SSP 038: Ankush Gakhar - Finding Yourself by Following Fear and Embracing Feedback

What's going on, guys? It's Jordan Kanlish here, and welcome back to another episode of the State Shifters podcast. Super excited to have you back with me. This interview was recorded towards the end of last year with my good friend Ankush Kukur, and we connected while in Toronto and really vibed off some really deep, powerful stuff. The stuff where it's all around creating the life that you want through Joe Dispenser's, you know, methodology of really cultivating elevated emotional states. And through the cultivation of elevated emotional states, you create a powerful, energetic shift internally that actually brings the life that you want, your dream reality, to you. And I've experienced this firsthand, and so is Ankush, and we vibed it out over, how do you begin that process, and how do you start to evolve emotionally and consciously create the life that you want? So he's left the corporate world and really started to, you know, step into the entrepreneurial journey, and he's created something really powerful, and I'm excited to share this with you guys. So before we dive into the episode, please do me a favor. Jump on itunes, leave a rating or review that would mean so much. It just creates powerful momentum around this movement that I'm creating. And I've got a bunch more exciting episodes to come, so enjoy this one. We'll see you in the next one. Welcome to the State Shifters podcast, a.

Show dedicated to helping you discover your.

True potential through connecting the mind, body, and soul. All right, I've got Ankush Kakur with me here on the State Shifters podcast. Mate, I'm so excited to have you here because we connected, you know, probably last year, I'd say. And, you know, from the minute we sat down and had a conversation, I could see there was an alignment of energy, because when you have a conversation with someone, it's often a mirror, right? We actually, like, get back the same energy we're putting out. And with you, it was like, I really felt a connection with the journey that you've taken, and we kind of planted the seed of. The seed of the intention of doing a podcast together. And now here we are, thanks to our wonderful friend Marco, who's given us a space to be able to have a deep, intimate conversation. And welcome to the. To the. To the show, mate. And it's great to have you here.

Thanks so much, Jordan. And it is really good to be here. You know, you really summed up that when we connected for the first time, it was, yes, you know, this is. This is some relationship we would like to nourish going forward?

Yeah, big time. And mate, I was really captivated by your journey, first of all. And then as we're about to get into some of the things you're working on right now with, you know, your business and you know, your transition from the corporate world into now being an entrepreneur in this personal development space. But how about like tell people a little bit about you and your background and you know, how you got to here in Toronto and this path that you're now on?

Yeah, yeah, no, I would love to. So, you know, I grew up in India. I grew up in a middle class family in India. And I was not realizing back then, but essentially I was living a checklist life. You know, you do an engineering, then you go and do an mba and then you take up one of the best jobs. You know, I got into investment banking, then you know what next, let's get into private equity. And somewhere I realized that I was engaging in some meaningless activities. And this is all the reflection that happened afterwards. At that time I was not even aware of it. And those meaningless activities was essentially shadow activities just to avoid some of the feelings of unworthiness and shame because I grew up about 70 pounds heavier. And that unworthiness and that shame and some of the beliefs that I was holding as true in my life was always leading me to a state of victim. So I was always operating as a victim, at least for many years. I wouldn't say it was always like that, but it started becoming evident when I join, you know, my corporate life. I would become a high performer. But somewhere, you know, very soon, about six to 10 months into an into a job, I would start feeling victimized. And you know, I was seeing that as a pattern. So, you know, that was back in India. And so I said, maybe this is an environment issue, let's immigrate. And you know, Canada was one of the options, which I am very happy that I took. And then, you know, so I immigrated with my wife to Canada five years back, innocently thinking that a change in environment and people around me is going to fix everything. I completed my master's program here again from Waterloo, and then I joined a job. And then again six to ten months into my this job. Even though I exactly got what I wanted, I wanted to get into management consulting, technology consulting. I got exactly the same type of project that I was wanting. So it was like, you know, I was creating everything in my life that I wanted, but I was also creating everything in my life that I wanted to get rid from and when this happened in Canada as well, I would attract the same type of team conversations. I would attract the same type of relationships. I would end up feeling the same. That was the time. And then I had a knee surgery three years back. And I think it was a prolonged cycle of healing. And during that cycle of healing, I started reflecting, why was I not healing? Why was I aging faster? Why would I end up creating the same unwanted patterns along with exactly what I want to create? Why would I end up feeling the same, irrespective of the people and location? And I think that led me to this inner journey of exploring myself and literally understanding why I would think the way I would think, why I would feel the way I would feel, why I would just automatically act. And. Yeah, so, yeah, that. That was, you know, my journey into. Into this personal growth space.

