IDL48 Season 1: Power to Stand: Facing Adversity with Chris Norton
How do you retain your power in the face of adversity? Why should you respond rather than react to life? What lessons can leaders learn from kids?
This conversation is special. It really feels like the cherry on top of a year of incredible interviews, and we’d like to thank listeners for their support, and for being part of the Impact Driven Leader journey.
Chris Norton is in his late 20’s; he’s a father; he’s a husband. He’s a guy that makes things happen. His story is one that inspires others to climb their metaphorical mountains, and it’s a privilege to be able to share that story today.
Chris Norton got knocked down. Hard. After suffering a spinal cord injury playing college football he lost all feeling and movement from the neck down. Chris was only given a 3% chance to move again.
With the support of his friends, family, faith, and the love of his life, Emily, Chris proved the doctors wrong, and walked the stage at graduation. He then walked his bride, Emily, 7 yards down the aisle of their wedding.
His story has been published twice – first with his father, and now with Emily. A documentary about his life story is out on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and AppleTV titled 7 Yards: Chris Norton Story.
Chris was named one of ITA Group's hottest keynote speakers. He travels across the country to inspire people from all walks of life, and demonstrates how to focus on our abilities to unlock the Power To Stand.
Visit Chris Norton’s website. Connect with him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
Change your response
Learning from your kids
Life’s challenges
Change your response
What you always have in your power is how you respond to a stimulus. Whatever happens to you, good or bad, it is always up to you is how you choose to respond.
Your emotions around the event are valid, and justified, however, no amount of anger can justify you to act in whatever way you like. Your response is always your responsibility.
“You’ll never get rid of all your negative thoughts and feelings, but you can change your response to them. I made a habit … [of] responding to those emotions and feelings by turning towards what I could do about it and that’s what helped me get through the toughest moments of my life.”
Find the balance between feeling your emotions, experiencing what is happening, and then making intentional choices to improve your situation.
You disempower yourself when you react blindly to life. You empower yourself when you can take a moment to observe, reflect, and then respond.
Learning from your kids
It is no secret that children are enriching and humbling to adults. The greatest leaders in the world can learn a lot about leadership from children themselves and about how to truly look after someone in your care.
They can teach you:
- The power of your words and phrasing
- Necessary communication skills
- Validating their experience
- Building up their confidence
Life’s challenges
“Challenges can’t stop you from acting with kindness, control, dedication, humility, and honesty. ”
Life is inherently challenging. Fighting against the fact that life is difficult is a waste of energy because life will always have challenges.
How you retain your power, agency, and sense of peace is by knowing that you can always respond to these challenges – that is your power.
Resources, books, and links mentioned in this episode:
BOOK | Carey Nieuwhof – At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor
BOOK | Chris Norton & Emily Norton - The Seven Longest Yards: Our Love Story of Pushing the Limits while Leaning on Each Other
Visit Chris Norton’s website
Watch 7 Yards: Chris Norton Story.
Connect with him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn
The Impact Driven Leader YouTube Channel
Join the Impact Driven Leader Community
Connect with Tyler on Instagram and LinkedIn
Email Tyler: tyler@tylerdickerhoof.com
About the Impact Driven Leader Podcast
The Impact Driven Leader Podcast, hosted by Tyler Dickerhoof, is for Xillennial leaders who have felt alone and ill-equipped to lead in today's world. Through inspiring interviews with authors from around the world, Tyler uncovers how unique leadership strengths can empower others to achieve so much more, with real impact.
Rate, review and subscribe here on Apple Podcasts or subscribe on Stitcher and Spotify.
Adversity and failure are a part of life. If you try holding onto it, it’s going to rob you of your future, because things will never be perfect.
Chris Norton
Podcast Transcription
[TYLER DICKERHOOF]
Hey there. Welcome to the Impact Driven Leader podcast. This is your host, Tyler Dickerhoof. Thank you for tuning in today. Today's conversation is special. It's special because I'm so thankful to be introduced to this guy. Chris Norton was introduced to me by Jordan Montgomery, previous guest, that you've heard of. He is a master connector and so thankful for that. But man, having this conversation with Chris, Chris is in his late twenties, Chris is a father, he's a husband. He's just a guy that makes things happen. And he's got an amazing story to tell people.
I've been thankful for the conversations we've had to learn his story to help encourage them to share that story because it's pretty impactful. I mean, here's a guy, who's got a documentary about his life, about his journey. You'll see more of that in the detailed show notes, either wherever you're listening to this podcast or at the website, tylerdickerhoof.com, go to podcast, you can find it there. But I'm excited because this conversation is really the cherry on top of an amazing year of the Impact Driven Leader podcast, episode 48. We close out season one first year 2021.
