Life Off the Map

Sometimes the most dangerous place to stop is a place that feels pretty good. This episode was recorded in Leadville, Colorado, during race week for the Leadville Trail 100 Run, one of the most iconic 100-mile trail races in the world. Out on the trail to Hope Pass, surrounded by runners, mountains, thin air, and the history of a race that asks people to keep moving long after comfort is gone, one...

Most of us spend our lives trying to optimize everything. We map the route, fill every hour, and work hard to make sure nothing goes wrong. But somewhere along the way, we may have stopped leaving room for surprise. In this episode, Chad loads up a Jeep with homemade beef jerky, fly rods, camping gear, and a loose plan, then heads west toward Colorado. Along the way he retraces a 30-year-old memor...

What does a canoe in Chicago, an art studio in Oklahoma, and a giant movie monster have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, Chad reflects on a season of unexpected change and the people who taught him a different way to move through it. Along the way, you'll meet a grandmother who opened her home to artists and friends, a father who created adventures out of ordinary moments, an...

Most men don't need another productivity hack, leadership book, or five-step framework. They need to feel like themselves again. In this episode of Life Off the Map, Chad reflects on a weekend in southern Oklahoma, a river full of men in camo and pickup trucks, and a question that wouldn't leave him alone: What if men aren't falling apart all at once? What if they're slowly drifting away from the...

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out to do something no one had ever done before: cross Antarctica on foot. He never made it. His ship became trapped in the ice. The expedition failed. The dream died. The map no longer matched reality. Most people know how to start an adventure. Far fewer know what to do when the original mission dies. More than a century later, we still tell Shackleton's story—not...

Somewhere in the middle of editing his upcoming book, Chad realized the questions he was asking about the manuscript had quietly become questions he was asking about his own life: What belongs? What doesn't? What's making the story better? And what's just making the story longer? In this reflective solo episode, the host shares a story from a construction project that unexpectedly became a turning...

Joy isn't accidental. It's something we either cultivate or slowly lose without realizing it. In this solo episode of Life Off the Map, Chad reflects on why so many driven people feel tired, disconnected, or emotionally flat even while building a life that looks successful from the outside. Recorded after a trail run around Lake Arcadia, Oklahoma this conversation moves through everything from fut...

A lot of people are waiting for life to feel different before they start living differently. But the real shift often begins with one small decision: stop blaming, stop sitting, stop drifting, and take ownership of the life in front of you. That kind of life will take courage. In this episode, Chad sits down with speaker, author, and coach Roxanne Parks for a lively, honest conversation about fear...

Most people like the idea of rebuilding until they actually find themselves living through it. In this more raw and reflective field notes-style episode, Chad records outdoors during a busy and uncertain season of life. Instead of a polished teaching episode, this conversation feels more like a trail journal from the middle of rebuilding — honest observations about movement, exhaustion, healing, i...

You're doing the work. So why isn't your life actually changing? Most driven people don't struggle because they're lazy—they struggle because they're aiming at the wrong problem. So they double down. More discipline. Better routines. Cleaner habits. And still… the results don't match the effort. In Part 3 of the Life Audit Series, Chad walks through a hard realization from his own life: what looke...

Most people don't get trapped because they fall off. They get trapped by what they tell themselves after they fall off. In Part 2 of the Life Audit Series, Chad focuses on the moment after you realize something's off—when you try to start again and quietly begin telling yourself a story about it. You start again, then miss a few days, lose momentum, or a project stalls. Almost immediately, the sto...

Most people don't realize how much of their identity is tied to being needed… until things get quiet. This episode kicks off the Life Audit Series —for builders, leaders, and high-capacity people who know how to produce, solve, and carry responsibility, but are starting to question whether the life they've built actually feels true to live in. If things look fine on the outside but something deepe...

A lot of people are not trapped by obvious fear—they are trapped by fear that looks responsible. It sounds wise, earns approval, and keeps life explainable… which is exactly why it quietly costs you your life. In this episode, Chad unpacks the kind of fear that doesn't look like fear at all—the kind that keeps you in the safe job, the respectable path, the life that works on paper but doesn't feel...

