In this solo episode, host Rob Anderson merges his two podcasts—One Dive at a Time and the Stan Shure Coaching Podcast—to explore how the evolution of Wendover/Blue Lake from an open, rope‑free dive site to a heavily line‑marked environment mirrors the way most people live their lives. He describes the lake’s geothermal oasis, its hidden treasures (old boats, metal turtle, inert bomb) and how the introduction of guideline ropes made diving safer but also limited exploration. Using this as a metaphor, Rob argues that society’s prescribed “lines” (education, career ladders, relationship milestones) provide safety but can stifle personal discovery. He advocates “offline living,” which means navigating life without external ropes—relying on one’s internal compass, intuition, and stillness to notice the beauty between milestones. He outlines how to relearn internal navigation, the discomfort of stepping off the line, and the benefits of seeing unseen opportunities, relationships, and moments of quiet joy. Rob then positions professional coaching as a guide that helps individuals draw their own map rather than follow preset routes, especially for veterans, professionals, and anyone in transition. He ends with a practical challenge to try a small “offline” experiment and invites listeners to a free discovery call via stanshueracoaching.com.
Chapters
It was so much fun on the last podcast, I'm going to do it on this one. I'm actually combining 2 podcasts together, One Dive at a Time, as well as my Stan Shure Coaching Podcast. Kind of carrying over a little bit from the last podcast, talking a little more about some experiences out at Wendover. Wendover is a lake that we, that we love to dive. It's got geothermal pools. It's out there on the Utah-Nevada desert. For me, it's like, it's like a geothermal oasis, and a lot of divers know it pretty well. Well, divers know it. Okay. I'm gonna talk about— I'm gonna talk about why I don't think they know it well. But the water is warm year-round, and beneath the surface, it's just full of surprises. There's old boats down there. There's a metal turtle. There's a metal shark. There's even an inert bomb. So I don't want to say it's an unexploded bomb, because then all of a sudden we'll have EOD crawling over the place blowing stuff up. But it's a— It's an inert bomb. And, you know, years ago when we started diving that place, it didn't have all those guidelines. You know, there's lines that run it from like the platform out to the Turtle or from a platform over to another platform out to the boat. And when I started diving there, we didn't have all those. There was like a guideline between platform 1 out to platform 2, and then just a line that went from platform 2 out to the boat. But, you know, a lot of us learned to navigate it with our compass, with our instinct, with experience. It's got like 10 feet of visibility, and that's no problem, right? No. We knew the direction of where everything was. Most of us had built out our own maps. You know, we knew how to cut across over to get to the metal turtle, how to find our way back. But now the lake looks so different, and it's filled with like all these lines, all these ropes that connect every single point of interest. And okay, I get it. It helps new divers. It helps them feel safe. It makes it easy for instructors, but it's also created something else. And it's created this environment that limits exploration. I would say 95 to 98% of the people out there, they follow the lines going from one object to the next. And they never venture off those lines. And in doing so, they miss all the beauty that's in between those destinations. I'm Rob Anderson. I'm the host of both Stance Your Coaching as well as One Dive at a Time. I'm a professional coach. I'm also a professional scuba diver and Professional scuba diving instructing. So what I've realized is that Blue Lake had really become a metaphor for how most people live their lives. We're taught from like a really young age to follow the guidelines, go to school, get the job, climb the ladder. You're expected to get married at this time. You're expected to marry this kind of person. Go buy a house and follow the plan. And you know, there's nothing wrong with any of that, but somewhere along the way, a lot of people lose the ability to navigate without those lines. So here's what I love about navigating outside those lines. Navigating outside those lines allows me to see all the cool stuff that's not On the lines. And man, when I take somebody else and I just show them like this really cool stuff that a lot of people aren't seeing, something that God made, right? I really enjoy that. And like I said, I mean, there, there's nothing wrong with following the guidelines. But if you do that, you lose the ability to learn to navigate without those lines. You have to have those markers. And so, you know, those lines, I mean, they become constant validation. They become validation of someone else's definition of success, someone else's path. And the problem is, those lines don't always lead us to where we want to go. They just lead us to where everybody else is going. When I dive Blue Lake now, I see those ropes stretching across the bottom. And I mean, it's gotten crazy. There's dozens of them. They cross other paths. You can get tangled in them. Sometimes they're kind of obscured, but they're there. And, and they've really created this barrier of a lake that used to be wide open. I mean, sure, it's safe, it's convenient, but man, it is so confining. And what happens is our life can become a lot like that. It can be predictable, overly guided. It's safe, but it's small. And that's why I've been offering people that I take out there what I call an offline tour. No ropes, no guidelines, no predetermined route. Now granted, when we get to the different objects, yeah, sure, there's— we're going to see the lines, you know, winding up there because that's the destination. But we get to see all this cool stuff in between. The hot spots in the mud or bubblers that people just don't get to see on a regular basis. You're going with your compass. You're going with trust. Sometimes I'll just do navigation by terrain. I mean, it's only 10 feet of visibility, but it's trusting your compass. It's trusting in your