Taking The Next Step And Stretching Out Of Your Comfort Zone With Keith Leon

Welcome to the Conscious Pivot Podcast with international speaker, business mentor, best selling author of Pivot, and your host, Adam Markell. The Conscious Pivot shares the stories and wisdom of people who have successfully reinvented some area of their business and personal life. You'll gain powerful insights into how you can fully embrace new opportunities, increase your performance, and master the art and science of innovation and resilience. So please join Adam as he guides you on your Conscious Pivot.

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Conscious Pivot Podcast. And I am so thrilled, as always, honored, and feel so grateful to be here with you right in this moment. I've just had a delicious yet quick lunch. I'm apt to spend time chewing my food. I never listened to my dad growing up when he said, eat your food slowly, chew your food, digest your food, taste your food. I never listen to any of that, you know, because what does my dad know? What does anybody know, right? When we're in our teens or twenties or thirties even, sometimes, right? But I have adopted that ritual. I think our rituals are very powerful in our lives. They can really add great quality to our lives. And by ritual, I mean the things we do on purpose, consistently, in a ritualistic way, in a very conscious, but a way that is also not intermittent or random or just occasional. So these are conscious habits, intentional and conscious habits, master habits you can call them. And one of mine is to pray into my food. To put energy is how I envision, just putting this love into my food, this gratitude and appreciation into everything that it took all the animals and all the people and all the services and all the moving parts that it took to bring that food to the point where I can nourish my body, my mind, my heart, my soul with that food. So I just did have a beautiful, but quick, quicker than normal. L. I'm so excited to be with all of you that if you're watching or if you're listening or both, etcetera, just feel so blessed to be in this space with you. We always start our shows with gratitude. So in this moment, that's what I'm grateful for. As long as you're not operating any heavy equipment, close your eyes if you want, even, and feel for just a moment what it is that you are grateful for now that you are appreciative of in this moment. And for me, it's that sometimes it's so simple because just the breath, and I say just the breath as though it's something insignificant, but we do, and I do take the breath for granted. Imagine breathing in and not being able to breathe out. We wouldn't take that breath for granted very long, would we? And we know what that's like when we're underwater. I'm a Pisces. I spent a lot of time in the ocean and pools and things like that. When I'm holding my breath or I'm under the ocean or I've been slammed under the ocean from the surfboard that I was previously riding, I'm under a wave. I very much appreciate my ability to breathe and to breathe with ease and with grace and, and without a lot of fuss. So this breath is special. And I receive this breath with all of you together. We are one in this breath. And that feels great. What a great reminder that we are. That we are so connected. And speaking of reminders of great connections, I am reminded that I have a guest, I have a guest on today's show who I am love dearly. He's a brother. And I do mean that. A brother in all the, all the truest sense of that. And known this gentleman for a long time. So happy that I get to have conversation with him in your presence, that you get to be part of that and experience his energy and his love and his light, his presence as well as his wisdom. Because he is just a very wise man, far wiser than his years. And I know he's not a kid, I'm not a kid, he's not a kid. We're not old men either. So he's gained a lot of wisdom and he's going to share a lot of that with all of us today, which I'm excited for. His name is Keith Leon. I'm going to share a little bit about his background and then we're going to bring him right on to start this incredible conversation. Keith Leon is a multiple best selling author, he owns a successful publishing company and he's a world class trainer. That is true. He is well known as the book guy. Keith has appeared on many popular radio and television broadcasts and his work has been covered by Inc. Magazine, LA Weekly, the Huffington Post and Succeed magazine, just to name a few. He's also spoken in events that included Jack Canfield, Neil Donald Walsh, Barbara DeAngelis, John Gray, Michael Beckwith, Adam Markell, I don't know who that guy is. And Marianne Williamson. Keith's passion is teaching people how to go from first thought to bestseller and create what he calls the world's greatest business card. So please, please, wherever you are right now, open those eyes. Just perk right up because I Get to bring on this amazing gentleman and a dear friend, Mr. Keith Leon. Keith, welcome to the show.

Hello, everyone. And hey, Adam. I am so grateful, grateful to be in your presence at this time.

The bio is. It's great bio. I love it because it's easy to read, for one thing, and it's succinct and it says a lot about who you are and who you've been in the world. What's not in the bio that you'd love to share with our listeners and our viewers.

I didn't hear the words heart centered in that. And I think anybody who knows me would definitely, definitely claim that that is the truth about me, that I'm always leading with my heart.

Yeah. So conspicuously missing from the bio.

Art centered entrepreneur.

Note to self. Right?

Yes or no.

To be giving someone else who's going to make revisions to the bio.

Right.

Yeah. Keith, any anything else? I mean, it doesn't have to be anything else, just curious. Anything else you want to supplement?

Just that I love life and I love helping people get to their next place, whatever that is, because we're all in a different place. And anytime that I can do anything that offers somebody, just that next step is something that I'm grateful for and appreciate.

