[Amrit Sandhu] ​​​​​​​Living An Aligned Life

Welcome to Exit the Matrix Stories of.

Success with your host, Jane Slack Smith.

Where we celebrate the incredible journeys of individuals who've transcended their limitations and achieved extraordinary success.

Hi, I'm Jane Slagsmith, host of Exit the Matrix Stories of Success podcast, where we explore incredible journeys of transformation and resilience through those sliding door moments. And I'm really excited to introduce you to my next guest, Emorett Sandhu. And Emorett is someone who lives life out loud. Not only is he a big personality, a magnet who attracts people to them, but he's also got the most biggest smile you will ever see. And he's also pretty loud as well. Emorett and I had the pleasure of meeting at Mind Valley University in Estonia in 2018, and I say he is one of the most amazing, incredible, fun loving people that I have ever met. So I look forward to introducing you to Emorett.

Hey, you there. Jane. It is such a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for so many kind words. Thank you.

Well, I have to give you a little bit of a background to Emorett as well. He's going to go into some of the. The moments that changed his life, but he is also a very accomplished person. He's a certified Eckhart Tolle School of AW&MindValley Master certified trainer for Australia and India. So he believes there is a world where we can all live in alignment to our sacred purpose, and that is definitely aligned to what we talk about here at Exit the Matrix. So welcome Emorett. Let's get into your sliding door moment. When did everything change for you and where were you at that time?

My goodness. As we were discussing earlier, there, there have been two sliding door moments, but there was a real. The first one was a bit more intense for me, but the second one feels much more appropriate to what you call sliding door moments. So I'll bring you into the moment. I'm in Costa Rica and I've been there for two weeks and I'm surfing every day. And I've brought along a hand pan, which is an instrument that if people don't know, it's kind of like a disc. It's like a bowl with like eight little notes. Very meditational. Is that a word? I made it up. And you. And I was basically running myself through what we both know from Mind Valley as a lifebook exercise, which is building out your Life's vision in 12 different categories. Since then, I've kind of got my own take on that process, but nonetheless, yeah, I'm sitting there. And each day over the two weeks I've been going through one of the categories. And it was very interesting because at that particular time I was actually invited to come along to Mind Valley, a fest in Jamaica. And if anybody knows anything about me and reggae in Jamaica, that was the one I definitely would have gone to. And somehow I just felt inherently called to not go and just go on a solo trip to Costa Rica. And as you sort of alluded to in your, in your very flattering intro, Touchwood, I am like extroverted, outgoing by nature. I love to connect. Connection's my highest value. And so it was a very odd decision to be traveling to a place where I knew a bunch of people, knew I was going to have a bunch of fun, speaking, engagement, opportunities, all this sort of stuff, but traveling somewhere completely remote, like not completely remote, but quite isolated on my own and just, you know, introverting hermit in for a while and just sort of go introspect, introspective. So the interesting thing that happened through that process is for those that know a little bit about lifebook, is the same process I run people through. Like, yeah, in my vision process is you start off with your health, then your mindset, your character, and you start to build further and further into like, you know, you love relationships, your parenting, how your parenting style, what do you want to be like, all this sort of stuff. So you put out a really comprehensive vision for your life. And towards the end of it, there's like, I think it's the 9th or the 10th is like, it's, it goes into finances, what you want for your finances and then your career. And at the time I was a structural engineer working in a project management office, basically building high rise towers here in Melbourne city for a very well known multinational organization. And yeah, I wasn't to say I wasn't happy in my job. It's actually really a line that you call the Exit the Matrix because I was in my job and now I look back and seven years of career misalignment was my second biggest challenge in my life. Really call it Dark Night of the Soul or what you will. And you know, as a coach, the breakdown to Breakthrough is something I'm fascinated by and I think it was a necessary breakdown. But you calling the show Exit the Matrix, it's, you know, I say this again and again. It's my favorite movie is the Matrix and it's in the second movie where Morpheus takes Neo back to baseline reality. Now, don't quote me. I think it's the year 3050 or 3000 or 2500. I don't know the exact. I really should look it up because I did reference this quite a bit. But Neo takes Morpheus, takes Neo after he's been unplugged, back into like, hey, this is what baseline reality looks like now. And he shows him what, something that looks like New York City, if you remember the scene, I think. And it's basically the sky is scorched and there's all these dark clouds and there's. Everything's machine and whirring and mechanical because this is the world as it is now. But you're plugged into the Matrix and you see the beautiful Mother Gaia kind of version of nature that's out there. And. And he goes, Morpheus goes, believe it or not, it's human beings that scorch the skies. Because we believed in our infinite wisdom that if we were to reduce the amount of solar, like the energy of the sun, which gives us life on Earth, we reduce the amount of solar energy coming through, the power for the machines would no longer be here and they would cease to exist. But the machines, in their infinite wisdom, in response to that, discovered that human beings were a great source of energy. And now human beings are no longer burst, but grown. And then he looks over to his left and there's just these red fields and fields and fields of red pods with human beings growing in that SAP with themselves plugged into the Matrix. And that's where some people go. It's a documentary, it's a metaphor. Like, it's philosophical. And I think that's honestly how I felt. I think the interesting thing was, and I joke when I share this from stage a little, but only a little bit. Most people work nine to five, five days a week. As a young man, I was working 6am to 6pm Six days a week. So I kind of just front loaded all the hours that you put into your midlife crisis. I just joked, I just. I just brought it forward, you know, Like, I just front loaded it. But I had that realization, I think, you know, I was paying like, you know, we met in, in Fitzroy as well. And I was paying incredible rent at the time for a place where I was just there on a Sunday cooking my meals for the week. And I was like, what am I? Like, this is just not making sense.

