109: How to Breakthrough When “Sh$t Hits the Fan” with Global Endurance Racer and Philanthropist, Tofe Evans

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Tofe Evans. Tofe’s story is incredible. First off, he wrote the runaway best-seller, Everyone Has a Plan Until Shit Hits the Fan – if that tells you anything. But, Tofe has been to hell and back and what he has learned about life, resilience, and the human spirit is remarkable.

Tofe came back from literally almost losing his life. He dedicated everything to teaching people what he has learned and raising awareness for various causes. Tofe pushes every limit and boundary he can find through being a top endurance athlete. In fact, he completed over 40 endurance events in one year just to raise awareness for cancer research, as well as a 60-kilometer ultramarathon on Mt. Everest – yes, that mt. Everest, for Cystic Fibrosis.

As he says, he is on a mission to help transform those who are feeling week or worthless into warriors and I can’t wait for him his to share everything he’s got for you today. Word to the wise, this will be a raw unfiltered episode, because that is who Tofe is, so get ready for a wild ride!

www.tofe-evans.com

Tofe’s journey started when he was a kid and fell in love with traveling. He tried a number of businesses to fund the life he wanted – but he failed and it wore on him to the point where adversity seemed to be his normal state of life. He started to become something different, self-destructive. He would put on masks, so people didn’t see what he really was, but it didn’t work. He became a terrible person to people.

He finally couldn’t take the loneliness and disconnect from being human and even attempted to kill himself by taking enough drugs where he thought her would overdose. For some reason, it didn’t work. He had to get help to work on his mental health. And in starting to open up and going through the process of re-finding himself, he started to learn how adversity could be a blessing and how he could use it to fuel his recovery.

He also started to self-educate and that is when he came up with the idea that he would run his first marathon. For him, once he made the decision, he realized that it was like life super condensed. Training and do the race was a great metaphor for life.

At the 9:30 mark, Tofe shares how a marathon is a great metaphor for life.

After completing the marathon. He was hooked and asked the question “How can we make a difference through doing this?”

So, he connected with a friend and they started on a journey where they did over 40 different events in one year to raise money for various causes.

After everything you’ve been through and done, what have you found that matters most?

• The fundamentals of life: Food, water, shelter, family
• Family can be your close friends and family, your inner circle

At the 11 min mark, Tofe talks about the differences he has noticed between developing countries and first world countries.

• The people are very poor so they focus on the fundamentals
• In 1st world countries, we have everything so easily accessible, which makes us shy away from adversity and not embrace it and use it to better ourselves as human beings
• People won’t remember you for the material items, but for the impact you bring
• Ask anyone who’s run a marathon, they don’t care what kind of food they have after, even it’s just banana. They really care what kind of bed they have if they have a place to rest. The fundamentals are what matter when they strip everything away.

Explain Adversity x Mindset x Gratitude

• It’s the Practical Resilience Framework. Once you have all 3 working in play, it gives an exponential effect.
• It starts with adversity of any kind. It is the fuel that is needed to grow. It teaches you how to have a “6 pack mind” as a 6-pack mind is much better to have than a 6-pack body.
• Overcoming adversity teaches you a mindset of grit and how to push through your limitation.
• Once you’ve been through things and have had the experience both good and bad, you feel the gratitude and are more likely to give back and help others.
• We are made of the same elements (carbon, water, etc.) and the average human uses only 1/20 of the their potential. We are destined to be far greater than we realize.

“You can’t compare yourself to others. Comparing is a cancer.”

What have you learned about the capabilities of the human spirit…

• It comes down to compassion and empathy
• You truly understand the value of something when it is taken away from you
• The human spirit relays back to community and family.

How can people practice practical resilience in their lives? Listen at the 25 min mark as Tofe goes into more detail on the items below.

• It comes back to Adversity x Mindset x Gratitude
• Think of it like a Ven- Diagram where the sweet spot is in the middle
• The first step is to acknowledge what you have been through and gone through
• Ask yourself what the mindset was that go you through it?
• Since you have been through it, do you have more wisdom and knowledge?Do you see how you can be grateful for it?

How can we get rid of the barriers keeping us from our greatness?

• Remove the negative people from your life
• Be around people of action and that are striving for something
• Try not to be idle
• Dream of the impossible
• Tap into your creativity – remember the world you would create for yourself when you were a kid where anything was possible
• We have the world at our fingertips – What do you want to do before you die? Start small and work your way up to bigger things.
  • Focus on the small victories that are on the pathway to the larger goal
• If it’s not illegal, immoral, or unethical, just do it! Say yes.

At the 36 min mark, Tofe explains what to do when “shit hits the fan”

It comes down to 2 things…

• Adapting
• Bouncing Back

Don’t be too attached to the outcome, instead focus on the process of what it takes to get there as that is the real work and where the real effort is needed.

Pay close attention to your habits because “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken”

How does all of this that we’ve discussed translate to entrepreneurship?

• Use the Practical Resilience Framework
• Adaptation is critical
• You have to take care of your mental health at the same level you take care of the rest of your health
• Embrace the process and small victories
• Don’t go it alone

At the 46 min mark, Tofe talks about what it is like to run 0ver 60 KM’s on Mount Everest…

 

Best Quote: “Practice “Present Focused Living.” Depression is when you are living too much in the past and anxiety is when you are living too far in the future.”

 

Tofe's Misfit 3:

1. Understand that whatever adversity you are going through will make you who you are as a person.
2. Do something scary every day. List your 10 top fears and start with your easiest one.
3. Practice gratitude so that it becomes one of your primary traits. List the top 100 things you are grateful for.