I want to thank you to everyone that's listened this year. If you've shared the episode, thank you. If you've subscribed, thank you. If you've written a comment, thank you so much. It really was about a year ago as I was recording this intro where I got the idea. I'm thankful for my buddy Chad Johnson for just believing in me and saying, "Tyler, yes, you can do that." And creating a book club, creating a round table to serve people, that's what I'm here to do and I hope that you guys take part in that as you're listening, because there's so much more as a part of the book club, the round table.
This month in December, we're reading the book At Your Best, by Carey Nieuwhof, which was released last week. But that's not to take anything away from the value that comes from this conversation with Chris Norton. I know you're going to get so many snippets in life, then you're going to learn really, what I would call the true epitome of self leadership, because it's when you lead yourself that you're able to make an impact in others' lives. Gear up, get ready to take some notes, enjoy this conversation with Chris Norton. I'll catch you at the end.
All right. Welcome back to the Impact Driven Leader. Man, Chris, thank you so much for joining me. As you guys have seen the title for today's episode is with Chris Norton, 7 Yards, but you're so much more than 7 Yards dude. You're like 7 million yards. So I want to say that first and foremost, it's been such a great joy of my last year really. I'm thinking, here, we're coming to the end of the year and I think about the people that I've gotten to meet and interact with. I think about you, it's like, man I'm so thankful and appreciate you spending some time with me today to have a conversation and add value to people in the world.
[CHRIS NORTON]
Absolutely. Tyler, I really appreciate being here and being able to get to know you and I'm looking forward to this conversation.
[TYLER]
So for those that maybe are listening in that don't know, who the heck is Chris Norton, this smiling bright, young just energetic face? Tell people in your quick words who Chris Norton is and what you're here to kind of, I guess, serve people in the world by doing?
[CHRIS]
Yes, I guess where maybe people have heard of the name or maybe it's the story, but I was playing college football, being a tackle, split second decision, I broke my neck and suffered a severe spinal cord injury, losing everything from my neck down, but I did not let that stop me. I had a 3% chance to ever move or feel again, kept going, kept praying, kept, I believe in had a good team around me and was able to defy those odds and live life in a meaningful way I feel. But I feel like, I don't know that's just who I am now. I'm on a mission to inspire others, use my story and what I've gone through to help somebody else in their own struggle and their challenges because adversity is universal. It all stirs up the same emotions and feelings of confusion, anger, frustration, anxiety, and how you can overcome those things is then also universal.
[TYLER]
As we've talked before, as I know from my experiences with some other friends that I have that are as well paralyzed out of spinal cord injuries, there was a lot of moments where you're just laying in a bed and you're like, dude, what's going to happen here? What was the moment, if you could think back and just in this story, like, okay, I can't let those thoughts overwhelm me. I need to take control of it. It's really this avenue, when did you decide to lead yourself?
[CHRIS]
Well, I think I felt like I grew up with that kind of mentality or at least it was helped instilled in me. So I'll take you back to when I was about 11 years old. I'm on my way home from a basketball tournament, I'm fighting back tears in my eyes because I felt like I missed every shot, turned the ball over, hurting my team more than I was hoping then and then to make manners worse, I have to ride home with my coach who's also my dad. So I'm trying to keep my head down, not to look at the angry glares from the rear view mirror. So I finally get home, kick the shoes off and I get up straight to the couch. I try to distract off with TV and video games, just anything to keep my mind off, what was really bothering me.
As I'm sitting there, I'm also just complaining and blaming that I wish I was taller. I'm not taller. I wish I was faster, had my own personal gym than who, I would be a good basketball player. Well, a couple hours of this goes by and finally my dad comes, sits next to me on the couch, talk about the weekend and he talks me something that I'll never forget. He says, "Chris, if you don't like where you're at, then do something about it. What it was, those words, just click. It's simple as it is. If you don't like where you're at, then do something about it. So I just got to think why feel sorry for myself when I'm not willing to do anything to change, blaming my circumstances was certainly not helping me? If you want to get better results, then you have to get better.
So I got up off that couch, I went outside and I shot baskets until it was dark and I started to make a habit of turning my attention away from what I can't control and the things I have no influence over like genetics and circumstances and pour that energy back into what can I do about it? What can I influence? What do I have control over? That really helped me to overcome minor struggles that would come up as I continue to get older. Well, fast forward then to my spinal cord injury, like I said lying in the hospital bed, wondering what is my future going to turn into. Like, will I ever be a dad and have a family, go back to school? Will a girl ever want to be with me? Will I always be like this?
