82. A Heart Attack’s Teachings: Finding Your Opus with Chet Scott

Chet Scott joins us for something we don’t do very often on Gravity: a returning guest. He’s a leadership and development coach for some of the world’s most influential people. After “waking up” in 1993, he set about pursuing his life’s opus – something his organization, Built to Lead, strives to help everyone discover for themselves.

Last time he joined the show, we explored how his upbringing led him to where he is today, but we didn’t get into the personal health revolution he went through after a client convinced him that he was “skinnyfat.” Chet had been getting some bad data in health tests but was unable to figure out why. It turned out that, although you’d never know it to look at him, his relationship with sugar was causing him to have worryingly high glucose and blood pressure levels. He was pre-diabetic. In Chet’s words, he had been a sugar addict who had used the substance to self-medicate. 

Ever since then, Chet’s been an intense follower of his health regime, prioritizing core workouts and fitness plans aimed at building longevity. That’s why it was a total surprise when he suffered a heart attack in March, earlier this year. As the doctors put it, it was a one-in-a-million fluke that it happened, but it was also a one-in-a-million fluke that he survived.

This completely reframed how Chet looked at the world and, now, he’s even more focused on his life’s work than ever before. Built to Lead is still about finding our opus. As Chet puts it, everything we do is work, so we should find our labor of love and do it right.

What Brett asks:

• [02:10] How would you describe yourself and your work?
• [08:45] Do you think finding your identity is a life’s work?
• [11:35] Can you tell us about the journey of health and discovery you went on after learning that you were “skinnyfat”?
• [17:00] What happened after your health journey?
• [27:00] Is it fair to say that your heart attack was a fluke?
• [35:00] You decided to get straight back on the horse after your heart attack, but did you take some time to reflect and experience gratitude first?
• [37:00] Tell me about your prayer at the hospital.
• [42:00] How do we get to a moment of truth from our words and actions?
• [49:20] Is there anything you’d like to get across to the audience based on your learnings?

To learn more about intentional living, and for the complete show notes, visit: gravityproject.com

Resources:

• Built to Lead
• Chet Scott on LinkedIn
• Read: Becoming Built to Lead by Chet Scott

Gravity is a production of Crate Media.