Yeah. Way cool. And it's so funny because just before we turn on the. Officially turned on the podcast and hit the record, but we were discussing that because I'd asked Keith what his intention was, his intention for the podcast and what the listeners and viewers would receive. What was what he intended for them to receive when that came up, this wanting folks to be clear and being able to move forward and take the next step. And I said to Keith, and I don't know that Keith, if you'd heard this from me before, but the title of the next book is called the Next Pivot. So that's kind of an unofficial official announcement or there, you know, of what the title. And it's about that next that next pivot, which you're pretty familiar with Next Pivots, right?

Absolutely. And it's like every success that's ever happened was a series of baby steps all strung together. And for years I've been doing a process with people called the Reverse Action Plan, where you start with what you want to achieve and say what would be the last thing that would happen right before that happened? And you write that down and then what would be the. What would need to happen in order for that to happen? And you keep coming backwards until what you write down is your next baby step. I mean, your next baby step. And I think when you start with that list in mind, you'd never feel like you're doing anything more than your next baby step. But before you know it, you're standing there going, ha, I have that. Or I am that. How did that happen? And then that's where I show you the list because you followed this. So, yeah, it's all one baby step at a time. And the next thing you know, you're there.

I mean, how important is it really? And I think, well, I'm going to ask you, how important is it just to be able to take the next step, do you think in terms of the pivot process, how important is it to be willing to take the next step?

It's everything. It's everything. I think that one of the things that you were talking about, rituals, one of the rituals that I love to do is at least once, once, at least once a month, I do something that just scares the crap out of me. Something that's like so big of a stretch that I go, I'm not sure I want to do that. And that's what, that's what keeps me willing to brave the smaller things as they come up. And to see those things that in the past I might have seen as a big hurdle, you know, compared to this other thing that I like to do once a month, these things are like, oh, no, this too shall pass. I'll get over this. Oh, next thing I know, we'll be through this, you know. And so it's all just levels for me. But next step, and especially bold next step is mantra.

Wow, so you're saying you're declaring out loud that you find ways to scare yourself. Because I think probably listening to this and going, what?

Boldly do something that scares the crap out of me.

Most of us, most people, I would say, are looking for every way out of anything that brings up fear for them. Fear is the worst possible feeling for most people, so that you seek it out on some level. Well, give us a. I mean, that's a pivot of a magnitude, mindset wise. It's a pivot for sure. Why is that the case and what started that? I mean, let's, let's, let's follow the thread there.

I think it all started with my. I had this recurring nightmare from childhood because my father was someone who loved to jump out of planes. He was, he parachuted. And I had this reoccurring nightmare that I was an adult and that I would be in this plane all strapped up and Ready to jump. And I get to the door, and I. And I couldn't do it, and I wouldn't do it, and I'd have to ride the plane down, frustrated. Why didn't I do it? And I had that nightmare, and it kept having it, and I was like, what is this about? And then I realized that I had a fear of heights and I couldn't even get up on a ladder. And so what could I do to get through my fear of heights? I jumped out of a plane. Because I figured if I could do that, if I could get up to the door and get out the door and skydive and then land on my feet, how on earth could I ever be afraid of going up a ladder again? Right? And so I did. I jumped out of a plane. And a perfectly good plane, by the way. And, like, no.

No real reason to jump out of a perfectly good plane.

Right, Right. That did indeed. Did indeed cure my. My fear of heights. And because I couldn't be afraid of being on a ladder when I had done that, it just in. That was a switch in my brain. And then I also grew up with an experiential growth company called Insight Seminars, and they did have you do some stretching during that seminar and doing things that were bold and that you would normally not do.

Stretching, like, you know, stretching arms above the head, arms out to the side. Is that what kind of stretching you're talking about?

Stretching right out of your comfort zone? Because everything that's worth its salt is right outside of your comfort zone. And I've heard you say that before, something similar to that. So stretching out of my comfort zone. And so that's what I. That's what I do. You know, one year on Valentine's Day, my wife Mara and I. And, you know, Mara, instead of doing candy and flowers and dinner like everyone else would do, we were like, what could. What can we do that would be completely different and would be a stretch, would be a little scary? What can we do? And so we made one of those little, you know, cootie catchers that they have in school. They call it a cootie catcher, where it has, like, numbers and things, and ultimately you end up opening up.

I didn't know they called it a cootie catcher.

Yeah, that's when. Back when we were relationship experts, my wife and I, so we. We made a cootie catcher. And it had numbers and then. Or colors, and then it had numbers on the inside. And then the message. The message inside were actually relationship questions. And so we Went into a mall and said, would you like to play the love game? And they were like, what's the love game? Said, did you want to play it or not? And so we would sit there with this kitty catcher, and ultimately they would end up answering a relationship question vulnerably and honestly. So first of all, it was scary to go to a mall and walk up to people that we didn't even know and ask if they wanted to play a game that they didn't know. Then we, then we were gonna ask.

Unless you've been trained in the market research business.

Yeah, okay. Yeah. Well, it was a little no, no, no, no.

To get one person to say, yes, exactly.

No, I don't want to do that. So we did that and we had more fun. And even when the security card came up and we were thinking, we're gonna get kicked out because we're harassing people, he came up and said, I heard you're doing something called the love game. Can I play? And we were like, yes. And so we did it with him. And the question he got was so profound for him. And we had a half an hour of the most heart centered connection that we had had in years, let alone that day with him because he was willing to come up and, and try. And when we left that night, we felt like, wow, was that so much more rewarding than just flowers and candy and a dinner?

