The Fourth Quarter Podcast
Living the last quarter of your life with intention around health, fitness, nutrition and joy! Learning from others and tuning in to hear live one on one coaching that educates, inspires and motivates you to move!
The Fourth Quarter Podcast
EP027: Are You Prepared For Retirement; Beyond Finances?
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Retirement can feel like freedom right up until you wake up to an empty calendar, no deadlines, and a quiet phone. That’s why this conversation with Nick “Ziggy” Zygaczenko hit us so hard. He puts it simply: retirement isn’t a vacation, it’s a transition. And if you only prepare financially, you can still end up stuck, drifting, or letting your health slide in the years that matter most.
We dig into what real retirement planning looks like when you include healthy aging, mindset, and daily habits. Nick shares how he rebuilt his routine by writing goals down, setting minimum standards (like a daily mile), and tracking the moments he “dropped off” so he could learn instead of spiral. We also talk about consistency as identity, not perfection, plus why community is a health strategy. Finding your people at a gym, walking group, or neighborhood can replace what work used to provide: social connection, structure, and purpose.
Nick also opens up about being diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after retiring and how he handled the fear by moving his body and clearing his mind, including long walks after treatment. It’s an honest reminder that we can’t control aging, but we can control how we show up for it.
Subscribe, follow, and share the show with someone navigating retirement or restarting their health, and leave us a review so more people can find these fourth quarter conversations.
Opening And Fourth Quarter Mission
SPEAKER_02Wake up, wake up, and listen up. Welcome to the fourth quarter podcast with your hosts, Doug Telmich and Ted Ania. Tune in as we dive into living your best life in the fourth quarter of your life. Hear from health and lifestyle experts, inspirational stories, learn simple steps to keep you motivated or to help get you started. Finally, join us as we coach others live on air who want to begin a healthy lifestyle or just might be stuck and need a breakthrough. Remember, it's never too late to decide to be great. Momentum keeps you motivated, so take a deep breath. Lean in and let's go. Hey, welcome back to the fourth quarter with Doug and Ted. We have a special guest on. Mr. Positivity is gonna be coming to you live today on the fourth quarter podcast. I can't wait to get him on. Spent several hours with him a couple weeks ago at your birthday challenge, Ted, and it was just really cool getting to go get to know this guy. I'll let you introduce him officially in a minute here, but before we get going, Ted, as as we always do, I kind of like to recap. Last week was Hans. Hans is a physical therapist and director and co-owner, I believe, of the sixth, it's called the Sixth Physical Therapy Clinic in Santa Rosa. And they work with first responders, veterans, and and anybody who comes in really. But I love their method, Ted. I loved what he said that, you know, high-end professional athletes get this, you know, state-of-the-art routines and fitness exercises and physical therapy to help them recover. And Hans and his group, they have they see the the benefit of applying that just to the normal Joe, to the guy out there, the first responder or the veteran or just the person who wants to be healthy and stay mobile and do all that stuff. And he showed us a video of his clinic and and what it looked like and what they do. And it was really cool. And it was an awesome, awesome interview. So lots of he dropped a lot of wisdom, a lot of things that we need to be focused on well before the fourth quarter, but definitely while we are in the fourth quarter. So if you haven't listened to Hans, what was that? Balance Mindset and Movement or something like I forget. Episode 26. Great episode. Go back and listen to it. The week before that, I think we took off, man. But the week before that was David Linnell from Meals on Wheels, the director of Meals on Wheels, the Diablo region. Very, very heart and tender moving episode. You want to check that one out as well. But with that said, Ted, let's let's
Recent Guests And Big Takeaways
SPEAKER_02kick it on over to you. What do you got to share for us before you uh introduce the man of the hour?
