P.J.: Author, Speaker, And Former Wheelchair Athlete

Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have PJ with us, and despite his physical disability, PJ is an international traveler adventurer, author, martial arts instructor, former wheelchair athlete, amateur watercolorist, professional speaker, and international transformational coach who focuses on results. So welcome to the show, PJ.

Thanks, brother. I'm super duper stoked and excited to be here.

I'm pumped to have you here as well, man. I think we got a real good one ahead of us, so we'll dive in to the first question. The first one I have for you, PJ, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

All right, so the first thing that the audience should understand is I weigh about 75 pounds. I'm all of like maybe 5'1" if I could stand up, but I'm in a wheelchair. Crazy curvature in my back. So like my belly button rests on the seat between my thighs and then I curve my back forward so my upper chest is upright. So I look all like super duper curved and I'm skinny, like you can see my bones. And this is important for the story. So when I— one of my favorite places in the world aside from the ocean is the Grand Canyon. I love the Grand Canyon. When I go, I feel so small. And when I feel that small, I feel incredibly humble. And when I feel that humble, I feel like I'm in prayer. And so it's an amazing spiritual journey for me. But I don't go to the Grand Canyon like most people. Despite my disability, I go to the Grand Canyon, climb on my friend's back, we throw my wheelchair under a bush or a tree and we climb up and over the rail and down into the Grand Canyon. So at one point, my friend Jeff, this is a true story, every word of it. And a friend of mine, Jeff, is holding me by my wrist. We're climbing through the Grand Canyon, holding me by my wrist and he squats as low as he can, hanging me over the edge of the Grand Canyon. My friend Tim, 6'2", 6'3", standing on about a 14-inch ledge, probably 25 degrees, kicked off most of the gravel and most of the gravel. And Jeff goes, okay, and he's 2 to 3 feet below me. And Jeff goes, okay, Tim, on 3, I'm gonna drop PJ. 1, 2, 3. And my best friend drops me over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Tim catches me, fortunately, pulls me to his chest, squeezes me between 2 rocks. He and I squeeze between 2 rocks. We walk out onto this rock face that's jutting way out over the Grand Canyon that we wanna just sit and look out over, right? So as we're walking out there, Tim slips and falls on his back and his butt, and he slides to the very edge, and his feet and ankles go over the edge of the Grand Canyon. That's living. That's living. In that very moment when we were about to lose our entire lives is the moment that you really, really appreciate life. So for me, the limiting beliefs that everybody is carrying around, everyone moves with this caution, like fear of like, what's going to happen? Let me play it safe. That's not the way to live. That's a drastic minimization of your experiences and of your life. So for me, the lessons for me in that one moment is that there's a profound depth to your love when you actually challenge life and go and live it and drink it in. There's a real richness in that laughter that you can have when you go and drink in life. There's a powerful influence in the evolution of all of your relationships, the connections and personal and professional connections that you have, as long as you have the courage to, and the compassion to move honestly and with integrity and a level of understanding for both yourself yourself and the other person. All of this happens when you actually drink in that moment of life instead of living life safely.

Yes, dude, thank you for sharing that. That is incredible. That is how you start the Business Blast. I like that very— dude, that was like visual too. Like, as you were telling that, I just have to chime in quick. Like, I could actually see at least what I'm seeing in my head of the imagery of that, and that was wild, dude. So thank you.

It's super fun. I love my life, man. I love it.

That is awesome, brother. Thanks. So wow, I don't know if we can top that, but I do have some more questions. All right, let's do it. So the next one I got for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information that we should know that is within your expertise or industry?

This is really critical. The doors to your future are in the past, and they magically are going to open up for you a world, a world of possibility when you actually begin to let go of the limiting beliefs that are tying you or binding you to your past. The real grace of life is in the letting go. So again, let me just reiterate that the doors to your future, a powerful, possible, amazing future, magically open, but they exist in the past and they only open the moment you begin to let go of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back.

