primary goalInspiration and resilience building

summary Ty Gipson shares his extraordinary journey through health challenges, including multiple organ transplants and living with type 1 diabetes. His story highlights the power of mindset, small positive steps, and the 'no options' philosophy to overcome adversity and inspire others.

keywords resilience, mindset, health challenges, organ transplants, diabetes, positivity, motivation, no options philosophy

key topics

• Resilience through health challenges
• The 'no options' philosophy in adversity
• The importance of mindset and small steps
• The role of gratitude and humor in overcoming difficulties

takeaways

• Small daily growth can lead to profound life changes
• Sharing your story can inspire and help others
• The mind is a muscle that can be trained for positivity
• Celebrating small wins encourages continued progress

guest nameTy Gipson

key frameworksNo Options Philosophy

action items

• Identify one small positive step to take today
• Practice daily visualization of your goals
• Celebrate small wins to build momentum
• Share your story to inspire others

titles

• From Diabetes to Donor: Ty Gipson’s Journey of Resilience
• The No Options Mindset: Turning Adversity into Opportunity

Sound Bites

• "Life is short and precious"
• "Grow a little each day"
• "It's worth the climb"

Chapters

00:00Introduction and Technical Difficulties

00:00The Importance of Sharing Stories

00:45Ty's Journey and Adversity

01:04Transforming Adversity into Positivity

02:43Mindset Shifts Through Challenges

04:25Addressing Different Abilities and Growth

06:59Tools for Self-Discovery and Mindful Parenting

08:43Three-Step Process for Overcoming Adversity

11:48The Power of Positive Thinking

14:14Finding Humor in Difficult Times

15:25Ty's Health Journey and Organ Transplants

20:52Facing the Unknown: A Life-Changing Decision

23:30The Journey of Recovery: From Darkness to Light

24:44Gratitude and New Beginnings: The Impact of Organ Donation

26:12Resilience Through Adversity: The No Options Mindset

31:45Finding Balance: The Importance of Rest and Self-Care

37:05Teaching Resilience: Celebrating Small Wins

39:44Sharing Your Story: The Power of Connection

Resources

• tygipson.com
• No Options with Ty Gipson
• Texas Children's Hospital
• Shakti Gawain's Visualization Book

Guest links

• Website: https://tygipson.com/
• Podcast: No Options w/ Ty Gipson: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-options-with-ty-gipson/id1827303025

Host link: specialedrising.com

Go Fund Me - Ray's Respite Care: https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-rays-respite-care-mission

Ty, thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show today. It's such a pleasure to meet you.

Yeah, no, I'm excited. I always just think it's so cool that people are doing the podcast. I I love it because I get to meet so many cool people. just, man, just to see the ground roots of what the effect that's helping others. a, always, I'm just very thankful of all you guys that are doing it is this ground roots kind of just helping others, which.

Well, thanks

man, and I appreciate it. And the same for you, because you're doing the same thing. It's about having a message and wanting to be able to share it, because you hope anyway, You believe there's benefit for people out there. And a lot of people are so busy in their lives that it's hard to get around to these type of things, the part that's taking care of yourself, and those around you. So,

Yeah, for sure. Yes, no, you're right. So much, so much.

You've had quite a life and I'm looking forward to having people hear about it and how you've turned adversity into something positive in your life and how you impact other people. So I thought maybe could just start without going into like the entire story, but just kind of like giving some insight first about what you do now and then we can kind of backtrack a little bit.

Yeah, you know, I've been fortunate the last year and a half or so I was able to sell my company and it's just been a blessing because really it's allowed me now to be able to go and share my story of kind of the road that I've been down through all of the adversity as you mentioned and for the longest Mark, I never really shared my story

I kind of grew up and my dad was one of those dust off, you'll be okay, boy, nobody wants to hear your problems. And so my whole life I've kind of taken that along. But then in the latter part of last several years, my wife had me share my story with some friends. And on the way back from that event, I got like four or five texts and said, hey, thanks for sharing. We're gonna go do this, be organ donors or whatever, right? And it kind of opened my eyes of like, how selfish am I?

if I can simply share my story and help others. So that's what I do now, man. I go around and I just try to encourage people, whatever walls in front of them, whatever hills in front of them, it's worth the climb because there's a lot of light on the other side.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I love the message. I love the positivity of it. And it definitely falls in line with what I tried to encourage in people as well and how to try to live my life. And I think, you know, for my audience, this is going to be a really insightful episode. So I'm excited to have you share. I mean, you've been through so much in your life and, your story is profound and I'll let you get into it. But, you've lived through things that a lot of people couldn't imagine going through, type one diabetes as a child.

multiple organ transplants and I'll let you sort of talk about all that stuff, but how did how did that experience or those experience kind of shift your mindset? Allowing you to stop, you know seeing limits and seeing possibility and the positivity in life

Well, know, Mark, I truly believe, and I mentioned earlier, growing up, my parents had that of dust off kind of approach. And at the time, I really thought it was a little bit harsh. I thought, man, what is, but what I realized later, it was just preparing me for the road ahead of me, right? And so I really believe all these things do happen to prepare us.

