Good Life Project - Kute Blackson: Redefining Your Own Path to Freedom

Episode Date: March 6, 2017

Born in Ghana, West Africa,Kute Blackson was the child of a Japanese mother and a Ghanaian father who was a legendary faith leader with some 300 churches across Ghana and a massive following... in the U.K.By his early teens, Kute was being groomed to rise up in his father’s church, but that would all change when Blackson rejected the path his father laid out for him and chose his own instead.Estranged from both his father and his community, and feeling called to blaze his own path, Kute headed to the United States where he’d struggle on nearly every level and finally come to a place where his true hero’s journey would begin.That process of stripping away, hitting rock-bottom and eventually mounting his own search led Kute to rediscover his path to freedom, and rebuild his life and living, becoming a respected voice in spirituality and consciousness on his own terms, in his own way. His story and philosophy are detailed in his recent book, You. Are. The. One.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 And so sometimes when you find your purpose, everything's easy. I think sometimes when you find your purpose, life gets more challenging and you then have to clear away everything that's not in alignment with that so that you can really align with your purpose. And I think we're put through challenges and tests to develop us so that we can really become the person who's really capable of fulfilling. Today's guest, Coot Blackson, was born in Ghana at a time where there was tremendous political upheaval in the country. And his father also at the time was fairly public and high level. And when all this turmoil began, it became clear that they would
Starting point is 00:00:39 be targeted. So they left the country. His father actually had already been in London. And not too long after, him and his mom were sort of smugg with 5,000 congregants and some 300 other churches or so back in Ghana. And he got brought up in a tradition that he was expected to step into. But in his early teens, he made the decision not to. And what unfolded from that decision, what led to it and his experiences from Ghana to London to his journey after that is where we go in today's conversation. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever,
Starting point is 00:01:44 making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required,
Starting point is 00:02:03 charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is?
Starting point is 00:02:17 You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. So good to be hanging out with you today. I've been a fan of your podcast. Ah, thanks. Are you excited? Flight Risk in London, but I want to start in Ghana, because it seems like you weren't actually there for very long. And I actually want to start with your parents, because you share an interesting story about them. Just tell me about them. Yeah, my parents.
Starting point is 00:02:52 Yeah. Well, yeah, I was born in Ghana. My father's from Ghana. My mother's Japanese. I grew up in London. And, you know, my first memories were literally a couple of things. I always felt a deep calling to serve people, a deep calling to serve humanity. It was just this burning desire.
Starting point is 00:03:06 I didn't understand where it came from, you know. And I didn't exactly know what it would look like, but my first memories were really with my father. And I remember being a chubby kid in Ghana, West Africa. I was lost in the crowd, probably around seven-ish, or six, seven. And I literally saw this crippled woman crawling on the floor. And there she was crawling
Starting point is 00:03:26 and I was lost in the crowd and my father was way up and literally she picks up the sand that he walks on, wipes on. I'm watching this happening and she picks up the sand he walks on, wipes on her face and stands up. So that was one of the most
Starting point is 00:03:39 impactful memories of my father. This was in Ghana. This was in Ghana, West Africa. And so the crowd erupted. So week after week, I grew up seeing this man who was, in my mind, my father, but very iconic for a lot of people. He'd look at a woman in a wheelchair and say, why are you in the wheelchair?
Starting point is 00:03:56 You're not sick. Stand up. And a man or woman would say, but I'm not well. I'm sick. I've been crippled for five years, ten years. And he would say, you're not sick. Do you believe? Yes, I believe.
Starting point is 00:04:07 Well, if you believe, why are you sitting in the wheelchair? But do you believe in the Bible and God and the Word, whatever he would say? And eventually, five, ten minutes later, the person would stand up or throw away their crutches or whatever miracle would occur. So this was some of my first memories with my father, and my mother was Japanese. So give us context here. So your father at that time, tell me more about him. What was he seen as?
Starting point is 00:04:35 What did he do? He built 300 churches in Ghana, West Africa. So he was considered like a miracle man. I don't know if you're familiar with the Indian culture, but like a Sai Baba, an African siddha, like a Muktananda, a man filled with energy. So when he was 15, he had a conversion to Orthodox Christianity and literally fell down on the street. The light hit him, and he gave his life to God, and he started healing people. I guess he was very simple, uneducated, very poor from the countryside,
Starting point is 00:05:10 the bush, so to speak, in Ghana. And his mentality was, well, if Jesus did this, and it's in the Bible, and the Bible says the things I do, you can do, and even more, then I figured, why not me? And he just started putting his hands on people as a 15-year-old kid. And people started getting healed. And he didn't have any idea why. He had no training, just stuff started happening. And then before you knew it, the word spread, and there were three, four, five, 600 people coming to his mother's home. His mother said, this isn't going to work. You need to figure something out. And that's when
Starting point is 00:05:42 he started his church, and one grew to two, to three, to four, to about 250, 300 at its height. And he probably still has a couple of hundred churches. So he was, you know, my father was a unique guy. He was the spiritual teacher to two or three presidents. One of the presidents I write about in my book is called Ignatius Kutu Achampong. This was my godfather. And the first time my father met this guy, this is what also sort of blew my father up, was when the guy was in his probably late 20s, came to my father.
Starting point is 00:06:13 His mother was a member in my father's church. And my father laid eyes on him, had a vision, said, you're going to be president of Ghana. The guy said, you are crazy. I'm cleaning the toilets for the generals. I don't know how many years later but he ended up being the president and so when he became president as an honor said I want your son to have my name and that's how I got pretty much his name yeah yeah Ghana went through some uh interesting times though when you were pretty young intense that's why we had to leave yeah you know because for those that kind of don't know that
Starting point is 00:06:44 history yeah share a little bit. I mean, the little that I know, because I left very early, there was a whole coup that happened. Rawlings came in. I was probably about three, four years old. Rawlings came in and pretty much started taking over the country, ended up taking a champong who was my godfather and holding him hostage. And I mean, ended up killing him basically killed so many of the people who were part of his cabinet and uh because i basically overthrew the government i felt that there was a better way and in those times it was very old
Starting point is 00:07:16 school so my father when he heard about this he happened to be be in London. So just grace and couldn't come back to the country. So my mother and I were pretty much stranded in Ghana for months. Imagine this Japanese woman can't speak English, barely been around foreigners, stranded with a kid in Ghana in a foreign country. And so we had to get smuggled out of Ghana to London. Yeah. Ended up being refugees. So it was really challenging. So the reason he couldn't come in was that it would be a risk of life?
