm stupid. I would never say that about anybody that has made a mistake. I'm sitting because I got away with something.

And because I did that, I became a belief that I could do that. And I think that we are very guilty of that.  Concept as adults and as young adults growing into maturity. And so I want people to be able to hear the warning signs and their intuition and, and, uh, what they know right from wrong. But that said, I ignored that warning sign.

Bail. Hey, rolled over backwards, landed on my head, punched it through the steering wheel and the shaft is what broke my, my neck, leaving me, well, you know, kind of where I'm at today in the confines of a wheelchair, I'm about 90. 90, 95 percent numb, so I don't have the use of my hands on both sides. Um, I do move my arms, but it's shoulders, so I can't feel my arms at all.

Two inches above the breast line, down on the toes. I was able to get my breathing, uh, back, um, so I have the use of my diaphragm, but I don't, I'm not able to project very loud. And so that's the, you know, that's, that's what I was left with. 

All right, Chad, so you have such a message that is positive and you've been able to utilize this tragic event in your life to really change a mindset and take it into a positive manner.

I think a lesser person, and you probably going to correct me, but a lesser person would have fallen into the victim mindset here and allow this to destroy them. What has helped you? Get around that hurdle. 

Um, I can't tell you that I've gone around that hurdle. I've gone through that hurdle and probably will continue to go through that hurdle on some level, whether it's minuscule or, you know, as big as I want it to be.

I mean, I get to choose how, you know, how much I let that torment me. But there's no going around that. I don't believe there's,  there is. Breaking the barrier is definitely, you know, something that has been the case in my circumstance. And I think one of the things that has allowed me to do that quicker is by being around people that, that think positive and that have instilled in me a belief that I could do some things with this and be for the better.

I think faith, my faith has played a big, big role in that. I also believe that, uh, the fact that, you know, I had a responsibility and I carry that very highly to a family, right? So  when you, when you're in that circumstance. There really is no time for, unless you're just all in dark despair and you're, you're going to abandon everything.

There's really no time to, to waste. You need to figure things out to be able to take care of the family. And so being surrounded by those kinds of people and then being somewhat ambitious and having an entrepreneurial spirit, um, those things kind of. Uh, we're in my favor, things that were against me as they would be for anybody, no matter what their, their level of entrepreneurism is or what they're, they are ambitious or not, is that, you know, you lose 90 percent people lose 90 percent of their income, lose 90 percent of their body and, uh, go through a divorce.

In that case, there isn't 50 percent of everything they have. I mean, I'm just saying when you have a loss that that's big, that that's, that's not an easy thing to accept. Right. And so your freedom, when your freedom is taken away, that's just, So, you know, everybody, I think, goes through that in, in one form or another.

Again, it goes back to those core principles and those values that I just, I, I, they're non negotiables for me. They're absolutely non negotiables. And so when you hold true to those value systems, um, I think that it puts you in a place of potential to be able to magnify and improve based on where you're at, rather than sink into some abyss or despair.

So, we know that from where you were that night to You know, where you are today, uh, you've accomplished some, some great things and we'll get into that. But I want to go back to when you were first waking up from, you know, this tragic accident in the hospital. I want to go back to that emotional state. Uh, a lot of people like to kind of gloss over and talk about, where they are now and the things that they're doing now.

But there's, uh, I'm fascinated by the transition from that acceptance, probably first denial and then the bargaining and then, you know, the acceptance. But what were those first few days like for you as you realized that your life was now 

on a, first thing that happened when I woke up was that my dad asked all the white coats to leave very first thing that happened. 

Um, my dad's not against the doctors. He's very grateful for all the service. They rendered to me, they fixed all the broken bones. A lot of good things there. One of the things that he did not want to have happen was for, uh, me to be given a prognosis where I would be a statistic based on research and science.

So I, uh, he, he asked if he could be the one to talk to me and he just laid it on the table. You know, he'd, I don't know if either one of you have children, nieces or nephews, but I'm just saying, what if it was one of your kids? I had joy. I'm just saying, what if you were looking at one of your kids flat on their back and you knew that there was no cure and they were going to be on the back or in a wheelchair or incapacitated for the rest of their life at age 27 and they have their whole lives ahead of them.

They've got a great family and it's just, I could just ask you, would you want to switch in places? Would you do it? I would, I, I'm not, I'm not saying to bolster myself up. I'm just saying, I, I, I would rather do that than to see my kid go through it. And, you know, no matter what the hell is ahead of me, I just, I don't know that I want to see my kid go through something like that.