Yeah.

And so I literally felt like I was in the Matrix, you know, like I was a human battery cell just getting plugged in to deliver the work that was needing to be delivered and then getting plugged back out. And even at the time, the message in my heart that I've always carried is that your health is your purpose, and your purpose is your health. And I don't know where that's come from. I used to think it was just me, but subsequently, I've come to learn that even the whole science of Ayurveda, at its heart, the entire science of Ayurveda, is there to facilitate your dharma. Right? So the whole body of wealth, of ancient health is there to facilitate your life's purpose. How do we capacitate you to do what it is that you put here on earth to do? Health and vitality? Like, you know, so it's not just me, but that was something that was etched on the inside of my heart. Health is purpose. Purpose is health. Right? And so carrying that awareness that health is purpose and purpose is health, and yet being in something that is so misaligned almost was rubbing the cat existentially the wrong way twice over. Yeah. Yeah. So all that to sort of say it was a real challenging period to be so out of alignment. And I love.

Interesting you say that because a lot of people, I mean, you know, the greatest fallacy is you work, you know, 40 hours a week for 40 years to retire on 40% of what you earn. You know, and there is this misalignment where at some point, and I feel, you know, the purpose of the podcast really is people go, wait a second, is this it? And that. That kind of inspiring stories of people like you going, look, sometimes there is a great big awakening. Sometimes there's this, this. This little whisper that's going, I don't think I'm aligned. Like, this is not where I need to be. And. And you're in Costa Rica. You, you know, you. You're playing this, this beautiful material. You're surfing every day, and you're like, wait a second. Yeah, be an engineer building high rises.

