Episode 37 - Forget Your Intentions, Live Intentionally - Chris Smith

In this conversation, Kevin Davis speaks with Chris Smith, an accountability partner, recovery coach, speaker, and health and wellness advocate. Chris shares his personal journey of overcoming addiction and rebuilding his life. He discusses the challenges of reintegrating into society and the importance of routine, structure, and principles in recovery. Chris also talks about his work in creating Fit for Recovery programs that focus on improving health and wellness in all areas of life. He shares his experiences working with the court system and the uphill battle of changing perceptions and stigma. In this conversation, Chris Smith discusses his program for helping individuals struggling with addiction and mental health issues. He addresses skepticism and challenges, emphasizing his determination to build a successful program. He also highlights the need to change the stigma surrounding the opioid epidemic and the importance of finding a different path for recovery. Chris emphasizes the role of discipline in making positive lifestyle changes and taking responsibility for one's health. He also discusses the perception of exercise and the need to address metabolic unhealthiness. Finally, he provides practical steps for individuals to make a difference in their own communities and announces plans to expand his program.

Takeaways

• Overcoming skepticism and challenges is essential in building a successful program.
• Changing the stigma surrounding the opioid epidemic is crucial for helping individuals struggling with addiction.
• Discipline is key in making positive lifestyle changes and taking responsibility for one's health.
• Addressing metabolic unhealthiness is a national security issue that requires attention.
• Individuals can make a difference in their communities by getting involved and being intentional in their service work.

Chapters

00:00 Dreaming of a Quiet Life in the Mountains

03:44 Chris Smith's Background and Passion for Recovery

07:39 Overcoming Stigma and Rebuilding a Life

10:42 Using Lived Experience as an Asset

16:23 The Challenges of Reintegrating into Society

25:51 The Importance of Routine, Structure, and Principles

29:36 Creating Fit for Recovery Programs

39:40 Working with the Court System and Overcoming Challenges

44:23 Overcoming Skepticism and Challenges

45:18 Building a Model for Change

46:08 Changing the Stigma of the Opioid Epidemic

47:07 Finding a Different Path

48:09 The Importance of Discipline

49:24 Taking Responsibility for Health

50:34 Changing the Perception of Exercise

52:48 Addressing Metabolic Unhealthiness

53:58 Practical Steps to Make a Difference

58:07 Expanding the Program and Train the Trainers

 
About Chris:

Chris is an accountability partner, recovery coach, speaker, health & wellness advocate, and fitness coach. He is the program director at the 24th Judicial District Recovery Court and helps people get recovery instead of just doing time. He's also a gym manager at Hometown Fitness.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-smith-cprs-10b837249/

