From Cancer to Courage: Terry Tucker on Turning a Death Sentence Into a Life of Purpose

Terry Tucker’s journey reads like a Hollywood script—college basketball player, SWAT hostage negotiator, and now a 13-year cancer warrior. When doctors gave him just two years to live, Terry chose to reframe his diagnosis with one profound question: “How can I turn this death sentence into a life sentence?”

His answer reshaped everything. Despite losing a foot and later a leg, Terry radiates an unstoppable optimism that challenges how we view pain, purpose, and resilience. Drawing from his book Sustainable Excellence, Terry shares ten powerful principles for extraordinary living, including the reminder that most of us “think with our fears and insecurities instead of using our minds.”

Rooted in his “three Fs”—faith, family, and friends—Terry’s story is as spiritual as it is motivational. His raw honesty about gratitude, frustration, trust, and questioning God makes his message deeply relatable for anyone seeking hope through adversity.

In this episode, you’ll learn how purpose can be found in suffering, how to expand your endurance far beyond what you think possible, and why true freedom begins when you stop letting fear run your life.

Chapters

• 1:38 Introduction to Terry Tucker
• 3:31 Sports Mindset to Cancer Warrior
• 5:50 Turning a Death Sentence into Purpose
• 10:02 Sustainable Excellence Defined
• 20:40 Faith, Family, and Friends
• 28:22 The Motivational Check Story
• 35:37 Thinking Beyond Fears and Insecurities
• 43:07 The Rat Experiment: Hope and Resilience

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:50

Hello everyone, welcome to the Spiritual Spotlight Series. Today I'm joined by Terry Tucker. He is a speaker author. He is also guest on a lot of podcasts and he speaks about motivation, mindset and self-development. Thank you so much for Terry to come on the Spiritual Spotlight Series. I'm so excited you're here.

Speaker 2: 1:07

Well, Rachel, thanks for having me on. I'm really looking forward to talking with you.

Speaker 1: 1:10

So you've had an incredibly diverse career, from a SWAT hostage negotiator to a hospital administrator and now motivational speaker. So how has each one of these roles shaped your mindset and personal philosophies?

Speaker 2: 1:25

Yeah, I mean I think I have to go back. You know, I'm the oldest of three boys. I grew up in a sports family. All three of my brothers and I played college basketball or baseball. My one brother was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the National Basketball Association. So our whole life revolved around sports.

Speaker 2: 1:43

And you learn early in sports, the importance of mindset, the importance of you know understanding that you've got to be focused and things like that understanding that you've got to be focused and things like that, so that I think that goes back to just our parents, you know, and and teaching us those kinds of things and I, and then, as you move into life, I was a college basketball player. Yeah, I was a SWAT hostage negotiator, as you mentioned, and for the last 13 years now I've been a a cancer warrior. So that's all about controlling the mind and I mean, you know that as a nurse and things like that.

Speaker 2: 2:16

It's just your life is really what happens between your two ears. It's not what happens out there. It's not what happens to you, it's how you react to it.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Absolutely so. You kind of brought this up a couple of things. So fighting cancer, facing cancer for the last 13 years, is an incredibly journey of resilience. Can you maybe share a pivotal moment where it shifted your perspective on life?

Speaker 2: 2:43

Oh, absolutely yeah, 2012,. When I was diagnosed, they said you'll be dead in two years and I was like, oh okay, you gave me a death sentence. How can I turn that death sentence into a life sentence? And it was finding your purpose and I had done so many active physical things in my life, from college basketball player to police officer to SWAT.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Yes.

Speaker 2: 3:07

And in 2020, I had my second amputation my foot amputated in 2018, my leg amputated in 2020. And so when you can't do what you're good at, I think you do what's important in life, and that's really. I needed a purpose. I needed to find meaning in my misery during all that ugliness and cancer and surgeries and treatments and medications, and that purpose now for me has changed to putting as much goodness, positivity, motivation, love back into the world with whatever time I have left.

Speaker 1: 3:44

I think that's amazing. It's so important. I don't think people realize how much your mental mindset matters when facing health issues, financial issues, like just issues of life and trauma of life, and I think it's so inspiring that you've been able to really hone in on that and help others kind of dig out of that well of hopelessness.