Yeah.

and to equip us for what's ahead. And I always say, without some of these things, we can't be successful without some failure, right? And I look at that because all that's doing is preparing us to be stronger, better for whatever it is ahead. it really has equipped me in a lot of ways just to realize that one, life is short.

and precious at the same time, right? So value that, right? I always say no matter what situation we're in, there's a lot of value there. And the other thing is, is I realized through this that every single one of us have what we need to move forward. And that's our mind, right? Our mind is a positive thing. And for most people,

we can look in the mirror and make a decision that we're gonna push through. And that's, to me, that's kind of what I've realized through all this, that I have the tools. We just gotta, I gotta learn how to use them. It's like working out, or it's a muscle, right? If we don't use it, we don't get stronger with it. And we're not gonna see results overnight either. I mean, it's something that we've gotta continue to work on.

Okay.

Right.

Right, just like bodybuilding and like anything, right, takes time. So there's so many questions I have for you in regards to this because on the surface, it's like, yeah, we can pick ourselves up by the bootstraps. I never really loved that expression, but I do understand it because I feel like...

It's expecting the same thing from everybody and everybody has different abilities. And I think that's what we can get into today, you know, is how to flex that and how to adapt that for people that...

You know, and parents too, because parents are under the gun all the time. they've got so much going on, and how do they keep that spirit up and that just keep getting up off the mat and keep going? And I mean, I talk about getting up off the mat and keep going. know, it's really all you have, ultimately. you can give up entirely, but I don't feel that's an option. But there are people out there that don't have the wherewithal and the abilities and the education and the

the monetary, the financial security, all these type of things that they're burdened by. How do you address those people that might be a little bit further under than the average person?

You know, I mean, obviously we all have the gifts that we've been given, right? Whatever that may be. We all have some the amazing gifts. And some are more than others. And that's so true. I you know, I wish I had all the capabilities and abilities that some people have. And some people wish they had the ability. So there's different levels of that. And I just, and I absolutely agree with that. just,

within our own abilities, we have levels to grow. And I'm just encouraging, I mean, I'm not able to grow to levels that you may be able to and so on and so on. But I always say, what is it within our abilities? How can we grow? And I always talk about a little, not overnight, but like I was saying a while ago, just small abilities. So we've got to look within our own capabilities and realize,

Mm-hmm.

that we do have, we have room to grow. And again, it may be different for all of us and it is different for all of us. absolutely, it's not maybe it is. Each one of us have different growth patterns, different plans and thank God for that because we're all different. We're all our own and I truly believe, it's so much. And I just, encourage, whatever's within our,

Right.

Right.

Right, adds to the fabric. Adds to the fabric of life, right?

areas of being able to grow is to find those small steps and continue to do that for each one of them.

Mm-hmm.

Do

you help people? Do you give them tools in order to be able to kind of do that, to get in touch with their strengths? if they're maybe not quite sure who they are, ⁓ because maybe they've been lost in the sauce with all the responsibilities. And we'll direct this towards families raising children with special needs as much as we can. But this is also broad for everyone. these parents certainly have a lot more responsibility and a little less time than the average person too.

Yes.

to really kind of get in touch with themselves. I feel like, because what I encourage is like mindful parenting, trying to get to know yourself, connecting with your child as an individual as opposed to someone that owes you something, you know what I mean? And so what kind of tools can you provide for people to really get that inner self out there and get in touch with who they are?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

You know, through a lot of my challenges, Mark, just, within my realm, I had to look back and I, because I kept hitting walls, I would get through one thing and I would hit another and then I hit it. You know, so I challenged, my challenges with health has been a lifelong experience. I mean, starting at eight years old as a juvenile diabetic.

back in the 70s and with no technology back then, right? Compared to what we have now. And so I had to learn these tools and I'm one again that I needed, know, this whole thing of being a positive thinker was just, I mean, such a broad statement. What does that mean? You're right. I mean, I don't, I never really understood that, especially when someone's in the trenches.

every day as your parents that we're talking to here, that every day they've got so much responsibility on their backs but I had to take it into smaller bites. And what I do is I have a three-step process that I use.

when I look at adversity, And it works for some and it may not work for others, but then we dive in, I always try to find out individually what people are dealing with and try to mold some of these things to help them. number one is I ask the question, am I gonna grow or die? And when I mean grow or die, I mean, that's what we do, but.