And my dad couldn't do that. And, uh, and he wanted to, and, uh, it's very emotional for me to think about. So he did the next best thing. He came into the room and he just said, I've got some good news and I got some tough news and I'm going to tell you right where you're at. Let's see what we can do to, you know, go through this.

And so he told me the good news was. That not that I was alive. He said, everybody breeze. He said, that's average. I'm not here to talk about average. I never have taught you about average. I've always coached you to be a benchmark or to be a leader. I've always coached you in basketball and then taught you higher standards, higher values, and you know, the core values of leadership and leading your siblings.

As I was the oldest growing up, he said, I'm here to talk about that. So I don't want you to just breathe. Everybody does that. That's, that's, that's, that's easy. I want you to breathe the intention. That means I want you to be grateful for every breath that you have. I want you to have passion for people.

There's a bunch of people out in the waiting room that I can't let see you because you're going to be focused on what you've lost. And your attitude could affect your entire family and there's a bunch of them that are out there and I just can't let him in because I don't want them to be down in despair and leave this hospital being depressed.

So I won't do that. He said, I'm not trying to punish you. So I'm just saying I'm not going to let other people be affected by this. In a negative way, they're here to see you and you have an opportunity to really help them benefit in their lives based on your attitude. 'cause they're gonna be looking at you thinking, man, you've gone through the worst thing in comparison to what they're going through.

You're going through a lot more. And if you can have some sort of high standard for that and be somewhat positive, you could have a great impact on their lives. So he was trying to teach me that. So he, he taught me the value of breathing with intention. And I'm not just talking about the physical breath, but that's.

Symbolically of, of having passion for people purpose and what I do every day and then perspective on the adversity that I would face moving forward. So he taught me that. And then, uh, the other part of the, um, the good news was that the doctors, there's a scar on my neck right here. It's more prevalent today.

It goes down and down on my ribs down in here. I broke all these bones and the doctors went in and they fixed them all with titanium and spent several hours in surgery. And, and the doctors have told my wife and my parents that my neck was stronger now than it ever was prior. And I would never break it again.

That was pretty good news. And then my dad, you know, gave me the bad news. Maybe I'll just ask you guys that. What, what would you think the bad news would be? I'm putting you on the spot. Yeah. So, so, 

so, 

so give me the bad news. What would the bad news be based on the obvious? 

Yeah. The obvious is, you know, the physical bad news.

You know, in a wheelchair and that's changed your, 

so let me, let me caution that without the, so wheelchairs perspective, wheelchair could be true, isn't it? I mean, I'm just saying the wheelchairs, not a bad thing. The wheelchair could be freedom if you look at it the right way. 

Yeah. 

Right, right. Wheelchairs.

Just because you walked into your office and I rolled into mine, doesn't make your way better than mine or my way better than yours. True. So that's very true. Let's go back to the beginning. What was the bad news? Pitch in, both of you. Maybe just change. How about change? Is change bad? Can be. It's not always bad.

I'll accept that. 

I think for, for me, I think the, the bad news would be the, the life that you thought you had, the, the vision you thought you were going to have with your children, playing the basketball and games and just, yeah, doing those things like the, the life you thought you were going to have. Is now you're faced with a change and to me that would 

be some, I don't want to put words in your mouth.

This is something you're talking about paralysis. But that there's no cure for that. And so that was going to change the way I did everything. 

I think for me, no, I mean, that's obviously a big part of it, but for me, it's more of,  I think we, we sometimes go through life and we set this vision of how things are going to play out.

And when it doesn't play out that way, it can be scary. It can be intimidating. And. Without having a good support system to keep you focused on what the possibilities as opposed to what you've lost, like you said, to me, that's the scary bit. You have to make a decision at that moment. Am I going to decide to lean into what's in front of me or am I going to hide and cower down from it?

So 

let's take a couple of, you know, a couple of those, those are great answers and put them into perspective. So, um, you know, the change aspect, which I think is very, very valid. I'm doing the layup the way that I used to. And people see the wheelchair and they think, wow, he's lost his legs. And that's not necessarily true.

Yes, I can't feel my legs and I can't use them the way that I used to. I also lost these, which is grabbing some breakfast in the morning. Typing on your computer to fix the sound challenges that maybe we've had technically this morning. It's grabbing a bottle of water, picking up a pen to sign my name, putting the bait on the hook to catch a fish, drawing back my bow, riding the, you know, the motorcycle.