Speaker 2: 4:07

Exactly, and you know I've learned a lot through cancer. But two things I've learned that I'll give to your listeners. Absolutely Number one I don't think you truly know yourself until you've been tested by some form of adversity in your life.

Speaker 2: 4:21

It doesn't have to be cancer or anything like that. It can be anything. And the second thing is and this is going to sound kind of weird cancer's made me a better human being. You, I've been asked the question if I could live my life over again without cancer. Would I do it? Yeah, and honestly, rachel, I don't think I would. I think cancer has made me that much, that much better of a human being.

Speaker 2: 4:43

I always say I've had a great life before I got cancer right, but I've done more living in the 13 years that I've been dying of cancer than I've done in my entire life.

Speaker 1: 4:52

I want to say to you I have chills with that answer. And two, I have a family member who has stage four cancer and I feel like she's very much like you, she has the mental mindset and she is thriving within her cancer and she has had the same answer that you just had and I just like you're like the first person besides her that I've been able to make that connection with and I find that to be so inspiring because she's like no, I'm thriving, she travels, she loves her best life, even though she still gets chemotherapy, you know, every other week. You know it's fascinating.

Speaker 2: 5:28

I just it's fascinating to me, like how it's like, no, it's almost like a wake up call to like what's important you know it really is, and I think you know doctors when I was diagnosed, you know I always say doctors are like Vegas.

Speaker 1: 5:42

you know they're kind of like bookies you know they look at you and say based on your age, based on your overall health, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:48

And then based on your stage of cancer you're going to live X. Yes, what doctors don't like. Is it your aunt or your sister that you just said, that you were just talking about.

Speaker 1: 5:56

It's my stepmom. Yeah, my stepmom.

Speaker 2: 6:07

OK, you know. What doctors don't know is that you want to see your daughter graduate from high school or walk her down the aisle or play with your grandkids, and that having something to live for, yes, really does keep you propelled, keep you propelling forward in your life. It's not just I sit back and say, oh, woe is me. No, I'm going to live my life.

Speaker 1: 6:19

I love that so much. It's so inspiring. Yes, because you do see people, like you mentioned, I am a nurse, I run a doctor's office and you do see people that unfortunately they give up their will to live and then they meet the maker, so it's it is difficult to see. It's like who can really dig into faith, mental mindset, what's going to push them forward and you know, and then it's no shame or judgment to those who are like you know, I'm good, you know and that's okay. So it's interesting yeah it isn't.

Speaker 2: 6:49

but you know I always go back to victor frankl, who was the holocaust survivor wrote man's search for Meaning and he has hit a great point in that book. He said when people lose the will to live, it's almost impossible to get it back.

Speaker 1: 7:02

So don't lose the will to live in the first place. Absolutely, absolutely. So you titled your book Sustainable Excellence. What does excellence mean to you and how do you sustain it, even in face of adversity?

Speaker 2: 7:17

Yeah, that's a great question. I always get that. You wrote the book Sustainable Excellence. What does excellence mean? My answer is I don't know. I love that you wrote the book. How can you not know what excellence is? And the reason I say that is because you and I may look at a sports team or a band or a play or something like that and you may say, hey, that's excellent. And I may say, yeah, I think they're good, but I don't think they're excellent. I think excellence, kind of like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. You've got to determine what excellence is for you. So once you've done that, then how do you sustain it? How do you keep it going? And I think one of the biggest things is you've got to constantly innovate. I mean, what happens when people get to the top of the mountain? They sort of kick back, put their feet up on the desk, pour themselves a drink and be like man, I've arrived.

Speaker 1: 8:06

Right or they keep going.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Well, exactly, but a lot of people don't. They're like you know. And then, but like you say, six months later, a year later, somebody passes them up and they're like wait a minute, what happened? Yes, yes, you didn't find another segment of the market to offer something. You didn't find another product to deliver with your service, and that's we get complacent, we're like we've made it. And what people don't understand it's not. Life doesn't happen when you get to the top of the mountain. Life happens on the journey to get to the top of the mountain. And if your audience remembers nothing else that I say today, remember this it's more important who you work with and who you work for. Then it is the work that you do. Find people that care about you yes. Find people that are willing to invest in you. Find people that want to see you succeed. Yes, it's your wagon to those people and climb your mountains together.