But we gotta realize too, grow or die, I'm not talking death, I'm talking are we gonna let this purpose, our goals, our dreams, our mission for our children, whatever that looks like, are we gonna let that die, Or are we gonna push through this? Are we gonna be there everyday for them? we gonna, whatever that looks like in our cases, right? Grow or die. Number two is hope or despair. That's how we think.

And I always tell people through a lot of this, I could have really simply said, why was I the one with diabetes? Why was I the one that had all these multiple transplants? Why me? Instead, I look at the opportunity and because of what I've been through, I'm able to help others. And because of what I've been through, it's made me a stronger person. you gotta find, and the better term is the silver lining, right? We gotta find the small things.

that we're able to be here with our children. We're thank God I'm able to be here to help them and whatever that case looks like, but that's how we think. And then number three is humor or drama, and that's how we talk. And when I say talk, I'm not talking about always just to one another. I'm talking about internally talking to ourselves. A lot of times, every morning I put my foot on the floor, I'm...

Mm-hmm.

I'm thankful I'm here, right? I'm thankful in this present moment I'm here because there was a lot of reasons I shouldn't be here. So, and that's the things that when I'm talking, I'm talking to myself all the time and I think we all are.

and the humor part of this is where I really, I love it because sometimes people think I'm a little crazy, but I gotta make light of where I'm at and what I'm doing sometimes because just to help, it may not, to them it may sound a little awkward, but it's really, it's for me to get through what I'm going through sometimes. Sometimes we've just gotta put a little bit of humor.

Okay.

into what we're doing, right? I and I say that, you know, one of the things I talk about all the time is I, you know, when I got out of my first transplant, was taking 65 pills a day. And I tell people now, I'm, guys, I only have to 35 pills a day and I'm so happy for that. You know, I mean, it sounds silly, but it's little things like that that I have to sometimes just laugh at, right?

Wow.

You have it.

Absolutely, got it. Yeah, no, I agree. You do have to be able to find that humor in things. in dark times, it's very hard to find that humor for sure. I always say put on bloopers or something like that on YouTube, just take five minutes and just laugh, you know? If you can't conjure it, get it from somewhere else.

Yes.

That's right!

That's right.

But those are the, so a grow dies what we do, hope or despair is what we think, and humor and drama is how we talk. And when we do those three small steps, it really aligns us into a positive thinking mindset. And it's not, hey, go work out and be buff these are small steps that we do and that we're working our mind out to be in a positive mindset.

Mm-hmm. It's a practice.

Right.

Right, it's like changing the paradigm in your head, right? It's changing what you've known all your life and learning how to live in a different way, right?

Because our

mind, know, Mark, our mind is such a, it's a muscle, just like what we talked about all ago. And if we, if we go to the gym every day, we, we're not going to go the first day and come back and look great. We got to go every day and then we're going to slowly see results. Our mind is the same way. We've got to keep pushing these positive things in those kind of that 1 % growth type deal that we talk about, right? Grow just a little bit each day. And then you'll be shocked of how your mind starts to look at things versus.

On the negative side, we're seeing the positive side. And then a little bit more and a little bit more and your mind starts to grow, neuro pathways start to develop in the positive side of it versus the negative side of it.

Yeah, because the mind is malleable, so it can change. so it's for someone who's saying, you know, I'm just this who I am and I can't change. It's possible to change. I always believe it's possible to change. mean, you are who you are at your core, but you can change your mindset and how you approach things and how you live your life. So I agree with you a thousand percent.

Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I'll tell you this,

some of these little things that I've noticed, just personally, I feel like I've been a positive person my whole life, but through some of this, it really challenged that, right? And I think what happens though, as you practice these small things,

Being around other people and being positive is really therapy for yourself. You start to see things, I always say, find something positive to find in somebody today. It don't matter who, maybe the person at the store, maybe, and really, know, in the world we live in, gosh, Mark, everybody needs that, right? But what it's really doing too is, I mean, just the therapy that it's putting within yourself is really powerful.

Yeah.

So it's really like a mindful practice, Just being aware of your environment and looking for something positive yeah. So we're in line with that.

Yes. Yes. Because I mean, they're

so it's so easy, you know, nowadays to find all the negative, right? And I feel like our our society has gone to what can we find wrong with everything around us and the people around us versus finding the positive? you know, we may not all think the same way or we may disagree with things, but it doesn't mean there needs to be hatred. And and so finding the positive is just what I try to encourage.

