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Ep 48: Overcome Any Obstacle and Stay Fit While Thriving with a Disability with Kevin McShan

Philip Pape
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A few months ago, I joined Kevin McShan on his incredible and prolific podcast, Let’s Have This Conversation, and he’s returning the favor today to talk about how to thrive while living with a disability.

Kevin McShan is a graduate of St. Clair College’s Journalism, Print and New Media Program. Kevin has an extensive history of promoting employment equality for individuals with disabilities most recently, as the Job Developer and Enhanced Employer Support Facilitator with the YMCA of Windsor-Essex County. He also continues the effort of promoting inclusion for people with disabilities through his motivational speaking efforts.

Through Kevin’s experience in sports, journalism, podcasting, and advocating for those with disabilities, he brings an exciting blend of education, experience, and entertainment to the motivational speaking industry.

Topics discussed in this episode:

  • Kevin's story and how he brings seemingly unlimited energy to the world

  • Advice for someone facing adversity to overcome any obstacle

  • How business leaders and individuals can foster a culture of inclusion and diversity

  • How to achieve equity and equality for individuals with disabilities in the workplace

  • How to thrive while living with a disability

  • How to stay physically active while living with a disability

  • Why fitness is so important

  • Unique nutritional considerations to complement fitness and lifestyle

  • Kevin's advice for someone living with a disability on how to get started with fitness

  • What he has learned from producing so many podcast episodes and talking with so many people

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At Wits & Weights, we help you achieve optimal health that fits your lifestyle—without excessive dieting, cardio, or food restrictions. Philip Pape, host and certified nutrition coach, helps high-achieving people use their wits to build their body, reclaim their time, and gain control over food through one-on-one nutrition and lifestyle coaching.

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Transcript

Philip Pape  00:08

Welcome to the Wits & Weights podcast, where we discuss getting strong and healthy with strength training and sustainable nutrition. I'm your host, Philip pape, and in each episode, we examine strategies to help you achieve physical self mastery through a healthy skepticism of the fitness industry, and a commitment to consistent nutrition and training for sustainable results.

 

Philip Pape  00:30

Welcome to another episode of Wits & Weights. I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin MC Shan as a guest on his his powerful prolific podcast let's have this conversation. And unfortunate he's joining me on the show to talk about how to thrive while living with a disability. Kevin MC Shan is a graduate of St. Clair College's journalism, print and new media program. He has an extensive history of Promoting Employment Equality for individuals with disabilities, most recently as the job developer and enhanced Employer Support Facilitator with the YMCA of Windsor Essex County. Kevin also continues the effort of promoting inclusion for people with disabilities through his motivational speaking efforts. Through his experience in sports, journalism, podcasting, and advocating for those with disabilities. Kevin brings an exciting blend of education experience and entertainment to the motivational speaking industry. Kevin, thank you, man so much for coming on the show. Phil, I'm delighted to be with you this afternoon. And I'm excited to engage in conversation, my friend always great to see you. And thank you for a few minutes. Absolutely. Likewise, man, I think this is gonna be a fun time and the listeners really going to learn a lot about a topic. We haven't really dived into today, what we're going to blend discussion of fitness with living with disability and a little of everything the conversation takes us to. So you know, let's just start off with you've got this seemingly unlimited energy, at least the way I see it. And you're bringing all this information and impact to the world. When we recorded your the episode for your podcast. On that day, you told me it was the fifth recording for the day. So immediately, I was impressed by your hustle your work ethic. And my question is, who is Kevin mission? And how do you do it?

 

Kevin McShan  02:19

First of all, I'm severely

 

Kevin McShan  02:24

overqualified to be on this podcast. But

 

Kevin McShan  03:22

should have a platform to share their story and espouse their views. And my wanting to have conversations is because I want people to be

 

Kevin McShan  03:39

connected in terms of building bridges of inclusion, acceptance, and diversity. So I'm all about bringing people together and having conversations that move the needle of progress forward. Awesome. I don't think anybody can really argue with that. And I really appreciate your podcast. Sometimes you put out a couple episodes in one day or more. And it's amazing the diversity of guests and topics that you cover.