There's the Hardy Davidson ring right there in the middle. I mean, I go on for hours and hours. So this is more than legs. We use our hands for getting dressed, buttoning up a shirt. I mean, washing the hair, shaving, we use our hands for everything. So this is a double whammy in my mind. This is more than legs.

And when we talk about the change and being in a wheelchair, I identify that as, you know, some form of paralysis and people have said that about, about me. And I come back at that with this comment in that I have met people that have full capacity, great potential. That are more trapped and paralyzed than I will ever be in my lifetime.

And my body's 95 percent numb. Now, without trying to offend you two gentlemen, what would I mean by that? Without trying to offend anybody, people that are more trapped than me and my body is 95 percent numb. 

Yeah. I think they're, they're, they're mental. Mindset is of limitations. 

So you nailed it. They've, you nailed it.

They've set parameters into their brain that have limited them to all the full potential that we have as human beings 

based on their past experiences, and they're not willing to change the way they've done things. So let's just put that in this per perspective. Again, you walked into your office this morning, if I chose not to wheel into mine because it's different, it is change.

It's not the way that I was taught. It's inferior because I'm smaller than I used to be. I think it looks stupid. It definitely feels awkward. I can't throw my hands against the rims or the tires. If I chose that thought process, Where would that prevent me from being right now at this very moment?

Hanging out with you guys. Do you see, do you see how we rob ourselves? It's not that someone else takes the legs from me. We rob ourselves based on not adapting to the change. We could go with another one. My clothes. I'm in a office right now. It's a ranch style office. I live on a ranch. What kind of clothes do ranchers wear? 

Well, cowboy hats and jeans. Yeah. Let's, let's, let's, 

let's, let's be a little bit more specific. So cowboy hat is there. That's still a naked cowboy hat. What kind of jeans? Oh, Wranglers. Thank you. That's Roman wear. I think you should both go buy a pair. Yep. What else?  , 

maybe some shirts like a flannel shirt.

Flannel shirt. Flannel.  You're right. 

Flannel button up. Sure. Um, and, and boots. I can't wear those clothes anymore. The shirts are buttoned, but my hands don't, so that's why you see this button undone. And it's a fleece and I've got a not one, not two, but three layers today because I like to keep the blood thin and that keeps the body warm.

My jeans are two sizes too big. They are, they're two sizes too big. The tires, they have knobs on them so that I can push with the calluses on my hands. And my shoes are also two sizes too big and they're slip ons so that I can put them on with my wrist and with my teeth. I'm the only one known of that does that by myself with my level of circumstance.

Now I'm not saying that to be a braggart or to be arrogant. I am saying that because my dad wanted me to be different. I don't think that God made us to be like anybody else, so why do we keep trying? Comparison has been the thief of all my joy. When I compare myself to you guys out playing catch with your kids.

How good of a dad do you think I am? I'm a horrible dad. Horrible. When I compare myself to another man walking down the street holding his wife's hand. I am a very miserable husband and a depressed husband. When I do what I can do with what I have, maybe not just an inspiration to each other, but we are maybe allowing others to realize what they have in their lives and not take that for granted or, you know, put it by the wayside.

And so. When you focus on what you do have and not necessarily what you have lost, more comes to you in that process. So when you said that people are mentally, I think that that's exactly right. You know,  my diet and what I eat and how much I eat. I depend on people to help me get loaded up when I go places and I'm traveling a lot.

I don't travel with anybody. If I didn't change that, I would not be able to travel because people are lifting me up. So I need to keep my weight at a certain benchmark level being at the height that I'm at. So that changed, you know, and we just mentioned three or four examples today, but I changed the way that I drive.

I've changed how I court my spouse. I changed how I coach my kids to play ball. I mean, there's probably not one thing that I haven't changed. And if I was to refute all that, I would be robbing not myself, but the boys of being able to have a coach to be coached.  And, um, so I, I, I hope that people realize the narrative in that and realize that this is not just about them, what they've lost, whatever it is for them, but it's about others as well.

And how they handle that will also result in the reaction that others get with the challenges that they face. 

Yeah. One of the things that I say is that you can either focus on the. Goal, or you can focus on the obstacle, but it's, it's hard to focus on both at the same time. I don't think you can focus on both 

at the same time.

Yeah. Yeah. I, I, the mind can only think of one thing at one time, so you get to pick on where, where you spend most of your time focusing. I, I totally agree with that.  And 

so a lot of people, to your point, accept those limitations and they focus on those limitations. And that, to answer your question, really brings us back to why they're more confined or.

limited in their capacity is because of the limitations that they've accepted. 