Starting point is 00:07:47 Yeah, the reason he couldn't come in was because he was probably the most influential person in the president's life. He was his mentor, his teacher, his confidant. I mean, the only person the president would allow to be alone with him without any security. I mean, this was the guy who, you know, when the president was in his late 20s, made a prediction. And so the president would basically visit my father, you know, every few weeks, every month for counsel and guidance and what have you. So they were very, very, very close. Yeah. When this all happened and he was in London, was your dad essentially being hunted at that point?
Starting point is 00:08:23 Well, if my father came back to Ghana, he would have been killed. Yeah. 100%. Right. Without, I mean, everybody knew that my father was the spiritual advisor and confident to the present. So, I mean, that was guaranteed. So how old were you when this was all going on? I was probably around four-ish in that zone.
Starting point is 00:08:42 You know, I was young, three and a half. I don't, honestly, I don't remember. Yeah, that's my curiosity. Like, you know this from it being told here. But I was just in London and I had a conversation with my mother. And she was telling me, you know, how, I didn't realize how actually intense and scary it was for this Japanese woman, you know, who's in this crazy foreign country, speaks no English, speaks no Ghanaian. Her husband who, you know, my father speaks no Japanese. She speaks no English.
Starting point is 00:09:09 They can barely speak. So now her husband who she's just married is, you know, a few years ago is stuck in London. She has no one, basically. I mean, there's people around, but she doesn't really have anyone. So she was telling me how she would hear reports and hear gunshots. And, you know, in the newspaper, there were people literally being hanged in the middle of the street, made an example of it. It was really scary for her. Because I got to imagine for her, she's probably thinking, well, if they're, you know, if he's not safe, you know, and he's not here, then we can't be safe either.
Starting point is 00:09:40 You know, because you're part of the lineage. Yeah. either yeah you know because because you're part of the lineage yeah i mean i think you know i mean i had a conversation with her and i really have to say i was i'm really touched by her courage and uh her her fearlessness because when i spoke to her there was very little fear in her when she spoke about it when she spoke about it to me all spoke about it to me, all that was present for her was how do I take care of my son? If I don't see my husband again, what do I need to do to take care of my son? And this woman, Japanese woman, went and got and applied for a job in a kindergarten figuring out if my husband can't come back to the country, he's a refugee. What do I do? And so all I heard was a total focus on her son, on unconditional loving, on truly being selfless, which was really, for me, very inspiring and very touching.
Starting point is 00:10:36 Yeah. But eventually, I guess not too long after that, then, you did end up, both of you ended up sort of being smuggled out. Yeah, we ended up being kind of smuggled out, you know, in secret back to London. And we were refugees, literally refugees. We came in a refugee visa. And we were refugees for, I think, we couldn't go back for about five, six years. It might have been seven years. My father couldn't go back.
Starting point is 00:10:59 And then he was pardoned, you know, with the help of the King of Ghana, who was close to, who spoke to the president and they made everything okay. Yeah. What was happening to, you know, these hundreds of churches and congregants while you guys were in London? I guess my father was running it, you know, remotely. No kidding. At that time? At that time, you know, phone calls here, phone calls there. So the institution still stayed in place?
Starting point is 00:11:22 It was continuing. It continued. It was moving. I place? It was continuing. It continued. It was moving. I mean, it was strong. I mean, I remember in its height, hundreds of thousands of people. I mean, literally was – I mean, as a kid, I couldn't walk down the street without someone knowing who my father was. I mean, it was massive. I mean, I'd go out on the street with my father and people would literally,
Starting point is 00:11:48 hundreds of people would come at a time. So it was, you know, I didn't think anything of it. Now I look back and I thought, It's just your reality. It was just my reality. And I look back and think, well, okay, well, that was what it was, you know. When did you first go back together?
Starting point is 00:12:03 Probably around seven years old. It was probably, you know, we left when I was about three-ish, three and a half. So it's probably going to be around seven, eight in that zone. Yeah. I think whenever my father was able to go back is when I went back. Right. With him. So did you guys move back there or were you going back and forth between London and England?
Starting point is 00:12:20 No, no, no. We stayed in London. Okay. Yeah. So you would go back just to kind of – I'd go back every, you know,. We stayed in London. Okay. So you would go back just to kind of – I'd go back every few years with him, and he continued his churches there, and his church in London exploded. Yeah. 5,000 people, 5,000 people every Sunday coming to his church.
Starting point is 00:12:36 How did he do that? Well, what does a miracle man do? Obviously, he's not going to work in 7-eleven and uh sell cars so what started happening was you know the african community in london heard about my father they knew him and one by one people started showing up and healing started happening one of the you know one of the stories i heard was there was a woman from jamaica and she came and she literally was in she was the woman in the wheelchair one of the first stories i I heard. And he was the one who told her, stand up. And she stood up.
Starting point is 00:13:06 And then her house, I was to get a little out there, but her house was cursed. So whenever she would walk into her own house, she would feel like literally knives cutting her. So my father took her to her house and said, let me go into the house, said a prayer of some sort. And I said, go into your house. And so she walks into her house after years of not being able to live in her house she had to live with her daughter and nothing happened and so she basically said i want to invite you to stay in this house with me and my family and that kind of gave us a foundation as well yeah so so when you're coming up largely in london then were you going to public school like what was what was your
Starting point is 00:13:43 education yeah i was uh from what i remember i was i went to public school? Like what was your education? Yeah, I was, from what I remember, I went to kindergarten. I went to public school. Because you're not the average kid in that school. Yeah. So how do you, tell me about that. You know, I mean, I lived two lives. You know, there was a deeper reality that I was in touch with because I was going to church, seeing these miracles. That was normal for me. I'd go to school. I'd tell my friends and teachers about it. They
Starting point is 00:14:09 thought I was literally, I was insane. Until one day, one of my teachers came to church, saw 5,000 people going crazy and saw miracles happening. And then she thought, okay, he's not making stuff up. And that was a turning point uh but i you know honestly i always felt a little different i always felt there was a part of me that i couldn't really share there was a part of me that i couldn't that my friends didn't really understand i mean i was popular in school i played soccer and i you know did cricket and sports and tennis and what have you but there was a whole i mean at age 10 i, I was listening to Tony Robbins tapes, the personal power tapes. You know, at age 8, I was reading Sheckley Gawain and Marianne Williamson and Louise Hay.
Starting point is 00:14:51 And I was obsessed with trying to understand who are we and why we're here and what's the purpose of life. So I have these two worlds, one inner reality, inner world that I couldn't share with my friends, and a whole other world where everything on the surface was fun and games and happy on one level. I'd go to school age 10, 11. On the train back, I would be reading books, reading Deepak Chopra books. So this was my personal growth and self-help and spirituality for me
Starting point is 00:15:22 has been a passion, has been in my blood. I'd do my homework so I could go read books for three, four hours a night. But you're essentially living, it's like you're living two lives. I was living two lives, completely living two lives. There was a whole domain of my existence that my friends had zero idea about. Because when I was age eight, I started to preach in my father's churches. My father, one day, I was a chubby kid, only interested in soccer, threw me up on stage and said, my son's going to give the sermon.