So that's the interesting thing, right? So it was definitely, like you described, a death by a thousand cuts in many ways of, you know, and when we talk about alignment, I think it's really important to, for me, anyway, just to get clear on, you know, the word alignment, what are you aligning to? And so for me, I'm always aligning people now through my work, to their values. It's like, what are your core values? I'm connection, contribution, celebration. So my career was, like, not a bad career. It's an amazing career for someone that embodies the values that are. That are expressed through that career. For me, there was no connection, no contribution, no celebration in it. It just wasn't right for me. Right. It's an incredible gig, but not for Amrit. Yeah. So I'm in Costa Rica, and I'm punching through, like, these Lifebook bits, building out a life vision, getting really. And it was really great also, while I'm doing lifebook, because you're seeing, like, the 12 dimensions of your life. And. And previously, I think when we're just walking around doing the status quo thing, we only really see our life as, like, the work we do and the money we've got in the bank and our personal relationship. There's, like, three real categories, and maybe health, maybe there's a fourth. But when you lay out, like, my physical wellness, my emotional wellness, my mental wellness, the character that, like, how I show up with integrity and kindness, you lay all that out, it's like, oh, my God, there's all these vials of my life that need filling up. And I could see that because I'd place so much energy on finance and career. All the other vials, like, I wasn't showing up how I wanted to. I didn't have the time for health. Like, they were all being compromised by these other couple of vials. And I realized, as I did the career life we're gonna pitch it out with, my ideal career would be. I realized it looked nothing like what my current career was. And it's almost like I pulled the pin out of that vial and all the. I could see that if I just pulled the pin out of that vial being so elevated, all the other vials across other dimensions would rise, and this would come down for the short term as finance would come down as well. But then I could build these back up, but these would sort of, you know, so there was a. The engineer in me was looking at this sort of thing happening and the sliding door moment. Thank you for your patience. Everybody was. I walked out of my hotel room, and it was a surf hotel, so I walked out of my hotel room, and I'm sitting in the lobby, and I kind. I couldn't integrate. Like, it was a lot to digest that. I was like, oh, I'm going to quit my career. Like, all roads have led to here, and I'm about to give it up. And as I sit down, I'm just sitting on the couch, and I'm literally just, like, daydreaming for a second. I was like, whoa. Like, is this really happening? Like, do I have the courage to do this? This guy Walks in, sits down opposite me and goes, he's American. And goes, hey, mate, you look like you've seen a ghost. You're right. And I'm like, oh, I think I'm about to think I might be about to quit my career. And he turns around and he like beams this big smile and he goes, that's great news. And I was like. And I was like, wait, what? Like, I have an existential crisis over here. And you're just like, that's great news. What is going on? And he goes, I've just quit my career. And I was like, oh, whoa. He pulled me out of my story. And I was like, tell me more. What's going on? And he's just like, well, I'm a structural engineer and I just got an email at my desk one day, come teach English in China. And I was hating my job and I was like, you know what? I'm just going to go to China and see what happens. What's the worst thing that could happen? Like, I go for a couple of years, it's an experience. And I'll say I'll lived a little. And I'm just on my way through Costa Rica on my way to China. And you talk about sliding door mode. So I sitting here just going to. Even to this day, I'm like, did that person really exist or was it just like an angel? Just like, just popped into, like. Because it could have been going anywhere. Like, he could have gone straight to China. Why was he going to Costa Rica? Like, what the actual. And, but no, we chatted, we served for a while, we played hamper, we went out for a couple of lunches, we talked a lot more. And yeah, it was, it was profound. But that was a real moment for me where it all just really coalesced that a. It was possible and that even if I zoom out a little bit. Yeah. That it was, it was beyond serendipitous that that person emerged to have that conversation.

It's the fact that they're just a little bit ahead of you. Right. They've just, they've made the decision and they've just taken the step. And sometimes, you know, what we just need to see is, is proof that you're not going to die or. And I mean, as you know, I was a mining engineer, Right. So we have these kind of structured ways of. Ways of thinking of things, and then you're doing something that seems completely illogical. It's like, do good at school, go to university, get a good job, marry someone great, buy A house, have kids. It's like you've got it mapped out and all of a sudden you're going to make a break. So I'm interested in that break. You've told your family. I imagine that, you know, she's all out. I'm over this. Your friends, your boss, you know, how did they take that? Was there challenges and obstacles for you to then proceed? Now a quick word from our sponsor, your success club. Your success club is a group of vibrant, abundant seekers. If you subscribe to ExitTheMatrix IO, we are going to drop you into the club room, which has lots of goodies, resources and a free gift just for subscribing. Now back to the podcast.

It's really interesting. So the validation of. The person I probably sought the most was my mother. And at the time she was in a place where she was just like, I can see how unhappy you are. Yeah, go for it. You know, and it was really interesting. My dad was like, dude, what are you doing? What are you thinking? You know, my bosses couldn't really care less, you know, and that was the big thing about the Matrix, right? Like, it's this thing that it's. You'll be substituted by someone else in two weeks.

Yeah.

You know, like, yes, I was hard working and a good worker, but in the grand scheme of things, like, it's, it's a machine, you know, you just pull out a part, put in a new part, off you go, you know, and that's back to the metaphor. So the main people I was discussing this with was my, my mum and my father. My father at the time was like, no, like, I don't think that's, you know, he's quite responsible, conservative. And my mother at the time was just like, go for it, go for it. Wow. And it was interesting because as soon as I pulled the pin, my mum did a total 180.

Right.

