Two Worlds, One Decision: What Kootenay Pass Taught Me About Building a Life Online

Hey WA,

The Life We Live vs The Life We Want Most people don’t realize it, but we are often living two lives at the same time. One is the life we are currently in, the one that pays the bills, keeps everything moving forward, and demands our time whether we feel like giving it or not. The other life is quieter, sitting in the background while we work, drive, and go through our daily routines. It is made up of the goals we carry, the things we want to build, and the version of life we believe we can step into if we stay committed long enough. For me, that second life became building something online, but it did not start from confidence. It started from a need to change something inside myself and find a direction that actually meant something.

Where This Journey Really Started

Yesterday marked three years since I lost someone important in my life Nathan, and that moment has stayed with me in a way that is hard to explain unless you have gone through something similar. It forced me to stop and look at where I was, what I was doing, and what kind of life I was actually building. I did not want to drift anymore, and I did not want to keep moving forward without purpose. I needed to find myself again and become whole, and that is what pushed me into this journey. I wanted to honor his name, build something meaningful, and create something that could reach beyond just my own situation. When I look back now at the last nineteen months, I can see that this was not just about building content or making money. It was about rebuilding myself through the process of learning, working, failing, and continuing forward even when I was not sure where it would lead.

The Goal That Once Felt Out of Reach

When I started building online, my goal sounded big even to me. I wanted my books to be seen by millions of people, not just a few readers here and there, but something that could actually reach a wide audience. At the time, I did not fully understand how I was going to get there, but I committed to the idea anyway. Over time, that commitment turned into action, and that action turned into results. Last year I reached 3.5 million views across my content, and this year I am already sitting at 1.2 million and still growing. At the same time, I now have consistent monthly sales coming in through KDP, which was something I once hoped for but did not know if I could achieve. What people do not always see is that none of this happens passively. I have to promote my books, put myself out there, and step outside of my comfort zone constantly. The results are real, but they are built on consistent effort, not luck.

The Lessons From the Road

Before all of this, I spent years running the hills in Alberta through places like Grande Cache, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, and Fox Creek. I have hauled live loads up through Dawson Creek, British Columbia, dealing with grades that push seven to eight percent, which is something you respect very quickly if you have ever driven them. That part of trucking was something I understood and even enjoyed because it demanded focus and awareness at all times. Earlier in my career, I also ran ice roads, which added another level of risk and intensity that teaches you how to stay sharp when things matter most. Those experiences built a foundation for how I think and how I handle pressure, but even with all of that behind me, what I did this week still felt different.

The Mountain That Changed My Perspective

This week I took a live water load over Kootenay Pass, which sits at roughly 5,820 feet above sea level, and that climb demands everything from you. There is no room for distraction and no moment where you can afford to lose focus. When you are hauling liquid, the load does not stay still, it shifts and pushes with every movement you make, forcing you to stay aware of every adjustment. Every decision matters, and the higher you go, the more you feel the responsibility of what you are doing. You are not thinking about content or anything else in that moment, you are fully locked into getting that load over the mountain and back down safely. That experience pulled me completely away from everything online and forced me into a level of focus that made me reflect on everything I have been building.

When Both Worlds Collide

After that run, it became clear to me that trucking and building something online are not as different as they seem. Both require commitment, both demand focus, and both test your ability to stay consistent under pressure. If you can visualize what you want, focus on the steps required to get there, and stay committed to the process, you can move forward in either world. For a long time, I believed my success online came quickly or was tied to my niche, especially when I saw the Wildfoot brand reach millions of views. However, when I looked at my “Just Me Built With Dreams” brand, I saw a completely different story that forced me to rethink everything.

Building Something That Actually Means Something

That realization is what pushed me to build more than just one thing. I wrote sixteen books, created fourteen audiobooks, built out my Payhip store, and developed a brand around something I genuinely care about. But even after doing all of that, I still felt something familiar from my trucking career. I wanted more, not in a greedy way, but in a way that pushed me to understand what I was doing at a deeper level. I did not want to just get results, I wanted to know how and why those results were happening so I could repeat them and build something that could last. That is when it became clear that these two worlds do not have to stay separate. If you take what you know, apply it properly, and stay focused long enough, they can become one.

Building It the Right Way

When I looked at my “Just Me” brand, I realized I had taken the wrong approach the first time. I spent an entire year running ads and only reached around 130,000 views, which made me question what I was actually building. Instead of continuing down that path, I decided to reset everything. I stripped the brand down completely, bringing it back to almost nothing, and at one point it was sitting at just 88 views. I left it there because I knew I wanted to rebuild it the right way. I took everything I learned from my Wildfoot brand and everything I understood from affiliate marketing and applied it consistently. Over the last 35 days, I have been posting every day with no ads, focusing on real content and real connection. That effort has already pushed the brand past 20,000 views organically, and I even had a sign-up come through this month, which confirmed that the process works when it is done properly.

A Shift in What I Want

Taking that load over Kootenay Pass was one of the most intense things I have done, and it forced me to think about what I actually want moving forward. I respect trucking and everything it has taught me, because it built the discipline and mindset I carry with me today. At the same time, I know it is not where I want to stay forever. What I want now is to build something online that gives me the ability to be home, safe, and in control of my time. I want to take everything I have learned and turn it into something that allows me to live differently while still carrying the same work ethic that got me here.

Choosing Between Two Worlds

At the end of the day, this comes down to understanding that we are all balancing two paths at once. The life we are currently living provides stability and structure, but the life we are building in the background is where growth and change happen. The difference between the two is not luck or timing, it is the willingness to stay consistent and continue building even when progress feels slow. Just like climbing a mountain, you cannot skip the difficult part, and you cannot rush your way to the top. You move forward step by step, learning, adjusting, and staying focused on the direction you want to go. Over time, those small steps begin to connect, and the results start to show in a way that feels real and sustainable. When that happens, it does not just change what you have built, it changes how you see yourself and what you believe you are capable of achieving moving forward.

If you ever find yourself thinking that you cannot do it, take a step back and reevaluate, because most of the time it is not a lack of ability, it is a lack of perspective. The possibilities in this space are far bigger than most people allow themselves to believe, and it really comes down to the effort you are willing to put in and the patience you are willing to carry with you. I would not change anything about this journey, not the struggles, not the learning curve, and not even the moments where I questioned everything, because all of it played a role in getting me to where I am now.

Most people will spend their entire lives sitting at the bottom of the mountain talking about the climb. They want the view without the responsibility of the load. They want the results without the thirty-five days of posting to nobody. I chose a different path three years ago when I looked at that photo of Nathan and realized drifting was no longer an option. I chose to get behind the wheel and stay there until the job was done. You have the same choice. You can keep looking for the easy route or you can respect the grade, check your brakes, and start climbing. The mountain does not care about your excuses and it certainly does not care about your luck. It only cares about your commitment to the process. I will see you at the top.

Shawn