Before we begin, let me alert you that the content of this episode includes conversation about mental health struggles and suicide, which can be distressing for some people. Don’t worry, we don’t go into too much detail, but if you are uncomfortable about that kind of thing, you may want to avoid this episode.
Imagine it’s 3:00 AM, and your life is coming apart at the seams.
You don’t know how you can keep going, and maybe you’re not sure you want to. Even if you believe this will pass if only you could get some sleep, you really need someone to hear your story and provide you some sort of comfort and support.
Who would answer the call if you dialed their number right now? Is there even one person who comes to mind?
Keith McNally was there and realized there was not one single person in the entire world who he felt would be there for him in his hour of desperate need.
Growing up, he followed all the Catholic traditions and holidays, and gained the values of being kind, being yourself, and doing what’s right. After high school, he joined the Marines. Then went on to college and all the way through to completing his PhD. He embarked on a successful career that included working in IT and being a professor of information technology.
Along the way, he discovered how his values didn’t so much change as he redefined their meanings and how he interpreted them. However, he says, he spent most of his adult life not knowing who he really was. He played roles and carried titles and filled expectations of others. But he didn’t dig into and examine what was really important to him. Didn’t ask himself, what is my life about? What is my philosophy of living?
Which is why, perhaps from the outside, things looked fine for a while – but Fine is a 4-Letter Word.
Between 1996 and 2021, he attempted suicide five times.
It was after that fifth attempt that he took a good, hard look at things and realized he wasn’t sure who he was, who he was meant to be – and that he had nobody to talk to about anything, really.
In a moment, when you meet Keith, you’ll discover the baby steps he took to turn things around. It started with simply talking to people on LinkedIn and listening to them tell their stories, which led to him launching several podcasts and YouTube channels.
In the same time period, he started to focus on his physical health in a new way, adapting his exercise routine and his diet. And just when he was getting in better physical shape, building his resilience muscles and support networks to prevent another suicide attempt that could leave his teenage daughter without a dad – he had a heart attack.
So once again, he gave the Grim Reaper the finger – and now he’s gearing up to hike the entire Appalachian Trail!
Keith’s hype song is “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti.
Resources:
- Keith McNally’s website: https://drkeithmcnally.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkeithmcnally/
Invitation from Lori:
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