Starting point is 00:15:48 And I had no idea what I was doing. No plan. It was an eight-year-old kid plan. And all of a sudden, that's when I think something opened up for me when I was on stage. I don't remember what I was said, but it was like a download happened, like a chat. It was like being a channel. And I mean, how do you explain that to your friends? was said but it was like a download happened like a chat it was like being a channel and uh i mean how do you explain that to your friends you know how do you how do you go to school the next thing
Starting point is 00:16:09 say oh i spoke in front of 5 000 people and this is what occurred so i couldn't talk about certain things so on one level it was very lonely and on one level i felt very different and on one level i felt very weird you know so it was it was it was challenging i'm not going to deny on one level I felt very weird you know so it was challenging I'm not going to deny it on one level yeah and how do you explain that to yourself also because you know that feeling of okay I've just been put on stage and something is moving through me
Starting point is 00:16:36 at a very young age besides how do I explain that to my friends how do you actually how do you explain that to yourself so what's happening to me right now i'll be honest man i i i didn't think about it i wish i could make up some elaborate you know thing that occurred but i didn't think about it for me whenever i would get on stage as a young boy and it still happens to me kind of even now as well i wasn't there the first time
Starting point is 00:17:07 was the first time when i just got on stage my father says speak and something happened something spoke through me and i wasn't there so on some level even now people say oh you're a great speaker and i can't really take credit for it i mean, it's me and I've developed my craft, but something happens. And so I didn't really think about it very much. I would just show up and let whatever needed to move through me move through me. And I didn't give it much thought. It was also very humbling because I realized that there was something bigger than myself moving me. And I didn't really know at that age what it was, what it wasn't.
Starting point is 00:17:47 God, intelligence, consciousness, whatever lay we wanted. I knew it was something, you know. Did you question it at all or did you just accept it? I think at that age I accepted it. Yeah. Yeah. Did there come a time where you started to question or have you just kind said, this is, you know, just sort of fully embraced whatever this thing is
Starting point is 00:18:07 in whatever form it's in? Oh, man. I never questioned what was moving through me. What I questioned, see, when I was 14, my father wanted me to become a minister.
Starting point is 00:18:19 Right. And that's when he basically announced to the congregation, my son's going to be ordained as a minister. He's going to take over my church my son's going to be ordained as a minister. He's going to take over my church. He's going to be the next guy. Everyone's happy.
Starting point is 00:18:30 And that never felt that the structure of the delivery of this energy of the gift that was moving through me is what I questioned. so the church the organization you know even though my dad was a very spiritual kind of enlightened you know mystic christian person wasn't an old school person at this point i i started questioning the the form and the organization of it and i knew that that the structure of the church and religion was not for me so that's why i started questioning but i never really questioned the connection to the divine, the connection to source, the connection to God. That was always my direct experience. That was something that no one taught me or wasn't from a book. It was just a direct connection, and it was my own experience.
Starting point is 00:19:16 So how can I argue really, at least for me, with my own experience? So when you started to question that sort of the the delivery structure around it what was what was coming up like what was the conversation in your head what did you i knew that it wasn't right for me what wasn't right about it i'll never forget the day i was about 14 and i was on stage 5 000 people in the audience my mother's on the other side my father and i we didn't talk a whole lot he was very very old school, old school African. And he said, my son's taking over the church and he's the next guy. I made this big announcement and I looked over at my mother and she looked over at me. We were very close. And I just shook my head
Starting point is 00:19:59 like, well, no one really discussed this with me. How did this happen? So on one level, looking back, I kind of felt a little betrayed by my father because there was no conversation. But intuitively in my gut, there was a deep knowing of my truth that this is not in alignment. And I can't tell you why or why not. I just knew this wasn't my path.
Starting point is 00:20:22 I went along with it and I didn't say anything to my father because I didn't know any other path. I didn't know any other way to deliver the information. I didn't know any other way to speak truth, to inspire people. This was all I knew. So I went along with it because I didn't want to lose his love. You know, I didn't want, I was terrified. I didn't want to rock the boat.
Starting point is 00:20:42 I didn't want to upset people. I didn't want to let people down. I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I didn't want to be abandoned boat. I didn't want to upset people. I didn't want to let people down. I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I didn't want to be abandoned. So I didn't say anything. And you're 14 years old then. Exactly. So it's like you're not necessarily equipped with the skills to say sorry.
Starting point is 00:20:55 But I knew. Honestly, I knew in my gut that this wasn't my truth. I knew it and I knew I wasn't equipped, but I also knew I was't my truth. I knew it, and I knew I wasn't equipped, but I also knew I was denying my truth. At some point you told your dad. So what was... Took me four years. Right.
Starting point is 00:21:13 And what happened that made you say, okay, it's time? Well, I started reading a lot of books. Number one, I started seeing, wow, maybe there's a whole different way of delivering this information. Maybe there's a whole other approach. These people weren't ministers. They didn't have churches. So what if I did it in seminars and hotel rooms?
Starting point is 00:21:33 Wow, there's a whole new – America is the place to do this thing. There's a whole new career I could make of sharing inspiration. So that was one epiphany. Then I read a book by a man called j krishnamurti read a few of his books and i don't remember which book but i remember reading about his life and really relating to some of his life he was being groomed to take over you know the theosophy organization right and i think when he was around 28 29 literally had his own epiphany left everything behind talked about how the free mind is not a conditioned mind.
Starting point is 00:22:06 The Buddhist mind, the Jewish mind is just a free. And when I read that, I felt a moment of deep truth. I felt like something inside of me was being shaken. And I knew I was probably about 15, 16. I knew what I had to do in that moment. I didn't do it because I was probably about 15, 16. I knew what I had to do in that moment. I didn't do it because I was terrified. But I could not lie to myself that I didn't know what was true. I felt the truth and I felt it shake me.
Starting point is 00:22:37 And I didn't have the courage to speak up or say anything. So what occurred for me was from 14 to 18, slowly the truth of my soul started to burn even more. And, you know, the truth burns. And I just sat with the truth and the fire of the truth kept burning and burning and burning and burning. And when I turned 17, 18 is when i also had to make some decisions whether do i continue with university or what what am i going to do with my life so it reached a showdown moment and with your dad with my father because either i was going to take over the church i was going to go to university i couldn't just do nothing so so did your mom know that this moment was coming uh i had a conversation with my mother, and I told her.