Speaker 1: 9:07

That is such valuable advice. I will say that like it's so true, because if you don't, if people don't value you and people don't, if you don't hit your, you know your cart to that kind of philosophy of I'm going to champion those that are around me, I'm going to rise above, we're going to rise together, not going to gatekeep, I'm not going to. It's so important and the dynamic of what you do, regardless of what you're doing, it improves so much. It's because you're in it together. You're in it to win together.

Speaker 2: 9:39

Yeah, I mean, if COVID taught us anything, it's you know we're not good separate. We're not good in isolation. You know we're better together. We can't be successful in a vacuum. We need other people.

Speaker 1: 9:51

Absolutely, absolutely. So. You've encountered extreme challenges, from high stakes negotiations to major health battles. What mindset, techniques or spiritual practices have helped you? Just maybe stay grounded? Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 10:04

I mean I always say what's gotten me through my life? Certainly, what's gotten me through cancer in particular are what I call my three Fs faith, family and friends. I have a very strong faith in God and I remember when I was diagnosed as I said, the doctors were like we've got nothing to offer you other than surgery.

Speaker 2: 10:22

So they put me on a drug called interferon, which was a horrible, nasty, debilitating drug. You know that as an earth and I took a weekly interferon injection that gave me terrible flu-like symptoms for two to three days every week after each injection, and I took those weekly injections for almost five years. I know brain damage. That's kind of where I at that point in time. But there was a point in time in there, rachel, where it was like I was so sick of being sick that I literally prayed to die. I kind of felt there were two camps. There was the living and the not dying.

Speaker 1: 10:59

And I was in the.

Speaker 2: 11:00

I wasn't really living, I was just kind of marking time Exactly, and so prayer was incredibly powerful for me. And then let me fast forward. So when I had my leg amputated and I found out I had tumors in my lungs, my doctor showed me my CAT scan, and I have no medical background.

Speaker 1: 11:18

I don't know how to read a CAT scan, but you can kind of look at it and be like, oh, that sure didn't look like it belongs there.

Speaker 2: 11:23

These big tumors in my lungs. I blew it all around the pleural spaces and I remember my doctor and saying how was I alive?

Speaker 1: 11:33

And.

Speaker 2: 11:33

Rachel, till the day I die, I will never forget this. He put his head down, he shook his head, no, and then he looked up at me and he said I don't know, because you shouldn't have been. Which said to me God's not done with me yet when I die, where I die, how I die way above my pay grade.

Speaker 2: 11:50

Don't spend a lot of time worried about the dying, spend more time focused on the living, and I believe now God is using my malignancy, my infirmity, to show people his grace, his love, his mercy, his comfort, his compassion. And if that's what God wants to do with me until he wants to take me, I'm great with that I love that.

Speaker 1: 12:11

it's, it's so inspirational. I I go back to my stepmom who, again, like she's was on. She's been on different treatment plans and you know when the beginning was in and out of hospitals and whatnot. But for the past I think she's been diagnosed. Now, three years past, almost two years, she's had no evidence of active disease being in stage four.

Speaker 1: 12:32

So, and it's like in the same thing with the doctors is like it was everywhere, everywhere, and it was. It's the same thing. It's like, well, no, I really I really liken it to faith and God, to having a bigger purpose for you, and and and same thing for her. It's like I know I have a bigger purpose and I have more to do here, so and so do you and I just, I just I just love this so much, you know it just it's so. It just makes you so like grateful for the fact that you know you're living your life on purpose and that you, you know you have a bigger mission and you know and to see, no, we can do this, we can overcome. It's just I love this, sorry.

Speaker 2: 13:08

Exactly, and as a nurse and I'm sure you've seen this, I have, and we haven't talked about this, but the opposite of this is true. You know, a doctor says, hey, you're going to be dead in two years. Now, I've always wanted my life to be based on the decisions that I made yes, the ones that I didn't make for me. But I've also seen people and I'm sure you have too where the doctor says you will be dead in two years and literally on the anniversary of that they're dead.