SPEAKER_00Well, I I just want to go back to you know those two episodes. Uh well, we've officially entered, we did we've done 26 episodes, so I guess we're in our second quarter of the fourth quarter. Uh but I honestly think that the last two episodes, the one with David and the one with Hans, were two of the best episodes that we've done. David's was just very open, raw, emotional. You know, and if you haven't listened to it, I I would definitely recommend going back and listening to that one. And Hans uh gave us a lot of great information, but it was very applicable information, things that you could do that we could do in our fourth quarter, especially for me, one of the things that stood out was balance and working on on that. Some great, great information on that. So I think that's something that you should definitely go back and listen to. You know, when we started this podcast, we we kind of broke it up into three segments. We talked about educational, inspirational, and motivational. And I think we've done you know a real good job with the educational and the inspirational. Motivational, for whatever reason, we we've been coaching people online. It's been very, a very positive experience for them. But for whatever reason, we don't have a lot of people that want to come on, feel comfortable coming on and being coached. If you're out there and want it, want that coaching online or even offline, we'd be happy to help. That's the thing that really excites Doug and I is getting people and getting them moving, first of all, and moving in the right direction. And all of those that have come on have really, you know, well, we'll have them on at some point, but you know, they they've really started doing things, getting positive mindset as well as moving forward physically. You know, we had the the birthday challenge a couple of weeks ago, and most of them were out there. And, you know, it was great to hear what's going on with them, not only physically, but you know, how they're they're staying positive and just moving forward. It was great to hear. So if you know anybody that would like to come on, or if you want to come on, or if we've motivated you enough to get moving and just want to let us know that, give us, you know, send us a text message. You can get a hold of us on social media, however you do it, and we'd love to share your story with with others.
SPEAKER_02Hey, Ted, Ted, before you go on, you know, I just want to highlight something the when you're coached by us, some of the things, little things, little nuances come up that you may not be aware of. And and I love Karen's story. Karen is someone who said yes, allowed us to coach her and has stayed connected with us. And you know, I think she even reminded us about on the on your birthday challenge walk a couple weeks ago, you know, how she, you know, she she
Live Coaching Invite And Consistency
SPEAKER_02was reminded that she's someone who can walk 10,000 plus steps easy. No problem. She could walk 20,000 steps right now at the drop of a hat. She's just got it in her. And so when we laid out that challenge for her to walk uh a lower amount of steps every day, you know, she kind of laughed at it and said, no problem, I can do more than that. And, you know, that was her initial response. And through the, and then I had to tell her on the episode live was that, hey, we know you can, but that's not what you're gonna learn that consistency is gonna be an important factor here. It's not about if you can walk 20 or 25,000 steps. It's can you walk 6,000 every single day? You know, because that that's a whole different mindset. And I think people don't understand or get that nuance until they're put in a situation and have to step up to that day in, day out, day in, day out. Because life shows up. You know, events come up, travel comes up, sickness comes up, all these things. Are you still going to honor your yes? Are you gonna still keep the promise to yourself? And Karen was very transparent and open and just saying, wow, that you know, that that was an eye-opener for her. And she understands why. Now, you know, to not we're not setting the bar low, we're just setting a standard that you can move up to and build that confidence within. And then if you know, if you want to raise it to like uh like Ted Ania, who does what's your commitment, Ted, to 10,000 steps a day?
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So and you've been doing that for how long now? Almost a thousand days. Almost a thousand days, yeah. But it's it what it's you know, there's there's a lot of a lot of stuff you learned along the way about, you know, showing up or not showing up and the things you had to do, doing it in airports, this and that. And so, you know, getting coached by us, you're you're not gonna just, you know, be physically better, mentally better. It's all it's a it's a whole package, and you're just gonna learn a lot about yourself. And you don't, you know, we love, I think Ted, I think you and I love the opportunity when people feel like they're failing. We like to show them and help them adjust the lens and say, no, this is not a failure, this is a lesson. What are you learning about yourself and how do we keep moving forward? So I just want to point that out as you throw out that invitation for people to join us. It's a lot more than just being able to do stuff. It's about realigning your values, getting crystal clear about your identity and what's what's important. That consistency is absolutely trumps everything, you know. And it consistency doesn't mean every single day. It just and it doesn't consistency certainly doesn't mean perfect. It just means keeping whatever promise you made to yourself, keeping it, and setting that standard appropriately for where you are in whatever season you are, and then building on that. I hope that all makes sense, Ted. But go ahead.
SPEAKER_00No, and I I think uh to your point in speaking with Karen, she said that you know there were days where she didn't do it, and she kind of felt that guilt that she had let us down, let herself down. And in the past, she would have just kind of let things fall off. And you know, we had that accountability text, and she jumped back in there and and said, Hey, I've you know, I I haven't done what I committed to, but I'm back at it. And you know, she she stayed positive, she got that encouragement, not only from us, but others on the the text thread. And so she she was very happy with that. That was a big part of her staying motivated and and staying uh committed to what she had said she would do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's and that's that's what I wanted to highlight is that you just learn a lot about yourself and and she she acknowledged, you know, that she was learning that lesson and and was appreciative. I I think she even said, you know, she really appreciated how she didn't get beat up, you know, when she missed a day, that she was, you know, leaned into with a lot of love and understanding and just support and encouragement to just keep on going, you know, and that's well learning learning that lesson, learning about herself in her fourth quarter, I think was as important as the physical part of it.