Those emotions are tough and you'll never get rid of all your negative thoughts and feelings, but you can change a response to them. What I've made a habit leading up to that is responding to those emotions and feelings by turning towards what I can do about it. So that's really what helped me get through the toughest moments in my life. It was trying to turn away from those feelings. I'm not saying don't feel. You should absolutely feel. If you need to cry, you cry but it's filtering out the emotions that aren't serving you, that are unhelpful, they're not helping you solve the problem and using that fuel to go towards what you can control. That's what I made an effort every single day, just to focus on what I can do.
[TYLER]
You know, there's a lot of things you shared there, which are pretty amazing to me. You're a person of faith. I'm a person of faith and I've believe that certain things are intertwined. And one of the things that you talked about there is this idea of adversity and not being numb. As I've learned and I've read this last week is you can be resilient or you can be numb. You can't be both. Part of what I heard there, and as I know that this adversity you went through built your resilience because you chose not to be numb. You could have just numbed out, you could have just laid there, you could have just said, this is my lot in life, but you chose to dive into, push into that adversity, build resilience because you chose not to be numb. I think from a leadership perspective as a self-leadership or you're leading others, do you see something difficult coming? Push into it, as opposed to just thinking, oh, if I don't do anything, it'll go away. Is that fair to say?
[CHRIS]
Absolutely. I definitely lean into those emotions because that's kind of the springboard to the next thing. I can actually remember just a couple years ago on the beach with my family, we're celebrating Thanksgiving. As we're recording, this is coming up, but I remember seeing my kids playing catch the football with their uncles. I remember sitting there thinking, man, I wish I could do that. I just kind of got spiraling out of control of like all the things I wish I could be doing with them on this beach and I couldn't. That frustrated me a lot.
I remember fighting back tears, but what it turned to is like, okay, what can I do? What kind of dad can I be? Where are the areas that we could have an adventure or do something exciting together? So that then led to one of our next vacation where we went to Colorado together and did some adaptive things there and then eventually I went and did adaptive skiing, but I remember that pain moment. Instead of like bearing it down, it springboarded me to get creative of what are the areas that I could do with them to be interactive with them? It's not playing catch the football like I want to, but there are other things that I can't do.
[TYLER]
Yes. I have seen, as you share that I've seen videos of you and your kids and you got dragging them around in your chair and having so much fun and piling on and writing. It is such that it's like, instead of worrying about what we can't be, be what we can, because when we fully become what we can, dude, that's what shines a light in the world, right?
[CHRIS]
Oh, absolutely. That's a promise I made to myself early on, was to not allow what I can't do to paralyze me more than what I can. So that's just something that I hold near and dear to my heart and always trying to focus on those things because it's really easy to get way down by what you can and what you wish you could change. And I can overwhelm anyone in any circumstance, not just my own, but I've been able to find that strength and that fortitude to turn my attention away from that.
[TYLER]
So one of the things, and it's cool because you learn a lot about Chris by watching the documentary 7 Yards a I referred to that earlier, but one of the great things from a leadership perspective that tremendously impacted me is your kind of post-injury as you're back in school and you're living in this house with all these guys. And like, there's a certain amount of like leadership through that capacity because you're here to convince these 19, 20 year old guys to essentially serve you, not in a way of like, oh, here is our king, Chris, we're going to serve him. But really as a friend, as a teammate, as a, you know we're in this together. You want to walk us through kind of circumstance and one looking back how impactful that was on you, but also how it's been impactful on them because to me it's really an amazing Testament of leadership?
[CHRIS]
Yes, I would say that my buddies, there was plenty of them that just rose to the occasion that wanted to be there for me. What I really appreciated them was their presence. I think that's one of the things that we miss a lot when someone's going through something hard or life changing. Well, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. How can I help them? What do I know? I've never been through something like that. Well, you don't have to have experience or have gone through something like that. What people need is a friend. They need someone's presence to know that they're not alone and that you got their back. That's really the most important gift that you can give to someone who's going through something hard.