Yeah, man. And your journey would probably resonate with a lot of people who are listening to this, because I feel like if someone's listening to this, they're on some form of personal development journey, which often begins at that exact point when you start to question, okay, there's got to be something more to this. To me, like that, like you said, changing things outside of you with the expectation something internally was going to change, but then realizing nothing out there can change how you feel. It's. It's an internal shift that has to happen. So it's like the journey goes from outward to inward. That's what. That's what happened for me anyway, as well.

Yeah, I know. Absolutely correct, Jordan. And when you have such remarkable evidence in your own life that irrespective of the outer environment, you create your life, and the only way to express your life is through your, you know, exploring it through your inner universe. And when you have such remarkable evidence, you just know that you have to dive inner rather than explore outwards.

Yeah. And even though life pulls our attention outward, like, externally, it's always trying to convince us that there's something out there. We need to do something, we need to get something. We need to become to get that inner feeling. But like you said, when we focus on shifting ourselves on an internal level, everything external takes care of itself. So tell me more about, or tell the listeners more about what started to happen when you took these inner shifts, when you started to change your inner energy.

Yeah. And. And I remember, you know, the discussion that we initially had. So when I went onto this journey, for the first five, six months, I started listening to various podcasts, and I would, you know, watch some YouTube videos. I would listen to the podcast, you know, during my commute to the office. And that was predominantly where I would listen to the podcast of high achievers, you know, entrepreneurs, high achievers and so on and so forth. And suddenly there was a book that I, you know, ran into. And I first time, you know, I took the subscription of Audible, and then I listened to that book. I think that was one defining moment because I was not ardent or reader as such, but listening resonated with me. And then I think with that type of material, I also started looking for some similar type of videos on YouTube. And I would actually say, sometimes technology works in your favor. And then a video popped up of Dr. Joe Dispenza, and it was actually only a clipping of that video. It was not like a full video. I think it was a shortened video. But then he started explaining, if you have been thinking the way you have been thinking, if you have been feeling the way you have been feeling, if you have been acting the way you have been acting, then you will create the life that you have been living. Right. And if you want to create a new life or a new reality, you have to change your personality, because your personality creates your personal reality somehow. That was something that resonated with me so much because then I said, you know, what is it that I am changing within me to expect anything change outside of me? That was, you know, first time I realized that, you know, yes. You know, you have to literally start having new thoughts. You literally have to feel new emotions. You literally have to take new actions to create a new reality in your life. Yeah. So, you know, I actually started doing a lot of videos, watching videos of Dr. Joe Dispenza. I again subscribed to his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. I probably listened to that book about by now about 30 times because something which resonates with you so much. And then I started meditating based on the work that Dr. Joe says or recommends. And that's where, you know, the shift started happening. That's where I would have great experiences in the meditation itself.

And I just wanted to, like, rewind back to something you said, which was, you started listening to audiobooks and podcasts. And for me, I was the exact same. I was never a big reader throughout school. Like, I didn't read a lot of books. But the minute I started listening to podcasts and downloading audiobooks, I now, same thing up to you. I started to take in information all the time.

Right.

And Dr. Joe Dispenza talks about that as well. Is knowledge, is A critical component in this personal evolutionary journey that you're on. Because the more, you know around why you're meditating, what's happening inside the brain, why you're doing these inner shifts, the more, you know, on an Internet intellectual level, the more likely you're going to be of actually sticking with the work that you're doing. So as I started to learn more, I was like, bang, implement, implement, implement. As you're getting information from podcasts, the entrepreneurs, successful people, as they're telling you these things and you apply them and you're seeing the impact of those changes, it's like it just creates momentum.

Yeah. No, I think in actually, Dr. Joe's words, he says knowledge is precursor to experience. And. And then, you know, the experience and knowledge runs in feedback, you know, so experience will reinforce the knowledge, the knowledge will drive more experiences and so on and so forth. Yeah.

Yeah, big time. We vibed off the Joe Dispenza stuff when we first met, because people. I'm not sure if people know about my journey with Joe Dispenser was when I arrived in Canada.

Yeah.

And I was one of my clients at one of the healing studios was working at. Pointed out his book on the bookshelf. I was like, he said, this is my favorite book. And then the next week, my life coach at the time recommended Joe Dispenser to me. I was like, right, this is a sign that I need to dig into his stuff. Read you are the placebo, which was the first one downloaded Breaking the habit of being yourself the next week on the audio. And then went through and bought the Becoming Supernatural, his latest book.

Right.

In the space of three months, I read all three of his books, and he was in town that the next month.

Right.