Starting point is 00:23:27 It was a little scary, but I told her the truth. I told her everything. I said, I don't feel I'm meant to take over the church. I'm scared. I'm terrified. But this is my truth, and I'm not going to go to university. And she, like a lot of mothers, was unconditional and loving and said, I love you. If this is what you want and this is what you feel, I'll support you. You're going to have to tell your dad. And so, I mean, months later is when I finally
Starting point is 00:23:49 mustered up the courage to tell my father the truth. And I was, honestly, I was terrified. Yeah. So what happened? Take me into that conversation. I had made up in my mind, at least my truth was, that I would be outcast, that we would never speak for the rest of my life, that I'd be outcast from the community. But I knew what I had to do because I knew if I followed his path for my life, his vision for my life, I might be successful by everyone else's standards and build a church
Starting point is 00:24:26 and be the next great whatever. But if I didn't have myself, then what do I have? That's just a failure in a sense. So I remember one day I made peace with my own truth. And it was, I remember crying. It was deeply scary. And what I had to do was fully release my father. You know, fully, like, let him go.
Starting point is 00:24:50 My relationship with him is over. I mean, it might sound dramatic, but for an 18-year-old kid, it was 17. It was a big deal. Like, this is it. So I had to make peace with that. And I remember making peace with, I will not have a relationship with my father again. And once that occurred is when i had the conversation i remember one sunday after church and walking up the stairs
Starting point is 00:25:11 we live in a tiny tiny i mean my bedroom was about this size by the way so i walked out my tiny bedroom and i walked up the stairs uh it's probably about 7 p.m at night i mean shaking you know sometimes it's sometimes it's easier i think to not know the truth to not acknowledge the truth because then you don't have to do anything about it you know but uh which is i think why we so often deny the truth we distract ourselves from the truth we pretend you know we play this game of confusion i don't know but i knew man and the truth was just like a fire in my soul. So I walked up the stairs, and I see my dad lying down off the church, and it was long services.
Starting point is 00:25:49 Services were like five, six hours on a Sunday. And I said, Dad, I have something to tell you. You don't understand. My dad is not the type of person you speak to, right? So this was like confronting the dragon. So I walk up to my father and say, I have something to tell you. And he says okay what sure he's gonna scream at me and i and i say you know i don't feel i'm meant to take over the churches
Starting point is 00:26:11 and uh i just wanted to tell you talk to you about that and he said uh all he said was are you sure and i said uh yeah i don't think i'm you know it was it was terrifying for me yes because i felt like i was killing my father that's how it felt i felt like i was only letting him down i was the only son so there was no one else so i felt tremendous amount of pressure and i love my dad even though we weren't you know so close on a personal level he said are you sure i said yeah i'm sure and i just felt his heart sink and i felt like that's it and he asked me again are you sure and it was a moment you know it was like time stopped and it was a moment of choice like i could say well i'm not i'm sure and i realized it was like something went, you know, it's like you throw a book down
Starting point is 00:27:05 and something goes thump. And there's no turning back after that moment. And he said, okay. And that was it. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game
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Starting point is 00:27:41 Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him.
Starting point is 00:27:56 Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.
Starting point is 00:28:17 The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. And I'm thinking, you know, it would have been easy if he just screamed at me and said something and threw some books around. That was it. And I walked downstairs trembling. And I knew my life would never be the same again.
Starting point is 00:28:45 And my father and I barely spoke for about two years after that. I mean, he was there, he was gone a lot. So it's not like I saw him all the time, but it was pretty chilly. We didn't speak. It was very, very difficult. Have you ever spoken about that since then?
Starting point is 00:29:01 You know, it's funny. I don't know if we've directly spoken about that moment yeah i mean we've we've gotten a lot closer and and i think there's a deep respect and you know i feel his love i feel his on one level uh pride of you know what i've achieved and where i'm going and what i'm doing i don't think we've ever spoken about that moment, of that like what happened for you, Dad, in that conversation. So it would be interesting to kind of maybe revisit that with him. Yeah. But I remember feeling, when I went back to my room, honestly,
Starting point is 00:29:37 I remember feeling deeply alone and deeply like, oh, shit, what did I do? Sometimes people say, well well when you find your purpose the universe opens up everything is spontaneously fulfilling of your desires that unicorns it's sometimes what i think when you when you feel because i felt my purpose that i knew i was meant to come to america i thought i was meant to go into this field of personal growth and give seminars i mean in the exact form but i felt that from when i was 14 15 16 i knew this is what i wanted to do and so sometimes people say when you find your purpose everything's easy i think sometimes when you find your purpose life gets more challenging and you then have to clear away
Starting point is 00:30:14 everything that's not in alignment with that so that you can really align with your purpose and i think we're put through challenges and tests to develop us so that we can really become the person who's really capable of fulfilling yeah it's funny i agree i think one of the big mythologies and sort of self-help personal growth um spirituality is that the moment you start living your truth you know like everything rises up and the path becomes clear and there's a sense of grace and ease and you just know it's right and i don't know. I've met the occasional person where that's been the experience,
Starting point is 00:30:53 but the vast majority of folks who I know who can say in some way, shape, or form, they've found that they've been through some level of hell. For me, at least, at that age, it was hell because I was in this abyss of, oh, my God, what do I do? I have no money. I have no family support. I have no support for my father. I'm now pretty much outcast in my community.
Starting point is 00:31:12 I'm not going to university. And I feel this burning desire to go to America, you know, and I feel my destiny is dependent on me being in America because that's where the personal growth field is. And now I'm stuck in this tiny, you this tiny room in Peckham with nothing. Like literally, I made a prayer. I said, God, what do I do? And I'll never forget that evening. I said, God, you've given me this vision. You've given me this dream, this vision.
Starting point is 00:31:41 You've given it to me, so fulfill it. And it was a deep prayer from the depth of my soul. And as a kid, my room was literally deep prayer from the depth of my soul and you know as a kid I would my room was literally the size of the studio and I would sneak out by the way
Starting point is 00:31:51 for those listening the studio is not large it's not what is it five five I don't know it's pretty tiny it's tiny
Starting point is 00:31:56 I had a bed that was literally this size and I mean so I felt the bigness of my dreams you know and the smallness
Starting point is 00:32:03 of my circumstance and it was so frustrating. So what I would do was I would sneak out because the church was literally next door attached to the apartment. So I would sneak out the middle of the night. I was just there. When this is done, I'll show you a picture. And I would sneak out to the church in the darkness around 11 p.m. And I would, as a 15, 16-year-old kid, probably three, four nights a week, I would speak, like literally give seminars to the empty chairs, imagining the souls of all the people I would be inspiring at some point and laughing with them and crying with them and seeing them light up.
