Author Interview: Kyle Garlett author of "Lessons From the Edge of Life"

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1.    Kyle, thank you so much for sharing your story with the world.  It is truly inspiring.  Like most inspiring stories, however, there is an element of struggle and dark days.

 

What is the one thing that you can attribute your “Thrive – don’t just Survive” attitude to?

 

I think it goes back to those dark days, as you suggest. I felt an element of anger at cancer, that it was disrupting my life so profoundly and threatening to take it. To put it bluntly - cancer really pissed me off. So I didn’t want to just beat it, I wanted to destroy it. I didn’t want to just win. I wanted to humiliate it. So the “thriving” that I strive for in my life is soft of me continually spiking the football in the face of cancer. It’s a reminder to me that I beat it, but also in a way it’s me trying to remind cancer that I am better than it. It is tough, but I am tougher.

 

 2.   Can you picture your life if you would not have gone through these struggles?  Do you believe you would have just fallen into the “complacent” category you warn against?

It’s hard me to picture a life without the struggles that I’ve survived because they are such an integral ingredient in who I am today. I suppose I probably would have fallen into the complacency that I warn against because that complacency trap ensnares so many of us. There is a natural instinct in all of us to click on the cruise control and just stay the easy and known course. Hopefully I would find my out. Hopefully I would get the kick in the pants that is often needed to seek more. Because I also believe that there is a natural instinct within all of us to reach for bigger and better. All it takes is the confidence to go for it.

3.            It seems that you are a huge “pay it forward” type of person.  What is the most rewarding thing you have done to give something back or pay it forward?

 

It’s hard to say what is the most rewarding thing for me, in terms of paying it forward. I do appreciate that because of being on television, going to Ironman, and writing books, I am somewhat known in the heart transplant and cancer communities. So often someone newly diagnosed with cancer will seek me out. Or someone waiting for a heart transplant, and terrified by what that means, will send me an email. Being able to speak to people like that. Giving them hope, or simply an ear that understands their fears, is something that I will always do. I’m so fortunate to be in a place where can pass along the same hope that got me through the worst of days. It’s truly a blessing.

4.            What would you recommend a person focus on when they are in the dark periods or feeling like everything they are doing just isn’t going to matter?

 

I talk about this in my memoir, Heart of Iron, which came out a few years ago. When I was in isolation during my bone marrow transplant, life was pretty horrible. Physically I was at my weakest and sickest. But also mentally, my hope was at its lowest point. So what I would do was try to find a good thirty minute period a day. It might be reading a good book, watching a funny television show, or having a conversation with a friend. If I could find an enjoyable thirty minutes each day, then I could bear the other twenty-three and a half hours. And if I could get a whole hour of good, then it was an extra special good day.

Find something in your life that is good. Because there is always something. Someone that loves you. A pet, a parent, something. Find something you love. Writing, reading, running, laughing, something. And then focus on that good. Zero in on the good, and the elevate its importance above all of the bad. Make that good be the reason for which you live. And in time, the bad will begin to recede, and more goods will begin to enter your life. As I point out in this book, light always illuminates the dark. It’s never the other way around.

5.            I see that you are a speaker – how rewarding is that and what is your favorite topic to speak on?

I love speaking, and especially speaking about the strength that we all possess to overcome the great adversities of life. And the nature of my speeches tend to be very personal, because my story is one that is relatable. So after hearing me speak, people feel like they know me. So they often approach me afterward as though I am already a friend. I have great conversations. I make great connections with people. We talk about life. They share things with me because over the course of my speech most of the normal walls that separate people are lowered. 

I always leave a speech in a really great mood. I hope that in the time people spend listening to me, I give them hope and optimism and an extra spring in their step as they take on whatever challenge they are currently facing. Because that is exactly what happens for me after giving the speech.

 

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Horned grey Rells, Orcs, Greenskins, and Humans - oooohhhh this is going to be good!

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Malvia is a world caught in constant war. The three remaining races slaughter their way towards a victory that has escaped them and others for over a thousand years. In the west exists a great Kingdom belonging to the horned, grey skinned race of the Rell. To the north, behind walls of jagged steel and rock, are the Orc Territories where the savage Greenskins live. In the west, ever fortified and watched over by the Inquisition, is the Empire of the humans.
As the war continues there are many who seek to capitalise on its carnage, its pain, and its horror. One such man is the Summoner: a mysterious warrior whose name and past is well known to all in every corner of this violent world. But what plan has he concocted to make his mark on Malvia and what is in store for not only those who stand in his way but those he desperately seeks? 

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(Not a review - part of a paid advertising package)

Kyle Garlett has walked to the edge so that you don't have to and you can still get all the wisdom from that right here!

