Embracing Massive Discomfort as a Good Thing

No one breaks through to the other side by staying the same, doing the same things, and thinking the same way.

If you're doing something new, if you're pioneering a new idea, a vision, or taking a leap of faith in a new direction in your life...

...and you're feeling massively uncomfortable, filled with anxiety on a daily basis even.

Good.

Celebrate it.

I salute you.

I don't know about you, but the past month of my life has been immensely uncomfortable... I have invoked massive change in my life (moving across a continent, and taking many leaps of faith towards bold new projects and directions.)

I'm living life very close to my edge right now... and beautiful things are starting to show up.

However, throughout time, I've felt (and continue to feel) massive discomfort, and what's been getting me through is this reminder:

Massive discomfort is usually a sign that you're in the "river of change", it means you're changing.

Change is good.

Keep moving forward.

Keep breathing.

Your old identity is falling apart, good.

You're in the eye of the storm.

"Safety", "structure", all of it seems to be falling away, you're staring the unknown in the face

Good. Embrace this as your new identity, it will fuel you.

"I take pride in being comfortable being uncomfortable", I've made that my mantra.

Feel free to steal that and make that your mantra too, it will be the boat that carries you to where you're going.

Stay in that boat.

It's okay for things to be messy as you try new things.

It's okay to struggle during this time.

The important thing is to keep going and trust the original vision and inspiration you had that set you off on this path.

It may seem messy right now, there may be more questions and answers, and your finances might be on the edge.

Don't make it wrong, if you make it wrong it will slow down the process or spin you out into fear and anxiety overwhelm.

It's all happening for you to help you.

"Good, damn good." is the magic phrase you need in response to every seeming set-back or overwhelming challenge

Keep saying yes.

Don't grasp for structure and clarity.

The deeper clarity and structures will emerge, it's not time for that now.

Right now it's time to keep walking, one foot in front of the other.

Focus on the joy of creation, inspiration, passion, and keep going.

Ask for help, non-stop.

Follow your intuition, and reach out to those who you think could help.

Sometimes advice is helpful, keep what resonates, and ignore the rest.

Sometimes a hug is helpful.

Sometimes just knowing you're not alone and not totally crazy is helpful.

Sleep, get plenty of rest, journal daily, get it all out on paper, remove distractions relentlessly, remove addictions and toxic people from your life, and stay in the fire.

You live in a friendly Universe.

Even if it looks like everything right now isn't supporting you, it is.

The important thing is to keep coming back to the vision, keep saying yes to the experience, and keep praying a silent "thank you" with every occurrence and every breath, and you will arrive.

Change is good :-)

Kacper

Toilet Paper Tuition (true story)

Recently a friend of mine brought some interesting facts to my attention:

NASA did a study a long time ago, during which they were looking for geniuses...

...and they found that before the age of five, 98 percent of human beings qualify as geniuses.

By the age of ten, that number dropped down to 50%.

By the age of 15, it was at 30%.

By the time you get into your thirties, it was less than 2% of the population.

At 2%, it's clear that the standard education system is literally designed to suck the genius out of you.

It's probably even less than that now.

A genius is somebody, I believe, who has the courage to stand out of the norm, do something different, and mold life according to their vision.

That takes willpower.

Along with the loss of genius, comes the loss of willpower.

To live your truest life, you can't be weak of will.

You have to have willpower.

When I graduated high school I got all my ducks in a row and decided to apply for a student loan of some $60,000 to attend a 2 year "marketing and communications" program at a local prestigious institute.

I had some vague idea that I wanted to run my own business one day so this seemed like a logical approach, and the school assured us this was one of the most in-demand skills in the workforce and would be a worthwhile investment.

I got so far as to have the loan approved, all that was left to do was to drive up to the school, and hand in the application to the office, the money would then be transferred and I would be a happy pupil/debtor and spend the next 2 years of my life at this school.

I remember this defining moment like it was yesterday, it was a sunny hot & humid day in July

I pulled up to the school, and walked into the registration office, I was handed some papers and I began to fill in my details.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with stomach pain, something was moving through me.

I asked where the bathroom was and was pointed upstairs.

They always say the best ideas come to you in the shower or when you're on the toilet.

Sitting on that toilet was revelatory.

As my intestines eased, clarity washed over me.You know what I did instead?

I sat up, tore up the application, and left the building.

I suddenly realized this wasn't the place I was going to learn what my soul was being called to learn, this wasn't going to be my life.