Starting point is 00:32:39 So for me, it was a calling to be in this field and do what I'm doing. Why not London, though? I mean, London was a calling to be in this field and do what I'm doing. Why not London? I mean, London's a big place. I get the fact that your dad was there and he's like a huge community. At that time, there was nothing. Look, every author I'd read, we're talking Wayne Dyer, we're talking Canfield, Mark Fitzhansen, Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Marianne Williamson, Louise Hay.
Starting point is 00:33:08 I mean, just go down the list. They all lived, Barbara DeAngelis, LA, San Diego. They were all literally, I'd read the backs of these books. It was a world away from me, but they all lived in Beverly Hills, San Diego, Solana, all down. So for me, this was the Mecca. A few obviously lived in Northern California, but this was the Mecca. And there was nothing going on in London.
Starting point is 00:33:30 For me, growing up in Peckham, Peckham was literally like a ghetto. So that was one. I hated it. On top of that, there was no consciousness movement. You couldn't really go into a bookstore and find very many spiritual books. Like in the u.s you can go to barnes and noble and find a whole section there's nothing like i mean maybe now it's a bit more now there's a bit more yoga but you know 18 years ago 19 years ago 20 there was nothing yeah so this is where it was at i'm curious also do you feel like any of that was also um feeling like you needed to step out from under the geographic even shadow of your father?
Starting point is 00:34:08 You know what? It wasn't conscious, like, oh, I need to get away from the proximity of my father. my soul's journey i see that the greatest most accelerated way to evolve my soul was partly the geographic space because that gave me the room to grow and become my own man and make my own mistakes and not have the energy of my father right and my mother you know right there and to disconnect from them and that was really impactful yeah because i think it's so interesting because i i've sat down with so many people who have sort of made a huge geographical move um and one of the questions that always comes up for me is are you running to or are you running from? Or is it some blend of both of those? You know?
Starting point is 00:35:06 Yes. I think it was honestly without thinking, I knew I had to go. And I knew my soul was calling. I knew it for sure. And it was probably a blend of running from and running to. It was a blend of all. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:22 So you end up in LA after that, right? Did you go directly no what happened for me was there I am sitting in my room wondering how the hell am I going to do this with no money literally no money and that's when I feel I felt the
Starting point is 00:35:37 total support of the universe I really feel like when we follow our truth it may not be an easy path but the universe does support us in some ways and we have to do our part. huge proof for me and gave me the faith to know that I was being supported and guided by a far greater intelligence than just myself. I felt the entire support of the universe because I didn't know how I was going to make it happen. And I was in the library of my school as a 17-year-old kid and I was meditating, saying, God, how the hell am I going to get to America? I feel this vision. Don't leave me hanging here.
Starting point is 00:36:27 I've jumped off the cliff. I don't see any wings, you know. And someone hands me, literally minutes later, someone hands me a magazine called The Economist. And I never read The Economist, but I look at the back and I felt an intuition. Something was brewing. I look at the back of the magazine. It says the American government's giving away 55,000 green cards in the green card lottery i felt chills in my body i felt this deep strange unexplainable knowing that i was going to win i mean chances are almost you know non-existent
Starting point is 00:36:58 and so i entered it applied pay my you know a few hundred dollars to the law firm applied and i was told that unless i heard back by sept the 18th or the 19th, then just move on with your life. You haven't won. And I was sure I was going to win. And I kid you not, every day I'd meditate and I'd do my affirmation. This is pretty secret, right? I'd do my affirmations, see myself in America. I saw Bill Clinton shaking my hand.
Starting point is 00:37:19 I saw a green card in my mind's eye and visualizing the feeling, the experience of it. The green card wasn't green. It was pink. And every day I'd go to the mailbox, no letter, no notification. And sure enough, September the 18th rolls around, nothing. Feeling pretty deserted by the universe. I have a screaming moment with God. And I pack my bags and I say, I'm going to the U.S.
Starting point is 00:37:44 I guess you could call it illegally. I'm going to the U.S. because this is where I feel I'm going. And I'm said, I'm going to the US. I guess you could call it illegally. I'm going to the US because this is where I feel I'm going and I'm just, I'm not coming back. And I packed my bags and that night is when we get a phone call. My mother picks up the phone and says, there's an American guy on the other line. Says he wants to speak to Mr. Blackson. I think that's you, not your dad. So I pick up the phone. He says, is Mr. Kutu Blackson?
Starting point is 00:38:04 I said, yes. He goes, we're the law firm that applied for you. We just got notified today that you have won a green card. And, uh, I can't tell you, you know, that moment of,
Starting point is 00:38:16 of grace, that moment of gratitude, that moment of relief. I mean, I was crying and jumping. And then in the midst of this elation i hear this i feel sense here whatever you want to call it this voice that says why are you so surprised you seem so surprised did you not know did you not trust and change my life you know and that's
Starting point is 00:38:42 a moment that over the last 18 years or so that i've been in the u.s that's a moment that whenever i have especially in those beginning years whenever i've doubted or questioned or it's been challenging or hard i've wanted to give up i remember that i remember that moment going you've been guided you know there is an intelligence guiding you don't forget that moment and so it was a beautiful moment and that And that's really what enabled me legally to come to the U.S. with two suitcases and knowing no one in the country, $1,000, one suitcase full of clothes, one suitcase full of books, tapes, you know, of the motivational, inspirational greats, legends, and just showed up in the U.S.
Starting point is 00:39:23 And that began my journey. Yeah. When you first hit up, what surprised you most? When I first showed up? Yeah. I had no idea what to expect, you know? I mean, there was no Internet, couldn't really do any research. And also because your entire understanding of the U.S.,
Starting point is 00:39:41 especially L.A., which is almost like a very – it's its own culture. It's a wild place. You know, it's very different than a lot of the rest of the US, especially LA, which is almost like a very, it's its own culture. It's a wild, you know, it's very different than a lot of the rest of the US has got to be based on media on sort of like your illusion of what what you think this place is. And then you actually touch down. I'm curious, like, all of my friends who were in London, you know, my schoolmates were like, Oh, you're gonna get killed, because you know, the riots had happened. And everyone heard how dangerous LA was, you know, killed, you know the riots had happened and everyone heard how dangerous la was you're gonna get killed you know my god yeah actually this was not a good time it was not a good time right i didn't care man i was i i was i was possessed with a calling i was possessed i think back now and think and i and i when i think back now and when I think back now, I go, wow, how did I do that, you know, in retrospect?
Starting point is 00:40:28 But I was possessed and on one level fearless and relentless in the innocent following of my soul. And when I showed up, I'll be honest, I showed up. I asked the taxi to take me somewhere safe and cheap where I could stay for a few weeks. Takes me to Venice Beach. 20 years ago, it was not a great place. Drops me off on the Venice Beach. And for a kid from London, it was like being in Mars. And what did I do?