Speaker 1: 13:33

It's like, cause they get it into their mental mindset. And then it's like, okay, because you know, and it's the same thing with the medical industry we need to be able to go into our hearts and be able to discern. And I get that sometimes you're given tough information and it's like do you choose to take it in and trust it as the gospel, or am I going to choose to do something about it? It's like, what are we going to do? And it is, yeah. I will say that I've been a nurse now a little over 20 years and when I, when I first started in the career, I worked in a hospital and I was one of only two nurses that did chemo. So cause I worked on the oncology unit and I worked on another unit. And it is fast, you, even then you could see like some people it's like they're living to die, or some people that are just I'm going to, I'm going to beat this, I'm going to show you.

Speaker 2: 14:26

I mean, it all happens up here. I mean the mind can, will the body to do amazing things. Absolutely People don't understand that. Yeah, yes To somebody in a white coat with a bunch of initials after their name and it's like I've always said to my doctor look, whatever you want to do, tell it to me. Explain it to me. Yes, not in medical ease. I got to understand what you want to do and what you hope the outcome to be.

Speaker 1: 14:49

If you can explain that to me, then there's a good chance, I'll go along with you.

Speaker 2: 14:53

If you can't, I'm probably going to be like, yeah, I don't think I want to do that.

Speaker 1: 14:56

I like that and also like cause you brought up another good point. It's okay, like, if you're hearing something that doesn't compute with you, get a different opinion, find a different doctor. Like the same thing with my stepmom. Like we actually sent her out of state to specialty care and because she didn't jive with certain doctors and I'm like, okay, well, let's find you someone else. And they got the right treatment plan in place. So it's like be okay with saying this doesn't feel right to me and and go on to someone else.

Speaker 2: 15:24

Sorry, when your spidey senses go off like that, it's like, oh, wait, a minute, feeling good. Yeah, you've got to do something different. Yes, and it's okay. And if your doctor's offended, well then the heck heck with your doctor, find another doctor you're paying your doctor. They're not paying you so and there's a reason they call it the practice of medicine.

Speaker 1: 15:42

It's a practice, they're not 100, sure you know I like that the practice'm going to. Next time I someone says it's the practice of medicine and you're not always right, I'll get those doctors in line. So you built a platform motivational check, which is to help others live extraordinary lives. What inspired you to start this and what has been the most fulfilling part of sharing your wisdom to start this and what has been the?

Speaker 2: 16:08

most fulfilling part of sharing your wisdom.

Speaker 2: 16:09

Motivational check is a word or a phrase that came from when I was in the police academy and it was a phrase that our defensive tactics instructor gave us that, if I mean, we did some crazy things when we were in the police academy.

Speaker 2: 16:25

We would run to this big apartment building, had this fountain outside and the fountain had about a foot of water in it and we would get in the fountain and we would do push-ups and then we would run back, we would be all wet and stuff like that. But that phrase was if you were just having one of those days I can't go on, I'm hurting you could yell out motivational chat and the rest of the class would yell 84. We were the 84th recruit class in the academy, just to let the person know you're not alone, we're here with you. We're struggling as well, but we're going to get through this as a group, as a class, not individually. So when I was looking for something you know what do I call this Motivational check just kept coming over and over and over in my head. And one of the biggest things that I've learned through this this happened about six months ago. A young man sent me an email Never met this person before and he said Terry.

Speaker 2: 17:18

I just listened to your podcast and it was so inspiring I really needed to hear it today. And I said, great, what was the name of the podcast? And he gave me the name. And Rachel, I didn't remember this podcast.

Speaker 1: 17:31

Oh my goodness, I went back and looked it up.

Speaker 2: 17:34

Yeah, it was a podcast I had done two and a half years ago. Wow, found the episode, listened to it and said it inspired him. He was having some health issues. So these things that we're doing now today no-transcript we a lot of times think that we don't. You know, oh, my story doesn't matter. Or, you know, nobody cares about what I have to say, or anything like that. And this I'm going to give you a nursing story. So this was a young nurse that I met when I was in the infusion center. She was already a nurse, about 25 years old, but was learning to be precepted. And about six months later she's taking care of me by herself and she comes in she says Terry, I've got a story I want to tell you, but I don't know how to tell it to you. And I'm like I mean Rachel, I don't know how to respond to that. What do you say?