Your work is moving. Your calendar is full. People respect what you're building. So why does something still feel off? In this episode, Chad unpacks the hidden trap of building your life around the wrong scoreboard—and why some of the hardest lives to leave are the ones that still work. Drawing from personal experience and a bit of research, from Carlton Landing to Colorado, he explores how succes...

You likely don't have a motivation problem. And you don't have an opportunity problem either. You have too many paths… and no clear way to choose between them.  When life becomes self-directed, everything opens up. More options. More freedom. More pressure. And strangely, the more possible everything feels, the harder it becomes to move. In this episode, Chad breaks down why clarity tends to disap...

Most people say they want to grow—but very few stay in conversations that actually challenge them. In this episode of  Life Off the Map , Chad shares a real coaching conversation that challenged how he sees himself, how he relates to others, and how he's showing up in his life and work. He invited his friend Steven Van Cauwenbergh - someone he trusts for honest, direct feedback, to speak into what...

Most people spend years climbing the ladder… only to realize it was leaning against the wrong wall. In this episode of Life Off the Map , Chad sits down with business leader, mentor, and Corporate Care founder Boe Parrish to explore a framework that hits harder the older you get: the three seasons of life — learning, earning, and yearning. A lot of people know how to learn. A lot of people know ho...

What's the obstacle that keeps showing up in your life? Fear. Self-doubt. Health challenges. Distraction. A difficult relationship. A limiting belief you can't seem to shake. In this more personal and reflective episode of Life Off the Map , Chad walks you through a simple but powerful exercise to help you identify what's really holding you back—and begin moving past it. Instead of trying to push...

If you've ever started strong on something that mattered to you… and then quietly watched it fade… you're not alone. Perhaps the issue isn't your discipline. Perhaps it's the kind of plan you're trying to live inside. In this episode, Chad reflects on the sprint–crash cycle many ambitious people fall into — surge, push, overcommit… then pull back to recover. Through personal stories, endurance tra...

You can build the life you dreamed of… and still feel slightly off. In this Crew Convo, Chad sits down with Dr. Rachel McKinzie — anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, wife, and mom — to talk about what happens when your calendar is full, your career is strong, and yet something underneath feels rushed. This isn't about quitting your job or blowing up your life. It's about checking your pace. Rachel sha...

Why are you a better version of yourself on vacation — and what does an 80s outdoor movie have to do with family, dopamine, intentional living, and personal growth? In this episode of Life Off the Map , we unpack how a classic comedy about a chaotic lake vacation reveals deeper truths about identity, distraction, and becoming the version of yourself you actually want to bring home. More patient. M...

What if the reason you feel stuck isn't that you're doing life wrong—but that you've lost your bearings? In this Crew Convo, Chad sits down with Erin Engelke , CEO of ReMerge, to talk about values as a compass, releasing control, and how clarity often comes not from thinking harder—but from getting back in alignment with who you really are. Erin shares her story of loss, leadership, and big transi...

Most people don't have a clarity problem — they have a state problem. When life feels off, we tend to sit longer, think harder, and analyze more, hoping clarity will eventually click. But what if the fog isn't in your thinking at all? What if it's your body asking to be let back into the conversation? In this episode of Life Off the Map , Chad explores why movement — especially getting outside — o...

What do you do when life doesn't fall apart—but it also just doesn't feel right anymore? In this Crew Convo, Chad sits down with longtime leader and mentor Kevin Penry to talk about the " In-Between " —the moment when the old path no longer fits, the next one isn't clear yet, and success starts to feel strangely empty. In this episode, you'll hear: Why predictable lives quietly drain us—and why we...

You know the feeling. Everything looks perfect on paper—and then, almost immediately, things start to unravel. Your body doesn't cooperate. Boom. The plan breaks. The day goes sideways. Something unexpected blocks the trail. In this Off The Map episode, Chad shares a real story from a Saturday morning run that didn't go as planned—and reflects on what he's learned about responding when challenges...