The thing with life-changing accidents is that they change you, forever. And when you’re a teenager and are paralysed after a head-on car crash, if you are lucky enough to wake up, you find yourself at a crossroad

My guest for this episode, Ryan Rae Harbuck, found herself at this exact place. And whether it’s because she describes herself as having a “stubborn” personality, or being a lifelong athlete, she made the decision early on that she would do what she could to get back to the life that she wanted to live, to do the things she had always wanted to do.

She has been insistent about creating meaning from what others may characterise as her “worst moments”, and has lived a focused, intentional life full of personal meaning. 

As an adult, she’s had a career as a teacher – first as a high school sciences teacher, then as a swim coach – personally, I think this helps her distill the lessons she’s learned into perfectly-contained stories. 

Please join me and get to know Ryan, who is one of the funniest, determined, most optimistic people I’ve ever met.  

KEY TAKEAWAYS

- to be free, you need to find a way to accept that you can’t change the way others perceive you. 

• You are worthy of the life that you want; just through your lived experience, you have something to teach others. 
• The meaning that you make out of the things that happen to you doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. 
• If you’re doing something that you really want to do – it won’t matter if you fail. If the regret is taken out of it, all that can come out of it is joy.

BEST MOMENTS

- “My body is different, so I need to swim differently. I would say that it took about a dozen years -- that I needed to change things in the pool if I wanted to get more out of it.”

• “We shouldn’t have to have bad things happen to us in order to do good things.”
  
  
• “Being a mom means a lot of yourself…it doesn’t get taken away, but it evolves a little bit, and so I don’t think I have a lot of things that I would call my own.”
  
  
• “Everything that we have is (really) precious; that comes down to the people in our lives, the days that we’re given, the nature – every single piece of it. And wanting to be the best for every bit of it.”
  
  

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Ryan was born and raised in Colorado. She recently completed and self-published her memoir, “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Chair”.

When she was 16 years old, she was involved in a serious car accident that left her paralyzed from the chest down.

As she began the recovery process, she realized had an advantage as an athlete – she was used to practicing something and improving over time.

She faced her physical recovery the same way -- practicing her rehabilitation until she was able to get back to the things she loved to do, and the life she wanted to lead.

From that moment, she understood she could focus on building an intentional life.

Ryan is a wife and mother, a swim coach, a teacher, a motivational speaker, and an outdoor enthusiast. 

CONTACT METHOD

Ryan’s website https://www.ryanraeharbuck.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ryanraeharbuck/

Twitter https://www.instagram.com/ryanraeharbuck/

Ryan on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ryan.r.mclean

ABOUT THE HOST 

The ‘Mighty Pete Lonton’ from the ‘Mighty 247’ company is your main host of ‘Fire in The Belly’. 

Pete is an entrepreneur, mentor, coach, property Investor, and father of three beautiful girls. Pete’s background is in project management and property, but his true passion is the ‘Fire in The Belly’ project itself. His mission is to help others find their potential and become the mightiest version of themselves. Pete openly talks about losing both of his parents, suffering periods of depression, business downturn and burn-out, and ultimately his years spent not stoking ‘Fire in the Belly’. In 2017, at 37 years of age that changed, and he is now on a journey of learning, growing, accepting, and inspiring others.

Pete can connect with people and intuitively asks questions to reveal a person’s passion and discover how to live their mightiest life. The true power of ‘Fire in The Belly’ is the Q&A’s - Questions and Actions section. 

The ‘Fire in The Belly’ brand and the programme is rapidly expanding into podcasts, seminars, talks, business workshops, development courses, and rapid results mentoring.

CONTACT METHOD

https://www.facebook.com/mightypetelonton/
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mightypete
https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/