Yeah.

Yeah, try to find some commonalities between us too. Start with the fact that we're just human beings trying to figure it all out. Yeah, yeah. I want to get into the no options, but prior to that you'd brought up something and I've mentioned it before, I had an anxiety disorder for a period of time and you talk about...

That's right. That's right. That's right. Let's start there. Yeah, that's Sure.

what you learned from that, how you grew from it. And I remember at the time being able to step outside my body and kind of bear witness to what was happening and what could happen to a human being and how low you could go. And it was really an amazing, almost social experiment for me in a sense, because I was on the outside looking in as I was experiencing it. And I quickly told myself that this is not how my life is going to be, and I'm going to do the work to make it

to

get overcome it, but at the same time, I was able to take that and try to turn it into a positive and help other people. So I totally relate to what you're talking about. I didn't have to go through nearly the...

I mean, they had to be traumatic experiences for you, you know. I would like you to talk about, some of the organ transplants, some of what you've been through physically, just because I know that it gives parents hope for their children who may be struggling and going through these times. So before we get into the no options philosophy, could you just kind of touch upon that a little bit?

Sure.

Yeah, I have been through a lot and I didn't really realize how much I'd been through until you really look back because I was so, again, just trying to stay present and get through it. But I didn't ever realize because again, because of the way I was raised, I never shared it and never talked about it. It was just something we kind of kept down under and...

But as you know, I mentioned it as a juvenile diabetic at eight. And again, I'm 56, Mark. So was back in the 70s. Technology was not there at all. But one of the things that my parents did, they didn't let me use that as a crutch in any way, right?

Yeah, right.

They knew, I they weren't cruel at all, but they just helped me. I played sports and I did everything that a kid could do it to the level I could, right? But they didn't act like I was treating me any different. But over time, the brittle diabetes system was really challenging. So they found a doctor, a specialist at Texas Children's Hospital out of Houston that was working at the time in the 70s,

on a chemotherapy machine that they were put, they were used for chemotherapy but they put insulin in it and it was a syringe pump that was trying, so they tried to get me on this pump that would help me get insulin throughout the day instead of taking injections. And so I stayed in the hospital for months on this research.

It was a pound, nine ounces. So people that know the insulin pump now it's a tiny little thing. But back then it was a pound, nine ounces that I wore this box on my side, right? Which was crazy. And so I, and I would participate with this pump on my side and I just wanted to be like everybody else, right? As a kid. But it was really challenging because I still fought this, this, this brittle diabetes type, but over the years, the pump changed, technology changed. And so I got through all these different pumps. And then I, you know, through high school, through

goodness.

through

college, I was able to wear the pump and participate in everything that I could. And really, in my mind, I could do anything everybody else could. Now, that wasn't always the case, but in my mind, I could. And so I had to really, really kind of battle through that. But then at the age of 30s, when it really got interesting for me, Mark I up, I was working and I go in and I find out that the doctors tell me that my kidneys are failing.

And so they told me that because my kidneys weren't completely failing, but they were really close to being put on dialysis. And so I did not have any knowledge of that at all. My parents didn't have any knowledge of it. But they said, here's the deal, Ty, if we did this transplant, you're going to just go through kidneys because your diabetes is so brittle.

And when I say brittle, I still fought these ups and downs a lot. But they said, there is a doctor in Baltimore, Maryland that's doing research on this dual transplant. It's a kidney-pancreas transplant at the same time.

but they said you need to go find out if you're a candidate. anyway, to kind of speed the story up, I went out, I was a candidate, which was great. So my mother, who was 60 at the time, says, Ty, here's the deal. If my kidneys match, I want to donate my kidneys to you. She said, know, God gave us two and I feel like one of them is yours. And I said, okay, that would be amazing. So I, that's right, that's right. And so,

Hahaha.

That's a mom for you.

Now just to kind of explain kidneys you can get from a living donor a pancreas has to come from a deceased donor. So I get put on this waiting list and

Okay.

And sure enough, about eight months through, I'm just exhausted. I finally go to the doctor and I didn't want to go into dialysis because they said you have a better chance of your organs being successful, no rejections if you don't go into dialysis. So I was determined. But I would go home from work, go to bed at six o'clock in the afternoon, just try to make it through the next day. And just a small thing, I had a six year old daughter at this time.

So it was really, really hard. so parenting with a six year old and then trying to battle and work and support. And I was a single parent, so it was really hard.

Mm-hmm.

wow, holy cow.