Speaker 2: 18:19

I'm like well, I hope you decide you want to tell me. So she's in and out for the next couple hours, finally comes in, sits down. She's like all right, here's the story. She said when I first met family I was going to quit nursing, I was going to go to work for Amazon. And she said and then I met you and I see how you react to have a terrible reaction to medicine. And she said no. I went back when I was taking care of you and your file and I read about everything you've been through. And she said when I finished reading your story I knew I was where I was supposed to be Now.

Speaker 1: 18:54

if she would have never told me that I would have no idea that my life had a positive impact on her.

Speaker 2: 19:00

So, everybody who's listening to us that thinks your life doesn't matter, what you're experiencing doesn't matter. I guarantee you, there are people out there watching you.

Speaker 1: 19:09

Some of you may know some of you may not.

Speaker 2: 19:11

They're watching how you handle your adversity and would give almost everything they have just to walk five minutes in your shoes. I love that.

Speaker 1: 19:19

Wow, I'm so. It's how amazing that she felt like she definitely that she shared that with you. You don't realize the positive effects that you leave with people and the ripple effect that happens like years, months, like after maybe we just had a brief encounter Like that's fascinating. So do you believe that overcoming adversity strengthens one's spiritual awareness?

Speaker 2: 19:48

If so, how has your own spirituality evolved through your experiences? Yeah, I mean, there have been many times where I mean, I figure, if God made the entire world, if he's the supreme being, you know, if he made me. Yeah, there are times when I get mad at God. You know, I don't think this hurts, I don't like this, knock it off. You know, and I like to think that there's a relationship there that I can say you know, on those days when I'm I'm depleted mentally, emotionally, physically, when I'm crying, when I'm down on myself, it's like God, I want to pray, but all I can say is God, you know what I need, help me out, you know, work with it.

Speaker 2: 20:27

So this has really, this battle through cancer has really allowed me to say, okay, I'm going to stand on your shoulders when I need it. But then, on those times where I'm good, just be there in case I need to stay there or in case, you know it's a trust fall where I need to fall backwards, and you catch me, you're there for me and honestly, Rachel, I would not be here if it wasn't for God. I mean, I thoroughly believe that this whole thing and, if you think about it, god doesn't owe me anything he made me. He can do whatever the heck he wants with me or any of us, but he's given us freely his love, his mercy, his caring, his compassion. He doesn't have to do that. He could be like I want no supper, I could care less. But no, you love me enough to be there for me to get me through this and hopefully I'm doing what you want, and God has always been able to turn bad into good. I can use your bad, your pain, your suffering for something good.

Speaker 2: 21:29

You may not know what it is, but I just trust that, whatever I'm going to go through, he's going to use it for something that maybe I don't even understand.

Speaker 1: 21:37

Absolutely, absolutely. So what's one belief or habit that maybe you had earlier in life, that you've since outgrown, and what replaced it?

Speaker 2: 21:46

Boy, that's a great question.

Speaker 1: 21:49

I think in a lot of ways.

Speaker 2: 21:50

I, you know, I mean being a college athlete, and that I thought I was invincible. I mean I really, I mean I had had, I'd overcome three knee surgeries in high school to play Division One basketball and I was invincible. And then I graduated from college. My dad was dying, you know, and he was my hero, and I went into this kind of funk where I was like I don't under, I don't understand what's right or wrong, I don't know. So, right or wrong, I don't, you know. So, like everything was, I questioned everything, and I think that was more relying on me and less relying on something that was bigger than me. I think we should all be part of something that's bigger than ourselves, and I quickly learned that no, you, you, you can't do this by yourself. You've got to do this with something that's bigger than you, and for me, that's been my fate.

Speaker 1: 22:38

Oh, I love that. I love that. So your book outlines 10 principles for leading an uncommon and extraordinary life. If you had to pick just one that's been most transformative for you, which would it be, and why?

Speaker 2: 22:50

Oh gosh, perfect question. Love that question, and it's fun for me as an author, because whenever somebody reaches out, there's always one principle that it's like. This is the one that resonated with me, but I put this in the book because I've done it in my life and I'm not proud of it.

