Today we’d like to introduce you to Thane Marcus Ringler.
Thane, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I spent all of my childhood years in Kansas before moving out here to Los Angeles for college. Beyond my faith, golf was the main focus of my life, and I moved out to California to play collegiate golf at The Master’s University. After competing for four years on the team there, I graduated and turned professional, taking the plunge into what would turn out being one of the best arenas for personal development.
I was blessed with the opportunity of competing as a professional golfer for almost four years (from 2014-2017) and played in different developmental tours around the U.S. and across the world – competing in a handful of events on the OneAsia Tour in 2015.
During the second half of my career, I faced a systemic muscle strain in my back that repeated five different times over the last year-and-a-half of my career. God used this season of uncertainty to redirect my path out of the world of professional golf and into my current endeavors.
One of the things I began while recovering from one of the injury cycles was a podcast – called The Up & Comers Show. A friend from college – Adam Setser – and I embarked upon this journey of “learning how to live a good life” (our tagline), which has brought us over 2 years later to 80+ episodes and a thriving community of other Up & Comers who are all striving to have “intention in the tension” (our mantra) that we inevitably face in life.
The other thing I started during the season of injury was the journey of writing a book. I thought a book would be a sweet way to be able to give something back to my investors and sponsors for their support over the years of my professional golf career. What started out as a book about how golf makes you a better person in life, turned into more of a book about how to pursue individual mastery in any field, from the “quarter-life perspective.”
In the past 14 months since leaving the world of golf, I have: 1) written and published my first book: From Here to There: A Quarter-Life Perspective On The Path To Mastery, 2) launched my development and performance coaching business (taking the professional athlete’s mindset to other up and comers and high achievers), 3) began my speaking career, taking the big-picture concepts of what the path to mastery entails to wider audiences across the country, and 4) launched a side business called Collaboration Coffee – a portable espresso bar for events and weddings.
Needless to say, it was a very stretching year and entailed taking on more than I could handle at times – the constant battle of most of us who live in LA.
Has it been a smooth road?
Is any road smooth? It is most definitely has not been smooth, but I like to think of the bumps as the beautiful part of the journey! Because without the variance that life brings – the mountaintops and valley lows – then life would be pretty dull in my opinion.
There’s a great quote by Frank A. Clark who said: “If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” So yes, there have been plenty of struggles. Let me share a few of them.
I think the one that most of us experience in a city like LA – the land of opportunity – is saying “yes” to too many things. The more things we say yes, the less able we are to do them well. There are definitely seasons in our life when we will need to say yes to any and every opportunity that comes our way, but this should only be a season. As James Clear says: “No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.”
Another struggle I faced was patience. Nothing happens overnight, and nothing happens by chance. This means that doing hard things always takes a combination of patience and persistence over a long period of time to ever see the dreams we have turn into a reality. Patience also entails saying no to short-term gain (quick-hits) so that we can say yes to the long-term vision we are trying to create.
There are always opportunities to settle, but settling never produces our best results. The other struggle I think many people will relate with is the struggle for balance. LA is not a very balanced place to live. Everything and everyone is moving at breakneck speeds, and it is a culture of achievement that can cause us never to stop going.
Growing up in Kansas has helped me see and be reminded (even when living in LA) that there is beauty in pausing and simply being. In taking time to prioritize self-care, to value other people and relationships, to strive to spend time playing, and to make sure that rest/recovery is something I am committed to.
Focus, patience, balance.
(These are just a few of the endless struggle faced in any journey. The goal is always to view obstacles and opposition as a blessing instead of a curse, because they are the things that are refining your abilities and making you stronger.)
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Thane Marcus is my personal brand/company, and I specialize in helping other work and live better. I do this through “Connecting, Collaborating, and Inspiring” – the three pillars of Thane Marcus.
As a coach, I’m known for my discipline and structure, as well as bringing an ear to hear what others are saying – but more importantly, to hearing what they aren’t saying – in order to help them bridge the gap between where they currently are and where they want to be. I call all of the clients I work with my “teammates” because that’s really what I am.
I strive to be the teammate, coach, and comrade to help those I work with maximize their full potential and push past their self-limiting beliefs (that we all fall prey to). As a writer and author, I focus a lot on perspectives and examining the lens through which we see the world.
I love discussing the implications of the language we use and the common experiences we all go through while unpacking the practical applications of how to apply those perspectives to help inform our day to day life. As a speaker, I’m known for my passion towards development and empowering others to take ownership of their lives.
Some of the topics I speak towards are:
– The overall path to mastery
– Developing Self-Awareness
– Irrational Fears
– Failures Role in Our Lives
– Generational Roles in Society
– Discipline: Saying No To Say Yes
I’m most proud of what I’ve been able to build over the past year. It’s been incredible to see all that God has brought in 2018, a year that held the most change of any year in my entire life.
Although I am by no means the only person working in these arenas (far from it!), one of the main things that sets myself apart from others in similar spaces is the background of playing professional golf. Professional golf is one of most heightened training grounds for mental toughness and personal development because it is a game largely played against yourself and your mind.
It’s also an incredibly humbling sport that involves much more failure than success – which was really the story of my whole career.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
LA is both a great place and a horrible place to start a business (of any kind). It’s great because it truly is the land of opportunity. If there is any place in the world that would have a customer/client base for your product or service, it’s definitely LA. The amount of connections, networks, businesses, creatives, and other possibilities are endless.
At the same time, it can be a horrible place because of all that has to be overcome in order to survive sustainably. With it being a place of high demand, there comes high prices in every category. Not only are costs much higher, but competition is also ramped up – with a larger pool of incredible people all vying for a foothold in their industry/space.
If you are just starting out, I would recommend following the path that a lot of others take – having something that is sustainable but provides enough time to build your new business on the side. Taking the leap (as I did) into self-employment/entrepreneurship without any sustainable support is not advisable for most.
Having a job that produces an income you can live off of while you build your business plan, pitch investors, or acquire an initial customer base, will really help you from becoming over-leveraged and over-committed (two mistakes I made this past year).
Pricing:
- Book: $14.99 – available on ThaneMarcus.com, Amazon, or anywhere else you find books!
Contact Info:
- Website: ThaneMarcus.com
- Email: connect@thanemarcus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanemarcus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thanemarcus/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thanemarcus
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thaneringler/
Image Credit:
Kat Hennessey, Sarah Orbanic, Madisen Mahoney, Chandler Mann
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