So I read all three of his books. I'm now doing his meditation and went and seen him in person and was literally the front row. And it. Dude, man. It's the same thing with you when you dive deep. Like, a lot of people, like, will scratch the surface of things, of books. Like, I dove deep, like, integrated Reddit, highlighted, implemented the meditations. And when I started seeing the impact that these meditations were having on my energy, my life, the things that started to just appearing in front of me, the opportunities, the synchronicities. I haven't stopped. It's been almost a year and a half. I still do them every day.

Right.

And you're the same. And this information that I've now integrated into my own life and now I help share and help other people take. Take on board, the stuff that I took from, from Dr. Joe, it's something that is truly life changing. And you're doing the same thing with your business now. And the way you go about serving others, you're integrating this information, which to me is. That's where it's at, man. The more, the more that people know about this, the better.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think at some stage, you know, it will always be like this. There is first 20, 30% transformation that you will have very quickly and then the real work actually begins. Because 30%, you know, people, some, somebody would have. And actually, you know, let me step back. It is always a journey of becoming. You will never arrive. Right. So if you say that I am transformed now, that's, you know, that, you know, yeah, that, that won't happen. That is never going to happen. But at, you know what? I am just, you know, if, if I was to compare my own journey, first, 30% would happen very quickly. And then, as I said, the real work begins. And at that time, sometimes consuming more knowledge can actually generate a false sense of progress because, you know, you have, you have not internalized the concepts that you have read or you have listened to previously. And for you to actually make those concepts your own, you need to have some sort of a practice. You need to have some sort of a ritual. It can be absolutely your own ritual, your own practice, how you resonate with it. And then that's where I started seeing, hey, so what if I have to actually reinvent my new self? What would it take for me to reinvent my new self? And I said, let me. Because I come from a consulting background, I have a couple of business degrees, and the frameworks is always something that excites me. I said, what if I create a model, a framework, a template that no matter what where I am in my journey, if I want to reinvent my life, what would it take? That's that, you know, that was, you know, the driving force behind creation of my new self. Journal.

And before we dive into that.

Yeah.

Why don't you tell people about what happened when you realized that perhaps the corporate journey you were on wasn't it.

There were many signals, Jordan. There were many signals. There was such a immense sense of inspiration that I just could not let that inspiration fade away. That's. I would say that was the major thing, because if it was not that inspiration, you know, what we were discussing earlier, there is that external pressure. There is that external pressure, and you can succumb to that external pressure. There is a, there Is that, you know, there is the pressure of money, there is a pressure of stability. There is a pressure of, you know, many things. Right. And you can succumb to that pressure. But for me, it was immense inspiration. And I could feel those sensations every day when I. When I would be walking, when I would be meditating, when I would be sometimes, you know, literally talking what I want to talk. Right. Connecting with myself and to others. Because again, you know, connection to others only will happen once you are really connected to yourself. Otherwise, yeah, you will try to fit in. That's perfect. You know, you can definitely fit in. And, you know, we are the masters. Everyone has a master's or a PhD degree in fitting in anyways. Yeah. So, you know, just to answer your question, I know it was that inspiration. And if I have to take some, you know, concrete examples of why, I think I knew that the type of work that I am doing and the passion with which I am doing cannot stop with myself. And what I have learned over my journey is that once you get on this path, there is a deep sense of urge or, you know, you feel compelled in a good way that you have to make this bigger than yourself. And it is very, very tricky because you have been thinking and, you know, acting very, very selfishly all your life, and suddenly you. You have a, you know, conflict in your mind where you think, no, you. You want to make this cause bigger than yourself. And for me, that inspiration and the sensations that I was feeling, you know, that was my leap into, yes, you know, probably, yes, I want to do it. I want to definitely try and help as much as I can in my capacity, because as I said, you know, I could just. I just could not let that fade away.

Yeah, it's like something gets awakened within, right? It's like this. This inspired action that it generates so much creative energy that, like you said, it just can't be put to waste. Like, then the 9 to 5 work day, where for me, there was so much. There was no creativity in my work. And as I started to, like, cultivate creativity and awaken it through my practices, it was something that just grew and grew and grew, and it was giving me so much energy that I would come home from the end of. The end of my workday and just, like, keep working on my podcast and my blog or wake up at 5am and just like, do all this work in the morning before getting to my regular job. It's like an insane amount of energy that gets awakened, whereas the regular person is just going in, checking in checking out their 9 to 5. And once you take this inner journey, you realize that we are capable of so much more than what we think.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, I think those were some of the signs that I also felt, you know, I would. So there are certain actions that are energy positive and then there are certain actions that suck the energy out of you. I think one recommendation as an entrepreneur for the last, you know, 10 months, full time is you need to optimize your energy and do things that actually give you. Those are, you know, energy positive for you. And just, just taking the same concept. When I was even in my job, you know, reading or listening or meditating was energy positive for me. It was not that my energy was sucking out, rather, it was giving me the energy to still continue that 9 to 5. So. And yes, you know, we started with consuming information. I stopped consuming any information that was, you know, not. Not important for my new self. You know, if news was not important, stopped it. I said, you know, there is no world event that would just skip by my awareness. If it was important enough, it will come to my awareness no matter what. Right. And so I stopped watching Netflix. The only thing that I was consuming information was, you know, all this, you know, these, these books that I was listening to, other podcasts that I was listening to. Yeah, yeah, man.