Starting point is 00:40:58 I cried for about two weeks. Where did you stay? Crash in a hostel or something? No, I stayed at a place called Venice Beach Kotel. Not hotel, not motel, not hostel, kotel. Now, that's like the lowest rank of anything possible. A room like this with like three bunk beds and that's where you stay. So it was a shock and I wanted to go back every single day.
Starting point is 00:41:21 And the challenge is when you burn the bridge like that with your father, you can't go back. So probably if I could have gone back, I might have gone back. But I didn't really have an option. So I had to. I had to keep going. Well, if you went back, I mean, in your mind, is it an ego thing that you can't go back? Or is it if you go back, you're not just going back, but you're basically, you're going back to go back into. Both.
Starting point is 00:41:48 Like you now have to step back into this whole life you swore you were abandoning. Both. It was a combination of both. And I knew it wasn't right, you know. But it was so tough. I mean, I had no money. I had no food. I was struggling.
Starting point is 00:42:00 I didn't know. I'm 18 and I know no one. So that's a tough situation. I mean, I didn't know I mean I didn't know I'm 18 and I know no one so that's a that's a tough situation I mean I didn't know a single person and you know
Starting point is 00:42:10 I called my mother up crying on the phone and she would be like you can do it you know go you know you can go for it you know I believe in you
Starting point is 00:42:16 and that's what kept me going week after week and then things started opening up but it was would I have gone back I don't know because my
Starting point is 00:42:23 I look back and i really felt the the the pull of my soul it was beyond me beyond my fear beyond my personality my soul was pulling me um in an unexplainable way in an unexplainable direction. And so I was possessed by that in a sense. And I think that's what kept me going beyond myself. I mean, I always wonder at moments like that. So often there's one person who sometimes signals to you that like stay the path that makes you, you know, if, you know, if your mom had said, you know, not I believe in you,
Starting point is 00:43:03 but I believe in you. And at the same time, if you feel like you want to come said, you know, not I believe in you, but I believe in you. And at the same time, if you feel like you want to come home, you can. Like whether you like that would just changed everything. Instead of just saying, I believe in you, you can do it. You know, like go for it. Yeah. I mean, it's hard. It's hard.
Starting point is 00:43:18 You can't, you know, figure it out. But I felt my soul guiding me. Yeah. You know, and I think that's why it's so important that we listen to our soul. Yeah. So you, I mean, to kind of fast forward a little bit, I know you picked up a whole bunch of different jobs, and eventually were doing some selling work and stuff like that
Starting point is 00:43:37 just to get your feet back on the ground. What do you start to do to reconnect with, okay, so what I'm really here to do is to teach? I always knew that that was what I was start to do to reconnect with, okay, so what I'm really here to do is to teach? I always knew that that was what I was here to do. There was never any question. And I knew when I was 13, 14, reading these books, and that's why I came to the US. But I had to survive.
Starting point is 00:43:57 I had to figure out what to do and how to pay the bills and pay the rent. So everything I did was really... And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday, we've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman.
Starting point is 00:44:41 I knew you were gonna be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk.
Starting point is 00:44:56 In service to that, you know, I got involved with multi-level marketing. And the only reason I got involved with multi-level marketing, I didn't even know anyone to sell to, but I got involved with multi-level marketing, I didn't even know anyone to sell to, but I got involved with multi-level marketing, was it was a satellite-based TV network dedicated to personal growth. So just somehow connecting with the topic. It was connected. So all of these people, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Les Brown, the motivational guys were involved in this network. So that got me proximity. And that's how I met Jim Rohn. I was on stage as an 18, 19-year-old kid, and Jim Rohn saw me speak, called me over, said he was very blown away.
Starting point is 00:45:32 How do you get on stage as an 18, 19-year-old kid at that point? So I started to, as part of this company, I started to enroll a ton of people. I was a maniac because I was i was i was passionate about personal growth and that's what drove me wasn't the money wasn't anything other than i i was very innocent and believed in this information because that's all i read growing up and so when people like jim ron and les brown and brian chasey were part of this i really believed in the product so because i didn't know anyone how i would enroll people into my downline, so to speak, was I would dress up in the only suit I had
Starting point is 00:46:10 and I'd go on to Walsh Boulevard in the office buildings and I would literally all day, because I didn't know anyone, ride the elevators and harass nice-looking people like yourself in the elevators until you were willing to have a conversation or signed up into my downline you know and and so literally my my my downline kind of exploded
Starting point is 00:46:33 in a mini way you know before you knew it from knowing no one i had 300 people in my downline and 400 and so how does this kid in in two months have 700 people in his downline? Obviously, it wasn't all me. But the thing grew simply because I so believed in consciousness and personal growth and self-help and what have you. And so because of that, the founder of the company at the convention threw me on stage as a testimonial. And so kind of like my father did. He throws me on stage and said, this kid has come from off the boat a few months ago and look at him. Everyone should listen to him. Come up on stage.
Starting point is 00:47:08 And so I have opportunity to start speaking. He said, speak for a minute. And then minute grew into five minutes. And so there's 20,000 people in the arena in Dallas, Texas Convention Center. There's Liz Brown in the front row. There's Mark Frick-Tansen. There's Jack Canfield.
Starting point is 00:47:22 There's Jim Rohn. All these, my icons on the front row. And not knowing that also you had actually spent your entire life being groomed to preach. There's Mark Victor Hanson. There's Jack Canfield. There's Jim Rohn. All these, my icons on the front row. Right. And not knowing that also you had actually spent your entire life being groomed to preach, to be on a stage and talk. It was my life. Yeah. And so that was how I started connecting with some of these people. And that's what started to open up a whole new world and avenue quite quickly.
Starting point is 00:47:42 What was it? The first time you get back on stage as your own person for what you independently had done in front of a massive crowd because the last time you'd be on stage in any way, shape or form was... The church. Yeah. So what's that moment like
Starting point is 00:47:57 when you step back up as your own person? Even though it's like, you know, it's a different context profoundly you know it's in a but still just for you you know what in a strange way something i haven't thought about in a while but it it was very similar to the first time where you know you're on stage in front of 20 000 people unprepared like literally i looked around there's just lights everywhere and the download happened again. Just stuff started streaming out.
Starting point is 00:48:29 People started crying. And I remember just feeling just the same energy coming through. It was a really beautiful experience. But it also felt very fulfilling because I was speaking what I wanted to speak. And speaking what my heart was sharing. And so that was really, really touching. And for me, it was very, I mean, I can't tell you, you know, as a kid, how moving it was for someone like a Jim Rohn to call me over and say,
Starting point is 00:48:58 in the restaurant afterwards, say, kid, I mean, I really believe, I mean, wow, I was really moved. I mean, this is a guy who i saved up my entire year savings and ordered the entire gym you know library for two thousand dollars from the u.s as a 15 year old kid and here he is saying i was really moved you have an amazing future i mean that was really you know moments like that is what i'll never forget yeah yeah um so where do you go from there wow where do i go i mean such a long road man where do i go from there i know i know one thing we have nine hours here one thing i started doing was i started to track down many of the some of the personal growth people and i started going to every seminar i could save up for and afford. I started sneaking into, literally sneaking into seminars.