She was like, you actually did it? And I was like, yeah, we've been talking about this for months. And she's just like, she's like, I didn't actually think you were going, what are you gonna, how are you gonna. How are you gonna eat? Like, what are you gonna. And so only then did you start processing all the engineering kind of things that you and I would have been processing the whole way through. And, and even that, though we talk about serendipity and synchronicity, I was like, you know what? That was perfect because the mo. Like the time I needed mum to show up the way that she needed to show Up. She showed up that way. And then almost I took the second part of it. Almost like a bamboo in the wind sort of strain hardening sort of process. I was like, now she's really testing whether I belong on the other side or not, you know, and I'm, and I'm strong enough to like, now that I've jumped, I'm good. You know, I can land. So. Yeah, that was an interesting, definitely an interesting process.

It's, that's beautiful. You know the, it's amazing what I found, you know, when I was like, you know, I managed to crack the code on how to do property investing. I'm going to teach everyone how to do it. The only way I could do it is start a mortgage broking business. And I had this friend who was just so profoundly upset with me and he was going, you know, you've been one of the first female to, to work in mining engineering and you're setting this kind of plate, you know, trailblazer thing. And now you giving up to be like a used car salesman, you know, you're letting everyone down. And even when I was doing property investing, people like, don't, don't invest too much and it's, they're doing it from love. Like they're like this, you're going outside the shire, like you're going out of the safety zone. And I can see it's from a position of love and, and trying to protect you, but it also, it keeps people, you know, bounded to that life and you know, it's where a lot of people still are.

Yeah. The key thing there is that people are wishing you the best from their worldview, their paradigm. Right. And so that's what they know. And you know, there was an interesting conversation I had with my father even before I took on my, my job because I had the opportunity to become a design engineer or a construction manager. Right. And the design engineers were getting paid at the time in Australia, I think it was like $80,000 a year and construction was paying about $110,000 a year. And I sat back and I said, look, as a design engineer, I definitely won't be working any overtime. It will be nine to five. Yeah. But as a construction it's six to six, six days a week, you know. And I was like, dad, as a construction in construction, I'm making about 35 an hour or 37, I can't remember the exact number. But as a design engineer making about 50, you know, dollars an hour. And I remember chatting to my dad at that point he goes, what? And I was like, as a design Engineer, I make $50 an hour. As a construction, I make 30. And he goes, how much are they paying you per year? And I was like, construction's paying me 110 and designs pay me like 80. And he goes, so? And I was like. And he goes, so then why wouldn't you just take the 110? And I was like, no, because the per hour rate, like my time for value exchange, money wise. And he goes, who thinks like that?

Exactly.

And I looked at him and I was like, I think like that, you know, and then I realized, but this was like, not me to sort of buck my dad. But it was like everything he'd worked so hard for, the education he toiled to instill in his son, yielded this response that was one of the first, again, another sliding door moment where I was like, oh, oh, oh. Like you got to step out from underneath the umbrella of your father in some ways, because it's like he's provided you with all these resources now, even resources that he didn't have, and now you've got to kind of step up and wield them a little bit. I did end up choosing the 110 because, you know, you end up going, well, okay, makes sense, right? Makes sense. He knows more of the world than I do, so let's go with it, you know, but in hindsight, I. I'm not sure if that was the right decision or the wrong decision. Obviously, it all leads to men to.

Go, well, that brings us to now. Like, you've had these sliding door moments, Costa Rica, the conversations, your parents. So. So now, you know, post having made that decision, making that leap, the imaginary person or not, who gave you a little bit of confidence along the way, how's it all changed for you?