Chad, talk to, talk to us about your businesses. What, um, what type of businesses are you in and, uh, how do they, those impact other people? 

Several. So, um, you know, I do travel and I speak on leadership. I do a lot of safety. These, uh, these wheels have taken me to eight or nine countries on all seven continents.

So I do a lot of travel that way. We have the lodge where we do leadership retreats and do our mastermind groups there. We have our online courses and then we have our one on one coaching program. And then we do a lot of team building activities for organizations out at the ranch as well. I think we can sleep up to 74 people at the ranch.

And so they'll bring their executive teams out and we'll do internal curriculum and then go outside and do outdoor activities, whether it involve hunting, fishing, we do a lot of bird hunting on the ranch. And then, uh, we'll do the ATV excursions as well. 

That's awesome. How, what is, what is your main message?

What, what's the message that you. Want to share to the world.  📍 

 Hey listeners. I hope you're enjoying this episode. Chad's journey is amazing to say the least. And if this message resonates with you, Or if its making you think of somebody who could benefit from hearing it. Take a moment right now to share this episode with them. Whether they're going through a tough time or need a little inspiration Chad's journey could be exactly what they need. You never know how one story can change someone's perspective. 

So hit that share button and spread the message.

I think there are several that, that, that, that, you know, I try and customize to the needs, fears, and victories of the group and really try and not just have one message. But, you know, I think that, that some of the core principles that I try and steer by our ownership for where you're currently at in your life and everything around you, even though it might not be your fault, Ownership's a big one for me.

When we talk about leadership, I think that's a broad statement. I like to talk about influence and the ability that we have to influence the lives of others for the better, the better good and the greater good. This Sunday, this coming Sunday, it's the fifth Sunday of the month, and I'll be doing a devotional in, uh, in the, uh, Uh, Lehigh area, and that'll be a faith based, non denominational, faith based, devotional.

I really love those, and I love spending my time with youth. While I don't get to do that, uh, frequently, I, I, I think that that's a great place of impact. And so, to the challenges that youth face today, young adults, I love spending my time with college students, high school students, and even middle school students when the opportunity presents itself.

And those, those messages are generally around, you Goal setting, finding the good in others, you know, not gossiping and putting others down, building people up, finding, getting people self worth, self value, finding people that are sitting alone and being courageous enough to go sit by them and build them up.

And so that takes guts. It takes grit. That takes proactiveness versus reactiveness. And so it's, it's really just, um, trying to make the world a better place using a variety of messages, even though I'm not an expert on any of them. I know what's right from wrong. I I've been raised in a good home and those are messages that any one of us could probably speak to based on the way that we believe and so 

it's amazing.

Um, what is your life's greatest accomplishment? 

I've always said that, you know, my great, I'm,  I'm, you know, it's been 20. Almost 25 years, I guess, since the accident, and I'm still married to the same girl. I think that's rather I'm not saying that kudos to me. In fact, I asked her, you know, what's gotten us to 30 years, and I didn't really like her answer.

She said she didn't marry me for my body. I don't know how to take that. That's not really, that's not a compliment, right? So I think I didn't know how to take that. Um, But I do consider that to probably be the crescendo of, of everything is that, that Shon and I still managed through the ups and downs and the, and the  unacceptance and, and me not wanting her help and, and all these things that, that we have, um, had discussions and frustrations over and her frustration and me not accepting, uh, or wanting our help, you know, that we've been able to navigate ourself through those.

Dark abysses and still navigating. And it'll probably continue as we get older and, and the body's changing even more, maybe she's, you know, uh, as she gets older, she's, you know, able to help less and less because her body will probably change at her abilities as well. And so, you know, I don't want to fear what's ahead.

I want to face it with optimism. And this, when we do that, we will find a way to get through it. We will all find a way and, uh, and find our path. And so.  That's a big one. And I'm very close to all four of our children. We have now four children. So we have the two boys. And then we adopted a little girl from Guatemala.

She's now 20 years old. And then we have a little boy who's the last one at home. He's from Ethiopia. And he's, uh, he'll be 16 next month. So 

that's awesome. How, how has being a father and a husband, Helps you be a better entrepreneur, business owner? 

Well, I think that it's some of those core values of being a, you know, being an influencer or being a, you know, I've gotta, I've gotta lead those kids to be able to, they, they need a dad in their life and they need, they need, they need leadership.