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Transcript

0:00
[Music] welcome to maxed out man helping you
0:06
become the man you were made to be hey guys it's Kevin Davis from the
0:11
maxed out band podcast this is episode number 37 I'm here with Chris Smith who
0:16
is an accountability partner recovery coach speaker and health and wellness Advocate uh and we just we just learned
0:23
this morning he is not a hunter but he loves the mountains so we'll have to get him up here to give us a visit here in
0:28
Montana uh we were talking about mountains and quiet living and and uh
0:34
and and the joys of that so hey Chris thanks for joining me I appreciate it um appreciate you taking the time this
0:39
morning I know you said you had a busy day so far already yeah yeah yeah well I appreciate it Kevin uh U I enjoy what
0:47
you do so I appreciate what you do and um I believe we're likeminded in quite a few ways so um uh when you ask me hop on
0:55
here absolutely I don't care how busy I am so um anybody that
1:01
anybody that's uh kind of on the same scale as what I do and how I think man
1:06
I'm going to fully support it so I appreciate you that's awesome hey so Chris give me your a little bit of your
1:13
background um kind of what you do I know you're you're you've got some varied background kind of varied in what you do
1:20
and walk through that with us so people can kind of get an idea of who it is we're talking to and then we'll just jump into whatever you want to talk
1:26
about yeah absolutely so well current ly I am um I'm a program director for a
1:34
24th Judicial District and and um in our area located in Tennessee and it's a
1:42
program I direct I build a program at for individuals uh to have an
1:48
alternative pathway um besides incarceration so uh
1:54
highrisk High need individuals um that need to change their life so I I'm building a program from
2:01
the ground up before that I worked with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health substance abuse Services as a
2:07
peer project coordinator and I overseen 10 counties to create recovery capital
2:13
for those um for those communities and those counties and we would leverage the
2:18
community um as a resource in and of itself things that they may not believe that are there and so we build recovery
2:26
Capital because we are seeing Addiction on the rise and we're not just seeing it as this uh
2:33
dirty little secret anymore it's in every crevice crooked nny in the in in
2:39
our communities it's affecting it's affecting every sector of our society
2:45
and um and it is not partial to any particular population of people and so
2:53
we're starting to see uh the growth of addiction and we're also seeing seeing
3:00
the great need and necessity for having more recovery support in our communities
3:06
and US reducing stigma to start having these open conversations about it and
3:12
I'm passionate I'm just so passionate about this Kevin because I myself am an
3:18
individual in long-term recovery from uh 22-year meth addiction and a 25 year Obi
3:25
addiction man so um and so I've been I've been through the ringer I had been
3:31
through the ringer and I fought literally I literally fought for my life
3:37
uh to come out of that and I know it can happen and so I'm passionate so when I
3:42
look at people today when I look at people today I see me I see me and so I
3:50
see hope and I won't give up on them as many times as it takes it does not
3:56
matter I'm not going to give up and so I want to be able to be a voice for
4:03
individuals um and them stand on my shoulders and whoever comes behind them
4:09
to stand on theirs if I I'll accept the challenge of building this taking on
4:14
this difficult because it's difficult there is there's a lot of stigma with this so um anyways yeah so I still do
4:22
that I also work um with a few other addiction networks and organizations
4:28
part-time and I travel around um I travel around and speak about my story
4:35
about how we could have Collective impact in our communities to organizations uh to rehabs to prisons to
4:42
churches to universities because we're seeing a a mental health breakout and on
4:49
our college campuses an addiction breakout on in and on our University
4:55
campuses so um we do Collegiate recovery as well uh so um and I go into the
5:01
schools and I talk to the kids because they're getting younger and younger it's affecting them as well so I'm I speak a
5:09
little bit of everywhere about recovery or addiction recovery M excuse me mental
5:16
health um that's what I'm passionate about so that's where I'm at right
5:21
now that I mean that's awesome that you're able to come out of that after all that and and use your experience use
5:28
your knowledge and use your your story to I mean that obviously it's it's a
5:34
weird dichotomy I think when you're talking about a dict you know recovering addicts being the being then the support
5:41
because there's like there's because like you said you got to overcome the stigma but then and then it's like I'm
5:47
an expert because I did all these things right like that makes me that makes me an expert funny real funny real quick
5:55
Kevin so when I interviewed for the state position and my mind you mind you
6:01
I'm a what they call a range two offender I've been to prison a couple times uh been locked up all over the
6:08
place and been in countless trouble very checkered past very checkered past and
6:14
uh anyways I was speaking at a university uh to the community there and
6:19
there was an individual that came up and gave me his card he was like man he was like that was fantastic brother please
6:25
give me a call come to find out we we uh we developed a friendship come to find
6:31
out that he worked with the Tennessee Department of mental health and substance abuse Services as a Lifeline
6:37
peer project coordinator and his position came open he took a promotion
6:42
and he got with the director the director asked him who do you do you have anybody in mind and he said I got
6:49
one person in mind so I interviewed for the job and you have to have there are
6:54
there is some criteria educational criteria and my I was going through uh
7:00
college at this time uh but I didn't have any degrees or anything and so they asked me about my educational uh
7:08
background and I told him Kevin I was like oh I said I got a master's and they
7:13
were like really they was like that's great when you got a master's in I said life baby that's exactly what I said in
7:20
the interview I said life baby I got a master there's nothing that a book can
7:25
tell me that I have not experienced I told I said lived I believe that lived
7:31
experience is the greatest experience because it's handson you know and so I've been in the trenches been on the
7:37
front lines and um I'll read these books but I can just walk you through the
7:43
history of my life and understand it better than I can reading some words on a book you know so but I got the job I
7:51
got the job so that's that's awesome which may have taken a little finagling when you're talking about state
7:56
government I'm sure for them to check those box that's that's exactly right so we busted
8:03
a ceiling we busted a ceiling you know what I mean and that's that's breaking some stigma that yeah my my past is not
8:11
going to affect um my present for my future you know and so man it's not that
8:18
they looked the other way they just looked at who was in front of them and said we're going to give him a shot man
8:25
yeah which is which is awesome my uh I got a really first of all my brother spent some time in prison but I've got a