It's I didn't need any wise words for my buddies. I just wanted to be around them. I wanted to be one of the guys. That was really important to me and that's how they treated me and that's how they included me and everything that we possibly could. We made a lot of things that were not accessible, accessible just through muscle and grit and figuring out a way. But I did learn from that too was these guys, they come to my aid, especially right at first, like they're bending over backwards helping me anyway they I can, like filling out my water bottle. Maybe it's helping me get up in the morning and get clothes and shoes and my toothbrush, whatever it may be. But there was a time of I had a tough transition of, I had to ask for so much.
As a quadriplegic, there's only so much I could do that. I did start to take it for granted that it was just matter of fact because, well, I can't do it, so obviously I need help. So I just ask. And I could tell there was, especially with some of them, you could see it was wearing on them. That it was kind almost king Chris asking to get what he needs. I wasn't asking in a mean way, but it was just constantly acting, almost like expected of it. I really started to notice that like a little bit of change and I started to reflect on what am I doing? I realized I wasn't thanking them and appreciating and acknowledging them enough. I got to cut that out. Like that, no one wants to feel like they're taken for granted.
That was a huge shift in my mindset and from then on out, I'm always please, thank you, acknowledging them. It's amazing how much more willing and helpful people become when they feel seen and appreciated. So that was one of the kind of a leadership trait that I really picked up on is, yes, they knew I needed help and vice versa. I'm not getting in bed on my own, but you can still acknowledge them and thank them and let them know how much that does mean to you. Then something that, as time has gone on, so I've always felt like, man, guys, I owe you guys so much. You guys have done so much for me. I don't know how I'm ever going to work, pay you.
They're like, "Well, you've actually done a lot for us, Chris, because here we are, teenage guys and trying to figure out our way in life and who are we?" Well, I gave them a lot of meaning and purpose to know that they're helping me. So in a way I was giving them something just by having them help me and be there for me. So that gave them a lot of meaning and purpose in their life and just something that you can feel proud of.
[TYLER]
You started off that piece, one of the things we talked about is your injury and what do you do? It's just to be seen. I can remember from my own tragedy and the thing that impacted me the most was the people that reached out to me and just say, "Hey, we see you." It was three months, six months down the road. To me, then you end it and saying, the greatest thing you could do to acknowledge them was to say, I see you. That's such a human need on both sides, is leaders need. People need that whether we're going through adverse situations. Yet those that we serve need that too, because they're in essence like, "Hey, do you see me?" It's such this to me, I love how, maybe intended not intended, but that book end of it's about seeing people and just saying, "Hey, I see you. I see you, I thank you, I appreciate you, what you're doing and how impactful that is for everyone, no matter what side of the equation you're on."
[CHRIS]
You want to know that what you do, who you are matters, and to give that to other people, to make sure that you are seeing them and you're seeing the best of them is really important. So oftentimes too, as a parent, I catch myself, it's really easy to point out the things that they're doing wrong, that they're messing up on. Like, yes, I see you, but I'm seeing you messing up and I have to remind myself you can't be like that. You can't just tell them all nitpicking, all the little things that they're doing wrong, because there's so much they're doing right. They're incredible kids and they need to know that and to make sure the parent, I got to remind myself to not lose sight of that to make sure I'm balancing way more appreciation, acknowledgement for the good things, way more than I am doing the things that you need to improve on.
[TYLER]
So it would not be a conversation with Chris without one to recognize your wife who is a amazing piece of the story and who you are as I've recognized as we've talked about. But I also want to, let's talk a little bit about your kids. So how many kids do you have?
[CHRIS]
Six kids.
[TYLER]
Okay, and how many of those are adopted?
[CHRIS]
Six. About six.
[TYLER]
To me that's an amazing testament to you and your wife. Let's just, like those listening, all right, Chris, you're in your early thirties now, right?
[CHRIS]
29.
[TYLER]
29. Okay, sorry, I'm aging you dude. I apologize for that. 29.
[CHRIS]
Don't do that.
[TYLER]
No, no, dude, come on. No reason to be there, but 29, 6 kids, you are quadriplegic, but it doesn't matter because you can serve. And one of the things that you just said there, that I believe as a father of three, I've learned more about being a leader from my kids than I probably have all the other books, everything else that I've been through. Simply what you just said is like how you recognize them, how you guide them, how really maximize what they can do is working on your own leadership. So to me, it's yes, I would love for you to go continue through that a little bit more, the impact they've had on your life, but also vice versa.
[CHRIS]
Oh yes. Definitely learned a lot. I learned really young with my injury in directing people and making sure I got exactly what I need, because how I do things is going to be different from 99% of the population. But yes, my kids they've taught me a lot of just, yes, the power of your words and how you phrase things the way you communicate and direct, and again, making sure that they're seen and that you build their confidence and help them. One of the funny things that we found that's works really well to kind of, what I call is title the glitter, I've seen this with the adults too. We all have it, but I think of our brains as a snow globe, when an obstacle or challenge happens, you get shooken up. It's cloudy. You can't see through it.