Well, what a beautiful example of what that that could look like. Because my feeling is that people that hear this, that you've heard something like that maybe before, and they, they don't necessarily even trust that that's truly the case. When people say, oh, yeah, I do something that scares me every day or every week or whatever it is, like, yeah, sure, O. And then to talk about it in the context of jumping out of a plane, it's like, okay, now I'm completely disconnected from this conversation because there's just no way and no, no way in the earth on this earth that I'm gonna jump out of a perfectly good plane.

Right, right.

People will be like, no, no, I gotta do that. I've done that or I'm gonna do it. And Randy and I have not jumped out of a plane, but we've bungee jumped off of a bridge, very tall bridge in British Columbia. So, I mean, there's that, but it doesn't have to rise that level. That gradient probably, okay to use that word here in that context, that gradient is too steep. But yet to be on your growth edge or outside of your comfort zone. Can be something that just like what you described. What a great example.

Yeah. Or reach out to somebody who, you know can help you get to your next level, your business, you know, and just thinking of calling that person might. Right. Make your heart beat a little, little fast. But to make the call anyway because there's nothing but good can come from it. Whether they say yes or no, you know, you have a great connection and you. And you got some feedback. So sometimes when they say no, that's great feedback. Right. Tweak the language a little bit of a language change can change everything in a sales context.

No, no is really wonderful feedback because you hear no enough, you get to know, well, what doesn't work, what's not working and when you know what doesn't work, you know what does work, at least if you're paying attention. So hearing no is not a necessarily a bad thing. Might not, you know, make us sort of build up our need for approval or need to be liked or a need for self gratification or whatever you could call it. Or fulfill the ego's agenda in the moment. Right. But no is a great, great word. It's a valuable word, really important word. Holy smokes. How do we get on to no? Who cares? We pivoted right to it. Keith, would you share a little bit about your experience in pivoting? Because you're kind of a pivot expert, I would say, in many ways. And we featured one of your pivot stories, pretty profound story of your pivot in the business arena, in the arena that you're in currently, which is publishing. And we might speak a little bit about that later too. But it's obviously featured in, in the book Pivots, so we don't have to necessarily repeat that now, but so I asked you before, what's something else? And you like, well, jeez, what do I choose from? Have so many. So I'm going to put it to you.

Yeah, well, the most recent pivot. That is incredible. It still does have to do with business, but it was that for so many years. It was me, you know, I was the sales team. I was all the things that I wanted to hold on to and hold control of because I didn't feel like I trusted anybody else to do. And so if you're in the publishing world, like my name is on the book, so I always held on to the book cover. Right. Designing that, made sure that the layout was the way I wanted it, the words were the way I wanted it. I was overlooking the layout. I was doing like the front end and the back end. All Keith, all the time. And as we begin to grow and grow and grow, it became harder and harder to do all of those things. And so I had to look at, why am I holding on to these things? What is it? Why am I holding on to this? And I realized that I had a fear that someone else would let me down if I gave that to them. If I gave them the pieces that felt the most important and represented our company the most. Right. Because people do judge a book by its cover. I had to control that. But it was my fear. And so I really looked at that once I had that information. Okay. So once I really looked at it, I realized that it was a template that I had created that I want all of our books to be, and that that template was teachable. I realized that my layout artist had been doing layouts for us so long, whoever was working with him, all they really had to do is send it and get it back and work with the client. It wasn't rocket science, any of it. It was just my control and wanting to hold on to that. And so. So that I've been able to replace myself in all the busy work that I used to do. And that time has then allowed me then to seek out a sales team, because I was holding on to that, too. Seek out and train salespeople and be available to train salespeople. Wow. I go on calls with them while they're talking to people and. And to be creative, to have time to be creative again and to take a break in the middle of the day and write a song, you know, for my wife, because I can do that, because I'm not now doing all those tasks that I held on to for so long. So I think it was a huge pivot in letting go of control, in trust, in allowing the universe to do its work and through me and through the team members. And so now I am free to do more things that I love to do. Free to speak more. I'm free to take a break in the middle of the day if I want to do that. And that's been so, so empowering for my soul. Right. Which was over taxed and overworked up until the point that I did that.

So, Keith, I could. I mean, there's a lot of places we could take that conversation. But what's coming up in the moment for me is that the holding on to that task, or let's say to any task in particular and wanting to control and your fist was made when you were Doing that, wanting to keep that control, that's a symptom of something else. Because where there is the need for control in one area of the business or in life, there's certainly other areas where you're holding on. Not you, but just all of us were holding on to something. And I'm more interested at the moment in what the root of the control or the desire for the control is, because it could be that in that moment, releasing, letting go of the control and turning it over to other people and trusting and, and training and following up and delegating with. Follow up, not abdicating, but truly delegating. Right. That, that created a solution to the busyness in the business in that moment. And yet it might be that because it's symptomatic of something else, that you're still hanging on and controlling and still dealing with that in some other area of your life. So I'd love to know at a deeper level, what was the control, if you know what it is, what was the root of the need for the control? And did the releasing of the control in that, that context change something on a broader scale for you personally?