It's like that's. You start to become very critical of where you're. Where your energy goes because you realize that's your. That's your most valuable asset.

Absolutely.

Your, your, Your attention. Your attention is your energy.

Yes.

Or your attention goes. That's where energy's flowing. So, you know, that's where meditation comes in for me, was such a powerful element of my morning routine where, you know, it generated so much energy for me. Because when you switch off all the distractions and you close your eyes and go within and put your energy on the body, you start to just charge yourself up with this, like this, this universal energy that we always, always have access to. And when you do that every day and you turn that into a practice, it's like you have surplus. A surplus of energy.

Exactly, exactly. I actually so in. During the earlier part of the journey that was. There was a time I was meditating. Now there is no time. I don't even need an hour to meditate now. Sometimes, you know, I would just take 15 minutes or 10 minutes of just relaxation and as you rightly said, just recharge myself. Yeah.

So for people who are perhaps in corporate jobs who are listening to this or in jobs they don't enjoy. They sense the inner awakening is happening, is unfolding, and they look at, you know, perhaps your journey of you've left your corporate job, you've begun the entrepreneurial journey where a lot of people are hoping to maybe do something similar, and they're still in the place where they're just, they're not ready yet.

Right.

What do you, what did you. What were your steps leading up to knowing that it was time to leave? Like, because that is the challenge for a lot of people. And perhaps they have passion projects, side hustles where they're working away on it. But it's still a big leap to go all in on a business, you know, to kind of cut the safety cord, you know, and step into the unknown. Take a leap of faith. What, like what. When did you know was there a moment? And how does someone lead up to that moment?

Right. I, you know, definitely I want to share, you know, what happened with me, but I do want to say that, you know, everyone would have their own readiness and everyone, when they are ready, they would know is, yeah, it is still possible that people are ready. And still they are, you know, the external environment is not letting them take the initiative or right, you know, take the leap of faith. That could be possible. But readiness is, I think, quite unique for everyone. That's at least my take. I'll share, you know, why I thought, you know, I was ready. Well, you know, it may again, you know, this is something that is very personal. Obviously I have not really shared with a lot of people, but I'll go ahead. There were certain experiences that happened in my meditation that, you know, led me to believe that we are definitely not our mind and we are definitely not our body. We are an awareness occupying this mind body complex. And when you know that and when you have experienced it, knowledge plus experience, when you know and when you have experienced it, there is a sudden liberation that happens because it becomes believable that you know what there is infinite time. A time is only a creation of your mind. And mind is nothing but just an organ. Like heart pumps mind thinks. We don't judge our heart when it think when it pumps, but we judge our mind when it thinks. Why? We are just an awareness. Right? And if you are just an awareness, that awareness is something which is eternal. Right. And if it is eternal, then why take. Why become anxious? Why, why, why, why get anxious that, you know, taking the leap of faith, you will be down by a few thousand dollars and you will have to spend money on getting your business up and running. I think all this thing is actually just an excuse to get into the mode of creation, to actually sip the juice of creation. So that was my leap off. You know, that was something that happened to me. And just. And very fortunately, you know, I cannot, cannot discount the role of my family here. You know, I, you know, my, My wife has seen my transformation and she has supported me to the extent that, you know, I probably sometimes get chills right now also when I see that, you know, someone can support someone else in their transformation, which is quite personal in nature. You know, the type of experiences that I have, I've obviously shared with my wife, but she hasn't had those experiences. Right. And then we had our daughter in August of 2018, and in December, I essentially thought about just quitting or rather, you know, just moving on to, you know, getting. Joining this business full time. And without my family support, it would not have been possible. So if I have to again, you know, step back and see, why would, why would that happen? Is also because, you know, it say, people say, be the change you want to see. Right? I think I was demonstrating, I was vibrating at that energy level, which resonated with my wife, which resonated with her to an extent that she was okay giving me a chance or she was okay giving us a chance. This is also something. Sometimes we look for that external validation. And most of the people, most of the listeners here would also be facing this. How do we get validation from our partners, from our parents, from our, from our, you know, if they are old, from their children and, you know, all of that stuff. I think the validation will only come when you are already vibrating at that level. Because when you are vibrating at that level, you are spreading that vibration to the people around you. And they will understand. They will know this person is onto something. And, you know, we saying any, you know, we would. We don't want to become any hindrance in getting this person explore the way he or she wants to explore, mate.

