Welcome to The Hard Truth Podcast.
This is Jeremy Fouts, and today we are gonna be talking about the outdoors and life lessons.
The life lessons that I’ve been able to teach my boys by experiencing the outdoors, and I’m gonna give you five tips and share with you some personal stories that I was able to enjoy with my boys in the outdoors.
Well, today, you may be listening to this podcast and have no experience in outdoors and really don’t understand the benefits behind the outdoors.
And I wanna share with you the five things that really help myself and my two boys as far as enjoy some time together, make some memories, and teach them what life is truly about.
So I hope that if you have never experienced the outdoors, one of the reasons why I’m sharing this podcast is to take your teenagers, your younger kids, if they’re earlier than teenage years, and start this process as soon as you can.
Now, obviously, I’m gonna be talking about a long six-mile trip back in the wilderness.
We’re not gonna do that with a five-year-old, but we are going to start experiencing, you know, taking them to the lake, doing some fishing trips, doing some hiking trips, doing some camping trips, and start teaching them about the outdoors.
So, point number one, one of the things that I’ve always valued in taking my boys to the outdoors is life skills and self-sufficiency, teaching them how to be sufficient, teaching them how to be, you know, a planner, teaching them how to understand that when we are walking into the outdoors, you cannot get there and say, man, I need one more water bottle, or I need, you know, one more trip to the shooting range to understand my rifle, or I need to, you know, I went on a fishing trip and I did not understand that I did not have enough extra line to be able to go catch a fish.
So today, I wanna talk to you a little bit about what I did with my boys and the life skills and self-sufficiency.
And that’s something that’s very crucial, and that’s why I love the outdoors.
I’ll share with you several different stories, but one of the stories that really meant a lot to myself and my two boys is my older son, Pearson, who is now 17.
He has loved the outdoors from the word go.
He’s kinda like me, he’s an outdoorsman.
Now my youngest son, Beckett, he really enjoys it, but not to the level that Pearson does.
So for his 13th birthday, he wanted to go on a camping trip and a hiking trip slash hunting trip for elk in the wilderness in Colorado.
So something that I did with him, as I said, Pearson, here’s your budget, and you need to get a backpack, you need to get water bottles, a filtration system, you need to make sure our rifles are equipped, you need to figure out exactly where we are going, you need to put that plan in front of me.
We’re gonna talk about that plan.
We need to get everything lined out, and for your 13th birthday, we’re gonna be backpacking six miles in to the wilderness and chasing some elk.
Now, the reason that this is so important for you to teach your young ones this is because once we got six miles back in, he understood that we could not get to that point and say we need more water.
We couldn’t get to that point and say we need more military meals to be able to eat.
We had to plan day by day and figure out all the life skills that we need to know exactly where we was going to be and what we was going to need in order to have that trip not only be successful, but more importantly, not go hungry, not go thirsty, and that’s something that is very, very important.
Now, I let him plan everything.
I did oversee it.
It was a phenomenal trip, and the life lessons that we learned on that trip was phenomenal.
I’ll never forget getting back into that six miles.
Now, at the time, both boys was pretty small, 13 and 11, and I’ll never forget them taking their backpacks.
They had every one of the things that we did, as we said, every one of us, myself and Pearson and Beckett, they had to be responsible for every bit of their gear.
They had to make sure they had the right shoes, the right socks.
They had to make sure that they had their own sleeping bag, their own cooking utensils, their own military meals, their own waters.
They had to have everything.
And we had to plan how many miles we was going back into wilderness.
We had to figure out exactly with the rough terrain, how long it was going to take us to get there.
Would it be a two-day pack-in, a one-day pack-in, whatever that experience is?
And the life lessons from this was incredible.
I’ll never forget.
We got to that campsite that first afternoon, and they’re carrying literally 50 pounds on their back.
And they were so exhausted.
But even if we didn’t kill two elk, just getting to that point, they were so excited to be able to put that tent on that hill, to be able to cook that first military meal.
And it was so fun.
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced any military meals, but they were so excited to be able to eat those military meals day one, day two, they started trading military meals.
Day three, they’re like, oh man, I have to eat this for fuel.
But the life lessons that come from that was unbelievable.
And you have to teach them survival skills.
They had their own pocket knife.
They knew how to start the campfire.