Well, you're not going to make good decisions or rational thought when your brain is all clouded. In fact, science shows when you're going through anxiety or an obstacle happens, you start to go back to your back of your brain versus your front, where your fronts, where your critical thinking is. Well, that part's all clouded. So when you're trying to direct somebody or tell somebody when they're emotional they're not really registering it because it's all cloudy. You kind of help them settle their glitter and make sure there's clarity. There's more rational thought. So something that we'll do with like some of our younger ones is, "Hey, one plus one is three." They're upset. They're crying. They're frustrated about whatever it is. It stops. No, it's two, one plus one is two. What?
I'm like. "Ok, two plus two is five, right?" They're like, "No, it's four." Before they're completely done. But its just kind of an interesting tidbit that we've picked on of just how no one makes good decisions when you're upset and the importance of making sure you manage your emotions or when you know somebody else that you're leading or directing the emotion of tension is high. You got to bring the attention now and just getting your mind distracted or doing something else can really settle that breathing is another important way to settle it, count down. But I feel like that's something I've definitely picked up as a leader.
[TYLER]
Man. I love that, the analogy, the imagery of settling the snow globe, settling the glitter because I think that can be real easy and become like a common language. It's like, all right, let's just settle the glitter. Let's just take a time out. But it's not saying, oh, you need a time out or you need to count backwards. It can almost be a trigger for some, but then it's like, oh let's just settle the snowball. Let's let the glitter settle. I love that. I love that imagery, again from a leadership perspective. That happens to all of us. I mean the other day we're coming home from my son's football game and he was kind of got upset with me and just like, dude, why are you upset with me? That was an instance where I needed to just settle the snow globe. I needed to let the glitter settle and just say we're going to drive the rest of the way home. You guys won. You're good. You're still a little amped up. You want to go out and hit somebody still, but just relax. We'll deal with it later after dinner. Whatever else it doesn't need to be dealt with now because we did start to get a little tense in those emotions. So I relate to that completely.
[CHRIS]
I did do that to myself all the time, like all right, I need to just relax because when you have multiple things going on, kind of get overwhelmed, it's like, okay, I need to just settle glitter, bring it back down and not react in anger or frustration because yes, we just don't make good decisions when we're that emotional or that upset.
[TYLER]
Chris when we've talked before, we've talked about this idea of you being resilient, pushing through adversity, really driving yourself to say, I'm going to going to get out of my chair. I'm going to walk. I'm going to will it to happen. If you're in front of a room like you do so much speaking and you're there, what are you hoping to impress from your experience there upon everyone else in the room, who's not in a chair, who is sitting in a physical chair, able body, they're able to do things. People maybe don't see their limitations. How can you help them or what do you try to do to help people recognize their own limitations and push through that?
[CHRIS]
Yes, I think with my speaking and my story and me being on stage and what I share, I think it really gives people perspective on their challenges on what they want to achieve and really what's the most important thing in life. Like it's not about the money, the fame, the achieving this or that, but it's how do you live a life of significance and meaning? How do you add value to people? So I think number of things that it does, but I think the biggest thing is just shift a perspective of your problems are as big as you think they are. They're as big as you think they are.
It's easy to feel like your problem are so big. I think when I get up there and I share my story, what I've overcome, what I've been able to achieve, it makes them think about their problems to be a lot smaller and to be manageable. So I think that's one of the biggest thing that gives them the confidence and the courage of like, okay, I can overcome this. And now I know how Chris did it. Now I know how I can do it as well. So I feel like that's one of the biggest things that I give people is hope. I believe hope is one of the most powerful things you can ever have. Even false hope is better than no hope.
[TYLER]
What do you, when we talk about that, we talk about the friends that are around. We talked a little bit about, I mentioned your wife and how impactful she was and kind of really, I don't want to say enabling, but being just accountable and also there with you through the entire process. When we think about that from a leadership perspective and just as friends saying how can we help champion people around us without even knowing exactly what challenges they're going through?
If I zoom out and say, okay, if I'm one of your teammates, if I'm one of your guys and I can see Chris is trying to one get strong enough to be able to actually move, control his body where it first started there, but then go beyond that walk, now we're sitting here and you're looking at me or I'm looking you saying, all right, Chris, how can I champion what you're doing next? What are some things that you learned through that process that you could share with others as far as how to start unlocking that for other people?