 

Philip Pape  04:06

Let's get in a little bit to the specific topic today, which is really about overcoming obstacles, which I think is something you've obviously done. Like you said, you take control of the situation rather than letting it control you. What's your advice when someone is faced with that kind of adversity in their life, whether whether it's a disability or really any obstacle? Well, I'll show a quick story. So So I have an identical twin brother Keith and I were both born with cerebral palsy. We were also born three months premature, my friends. So I always overcome obstacles in my life. And you know, people often tell me that I'm an inspiring person, and I simply tell them that I live my life. But to answer your question more directly, I think overcoming adversity lies in response to whatever the advice

 

Kevin McShan  05:00

Our city is we're all going to experiences, challenge and tribulations in life. And no matter how big and small, it all depends on the quality of the response and the commitment to sort of reinvent yourself with ossicles happen because, you know, fly foam has happened and strengthen their online, but would be very, very boring. So my advice to people is use adversity as a chance to grow and overcome their fears in life. And also expand again, that diversity of perspective.

 

Philip Pape  05:46

Yeah, I love that reinventing yourself. Because, I mean, everybody is faced with obstacles of some kind or another, it's not, you know, obviously, I can't fully appreciate what you've had to go through, but I and others, and everybody on the planet has had things that they've faced, and it's their personal story and their personal struggle they've had to get over. So that idea of what do you do to mold yourself around the obstacle, because you can't change the situation around you, but you can change your situation is a really great message. So one of your missions is to promote the inclusion that you were talking about for people with disabilities in the employment side, you know, I want to get into that a little bit before we then tie it more into the fitness. But how do business leaders how do individuals foster that culture of inclusion and diversity to achieve that mission? Yeah, no,

 

Kevin McShan  06:33

Phil, I Oh, I always said starts with engage, engaging in a process of fostering the commitment. What I mean by that is, you don't have to create the conditions in order for something to happen. And while you know, it's one thing to put at the end of a job description, we're committed to being an equal opportunity employer or that we commit to diversity, if you don't actually do it. So it starts with a commitment to the process of engagement in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I also think it's a commitment to the realization of sort of embracing the process of education, you know, employers don't know what they don't know, right. And so, in order to embrace a new culture, you have to come with an open mind to learn and growing and experiencing new things. You know, here in Canada, Phil Ivey, federal government tells us that 59% of folks with disabilities are unemployed compared to 80% of their non disabled counterparts. So it starts with a commitment to the process of inclusion and always be open to the prospect of education, knowledge, and awareness. Because, you know, I always say that life is a constant game of learning, and it never ends. But one of the mottos that I live my life by is the day you stop learning, they die, no matter how much money you make, or how much experience you have, he could always learn something new from somebody else.

 

Philip Pape  08:28

Absolutely. Yeah. You don't know what you don't know. So it's almost like you embrace the fact that there's this this ignorance that we all have, and it's okay. And we need to learn and be aware and seek out that knowledge. I think, you know, avenues like your podcast, and others are one way to do it. But of course, going out and reaching these, these companies and businesses, like you do is even a more active, proactive way to do that. Now, inclusion is one thing, but I think equality is another maybe there's a nuanced difference between the two, when we talk about equality. So how do we achieve equity and equality for individuals with disabilities in the workplace?

 

Kevin McShan  09:04

You don't fill out with that. Talent is equally distributed. Oh, come on, are they but sometimes opportunity isn't. So it starts again, with a commitment to the opportunity of advancement. If you commit to fostering the opportunities, then increase the equity. So it starts with a commitment to that opportunity, and embracing the concept of advancement.

 

Philip Pape  09:31

Okay, yeah, equal opportunity, which then leads to quality. Very cool. So Kevin, I do want to talk about fitness. That's what this podcast is primarily about. And I know it's important to you just as it is to me and the viewers and listeners of the show. So how do you thrive while living with a disability?

 

Kevin McShan  09:49

You don't fill just before I jumped on this podcast, but I went through physiotherapy this morning. So just a little bit about the inner market. because of my disability, you know, one of the side effects of my disability feel is that my muscles contract faster than most people. So if I don't exercise and if I don't use them, I lose them faster I'm because of the disability and getting older. So walking, swimming, stretching during hamstring stretches is big for me, I'm big into lifting weights. I love to swim, as I said, and, you know, one of the tenants of my life is always active field because I found out at nine years old, from the doctor that did mine did my last surgery and all of the surgeries for my disability that I wouldn't be able to walk without the assistance of a walker, and I wouldn't be able to get around without a wheelchair. But being physically active, being physically active is vitally important to me, because it's a chance for me to continue, continue to continue towards the commitment and conversation of progress. So one of the tenants that I live my life by is always active, I challenge myself to be at least 10 minutes active each day, whether that's one thing lead, whether it's walking, whether it's. So one of the tenants that I live, my life by again, is always active. And I challenge myself to get at least 10 minutes a day of exercise,

 

Philip Pape  11:43

that I wish everybody did that no matter who they are getting whatever amount of activity every day, like you said, is so important. So I want to dig in a little more tell us about what kind of movements you incorporate. I mean, is there kind of a program you follow for, let's say, the lifting weights, in terms of maintaining strength, for example.

