We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daryl Dittmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daryl below.

Alright, Daryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I’m not as concerned with what my legacy is going to be as I am about what it’s not going to be.

I am fortunate to have experienced some business and financial success in my younger years. A lot of hard work, a lot of long days, a lot of morphing of me and facing my fears. A lot of risks and difficulty as I extricated many of the parts of me that no longer served my life. It was quite an adventure as I slogged through the muck of me and tried with all of the earnestness at my command, to shape a different life for myself and those I cared for.

Well into those times, it was mentioned to me by one of the people with whom I did business, that the company that we’d all worked to build was going to be my legacy. I’m not sure the look on my face as I digested those words, but I do know that my stomach soured, and I was left with a feeling that can only be described as “empty,” as I continued to ponder. Soon thereafter, I left.

I am now an author who focuses my writing on overcoming hurdles and building a life we can be proud of. As a former addict and someone who has coughed up a lot of emotional hairballs, done a lot of grieving, and faced many fears, for decades, I know that I am able to impart from my experiences of moving through, moving past, and overcoming.

If someone picks up one of my books fifty years from now and gets one little nugget out of it that helps them overcome a single impediment in their life, I will be very satisfied with that legacy.

Daryl, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As mentioned, I am a former addict and have now been recovered for almost four decades. From the moment I decided to change, so many years ago, I was faced with the very uncomfortable charge of facing and changing me. I had to. There was no other way for me to move forward. An addict who does not completely change themselves and settle the fight within is always in danger of going back to that life of addiction.

When I embarked on the journey of life as a sober and clean person, I wanted to build a life for myself, internally and externally. I wanted to settle the emotional, mental and spiritual turmoil I was facing, as well as do my best to get my life into a financial position that I’d not grown up with.

I am fortunate to have learned an immense amount about myself, life, business and making money, addiction, recovery, contentment, fulfillment, and my definition of success today, “waking up in the morning with a smile on my face.”

This is why I write; this is why I do my podcasts. I desire to help others with their struggles.

There are so many hurdles in this lifetime, and it is my belief that we overcome those hurdles by overcoming our internal fight. My books are entitled, When I Stop Fighting: The Unexpected Joy of Getting My Head Out of My Ass; and When YOU Stop Fighting: The Road You’re On is Your Own Asphalt. It’s all about stopping that fight within.

How do we do that? Does that make all our problems go away? Is there really a way to have contentment and peace of mind?

These are the questions I answer and the paths I traveled to answer them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

My upbringing was characterized by many battle cries, including: “no pain, no gain,” “work through the pain,” “oh, it’s not that bad,” “if it doesn’t fit, just get a bigger hammer,” etc. It was all about fighting through, ignoring signals to slow down, and plowing ahead, almost no matter what.

I can attribute this to many influences in my younger years, including my parents, my Midwestern blue collar upbringing, and the farm hand and carpenter jobs of my youth. Not a lot of room for anything else in those environments. I embraced the lifestyle for many, many years and still do to a certain degree today, as I am still a very driven person, and I embrace this one life (as far as I know at the moment) I was gifted with.

The difference is, after many run in’s with and damage to my body mechanically from overdoing it, as well as the emotional toll of ignoring the direction in which I am so often led (which is almost always the right answer for me), I have learned to embrace the other side of “go, go, go no matter what!” mentality.

This has allowed me to slow down to a degree, but more importantly, it has helped me pay attention to that little voice inside me that tells me when I am going too far.

Today, I mostly listen.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are so many rewards from being a writer and author and trying to do my best to add something helpful to this world. I’ve been fortunate to have had some great mentors, and probably even more fortunate to have listened to the wisdom they were kind enough to impart.

Now that I am able to share my message, the most rewarding aspect is when I get feedback from people who I otherwise would not have been in a position to impact, who tell me that reading my books have helped them change their lives. Watching the things I’ve learned from mentors come full circle is most special and most rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daryldittmer.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whenistopfighting/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095169161814
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daryl-dittmer-734205294/
• Twitter: https://x.com/DarylEDittmer
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xdob7W6Jf4cv97Z7f4qiQ
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@theunexpectedjoys?lang=en