That really, really, like, that struck a chord with me, man. That was. That was it like, that really was what you. I want to rewind again back to something you said that really stuck out at me that I like, that I resonated with was, we don't judge our heart for beating, yet we judge our mind for thinking, brother. Like, that's.

I. When I, when I, When I heard this and you know, this is not something that, you know, I. Yeah, I, I was listening to a podcast and I don't remember who said this, but when I You know, like I, I got chills when I listened to this because. Yeah, yeah, we always judge our thought. You know, I am having a negative thought, I'm having a positive thought, or I'm having a neutral thought or whatever that thought is. Most, mostly, you know, 90% of our thoughts are anyways negative. We are just wired for that, right? But we judge ourselves so much. We don't judge our, you know, heart. We, we don't judge our kidney. It's just an organ.

And it's funny, it's. It's always the judgment of thinking that gets in the way of us taking action on our dreams.

You just hit at something that I want to share now.

Yes, please.

So, you know, there is this book on, I think one of the best books on human condition is Bhagavad Gita. And in Bhagavad Gita, it's, you know, one of the things that it says is you are not afraid to take action. You are afraid of your own reaction to the result of the action. Let me repeat, you are not afraid to take any action. The thing that you are afraid of is your own reaction to the result of your action. So what it really says is that we are constantly judging ourselves. And what is judgment? If you just, you know, take a little deep dive on what is judgment, we are judging that somebody would be judging us. So there is. So what is. So it is essentially our own thought process of someone else's thought process. And we think, no, no, that person is judging. You are actually judging their thought process, right? So, you know, Jay Shetty says we live in the perception of a perception of reality. That is what it is we are judging, which is a perception of a perception, someone else's perception of reality. So we are two steps away from reality.

Legit. Legit, mate. And again for me, judgment. You know, when I've been. So I've been teaching people meditation recently, right? I do these one on one sessions and some of the people that come through always say to me, I can't meditate or I can't switch off my mind or I keep having these anxious thoughts. And instantly you can sense that people are judging the thoughts that they're having. By saying, I shouldn't be having these thoughts or these anxious thoughts are bad or I shouldn't be feeling this way, I shouldn't be thinking this way. We're actually creating the resistance to, you know, the emotion which is the reality. The emotions are true, the thoughts are false. We're creating the resistance to the emotion by Judging the thoughts by saying what we're feeling right now isn't, isn't okay. Because people think anxiety is bad, they think depression is bad, they think anger, frustration, all these perceived negative emotions are bad through our mind's judgment of them, right? What if they weren't bad? What if they were there to actually help and show us parts of us needed to be healed? So the judgment of ourself for me is like one of the biggest blocks in us healing the emotional trauma that's getting in the way of us access, accessing the dreams, the creativity inspired action. So it's also the judgment of others, but then also the judgment of ourselves, you know, and like for you, it was like, it was like clearing out once you had that realization that you're the awareness behind the thoughts. The awareness is never judging, right? The awareness is always just there, emanating love. So for me, anytime I'm stuck in these negative emotions, instead of getting stuck in the story around the judgment why I shouldn't be feeling anxiety or why I should be feeling a certain way, go back to the awareness, which is always just emanating love, and tune into loving the anxiety, right? Loving the depression, loving the anger, loving the frustration. Instantly you're back in the real reality. You're not in the perception again.

And, and I think this is, you have touched again a very important point here, Jordan. So for you to live the life that you want to live, you want to be in the state that you want to be, and you know your podcast State Shifters is, I think the premise of the, of the name itself suggests that you should have the ability or the awareness to shift the state to the state that you want to be in. So if you are in the state of anger and if you want to get into the state of love, there has to be a shift that has to happen. And that shift can only happen once you are even aware of it. If you become aware of it and if you have some practice, if you have a ritual to down regulate unwanted states and upregulate wanted states, then you are living the life that you are living that you want to live. There is nothing more. Because there has been various studies, and I think that's not even the purpose of this conversation, that money and the type of external validation cannot bring you happiness, right? And if it is literally your internal state that brings you happiness, and if you know how to, as I said, upregulate some states and down regulate the others, then you are not even seeking any external validation. And then we can get into quantum physics. And we can also get into law of attraction, that if you are already there, that, and if you're already vibrating at that level, you know you are going to create reality that matches that vibration.