They knew exactly what they needed in the life lessons going into that camping trip, which was phenomenal.
So it teaches your kids life skills and how to be sufficient, how to be a, we couldn’t put an iPad in our backpack.
We couldn’t put things in our backpack that we didn’t need, but we had to have exactly what we need and nothing else.
Number two, it teaches them how to connect with nature and the environment, the appreciation of nature.
Hunting and fishing, guys, it fosters a deep appreciation for the natural world.
And we get so caught up in living into the city where we can get Uber Eats, we can do all these different things, and they have no kids that are not taught the outdoors.
They have no conservation awareness.
They don’t understand that in order for the creeks to run clean, we have to take care of the creeks.
We’re gonna need that water from the creeks.
They don’t understand the population from the wildlife standpoint, that they have to have good food in order to eat.
That way, they can produce good food for us to consume.
But the connecting with nature and the environment and getting your kids outdoors is crazy.
My boys, when we’re out fishing, we go to the ocean, and if they see a piece of trash, they don’t ask whose trash it is.
They say, you know what?
I’m grabbing that trash out of the water.
But it connects them with the nature and the environment.
Number three, it teaches them physical and mental health benefits.
It makes sure that they understand we have to get fit and mentally strong.
When Pearson was coming into that last mile and Beckett, they was both exhausted.
And I looked at them several times just as a test, and I said, hey, do we want to turn back?
Is this too tough on us?
And both of them would say, no, we’re going to make it.
You know, it’s been proven, guys, if you make your kids do hard things, the more hard things they do and they complete, your brain literally leaves tracks there.
And it says, you know what, I’ll be more likely to be successful because I’ve been in this hard situation before and I continue to push through.
You know, that’s the reason I love talking about being physically fit.
You know, in doing something with the outdoors, it teaches you that physical exercise is preparing you to do the activities that you want to do through physical exertion.
You know, like the hike, you know, like going on that fishing trip, you know, setting up the camp.
You know, it promotes physical fitness and healthy lifestyles.
You can’t be way overweight.
You can’t be physically fit and enjoy the good things from the outdoors.
So it teaches your kids how to be physical and mental strong.
And I tell you, there’s no better way to experience that than doing something in the outdoors.
Number four, it teaches family bonding and social skills.
You know, the quality of time that you have when you’re hunting and fishing, you know, I can tell you so many different times around the campfire, we take a different ocean trips and we take kayaks out to tuna fish.
You know, there’s so many different ways and so many different times that we get to a point where everything is just still.
We have the campfire set up, we have the tent set up, and we’re able to just sit around and visit.
You know, hundreds of years ago, with the hunters and gatherers, that’s what they had was that community of people.
We have lost that now with social media and all the different things where we have lost that bonding experience by just setting around the campfire, just talking to each other about their goals, about what they want to do in life, how to become a young man of value and of character, and the family bonding and social skills that you will get from doing outdoor activities is like no other work.
And it also teaches them teamwork.
You know, there was one evening that one of the boys, Pearson, got altitude sickness, so we had to go in and help him, you know, do some different things to get his tent finished up, to do different things.
It teaches teamwork and how to work together and the patience that you have to have sometime.
We had a big snowstorm come in.
You know, it was about six inches of snow.
We had to prepare for that.
But the family bonding and social skills is invaluable when you’re in the outdoors.
Next is it teaches them the educational opportunities in learning about the biology, learning about the ecology, learning the different leaves, the different trees, the elk and the deer.
What we are hunting, they are after this berry.
We see these berries.
We know that they’re gonna be coming into this area.
It teaches them navigation and geography, where they have to learn to look at a topo map and plan the trip coming in.
They have to learn how to identify a GPS, how to read a GPS, how to look up at the stars and say, this is north, this is east, this is south, this is west.
We’re gonna set up our camp here because we’re gonna be facing the sunrise in the morning.
The elk are moving from down low to up above, so we don’t wanna be down low and disturb them.
But the educational opportunities that you have in getting your kids outdoors is phenomenal.
Next is the ethical and moral lessons from it.
You know, my boys, they know that we as a family, every since they’ve been young, we try to consume about 50% of the meals that we have throughout the year is what we have harvested.
Whether that be tuna, whether it be mahi mahi, whether it be venison, whether it be elk, and then we also have friends that raise grass-fed beef for us as well.