[CHRIS]
Yes, I would say one of the biggest things that would help somebody to become more resilient is what I call to take on radical responsibility. That means for all outcomes of your life and not just a little bit of responsibility, but complete responsibility over the good and the bad outcomes, the failure, the successes, the healthy and unhealthy relationships. But when you can take on this responsibility and the more responsibility you take on the better you respond to diversity. And one of the quickest ways you can become more adept at being responsible for your life is to practice cutting out blame, the need to complain and all excuses, because these behaviors, they keep you emotionally stuck.
They prevent you from doing all that you can do because let's face it, life and people are unfair and unjust. You can't control the weather, your genetic circumstances, but you can control the manner in which you respond. Like challenges can't stop you from acting with kindness, control, dedication, humility, and honesty. It will never stop you from doing that. So when you can take on this responsibility for every aspect of your life it empowers you to go ---
When you talk about that to me, that goes back to that story you shared as an 11 year old. It's like, what do you want to be? What do you want to do? It's up to you. Whatever you do is what's going to result in. It's kind of comes back to this. As you're saying it's like, all right, how you deal with it, how you can choose what to control. I mentioned this earlier, a few things that I've been learning and reading this last week, it's like, you can control things. You can't control people. Yet, so often we try to control the other people in our life that we're not taking control of the things that we can control. I can control picking up that ball and going out and shooting it. I can control how much I'm going to work from my mindset to say, I'm strong enough to do this and not tell the stories that we tell. So much of that is a difficult process because I think human nature is, oh, we want it to be easier. it should just be easier.
[CHRIS]
Oh, absolutely. I think we're all looking, we all want to shortcut. We all want to either live in the future or in the past, but really the most important thing is this moment right now. This is where we are. This is who we are. It's right here in this moment. What you decide to do next is what's going to create your future. So just really taking that control, that focus, understanding that your future will take care of itself when you take care of today. I kept reminding myself that when I was in the hospital, because I would get so overwhelmed thinking about my future of what movement I'll get back, how will I ever manage life in a wheelchair? How will I go to a friend's house when everyone at my friend's house has stairs? However, do fun things like traveling and camping and snorkeling and skiing, like all the things I would love to do. How will I ever do when it was so overwhelming?
Then I would sometimes think about the past of what I could do, what I wanted to do, all the dreams and goals I had that maybe I won't be able to do. What if I would've done this differently in my past? And all is to say, I had to come back to this moment, right here, right now, and focus on my choices and my decisions that I can make and that I can influence because this decision right now is going to create your future. Every decision you make right now is what really matters the most and so trying to stay grounded in this present moment and not look into the future too far, or look in the past, but really do what you can right here right now.
[TYLER]
I had this idea, this thought that, yes, I share a thought of the day. To me, one of them that I just shared recently hit me just now. It's focus on what you are rather than trying to develop what you aren't. It's kind of, instead of thinking, well, I can't do this or that it's like, no, I can do this. I can ride, I can ski down the mountain. There's tools that you can do that, there's ways that you can go do, a lot of things that I know you've shared that you've done. Again it comes back to that like not making up a story for our situation, not making up story for others and what we can or can't do from a leadership perspective and just being comfortable and all right, this is what I can do. So I'm going to go do that and figure out other things that I can do that maybe are unseen rather than focusing on all the things that I can't do and trying to wish it wasn't the case.
[CHRIS]
Oh, absolutely. Yes, it comes back to managing those emotions or strong emotions that you kind of got to filter out and to set out the glitter and then you start figuring out, okay, what can I do? What are the ways that I can objectively take action on that will change my situation, or at least make it better or at make it head in the right direction if you don't really know where you're going. And also try and then figure out the why, the purpose that will kind of keep you fueled and energized and keep you going moving forward.
[TYLER]
So you've had in your life, whether it's graduation, your wedding, kind of this imagery of 7 Yards, 20 feet that you're going to walk. What's the next challenge right in front of you that is kind of next because I want to know about that from Chris. What are you working through right now that one myself and hopefully listeners two can be a champion of and say, "Hey, we're on your team, dude. Let's go." I'd love to know what that is.