SPEAKER_00It's just you're you're ever evolving and and gaining uh gaining momentum. And you know, just because you're in your fourth quarter doesn't mean it's over, right?
SPEAKER_02You mean it's just starting exactly, exactly or continuing. And and you know what's really cool about starting in your fourth quarter is all the lessons from all the experience you have prior to getting to your fourth quarter. You know, how many times have we said, I'll start again on Monday, or you know, whatever, or chose this diet or that diet, or this exercise routine, that exercise routine. And, you know, by the time you get to your fourth quarter, you know, you you should know what you absolutely like and what you dislike. And it and you have to be strong and convicted in your heart and not listen to all the noise, Ted. I the noise, the noise. That's another big reason why we started this podcast because we are drowning in information and starving for wisdom. And you and I said, you know what, let's cut some of the noise out of this and and let's let's just uh see if we can offer simple solutions and help people find, you know, what they enjoy and use that to help them get healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally and enjoy this fourth quarter of their life with a with a great mindset and a great perspective instead of you know always beating themselves up or feeling like they can't do it or they're failing.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. And you know, it's that's why we we continue to bring on people that hopefully will inspire others to keep moving in their fourth quarter, some that have been consistent with their exercise over the years, and others that got into it as they got went on, and it was later in life that they they started really exercising and and pushing themselves. Right. Uh, you know, we've had a number of guests on, you know, obviously Betty is an inspiration to everyone, and Lisa as well, who's you know, after raising her family, got into hiking and biking and pickleball and everything else. And you know, we hope to have some some guests on as we as we move forward that will will be an inspiration to others. Right, right.
SPEAKER_02And this this next guest we got coming, you know, I I can't wait to hear how he you know how he frames life moving forward, where he's at in his fourth quarter. I I believe he's uh 68 years old, will be 69 next month. And you know, just hearing his perspective, where he, you know, was he always like that? And so in a few moments, Ted, I'd love you love for you to go ahead and just uh introduce our guest and uh and let's get to questioning him.
SPEAKER_00All right.
Meet Nick And Daily Push-Ups
SPEAKER_00So, with all that being said, let's get to our guest. Nick Ziggachenko is with us. Nick and I went to high school together, spent a lot of time together in our 20s.
SPEAKER_01Getting into uh why are you laughing, Ted? What's going on in that brain of yours, man?
SPEAKER_00I I just flashed back on some stories.
SPEAKER_01I bet you did.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, uh Nick and I uh actually, you know, like a lot of a lot of us went our separate ways and lost touch. And we would every year on Facebook wish each other a happy birthday and say, hey, let's get together, let's get together. And finally, about four or five years ago, we said, okay, we need to quit doing this every year and then not talking until the next birthday. So we we reconnected, had breakfast, and have stayed in touch ever since. And it's been great to get back reconnected with them. So welcome, welcome to the podcast, Nick.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, good morning, everyone. Thanks, Ted. I appreciate that. Doug, how are you guys doing? We're doing good. Good. Uh it was fun to on the challenge, the birthday challenge. It was a good time there. I enjoyed seeing everybody, and yeah, thanks for inviting me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we want to mention that Nick flew out from Utah to join me on the challenge, which was great. He he was here two years ago and then moved to Utah in the past year, so couldn't make it last year. He was kind of in that transition period, but made it a point to get out here this year, and it was it was great catching up with him and his positive spirit. Very Doug, he and Doug got to spend a lot of time together on the walk. They kind of left me behind and uh went on their own. So Doug, I'll let you uh jump in on some of your thoughts on what you and you and Nick talked about.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, before I get into the thoughts, Nick, you know, one of the things that I think Ted and I kind of highlighted and spoke about it on the last episode is a couple years ago you came out and did the challenge as well. And you did you got the walking part done, no problem, but you had us you struggled with the push-ups. And yeah, yeah. I couldn't do anything. You couldn't do yeah, yeah, you were struggling. You could you didn't do any. So, but then you came out and you were you were with us at every stop, you know, knocking them out until you you reached your limit and you were good. I mean, it was a massive improvement. What what did you do over the last two years to was that something you thought about? That was that in your brain, like what what happened?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's correct. I was telling my wife I couldn't do them, and it my wrists were very weak, and I decided then, you know, I'm gonna do a couple every morning, you know, do one if I can. I was doing the sorry ladies, but I was doing the the women's push-ups on my knees, right? And then I was like, dude, this is crazy. But I didn't take it as, you know, man, you show our week. I took it as, hey, I gotta improve on, I want to improve on this. And so when I did that started with one, we jumped up to five, and now I do, you know, 10 sets of 12, you know, religiously every morning, along with a couple other core things. Uh and again, it's just my own motivation. It had nothing to do with anything else. I I don't tell everybody, you know, but it's one of those things where it's like, hey, I I I want to improve on this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So and I love that you don't tell anybody. It's it's all for you. It's it's not it's not a smoking mirrors or a show or anything like that. And but man, I'll tell you, your silence is profound because when you showed up and you were doing what you were doing, it's like the old commercial when E. F. Hutton speaks, everybody listens.
