Featured Interview With Peter Conti
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’ve always liked a good challenge along with a bit of excitement which has led me into some interesting situations. My tendency to do things to get attention might be the result of growing up near Chicago, IL in a big family with six other siblings.
I’ve spent time living in the mountains near Denver, Colorado, on the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Maryland, and currently reside in Jenson Beach, Florida. When I’m not writing, I enjoy riding my bike, walking, and of course, hiking.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Soon after starting my first business at age 25, I began to devour every business or self help book that I could get my hands on. I also enjoyed reading biographies and memoirs of other people who had been successful or overcome adversity in their lives.
By age 30, I started investing in commercial real estate and within a few years I realized that I would like to teach or mentor other people on how to get started with little to nothing as I had done. I began teaching others about seven years later, in 1997.
Although much of my early writing was combining my life story and experiences with real estate investing advice, my personal style of sharing my ups and downs become a comfortable place for me.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite author is Bill Bryson, and to this day I still enjoy biographies and memoirs the most. The ideal book for me is written by a comedian as I can relate to the struggle to be out in the public while being motivated to prove your worth to either the world or perhaps just to your family.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I really should have listened to my wife. My name is Peter Conti and I shattered my hip and dislocated my femur in a motorcycle racing accident. The doctors were working on me in the hospital when they crushed the nerve in my leg which meant I was in horrible pain. The worst part was the pain didn’t get any better over time.. one day after another, it continued to hurt like the dickens.
It was hard for me to get any help because I was looking for a solution that was impossible
You see, just like millions of other Americans who struggle with chronic pain
I wanted all of the pain to go away immediately.
I went to dozens of different doctors and tried everything from opioids, to electronic gizmos, acupuncture, and more. But nothing seemed to make any difference. While most injuries can get better quickly, some of us can get into a never ending pain loop. It’s called Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS.
This is a condition characterized by persistent, severe pain in a specific part of the body, often triggered by an injury or trauma. In my case, it was my foot and leg that was killing me. So I found myself almost two years after my injury and there I was sitting on the coach watching Netflix to distract myself from the never ending pain.
So how did I overcome this?
Well, it’s a long story that I’ll summarize with three key points
1) I had to accept full responsibility myself (and stop wanting someone else to fix my problems for me)
2) I had to discover that sometimes overcoming a huge problem requires taking tiny little baby steps at first.
Instead of getting rid of all the pain, I began looking for ways to make things 1% or even 2% better. At least I was headed in the right direction
3) I made a ridiculous challenge – I decided that if I could hike the 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail then my leg would have to be healed.
So that’s what I did. Three weeks later, I took a train down to Georgia and started hiking north from the top of Springer mountain. I made it a total of two and half miles the first day and then went from there.
It turned out to be quite the adventure with plenty of mishaps including the time that medics came to rescue me one night. I tried to make it using brute force and pushed so hard I got to a point where I couldn’t go any further.
So I came home, rested up, lost some weight, and built my strength back up. I got creative and wrote an entire list of ideas on how to nurture myself so that I could complete my adventure and make it all the way to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. And then I headed back out to the trail.
I learned that anything is possible, but that you can’t force success. Instead I had to find a way to gently yet persistently make progress while trusting that over time I’d be able to heal my body and soul.
The result is an inspiring book called Only When I Step On It.