[CHRIS]
I'm trying to figure out. I mean, I love motivating, I'm always trying to figure out how can I best serve people? How can I better serve? What can I abstract from my experiences that can make someone's life easier? So really right now, my biggest thing, I'm always kind of going the drawing board of figuring out like, how can I best communicate what I've gone through and how can that best relate to somebody who's going up against maybe a bad relationship or the business is struggling and just struggling with anxiety, depression? How can I serve them and what can I extract from yes, my own experiences? So I guess really my biggest thing is always trying to kind of come up with something new, come up with something that I can communicate and serve others. Then also mostly trying to grow my foundation, the Chris Norton Foundation. We have a real chair camp for kids and it's a really fun event to zip lining, horseback riding, laser tag. It's literally the best week of the year. So continuing to grow that, but ---
[TYLER]
Well, hold on. You got to tell me more about that. I want to know more about the camp. I want to know more about the foundation.
[CHRIS]
So I started the Chris Norton Foundation when I was in college because it became painfully apparent that my situation was the exception and not the rule. Like there are thousands of people who are in wheelchairs, who are dealing with some sort of disability who don't have the support system or the resources to be successful. I have the resources because I was injured in an NCAA sporting event. Because I was injured during one of their events, they have an insurance policy that kicks in that covers all of my medical and rehab expenses. So I don't have to pay for physical and occupational therapy. I don't have to pay for caregivers out of my pocket. Well, everybody else who ever goes through something that I've gone through, they have to come up with that money on their own. It's expensive equipment. It's expensive.
Like my vehicle that I drive, this sweet truck, that costs more than probably some people's houses. But I didn't have to pay for it. So my point and my inspiration with the foundation is how can we make people's lives easier? How can we make sure that they can have a success story like I have where they're recovering, or at least they're living a healthy life. Then we grew that further by starting a wheelchair camp for kids. So it's an inclusive camp. Kids of all abilities come plus their families. And it's free through donors and sponsors.
We literally just have an incredible week of camp. It's an empowering week where everyone just feels like, wow, I can do so much more. I can play sports. I can make friends and zip line and horse back ride, the activities I mentioned. It's really a fun week where you see so many smiles. I have a dad tell me, "After this last camp, I've never seen my son so happy in my life." So it's really neat to hear that and then to also know the families are making memories together. It's not just the child who might be in a wheelchair or dealing with disability, but it's the siblings. It's the parents, everyone making family members memories together.
[TYLER]
Dude, I love it. I love it. How many kids come?
[CHRIS]
So we have accessible rooms for 24 kids. So those get filled up. And of course everybody wants to come back the next year. So it's kind of a hard situation we get put in because we want everybody to come back. We also want new kids to come in too. But that's what I'm hoping. Maybe we find another facility or some down the road where we can do another camp, have two camps.
[TYLER]
I think you need to have like a hundred camps, dude. Chris, the camper, let's go, let's make it happen. Dude, I have the ability to serve for type one diabetic camp. Again, as someone who's generally able bodied, it's hard to recognize the challenges that people have every day if we're blind to it. And I'm thinking again, from being involved in this type one diabetic camp, it's just, oh, you're different. I imagine that same situation in a wheelchair. It's like, oh, you're different. Well, how is that? Or were you born that way? Did something happen? All those stories that happened that I knew happened with kids, they get to that camp and they see people around them and they're like, "Oh, I'm all of a sudden now I'm normal. Now checking my blood sugar is normal. I need insulin, it's normal. I'm in a wheelchair. I have to charge it."
All those things that are normal now. "Oh, I need to be able to have accessibility here. That is normal." I understand how freeing that can be for kids. So my desire is like, dude, we need a lot more of that. The thing that I think is so important there, and I've seen and appreciate is it's not only the kids that are in the wheelchair. It's their siblings. It's their parents, it's everyone else in their community that is just as affected. So I love that and I think there's a tremendous need for it in our entire society.
[CHRIS]
That's one of the biggest things that people feel like, okay, I'm not alone. I'm not the only one in a wheelchair. There are other people just like me. They have to go through the same things as I do. Then in fact, everyone then becomes a resource for each other. Oh, you should try this. This is how we do it. Maybe you can try it the same way or, oh, you should talk to this rehab medical director or this equipment facility that can really help you. So it's a great way to pass information back and forth, but then really it's just empowering. It just makes the kids feel wow, I'm not the only one out there.
[TYLER]
So I'm going to put this out here because I want to execute it and I want it to happen. So previous guest, Joe, I think you hopefully know who Joe is. He was the captain of the US Paralympic wheelchair rugby team. So I'm putting it out right now because I wanted to find a way to get some of the Olympians at your camp. I want to make that happen.
[CHRIS]
That'd be great. I love that.