 

Kevin McShan  12:03

Yeah, so I live between weights between 10 and 25 pounds on a regular basis, just so that I have some level of consistency. I also have a big Walker, because movement, for me is important. Moving my hamstrings is important, I love to swim through because, you know, when you swim, the GrabIt is last and part of so part of my disability, I have a lot of lactic acid, my hamstrings and that just because of the tightness of the hamstring, so many of those swelling, right until the gravity of sort of the ground is lifted and my muscles are are freer. That makes sense. So I'm a big swimmer, like lifting weights, as I said, and walking is a regular part of my fitness record.

 

Philip Pape  13:02

Now, this is an interesting question came to mind for me, because you have a, you have a situation, the situation you exist in because of your condition makes it that much more critical and important that you do these things. But are there other drivers you have? Right? Because not everybody is can be driven necessarily by the same purpose their entire life? And I'm just curious, you know, is fitness important to you for any other reasons?

 

Kevin McShan  13:26

Oh, well, Fitness is important to me feel because I want to live. And, you know, Fitness is important to me. Because, you know, it's another way to lead by the example of your actions. And you know, you know, I always tell people, I don't do things that I will, I wouldn't ask others to do things that I'm not willing to do. So Fitness is important to me, and only telling you by example, but also to live a higher quality of life because you know, you only have a one chance to do this grand experiment of life. And I want to maximize the moment, you know, when I talk to businesses or people as a motivational speaker, Phil, I always tell them to maximize their own higher potential, whatever that means with that person is what that means for that person. And the second thing I always say, Phil, is that the only level of expectations that you have to live on your own because if you don't have a personal level of expectations, it's hard to measure up or be inspired to reach a second milestone that somebody else said for you. So it's always important to set your own level of expectations, isn't it?

 

Philip Pape  14:55

Absolutely. I love everything you're saying. It's just great. I can see why you're a motivational speaker. it because Kevin, I mean, talking about having personal standards and living up to those and the high quality of life. I mean, these are, these are great messages for people out there. Because there's plenty of people who are just aren't active, and they have the potential there, whether it's whether it's strength, whether it's movement, and it's a, it's a relative change. So what they're doing today, right, I mean, if you, if you currently don't walk, well maybe walk for five minutes, if you currently walk for 20 minutes a day, maybe you could do 30. So that's a great message. Hey, this is Philip Pape. And if you feel like you've put in effort to improve your health and fitness, but aren't getting results, I invite you to apply for a one on one coaching to make real progress and get the body you desire. We'll work together to figure out what's missing so you can look better, perform better and feel better. Just go to wits & weights.com/coaching, to learn about my program and apply today. Now back to the episode. The align with the nutrition or the fitness side is the nutrition side. Are there unique nutritional considerations you have to complement your fitness lifestyle?

 

Kevin McShan  16:03

Well, first and foremost, Phil, I always say when people ask me about nutrition, everything in moderation, right? So and you know, one of the one of the things that I have to learn is, just because the apple pies in the fridge doesn't always mean I have to eat it right now. But to answer your question, in terms of fitness, I tried to eat a lot of protein, and drink a lot of Malcolm elcas Something that's important to me, because it helps to strengthen my bone density. I drink a lot of milk, you know, apples and grapes, and I'm a big fruit guidance in terms of that. As I said, I did a lot of protein, I had chicken pasta for once today. So I do a lot of chicken and rice and all of that stuff. So I always tell myself, if you know, if I want to live in extra five minutes, it's important to always know what I'm putting in my body and the results that come from putting it in to the system, right? Because once it goes in, it's hard to get it out. So it's always important to know what you're putting in and, you know, salary and carrots, something that I enjoy eating as well, for sure.