Starting point is 00:49:49 As I'm talking, I'm reimagining having memories of some of the seminars I snuck into that I shouldn't have been in. Snuck into seminars, knocked on doors of many famous authors, you know, showed up at House, one of these famous authors. I showed up at Jack Canfield's office one time. So you were basically like a consciousness stalker. I was a stalker. I mean, it was cute because I was like 19 years old. Maybe not so cute now. Barring that, they would have been calling the cops.
Starting point is 00:50:23 I mean, I showed up at Jack Canfield's office one time and said, I'm here to see Jack, thinking somehow he would know me. And I've been reading his book since I was 12. He's not here. I know he's here. No, he's not. After half an hour of going back and forth, Jack Canfield walks out and goes, what the hell is going on? What's this commotion? And then we sat down.
Starting point is 00:50:37 We had a conversation. We shared some things and moments like that. I think a lot of the time it was also the kindness of many people along the way. Some people who I remember, some people I don't even remember. And I look back on success and people say, wow, you've achieved quite a few things. And I see that part of my success is a collection, is the impact of so many people along the way. None of us are successful just on our own. How do you, as you're starting to do this, you're getting your feet on the ground financially, you're developing relationships,
Starting point is 00:51:11 and you're starting to speak again. And you've got, in your head, you've got this really interesting amalgam of ideologies. So you've got the mystical healing side, or sort of like the mystical Christianity side from your dad. You've got the experience of that community. You've been reading all this sort of, you know, like the more modern personal development authors and diving into their philosophy. And at the same time, I know you've
Starting point is 00:51:33 also, you know, been reading, you know, some of the great Indian sages and people from the East. How do you take all that and say, this is what I believe to be true. Like, this is what I now choose to turn around and offer as my lens where I've got something of value. And also when you land in a place where you're, you know, in your own words, it is very populated by people with a lot of things to say. How do you show up and say something that rises, that is distinct? How I – and I'll say it's more populated now also because even when I started teaching really intensely, coaching 15 years ago, it wasn't as populated. I mean, let me tell you. It was still more fringy then.
Starting point is 00:52:24 Now, everyone at Starbucks is a coach I mean, let me tell you. It was still more fringy then. Now it's kind of announced. Now everyone at Starbucks is a coach and everyone at Starbucks is doing seminars and everyone everywhere is doing something now. So it's changed. And now with YouTube and everyone's making videos, it wasn't like that 15 years ago. For me, yes, there was a lot of different ideas because I read so many books and had so many experiences. But the real shift happened. It wasn't me thinking, how do I take all these things and create something unique? What happened for me was going through my own breakdown and my own unraveling and my own dismantling and my own crisis, so to speak, you know and and questioning everything about about myself and going through
Starting point is 00:53:09 my own inner transformation of peeling away my layers and conditionings and belief systems and having to drop literally everything i i thought i believed and everything I was taught. And it was through a process of, I think, sitting in a room for four or five months and journaling and crying and dealing with my pain, the pain that I didn't even know I had around my father, you know, and dealing with my own wounding and unraveling the layers that I had built up and then traveling. That's when I really started to reconnect with my own truth. It wasn't by saying, how can I put these things together? It was more by peeling away layers.
Starting point is 00:54:00 Yeah, it's liberation rather than transformation. Yeah, it was liberation rather than transformation. And I had to kind of let go of everything I knew, everything I read, everything I'd been told and let it all go. And what was left honestly wasn't a whole lot of stuff in the mind. What was left for me, and it was really kind of complete itself when I was in India. What was left for me was an inner sense of freedom. What was left for me was inner sense of lightness and inner sense of being in touch with something that wasn't teaching. It wasn't concepts.
Starting point is 00:54:53 It wasn't like philosophies and frameworks. It was just, I feel fucking free. I feel alive. I feel, I just feel myself. It wasn't like seven steps to this, 18 this, 47. So it was out of that freedom that I then felt like and moved to ask myself, how do I have more people? How do I have people experience what I feel? Right, because there wasn't sort of a teachable process.
Starting point is 00:55:24 It wasn't a teachable, here are eight steps. It wasn't information that I just read in a book because I had to let all of that go because I realized information by itself didn't really free me. So it was out of that inner experience that the impulse and the desire to help people, you could say re-arose, if that's a word. So then how do you take people there then? Because if you get to this place through years of some pretty major stresses, pretty major shifts in your life,
Starting point is 00:56:00 and really intense journaling and study and then travel. And it just sort of emerges that there is this, you've reached a point where there's a stripping away and all of a sudden you feel this way. And at the same time, the question in your mind sounds like has always been like the seed planted in you at a very young age is how do I share this with others? How do you? How do you turn around and then say, okay, this is how I want everybody to feel.
Starting point is 00:56:32 This is the feeling. This is it. This is aliveness. And how do I bring others along with me when I don't quite understand how I got here myself? Yeah, I just, I mean, I'll give you a concept and I don't quite understand how I got here myself yeah I just I mean I'll give you a concept and I give you kind of what happened what happened was people start show literally what happened for me was people started showing up and said and saying you seem really happy like what's got what like what's going on how how did you, you know, how did you get here?
Starting point is 00:57:07 And that led to a conversation, which led to a deeper conversation, which led to maybe I'll formalize it in some way and kind of share with people and start engaging, which you could call, looking back, some form of coaching, you know, or what I call uncoaching in some way. And honestly, it. And honestly, it evolved. It just evolved from one conversation to a deeper exploration to, well, what if I tried this and explored that and we tried this and one day after,
Starting point is 00:57:35 and it just was an evolution. It wasn't like a thing I created. So it just evolved, you know, and for me, you know, part of, I share this in my book, but I think when we're born, you know, we're born free. I think when we're born as children, we're born in touch with our essence. You know, you look at a child. I think a child will just spend time in London with a friend's kid. And you look at a child, a child will just jump on the table and sing and express itself. It doesn't care if it's not Adeele or bruno mars or just sings you know it falls down it cries it poops it's not like oh we're shamed i put it just it's just being you
Starting point is 00:58:11 know it's just in touch with that constant stream of aliveness right it's not like oh i'm naked or what do you think it's just a child will run up to you and doesn't think who is this guy is it just hug you we're just it's just what it is, you know? It's just being lived constantly. But I think what happens is slowly over time, we get conditioned. I think two things happen. Firstly, maybe dealing with our environment, our parents, life, divorce, society, pain, abuse, being abandoned. We start learning all sorts of mechanisms as a way to disconnect, as a way to ultimately not feel the pain of our situation, most of which is unconscious.