[TYLER]
Love it, one from an inspiration point of view, but it's also, it comes back to where we started this and kind of this idea of one of the biggest ways that you can serve people and help people acknowledge is see them. And one of the biggest ways to, at the same point is be see. That gets me excited.
[CHRIS]
It's awesome. It's a better week. I have more fun and excitement that week than Christmas it's a great week.
[TYLER]
Dude, I love it. Well, you need to have at least, probably like 50 of them. You don't want to do 52 because you have 52. It could be a little exhausting, but I think all right, well maybe not 50. Let's start with 20. All right.
[CHRIS]
There you go.
[CHRIS]
All right. Work your way up. Well Chris, before we kind of finish up this conversation, I want to ask you, is there anything else that you really want to share from your heart, for the rest of this audience from a self leadership, from a personal leadership, from things that you've really learned and gained that you want to make sure someone listening in that is in a leadership position really gains? I just want to give you that opportunity.
[CHRIS]
I would say this, that if I could go back and change the play, I really wouldn't. I mean that. And here's the thing I want everyone to get, that adversity and failure are a part of life. If you try holding onto it's going to rob you of your future because things will never be perfect. But just because you aren't getting the results you want or living the life you dreamed of doesn't mean you stop trying. That's not a life worth living for. It was through the loss of my physical strength that revealed to me what's most important, like family, friends and serving others. Now I discover I don't need to walk in order to live a good life, but that doesn't mean I don't feel frustrated at times.
We all have our frustrations. There's things and moments that I wish I could do but again, I go back to that promise I made to myself. I refuse to allow what I can't do to paralyze me more from what I can. So I hope just everyone listening here right now, no matter what struggle or obstacle you're going through, you can get through it. There is a way, and I just hope that people find the courage and the boldness to continue to take action, to keep chipping away and know that you take care of today and your future will take care of itself.
[TYLER]
Dude, I can relate. It's like, I just have to get over losing my hair. It's okay, dude. I don't care. I'm bald. I'm cool with it. It's easier. It's part of life. It's how God made it. It's all good.
[CHRIS]
Absolutely. Absolutely
[TYLER]
Not quite the same, but I look at that, it's like, hey, I got to accept myself. It is what it is. I don't want to deal with hair. You can have that one.
[CHRIS]
Absolutely.
[TYLER]
All right, dude. Well, Chris, thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much for sharing. We will make sure in the notes we can find out more about you, make sure people find out about your foundation, all your speaking events, 7 Yards, all those good things. Thank you, man. Appreciate it.
[CHRIS]
Thank you, Tyler. Appreciate it.
[TYLER]
All right. That's a wrap on the year. What an absolute treat to have this conversation with Chris to finish off the year. Thank you guys for being here. Thank you for listening in. And one of the things that I really took away from Chris as we're almost to the Christmas season is settle the glitter. It's that snow globe. As you heard there in that podcast, I think that's so amazing to keep in mind and again, what an absolute treat to use to finish this year. I want to take this time to keep you in the loop. Check out everything at tylerdickerhoof.com. Go back, check out the other podcast, make sure to take part in becoming part of the Impact Driven Leader community, where we have book clubs. We have a round table looking to offer so much value to everyone listening in.
I'm so excited for 2022. Be ready, gear up for the first episode, coming your way here in January, season two, as we get off, kick off. You're going to enjoy. I have some great guests on the list and you're going to be excited for it. But there's an opportunity for you to sign up right now to be ready for next year to join our round table. There's a limited number of people. I'm going to run two different cohort groups, and I know that you're going to get a tremendous value. I've gotten so much value. Each of the people that have been a part of the round table here in 2020 have got a tremendous value too.
So make sure you go to tylerdickerhoof.com or theimpactdrivenleader.com to sign up for that. Would love to have you join us. If not send me an email, tyler@tylerdickerhoof.com. Thank you for joining in. Thank you for listening. As always, if you subscribe to this episode, I appreciate it. I would love for a comment, a review, a rating. Let me know how he did in this first year, because I would love to continue to offer more value to you and bring guests that offer value to you. So let me know what you got the most out of. Truly that's how I can help you.
Thank you for taking part and being a listener and consuming this content. I hope this. If you got one piece of value out of today's episode, just right now, send somebody a text, send somebody the episode and say, "Hey, I just listened to this podcast with Chris Norton and I got so much value out of it, dot, dot, dot." Man I would appreciate that so much as I imagine Chris would as well. So thanks for having a great listen, being here, making this year special for me and until 2022, have a good one. Thanks for being here.