8:31
really good friend of mine that spent 10 years in prison now he's a he's he actually has been on the podcast but you
8:37
know and so being able to he ended up having to do like his own businesses and
8:42
he helps other ex-cons do their business because it's it's hard like it's hard to
8:48
get a job you know and I don't know if you call it the University of Doc Department of Corrections
8:55
or or or what but yeah that's that the the stigma of being an ex-convict and
9:02
trying to you know prove that you aren't a you know lifer and that you have learn
9:07
something you want to better yourself is probably a big you know Big Challenge oh bro look so of course right when I
9:15
started changing my life and stuff right I um and I I of course I went to a
9:21
treatment center um and then U and went through their phases they phase out to
9:27
where you're like in a halfway house or Transitional Living and whatnot and so at that point I was able to work and and
9:34
so I had to go look for a job I didn't have a license I didn't have anything so I'm walking miles a day just doing
9:41
whatever is necessary it did not matter to me I'm I was willing to do whatever
9:48
it took uh to keep making progress keep making so I would walk miles a day and I
9:54
just started out in the simplest of places fast food restaurants all these
10:00
you know just whatever and I kept getting rejected kept getting rejected I
10:06
remember going to this particular place that cooks chicken fried chicken and
10:12
they uh in called me back in for interview and I was like man you put me in front of somebody for an interview
10:18
I've got it it doesn't matter I've got it that's just who I am and so I'm
10:24
sitting there and I'm talking with them and they pull out like this
10:29
paperwork that's this thick where they done a background check on me
10:35
so and so they're looking at they were like so you're past uh tell us about that and I'm like well you know it's
10:43
it's pretty checkered as you can see right here you know and they were like well what a and it's and it was recent
10:48
there was some recent stuff in there too and at the end I I knew I was not going
10:54
to get the job and I told him though I said guys I said I'm just here here to
10:59
fry chicken we're not we're not working with nuclear reactors here we're frying
11:06
chicken right want to fried chicken and I will be the best chick chicken fryer
11:12
you guys have ever had ever and they were like after I gave my pitch and
11:17
everything they were like you know well uh we'll be getting in touch with you and I'm thinking no you won't and so I
11:25
realized right then right then because I had been rejected did five places and I
11:31
was a little discouraged I was but I kept putting these apps in and uh
11:36
applications in and I got a phone call and I said look I'll meet you today I knew right then I said okay this is what
11:44
I'm gonna have to do I'm gonna have to present my past with no shame no guilt
11:49
and stand on it and and let them see where I was to where I'm at least at
11:55
right now and where I want to go and I want them to look at me and hear hear my heart and so that's what I did on my
12:01
next interview and it was it was an $8 an hour 850 something like that uh two
12:07
and a half miles from my where I was living and and I just said I told him I
12:13
said I will be the best pizza maker it was at a pizza I said I will be the best
12:18
teammate that you have I'll be the best p and she gave me a job she told me that
12:23
her father was in in recovery and so it resonated she was crying and stuff six
12:29
months six months they gave me that store they I
12:34
became store manager and I took that store from 17 there was 24 in that region uh Regional area and we were 17
12:43
out of 24 and in three months I took us to three and to to a point to where they
12:49
wanted me to uh speak to all the manager managers at a managerial conference we
12:54
had in Nashville once a month about teamwork attitude and discipline and
12:59
that's what I did you know that's what I did and I still didn't have a license I was running to work two and a half miles
13:07
to work two and a half miles home and I ran I said this is a good opportunity to
13:12
get something else in how can I how can I fit this in and allow this to better
13:19
my better my life so I said I'm gonna run the work you and I'm going to run home so yeah get your get your Fitness
13:27
burn off burn off some of that free p you had for lunch right that's you better believe it Kevin you
13:34
better believe it man yeah so what's the so because I don't think a lot of people
13:40
really understand how the emotional and the psychologic and we're not here to talk about prism but I'm just I'm just
13:47
interested in what you see as the because I'm sure you've got people you
13:52
know and you deal with addicts and you deal with xcon and all that what's the difference between your approach Roo
13:59
versus the approach where someone just gives up and is like I'll just go back in because that's that was a that was a
14:06
quote unquote better life for me than all that I'm having to go for here oh it's a great question because I've done
14:12
it several times it's a whole it's a whole another world it's a whole another
14:18
world and so when we have to come out and we have to try to acclimate uh back into society and what
14:25
societal Norms are after we have been through the ringer and and the way that
14:30
we have moved because people don't go to prison uh for short sentences you're not in there a year you're not in there two
14:37
years you're in there you know three four five 10 15 years and so the way we
14:44
move is very different and then Society expects us to transition without giving
14:50
us any time or any effective resources uh to uh really accommodate to a
14:56
different lifestyle and and gives up on us and so if we don't have any if we
15:03
don't really have any anybody our community walking alongside
15:08
us then we we've already lost we've that was the scary part for me Kevin because
15:15
um I had just gotten out of prison on a 16year sentence and you know two weeks
15:21
I'm right back into doing the same thing that got me there that landed me there and I uh and and so i' I'm move moved
15:28
off I went to that Treatment Center it was hours away and when it finally clicked like boom like this may be it
15:35
for me I went all in you know our fifth recovery model is go all in to get it
15:41
all out every bit of it 100% And so when I made that switch at
15:46
100% I went all the way in to learn about who I was and just keep my
15:52
blinders on understanding that not everybody is going to come alongside you
15:58
or believe in you and you just need to believe in yourself and keep your head down what I did not know what I did not
16:04
know was for me that God was going to call me back to my
16:10
community I did not want to go back there because I was I did I was afraid
16:15
Kev I was afraid I didn't believe I was going to get a fair Shake there I hated that place those people hated me my pain
16:22
was there my hurt was there my anger was there all that stuff was there and I left that environment and what I found
16:30
was a decent living an honest living a happy life here how are you calling me
16:38
back to a place of so much pain and so much hurt and anger where the community
16:43
is not receptive uh to me and I don't care if they are because I don't ever
16:48
want to go back right and so yeah so uh when he the response was from from
16:57
God was you have to face this in order to move on and there's a lot of people that need to see you and see your change