Well, as I said, it boiled down to fear, you know, fear that I was the only one that could do it. Like, I was so special that I was the only one who could do this. And yeah, so, so letting go of that and looking at that helped me see that I had fear running. And I feel like in so many places in my life, I've let go of the fear right down to doing something once a month that scares me. Right. And so why would I bring that into the thing that I'm the most passionate about, which is my business? Why would I bring fear of anything into that? And so, so it just helped me once again, look at, you know, what is, what is that fear about? And just keep digging underneath and underneath and underneath till I got to the, to the control piece. So it just, it kind of went round and round. You're like, what's underneath the control was fear. But then what was underneath the fear was more control. So I think it was just, it was going round and round on itself. And as soon as I gave those things up, I felt this just huge sense of relief, huge sense of relief because I had faced the, the biggest fear that I felt was getting in my way.

Interesting. And the other, other areas of your life benefited from the chat, from confronting. You confronted the fear that nobody could do it as well as you, at the same time released control, let go of control to Give. Give some, you know, evidence, action behind the. The desire or the intention of. Of overcoming the fear.

Right, right. And then that spilled into everything. So that, you know, where. Where in my relationship were there things that I was holding on to because I thought that I was the one that could do it the best, perhaps I could let that go. Hey, honey, would you like to do this? Or in the fact that I make music, being able to trust a band member or somebody who's on the supportive team as opposed to trying to micromanage that too, because I'm an engineer. So if I play, it's really easy to say, hey, can you play this and do that and do it this certain way, as opposed to just step up to the mic knowing that it's going to sound good and then if it doesn't, it's okay.

Yeah. Interest I was really blessed to have as a guest. Blessed to have as a guest. That's a great alliteration there. Just yesterday, had Alan Cohn on, and we were talking about some spiritual practices and. And what we've been practicing, and he's been practicing it longer than I have. And we talked about letting go and how what you're describing, letting go. It really is a wonderful thing to practice letting go and not necessarily something that comes as second nature to lots of us because we hang on to stuff, because it brings us safety. I mean, I'll just speak for myself. I hang on to things primarily because I feel safer when I do my body. Physical safety, emotional safety, whatever version of safety. I hang on to things for that reason and letting them go. Challenges I have to challenge. I'm being confronted by that fear. That's always the root. I definitely believe in that theory that there's basically just two ways of being in life. Two ways. Simple love. Simple. Right. There's fear and there's love and those states of being manifest. And look, you know, you could find millions of different ways of describing each of those states of being and how they manifest. But when we boil it all down, the root, root, root, the cause of causes, a root level of causality is fear or love. Yeah. So my hanging on to things or controlling things and all that kind of thing, it's all rooted, just as you said, in fear. And letting go is such a wonderful practice. And I'd heard some time ago, and I've shared this with. With folks when we do our masterminds and some of our other programs, we occasionally take people out for a process or an exercise, and sometimes we go someplace like a beach to do a walk and that kind of thing. And I'll share this, that the whole of life is a process of letting go, that all of life is just about letting go. I mean, we think about when we get to the end of our days. My goodness, what will let go of. Everything will have let go of, you know, how we look and how what we think of ourselves and what we think other people think of ourselves and our titles and our positions and our money and our possessions, and all of that we will let go of. And none of it we will take with us as far as we know. So, you know, it might make some sense.

It could be a good idea to.

Begin practicing the process of letting shit go.

Let it go now.

Like your anger, your resentment, your, you know, the little image that we have of ourselves sometimes that we hasn't really changed much since we're 8 years old. And to be able to let go of those things that don't necessarily take us where we want to be in the moment. So, Keith, you're. You're a very spiritual person, you know, how have you always been that way? Has there been a pivot in. In spirituality and your spiritual path, for example?

Hmm. I've. I've been spiritual since. Since I was a child, and I just. I knew what I believed in and it didn't. It wasn't in agreement with the religion that I grew up in. So all of my family is with one particular church. And even from childhood, I just, I wasn't feeling that my. My thoughts were more universal. My thoughts were more cosmic. My thoughts were more of a. My personal relationship, you know, with. With my. With my God. Then, then a dogmatic way of being, which is what I was seeing all around me. So. So yeah, I've always been spiritual. And it wasn't till later that I. In my adult life that I, like, three different people came up and told me about this one spiritual center. Three different people. Hey, I went to this place in it and it made me think of you. You should check it out. And once I heard that name Agape three times, I said, I better go check this out. And I went. And it was just like, oh, you know, that's. That's everything I've been saying since I was a child coming from the stage and, and it was just an amazing transformation. And then I also have a whole nother level in that I have known and about guardian angels and angels since I was a child, and I could hear my guardian angels voice since I was a child and where people thought I was just a nutty little kid that was hearing voices. You know, that guardian angel saved my life a number of times. It's eight now, but number of times when I was a child, and even.

So much as in eight times, your life has been saved by your God.

Yeah, that I should have been gone. And I'm still here. And I've seen literally time reverse to keep me here, to do the work that I do in the world and to be who I am and to step into that ministry, which is my life. And even as a child, one of the things he did was told me that this little girl up the street was gonna be my wife when we got older. And I told my mom, oh, that girl's gonna be my wife. And she's like, yeah, okay, that's sweet. And then every time we pass, it.