They need have someone they can relate to, someone that's not gonna, you know, uh, they can trust. So if they made a mistake, they can come into my office or. Come visit me in the house and say, you know, dad, I need help with this or dad. I'm failing this class or dad. I made a mistake here. Dad, I didn't tell the truth or, you know, dad, I took this candy bar for this, whatever it might be and know that I'm not going to condemn them for that, that I can say, you know what, I've made some pretty bad mistakes to here's the best way to maybe fix it.

And here's a couple of ideas. And, uh, you know, you can return the candy bar and say you're sorry and, you know, offer to do some service. Or, you know, if you said something bad about somebody and you're feeling guilty about it, maybe the best thing to do is to go and sit by that person and not care what your friends think.

That's not an easy answer, but it's the right answer. And you can choose whether or not you want to do what's right. And so. I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell your mother that I'm sorry for what I said to her last night because I didn't want her help or because I didn't like the clothes she picked out for me or the fact that she forgot to put this in my suitcase.

And I can't tell you how many times I've had to come back and say, I'm sorry for my reaction. So buddy, you and I are the same. So I'm not, you know, I'm not. And then oftentimes I'll, Call up the kids, and I've done this throughout my entire career. I'll thank them for taking care of the ranch and their mother at home, and that I remind them that I'm not the father of the house, they are.

And that immediately holds them up to a higher standard and higher benchmark, so I don't have to ask them to make their bed or to treat mom with me. They're, they're, they're in charge. They are in charge and they're taking care of their mother and I recognize that and without even asking them to take care of their mother, which I don't want to do or without even asking them to make sure they do the dishes.

It's just done because they're held to that standard, right? So they're there to help, help her and be helped me for her without mom having to ask them to do it. And so that's been rewarding for me. And, uh, That would be one thing that I would ask our audience to do today is just find someone to send a text to letting them know that you're thinking about them and send them a few photos of where you're at and let them know that you're thinking about them today, wherever you're located, whether it's your office outside the sunset at a golf course, I don't care where you're at.

Just send a picture and just say, Hey, I know I don't send this to you very often. I know it seems a little weird. Sorry about that. Thinking of you today. Thanks for all the value you've added to my life. You will never ever understand that. Have a great day. Bye. Send that message off that automatically holds that student that needs that nephew to a higher standard, a higher benchmark, and they will act on that.

And then I love that. I actually had that conversation with my wife yesterday. I'm really, uh, I gotten a little worse at this, but I've, I've been pretty good at keeping in contact with people of my past and just randomly touching, you know, touch a base with them. And it's funny, I said, you know. You got to reach out to people when you never need anything because when you might need something, then you'll have somebody to lean upon and they're there to help.

You know what I mean? Obviously that paints a picture of an ulterior motive. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is keeping tight relationships. It's super important. 

No, I, you're, you're building your foundation from the hearts and it's, you're not doing it because you're, you're going to be needy.

You might have the opportunity to serve them. So you're putting yourself in a place that they'll be able to serve others and that's often reciprocated. Right. And so even if it's not, you're not going to condemn for that. There's nothing against broadening that base. 

I hear a stronger relationship you have with your father through this.

Talk to us a little bit. I don't know what the impact your dad has been. 

There's not a day that goes by that he and I don't talk. It's usually late at night. Currently he's up on the mountain. Um, you know, that's interesting. When I broke my neck, he quit his job and took over the ranch. So my dad is not a farmer by trade, although he taught me how to farm by taking me to my uncle's ranch every year, four times a year to help brand and move cattle from one pasture to another and move water in the summertime.

My dad got hooked on that when he was in high school. And so I'm his oldest son and my dad was always very Very keen on taking us to learn how to work up at his ranch. And so he'd spend the whole summers up there and, and work for him on his cattle ranch. And I got hooked. I mean, I, I got hooked hard, quick.

It is hard work. And it is early mornings and the alarm goes off at five and breakfast at five 30 and we're out the door by six and you know, and Pauline had lunch made for us. And so we'd break for lunch for 15 to 30 minutes, then we'd be out bailing hay and then we'd be back in dinner. or seven o'clock at night and we start the day over and that's day after day after day, seven days a week and finding time to go to church on Sunday.

You know, that's, That's how my summers were. And so I, I got hooked on that hard work lifestyle. I liked that. I liked watching him when my, when I broke my neck, my dad was one of the top insurance agents in his business or, and his brand, and he ended up quitting that job and he took over my dream of the ranch.