17:06
that it may Inspire and instill hope in them and we're going to use you as difficult as it may be so after fighting
17:13
with that for about a month I went back home I went back home and the
17:18
mental just the mental challenge of that like when I got home and I was like oh
17:23
and I'm I live in a small town very very conservative uh very traditional you
17:30
know and which is cool it's cool you know but um not much changes there except for
17:37
gas prices here and there that's about it you know right so um and everybody
17:43
knows everybody's business and once everybody has a perception of you it sticks you know so those Impressions
17:51
stick and I knew and so I Was preparing myself for all that all that and so when
17:57
I got back home um when I got back home I said okay what do I do and the
18:03
response was the same thing that you've been doing and you go speak you go ask
18:09
ask if you can go back into the jail ask if you can go speak at churches ask if you can go speaking to the community
18:16
volunteer participate let the people see your change let them see your change and
18:23
whether they believe it or not is irrelevant you're showing up you're
18:29
showing up and so that's what I started doing and here we are I've been back
18:35
home uh since uh a little over four years now I've got a little over six
18:40
years clean but I stayed at that treatment center for two you know and I've got a little over four years back
18:47
into my community and the impact that I've had not just in my community it's
18:53
crazy not just in my community but in my region in the state and the other places
18:59
that I'm I'm privileged to go speak at and touch lives and so I believe that as
19:07
far as the mental challenge trying to put those blinders on understanding that
19:12
it was going to be tough and I was going to have to suffer some things as well and people are still going to talk about
19:19
me and matter of fact M you know matter of fact it wasn't just the people um the
19:26
community that I expected would talk about me it was the individuals that I
19:32
used to run with too they thought I was better than them and I said no I'm just
19:37
better than what I used to do that's why I'm coming back in here to speak to you guys that's why I go to the treatment
19:44
centers that's why I speak at the church and here's the whole thing though what's beautiful about
19:50
individuals that P that are P that get in trouble publicly criminally whatever
19:57
all all our stuff is exposed right our all our of our addictions our secrets I
20:04
mean everything is exposed for the public and it's on display and so when
20:10
we change our life and then we openly share about that and everybody's already
20:15
familiar about us there's nothing left you can Point At You may not like it you
20:21
may not believe in it but you got to respect it because all what you see is a change in front of you and what I see
20:27
today is a lot of people that may not have substance use issues that are
20:34
suffering I see a lot of people wearing masks I see a lot of people suffering on
20:39
the inside and that's the difference so because they're not publicly shamed
20:44
about it or they're not uh they don't and so haven't been publicly exposed so they try to continue to bury it mask it
20:52
and go on about their day like everything's fine and it's not but we the PE indiv idual that have had their
20:59
stuff exposed share it openly and walk in Freedom today that's the difference so
21:07
it was by circumstance not virtue but circumstance that made us change our
21:12
life and when we change our life and we walk freely now you can't help but see
21:19
it you can't help but see the change radical change radical transformation
21:26
you know and that's helped me so much to so like when I'm having an inconsistent
21:33
day or you know I'm having those thoughts of uh not being good enough I
21:40
can freely share them today when I make a mistake today I can freely say hey I made a mistake I didn't go use today I
21:47
didn't go I didn't go turn that meth pipe around you know I dealt with my
21:53
problems today and I openly shared honestly openly admitted it and was
21:58
willing to do something different you know so it gave me strength it gave me
22:04
strength as well so I tell those guys that have been in to answer your story
22:09
or answer your question that routine and structure has been
22:16
given to us in the criminal justice system whether it's a a local jail
22:22
whether it's a prison whether it's a rehab that excuse me that we go to or whatever structure is given to us don't
22:30
don't just work within that structure understand that you are working that
22:36
structure to learn a principle and so when you learn the principle that of the structure that's been given to you then
22:42
you start practicing that principle in all your Affairs so that you yourself
22:48
become responsible that's what it is don't just work steps because something
22:53
was given to you no uhuh you work the steps and the steps are a bridge to
22:58
learn principles to apply to your life that you can be productive and and an
23:04
asset to your community and responsible for your well-being
23:09
responsible for your family responsible to your employer so that's what we're
23:15
that's and that's what I would tell them learn to work toward a principle
23:23
that will effectively Define what you want want to do in life what you're
23:30
pursuing that's what I believe and keep your head down and work at it
23:35
yeah it takes a it takes a lot of intenal fortitude as they say or guts
23:41
and I mean really that perseverance because like you're saying the so there's a couple things that are
23:46
interesting I think first of all the people that are judging you and to your point they've got secrets in their
23:53
closet too but they're just not exposed and and they are they're almost judging other people as a way to deflect a
23:59
little bit internally but then as a person and this is where the stigma comes in you get it from both sides
24:07
right like if you it it you you're a drug addict excon to a certain level of
24:12
society and then you're a you're a you know better than them or you're just trying to be you know different and
24:20
you're you think you're better than us kind of thing on the other side so you're kind of just stuck in this no
24:26
man's land it's and you have to pursue through that yes
24:31
so um somebody told me just the other day just because I work a lot uh within
24:37
the community uh with people that are in particular positions of influence
24:44
today and uh which is great which is great yeah and so I'm I am that bridge I
24:51
am that bridge and he told me because I find myself frustrated in these meetings
24:56
these stakeholder meetings meetings uh today and I can just see it on their face but and what is and I talked to
25:04
them the other day and I was like man I just feel like they're being so judgmental towards me just in their uh
25:11
facial expressions their demeanor yeah yeah yeah yeah and he said but maybe
25:18
they're not and they're just hearing you out and you're the one being judgmental
25:24
maybe you're the bridge uh to bring these people together and to create a
25:30
more conducive Community to uplift the community as a whole he said maybe
25:37
you're that guy and I said you're right you're right so I mean I learned a
25:42
valuable lesson it's not US versus them it's not one on one side and one on the
25:48
other we have to remove that line and um and so yeah I took a valuable lesson the
25:54