So if someone's trying to create a new reality, right, they're trying to shift their personality. Because like you said, or like Joe Dispenza says, your personal reality is shaped by your personality, right. So to change your reality, you have to change who you are as a person. And for a lot of us, we're stuck. We're stuck with what we have. We're living out a past program. And to break free of the program, Dr. Joe talks about clearing out some of these emotions, some of these past stuck emotions, and tuning into elevated states of emotions.

Right.

And as I've gone through this journey, I've seen there's like an element of like decluttering that's required removing away the, the, the, the emotions that are stuck in the body to then allow your mind to start to create a brand new reality and cultivate the emotions that you want that align with that future.

Right.

So there's the remove, there's the removing of the emotions that are stuck and then creating new ones. And in the meditation practice that he gives, it's like the beginning, you know what the beginning's like? It's, it's tuning into the body.

Correct.

And for so many people, as I try to help them with meditation, help them tune into this, you know, this, the possibility of manifesting the life they want, or people who are listening, like, I want to get to the, the next phase in this journey of life that I'm on, but they feel stuck. It's perhaps because the body's keeping them trapped in the past and through meditation is a way of getting to the body, getting into the body to clear away some of this stuff. But so many of us are stuck in the head. What's helped you get out of the head and into the body so that you can do this inner clearing to allow the creative mind to really shape the life you want, you want to have?

Yeah, yeah. I think there is a, there is a process of admitting and declaring, right. You literally have to first admit that you are stuck in the past and then you have to outwardly declare it. And once you declare it, you have power over it because you have just said it out. Just say it out. You know, I am a person who has been, you know, angry for the last 15 years. And I have been angry because of one thing that happened to me. Fifteen years back and just say it out, you will already feel as if there is some liberation of energy that has happened. And once you start liberating the energy that was stuck. See, the role of energy is to flow. Energy should always flow. Everything is energy and anything that is stuck is not good. Right? So sometimes what happens is, you know, we are stuck in some reality that happened to us or an experience that happened to us, but you just have to. So for me, just declaring it, yes, you know, I knew that okay. Even though I pretended that I was okay being 103kgs when I should be 70, and I just pretended that it was okay, was not okay. That was just, you know, an outward face that I was showcasing to the outer world. But in, you know, in my inner, inner being, I was not okay with it. Likewise, when I chose a certain profession, that was just to showcase to the outer world that even though I was. Even though I am not, you know, probably as cool looking as I should have been or could have been, I still have a great job, I can earn good money. So again, that was an external validation to not admit that you have been having some things internally. So once you admit it and declare it, you have power over it.

I love that, mate. I love that the, the declaration is then your opportunity. It's the awareness. Through awareness you have choice.

Yeah, yeah.

And to go back into like the kind of clearing process around, you know, becoming aware of what's going on, blocking you from accessing your, your infinite creative potential. The love, the. The creativity, all the passion that's. That's all within us. Like the minute you start to remove the, the blocks, it just flows through, right? Like it. You open the channels, man, the channels for like the spirit to just come through you. And all of a sudden you go, oh, wow, I want to go in this way. You know, it's pulling me this way. You start to tune into an intuition, a guidance that's always been there, but we're just in the way of it. The mind is so loud and noisy that we don't even get access. A lot of people don't get access to it. So the minute I slowed down the mind and connected with the body, removed the blocks, it became very clear where my heart was pulling me. And now I base my life around that. I follow that feeling, man. Yeah, the feeling of expansion.

Yeah. No, even. Even in, in our conversations in the past three, four weeks, I have seen that in you, Jordan, that you have been following a feeling. And honestly, I respect that. I respect that. So Much. And as you said, you know, actually just to discuss the point that you shared that your soul is trying to get to you and want you to express yourself. Right. So actually negative feeling is not a bad thing. It is actually a blessing.

It's a part of your soul that's trying to come through.

It is trying to tell you something. It is trying to tell you something that something needs to change. It is again, a tool in your kitty to know that if I'm not feeling ready here or if I'm having a negative emotion, and as you said, you know, tune into body. Because where do you feel emotions? You feel emotions in the body. And so having that awareness of those sensations of those, you know, why? Just, just having those, you know, awareness of many emotions that one can feel helps you become aware of it. And then you know that this is a positive, this is a positive emotion. Okay, so probably this is the thing that I should be doing more of. And this is a negative emotion. No. Like, what's going on here.