Speaker 2: 23:03

This is not something that oh, look at me, look how great I am. No, this was. I was an idiot for doing this. And the principle I think it's number two. It's this one Most people think with their fears and their insecurities instead of using their minds. And I know I've done that, rachel. I know I've wanted to start a project, get involved in business or something, and you pull back and you're like wait a minute maybe I'm not smart enough, or maybe I don't have enough information, or what will people say about me if I fail?

Speaker 2: 23:29

That's thinking with our fears and our insecurities. That's not thinking with our minds. And whenever I have the opportunity to speak, especially to young people, I always tell them if there's something in your heart, something in your soul that you believe you're supposed to do, but it scares you, go ahead and do it, because at the end of your life, the things you're going to regret are not going to be the things you did. They're going to be those things you didn't do, and by then it's going to be too late to go back and do them.

Speaker 1: 23:57

Absolutely. I always say to my clients that God wouldn't put these desires in your heart unless they weren't meant to come true Like you have to. It's okay to be uncomfortable, it's okay to be scared. I always end up with fear to false expectations appearing real. So I that's. That's beautiful advice. So before I ask you the last question, if anyone's interested in learning more about you getting your book, you also have a blog, like you do. A lot of you have a lot. Where's the best place for them to go to?

Speaker 2: 24:25

He's like I know, thank you, here's the $20 I pay you for yeah, He'll pay me afterwards yeah the best way to get ahold of me to do all that is just go to my blog, my website called motivationalcheckcom, and leave me a message there. You can get access to the book there as well.

Speaker 1: 24:44

I love it. So for someone listening today who feels stuck in their own life, whether in their mindset, career or personal growth, what's one actual step that they can take right now to start leading an uncommon extraordinary life?

Speaker 2: 24:58

So I'm tell you a story it's going to start kind of weird, but work with me here on this story happened back in the 1950s at johns hopkins university, there was a professor there by the name of richter who wanted he was doing an experiment with rats. That's why, as soon as he's going to tell a rat story, yes, I'm going to tell a rat story tell it, we don Okay.

Speaker 2: 25:15

So he wanted to see how long the average rat could tread water. So he put these rats in a tank of water that was over their head and the average rat treaded water for about 15 minutes. And just as those rats were getting ready to sink and drown, he reached in, grabbed them, pulled them out, dried them off and let them rest for a while. And and let them rest for a while and they took the exact same rats and put it back in that exact same tank of water and the second time around, on average, those rats treaded water for 60 hours. Yeah, first time, 15 minutes.

Speaker 2: 25:52

It's not like you know your business is going to fail or your marriage is going to go under. You're going to flunk a test your life's over. You're going to die the second time, around 60 hours. Which taught me two things. The number one, the importance of hope in our lives. And if we know we're doing the right thing maybe not today, maybe not this week, maybe not even this year, and nothing's 100%, but there's a really good chance if we know we're doing the right thing, we'll get to where we want to be. And the second thing it taught me was just how much more our physical bodies can handle than we ever thought they could.

Speaker 2: 26:19

Now don't get me wrong. I think we all have a breaking point. That breaking point is so much further down the road than we ever thought it was. We quit, we give up. We give in because we listen to our minds. Our minds say this hurts, it's uncomfortable, stop it. And we do. You don't have to stop it when it's hurting, when it's uncomfortable, when you don't think you can go on. Just put one foot in front of the other, keep moving forward, and it's amazing what your life will end up looking like.

Speaker 1: 26:42

I love that. Keep moving one feet, one foot at a time. That's, that's amazing advice and it's so true. I'm thinking about when I exercise and like, oh, but I can keep going, I can lift more. Yeah, I can do it.

Speaker 2: 26:54

I mean, we know that from you know, looking at people who do marathons you know they hit that wall and if they keep moving forward, they get that second win that same thing happens with your mind.

Speaker 1: 27:05

So so true. Oh, my goodness, this has been amazing. Terry, thank you so much for coming on Spiritual Spotlight Series. It truly has been amazing to talk with you today.

Speaker 2: 27:12

Well, Rachel, I've really enjoyed it. Thanks a lot and I hope our conversation makes a.