other day is it going to be tough absolutely Ely yeah it's going to be tough but here's the whole thing too you
26:01
know I'm a a stakeholder in our community so much so that our mayor
26:06
asked me to be on our economic Planning and Development board in the county to
26:11
grow our County um economically you know I am a I am a small business owner I own
26:17
a couple businesses and stuff and and um I've created U economic impact in our
26:24
community and I've shown that we can still be business owners we can be College graduates um yeah entrepreneur
26:29
doesn't matter um and so I think they see me and and although hesitant
26:37
hopefully see me and those other people that we try to help and maybe just
26:44
maybe they have some issues that they're going to expose so they can become better too so uh yeah yeah it's a
26:53
difficult task Kevin but one I'm up for one I'm up for for man and look to
26:59
expand look to expand so what so you said you so you said you're you're
27:05
currently you know you're working for the state of Tennessee right so and you're creating how what is what are
27:10
these programs give us kind of the just the basic framework of some of these programs and go into as much detail as
27:17
you want because I this is something I don't have a lot of exposure to we don't you know I'm you know my mom my mom had
27:25
some major drug and alcohol problems and so I kind of have exposure that way but as far as like understanding this road
27:32
to recovery and you know that that whole thing I don't really have a lot of experience with absolutely this what it
27:38
is right here fit for Recovery fit so what we're going to do with
27:47
individuals uh and and we remove we remove sub substance use disorder even
27:54
though that it will be a focal point as well but we want to uh fight addictions of any type any
28:03
type of disorder any type of addiction right because when I quit using substances such as meth and opiates I
28:10
was still miserable I was still miserable when I was in that rehab and like I said when that switch went off I
28:16
didn't understand while I I was because I just wanted off of drugs and alcohol and I thought my life was going to be
28:22
fantastic what I didn't realize over the course of those three months two and
28:27
half months that I was still eating myself to death I had gained 60 pounds I
28:32
was out of shape I wasn't yeah yeah I was out of shape I wasn't um I wasn't
28:38
sleeping well I did not have energy and all I did was replace one disorder with another one I had an eating disorder I
28:44
was an emotional eater you know I still had my phone I was still watching porn here and there you know I still wanted
28:52
to um slide out and hook up with the woman and and and disobey orders and
28:57
rules and stuff and so hey guys thanks for listening to this episode I hope you're enjoying it and learning a lot if
29:03
you're looking for extra help don't forget that I do offer one-on-one coaching we can talk through a ton of
29:08
different issues I can give you guides guidelines and logistical help to help
29:14
you take that next step or go to that next level in some of the things that you're dealing with in your life we also
29:19
have some course content some guides uh and a lot of educational materials over
29:25
at maxed out man.com for the coaching go ahead and go to MaxOut man.com coaching
29:30
and you can learn about that and then just go to MaxOut man.com for everything else thanks for joining us now back to the
29:36
episode um what what I found was that it's not it's not the substance or the
29:43
thing that we use to cat those are all just byproducts it's just that our our
29:48
life is unhealthy because we make unhealthy decisions so we become unfit and and irresponsible and we use
29:56
something to find a way out so when I was looking at my life and I said man where am I fit at in my life and I I
30:04
wrote them all down boom boom everything I could think of right and I looked at
30:10
him I looked at my life and I said oh those life areas and I said man I am
30:16
unfit everywhere everywhere and so I kept those life areas and I said what
30:22
can I do today what can I do right now to start becoming fit making a change
30:29
right now and the only thing that I could think of Kevin was get up and run
30:35
I have ran look Kevin I have I have this came to me I I bet I'm good at running
30:41
because I've ran from everything my whole life you know what I mean like that yeah I have ran I gotta be good at
30:48
running so here I am I just just overweight dumpy feeling like crap got
30:55
up I got up and I took out running and I ran a quarter mile I ran a quarter mile
31:03
and my shins and my I my side was hurting my shin started to hurt I
31:10
couldn't run properly I'm it's like I can't catch my breath like I'm fixing a
31:15
f a quarter mile Kevin a quarter mile and I went back into my room bro and I
31:21
was hurting and that next morning when I got up I was in pain my achilles look my
31:30
ankles my I could barely move my foot like it's how bad it hurting my achilles
31:36
in the back I could barely I said what is that you know and so my my shins were
31:41
sore but you know what I did bro I got up and I ran again that next morning I
31:48
got up at 5:30 that morning and I ran because what I understood at that point was that in order to grow I was going to
31:56
have to go through some pain I was going to have to experience it in the moment and that's okay I was going to push
32:01
through it I was going to run through that pain and I was going to run through that pain again and so pain and just
32:07
like a woman giving birth that she has those pains before she births something
32:12
and I knew that I was going to be birthing something as I ran through that pain man I knew it and so I ran every
32:19
freaking day and and three months later I'm at five miles a day and what happened during that change was I
32:26
started eating better at that time I smoked cigarettes too I quit smoking I was sleeping better I was mentally
32:32
charged in the morning I woke up grateful I I I had the energy to start
32:38
working on other goals in my life I started moving into my life to where I
32:45
became fit physically to where I was fit spiritually and I was fit emotionally
32:52
and I was fit mentally so the fit all that required from me was frequency f
32:59
intentionality i time and so when I talk about setting goals I will setting goals
33:05
inwardly to be established foundationally before I started working on external goals so I had to have those
33:11
four internally founded that if a result didn't happen for me on the external
33:18
goals that I would still be sound and not uh moved away from continuing to
33:23
pursue my purpose that's what it was frequency the greater amount at which something should occur intentionality to
33:30
be fully aware of that something that you're doing time scheduling planning and arranging when that's ARR arranging
33:36
when that something should be done so I started goal setting you know and then into the four that I just explain and
33:43
Recovery when I talk about recovery I use a working definition of recovery and
33:49
and that working definition means it's active it's always alive and active and it's moving forward and it's a process
33:56
of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness live self-directed lives and strive to reach
34:02
their full potential so when we talk about striving that is vigorous effort that means I need 100% of me now that
34:10
100% Today could look different than the 100% yesterday but I still need you to show up with every bit of you even if
34:17