Be like, pat on the head, pat on the head.

Go out and play. There's my wife. And after a while, even she was like, there's your wife. And so in my mind, my idea of this perfect 10 woman that would be my wife was her growing up. And so when I met her growing up, I knew it was her. And then eventually I told her the story, and she's like, yeah, okay, dude. And then I drove her to the neighborhood that was your house. I used to walk up the alley, I'd hear you playing in your room. That was your room, you know, and she was just like, what? Right? Then she was like, well, if an angel told you, then maybe I should at least check this out. And so that was my wife for 13 and a half years. I now call her my practice wife. And, you know, it didn't say she would be my wife forever. Said she would be my wife. And. And it was good as long as it was. And then we. Then we moved on and stayed best friends, you know, or stayed good friends for. Until she just recently passed.

I'm sorry.

And, yeah, so I've always had. Always had that connection to source in profound ways. And from childhood, the things that I said would come true. And I noticed that at a very young age. And sometimes it would come manifest quickly, and sometimes it'd be a year later, but they always came true. Whatever I said would happen, whether it was good or whether it was bad. So eventually I figured out if everything was going to happen the way that I spoke it or said it or believed it, then I probably should be really aware of what I say, right? And to try to not have venom, right? Or anger towards people, and especially not to vocalize It. Because I felt like it would come true, just like everything else that I did. So that made me very mindful of the way that I spoke from a very young age. And that may have been a literal lesson from my angel or an awareness that I had, but either way, had it for a very long time.

That's beautiful. You know, you and I have not really talked about this before, I don't think. Certainly not that I can remember, but are being. Becoming friends? I mean, there's lots of coincidental, circumstantial things that we could say is the reason why we met and how we started to interact and everything. But I do remember early on because you and I had met at a program, and you'd met Randy, you'd met Chelsea. I think at the time, they were both coaches working at this Life Directions program that we were running. And then you and I got introduced, and we started to talk about the fact that I was writing a book, and I was putting together what was an e book time. And I was looking for guidance. I'd never written a book before. My dad is an author, published fiction author, but he didn't have any information in the nonfiction space. And frankly, I was feeling pretty insecure anyway about writing a book, especially since my dad's professional had really worked on the craft and still to this day, and he just published a book last year, and.

And I just.

I felt pretty pretty, you know, not especially empowered to talk to him about starting a project, especially a nonfiction project. So I went and spoke to you, and you were very empowering to me. I mean, you gave me tools. You shared information. And beyond just the information that you shared, you also recommended the book to friends of yours or people, colleagues as well, that might endorse the book, meaning put their name on an endorsement that said, this book is worth reading, checking it out, and all that kind of thing, which was amazing. But even with that, this generosity that I felt from you and this open willingness to jump in and offer me some help, and I wasn't in any position at the time, you know, to help you. I wasn't a CEO of that company at the time. I was just an assistant trainer just getting started, so. But what I remember most was the connection on what I would call spiritual level, that we were in meditation while we were speaking. It felt like we were in prayer while we were speaking that very first time. You recall that conversation we had?

I do. I do. It was more like beloved. How have you been then? Nice to meet you. Like, we had done it together. Before, for hundreds of years or whatever. And I was just connecting with you on this plane again. Yeah. Just felt instant connection and wondered, am I the only one feeling this? I wonder, you know, because you told me, like, at that end of the conversation that you. That you felt it as well. And so that's why I had looked forward to all the ways that we could make a difference together. And we're doing that now. And that's why I'm just so, so blessed and grateful. Yeah.

We've been able to teach together, which is so cool. I mean, for those of you that are curious about this, we had. Keith is taught at our heart of enrollment level 1 masterclass for speakers and learning how to create some mastery in the area of speaking, facilitating and presenting from stage. And now at our Level 2 program, also, Keith has got a really beautiful part in our Level 2 program, and just beautiful. And Keith and Mora both just have been such a great addition to the curriculum and the delivery of what our highest intentions are for those. For those students. So thank you for that. Appreciate it. Yeah. You mentioned Agape and that spiritual center. Such a. I think it's wonderful. I remember going to Agape for the first time and listening to Michael and. And then just, I think last year we had. Yeah, it was last year we had Michael Bernard Beckwith on our podcast. I've met him now a half dozen times, just through serendipity. We had a meeting in his office, and I met him here and there, and then ATL meeting and all kinds of places. We've run into each other. So Cynthia Kersey's unstoppable gal. I just kept running into him like.

What'S going on, brother?

Are we supposed to do something together?

I don't know.

But we, you know, out of nowhere, just kept kind of. Our paths kept crossing. And when things like that happen, I do tend to want to see or feel what the. What the. You know, what's the higher purpose in what's occurring? Is there another layer through which my lens can be adjusted to see? Because I don't believe at all. I'm going to ask you this question. I don't believe in the randomness of anything. I really don't. I think everything is so intentional.

Yeah.

Yeah. So that's my question. Do you believe in things connecting and that there's this interconnectedness of everything, or is there some place for randomness? I suppose.