I was going to do it differently.

My soul spoke loudly and told me that I would do what I was going to do by walking my own path and that all the teachers and resources would appear before me whenever I needed them.

I felt invigorated, free, and like I was actually taking a step towards myself.

Another part of me was freaking out... "You're going to throw the security of this marketing degree away?"

"Yes!" was the answer.

I remembered someone saying that in life you often get two choices... security & freedom, and that it's always a test.

Choosing security feels safe but doesn't get you security in the long run, you'll usually end up losing both security and freedom.

Choosing freedom feels scary, but you'll have security and freedom, because you'll rely on yourself, and true security and freedom always lie within.

The truth of this was singing loudly in me, and even though it made no logical sense, it was clear in my body.

I walked to the car and found a parking ticket for a hundred bucks underneath the windshield wiper gifted by the school... I had failed to notice the "pay parking" sign.

I was not only free, I was now a rebel and had a nice parking fine to pay, perfect... I took it as a sign of good things to come 🙂

I rolled down the windows and drove home with Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" blaring on the radio.

I had no idea how I was going to do what I was going to do, or what I was even going to do, but the overwhelming feeling of peace and guidance was with me.

Looking back at that 19-year-old kid I am so glad I made that choice 20 years ago...

Had I gone to that school, I know my genius would have likely been further sucked out of me.

I went the other route and embraced my genius instead.

I took my education into my own hands.

Instead of putting my life in the hands of the system, I put my faith in the masters that appeared on my path.

I didn't look for my teachers, instead I got clear on the vision I wanted to live.

I didn't know much, but I did know that I wanted to build things that mattered and helped shift the world, I wanted to live close to nature, to be abundant, and express who I really was.

All the teachers I needed along my path always showed up when I needed them, and I invested heavily in my time with them.

Life is like that, it's always helping, if we let it.

It cost me 1/10th of what I would have invested in the school initially, and the rewards were far greater.

If I stayed in that school I would have probably stayed small, and gotten a job in a cubicle, or convinced myself I needed to do more formal study to get some other certificate I could hang on the wall.

Instead, I got busy taking risks, making a life, and being a visionary.

Instead of learning from someone who was being paid to teach, I learned from people who were already doing what I wanted to do.

The result? I learned much quicker and built my first multi-million dollar business before I was 21.

I invested in seminars, coaches, books, and most importantly, hard-core life experience as I took bold leaps of faith on my ideas.

Instead of investing in institutionalization, I invested in reclaiming and trusting my genius... and that genius began to shine.

I also learned from many epic failures.

It wasn't always easy, often times it really sucked, and sometimes it sucked for prolonged periods of time... but I was willing to go into infinite debt and loss to be who I really wanted to be.

I'm sharing this story not to tell you how great I am, but because as I see it, at no other point in our history has there been a greater need to take education into our own hands.

And no matter where you are in life, it's never too late to go all in on your genius.

Your genius and your wisdom is inherently deeply valuable, and it's needed in the world.

The world is changing, the old education system is done.

We are also no longer in the information age, information doesn't mean anything anymore.

Every day we are flooded with a plethora of information, there is more knowledge and information available than ever before... but without wisdom and knowing how to apply and leverage this information, one can easily get lost.

We are entering the age of wisdom.

Two decades ago the internet and devices entered our world that put all of the world's information at the tips of our fingertips, it seemed empowering, information was the hype.

Now that same technology and access to endless information is a source of overwhelm, stress, and a deep source of feeling lost and disconnected from the world.

Information is no longer the most valuable thing, wisdom is.

Information means knowing stuff, wisdom means being able to apply that stuff to unlock your innate creativity and create a life you truly love with genuine fulfillment, joy, and prosperity in your life.

Wisdom can't be downloaded, it necessitates connection, community, and deep guidance with a mentor.

A mentor is someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself.

Spending time with a mentor is real education.

There are currently countless people who feel the burn of the information age and are looking for true genuine mentorship and leadership...

True genuine leadership, not just for themselves, but for their children as well.

All the conscious parents of young children I meet these days are yearning to take their children out of institutions as they look on in horror at what is being taught to their children.

Make no mistake, we are awakening.

People are waking up to the value of wisdom.

Many people are recognizing that the original investment they made in "security" didn't pan out exactly as they thought it would, it didn't bring the joy, fulfillment, and the life they imagined they would live.