And, uh, today I I'm 50 years old. My dad is 73.  Uh, this month and he still does it to this day and that's his passion. And I don't have much to do with that. Although we do have elk on our plates. My dad runs everything up on a mountain and that's his business. And so I think it's rather fascinating that he, you know, he had a life altering change that day of my accident as well, instead of seeing my dream dwindle and go bankrupt, he just quit his job and took it over and started it from scratch and has built it into.

A rather an amazing place for people to visit. So it's phenomenal what he's done. 

So I'm, I'm curious,  you seem to be at peace with what happened. You seem to be really content. And you know, we, we talked a little bit about this transition, the change. Was there a moment where you recognized or realized that what happened maybe happened for you instead of to you and that you were able to use this opportunity to spread your gifts and communicate and share your message.

Was there, was there a time where it went from I'm battling just to be some state of normal, whatever that meant for you at that moment from there's an opportunity here now where I'm actually making progress? Where it's not just people see you now, 25 years later and say, well, of course, he's got it all figured out.

Look at, he's got this big ranch and these businesses and, but.  I like to hear that entrepreneurial journey where things just start to click and those first few steps, what was, what was that like? Yeah, for 

me it was, uh, going through the loss first. And I'm not talking about the loss of the, the limbs. Uh, you know, I, when things seem to be going well and you're on that journey and you start to make improvements and, and things are going really well, you know, what happens next?

The hole in the road appears, you know, or the very, so for me it was, you know, I, I had, uh. A mentor who was also a quadriplegic right when I was first hurt that I was introduced to and he came to visit me in the hospital and I got to become very good friends with him back in the days when we didn't have social media or Facebook.

Uh, there was websites and there were cell phones, but that was about it. And, um, and I followed him. I was impressed by him, but for the very reason that we're talking today, I liked his attitude. I liked his inspiration. His name was Art Burke and art art had broken his neck on his way to a church house to get married.

So, um, so that wedding was postponed for 18 months. I mean, think about that for a second. So they, he got married to the same girl and my dad had heard art speak at one of his insurance events a few months before I broke my neck. So my dad introduced me to art while I was not well, I was in the hospital.

Art came to see me, brought me some of his books and some of his VHS tapes. And, uh, that's how long ago this was long before Netflix and DVDs came out. But I got hooked, you know, and I was really impressed with everything that art was.  And, uh, art was, uh, this was 2002.  That was the first year that Baltimore Ravens won the, uh, Superbowl.

And that was Ray Lewis's first year. And art was also a leadership and consultant for the Baltimore Ravens in his wheelchair. He was a quad due to that accident on his way to get married. So art invited Shondell and I to go to Hawaii, to the pro bowl, to watch Ray Lewis play. And he was also going to talk to the team before they entered the field.

And I got pictures of all that. It was absolutely unreal. So Sean Dillon, I went with art and his wife, Dallas over to Hawaii.  And, uh, watched the game and we watched our speak and, and I wasn't intrigued to speak at that time. I didn't want, I was just trying to figure out a way to be a rancher again. And so this was, you know, several months after the accident.

I, I, I really looked up to him a lot. We went to the Pro Bowl on February 16th, 2002, and returned from that event on February 18th, 2002. And on February 19th, if you look it up on the internet, look up Berg, it'll pop right up. On February 19th, 6 o'clock in the morning is when I got the news that Hart had passed away in his sleep that night due to an allergic reaction to medication.

That was a major blow. That was a major hit because I was being led by and had someone I could fall to and call any time I wanted to when I was, you know, I just couldn't figure out whether that was, You know, how to be a husband again, or how can I drive, or how can I go out and still run my landscaping business, or you know, do you have any thoughts for me out here?

It wasn't a speaking thing, so I, I, uh, I went out on the ranch road. There's nobody that drives on these roads out here. It's just kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but they're made of asphalt. And I went out in my wheelchair, and I just, I was pleading to anybody that would listen to me by myself in the air. 

God, you can call it nature. I don't care what you call it. I, I don't think he cares as long as you call. And I was just calling upon God and then saying that  this is not right. It's not, it's not fair. And the thought came to me,  I wonder if I could be a farmer, but not in the way that I thought and feel a void that the world is now going to go through because that man is no longer here.

And once that thought came to my mind, I will back into the office. And I got on the internet, the computer, and I jumped in. When I say I jumped in, I mean, I symbolically jumped in with both feet, and I've been hard at it ever since.  That's, that's what happened. That's amazing. So, trying to figure out a legacy that he left behind.