Dude? It's like the, the, the phrase fear becomes the compass.

Yeah.

You know, the minute you realize that it's behind the fear is the next level. It's the, it's the next expansion of your, your soul, your spirit, your consciousness. And you start to look for the things you're afraid of because that's the parts of you that are actually saying, hey, I'm scared of something. Here's a block here. And then you face the block. You look at it, you see it for what it is. You know, it's just, it's just a part of you that's asking for love. And you tune back into the awareness you love that scared little part of you. As you move through the fear anyway, you see it just dissolve and then bang, you expand into the next level, the next realm. And I feel like that's all that life is. Constant expansion, moving up, following the fears, following the blocks, letting them go. And as you do that, like you're doing now with this journey that you're on, you realize that it's just, it's a never ending journey of expansion.

Yes.

That you go through these ups and downs. There's never just up. Because if there was just up, then life would be pretty damn boring, right? So like, why not accept the fact that there are going to be downs? Embrace them. See this, see them as this is the, that you're about to approach a new next level.

You know, I. Now the way I see a down is that I am. So, you know, sometimes what happens is you are at the peak of a mountain, right? And then when you are at the peak of the mountain, you are not feeling good, because there is a reason, because you are on a wrong peak. And for you to actually get to the right peak, you first have to climb down that mountain and then go to the other mountain, which is your right mountain. And sometimes what happens is you are in an exploration, so there will be many peaks, many valleys, and you are thinking, no, no, you are doing something wrong. You are just on a path. Because once you get to the right mountain, because, you know, yeah, it won't even feel that climb up is not even going to feel as if you are going upstream or you are climbing up because you are in the flow. And sometimes when we have to climb a few mountains before we get to the right mountain, we don't have the persistence or the endurance or the patience. Some people call that as a river of change. You know, in the language of Dr. Joe Dispenza, he calls it as a river of change. You can call it as a mountain or whatever you want to call it. It as it is a tough journey. It is tough.

But along this journey, there are tools that we can use.

Yes.

And this is where I want to bring up this amazing tool that you have created. And it's almost like it's. It's support on the journey. Right. And it brings in a clarity. And it's now what you've based your journey around, serving others through giving them the tools that they need to find the clarity on what mountain they want to climb. And here are the resources and tools you need to begin that climb. Embrace the valley and the low points. Tell people more about what it is you've created, man.

Yeah. No. So when I was on my own journey, I started figuring out what would be the most efficient path to get onto this journey. And probably the most easier way to figure out what's the right mountain for you is. And feedback becomes an important element for that. And most more often than not, when you are on this journey, it feels lonely. It feels lonely because you are not yourself. Sure whether you are doing it right or you're doing it wrong or whether it is even worth it or not. So feedback is important. So for me, it was really important to incorporate all these principles. And when I was reading and I started, I was taking. I was taking notes very heavily, and I started actually thinking that, you know, for me to go from where I am to where I want to go, I literally need three things. First, I need the awareness that what is going, what is holding me back or what is slowing me down. The second thing is, then I need to aspire. I need to create an inspiring vision of my new self. And finally, the third thing is act. I need to act on executing that vision. And the best thing between this framework that I designed for myself initially was that it actually worked in a feedback, because with the right awareness, you will choose probably the right mountain, right? And when you act, if something is not going the way it has to go, it will feed into your awareness again. So aware, aspire, act feedback. Aware aspire, Act Feedback. So once you roll into that program, then, you know, it just helps you to get to the right mountain to do and to get into that state of flow where things just happen for you way more efficiently. Then as I said, knowledge is important. It's really important. And I do not disagree with that or I do not even want to say that it is not an important element of my journey. But at the same time, it has to. You have to act on that knowledge. You have to do choose some principles, practices, rituals on top of that. And that's what you know, the journal is. Is about.

So it's a. You've created this amazing journal I've got in my hand. It's like, mate, it's. It's so well put together that this is going to be on Kickstarter.

Yes.

In on Monday.

So, yeah, we are going live on Kickstarter on Monday. Yes.

So depending on when this gets released, it probably is already on Kickstarter. For people who are listening when this comes out and where can people go to learn more about this?