It

was just a it was really a tough time So I I was able to push through but I finally went to the doctor said I can't go anymore I said I think I might do this analysis thing. He said okay So they came in and put the stent in and and then that was on a Thursday Sunday night before I started dialysis. I get the call at midnight. Mean what a it was it was crazy and they call and they said hey, there's a you know, there's

Ha

What? It's like a movie.

Unfortunately, there's been an accident and there's a pancreas that matches you. We need you to get mobile and get to Baltimore. So me and my mother, take off and we get there. It's like the movies, hurry up and then you wait, wait. But anyway, again, there had been four surgeries of this type and two of them had been successful.

So that's where I really taught one of the no options things was my choice was, do I want to live a life on dialysis? And not really, I mean, because that's not, that's not quality life plus that doesn't, that's not a lifelong answer either. So you really have some struggles there, but this surgery, if we could get through it.

I had some really big success, a lot more positive things on that side of it, if we can get through it, right? So I knew I had to do this surgery to get there. And so...

We have more

When that call came in that night, leaving my six-year-old, it was really challenging because I didn't know if I was coming back. I didn't know I was coming back in what state. So that was a hard,

Yeah.

What condition? Yeah.

thing to do that night was to leave that night not sure what it was going to look like. But we'd get there and we'd get through the, I mean, it's, you know, in the surgical room is I'm in the middle and then there's a team over here working on my mother prepping her. And then there's a team over here working on the procuring the organ to put, you know, so a lot of stuff's going on and it was under research, you know, back then. So there was a lot of students and there was a lot of,

Gary.

Hmm.

There was a lot going on. It was a big team of people doing this thing. It really was. I mean, I think they,

Yeah, like the surgical theater. Yeah.

you know, in fact, I think it was all, you know, it's all on film. I mean, they've got all this, right? And anyway, so 16 hours later, I get through this surgery.

16 hour surgery.

Yeah, I wake up and my mother's beside me in a wheelchair that she had gotten through the surgery fine, which was really thankful of because I, you know, that was always a concern of mine as well. And so, but she was doing great. But now here's the thing that was tough because

Sure, that's an extra concern, sure.

your body has two new organs. So your body's trying to figure out that, right? What's going on. I've got all these meds trying to help keep that down. So your body's dealing with all these meds. And so, and I had never really taken meds other than insulin. I had really never taken any meds in my life. So it was just my body. was just getting shocked right now, right? All this was going on. And so I I felt bad. I mean, I felt horrible actually. And they just, they just said, Todd,

Yeah, yeah.

sure, God, that's

an assault on your body.

Absolutely, yeah.

They said if you can get through this year, if we can get through a year, then you're in a much better place. Man, I kept thinking, how am gonna get through a year with this? Because I mean, every day was, I mean, you gotta remember, these doctors were amazing, and they were doing amazing things, just trying to figure out the regulation of the meds, what does that look like, all these things going on. And so, after, and within a year, man, I'll tell you, Bark, it was like the light turned on.

I felt amazing amount. was looking at light and I did a, there was an interview I did with the local paper out there and they asked me, how did you compare the and after the surgery? And the quote I said then was so accurate and I still use it a lot is I said, it's like seeing living life in black and white.

and then living in full color because I didn't realize how bad I felt. I didn't realize all this was going on. But you know, there's a couple of points here I want to bring up though, Mark. You know, obviously I mentioned a deceased donor and always I'm always so thankful for whoever that was. I don't know who it was who donated that their organs, but I've never met their family. But I'm always there was obviously a tragic.

and a loss of family, a loss of these things. But I'm always just so thankful and I encourage people if you're not an organ donor please consider it because it does save lives and it's changed a lot of our lives, right? I'm sure that one person being an organ donor, no telling how many people it's changed their lives, right? And I'm just very thankful in mind and what I was able to do after. But I always say this too is,

Yeah.

On the other side of adversity is a light. We're all looking at walls sometimes and thinking we can't get over it. We're too far down in the ditch. Whatever that looks like. And I just encourage people, it's worth the climb. It really is worth the climb because after that surgery I was able to get married. I was able to adopt my second daughter. And then I was able to open a business. And so I just...

wow.

Hmm.

I always say there's light on the other side. And because of that person, I was able to do that, right? And I'm just always super, super thankful of that. So, but anyway, you know, and that was amazing time. I mean, I was able to live my life normal. mean, when I say normal, I live like.

Yeah.

I mean there was nothing that was really holding me back and and all this stuff that we grew this business and then Organs don't last forever. Unfortunately, my my the pancreas lasted for 12 years and so when I say the pancreas the reason it was such a critical organ was what you to be a diabetic basically means your pancreas quits producing insulin So when I received this pancreas, had died. I didn't have diabetes anymore so for 12 years

Right.

