What if getting your life back on track worked a lot like getting stronger in the gym?

Each rep can be painful. Each rep can be uncomfortable. But each rep can also make you stronger.

In this episode of Sh!t Creek Survivors, Cam sits down with musician, author, entrepreneur, and lifelong fitness enthusiast Ben Barbic to talk about childhood trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, addiction, recovery, resilience, and rebuilding your life through small, consistent actions.

Ben shares how losing his family's business and home as a child shaped his life, how buried emotions followed him into adulthood, and how anxiety, panic, drinking, legal trouble, and destructive habits eventually left him searching for a way forward.

A turning point came on Ben's 28th birthday, when he came home from jail and heard a message from his son and girlfriend on a teddy bear. That moment forced him to confront the life he was living and begin rebuilding it.

Therapy, meditation, fitness, running, school, music, writing, and fatherhood became part of that rebuild.

But Ben discovered something important: you don't change your life in one giant moment.

You put in the reps.

One conversation. One workout. One page. One meditation. One decision to try again.

Each rep starts to create momentum.

Cam and Ben discuss trauma recovery, anxiety, self-criticism, personal responsibility, overcoming adversity, resilience, and why setbacks don't have to define the rest of your story.

If you're stuck or struggling to get your life moving in the right direction, this conversation offers a simple place to start:

Find your next rep. And do it.

ABOUT BEN BARBIC

Ben Barbic is a musician, recording artist, author, entrepreneur, and lifelong fitness enthusiast.

His memoir, Rise & Climb: Finding Purpose Through Pain, tells the story of rebuilding a life through music, discipline, and fatherhood after years of loss, panic, and personal collapse.

Ben narrates the audiobook himself and weaves original music throughout the story. The Rise & Climb soundtrack album is scheduled for release October 15, 2026.

CONNECT WITH BEN

Website: www.risenclimb.com
X: www.x.com/benbarbic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/benbarbic
Spotify: Ben Barbic
Book: Rise & Climb: Finding Purpose Through Pain

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction
00:57 Who Ben Is Today
01:53 Finding the Origin of His Sh!t Creek
02:23 Losing the Family Business and Home
03:07 Discovering Music as an Escape
03:37 Earthquake, Panic, and Anxiety
04:36 Learning Not to Trust Safety
05:43 When Trauma Feels Normal
06:58 Burying Emotions
09:00 From Surviving to Wanting More
10:27 Shame and Legal Trouble
12:16 Therapy
13:44 Meditation
14:43 Building Small Habits
15:34 Creating Momentum
17:35 Training the Mind Like a Muscle
18:50 The Power of Small Reps
21:02 Writing the Book One Paragraph at a Time
23:46 Losing His Way in His Twenties
24:24 Jail on His 28th Birthday
25:27 The Teddy Bear Message
26:22 Rebuilding His Life
27:21 School, Therapy, Fitness, and Music
28:15 Why Setbacks Don't Define You
29:15 Building Multiple Pillars
32:47 Learning Self-Love
34:14 Breaking the Self-Criticism Loop
37:36 His Last Panic Attack
39:44 Talking About Pain
41:25 Turning Hard Years Into Education
45:25 Advice for Someone Still in the Mud
48:04 Taking Initiative
49:29 Finding Rise & Climb

ABOUT SH!T CREEK SURVIVORS

We believe one thing: everyone has a Sh!t Creek story.

The good news is, no one has to stay there.

Every week, we share real stories, real paddles, and real hope for finding your way through.

Listen, follow, and join us as we figure out how to keep paddling.