Ryan Rae Harbuck is back on the show today, along with her recently self-published memoir, “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Chair.” We talk a lot about her experiences writing the book, the endurance it took over years to get it visualized and completed, how having faith in oneself can be practiced and built up like a muscle. For Ryan, being an athlete and a writer and a person in the world are very similar: if you practice it daily, you’ll get better. Her experiences and perspective on the world have made her extraordinarily wise and self-reflective; I hope you enjoy our second conversation just as much as I did.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• “When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Chair” took Ryan 15 years to write, and most recently she had to write in 20-minute grabs while her two young kids were playing. Find a way to create what you need to create and don’t despair if it takes longer than you expect. 
• Sharing your vulnerability with others is always going to open doors and create empathetic connections. 
• Ryan says at one point that “the universe has always had a way of guiding her to what she needed” and that certain things came very easy to her because she did not struggle. There is something to be said for going with the flow and saying yes to every random opportunity, knowing that it may offer you untold adventure. 
• What is right for you may not be right for anyone else, and once you learn to accept and respect your own boundaries, you can see what you have to offer the world that no-one else does. 

BEST MOMENTS  

• “I was always a swimmer. And as a swimmer, or as any sort of athlete, you learn to practice. And when you practice, you get better. I think that there was just sort of that ingrown sense of being athletic and understanding that, okay, well, if I practice going up this hill nine times, I'll get better at it. So then I did.I think that the simplicity of practice really did help me be able to do the things I wanted to.”
• “I suppose I mean, you can always look back and say, ‘maybe I could have done something differently.’ But that doesn't really serve me. So, at this point, I don't think that there's anything that I would do differently. I have made it a very purposeful journey of mine, to not let myself regret things.”
• “Once I was actually well enough, by my standards… I started to sneak out of my house and go swimming…. That changed me in so many ways, because it kind of gave me that passion for swimming back and it gave me something to try for and in one of those little secret swims that I had…I made a promise to myself…that I was going to compete again and I was going to try my hardest. I was going to see what happened and be the poster child for what happens when you put 100% of yourself into something.”
• “Certainly everybody has a story. And I would challenge people to sit down and figure out what their story would be, because I think that a lot of people would be surprised by the answer. A lot of times, the things that are the most important or the most poignant, aren't the biggest explosions in your life or the biggest, you know, blockbuster moments, they're much smaller than that.”

 ABOUT THE GUEST  

Ryan has always been an outdoor enthusiast and she enjoys adventuring wherever her wheels will take her. She is a professional swim coach, author, and mom. She, her husband Andrew, and their two boys live in Denver Colorado. 

 CONTACT METHOD 

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

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

Twitter https://twitter.com/RyanRaeHarbuck

https://www.facebook.com/ryan.r.mclean

Buy Ryan’s book on Indiebound https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=ryan+rae+harbuck+

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/