I was able to, my body was almost to really get a relief from diabetes, if that makes sense, because diabetes is hard on your body, just naturally. And then obviously the kidneys were able to function a lot better because I didn't have the diabetes, know, harming that. So for 12 years I didn't have diabetes, but then my mother's kidney lasted for 20 years, which was a...

My goodness. Yeah, right.

So now let's fast forward to 2019. I mean, I got a business that's growing. I've got 45 plus employees. I mean, it's just really, my wife is working with me in the company and we're doing a lot and staying busy and my daughter Dallas young and we're playing sports and just, you you know how it is. That's that busy life, right? And so I get, you know, I had to go immediately on dialysis because my kidneys failed in 2019.

Yeah, right. Every day.

Really?

So they put me on dialysis, but here was the thing though. I would go from 430 to nine, three days a week to dialysis. And then I would go into the office and again, I wasn't telling people. So I'd go in like nothing was happening. I try to, I would try to put this face on that nothing was wrong. I was really the face of our company. So I had to really keep, keep them going and, and emerge. And so

All of that, and then my sister came up and was a match for a kidney. So we were super excited about that. But here's, and just to kind of wrap the story up there was, at the last moment, I guess we found out my sister wasn't gonna be a match.

There was something that came up that the doctor said, Hey, I don't think it's going to work. And so my wife came to me and she said, I'm a different blood type type, but I'll tell you this, I'm watching this Dallas is just really beat you down. then she said, I want to go donate my kidney and return somebody else donates one to match you. And so that we can move you up on the list. And I was like, that would be amazing. And so was excited about this. So she goes in to do the test that she calls me and she's crying and I'm like,

⁓ wow.

you

Wow, that's amazing.

What is wrong? And she says, you're not gonna believe this. She says, but I match you perfectly. So all that to say five weeks later, I received my wife's kidney. And here we are, man. I've lived the best, I mean, it's been the best five or six years of my life so far.

She's a match.

Damn!

What about

a new pancreas? you need a new?

I wear the insulin pump now and it's just, it's been amazing. Now the technology's there, mean, these pumps are like, I mean, it regulates my blood sugars. It's just a different game as a diabetic these days. And so it's been amazing and I just always say, just on the other side, it's worth the climb. But I know.

Okay, see where the insulin...

Yeah.

Incredible. Yeah.

Yeah. Wow.

But the no options came from that, some of that, where I just didn't have an option but to do it, right? And I'll tell you, here's the coolest thing, That six-year-old daughter that walked that night that I was scared to death, two months ago, I was able to walk her down the aisle. So it's definitely worth the climb.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

man, congratulations. Wow, what a...

yeah, absolutely. I mean, it had to be terrifying for you leaving her, going in not knowing. And it had to be terrifying for her too, because how do you prepare a child for something like that too? Without getting too deep into it, what did you tell her, as you were leaving?

You know, I just, it was really fun. just interviewed her just recently on my podcast and just get her a point. And it was really neat to listen to that. mean, but I, you know, I was telling her enough that I felt like a six year old could.

yeah.

could absorb, right? I I just told her that dad was gonna be away for a short period, you know, but I was gonna come back and then I was gonna be able to do more things with her and be there for this. And my family was amazing to step up and help with her and her mother. I mean, it was, we all circled around to make sure. But...

Yeah, okay, okay.

Kept it positive.

We

kept it very positive, just enough that we felt like a six-year-old could absorb. But even to this day, she talks about that. She's one now that she said, I've learned so much from watching you about pushing through things and being able to handle things. And so I'm super proud of that, that she did learn some things from that that's been very positive.

Yeah, yeah, sure.

Yeah, I think that you're becoming an amazing example of that. And when you talk about no options, I think there's things that people might confuse with that because it also can possibly even, in the umbrella aspect of it, put some pressure on somebody to have to show up when they really can't. So first off, what maybe do people misunderstand about the no options philosophy?