SPEAKER_04Especially for 20 miles.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly, exactly. And it got hot in the afternoon, man. I was I was dying out there, but it was it was good. So congratulations and great job going back. And and again, Nick, one of the things I got to I got to know you better. Uh, you and I, we didn't go to school. I just met you a couple years ago at the walk. And I think we've seen each other on social media prior to that. But, you know, spent walking eight hours with someone and just talking and and sharing life and and perspectives. Man, I was telling Ted, I go, wow, he's man, he's such a positive dude. And that's such a great mindset to have, especially in the fourth quarter. And let's unpack that. Let's get him on the show and unpack that, why that's so beneficial and so valuable in the fourth quarter. Because I think as people age, it's easy to think of the, you know, the fragile mindset of like, I gotta be careful, I gotta do this. And and that's very important. You gotta you you can't be running around like a 20-year-old, but you can't be sitting in a damn recliner all day watching golf either. You know, you there's you there's a balance, and I think you found that and you attack life and you have a very active lifestyle, but it's all stems from your mindset. So I learned that you're a massively positive human being, but I'm curious because I I didn't ask you these questions when we were walking. Have you always been that way? What was your life like prior to that?
SPEAKER_04Well, prior to that, you know, my my mom and dad, they're first gener were first generation. My dad's from Russia, my mom's from Germany, and they came here to the country and basically had to learn the language and had to learn basically to to adapt to the to this uh country. And it was always instilled in me that it's a privilege to be here, but not only that, but things the way we had life at that time wasn't we weren't we we weren't poor in my in my eyes, however, we weren't rich. And my mom always made the statement of it can always be worse. So I kind of took that like, hey, it's not bad, it could be worse, right? And uh it stuck with
Retirement Beyond Money
SPEAKER_04me. And then when I went to, you know, going going to work, going to college and getting my degree and then going to work, I realized at that time, prior, five years prior to retirement, I was getting ready to retirement, but I was only looking at it from a financial standpoint. Meaning, can I retire? Do I have enough money? Will I be able to you know live a nice life? In the meantime, I'm drinking a lot. Probably, you know, my stomach was getting a little bigger than I want it to be. I would exercise, but not on a continuous basis. And then I kind of realized, like, hey, wait a minute, I could have all this money and give it to the family and kids, and I might not be here. So at that point, I decided I, you know what, I gotta start, you know, getting ready for retirement physically.