Yeah, so the big thing. And again, this comes back to living in alignment with your values. So everything I do now is an alignment to my value. So I went away, got really clear on what my values were, which are connection, contribution, and celebration. And if anybody wants to know what their values are, I'm sure you'll link this somewhere for them. But inspired evolution.com values or Amrit coach values. 20 minutes from now, they'll be as clear as I am on their values. And so I look at what I'm up to in the world now. And as a coach, I started off with a podcast, and I didn't know too much about values. When I started the podcast, it was just, you know, I'm going to, you know, start a Podcast and it just started to work. I enjoyed it. I was waking up at 3am to record conversations with people in the U.S. waking, you know, staying up late to record, you know, conversations with people in the Netherlands. Like, it was just happening, you know, And I just found the energy and the gusto and the excitement to do it. And even if it was like early morning rises, I would leave the conversations energized. And I was like, what is this energy? Like, is this what passion is? Like, what is this? Like, this is so good. I could. And there's like. Anyway, that's the name of the book I'm writing called Metaflow. It's like, you know, the energy that arrives when you're in your flow. But yeah, that. To sort of say it was this really incredible process of coming to a podcast and then deducing, okay, why is this working so well? What are my values? And realizing, oh, I'm connection, contribution and celebration. And podcasting gives me an incredible opportunity to connect with all sorts of people like yourself all over the world. There's a lot of contribution. Hopefully people take a lot away from the. The podcast and celebration. Hopefully people live life a little bit richer just for having visited the podcast and the insights and the wisdom that's there. Right. And so from there, one of my first audience members said, hey, will you coach me? And I was like, yeah, sure, I'll give it a crack. I've always wanted to be a coach. And so from there we started coaching. And then that's been a journey of becoming a coach. Helping organizations set up their coaching programs. Yeah, that's been a very rewarding journey. And then coaching sort of bled my early coaching clients. Actually got my first speaking engagements, and that's how I became a speaker as well. So in coaching, there's a lot of connection, really deep, one on one, a lot of contribution, really deep, one on one celebration. People live life richer for it. Public speaking, a lot of connection again to a lot of people all over the world, all in all different places. A lot of contribution. You know, it's the educational material that I share and celebration, it's always a vibe, you know, when. When I'm public speaking versus construction engineer. Yeah. Which is, you know, there's not very little connection. Contribution. A little bit like building people's homes, a little bit. But it wasn't really the contribution I wanted to have. And celebration, there was none. So half a value was being met as opposed to three of my highest values being met in everything I do. And just the energy of how life feels on the other side is night and day.

Amazing. Well, I have to thank you so much for sharing that journey with us. And I'm sure people are listening to this, going, okay, I need to work out my values. So we're definitely going to drop all of the links, go to exitthematrix.IO s for short. Amrit A M R I T. And before you go, I've got two requests of you. First of all, something for fun. What's something bizarre or interesting, unusual? I know you've got a lot of them that people might be interested in.

I've got a little Japanese Spitz, and she's a dog. And I'm not really. I'm not really sure if you're allowed to have your dog in the car with you, not harnessed. But she has this thing where she sits on the glove box thing. And so I'll be driving along on the road and there's just this. There's like. She's like. It's like banjo and kazooie. I don't know if anybody's seen that video game. Anyway, there's this guy who has this thing in his backpack, but she just sits there. And so I'll just be driving along and my dog's just sitting there. And it's like. It's weird and wacky because I'll just be driving, and then all of a sudden, you'll see someone peer into your car, and because she's right next to my face, they're, like, really excited to see me. But then you realize they're not really excited to see you. They're really excited because they're looking at a dog. So. So that's. Yeah, that's a little weird and wacky thing in my world. Beautiful.

And the other thing is you're known for a bit of a call sign. I'm going to have to ask you to call it out. I'm walking across Estonia. I'm in Helen, and I'm hearing. I'm hearing you and going, oh, obviously I've lost. I need to go over that direction. The sign Amron.

Yes. It's spelled Y, E, W. And yeah, it's a. It's how the podcast on the Inspired Evolution starts. It's like, welcome to the Inspired Evolution podcast. It's just a bunch of fun. Keeping anything. Keeping the energy high and. Yeah. Yeah, that's a celebration known for that sound. Yeah, definitely A lot of celebration packed into that. Yeah.

Okay, one more. Give it to me again.

Oh, my.

Well, thank you so much for being such a wonderful guest on Exit the Matrix Stories of Success. Now before you go, everyone please head over to wherever you listen to your podcast. Give us a review. Let's hack this algorithm and get this podcast out in front of more people so we can inspire them to live a fully engaged life and a life of value, just as Emorett has shared with us. And when you are there, go to Exit the Matrix IO sign up subscribe so I can let you know when we have the next guest. And I'll be sending you a little gift as well. So for all of those who are out there and inspired by Emirates story, head over to exitthematrix IO forward/s forward slash Emorett and we're going to give you a connection to his values, meditation and workshops, and even booking a discovery call. So thank you so much Emorett. Really appreciate your time today. And yeah, can't wait to to run into you some other time in Melbourne or Estonia.

Such a blessing to be here. Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. Thank you Jane.

All the best. And as always, here's to your success. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to Exit the.

Matrix Stories of Success. Make sure you subscribe to Future episodes@ww.exatthematrix IO until next time, here's to your success.