 

Philip Pape  17:32

I can't disagree with anything there, man, you've got all the delicious ingredients that we talk about the protein fruits, vegetables, fiber, milk is great. Yeah, good stuff, man. So if somebody is listening right now, and they're, and specifically, they're in a situation where they have a disability, and they don't know how to get started in improving their physical health, what would be your advice for them?

 

Kevin McShan  17:57

Well, first, I would say you're committed to the commitment. You know, every disability is different, you know, I was fortunate enough that the level of disability that I have, still allows me to talk, walk and, and move around. So first of all, be committed to the commitment that you're going to make to your health. Because if you are not committed, it's hard to have a sustainable future in your health journey. So that's the first thing I would say. The second thing I would say is go at your own pace. Because each disability is different. And everybody's level of success is, is different. You know, I always say painting a portrait of success is different from all of us. And as I said, previously, set your own level of expectations, because that'll keep you accountable and keeping you motivated and invested in your own process.

 

Philip Pape  19:14

So set your set your expectations, remain committed and go at your own pace. I think that last one or the one about going at your own pace is really important message. Because people try to take on too much at once I think or, you know, they they want that instant gratification of getting the result. And they say okay, well I have to go from you know, I get 2000 steps a day. So I'm gonna go to 12, right, or I get five hours of sleep and I'm gonna go to eat. So is there. If we dig into that just one more level? How does somebody do that? In terms of, you know, going at their own pace? Are there specific actions you recommend or an approach?

 

Kevin McShan  19:51

So the first thing I would say is hold yourself accountable to a schedule like I mentioned. Before I challenge myself to be at least 10 minutes active the day, obviously, I think you're wrong. Or if I'm walking, for example, or, for example, when I go swimming, I try to go for between 45 minutes to an hour. And you know what one thing that people don't know, Phil is may not know is if you exercise more regularly, it helps with, at least for me, it helps with sleep, overall quality of life. So if you want pieces of advice, know that exercise helps you to elevate the quality of every aspect of your life, I would say that would be my overall arching message is dependent on the quality of life that you want to live will determine the amount of, or the level of commitment that you're willing to put into something.

 

Philip Pape  21:06

Yeah, that's awesome. So if you want a high quality life, and you're listening, as much as you can invest in yourself, when it comes to movement, exercise, nutrition, you're gonna get out of it. And it's much bigger than the short term goal, right? It's much bigger than the day to day it's, it's it's committing to it and scheduling it in, like Kevin mentioned, and focusing on what it can do for you overall. So I love that you've been getting more sleep because you exercise everything's interrelated. That's great. So, your, your podcast, let's have this conversation. I think it's around 600 episodes now. And the topics. It is right, it's just, I don't know how many you put out a year, but it's a lot. The topics are very wide ranging. And the mission is to provide a thought provoking experience, which I think you succeed at regularly. So my question is, what have you learned from the experience of producing so many episodes with so many people?

 

Kevin McShan  22:04

is either a labor of love or insanity? No? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for the question. So the podcast is two episodes, giant 600 episodes. And, you know, I started the podcast because I wanted to have a vehicle or a platform that built bridges of inclusion. You know, Phil, when I started the podcast, I looked at society. And I said, there are far too many sort of vehicles that Interpol us polls apart. So I wanted to start the can start the conversation or start the podcast, because I wanted to have a platform to move the needle of progress forward. And to answer your question more specifically. So number one lesson that I've learned hosting the podcast now for almost two and a half years, I started that venture in May of 2020. And is to really value the diversity of perspectives. Because even the viewpoints that I may disagree with, that I allow the space to be broadcast on my podcast, it's important to have people that you agree with and have people that you disagree with, because it broadens your diversity of perspective. So the answer to the question is the number one lesson that I've learned is to embrace the quality of diversity of perspective.

 

Philip Pape  23:52

Yeah, and I think that's something a lot of us have to work on, myself included, when I just reflect on what you just said, and bring guests on to my show, you know, am I am I just looking for people who agree with what I say? Or am I really trying to bring on those perspectives so that we can have that deeper dialogue and allow people to draw their own conclusions from that? So you know, giving me something to think about as well. I do like to ask this question of all guests. And that is one question. What one question Did you wish I'd asked and what is your answer?