SPEAKER_02Wow. So let's pause there for a second. When you say, because I'm certain there's people who I know there's a lot of people who aren't in their fourth quarter yet, but are creeping up on it. And there's people who are in their fourth quarter and well into and and even in overtime. But for somebody who's coming up under their fourth quarter, how let's unpack how did you what did you do mentally and physically to prepare and get ready for? You said you were drinking a lot, you exercised inconsistently. So what did that look like to get ready for you know, retirement beyond financially?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, this this is what I do. It's not, you know, it's something that everybody has has to do. I I'm kind of a uh a uh a note taker. I always every day my my days planned out for the next day. Because when I was working, I was really busy and I traveled a lot. And I had, you know, if I flew out to Arizona or to Texas, I had to have a reason why I'm out there, right? Right. I was a safety director for a large company. And you know, you're spending the company's money and you have to find, you know, what did you actually do out there? So for me, as far as the uh getting back into shape, it's like, okay, what do I want to do tomorrow? Okay, you know, and I'd start off with, like I said, you know, go minimum for me is do a mile, make sure I do a mile tomorrow. I get some workout with weights, you know, I mark down a couple of things, but uh basically just I I have goals. And uh if I don't meet meet them, find out. And then I look back at the pages and find out, okay, I kind of dropped here, I kind of dropped here, yeah, there. I can rebuild. And why did I draw, you know, I was I couldn't do it, right? Maybe that was it. Maybe my goals were way above than what I could do. So it didn't really bother me, but I think I still had that mindset, you know, I needed to get ready for retirement. And I really didn't understand that, you know. Everybody thinks when you retire, it's freedom, right? You you uh you did it, and now you can do whatever you want. But then you wake up one morning and you realize my calendar is empty, nobody's calling me, there's no deadlines, I'm not expected to show up anywhere. And it hit me that retirement isn't a vacation, it's a transition.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, I like that.
SPEAKER_04You know, you know, you don't just stop working. Now I have to rebuild who am I? You know, I have to rebuild myself, basically. You know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I love that. And then so what what were some what were some fundamental things you used to rebuild yourself? I know you had said you you like to read uh certain things and uh tell us a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_04Well, I I I that's when I started, you know, things that I do now, I I wasn't able to do because I was so busy with work. Right. I mean, I love I go to the, you know, Mitch mentioned to me when I was walking at at the uh function, he goes to the library, you know, and I I do the same thing. And I go to the library probably twice a month, check out some books on positive uh things, uh mindset, things to that extent. Right. Yeah, you know, it's just uh how am I gonna rebuild myself? And uh, you know, one of the things that really stuck to me is, you know, who am I without my job? What am I good for?
SPEAKER_01Right. Right.
SPEAKER_04It's a hard thing to think about. And then, you know, you you realize, you know, who are you? And it's like, what do I what can I do that's people like, you know, can I I can barbecue? Well, that's good. It doesn't have to be something heavy duty, uh, you know, I can build a house. Well, I can't do that. You know, so it's like I can barbecue. I'm learning how to garden with my wife. I do a lot of walking. I enjoy I do a lot of walking, I enjoy that. Things to that. I uh belong to, you know, the first thing I did was uh I went and belonged to a gym, Gene Fulmer gym uh in uh West Jordan. Shout out to all my people there. We've got a 5:30, 5:30 a.m. group that uh we uh exercise and uh talk and chat. So that's part of the deal. One thing though I do remember that I really didn't understand that being social, you know, I've always been a social guy, right? Right, but when your social activities basically was your work, you don't you have to meet new people. Yeah, and the gym that was good because for for me because the gym I had a lot of people and a lot of guys and gals that introduced themselves, they're real friendly. So now I have a core group of people that I talk to.
SPEAKER_02You know, I just want to highlight, or go ahead, Ted.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean I I there's
Rebuilding Identity With Routines