He's now been gone for, gosh, 2002,  so he's been gone for over 20 years, 22 years he's been gone.  

So.  So, I know you, you mentioned you, you leaned in to this. Um, I know that you have. I don't know if you did this to set an example for inspiration or what, but I know that you, you did something pretty amazing in 2003.

And, uh, I don't know if you want to share, share that with us and talk a little bit about that.  

You're talking about the marathon. So back to this, that's a good segue because art is the one that set the first world record. Art pushed his chair from Salt Lake to St. George. When art died, I wanted to see if I could beat his record and honor him that way.

Okay. So I trained for 18 months. I used his chair. His wife let me use his chair. I mean, that's the chair that I used for the marathon. It was unreal. And I trained for 18 months to push from Salt Lake to Vegas. You know, the irony of that story, it's a great story to end on for sure, is that I trained for 18 months and um, we trained to push in the summertime.

Because my body reacts better to heat than it does to cold. Left temple square at four o'clock in the morning. And there were thousands of people there to send me off kind of like maybe today there people are watching and listening to this and maybe they feel inspired or maybe they feel like they can overcome some challenges they're facing.

And a couple of days from now, they might. not be watching this and they were going to find themselves and maybe, maybe more by themselves. I mean, the first two days of that marathon, I had people with me all around me, thousands of people, people were out on bikes and 10 speeds and running and walking and cheering me on.

And we were going through the city. But two days later, we were outside the city and in the rural areas and people became to be fewer and fewer to where it was just me and my family. And  there was one point on day three where I hit headwinds of over five miles an hour. And I don't think that that seems like a big deal to probably you guys, but I had to push my chair even going downhill.

I mean, I thought to myself, are we ever going to, you know, get to Vegas? This is, this is not sustainable. We're not going to make that. A few days later, we hit a hill that I had trained for. I trained for this mountain range.  It definitely was, uh, for whatever reason, harder than, than, than I had anticipated.

Um, it increases in over 4, feet in just three miles, four miles. It's Beaver Mountain and in Millard County. And it took me two days to get the top. So just a few miles in two days and we trained for 53 miles a day. My family would use their foot as a chalk behind my tire so that I wouldn't lose what I had gained.

That's how Steve is. So I would push and they would chalk. Then I would push again and they would chalk. And we just kept doing that. And it was absolutely, you know, just  grueling. But I learned with every up there comes a down and on the flip side of that mountain, I hit 35 miles an hour. And I looked, well you're going 35 miles an hour and it looks like death is an option.

I mean, it's a valid option for sure. Um, here's the catchy point. So let's skip to day eight. Let's just skip to day eight. We're in Mesquite. And there's only 87 miles left to go before we hit our goal. The problem is, is during that course of time, I had, my hands were blistered and bloody despite having gloves and being taped up.

I'd fallen off the bike once, cut my back, had to run and grab stitches. I didn't feel the pain of that at all because the body is numb, but it definitely took its toll. The loss of blood, tired, um, having some medication to keep it.  from getting infected. Um, just the heat. The heat was a killer. We had to change the marathon from a day marathon tonight.

Marathon. We had a full police on tries. So a cop car in front or a high patrolman in front, high patrolman in the back. Then the motor caters right in between. So there was a motor home and a Couple of cars of flashing lights behind us and we would race at night. It was still a hundred and twenty two degrees asphalt temperature And so that's that easier to cool me off than to get warm So so that's they would just douse me with water and just dump Buckets and buckets of water on me to keep me cool and right as soon as we got out of mesquite I don't know if you've ever watched the movie Forrest Gump, but he runs from East Coast to West Coast twice, runs from Canada to Mexico one and a half times, one and a half.

And in that halfway point, he just stops in the middle of the road, just stops. And he says, just a couple of words. He says, I think I'll go home now.  He turns around and he decides to go home. That's exactly what I did right outside of Mesquite. So I hadn't gotten the mirage. But I stopped somewhere three or four in the morning and I just sat there.

Bus stopped, highway patrolman stopped. I stopped. My dad came out of the motor home, walked up to me and says, is everything all right? And I said, yeah,  I'm tired. I'm not tired. Just go get some rest. I mean, I'm ready to go home. I mean, who had fought me really? I've gone farther than we thought. I beat art's record.

