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I'm Chad Vanags and I want you to take the ideas you've had and finally do them.

I've had an idea of who I am and what I wanted to do before I die for a long time, but I really haven't been doing them. I was putting everything else first. Then I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was told, 'if the medicine doesn't work, you have about 6mos to live. If the meds do work, they may only work for 6mos...or 10 years, but average is only 2 years.' Well, that's fucking sobering. So now I'm prioritizing the things I put off before it's too late. That means I have to, first, heal and, second, figure out how to do the ideas I have always had. This newsletter will document the healing process, which includes healing diet, healing stress response, healing immune system, and healing identity... it will also document the progress on the ideas I'm doing: Uncharted Spirits, Teaquila Farm, and Mavericks training. The hope is that my sense of urgency and the 'how' in my efforts helps you, too. I just want to leave things better than I found it, regardless of how much time I have left. Have ideas. Do them. 🏄‍♂️

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Featured Post

No. 9: Cancer is healing me; A death plan; Supply Run #1 done, #2 begins; becoming elite

No. 9 TLDR: You read that headline right, I’m realizing that cancer is healing me; we created a death plan; it’s time for me to become metabolically, athletically, and mentally elite...and I want to help top performers do the same; finishing Supply Run 1, starting SR2, need applicants; I’m very much over the Ironman training, finally back to muscle building and surfing so I can take on Mavericks. The sections: • Section 1: Cancer Updates • Section 2: Becoming Elite Updates • Section 3:...

almost 2 years ago • 10 min read

No. 8: [Tl;Dr] - Scan results were good. Not a ton of progress, but no growth and anytime that happens it’s good; phase 3 of healing protocol is moving into the ‘mind body’ connection; my new life will be focused on helping others get my clarity, drive, and performance, without my disease; 24 hours until we depart for Supply Run The sections to jump to and skim: • Section 1: Cancer Updates • Section 2: Have Ideas. Do Them. Updates • Section 3: Uncharted Spirits Updates • Section 4: Teaquila...

about 2 years ago • 5 min read

**It’s been 3.5 months since I’ve sent this newsletter. Lot’s happening. Good and bad. Plan moving forward is to send 1x a month. My goal is to use this journey to help others in any way I can, PLUS this actually helps me heal. This one is a bit longer because of ‘catching up’. Thank you for being a part of this journey (& kudos to you if you read the entire thing haha). No. 7: [Tl;Dr] - The mental / emotional side of this is the hardest, but I’ve had some breakthroughs in recent weeks;...

about 2 years ago • 8 min read

No. 6: religious experiences & cancer, psychedelic experiences & cancer, 15 dudes for first Death Cafe, completing UCS bar 1, building logistics for ‘Supply Run: India’, Teaquila Farm Instagram went from 2k to 9k 11.5k 16.8k followers in 7 days. **Small format change to make it easier to skip to and skim the section you’re most interested in. Here are the sections: • Section 1: Cancer Updates • Section 2: Have Ideas. Do Them. Updates • Section 3: Uncharted Spirits Updates • Section 4:...

over 2 years ago • 7 min read

No. 5 : [Tl;Dr] - More cancer notes this week, guest on a podcast for the first time in 7 years, switching the first ‘Supply Run’ from Laos to Himalayas, just ‘give me the f*cking steps’, 2 questions for you at the end today.If you prefer to read as a post, go here: https://chadwickvanags.ck.page/posts/Breakdown • Section 1: ‘Have Ideas. Do Them’ reflections & notes (you may have seen some of this on social) • Section 2: Updates on Uncharted Spirits, Teaquila Farm, Mavericks, Cancer • Section...

over 2 years ago • 6 min read

No. 4 : [Tl;Dr] - Preparing content that tells the stories of those who took a swing at something, contemplating death, choosing to replace or rebuild, progress on projects, small cancer scare, we need your help finding an ‘X-factor’ for the ‘Supply Run’ show we’re producing. Every newsletter will be broken down into 3 sections • Section 1: ‘Have Ideas. Do Them.’ reflections & notes (you may have seen some of this on social) • Section 2: Updates on Uncharted Spirits, Teaquila Farm, Mavericks,...

over 2 years ago • 6 min read

No. 3. I’ll continually be testing this newsletter format so that it’s interesting and, ideally/eventually, actionable in some way. Thanks for bearing with me as I get this going and thank you for the feedback on how to make it better (see question at the end). This newsletter will be broken down into 3 sections: • Section 1: Project updates (Uncharted Spirits, Teaquila Farm, Training for Mavericks, Has Ideas. Does Them.) • Section 2: Thoughts on ‘having ideas and doing them’ (you may have...

over 2 years ago • 4 min read

Have ideas. Do them.You likely don't care about the career stops, but it's important to understand the message at the bottom.Stop 1: Real estate sales...to start collecting funding for a ‘world exploration company’. Excelled at a new home builder, then went solo and sold $10M in my first full year, then hit the Great Recession. I went up with the boom, down with the crash.Stop 2: Inside sales for a startup...to start collecting funding for a ‘world exploration company’. Excelled at sales...

over 2 years ago • 1 min read

Trading in the books on the left for the books on the right. …& trading in my life path, too. After weeks of contemplation I concluded that being open about this will bring more good than harm. I was concerned that some would consider this an attempt to grab attention. …& then I realized I’m facing the possibility of dying sooner than expected and people’s opinions won’t matter. That’s one of the positives I’ve found from being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. You do things more for...

over 2 years ago • 2 min read