Well, the no options to me is, know, a lot of times we, and I absolutely understand there are cases, right? There are people that, mean, and this can be missed and I'm glad you bring that up because I don't want it to think that put anybody in any situation to think that that's a negative thing because it's, where the no options come in is kind of what I talked about there when I had that choice to do the surgery or not, the no options. we were open, we left my wife

Right, right.

and I both left corporate America to go start our company. And then, and that was in 06 and 08, the financial crisis coming and we, know, and so we looked, I told my wife, said, we, you know, she's like, what do we do? I mean, nobody was doing anything. The world kind of stopped there. And I said, well, really we don't have an option. We just got to keep pushing and go. So there was several points through my stories that the no option came up, but here's where the no options kind of to dive into those that see it from a different or have a

different situation is the no options thing is just to really a my I'm trying I teach a mindset to have to find the positive in it I think so many times we give ourselves outs we give ourselves a plan B when we really do

We really have, we gotta look at ourselves and push through from a mindset standpoint that we can push through. Now I'm very aware that there are cases, right, that we don't have that option. But I always say, a lot of times I feel like we rely on, we let ourselves not achieve.

our own personal goals because we do let ourselves out. But whatever situation, whatever our capacity is, I try to challenge us to reach the highest potential we can and don't give yourselves out to get there.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying and it's reasonable and I think that too, it's like for those that can, this is a realistic approach. How would you say that rest could be part of the no options mindset for parents? Yeah.

Absolutely. mean, I think the

rest is up. And I even talk about that a lot too. A lot of times we've got to look, there's a reason on the planes when the thing drops and it says put it on first before you help others. Because if we're not in the right state, if we're not in the right place, we can't help others.

Exactly.

You

know, and I always say, mean, you know, I do a, and I haven't did this until just recently. I've gotten into this meditation thing where I get some, some quiet time in the mornings. And I will tell you, it's been amazing to see what that little bit of time to myself and to help me kind of help get my mind. It's just like working out again. As we talk about, find that few minutes to work out, to rest your mind, to rest yourself.

And I'm not taking away from, obviously we need the sleep and all that for our bodies to function. I'm talking about just those 15, 20 minutes of peaceful time for you to kind of just have to yourself and think through the day. Be thankful. This is where we find our positive things in our minds and in our goals for the day and what are we gonna do and how are we gonna get through it? But...

I will tell you, that's where these three steps make a big difference. Because if we take that time and we think negatively, it's going to start our day off with the wrong foot.

Right. And it's going to dig us deeper into a hole.

That's right. when

you find that, when we do create that time for ourselves, think about looking at it from the positive lens versus the negative lens. And I think that helps us get through a lot of things that sometimes we don't feel like we can get through.

Right.

Yeah, it's so good to hear you saying this stuff because I wasn't sure coming into today how much the message of pick yourself up by your bootstraps and no options was more just like just just keep barreling through and it's not that it's not that yeah

I mean, all have our levels of.

of goals and things. And I'll tell you this, here's another thing too that's really helped me mark and I hope it will help others. But from a goal standpoint, you know, and I used to not be one of those goals, you okay, great. But what I did, what I've been taught is write down your goals, right? And when I say goals, it's not, it may be, hey, to make sure I eat healthy today, but whatever that looks like, right? And there anybody, but not only think about them, but write them down. And then here's the third thing.

that really helped me with those is visualize them. Start to visualize some of the things, right? Visualize some, even in something like this morning, I was visualizing some of what the day looks like. And really, it's amazing how that helps us. And that goes back to some of the study of the mind, how powerful the mind is when we start to visualize things.

Yeah.

Yeah, I remember being introduced by my sister when I was a kid. She had this book written by Shakti Gawain, which was all about visualization. yeah, I mean, I think, it puts us in a forward thinking way about what it is that we want to accomplish in our life and how we want to be.

And it's, right, because the mind can just be so, can trick us so well too into this negativity and into these paths of bringing us down and just getting deeper and deeper in that hole. But we can also do the opposite. If we put these thoughts in our, yeah. ⁓

Yes, that's right. Well, it's that

1 % real mark that we talk about, right? if, and I, this has always been so, it really hits me because that 1 % growth each day, you you hear that stories, right? But,

And I'll tell you quick, there was a national cyclist team, this coach came on the team and he said, they'd never won the Tour de France. And he said, I wanna win the Tour de France in five years. He was a new coach. And so what he did is he kept this training going, but what he, he came in and changed the pillows the way the riders slept on because they needed a better night's sleep. He changed the uniforms so they were better aerodynamic, changed the seats on the bikes so they were more comfortable.

Mm-hmm.

All that to say, it's just an analogy of how the little things he did, and they won the Tour de France in three years. I'm not saying it was, but it was the little things that made difference over time. And it's the same way we have to do in our mind, Is if we grow a little each day, just find something today to be a positive,

Mm-hmm, right.

Hey, in some cases, maybe I wanna do, I wanna be able to run this. in some cases, I wanna be able to do this with my kid today. I wanna be able to achieve this with my child. I wanna be able to, whatever that looks like, take that small thing. And then each day, just take a little bit more. You'll be amazed, I think in a week, in a month, in a year, of what those little steps have done.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's such a wonderful message. I appreciate you saying that. And I think, for those people that really are stuck, it's getting them to be able to believe that that's possible is probably going to be the hardest challenge. Just getting started is probably the hardest challenge. Would you say? Yeah. So before we go, I want to just talk a little bit about

It is, it is.