And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

You know, I'm going to borrow this from John Lee Dumas, who is the podcast host for Entrepreneur on Fire. And JLD said on stage the very first time I met him, he said, choose a niche and go 1 inch wide and 1 mile deep. Now, when he's talking about 1 inch wide, what he's saying is narrow your focus into something that really makes sense for you, that really speaks to your soul. And 1 mile deep, learn absolutely everything that you can so that you can become the best in your area.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

As a professional speaker now, I would go back and say, Dude, seriously, ask for advice on how to create a signature speech and ask somebody to help you learn how to monetize your speaking opportunities. I've been speaking since I was 7 years old and I've never had anybody sit down with me and teach me how to create a signature speech and to monetize my speaking opportunities. I've had to learn everything the hard way.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Well, for me, I want to say that happiness is actually the default setting for people, and it happens when people let go of limiting beliefs. That's number one and most important. It's actually the result of releasing any kind of resistance that you have, or hurt, or pain, or sadness, and it's an exchange. So the actual key is simple, not necessarily easy, but it's simple. Release the resistance and/or the drag that you have caused from the past attachments, or the attachments you have to your past, and let go of those limiting beliefs because when you do, everything begins to open up for you. First and foremost is that happiness isn't going to come like a gigantic wave, like you're going to be in this full-blown happiness in the beginning. But what will happen is that you will immediately become happier. So release the resistance, let go of the limiting beliefs, and you will immediately begin to become happier.

And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?

Dude, like, this is no joke because I read a lot and this is not easy. So I chose a book called The Unfettered Mind because it is 3 letters, um, from a Buddhist monk, uh, a former samurai turned Buddhist monk, to a fellow friend samurai. And the reason that I chose this book is because for me it spoke to me. And as many times as I've read it, it just makes it go deeper and deeper and deeper for me. It talks to me about being more than just present, being more than just present in the moment, but actually being the presence, being the actual presence.

Yeah, I love that.

I love it too, dude.

This is so fun, isn't it?

I love this stuff. This is juicy and delicious. This is the way we should live every moment, man, like drinking in the presence so we are vitally, vibrantly alive. Every breath is alive.

And oh, you know what's cool? Like, I don't know how cool you'll think this is, but I just thought I'd mention it is I realized like the word, uh, like breathe, if you, if you separate it and rearrange it, is actually be earth.

That's right. I love that. I've never heard that before, but I dig it. So what it's really saying is be grounded. Yeah. When you breathe, you are being grounded. And the truth is that it's mixed up, right? So that you can discover it. It's all about the process of discovery. And I'm gonna steal that, bro. Dude, yeah, right now I'm stealing that. Gone, stolen.

Yeah, dude. And well, I'll give you one more too. Maybe like earth rearranged is the word heart.

Yes.

Yeah, so that's awesome too. So next one, brother, is what is your favorite quote and why?

Again, really difficult because I love quotes. I live by quotes. So I'm gonna give you two. I'm gonna give you one Seek not to love more, and you could replace the word love with anything, any action, learn more, be a better soccer player, whatever it is. Seek not to love more, but to remove the obstacles separating you from love. This is my quote: Seek not to love more, but to remove the obstacles separating you from love. My second one is, and I got to give you two, bro, life is not about having the courage or the endurance to push on when things get difficult. It's about releasing and letting go of everything making life difficult. Life is not about having the courage or endurance to push on when things get difficult. It's about releasing and letting go of everything making life difficult. Hmm. Dude.

Yeah, that's— I'm glad that you gave us both of those.

Thanks, man. Thank you.

So, dude, listen, this was an absolute joy for me. I have one last question before we let you go, and that is, where is the best place for people to find you online?

You know, my social media strategist would be disappointed that I keep doing this because I'm terrible at social media. Um, so just go to my website, pjswisdom.com. P-J-S wisdom.com. P-J-S wisdom.com.

Perfect, man. Thank you again so much for joining us. It was a lot of fun, brother.

Absolutely my pleasure. Sincerely, I love you and I love all your audience. Thank you so much.