There'S purpose for everything and that it's all connected. And I even go a step further and believe that I'M personally responsible for everything that I have in my life, that I either created, promoted, or allowed everything that I have in my life. And that's through my words, through my actions, through my beliefs, things that I say and the things that I believe. And as I really monitor that and encourage, you know, some of my students to monitor that, I found that it just always proves to be true. I think every. Every interaction, every connection I've had. Everything that seemed like a complete nightmare to me when I was going through it, including my divorce from my. My wife. Oh, an angel told me I'm going to marry her, and now we're getting divorced. What's that about? You know, that was like a seeming failure. And it wasn't because then I realized, well, oh, well, he never said we'd be together forever. He just said she was going to be my wife, which she was great, right? And so now what can I learn from that first marriage? And what I learned was that reminded that everything I say is happens. So I created a list of all the qualities and everything that that would be my perfect match in my next mate, should I ever meet one, you know, and wrote all of those things down. And then I looked at the list.

Voila.

Well, not quite.

No.

No. I looked at that list and realized that if I wanted to attract those qualities, I needed to become all of them myself. And there was three things on that list that I didn't feel like were me truly 100% that I was in integrity with that myself.

What were those? Do you recall what those three things were?

I'm gonna keep those personal. Well, okay. One was one of. One was honesty.

I was working transparency.

I was working at a TV production house where constantly when we were talking to people, they. The owners were, tell them I'm not available or tell them I'm not here. You know, and they had us like, lying on the phone. And so I literally had to go to my bosses and say, I will not lie for you anymore. If you're not available for an appointment, then I will tell them that. And then I'll ask schedule them. If you don't want to talk to them at all, then I'm going to tell them we're not interested. But lying to skate, that is not working for me because then I'm. Then I can't be in integrity with this. And I'm working on this list. They're like, okay, Ludy tunes, but I love it. That's right.

Okay, Ludy.

But I did. It took a while, but I became that List fully and completely. And then. And then I was able to take the list and pray on it and let it go and go about my life, knowing that because I had become all those qualities myself, that I would now attract them and it was only a matter of time. And then I put things like about Mara, right, that her light would enter the room before she would, and that she had long brown hair and dark skin and a big nose and a big booty, right? And that was very specific. And not only qualities, but physical features. So I would know, because I really thought, you know, maybe I will never be in relationship again. And if I'm supposed to be, then I want to make sure that it's the right person. So I was very clear. But at Agape, like, I got clear that I was going to meet her at Agape. So I started going to both services every Sunday because I didn't want to be sleeping in and have to wait three months because she went to the first service. So I went to both services for many, many months. And then one day, I just saw the light walk in the room before she did. And then she walked in, and she looked like everything that was described on my list. And then she came over, and she was best friends with the guy that I had just become friends with and got introduced. And it was like, the more. And the more I spoke with her, the more I realized, oh, this is her, and the rest is history.

Now it's the time for the.

Voila, voila. 18 years later, we're still newlyweds.

18 years later, still newlyweds.

And it was like it was a match. And I mean, every. Everything, all the way down the line. And come to find out, she had done a very similar process. She called it a marketing plan, but she wrote everything and then realized she needed to become those things, did the work she needed to do, and then gave it to the universe. And then she was so used to not being worried about it that she didn't even realize when it was standing in front of her face. So it took me a minute to get her to catch up.

I'm on your list.

Hello.

Look up from your list.

And when she showed me hers, I was like, are you stalking me? Because it was like everything that she had said, you know, practical and magical, like the list was, it was crazy. It was me.

Talk about synergy. I had Ariel Ford. We had a conversation, did a podcast, and she was describing something very similar. You've got to put your request out to the universe, I think, is how she described it, but you've got to put the request out for what you want. But what I really love is the level of personality, personal responsibility that you, that's part of the mix or the recipe that you just described. And those who are paying really close attention right now. If you missed the recipe, a key ingredient was in being the person you wanted to attract or being the qualities of the person that you wanted to attract. Which is so similar of course the Gandhi's be the change you want to.

See in the world.

And that's very different than expecting that someone else will complete you. Obviously, you know, Randy and I have spoken and taught on the topic of relationships as well. And what we love to point out is that it is not the goal to be made complete. That is not a realistic goal to have that someone else will fix you or complete you or fit, you know, like complete your soul, your soul is complete. You are perfect just as you are. And yet if you are alone and want to attract someone, it is the qualities. It's this. Put the message out, put the rest, you know, put the request out to the universe and then be that which it is, be that, that you wish to attract. Be that. I mean you can't say I want somebody who's, you know, got a beautiful giving spirit and you're a stingy, you know, so, you know, so whatever, you know, it's like those two things don't line up you as a stingy human being, don't attract a generous, a generous soul to you.

Right?

That's, that's not, that's not how it works. Like attracts, like, I mean opposites attract as well.

And that's polarity and usually, usually surface stuff.

But it is, it's very much a sexual polarity. It's a physical, it's a thing that attracts people to continue to propagate the human race. Got that? But that's, there's something very different between that form of attraction and the type.

Of.