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"Lessons from the Edge of Life: The Seven Keys to Surviving the Worst and Living Your Best" by Kyle Garlett is a one of those books that makes you just pick it up and smile all the way through.

Kyle Garlett is a four time cancer survivor.  That in and of itself is testament to the man's willpower and attitude.  But what is survival if you then become complacent?  Garlett chose to thrive instead of survive.  Most "healthy" people would not be able to accomplish the feat of completing the Ironman Triathlon.   With a heart transplant and damaged lungs from rounds of chemo, Garlett did just that.

But, like all great people worth listening to, Garlett has a sense of humility that allows him to not just share his story, but to share the insights that were gained from his journey.

Being a personal development coach, I recognized many of the points that Garlett makes, but his examples and twists on them is where the real value of this book lies. Garlett has people facing their gremlins by having them not just facing their fears, but making fear their friend.  He does an excellent job in the very first lesson when he encourages people to "climb out of the valley of the fog".

I also appreciate that Garlett never turns into a "positive in the face of everything cheerleader".  There were times when he suffered setbacks and depression.  No one is ever going to be 100% positive all the time - depression, hurt, helplessness and other emotions are OK for a quick visit, but nothing good happens from an extended stay with these emotions.

One of the greatest take-aways for me was the acronym of AWE:  Attitude, Will, Effort.  I have seen this first hand in myself and others that these three words can take a person quite far if they put them into action.

I could go on and on about the contents of this wonderfully motivating book, but I can't do it justice or give you the wisdom in a blog article.

Do yourself a favor - take Kyle Garlett's hand, walk with him to the edge of life, and learn all you need to learn on how to get more out of each and everyday.  

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(This review was part of an ad package.  This only moved the book to the "front of the line" and in no way influences the review"

A difficult choice facing us every day: Sweatpants or Stilettos?

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Many months of this year were what I call the sweatpants days. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t understand what I mean by that statement. But just so we’re all on the same page, sweatpants days are those days that all you want to do is stay in bed with your sweatpants on and have Netflix at your beck and call to create your own marathon event. They are the days in which the sun should not shine, the world should not move on, and no one should smile, laugh or be happy.
Thankfully, I have learned this year that sweatpants days don’t last forever. I have seen them go from sweatpants to jean days to leather pant days and then on to stiletto days. Those days where you feel the absolute best and are 100% yourself, doing what you were created to do, with people you love to be around, and everything is falling into place. Blessings from heaven abound. Yeah. Those days. They are the stiletto days. They are the take-on-the-world-tell-them-whose-boss-no-one-can-stop-you kind of days. And they are awesome. I love those days.
Educator, DIY junkie, and Believer, Rachel candidly reveals some of her darkest days and brightest moments. In Sweatpants and Stilettos, she speaks to the truths of Christ that have been put on display through life’s variety of circumstances. She gives light to real and honest conversations we have with ourselves while battling life’s trials, all while still managing to be both brutal and comical.

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(Not a review - Book cover and blurb posted as part of an advertising package - review to follow)

One of the most unique stories that you will ever hear!

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Diagnosed with cancer at age 18, Kyle Garlett would go on to wage four separate battles with the disease - three times with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and then a fourth battle with a chemotherapy-induced secondary leukemia. All told he was in active treatment to fight cancer, undergoing a combination of radiation, chemotherapy, and a bone marrow transplant, for a total of 54 months.

But perhaps his most challenging hurdle was still to come, when it was discovered that damage sustained from repeated treatments to fight his cancer would require a heart transplant. And after another 64 months on the heart transplant waiting list, at the age of 35, Kyle finally got his gift - a life restored through heart transplantation.

Since that October day in 2006, Kyle hasn’t looked back. Making the most of his second chance at life with a new engine in his chest, Kyle has won multiple medals at the U.S. Transplant Games and crossed the finish line of dozens of triathlons and marathons. And in 2009, on the third anniversary of his transplant, he became the first heart recipient to ever compete at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Kyle has survived many of the worst pains and uncertainties of life, he’s witnessed and benefitted from the absolute best of humanity, and he’s now dedicated himself to sharing the lessons and perspectives gained during his more than 25 years of living with and conquering adversity.

Kyle Garlett as a Keynote
While Kyle's story is particularly relevant to anyone in the healthcare industry - the video to the right is from his keynote address at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Global Communications Conference in Basel, Switzerland - he's also been a frequent headliner in the non-healthcare business world. Kyle has done multiple events for Boeing Aerospace and his frequent work within the financial and corporate communication industries have netted him clients like Morgan Stanley and Williams Lea.