As the years stack on, as they see their children drowning in the pain of the absence of the leadership they themselves can't even provide, they are feeling the pain of a void that badly wants to be filled.

This is where I see the greatest opportunity lies today.

This is one of the greatest services you can offer to the world: sharing your genius.

The first step is to realize that you are a genius.

I've met many geniuses in hiding, it's an epidemic.

If you've lived enough life, if you lived "outside of the norm" in any way shape or form, if you're an active agent in shaping your own destiny, believe me, there's a genius inside of you.

Many people would gladly pay to spend time with you and learn from your life experience, your wisdom, and your passion.

If you're not happy with what you're currently doing, if you have a sense that there is something more possible for you, consider this...

...it might be time for you to step over that line, and build this new education system, along with the tens of thousands of others around the planet who are doing this right now.

If not you, if not your wisdom and your vision, then who else is going to do it?

This is what I do now with my life.

It's the re-frame I've built around my life and purpose.

I'm an educator, I create video content and I write, I share my wisdom with those who feel called to it.

My aim is to educate people better than the system does and reconnect people to their genius and the medicine inside of themselves.

As I see it, it's up to us to rebuild the whole thing... the education system, the medical system, all of it...

It takes literally throwing your TV away and deleting your Facebook account to really see it, we are amidst a beautiful, empowering, and positive global shift.

You too can be part of that positive change.

The world badly needs the wisdom you have to share.

The world needs your genius, your ideas, your vision, and your leadership.

If you don't think of yourself as a genius, a leader, or a visionary, don't worry, it's not too late to start.

If you don't have a mentor in your life right now or never had one, deeply consider what's most important in your life right now, what you would like to create, and find a mentor who already embodies some or all of what you want to create and do everything it takes to spend time or study with them.

Here's how I currently do it in a nutshell:

Every day I aim to live my life in a way that inspires people to embrace bravery, courage, action, and taking life by the horns, the inspiration and ideas that are a by-product of me living my life become the content I share with the world.

I educate people about cures for incurable diseases and how to heal the body with alternative means.

I educate people on how to turn their visions into reality, create deeply aligned sustainable businesses, and live in accordance with higher values and principles that make life easy and fun.

I do everything to document and articulate that process through writing and video, which invites people into the circle of mentorship I provide...

Everything I do is an invitation to come join me in private, 1 on 1, in a group... real human contact... it's in that private circle of embrace where the transfer of wisdom and deep transformation actually occurs.

I hike or run in the mornings, spend a couple of hours writing, make a couple of videos a week, and do a weekly group call with all my students and some 1 on 1s, it's not complicated.

It's working, many of my students' lives have been altered forever and the relationships and friendships we built together provide deep fulfillment in my life and theirs.

You don't need to know a lot or be an amazing teacher, that skill comes with time... the most important thing is to just bring people together with you.

People will learn much more from observing you than any lecture you give them.

You just have to spend time with the right people and watch how their lives shift.

I don't need a lot of students, 15-20 per year and I can live a very abundant and beautiful life.

But that's just me, that's just my life and the wisdom I've accumulated in my life.

I am just one man, I can only help so many people, and there are only so many people that will resonate with what I have to say.

What about you?

People need the medicine that you have to bring to the world, find out what it is, and bring it.

If you feel the calling to share in any way, you must know that calling is there for a reason, it's there because right now there are people dying to hear from you.

-- End of Part 1 (to be continued)

(This turned into a much longer article than I originally intended, there is so much more I could share about this topic and give specific guidance on how to break into the industry and get over common hurdles... if you'd like to hear more let me know and I'll prioritize writing part 2.)

The Car Crash That Changed My Life For the Better

Great clarity can come from disaster, this car crash made me  the man I am today (true story...)

I started my entrepreneurial journey right here, as a gas station attendant at this exact Chevron station on Steveston Highway in Richmond, BC, Canada. (pic below)

It wasn't fun, I hated every moment of it, the pay was crap, and I came home smelling like gasoline every day.

If you told me then that just a few years later I'd be building multi-million dollar companies sharing solutions to shift the planet, I probably wouldn't have believed it.

Yet every day, at that gas station, I had a feeling that I was meant for something greater, it just felt it like a voice from my soul telling me of something coming.

The feeling was akin to an enormous amount of inspiration wrapped in doubt and despair.

I knew that life was suppose to be more magical than this, but my environment and all my self doubt said otherwise.

Have you ever had that feeling?