awareness. It's trusting in your instincts. It's about remembering that you can navigate your life. Even when you can't see more than just a few feet ahead. So how do we apply that idea to everyday life? It's about relearning navigation. I don't want to say when I first stopped because I don't— I guess for a while I was using the lines. And I knew, I knew how to navigate to this stuff without using the guidelines. And in doing that, I had to make sure that I was— I kept updating and in some cases retraining my sense of direction using the compass. And I got better at reading the terrain. And here in life, the same thing applies. When you're relearning navigation, it means asking yourself, what do I want to do? Or probably more specific, what do I want to move toward? Not what I'm told what I want. What compass am I using? And maybe the other one is, what do I notice when I stop letting others set the route for me? And I know for a lot of people, it's uncomfortable at first. For my divers who've been out there, It's that coming off the line, setting a compass direction that doesn't align with what that guideline is, moving a different direction. But it's in that discomfort is where the, the, your trust in yourself begins to grow. When you make your own decisions, even small ones, what to prioritize, who to spend time with, What projects to pursue, what passions to pursue, what people you allow in your life. You start building your sense of internal navigation again. Because the truth is, there's no single guideline that leads to your fulfillment. Staying in the metaphor, you have to map your own lake. And what's cool about it ties right back into tip number 2. You get to see what other people miss. And that was really evident this weekend. You see, when divers only follow the ropes, they never notice the incredible things between the landmarks. The little geothermal vents that other people, that other people don't get to see. You know, you can see the heat shimmering. It hasn't been disturbed. It's not all, it's not all cloudy over there because no one else has been out there. The different types of fish, you know, watching Watching tilapia and their brood that was hatched that morning. You don't get to see that if you follow along with everybody else because everybody else is disturbing and disrupting that area. I mean, sure, you get to see the occasional fish, right? Or you might find a school of them and hang out in the stern area of one of the boats. But you don't get to see the real beauty. And oftentimes you're getting kicked in the face by somebody else's fins or you're having to swim through the area that they disrupted. Getting offline means you get to see stuff that's just totally undisturbed. Offline living means spending time with your family. Slowing down enough to notice what's between the milestones, the quiet wins, the relationships that aren't transactional, the moments that don't make it to social media, but they mean everything in real life. You know, in a world that rewards busyness, Stillness is rebellion. When you stop trying to keep up, when you, when you see that your life— or let me rephrase that. When you stop trying to keep up, you start to see your life more clearly. You see opportunities that you just would have swam right past. If you're fixated on just getting to the right marker, staying on that line and getting to the next marker. And that's what being offline is. It's living in a way that's guided by awareness rather than expectation. Tip number 3, leverage a coach. I would love to walk, or in this case, maybe swim this journey with you. Because offline living doesn't mean going alone. It means going authentically. And sometimes you find that authenticity, and while you're trying to grasp that authenticity, you need a guide. Who doesn't hand you a map. You need someone who helps you draw your own. And that's what I love about coaching. Because a good coach doesn't tell you which lines to follow. They help you uncover your personal compass. They ask you questions that make you pause. They're gonna, they're gonna want you or help you define for you what success looks like. What you want to feel more about in your daily life, in your work life, in your relationships, in building resilience, in managing PTSD, and attaining your goals, finding out your adventures. Coaching helps you define your version of offline living, whether that's breaking free from burnout, rediscovering joy, or finally pursuing something that's been calling you for years. Because living offline isn't about rebellion. It's about alignment. It's about designing a life that's meaningful to you. It's about a life that's not just simply safe or going as expected. When I work with my clients, and I'm working with clients who are ready to step off the guidelines, whether they're veterans, professionals, or anyone in transition, I take that journey with them to help build a plan That honors both freedom and direction. Because even in your offline living, you still need a compass. You just don't need the ropes. Here's where I want to challenge you this week. Take one small part of your life and go offline. Maybe it's how you spend your morning. Maybe it's how you define success at work or in a relationship or at home. Maybe it's saying no to something that everyone else says yes to or expects you to say yes to. And then notice what shows up. Notice what you see, what you feel, what you rediscover. Offline living isn't about escaping structure. It means finally creating space for meaning. So whether you're out there and you're diving Blue Lake or navigating life above the surface, remember this: you already have the tools. You already have the instincts, and sometimes to really find yourself, you just need to swim beneath the lines. Hey, if you're ready to explore your own version of offline living and you want a coach to walk that journey with you, I want you to go out and check out stanshueracoaching.com. Right there on the site, I've got an intake form for a free discovery call because life isn't meant to be lived on the ropes. For those of you from Stan Shurer Coaching Podcast, thank you so much. For joining me on this podcast. And for those of you from One Dive at a Time, remember this: as long as you've got air, you're all right.