SPEAKER_00so many things there to unpack. I mean, just the fact that first of all you you focused on finances in retirement and you know, whether you could retire, and then you had to rethink that and think about your health. I so many people don't do that. And then you go through that process of of retirement. And boy, to your point, the social point. I I remember, you know, I'd wake up while I was working and I'd have, you know, I don't know how many emails, text messages, phone calls. It was just all day you were talking to people, and all of a sudden that's gone. You know, it's just you you hear from people every once in a while, but uh that it's so important to keep up those social aspects of your your life. And you know, that that's so important to people that you just don't don't realize you you have to be out there, you have to communicate with people and and stay active with them. Really, really important to hear that. The other thing, uh, just jump back a little too was you talked about the push-ups, and you know, we all have physical ailments of some sort, but you said your wrists were weak, it hurt when you did push-ups. You know, the the the first thought for most people is well, I got bad wrists, I'm not gonna do push-ups. You know, you use it as an excuse. Instead, you kept doing it, you altered it a little bit until they strengthened and until you you got stronger and were able to do you know regular push-ups and then just kept building on that. So I think that's just such a huge lesson is you can use those things as excuses as excuses, or you could use them to better yourself, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02You know, I'm Ziggy, I'm also a a note taker as well. And as you're taught, you know, when I when we have guests here, I have a notepad with me always because there's always something that drops. I'm like, oh, this, you know, this is I need to remember this or write this down. And you said there's three things, three huge things that you said that I think need to be reiterated here. Number one, your mom's words. You know, your mom said words, it could always be worse or it could be worse. You know, so what, and and I just want to point highlight that out to the listeners that what we say to people, you know, but most of us who are in our fourth quarter, we probably have grandkids or kids. And, you know, it's so important that what we say to them is going to shape them somewhere at some point in their life. And look what it's done for you. You have this amazingly positive outlook on life, and and it stems from it could always be worse. I mean, even in a bad situation, four flat tires on a freeway or whatever, your first thought is it could it always be worse. At least I'm not hit by a semi-truck or something, right? Or something like that. So I get it. And that what you so our words are so important, you know, how we speak to others, but especially how we speak to ourselves. Number two, calendar, you you you didn't mention calendar, but you you write it down. What am I doing tomorrow? Right. When we have a when we need when we're going to the doctors or there's a dentist or some kind of appointment we can't miss, I guarantee you, 99.9% of the people in the world, they put it on their calendar because they're there's nothing that's going to get in the way. They want to make sure they make that appointment. And if we could look at our health and start calendaring, and maybe you don't have to go so extreme, but I'm telling you, when I calendar my workouts, when I calendar, you know, when I'm eating and all these things, all of a sudden consistency is not so unattainable. It just happens. It's in my calendar. Even if I don't look at my calendar, but because I wrote it down and put it in there the day before or the week before, I know what I'm doing at this time. And if someone calls and says, hey, can you do this? Can you do that? And I'm like, you know what? I got to work out at that time, but how about can we meet right after that? And that way I keep that commitment to myself. So if it goes in your calendar, if you're writing it down, what are you doing tomorrow? It's a priority in your brain. And you're committed in your heart. And so you're gonna get it done. So that's another piece of wisdom you dropped there. And then community. You talked about community. You could have chosen to hang out at a bar and create new friends. You know, you could have chosen to hang out on the golf course and make new friends, but you you chose to hang out at a gym with what's the name of the what's the name of the gym?
SPEAKER_04Gene Fulmer Rec Center.
SPEAKER_02Gene Fulmer Rec Center, where you have yeah, yeah, baby.
SPEAKER_04They they're all they they're all listening. So okay, good.
SPEAKER_02Well, keep on listening. Hey, Gene Fulmer Rec Center. We're proud of you guys, man. Keep on going, keep on walking. And and I'm telling you, pay attention to Ziggy here. I don't know if you guys call him Ziggy, but we're calling him Ziggy because he is the man, and this guy's got so much wisdom and love. Oh my gosh, you are so full of love, it's amazing. And I really enjoyed eight hours of walking with I'm, you know, think about it. You're gonna walk with someone and you're getting kind of miserable and you're getting kind of tired and stuff, and you know, you got to really be selective who you're gonna be with in that eight hours. And I didn't, I really wasn't a choice, it's just what happened. But I'll tell you what, Ziggy, you made it probably one of the most enjoyable eight hours through my suffering that I've ever had. No offense, Ted. No offense, Ted. But but yeah, no, you're just just the way you view life, the way you talk about life and and your energy. I mean, you somehow, somehow you keep that that positive energy going through the whole walk. And so, man, is there anything you can share about being positive in the fourth quarter? How is that benefiting you? And and what what are you looking forward
Facing Cancer With A Moving Mindset
SPEAKER_02to?
