Show notes
What happens when the very thing you worked hardest to build starts breaking you?
Garret Cook is one of the top performing realtors in central Alberta and the founder of Elevate Collective, a team he built around collaboration over competition. From the outside, his life looked like proof that hustle works. On the inside, comedy and performance had become a trap: something he leaned on to connect with people that slowly turned into a standard he couldn't stop measuring himself against, at work, at church, at home.
In August 2018, that pressure caught up with him. Standing in line at a pizza restaurant with his wife and four kids, Garret collapsed without warning. He was rushed to the hospital, where his vitals came back completely normal. His body was healthy. His mind wasn't. An ER doctor told him he wasn't allowed to leave until he agreed to see a counselor, a moment Garret now calls one of the clearest times God has shown up in his life.
In this episode, Garret walks through what came next: the six months he sat in silence every Sunday while his family went to church without him, the moment on his kitchen floor when he felt God speak the words that became his tattoo, "faith through the fire," and the slow, uncomfortable process of unlearning an identity built entirely on performance. He also gets honest about a recent moment, just two months before this recording, when he hit every business goal he'd set and still felt completely empty, proof that this isn't a problem he solved once and moved past. We talk about the wife who protected him through a season she didn't fully understand, the kids he chose not to shield from his struggle, and why he believes counseling isn't a sign something is wrong with you, it's often the thing that finally shows you what's been wrong all along.
🔹 THE COLLAPSE — What happened in a pizza restaurant line that changed everything
🔹 THE ULTIMATUM — Why an ER doctor refused to let him leave without seeing a counselor
🔹 SIX MONTHS OF SILENCE — Sitting alone every Sunday while his family went to church without him
🔹 THE EMPTY GOAL — Hitting every target he set for himself and feeling nothing at all
This isn't a story about weakness. It's a story about a man who looked like he had it all together, and what it actually took to find peace underneath the performance.
⏱️ What's Inside:
00:00 - Why success can amplify what's already broken
- The comedy that became a trap
- August 2018: the collapse and the hospital
- The doctor's ultimatum on counseling
- Six months of silence every Sunday
- Faith through the fire: the moment on the kitchen floor
- Showing up as a dad without hiding the struggle
- Rebuilding identity away from performance
- Hitting every goal and still feeling empty
- What happiness actually looks like to Garret now
Connect with Garret Cook:
Website → garretcook.exprealty.com
Instagram → instagram.com/garret_e_cook
Facebook → facebook.com/GarretCookEXP
Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.
Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com
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#MentalHealth #Anxiety #HustleCulture #RealEstate #FaithAndMentalHealth #Counseling #Burnout #Fatherhood #Marriage #Identity #TheCurrencyOfHappiness #Podcast