And I don't know if you have an answer to this, but do you have advice or how would you teach resilience and grit as we might call it, to kids, especially kids with disabilities, without creating any kind of pressures on them or unrealistic expectations.

I know this isn't necessarily your area, but even in a more general sense, potentially.

Yeah, but I, but I.

Yeah, I mean, to me, I mean, I not even just talk with my kids. I think with the special needs is a different area. I think the one is I know most of the parents are all doing is just one showing the love and the support there for them, right? But two just.

think one of the things that we have to do in all cases with kids is to celebrate the small little wins. Make a big deal out of that small little step. We talked about that one little percent. mean, if something we've been trying to teach them today or they do really well, celebrate the mess out of that.

The mess out of it, I like that.

You know what I'm

saying? Let's get excited about little things because those, when they feel the excitement of growth, it just continues. That's something that they want to do more of. And so I think a lot of times, and that goes with everybody, right? I think a lot of times we don't celebrate the wins, we expect them.

Yeah, well said, I agree.

And so I mean, again,

this is not my expertise area with it. But I would say that celebrating the small wins with these kids and loving all is the best advice I could give.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, now I love that, I love that. For parents who are kind of still feeling stuck, what would you say would be like the first step they can take to move in the direction that you're suggesting?

Well, mean, the biggest challenge always is that first step, right? It's the first step as artist. ⁓

Right, as we said, yeah.

And

yeah, so I would, I would get a fine, know, kind of look through some things that we talked about today, some things that, what are some things in my life right now that I could take a small step? And it may not, it's not a physical, not, know, it's just a mental step. What is a mental step that I could take today? You know, I'm gonna, I would tell you this, find, find,

Mm-hmm.

you know, depending on what level you're at, find five people today that you want to find something positive in. Find it. may be the person at the restaurant, the waiter, it may be the person, the doorman, whatever that looks like. Find something positive to say to them.

I was going to say to actually communicate to them, right? Yeah. Okay.

to say to them, right? Because

then it's getting, what happens is that, like I mentioned earlier, it's starting to be therapy for yourself. But those are simple things. And sometimes we think, that's a great looking dress that lady has on, or that's a pretty nice sport coat that guy, tell them. And I think it's gonna be amazing to what you start to see back just from internally from yourself.

Yeah. Okay.

Yeah, no, that's a great.

So I'd say start

there. with something, find something positive in each people you surround yourself with today.

All right, that's terrific. I love that message. Is there anything, a final message you'd like to leave? Anything that's important to you that you'd like to communicate?

Well, you know,

just in general, I always say, you know, the world we live in is a heart is tough and everybody has a story. You know, I know my story, Mark's story, and we all have a story, but, every single one of you have a story. And so I would encourage, know, unlike my father had me kind of understanding that no one wants to hear it. I,

I would tell you, everyone needs to hear. If you can share, you don't know what the person to your right or left is going through, but I would encourage you to share your story because you never know if you can help somebody through, as I said earlier, maybe they're seeing life right now in black and white and you can help them see it in full color just by sharing your story.

Yeah,

yeah, I love that. I agree. I think it's fantastic. Thank you so much for taking the time today to come on and share your story. I think it's so important, the message that you're putting out to the world, and I'm so glad that you've decided to do that. And I wish you all the best and continued success in doing that. I'm a resource if you ever need it or feel like it'd be of use, but great to share with you.

Yeah, well, I appreciate Mark I'll tell you, you know, if I can ever help, my goal is if I can help one, it's worth all my time, right? I don't it's that's my my whole mission right now in life is to help and give back and but I will tell you my website if you don't mind, I'll tell you.

Yeah, no,

absolutely. I want to ask how people can get in touch.

but it's ⁓

tygipson.com and that's T-Y-G-I-P-S-O-N.com. But all that website has all my social media channels, my YouTube channels on there, but also my podcast is No Options with Ty Gibson. But more importantly, there's a number on there. That's my cell phone number. If somebody has questions or just having a bad day, call me, because that's what I'm here for and I would love.

If I can answer any questions, mean, I'm open. If I don't answer, I will call you back. But I would love to hear from you if you have questions.

incredibly

generous of you, that's really beautiful. I will obviously put the website on the show notes so people will have that. thank you so much for your time and it's really been a pleasure. You have a great day. I'll be in touch.

Thank you, Mark. You too.