you're not feeling like it you know you get up and you keep moving you give it your all so you can get everything out
34:22
of the freaking day that you that you're supposed to be getting that's what it is
34:28
so who does that definition sound like it's for it's for everybody and so we take this program right here with
34:35
principles we work steps like I was telling you earlier and the steps are a
34:41
bridge into principles honesty hope surrender courage Integrity willingness
34:47
love responsibility awareness discipline and service that's what we do if we
34:54
start living by those principles and practicing those principles in all our Affairs we don't we can't do nothing but
35:02
go up not not go up in society's definition of what going up is and
35:07
scaling no we go up inwardly that's where we want to thrive at that's where
35:13
we want to be at you know and so that's what we want to um that's what we want
35:18
the world to see us as that they may be inspired to do something different so we're going to take this program here
35:26
right here and we're going to present it into uh the recovery courts and so I'm
35:33
excited about that that looks like movement so we do classes group
35:38
therapies but the catalyst is the movement is the exercise because what
35:44
happens is when you exercise you you become more socially involved you're generating new brain
35:52
cells it improves your mood and it'll leave mediates depression eradicates it
35:59
eradicates depression no more I had I was I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder I had depression you I was
36:06
diagnosed with I don't take medicine today I don't take medicine for anything for nothing you know so anyways so we do
36:15
the exercise you know and then we do group group sessions or group therapy on
36:21
sensitive and vulnerable topics on places that we need to improve in those life areas and we discussed them and
36:27
then we start setting goals and we are all each are our accountability Partners
36:33
so what we're doing is we're creating support and relationships among the
36:39
groups man that's I mean honestly that's it's super inspiring just to hear that
36:44
because obviously for someone like me I've been on you know my degrees in exercise physiology I've been a been an
36:49
avid exerciser for 35 40 years 35 years and but still all of those things that
36:56
you describe are you know the the quintessential part of of exercise but
37:02
then transferring that into these mental and spiritual and goal setting and all
37:08
of you know all of those things is is just super important and that's super inspiring just you know we're we're
37:14
training for a little 10K now we've done a couple marathons a bunch of half marathons so I owe my wife two miles
37:20
this morning after this podcast so I'm going to change back into my workout shorts and and go do that so I I'll be
37:26
in fire thinking about you running back and forth to the to the pizza restaurant I I'm curious if if you know given so I
37:34
for some reason I got addicted to watching these D these body cam shows which is basically like a A variation of
37:41
the cop show uh which which honestly what I what I found on those shows that's really interesting and obviously
37:47
they're picking these these stories but the cops compassion and willingness to help and and those kind of things but I
37:54
do know in watching you know other TVs talking to people that the court system
38:00
by and large is not necessarily friendly to the actual Rehabilitation part of of
38:09
of it you know they talk about the prison industrial complex and you know all of all of this stuff minimum minimum
38:15
sentencing and and and I don't want to get in necessarily the the total politics of it all because it's just so
38:21
convoluted but are you facing an uphill battle and trying to get the courts
38:26
probably individual judges to to kind of accept this and move forward with you no
38:33
uh so um so the judge um the judge got appointed uh by
38:40
our governor of this great state and um and the judge used to be uh my defense
38:50
attorney he used to be my defense attorney so he heard that I was doing
38:57
well and uh and his wife is the Circuit Court Clerk I would go up there and I
39:02
would visit them because I was involved with the with the state and so there were things that I needed from the
39:08
courthouse to help other individuals and his wife told U told him you ought to
39:15
see this guy now I used to run with u i I wasn't Affiliated but I did I did run
39:23
quite a bit with some bikers well my hair was down like real long like I look totally
39:29
different bro totally different but and I was a drug I was in drug distribution
39:34
I was a drug distributor for parts of four states we were a little bit of everywhere we were I was somebody they
39:41
would they were dying to get off the map and put away for a long time and um and
39:47
I was at I was okay with that I was not expecting change nobody else was either
39:54
and so they just wanted to do away with me anyways I changed my life he heard
40:01
about it he wanted to meet me and when we met he was in awe he was inspired and
40:08
so at that point began conversations about recovery Court I was working
40:13
another position well anyways uh he talked to me about it and I said look I'll help any way that I can buddy you
40:20
know and so he said when I look at people today from up there on that
40:26
podium uh stand there he said I see you and I
40:31
want to be I want to I want to help change some things around I said okay so anyways months went by a year went by
40:40
and then he come he calls me we have a meeting and he offers me this job and uh because we got the funding um
40:49
we also have some other funds within the county uh five counties and uh so we
40:55
were going to go after it and I told him i' think about it I told listen I have I had a great job I make my own schedule
41:02
well I still make my own schedule today but um I told him I would think about it I knew it was a lot to to take on and
41:09
that we were building it from scratch and um anyways uh two weeks you know he
41:16
texted me a couple times have you thought about it you thought about it he really wanted me to take that position
41:22
and so I said well let's have a meeting and I told him I said brother
41:27
I said there's there's two reasons that I'm going to take this job and he was like yeah and I said yeah
41:35
I said because I want to make impactful change in our communities here locally
41:42
uh and and then extend but here locally this is my hometown and also I said I love our
41:50
story mine and your story and he said it's a good one is't it I said yes it is
41:56
yeah and so I took the job I took the job uh we went around to those five
42:02
counties requested money uh for them to support this and we got it we got it uh
42:12
we We've Got U multiple six figures to start working with we're going to build
42:17
recovery Capital uh as well uh as far as transitional housing uh with this
42:23
recovery Court we have Behavioral Health therapists on we have the full support of these uh five counties within our
42:30
district and now with that there are some there is some people that are
42:36
hesitant there is they don't see how this is going to work hey guys thanks for listening to this episode I hope
42:41
you're enjoying it and learning a lot if you're looking for extra help don't forget that I do offer one-on-one
42:47
coaching we can talk through a ton of different issues I can give you guides guidelines and logistical help to help
42:54
you take that next step or go go to that next level in some of the things that you're dealing with in your life we also
