Everyone Has Their Own Pile of S#!t!
by Gink Collective
Everyone carries a pile—habits, beliefs, emotional patterns, and unresolved experiences that quietly shape how they think, feel, and act. Some piles are obvious. Others hide behind success, humor, or relentless productivity. But whether it’s small or overwhelming, everyone carries something.
The problem isn’t that the pile exists. The problem is what we do with it.
In Everyone Has Their Own Pile of S#!t!, Gary L. Keck reframes dysfunction not as a personal flaw, but as a collection of outdated survival strategies—patterns that once helped us cope but now limit how we live, lead, and relate to others. Rather than offering quick fixes or motivational slogans, this book provides a research-based framework for understanding those patterns and building the internal resources needed to deal with them honestly.
Grounded in the science of Psychological Capital, Keck introduces four capacities that shape how people respond to adversity and uncertainty:
• Hope – the ability to identify meaningful pathways forward
• Efficacy – the belief that you can act effectively in the face of challenge
• Resilience – the capacity to recover and adapt after setbacks
• Optimism – the discipline of interpreting difficulty in ways that keep effort alive
Together, these capacities form a practical system for reclaiming agency when life becomes messy, uncertain, or overwhelming.
Blending psychological research, real-world experience, and a candid dose of humor, Everyone Has Their Own Pile of S#!t! helps readers recognize the patterns they carry, confront them without shame or denial, and build the psychological strength needed to move forward deliberately.
This is not a book about pretending the pile doesn’t exist.
It’s about learning how to stand in front of it differently—and choosing who you want to become next.
What readers are saying
“Smart, grounded, and refreshingly honest—this book replaces empty positivity and ‘fix yourself’ clichés with practical, research-backed tools that actually work.”
— Author
“"In this easy-to-read book, Gary Keck provides practical strategies that help us implement ways to reclaim our internal resources to work for you instead of against you. We all have accumulated piles of STUFF that impede us from living our best lives. Keck shows us how to reframe our piles and increase our capacity to grow."”
— Dr. Robert 'Bud' Turman
More books by Gink Collective
From Pile to Practice
A Guided Companion Journal
Most people don’t struggle because they lack insight.
They struggle because insight doesn’t automatically translate into change.
From Pile to Practice is where that gap gets addressed.
This guided companion journal is designed to move you from awareness into application—helping you work directly with the patterns, reactions, and internal narratives that shape how you think, feel, and respond under pressure.
Built around the principles of Psychological Capital—hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism—this journal doesn’t ask you to fix yourself, perform growth, or chase perfection. Instead, it offers a structured series of “encounters” that help you slow down, notice what’s actually happening beneath the surface, and respond with greater clarity and intention.
Each section is designed to help you:
* Recognize patterns without turning them into identity
* Understand resistance, avoidance, and self-talk without judgment
* Build the capacity to stay present without escalating discomfort
* Re-engage with your life without self-abandonment
This is not a workbook to complete.
It’s a space to return to.
Some days it will feel useful.
Some days it won’t.
Both count.
If the book gives you the framework, this journal gives you the practice.
You don’t need to do this perfectly.
You only need to come back to it.