We're good. I, uh, I just, I just, I just, I can't push anymore. And he said, no problem, son. I got you covered. I'm going to pick you up and carry you back to the motor home.  Before we take you back to the bed, let's sit on the couch and check out your bandages, have some Gatorade, and if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you for a minute.

That was it. So he picked me up and carried me back and carried me up the steps to the motorhome and sat me on the couch. And people were sleeping in the bedrooms and stuff, you know, it was nighttime. And, and my dad sat there with me and the bus driver was there. And he just, uh, he said this, he said, so you're ready to go home?

And I said, yes, sir. I'd like to go home and said, okay, no, no problem. We'll turn this sucker around. Get on the other side of the road and we'll head back home. But before we do that, let me just ask you a question. He said, how have you been measuring your success? I said, I don't understand.  He said, how have you been measuring your progress to get to Vegas?

I said, well, I, I mean, you can see Las Vegas. It's right there in the sky. You can see all the lights and it's there. I guess I've been looking at that. He said, no, no, no. How have you been measuring it? When you couldn't see Las Vegas through the entire journey. To get to where you're at now, how do you, how do you measure?

That was easy. I just said, well, if you want to measure metrically, I, I've just been, I'm not trying to think this through too hard, but I've been counting the green mile markers, so I know right where I'm at. I know what I have left. I've got 87 miles left. I know right where I'm at. He said, I've noticed that  and the mile markers aren't coming as fast as they were coming before.

It is getting harder. It's getting tougher. He said, I don't know that the mile markers is a great way to measure. He said, if you want to do it metrically, why don't. If you're willing, go back out one last time, but you don't have to. I'm just giving you an idea. And instead of measuring the mile markers, which aren't coming now very, very quickly, why don't you count the yellow stripes in the middle of the road?

And that's when he taught me about the power of incrementalism. So somewhat reluctantly, I went back out and I started to  give it a shot on that night. I pushed a little over a couple thousand stripes. Went back out the next night after having some good rest, pushed over 9, 000 stripes, and that last night we pushed 10, 000 plus stripes, almost 11, 000, and we hit Apex Junction.

Apex Junction is 17 miles away from Vegas, and the Mirage is all downhill from there. We waited until nine o'clock that morning. They shut down the strip, shut down the stoplights, helicopter above us, video on this, and a police motorcade on motorcycles guided me. And I coasted my way in with stoplights from 17 miles up on top of the hill.

Uh, people were running out of casinos because it was being filmed on the, uh, people filming. I, I, I know they were all drunk, but I didn't care if they were drunk. Okay. I thought after enthusiasm and when I crossed the finish line at the Mirage. There went up a cheer from a bunch of drunk people and a bunch of people that weren't drunk.

That made me weep. And I realized what my dad said was, was true. A quote from Art Berg. While the difficult takes time, and you talked about running marathons 200, 300 miles, 100 miles. We, you and I talked about that before we came on today. While the difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little bit longer.

And so I've tried to live my life by trying to do the little things that will make the big things come to fruition. Whether that's in business, which is what I'm kind of going through right now, and trying to start do some different pillars with what we're doing now.  Or in a relationship with Sean Dell or with my kids, trying to do the little things that will make the big things come to fruition.

That's a, that's a great story. So I want to make sure that we, I, I,  It sounds like as you told the story, um, you told some of the highlights and some of the details, but I want to make sure that we don't miss something because you said marathon a few times and I know some of the people that know me well know that, you know, in the running world, marathon is 26 miles.

Yeah, this is the ultimate marathon. Yeah, I want to make sure we really hit. So how far did you actually go? 513, 513 

miles. 

513 

miles, incredible. Yeah, it took 11 days.  

Chad, Chad, thank you so much, uh, for your story and, you know, spending time with us today is, is amazing, but thank you for sharing it with others and getting your, your story out there is, is fantastic.

You have such a cool perspective. On life, this blessing that we've all been given life.  I really appreciate your time today. Where can people find or connect with you? 

Uh, they just Google my name, uh, Chad Hymas, H Y M A S is the last name. Chad Hymas though. It'll, it'll pop up.  So it'd be a good way 

to reach 

out that way.

Fantastic. Tony, any last words? 

No, I've just really enjoyed our time together. So I appreciate you being here. Appreciate your presence and appreciate your attitude and, and your message as you share it with people across the globe. Thanks so much for hosting me today, guys. Appreciate it. Thanks, Chad.

Thanks. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next time to cut through the noise of what it really takes to be a successful entrepreneur. 

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