42:59
have some course content some guides uh and a lot of educational materials over
43:05
at maxed out man.com for the coaching go ahead and go to maxed out man.com coaching and you can learn about that
43:11
and then just go to max out man.com for everything else thanks for joining us now back to the episode and I told him I said look I've
43:20
had people been against me my whole life I've been challenged my whole life and I
43:25
understand your skepticism I said but here's the thing and and maybe I need to learn how to talk a little articulate a
43:32
little bit better and tone down some of my because I can be assertive and aggressive and I said but I told them
43:38
during this meeting just a couple days ago I don't care if anybody inside or
43:44
outside believes in this program I said I've been challenged my whole life and this is another challenge that I'll
43:50
gladly accept so you can still be skeptical I don't care I don't care care
43:57
you know uh and we're going to build a beautiful thing here so uh yeah so it's
44:02
not going to have you know when a plane takes off it's going to be shaky it's going to have turbulence you know and
44:09
then as as as as and as they elevate and we gravitate the
44:14
pressure uh the pressure becomes more and that's okay I like that pressure I
44:20
like that pressure and I expect that pressure and I expect turbulence and I expect it to be Shak
44:26
I expect the takeoff to be that's fine but then we'll get to a place where we level out we can sustain this thing and
44:34
it's going to be a model for a lot more different places it will be yeah that's that's just what I was thinking it's
44:40
it's um it's it's cool to to create this from scratch because then it can be a model and I think one thing that seems
44:47
to be helping now is that more people are talking about um the opioid epidemic
44:52
uh you know as as a as a topic there's a bunch bunch of documentaries out there and Hulu and Netflix and you know and
44:59
and those kind of things so I think people have more of a understanding that this is a real
45:05
problem that's not just affecting you know junkies as they used to be called right like they're not it's not just
45:12
that junkie you know stuck in some alley somewhere or or some you know skidrow or
45:17
or whatever it's the you know Utah in that in in the Salt Lake City area
45:23
you've got upper middle class you know white lady that have major opio opioid addictions
45:29
and and it's you know and I think that that that speaks to and what you're
45:34
doing I think is super important because you're helping to change the stigma you're helping to show that there's
45:40
another there's another path other than just let's lock them up for 15 20 25
45:46
years or life um you know versus Le let's come up with a different path
45:52
because if you take all of those PE especially these younger kids right if you take those kids out of our society
46:00
and yeah there are some that are just they choose paths to where this is going
46:05
to be this is going to be their life but there are a subset of those that that can be
46:11
major contrib you know contributors to our society as a whole and and I think
46:17
that you're you're a great example of that I appreciate that K here's what I want to tell the community and and I do
46:22
it like when we hold Community forums I ask people Kevin I I I tell them it's
46:28
real simple I'll tell people raise your hand if you've ever been on a
46:34
diet raise your hand everybody everybody in there raises their hand and I said
46:40
keep your hand up if you've been on two more than two keep your hand
46:47
up been on so many that you can't even count you don't even know you know how many people have their hands up about 90
46:54
much everybody yeah about 90% 90% of the room and I'm talking five 600 people in
47:00
the room I said you know what it is I said it's discipline and I said
47:07
sometimes we need people to come alongside us to help us with a routine and a structure in life where it fits
47:12
our life so well that we can become disciplined and I said just like this
47:17
right here where you struggle with your weight or you struggle with eating healthy or a lifestyle change so are
47:24
they so are they so they need somebody to walk alongside them give them
47:30
something and I'm not telling saying that they have to take everything or we have to take everything from a from a
47:36
diet we can take the meat and leave the bones take what works for you and then leave the rest pluck here pluck there
47:44
whatever so it fits within your lifestyle and you're able to manage manage it so you are productive so you
47:52
are an asset to the community you know so you can remain disciplined and irresponsible and that's the same thing
47:58
it's the same thing with somebody coming alongside somebody that's struggling with their with their waiter with their
48:04
health discipline it comes down to discipline as being a principle that needs to be the in the Forefront of our
48:11
life that's what it is you know most people don't have it Kevin most people
48:16
don't have diff discipline H but then they measure uh then they measure the
48:22
trouble that their life is in based on what's being exposed or criminalities
48:28
like the severity of it when internally we still have people dying everybody's
48:33
reactive I don't want to go to the doctor or the hospital get a checkup and
48:39
say Hey you know if you don't do something now you're going to be dead in four weeks your blood pressure so high
48:45
you had you know your cholesterol like all this no no no I want to be disciplined now so if when I go to the
48:51
doctor they're like man Chris you're in Tip Top what are you doing yep yeah y
48:57
yeah and so me me too that's that's a big one yeah that's a that's definitely and you want to be like you said you got
49:03
to be mentally healthy physically healthy spiritually healthy you know
49:08
communally healthy and all that you know the the exercise part of it I think our
49:13
society is just has sees exercise as this punishment for yourself almost like
49:19
oh well I eat too much so I got to exercise or I eat too much I gotta I got to go on keto or you whatever those
49:26
things are but it's it's more of a punishment than a reward you know you're you're really rewarding your body right
49:33
so I tell people all the time we need to REM meet with what ex so we need to
49:41
redevelop the relationship and how we perceive the relationship with exercise
49:46
sometimes when we were in school like if we got in trouble they would make us run laps you know what I mean or they would
49:52
make us do it was like a punishment so when we we think of exercise we go back if that was what would happened to you
49:59
in school that's what you think you know and so it's a punishment it's not a punishment it's a privilege to be able
50:06
to get up and move and be healthy it's an honor to be able to go for a walk you
50:11
should be grateful that you can do some functional fitness moves that are going
50:17
to be utilized in your life you know and it doesn't mean we have to go in and
50:23
bang out an hour and a half have sesh you know even though I will I mean because that's just where I'm at you
50:30
know yeah like I am yeah so but you can all you have to do is get up go walk for
50:38
15 minutes a day in the morning and build on that build on that don't
50:44
despise the day of Small Beginnings so what you do you start small and then
50:50
when you're able to manage that you measure yourself more if this is a lifestyle change that means we're going