SPEAKER_04You know, sometimes I uh I hear somebody say, Man, you're lucky. And I'm like, no, I'm not lucky. I go, I've had some, you know, for instance, when I retired, probably six months into it, my wife and I were were looking at a house in Utah. I went to get my physical, and uh lo and behold, I had prostate cancer. And I had to make the decision uh how I was going to get this taken care of. So I made I went through radiation treatments, and uh one of the things that probably you know, my wife was going back and forth, she was taking care of her mom, who was uh who eventually passed, but uh it was very traumatic for both of us. And so I was going there doing my my chemo, and I decided when I came back, I I got my dog and we walked at least five to seven miles uh afterwards. And people like, you can't do, you know. I asked the doctor, they said it works where you do it. So I didn't really feel any anything bad from the chemo because as soon as I got home, I I walked and cleared my mind because it's scary. And then until you finally get the results back saying, hey, it looks like we got it early enough, so you're good. So, you know, there are bumps in the road, and how you how you decide to look at them and either you you know sit and feel pity for yourself, or hey, what can I do to help to get me back on on track here? So I decided from that, you know, start doing something. Don't let your mind think, you know, I wake up with a positive attitude. I I when I wake up, I think of why am I so lucky right now? I mean, it I'm not lucky, right? I I I come across, hey, this is gonna be a great day, rather than oh hell, it's snowing outside.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04You know, but things to that extent. I I believe, you know, I years ago, we when I was working, uh, they brought in a motivational speaker and he's a you know, Green Beret, I mean a super badass. And he said the first thing he does in the morning is fix his bed.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_04Fixes his bed, and he goes, and that starts a positive thing for me. So whatever works for you, you know, myself, you know, getting up. I I like to read, uh, I have a book over here on my desk. Basically, it's it's called A Guide to Healthy Aging. And it's basically every day has a, for instance, I'll just pick one out here. Much has happened in our lives, it's time to let go of the past, focus on here and now and the future. You know, that's my positive, you know, start the day off right there, you know. Yeah, you know, so and then it just rolls into uh, you know, going to the gym and then coming back, doing stuff with my wife, and then doing, you know, you know, things around the house or whatever. But uh it's also involved with uh like Ted was saying and I was saying is socializing. I socialize with my neighbors. We have a neighbor down the street, she's a widow, and she doesn't have anybody to mow her lawn. So hey, I'll mow your lawn for you. I can handle it. Nice, you know, stuff like that. You know, that is that benefit her, yeah, but it benefits me too. I'm kind of silly.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right, right. You get a little joy out of the, you know, who doesn't feel good after doing a good deed, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. I love that perspective, man. I love that.
SPEAKER_00You know, and you you always you you talked about your mom who was just a sweetheart, but always saying things could be worse.
Immigrant Roots And Gratitude
SPEAKER_00Just kind of put it in perspective, you know, and you don't have to go into complete detail, but can you tell us how your mom and dad met?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, my dad, who's in Russia, who lived in Russia, his father was an Orthodox priest, and during the war, Stalin War, one day they came and took his brothers and sisters, a family, never saw him again. He and then the Germans came and they were fighting, and he ended up being in a German uh prisoner war camp. So at that point, you know, my mom's in Germany, you know, he ended up somewhere in Germany, and they met, and my mom's uh family really didn't like a Russian to be around. So they ended up getting uh there was two choices either you can go to Australia, there was two were the church, they were a Catholic church uh uh group that came in and they were going to uh basically say, Hey, you could come live out here in California or Australia. So they took a boat and went to Ellis Island and came all the way to California from uh New York. One of the things that they they said, my mom they didn't speak English, so they took a train from New York to California, and they didn't realize that they were handing out free food, but they didn't have any money, so they just said no. And they didn't eat for a couple days because they didn't think that the food was for they didn't understand that. So and then one thing that that stuck in my mind is I didn't realize we were poor until the kids told me I was poor. Your friends, you know Yeah, my my parents lived in a basement of a church for a couple years and they made it into a home. I wasn't born yet, but I remember the first Christmas I had was going into a church in the auditorium, and they told me I could pick any toy I wanted, and they're all used toys. I didn't really I just thought this was what how people are, right? This is what this is awesome until the kid next door says, Hey, that's no used toy, that ain't worth crap. So the humble beginnings, and then um from there, you know, I think my mom and dad did a pretty pretty decent job to get us over here.
SPEAKER_00So wow. Awesome story. Yeah, yeah. When she's saying it could always be worse. I mean, right? You think about that, you know, as my grandparents and I I can't imagine, you know, the way we were raised in this country to just give up everything and just you know, travel across halfway across the world, not knowing anyone, not knowing the language. I I can't imagine the strength it takes for people to do something like that, but they definitely appreciate all they had, and you could tell that that was passed on to you, that you appreciate everything. Didn't matter that it was a used toy, it was new to you, and that's all that mattered. You appreciated it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, totally. And I I'm sitting as you were saying that, Ted, I'm thinking, can I even myself right now, pretty you know, I'm pretty confident guy, and you know, I have means. Am I willing to go even now with all the technology and all the support and all the translation apps and everything? Am I, you know, would I be willing to go to another country and try to make a make a life of it, you know, without knowing their language. And they didn't have all this, you know, benefits what we have today. You know, that had to be scary, man. Because I mean, I I'd be like right now, I'm like, I don't know if I wouldn't, I'm kind of comfortable. And man, I I have to take a look at that, you know. I have to take a look at that.