As a cancer survivor and heart transplant recipient, Kyle knows how to face unexpected obstacles. He knows how to win in the face of adversity. He knows how to take the difficult challenges that life is sure to bring, and turn those tests into moments of opportunity. And that is why Kyle's message has resonated at conventions, conferences, corporate retreats, athletic events, high schools and universities, and anywhere there is someone in need of motivation and inspiration.

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(Not a review - Part of a Paid Ad Package)

Hard Luck Hank turns crap into.... really nothing, he just deals with it

In the second installment of Steven Campbell's Hard Luck Hank titled "Basketful of Crap", the adventures of Hank continue on in a big way.

After saving your space station and everyone on it from a crazy destructive robot, you would think that Hank could live in his apartment on Hank Ave. in relatively quiet.  But lately a lot of dead bodies have been appearing on Hank's doorstep, which wouldn't normally be a big deal except for the fact that Hank didn't put them there.  

Hank would be content just going to the diner and eating them out of everything they have, but two super fast ninja women have other plans.  They attack Hank, which is mostly just annoying, because as a mutant, Hank is super hard to hurt.  But Hank is slow and the only way to stop them is an unplanned remodel of the bathroom involving a ripped up toilet used to slow them down.

When things calm down, Hank discovers that they want to hire him.  He needs to find a women, who they really can't describe and won't tell Hank why they are looking.  Great.....

The basket of crap becomes fuller when the corporations who have taken the place of organized crime start to declare open war on each other.  Hank's normal puny double barrel shotgun isn't really useful against tanks, so his friend hooks him up with a weapon so powerful that Hank is almost guaranteed a trip to the hospital whenever he fires it.  Let's just say Hank is a big believer in the "don't bring a knife to a gunfight" philosophy.

Strange become stranger when Hank discovers that his real adversary is "Naked Guy" (named for the fact that he is always naked, lol) who also happens to be indestructible and bored.  When naked, eternal people are bored, they get crazy thoughts in their head to keep things entertaining.  Like bringing in dozens of Therezians (a race of giants) and a couple of Gandrines (a race of rock people who resemble.... rocks) to start a galactic civil war - all because Naked Guy hasn't seen that yet.

Add to the fact that the Navy is very interested in finding their lost disintegrater that could blow up the entire space station, and now Hank's basket is filled to the brim with crap.  Seems like a trip to a sewage facility might be in order....
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If you are looking for something funny, entertaining, and just plain fun - you need to look into the Hard Luck Hank series.  I read the first one just because I wanted to.  I couldn't wait to read the second!  Do yourself a favor and check them out if you like lite sci-fi stories!

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Do you really know who you are? This book can help you answer this question!

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As a certified personal development coach, one of the things that I consistently see in my clients is a total lack of spending any time with themselves.  Often, when given a list of different values and asked to prioritize them, you will see most people will put “Self” at the end.

In the short term, things are fine like this.  Stretched out over time, however, the inevitable end result is disillusionment, lack of energy, and frustration.   

How do I know this?  If you pour everything into everyone and everything (work, kids sports, etc.) you will eventually reach the point where you find that you haven’t done anything for yourself in quite a long time.

People will try to justify this saying that they are giving everything to others, and wrap themselves in a shroud of nobility with the statement. 

Three questions. 

1. What happens when you have nothing else to give?  It is going to happen – you can’t run anything on drained batteries.  You need to recharge yourself to be able to give.  Doing something for yourself is not being selfish – it actually will allow you to be and do even better things for others.

2.  What happens when the people you are giving your all to either no longer need or want your help?  Think empty nest syndrome here.  It is no secret that almost all parents go through this with their teenagers.  You want to help, but they are trying to break away and be independent.  The giver is left alone with no sense of who they really are – their identity has been tied into another instead of their own.

3.  Who are you?  Short question, but how you answer this will play a huge part in your happiness and success.

This is where Antoinetta Vogels’ “Healthy Sense of Self” is going to be a game changer for some people.  This book is both scholarly and readable, which isn’t always the case.  In it, readers will find some of the thoughts that they have are really thoughts that they have allowed others to put there.  Then there are the standard demons of depression, insomnia, and addiction.  Self limiting beliefs are another gremlin that this book can help you conquer.

The end result?

“People with a healthy Sense of themselves know what they want in life; they also know their boundaries.  That enables them to come up with a plan for their living and their lives, and they are unlikely to feel the need to higher authorities to do that for them.  They certainly would not consider giving their lives to people who then use them for their won purposes, just as their self-absorbed, abusive parent used to do.  They are able to manage themselves and let their lives be an expression of their own opinion and preferences.  They do not need to be rewarded for good behavior by a person who is higher in rank for they intrinsically and sincerely know their own value.”

If that one paragraph speaks to you, look into a “Healthy Sense of Self” to help guide you to get to that end result.

               

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