What'S the right word here? Compatibility or the type of thing that contributes, that is loving, that creates a loving relationship. Long term and short term passion and interest in someone, all well and good. I'm not against that. But to have a, and at the same time to have a long term loving relationship, you, you don't want to, I wouldn't want to spend time with someone who's the out of integrity. I mean, so if you're out of integrity and you want to attract somebody who's in integrity, meaning you lie and you cheat and you are okay with it, you know, you just do it again and again, even though you know it's not, doesn't make you feel good, but you do it again and again. And you want to attract somebody who's a very honest and forthright and trustworthy person and somebody that's not going to betray you. Yeah, right, but you're the kind of person who betrays people and gossips and talks about people behind their back.

Hello.

You might, you might attract somebody to have a couple of, you know, weeks or months of fun with, but that's not going to be a person. That's going to be a long time. That's, I think, really important to note. And that recipe of being it and then attracting that which you are being. And, and you know, and you can't be something physically different. Right. So it's not a question of, you know, I want to be taller. I want to, you know, on your list is I would love to attract this mate that's taller or whatever. You can't be taller. That's not, we're talking, we're not talking about a physical, even sort of a, not superficial, but a physical thing. It's a thing that. We're talking about the qualities of the human being.

Yeah, right. I said spiritual, not religious. I said drinks occasionally, not professionally. That's a good one. Drinks occasionally, not professionally on that list. But you know, I've always, I've always been a question asker and I remember being at my aunt and Uncle's 50th anniversary and I was just a teenager at the time and there was a lot of people there that, that were their friends who had 50, 55, 60, 48, a lot of years, marriage. And I went to all those couples and was just picking their brains because I was just like curious, like, how did you last that long? And when you, when you saw the surface stuff, that's why I was saying on the surface, opposites attract. When on the surface I would just look at these people and I'd be like, how are they even together? Because women be really sweet and the guy would be like all crotchety and you know, the one woman would be like, let's go dance. And he'd be like, no, I don't want to dance. You know that. And so opposites attract on the surface. But when I asked them the real questions, right, and got underneath to the good stuff, their qualities, their core beliefs were the same, right? The qualities of who they were underneath, like the tough guys under their tough exterior, they were really just teddy bears and they really just all wanted to love and be loved. And there was, like, different ways of saying that. And then they found the person that they felt really loved them in the way that they would want to be loved and the way that they would want to love themselves. Right? And so I realized at a very young age, that piece, you know, wow, this. The stuff underneath is all the same. It's all the same. So you really. It's like, that's what you want to attract. You want to attract the people where the stuff underneath is a match to you. And then. And then I asked people who have, you know, passed to the other side. They've died and they've come back. Right. I read a lot of those people in my life, and I asked every. Every one of them, what did you get when you went on the other side? What happened for you? And they all had something different. One guy was like, oh, it was completely black and there was nothing. Next person is, I went to a light, and it was just, you know, like, heart music, and it was gorgeous. And another one was like, I was met by my family. And then all of those people, after they shared what they saw or what happened, I said, what did you believe was gonna happen when you died? And they. And the guy who said, I believe that I had black, said, I believed in nothing, Total blackness. That I believed I'd be met by my family, was met by their family. Person who said, I went to the golden white light, and it was all light, and it all felt good. That's what they believed. So every one of them had proven what Jesus said, which is, it happens as you believe, as you believe. It's done unto you. Pray, believing that you have and you'll receive. He said it all day long. I. I think if he had a microphone like today and was here, he'd be walking around going, is this thing on? Did you watch the Secret? Because it just. It proved for me like, that it happens as you believe. So believe in yourself. Believe in good stuff. You know, learning to love myself could be the only way that I could truly unconditionally. Right. That I could ever attract someone who would love me unconditionally.

Exactly. Wow. Oh, man. We can travel that path for miles and miles and miles together, brother. Because I think at the core, that's the most important message that I and our company wants to share in the various ways that we get an opportunity to share it. That unconditional love is the. It's the beginning, it's the middle, it's the end, it's the whole. It's the whole enchilada. As we love ourselves, learn how to love ourselves. And that's crazy to think about it, that we have to learn, actually learn and be trained even and get help to love ourselves more fully. But as we do, as we are able to love ourselves unconditionally, we then get to love others unconditionally. And that's the gift. That's the gift. The true gift to the world is our ability to give unconditional love to others. But we cannot give that which we do not have ourselves, and certainly not that which we have not learned. So. And yet, at the same time, we're practicing, and that's part of how we do learn to practice things that are tough and practice things that we're not good at. So we just begin. That's. That's the thing. I know we're running out of. Out of time and space at the moment, but one of the things that you help people to practice and become good at, we're going to have is helping people to get their book written and to create a very simple process and ways to help people support them in getting the message they're written, core that core message out into the world so they can not only share that message, but also use it for the betterment of their business, the betterment of their reaching more people, touching more lives. It's the best marketing tool I know at the moment, frankly, is a book, and I know that you're featured in our book Pivot, but you've given me lots of help books that I've been involved in along the way. And as part of our show notes, we're also going to provide information about your company and where people can access more information and take some action if they do, in fact, have a book that they wish to birth. Because they don't call you the book guy for no reason. I mean, I know the backstory there. So you have helped so many people get a book written, and. And a lot of those people, too, being ones that wanted to do it, but had every conceivable reason why it wasn't the right time. They weren't gonna, you know, didn't have the skill. They didn't think they'd have anything to say. They didn't know how they, you know, get it constructed. It would be cost too costly, you know, all the. All the usual impediments or obstacles. And what I love about you and Maura and your team is how well you remove those obstacles and make what could Be a daunting task. Very, very easy. Or at least simple anyway. Maybe not easy, but simple. And the support that you give folks. I want to thank you for doing that, Keith, as well. And that's, you know, I think. Well, let me leave a space there for you to comment on what I just said. And then we're going to ask one final question, which is about. About your rituals and believe. Yes, leaving a space there. Keith, anything you want to say about that?