 

Kevin McShan  24:22

That's a fabulous question. You know, for me, you know, Phil, I'm all was about challenging myself to be 1% Better than I was the day before. And you know, why, to me is a fragile gift. You know, we're, we're all here for a very short amount of time, and no matter how long we live, and for me, life is about making the most impact for the most people like Ken, because life is all about impact. If you're not working towards increasing the amount of personal and professional impact on others, then you'll live a very selfish and non fulfilling lives. So it's important to me to continue the conversation of progress, and to challenge myself to be 1% Better than I was the day before. So, you know, one of the questions that I always asked my pod testing yesterday, I think I asked you this question, when you were on my show is, how do you celebrate, celebrate the wins in life, because, you know, celebrating the wins in life is important. Because, you know, we're also on to the next thing, and this, it's ratification society, but it's important to celebrate wins in life. And I tried to, to do that. Some days better than others. But, you know, celebrating wins in life is important. And also celebrating the progress towards prosperity that we've all made is also important, isn't it? Yeah, for sure.

 

Philip Pape  26:17

Be right, because we can get cynical and negative. And we we don't often reflect on the great things that not only are we achieving, but the impact we're making on people. This reminds me of another guest who came on and talked about gratitude. And he was saying that, you know, we often express gratitude for for other things when we do that, but don't often express gratitude for ourselves. And I think I can tie that to the to what you were just saying, How does somebody get up in the morning? Who's had, but for lack of a better word, they just had a rough week? How do they ask the question of themselves that triggers the thought of that those wins? Like, how do you ask yourself? Did I have a win?

 

Kevin McShan  26:57

You know, I'm reminded of a guest that I interviewed. His name is Travis Shelton, and Travis is a financial coach. And he said, reading, reading my personal story and watching videos on me, you know, he said, there was one overriding theme that he admired about men, and he said, it was the fact that I keep moving forward. You know, or one of the mottos of my life is, you know, I'm not a huge fan of excuses, because I think excuses are determined to progress and artificial reasons not to progress in life. So I think if you're having a bad day or having a bad week, it's all about keep moving forward and keep, keep trying to strive for whatever the definition of prosperity, prosperity is that you have for your life. So keep moving forward, always look for ways to maximize the moment of potential and didn't pack for sure.

 

Philip Pape  28:22

Keep moving forward, each day's a new day. Whatever happened in the past is almost irrelevant to today. Right? I think another guests that I interviewed also use the phrase, the futures a string of today's right. So I think that really resonates with me, Kevin, I want to thank you for coming on the show and give you the opportunity to let listeners know where they can learn more about you and your work.

 

Kevin McShan  28:44

Well, Phil, I think I said at the beginning of this podcast that I was overqualified, I meant to say that I'm,

 

Philip Pape  28:52

I knew that I knew what you meant no worries.

 

Kevin McShan  28:57

On the show, but I want to thank you for giving me the space to engage in conversation today. It's most appreciated. Great to see you. And for anyone that wants to learn more about me they can find all of the information about my life and my journey at Kevin mccann.com They can also find the podcast wherever you get your podcast is for let's have this conversation. The show's YouTube channel is just let let's have this conversation. If you type that in my name afterwards, all my stuff comes out. So it was a delight to be with you. I want to remind your audience to always maximize the moment because Phil you never know who's watching, right?

 

Philip Pape  29:46

You never know maximize the moment no excuses and each day is a new new day to maximize your potential. So, Kevin, you know, I'll definitely add the links to your your website, Kevin mcshane.com. And I want everybody here to subscribe to the lesson. Have a conversation podcast. It was really a joy talking to you again, hearing this unique, inspirational motivational perspective and kind of opening my eyes to your experience of living with a disability because I really didn't know much about that. And from the fitness and nutrition side. Thanks again, man for taking the time to come on the show I wish you the best with with everything.

 

Kevin McShan  30:19

Well, Phil, it was always an honor to be with you this afternoon. And I appreciate the platform and space to share a little bit about my personal journey. So it was great to see you and I hope I added value to your audience. I want to wish you the best of luck with the show. I think you're doing amazing work and I'm glad that we got a chance to be in each other's that works. And I look forward to my continued friendship, my friend best of luck with the podcast and all of your other endeavors. And again, thanks for having me. It's most appreciated.

 

Philip Pape  30:59

Likewise, Kevin, very much a pleasure. Thanks for listening to the show. Before you go, I have a quick favor to ask. If you enjoy the podcast, let me know by leaving a five star review in Apple podcasts and telling others about the show. Thanks again for joining me Philip Pape in this episode of Wits & Weights. I'll see you next time and stay strong.