Yeah, so Kickstarter is going to be the place where we would be launching. We will share a link with you so, you know, your listeners can get the link through your channels and they can check this out. On top of it, there is also an app that complements the journal. So, you know, this is going to be probably the first time in the history where there is a journal. But then it also comes with an app. And if people are thinking that somebody created a journal and then we took that journal and digitized it into an application format that has not been done because it would be a wasted opportunity. To create a digital version of the journal would be a wasted opportunity. So what we initially thought was, can we do something like where the journal can stand on its own feet, the app can stand on its own feet. But when you use journal and app together, you know, one plus one is way more greater than two. Because as I said the journal gives you the framework to really understand what would you like change in your life and how you would change it, right? And the app then gives you certain science based practices to imbibe this change into your daily life. People do find the joy of planning their day with a pen and a paper and doing some end of day reflections on a journal. And using that template absolutely exponentially takes your journey, accelerates your journey. But when you are in your daily, when you're actually not having the flexibility to do the journaling during your day, you have an app. And the app, again, as I said, it has those practices to upregulate your positive states, downregulate your negative states, create a movie of your new life. So there is a carefully crafted media, you know, images, videos that the app itself gives, but then there is ton and ton of, or rather there is absolutely 100% customization that you can do on top of it. You can select your own images and your own videos, your own music, your own affirmations, everything to create a movie that is reflective of your new life. And finally, there are certain intelligent reminders baked into the journal, baked into the app, because again, creating just another task would be a wasted opportunity. What we have done is we have used the practices of habits, checking, implementation, intention and other principles of science of happiness and habit formation to make sure that you are taking inspired action. There is one thing that I do want to mention here is so there is, you know, there is this spiritual teachers in India. They are, they're called Pritha Ji and Krishna Ji and they say they are literally two states in the in in which we live. There is a beautiful state and then there is a suffering state. A beautiful state is where you experience positive emotions. Love, gratitude, caring, sharing, right? And then there is a suffering state where you experience negative emotions. Any action originating from a suffering state cannot result in a positive outcome. They give an analogy which resonated with me a lot and probably with also, you know, might resonate with some of the listeners as well because it's quite contemporary. It's like you, if you are in a suffering state and if you are taking action, it is like dialing a phone or dialing a number through your mobile. But there is no tower, there is no connection. So how much ever you may try to connect to someone else, how much ever you tower, try to act your way through, if you are having a suffering state, you will never be able to connect because there is just no connection. Even if you just, you know, have one single tower on your mobile, then the reception would not be as good. What if you go and try again when you have full connection? You won't even have to try that hard.

And this, to me, this is, this is the tool. This is the tool that's going to allow people to have the inner clarity to start to tune into the beautiful states, you know, and navigate the. Navigate the suffering states. So like, once you have a plan and a tool and a vision and the, the ability to implement, it's. It accelerates the journey. Like you said, man. So if people want to like. It's called the New Self. New Self app.

Yeah, it's called My New Self Journal, My New Self and My New Self app.

Amazing. And I'm going to be putting that in the show notes for this episode. And if anyone wants more information on that, they can reach out to me or where can people reach out to you?

Yeah, so our company or, you know, our website is mynewself.co. people can check us out there. We will also be posting our link of Kickstarter campaign there so people can come to the website and then directly go to the Kickstarter campaign. We are in an infinite game, Jordan. We are not looking to be in this for a short term because I know that what even transforming one life can change generations. Because I've seen in my own life, I am not just wanting to change the generation that is coming my next generation. I do want to showcase to my parents and if they would be listening someday, I don't know, I do want to tell them that. I want to let them know that through me, they should experience that. Exploring your dreams, working on your dreams is okay. Everything turns out okay. And that's really my goal, is that I want to change my previous generation and I want to also change my next generation. Even though they, they may have different lives and they may have different, you know, challenges and which is absolutely important for them to grow. But at least, you know, some of the things that I want to contribute is this that, you know. Yeah. If I can help people transform their life, I know that they will be able to change generations.

Brother. Like, just want to acknowledge you, man. Honestly, because from the minute I met, I could feel just the, just the heart, the heart in you, man. This is, it's just pure, pure service. You're doing this for the good of others, for the good of, you know, generations and people to come. And I can really feel that it's just full service, mate. So it's been an absolute honor to connect with you on this journey and I've really enjoyed having you on here and having this conversation.

Thank you so much, Jordan. And honestly, I do want to take a minute and acknowledge you, admire you for the work that you are doing. It is truly an honor to share this journey with you.

Thanks, brother. I love you. It's been a pleasure having you on, man.

Thank you so much, Jordan.

Until next time.

It was a pleasure being here. Thanks, man.

Guys, thank you so much for joining me on this episode. As always, it means so much to know that someone's consuming this content and really taking value away from it. And my invitation to you is if you want to dive deeper in some of the topics we shared in this episode and you want to connect with me and really share some of the transformations you're having along your journey, then reach out to me on Instagram @8shifters. Send me a DM. Let's chat. So until then, see you in the next episode.