During these times, I've learned, if you don't listen to that inner voice, eventually life will push you, or shove you in the right direction...

That shove doesn't always look pretty, but it's a blessing in disguise because it's your soul forcing you onto a different path.

One fateful day, as I was driving to the hospital to see a friend, with my step-brother Paul in the passenger seat, it happened...

I took a left turn on a green light in a dedicated lane...

Suddenly, the sound of screeching tires alerted me that my life was about to change... I had just enough warning to instinctively floor the gas pedal to give us inches that probably saved Paul's life.

Metal contacted metal, the smell of burnt rubber filled our noses, shards of glass flew in our faces, and the force of a sledgehammer flung at full speed rocked my spine as the car spun and did a 180.

A speeding car T-boned my 91' Acura Integra and practically folded it in half.

Many blurring moments later... I was shivering from impact trauma, covered in a blanket, sitting in the back of a firetruck watching the first responders pull my totaled car off the road...

Looking back, I probably had a big smile on my face and didn't even realize it.

Sitting in that firetruck, part of me was upset, that my teenage fantasy of having a car and freedom just came to an end... part of me was frustrated at the loss of that freedom.

But another part of me was in bliss...

A higher power had intervened, thankfully due to me pressing the accelerator, no-body got seriously hurt (though I had back problems for years.)

As I sat there in the firetruck, I just knew, right there and then, that this was it, this was my moment to start doing what I came here to do and stop screwing around.

Since I couldn't drive to work anymore, I showed up at Chevron the next day and quit my job.

I was scared, I didn't really know what to do, but what initially felt like disaster turned out to be a gift as I fully embraced the uncertainty.

Eventually, I got another job that paid more and was way more fun (assisting a wedding decorator), my mom let me drive her spare car to that job (the car had seat warmers too)

I took the money I had saved up and invested it in my first ever business education, I got a course from a guy called "Michael Enlow" in 2003 that changed my life, and I started my first online business which grew into a half a million dollar company quite quickly.

Since then, over the past 21 years as a thought leader and entrepreneur, I've had many ups and downs, as my personal evolution accelerated and I've had to pivot and change...

...but all my successes I attribute to the internal decision I made that day.

Even though it sucked, I decided that day this was going to be the point where I listen to my inner calling and the higher vision.

That stuck with me, and it came in really handy, because this type of situation in life doesn't just happen once...

It's happening all the time, every day you get invited to a higher wisdom and a higher path, but you don't always choose it.

If you ignore it long enough, or you're lucky enough, life will come and push you like it did me.

This might look like losing something... or the path you've been on all of a sudden drying up...

It might look like something that was "working" that you've put a ton of effort and time into suddenly just not working anymore.

It might look like a total calamity.

It usually feels like nothing makes sense anymore, you don't know who you are, or where you're going, and start questioning everything.

While it's difficult initially, if you take the moment to slow down and fully receive the situation, you will begin to feel that there's something greater trying to happen.

Ten times out of ten there is a solution or a path being presented for you that is easier, faster, and more aligned with who you really are.

During this time you are being forged into someone new, as the old pieces of you fall away.

It's important to know during these times, that it's okay to struggle a little bit.

It's okay for it to take time, it must take time.

During these times the thing you usually want most is action and certainty.

...but this is precisely the last thing that you need.

To speed up, you need to slow down.

You need time with yourself, you need to connect to yourself, and take as much time as you need.

You need more you.

More you is the medicine.

"More you" connects you to the vision which your soul is asking you to connect to.

You cannot connect to your vision without connecting to you.

Eventually, the vision and clarity and the next steps will emerge, and it will be glorious.

But first, you've got to embrace everything that's happening, fully, completely, totally.

The reality is, in order to get to the vision and the promised land, you're actually being asked by life to become a completely different human being.

This usually means making some big decisions, cutting off distractions, old stories, and paying attention only to what matters most.

Letting go of fear, embracing courage, and loving the heck out of your life and everyone around you.

And most of all, taking the time to connect to feel and LISTEN, your soul is speaking to you.

Usually what is falling away are all the distractions you've put in your away that have prevented you from listening.

It's why they are being removed.

It's uncomfortable, I know, but trust me, ignoring your soul is much more expensive in the long run.

Slow down to go fast.

What's the nudge or shove you're getting from life lately?

What's your version of getting T-Boned on a left turn right now?

Lean into it, there's a gift in there waiting to be opened.