SPEAKER_04Well, they uh they got a knock on the door one uh day, and it was the uh I don't know, some some government agency came and said, You have I think it was two to three months, you have three months to uh get your citizenship or you're getting deported. And uh my mom had got hers, and my dad flunked the first test. So he put some pressure on him, but he ended up passing. So he they're both citizens.
SPEAKER_02So that's awesome. Good stuff, good stuff. Ziggy, you got a great personality. We want to thank you for jumping on the show. We're not done yet, we're we'll but we'll be done soon.
Good Vibes Song And Final Wrap
SPEAKER_02But we're gonna move over to a portion of the the show where Ted shares a song, and the song is so Ted picks all our episodes. Ted picks a song that I don't know what it is, the guest doesn't know what it is, but we listen to it and then we share how we feel to how we feel about it. But before we before we get to the song, Ted, you know, Ziggy, your story about your parents and even about yourself remind me of a quote. And the quote goes, Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. I was just thinking, like, you know, your parents were you know, they went through some hard times and they created a very super strong human being in you that re to this day remains humble, remains full of love, and has an awesome perspective. And so you just reminded me of that, and I wanted to share that. All right, Ted, I'm gonna kick it on over to you and do your thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It's you know, I just love the the book and reading those those things out of that to get your day started. And you know, you you've heard the quote or the comment is you know, you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you handle it and how you react to what's going on. And yeah, I'm not naive enough to think that everything's rainbows and unicorns, but you can stay as positive as possible. And that's that's what Nick brings to it. You know, I'm trying to learn that lesson on the golf course. Try and stay positive. Uh that's first world problems going well, but uh you know, it's just uh when you're around Nick and and people like him, it's just the good vibes that that they bring with them. Yes.
SPEAKER_02That was back in the day, people. Okay, that's not fourth quarter. That was first quarter Doug. But yeah, but yeah, it was, you know, it was a good time watching sunsets, having great conversations. But even now, even today, fourth quarter Doug still enjoys sitting on the beach, hanging out with uh with some friends, or even solo and just watching nature happen and and and seeing that we are surrounded by abundant good vibes and so much beauty and so much love. And uh when you can share that with a human being, even on a on a walk for 20 miles with doing push-ups, you know, like I got to do a couple weeks ago with Ziggy, it it's it's definitely good vibes only. Good vibes only. Zig, what did what did this song bring to your heart and your mind?
SPEAKER_04Uh just uh like you said, a lot of good uh memories, but also just the life in general. It's a blessing to be alive. And I know we can't control aging, but we can control how you show up for it. Yeah, right? You know, things so yeah, take every day as it might be your last. We don't know.
SPEAKER_00Amen. I love that. Gotta stay positive. Gotta stay positive, gotta stay positive. Well better than the alternative, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right, and you know, a lot of times people don't don't say that second part of the sentence, right? It's because it is that when you realize it is better than the alternative, you know, the what is the alternative? The victim mindset, the life's happening to me and not happening for me. You know, you can get to choose is life happening to you or is it happening for you? And when you realize it's happening for you, even the hard things become something you can appreciate and understand. Okay, well, there's just a lesson here. I'm supposed to learn something in this moment. Let me go through it and make the best of it, right? Because it could always be worse.
SPEAKER_04The wise worse and pass it on. Let people, you know, yes, know about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you share that positivity and it it definitely uh multiplies. Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_02Well, if any of you ever run across Ziggy, say hello, give him a big hug, and and if you get a chance to hang out with him out there in the world, please hang out with him and you'll have a great conversation, a good time, and you'll be, I promise you, you will leave with more energy than you came and met him with. He's just that kind of a guy. But with that said, Ted, I think we're all done. I'm just gonna wrap it up and do like I always do and say God bless and peace. If you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe, follow, share an episode. If you want to leave a comment, go to the show notes. There's a text link there. We will receive an anonymous text from you with any comments or suggestions. Thanks again for tuning in, and most importantly, keep on coming back.