Recover From Grief and Cerebral Palsy with Nick Yerhart (Part 1)Recover From Grief and Cerebral Palsy with Nick Yerhart (Part 1)
Retrieving Sanity
Keegan Read talks with Nick Earhart about growing up with cerebral palsy, being told he’d never walk, and proving those limits wrong. Nick also shares the impact of losing his father, falling into depression and heavy drinking, and the mindset tools that helped him start to change.
32:48•12 Jun 2026
Breaking the “You Can’t” Myth: Nick Earhart on Grief, Disability and Mindset Shifts
Episode Overview
- Being told you can’t do something is a myth, not a fact, and can be used as fuel to prove what’s possible.
- Supportive people who push you rather than over-protect you can be life-changing for those with disabilities.
- Unprocessed grief can surface much later, often as depression, heavy drinking and feelings of emptiness.
- Tracking negative thoughts and actively flipping them into positives can retrain the brain over time.
- Hard times never fully stop, but ongoing personal growth makes new challenges more manageable.
“"If anybody tells you that you can’t do something, it’s just a myth. It’s not a fact."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of resilience, mindset shifts, and quiet courage. This conversation brings together host Keegan Read and certified 10X business coach and entrepreneur Nick Earhart, who was “born dead” and later diagnosed with cerebral palsy after lack of oxygen at birth.
Nick shares how doctors once insisted he’d “never walk” or maybe never talk – yet he learned to talk, walked at five, raced four-wheelers, drives his own plough truck, and jokes that he’s “operated more equipment than most people.” Instead of accepting limits, he treats every “you can’t” as a challenge, calling the whole idea that someone else knows your ceiling “just a myth, not a fact.” The chat isn’t just about physical challenges.
Nick opens up about losing his dad to brain cancer, the family garbage business being sold, and how he delayed grieving while handling the sale as his father’s “right-hand man”.
A year later, the grief hit hard, leaving him depressed, drinking heavily, and having suicidal thoughts until an inner voice warned, “you need to change or you’re not going to be here much longer.” That moment pushed him into self-development and the Mindset Mentor podcast, which he says “really saved my life.” He later got to tell its host, Rob Dial, exactly that.
Nick now helps others notice how many negative thoughts they have in a day, and suggests writing them down, then flipping each one into a positive: “The more you do that, your brain will automatically change the negative thoughts into something positive.” Aimed at people in recovery, those living with disability, or anyone tired of being told they “can’t,” this episode offers humour, honesty, and practical mindset tools.
It leaves you wondering: what supposed limits in your life are just myths waiting to be crossed off the list?
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