I think you said it all. I love what I do and I do what I love. And part of my purpose and part of the reason that my life has been spared, right. All of those times is for that is to help people get their mission and their message out to the world. And when I think of all the books that I've helped people to write, the ones we published, I add that up together. There are millions of lives that have been touched because was spared because each of those books reaches so many people, right? Including mine. So that is part of my purpose and why I'm here. And so I get to step forward in that. And each time I get a book from one of our authors and they get a mailed to me, you know, the proof. And I open that up and I read it. It's just. There's just no greater feeling for my soul because I don't. I don't just think, oh, here's another book done. I think, how many lives will be touched by this book alone as I hold that and I be with that energy. And it just brings me back every time to why I do what I do.

So beautiful. Beautiful. Speaking of bringing ourselves back, what is something that is you call a ritual for success that you practice that brings you back to that knowingness?

Well, I start off with gratefuls immediately. So I'm grateful for, right? And I do a list. And then daily prayer and meditation just gotta go within. And if. When you read my story in Pivot, then you'll know, right. The Go within process completely changed my life and everything I know about it. So that's true. Mantras throughout the day. So I'll choose a phrase or a mantra to run for the day that will just keep reminding me of the truth, the truth of who I am and that it's always going to be all right, no matter what it looks like, no matter what gets thrown at me. And then my wife does this thing that I just love. And this is different. Everything I just said is like, you know, you've heard this a bunch of times. But what Mara Does. And I love this is. She'll say in the morning, wasn't today great? Don't you just love how. And then she fills in, like, how this happened and that happened and how incredible today was and how we got to the end of the day, we just felt like, oh, like we had made a difference. And she speaks as at the end of the day, as if it's already happened, and says, wasn't that great that that happened? And then I says, yeah, it was great. And then I go with her and just visualize and see us there at the end of the day, and everything has went exactly the way that she stated it. So it's like future visioning. And we do that in the mornings. And I just. I love that because it's a piece that. That she does that I haven't heard a lot of people ever say or speak to that she came up with, wasn't it great how today this happened?

Beautiful. Oh, my goodness. Yes. What a treat, really, to envision ourselves in the future, which we know. We snap our fingers and the future is upon us. Anyway. Future is now. It's happening every second. So wouldn't it be great to be in gratitude and feel what it feels like to be so appreciative of something great happening that will be more likely to happen because we're. We're intending it and future casting it and future visioning it than if we did none of the above. You know, we just said how it'll happen, what'll happen, it's gonna happen. I can't change that. What can I do about the future?

I'm in the present. Well, yeah, there's no past. See how that.

See how that works for you. In any event, what a pleasure, Keith, to have you on the show. What a blessing.

Thank you.

We'll close out now. I'll just remind everybody as we began, that we end in the same way, began this show with gratitude and appreciation and a breath, of course, this divine breath we get to share together, knowing as we take this breath, as we receive this breath and receive it when we wake up tomorrow. That's my. That's my hope, it's my prayer. It's my wish for all of you that we wake up, that you wake up. I wake up, Keith, that you wake up. And all of our families and friends and everybody, that we all get to wake up tomorrow, wake up our minds and our spirits and our bodies, wake up our consciousness, of course, a little more tomorrow than even today. And that's a good. That's a good trajectory that we're on if we intend and are grateful for that. So wake up tomorrow, be grateful for that breath, knowing that as you take that breath, there are people taking their last breath in that moment, and there are babies also being born taking their first breath. So it's a celebratory breath for sure. It's sacred, it's holy, and it's celebratory. So breathe, be grateful. And if you're wanting to say it and you feel like saying it, I hope that you want to say it. You'll say, I love my life.

I love my life.

I love my life.

I love my life.

I love my life.

I love my life. Yeah.

Thank you, Keith. Thanks for joining in. Thanks for being a part of the show and everybody else. We'd love to continue to get your feedback. Please leave a review on itunes. Join meaning subscribe to the podcast. You can get access to more episodes@adammarkel.com Please join our Facebook community because it's just itching for your presence. If you've not gone in there yet, it's the StartMyPivot community on Facebook. You can get there. The shortcut to that is pivotfb.com pivotfb.com or of course you can search for it on Facebook @StartMyPivotCommunity and we'll see you very soon. Love to hear from you and so happy we get to be feel really blessed that we get to be in this community together. So ciao for now, everybody.

Thanks for listening everyone. We hope you now have the tools and greater insights to navigate your own pivot. Help us inspire others by sharing this episode and leaving your comments over@adammarkel.com podcasts for more tips, strategies and support as you consciously pivot into a new business and lifestyle you love. Join our Pivot community on facebook@pivotfb.com.

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