But we try to teach them that we are not out there harvesting an elk just because it has large antlers.
We are out there to harvest that elk and do it in the right way when that elk goes down, when the deer goes down to be able to say thank you to this animal that you are gonna be feeding the family.
And there’s something that for a boy, I have not raised any girls, but I think it would be the same for girls of showing appreciation to this animal and God’s earth and what it’s provided for us is something that you’ve got to teach your kids, which is I call respect for life.
And nothing does that better than hunting and fishing and teaching your children the value of life and the ethical reasons we are harvesting this animal.
And that is something that has been big for my boys.
My boys, they will go hunt an elk and do their best or chase a deer, but if they see a little bunny on the side of the road that has a bad foot, then you know what?
They’re going to try to treat that bunny.
But it’s all about teaching them the respect for life.
The other thing that they have to learn in chasing animals, chasing fish, is the fair chase principles.
Teaching them that ethical hunting practices, there’s no reason to do anything other than being ethical, following the guidelines, what the rules are.
But it teaches them how to respectfully chase that animal.
You know, and sometimes you get beat.
This is something that I love about this lesson.
You know, that’s why they call it hunting and fishing.
It’s not called killing and catching.
It’s, you know what?
If we did not harvest an animal, was we not in physical good enough shape getting to where the animals are?
Did we do a good enough job planning where the animals have moved because of weather?
Did we not go out far enough into the ocean to get to the deeper water for where the fish were because that’s where the bait fish were?
It’s all about teaching them those little bitty things.
Another thing I forgot to add also in the family bonding and social experiences, and I know I jump around, I’m sorry about that, is it teaches you to invest in memories.
You know, true retiring is not just with money, but it’s the memories that we spend with our kids.
You know, one of my favorite things to do is talk to older gentlemen, you know, and I’ve talked to some older gentlemen that are millionaires, billionaires, and some of their biggest regrets is not just investing in their finances, but investing in memories.
So never ever forget that, investing in memories.
So the fair chase principles to back up to that is it’s all about teaching your kids that you know what, we’re going to pursue this.
Here’s the reason we’re going to pursue it, is all these different things that we’re going to learn.
We’re going to learn life survival skills and how to be sufficient.
You know, we’re going to learn how to connect with nature and the environment and give appreciation to the nature and environment of what it provides for us.
We’re going to have to be physically fit, we’re going to have to be mentally strong, but we are going to make memories that are going to last forever.
And we are going to learn during these opportunities what we need to do to get better of learning the animals, learning the appreciation of the land, and we are going to be ethical and learn something in this moral lesson of harvesting an animal that can provide food to put on our family.
So my biggest takeaway from today is, you know what, you might not be a big hunter, big fisherman, but if you want to teach your kids these lessons, get them outdoors.
You know, understand if you catch a fish, that’s great.
If you harvest an animal, that’s great.
But the value that you are teaching them is more than that fish.
It’s more than that animal.
It’s spending time with them and making memories.
That’s the true thing about what we’re trying to accomplish of getting them outdoors, walking away from technology a little bit, walking away from the clutter in our lives, walking away from the stress.
There’s been times when I planned a hunting trip, a fishing trip, that I had so much going on in my business that I’ll tell my wife, Candace, I’ll say, you know what, I really shouldn’t probably go on this trip.
And the first time that we’re setting by that campfire with no cell phone, I look up at the stars and I say, man, I feel like amazing.
No stress in my life.
I’m able to reconnect with the outdoors.
And this is my hope and wish for you.
And if you’re listening to this podcast and you’ve never experienced the outdoors, plan you a trip, buy you a tent, buy you some camping gear and say, I’m going to go invest not financially, but I’m going to invest memories.
Yes, it will cost you some money by the way, but I’m going to go invest memories that I’ll never ever be able to get back with my young kids.
This is something that I hope all of you, you know, take to practice is, is teaching your kids about the outdoors, the outdoors and the life lessons.
You will thank me if you will make this an experience for you and your kids.
Thank you guys for choosing The Hard Truth Podcast.
I challenge you to say we’re going on a camping trip.
We’re going on a hiking trip.
We’re going on a fishing trip.
We’re planning a hunting trip for the fall and share this podcast with your friends and family.
Leave a review and until next time, I’ll see you on The Hard Truth Podcast.
