Buckle-up boys & girls…it’s about to get real. My TRUE STRENGTH book comes out this week (Tuesday) and today we have my lovely bride Melanie in the house to discuss a ton of “behind-the-scenes” content with you on the book. It’s always special to have her in the “podcast house.” On today’s episode, she interviews me on some of the toughest of times and we discuss my answers. Get ready to dive in…  Of course we are going to talk about what’s inside the book and what transpired during the toughest 3.5 year stretch of my life. TRUE STRENGTH is a book that is designed to help you thrive in the face of any adversity (burnout, transition, crisis, change, soul searching, a split, an injury, a diagnosis, a fork in the road, a rut--you name it). In the book, I share my deep personal journey of transformation and resilience over the past 3.5 years (2020-2023) during the pandemic while simultaneously overcoming excruciating physical back pain, mental anguish and depression, in hopes of serving as a beacon of hope for anyone navigating life’s darkest valleys. I also candidly share how I found my purpose in pain, faith in failure, and ultimately - growth, all while facing these gut-wrenching challenges. Today, I get to talk about some of these with the person who was by-my-side the entire time, my wife Melanie. She has seen me at my best. She has now seen me at my worst. Today, she interviews me about TRUE STRENGTH. Without further ado, here is what we talk about and some of the questions Melanie asks Todd on today’s IMPACT SHOW podcast: An epilogue from Melanie. WOW! TRUE STRENGTH. The book comes out June 18th. It’s deep. It’s scary stuff to share. It’s a crazy story. How are you feeling? What is your favorite part of the book TRUE STRENGTH? What are a few takeaways you would like others to get out of the book? The pandemic. Fitness Quest 10 closes down. Death-threats when GET YOUR MIND RIGHT came out. The gym being closed. 2nd knee replacement. Selling a big portion of the business. Then the back. The back. UGHHH. That danged back in 2021 & 2022. WOW. And then all the brain fog. A 3rd knee surgery. And then the sleep apnea diagnosis. ALL of it. ALL of that in 3.5 years. That’s A LOT. How did you get through it? Please share 2 or 3 of your hardest personal struggles and battles during your darkest hours. Tell me the truth. Were you ever scared during this time? When? What were some of your top “negative” emotions? Depression. Do you feel you were ever depressed? What helped you during the dark days to help YOU get through? There were 2 really Low, Low, dark MOMENTS for me in all this. Talk about these…. One was the doctor telling you that you needed a 14-hour back fusion surgery. Talk      about that. The other was the moment in Mexico. Talk about that… Dr. Amen. I was convinced we needed to see him. You were jacked-up. You denied a lot of it. I made the call to his offices to get you to see him because YOU would not. Can you please explain WHY we did not go see him…  You were diagnosed with Sleep apnea in 2023. Why was that important? Talk about that…. Out of this entire process of 3.5 years… What was the HARDEST or WORST part… What was the BEST part…. What did you learn during this entire 3.5 year period? What lessons did you glean? What role did faith play in ALL of it? What are you MOST EXCITED for these days now that you are through all this… What an episode. I hope you enjoyed this deep conversation with Melanie & Todd. If so, please go over to Apple iTunes and give the Todd Durkin IMPACT SHOW a 5-star rating and write a positive review that really helps us climb up the podcast charts. Every review matters.  Also, please share this podcast episode with your loved ones and post it on your IG Stories and tag Melanie and me. Tag us at: IG: @ToddDurkin @melanie.durkin  #IMPACTShow #TrueStrength #Podcast