50:57
to do it for the rest of our life so quit putting a quit putting a
51:02
90day 120 day don't wait till January 1 with this new resolution that you've got
51:08
this great resolve within yourself you can start today go out give yourself
51:14
five minutes to walk and if you feel good walk another five like that's it
51:19
that's it because this is for the rest of your life and it's going to improve your life and the capacity with which
51:26
you live it you know here's the thing Kevin 90% of our country 90% of our
51:32
country is metabolically unhealthy metabolically
51:39
unhealthy that blows my mind that blows my mind like well I talk about a
51:46
national security n national security issue right that's a huge you know why
51:51
because we're sedentary because we we live sedentary Lifestyles which elevates
51:58
mental health disorders right you find people depressed and and people become so
52:04
sedentary that they're like this you know they can't move without it throw this thing out in the yard throw at
52:11
thing out the yard let yeah yeah so get rid of this get rid of this at certain
52:17
times right and work on you put away all the distractions and work on you even if
52:23
that's 15 minutes a day you know and then you do that three days a week watch your life improves improve
52:32
yeah 100% hey so if I'm just a you know I'm a just a regular guy what what can I
52:38
do practically you know we're not I'm not not in Tennessee so what can we do practically to even affect change on a
52:45
on an individual level um in our own communities in our own life within our own Circle I mean honestly I'm I'm not a
52:53
guy that really encounters you know recovery stuff on a daily basis so what
52:59
what kind of thing can your average person do to kind of contribute to just
53:04
the ideology that you're trying to that you're trying to get through in terms of helping those in similar situations as
53:11
you were in so service work right uh service work has been the greatest
53:17
benefit in my life uh giving of myself you know self selfless Acts and what I
53:26
did when I got into my C we are a small rural area right and and but there's no
53:33
excuse so what I did was I said where can I volunteer my time at with
53:40
something that may I may be passionate about right and I just looked up them I
53:46
looked up those places and I got with that those organizations small grassroot
53:51
organizations and said hey wherever I can help you let me know because here's
53:56
the thing I'm going to tell you the this is the difference between being intentional and being in or having
54:04
intentions and being intentional intentionality if there is a if there is
54:10
a woman in your community that is down in her back she's
54:15
a single mother of three kids and she's off of work and you know her it's a
54:20
small community and you know her and uh and you shoot her message over social
54:26
media or you shoot her a text message or whatever and say hey I heard you were
54:31
down in your back back I'm um you know thinking about you and praying that you get a speedy recovery you know that's
54:38
cool that's in that's good intentions but intentionality intentionality is hearing
54:44
about that same woman baking a casserole putting your apron on or putting or
54:50
coming over with a broom and saying hey I heard you were down in your back you
54:55
know and I know you got three kids here's a cassero do you need anything else do I need to clean your house for
55:01
you do I need to so I would say to meet people where they are you have to
55:08
literally go to where they're at you have to do the footwork it's going to take time it's you're going to have to
55:14
sacrifice time it's going to take a little more energy and a little more effort that's what that looks like I
55:21
don't know what it uh specifically looks like in each individual Community but I
55:26
know throughout this great country of ours that there are organizations all
55:32
over this place that we can tap into and be a part of to at least initiate some
55:38
change and I promise you it's going to take something from you I always say
55:43
that helping people should always cost us it should never cost them never cost
55:49
them and so we we put time and effort and intentionality into to helping those
55:55
individuals and those organizations that touch our heart and those organizations are throughout all our
56:02
community that's it get involved get involved not just from a distance in
56:10
person there's something about the energy about being in person with
56:15
somebody that you're helping that's going to plant a seed don't know when it's going to grow don't know when it's
56:21
going to grow but the seed is planted and what's going to happen is they're going to remember that and they're going
56:28
to do the same thing to for somebody else that we did for them that's the way
56:33
this thing works that's that's awesome Chris I mean I I think this is a great inspiring
56:40
thing for me to think about um as you know in in pretty much everything that you said I'm I'm super excited that you
56:46
were able to come on board how uh how would people learn more about what you got going on even if they're thinking
56:53
about trying to implement some of this stuff in their own Community they're trying to get involved but you know you
56:59
using your program and what you're doing as a model where do people find out more information about that well right now
57:06
I'm just on LinkedIn LinkedIn was my first social media uh back uh back
57:12
introduction back into social media uh in seven years so I've been on LinkedIn
57:18
for what 11 months now something like that I I can't remember but um yeah but
57:23
we are creating a web site right now uh to where we we will be doing train the
57:29
trainers so to where individuals can facilitate this back wherever they're at
57:35
take this back with them I do this sometimes um as a uh active workshop
57:41
with hazel and Betty Ford Foundation if anybody's familiar with them uh we go out go throughout the country and I do
57:47
this and so uh sometimes and um uh yeah but we we're about to open this thing up
57:55
and uh by next year of course we'll be on YouTube and by next year we will have
58:00
a website but right now um I'm on LinkedIn and I do accountability work
58:06
and we take them through this program here great you know so yeah just right
58:11
now but I'm full but I'm full so full right now well maybe they could reach out and learn a little bit more um I
58:17
will put a link to your LinkedIn and the show notes but if you're just listening to this you it's Christmas
58:25
comma what's the what are the initials after your name on your on your LinkedIn it's Chris
58:32
Smith and because I I had to search for it oh oh yes uh cprs okay so if you search for Chris
58:39
Smith C comma cprs you'll find him because obviously Chris Smith is like Kevin Davis there's a billion of them so
58:47
so I want to lead you lead people to the right way if they're just if they're just uh just listening to this so Chris
58:52
I really appreciate everything you're doing out there I'm excited to kind of follow along and and U you know stay in
58:59
contact and and see how this goes for you and I appreciate taking the time buddy oh absolutely thank you so much
59:05
Kevin man you have a great day you guys have a great day out there too man thank
59:10
you if you're looking to really maximize your life and become the man you were made to be head over to maxed out
59:18
man.com and get your journey started
59:23
today



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