Starting point is 00:58:55 So we start learning all sorts of mechanisms to disconnect from the pain of what's going on, and we start shutting down and suppressing certain feelings, and we start stuffing certain things inside of ourselves, and then those layers build up. But also we start learning a way of being in a sense of going into the world of who do I need to be in order for you to love me? Who do I need to be in order for my dad to love me? I'll be the good boy.
Starting point is 00:59:19 I'll be the perfect son. I'll be the responsible one. So we start developing a persona. We start developing a mask. And who am i making wrong by doing this like which parent am i making um yeah it's really interesting there two thoughts popped into my mind as you're sharing that i'll share the second one first um self-awareness is this really interesting thing like as a general like when you're really little the way you describe you don't have this real sense of self-consciousness or self-awareness. You just are. And self-awareness starts to drop into us at a certain age. And it's this double-edged sword,
Starting point is 00:59:54 because on the one hand, you start to gain more of an ability to be intentional in the way that you bring yourself to the world. But on the other hand, you start to be more concerned about how other people are perceiving you in the world. And most of us, we don't deepen into that. We don't explore it a whole lot. And it becomes, you know, rather than leaning into the intentional side and treating it as a moment of agency, we treat it as a moment of constraint. And we never move out of that because we never test those constraints for the rest of our lives. It's one thing that was coming to me.
Starting point is 01:00:33 The other is there's the way that you described people just started coming up to you and being like, dude, why are you so happy? It's so fascinating because I've now seen this in the lives of so many people who are spiritual teachers or just entrepreneurs or makers, creators in some context of their lives, we become so obsessed with how do we build a community? How do we build a business? How do we build a brand? How do we build whatever it may be?
Starting point is 01:00:56 What are the external tools that we can get? How do I become a great marketer? Outside in. Right. Rather than saying, no, how do I become so deeply rooted in my truth, in my beliefs? How do I match? How do I fiercely align my actions with my essence? Because when you do that, I've just seen there's something that happens in you that you become a beacon.
Starting point is 01:01:19 And you start to radiate something that's so distinct in the world that people just become attracted to it. This is where, like, I'm generally a really practical person, you know. But this is the place where I've seen this happen so many times. And we overlook it because we want to bolt on the mechanisms for growth rather than just do the work internally. I know this is something you talk about. We want to hack it. Yeah. You can't hack authenticity.
Starting point is 01:01:49 You can act it. You can adopt it. You can walk it. You can talk it. But that doesn't mean you have really done the inner physical, spiritual, emotional work to actually rest into that dimension of your being to unravel the layers of conditioning so you can really rest there's one way you can rest there in your authenticity or you can like adopt it as a thing to do but you can feel it you know it's great and i think it's so distinct in the world today that when people when people come into the orbit of somebody who's living from that place they just they want it like people would come up to you that you kind of want want to know, how are you this way?
Starting point is 01:02:27 And how can I in some way participate in this? And that's why for me the work in the beginning was honestly an organic evolution. There was no grand marking plan and there was internet this. It was just, I want to help people. That was the pure desire. I want to help. I want people to feel how I feel. And people started coming. And one person led to help people. That was the pure desire. I want to help. I want people to feel how I feel. And people started coming.
Starting point is 01:02:47 And one person led to the next. And obviously, the process and the way I work with people has refined itself and become a little more streamlined and effective. But it started from the pure desire to inspire people to reconnect with what I felt. And it wasn't necessarily I'm going to make people into what I am. It was just I want to reconnect people to that source within themselves so that they can find out their own truth, find out what they are because it feels amazing to me. And that's for me the foundation of even everything I do now, arising from that pure desire. So talking about what you do now, you have since then over a period of years continued to build and build and build,
Starting point is 01:03:31 and now in probably an interesting way, you could kind of say like you've built your own version of what your dad had built. I guess you could say that. Because you're out there, you've got books, media, organizations, gatherings, events, trainings. Different format. Yeah, very different.
Starting point is 01:03:51 Which is interesting because your one big beef when we started the conversation with what was going on as a childhood was not so much with the fact that, yes, I'm in touch with the mystical side of things. It was the delivery mechanism it was the it was all the trappings of how this was like how this was moving from you to those who you sought to touch and it seems like what you've done is you've now basically recreated that on your own terms yeah yeah i think i've just done it in a in a way that's more accessible for the newer generation the the modern generation. And for you. Yeah, and for me. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:26 In alignment with who I am and my truth. So it feels good, you know. I feel aligned with how it's evolved. But I think, you know, I look back at my father and I think the essence, you know, of where we come from is really similar. Yeah. The essence of where we come from is really similar. And the essence of where we come from is still that transmission of love, of consciousness is the same. But I think every person has to find their own path. And every person has to find their own truth. Every person has to find their own deepest expression of how life itself is seeking to express through us.
Starting point is 01:05:03 I believe life itself, life is seeking to express through us i believe life itself life is seeking to express through us and i think the more we can get ourselves out of the way and actually simply open ourselves to being used as vessels and vehicles for consciousness for life for this intelligence whatever you want to call it to, the same intelligence that's living and breathing me, you, seven billion people, the sun, the moon, the stars, the ants, the fish, everything. The more we can, I think, get ourselves out of the way and allow this intelligence to move through us, I think the more we will be in the flow, the more life will unfold, the more miracles happen, the more we are able to fulfill what we're meant to do. Yeah. I'll get behind that. So it feels like a good time to come full circle. So the name of this is Good Life Project. So if I offer that phrase out to you, to live a good life, what comes up? Wow. I think to live a good life is
Starting point is 01:06:02 loving fully. I think to live a good life is loving fully. I think at the end of the day we will all die. At the end of the day, whether you're Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Martin Luther King, whoever, we will all, our life will come to an end. And so for me it's not the quantity of one's life or how long one's lived, but it's how we live, and I think how we long one's lived, but it's how we live. And I think how we live is really determined by the degree to which we love and loving fully. And that's the first thing I would say is really, you know, how much are we loving?
Starting point is 01:06:34 And the second thing is, I think, the degree to which we are being ourselves and the degree to which we are learning the lessons, the unique lessons for which our souls have perhaps been put on this planet to experience and learn. Because I think at the end of our lives, we take nothing with us. No car, no home, no iPhone, no nothing. We take nothing, no clothes. We don't even take this body with us. So I think part of living a good life is truly evolving and learning the lessons for
Starting point is 01:07:07 which we are. We're born for. So that's part of it. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If the stories and ideas in any way moved you, I would so appreciate if you would take just a few extra seconds for two quick things. One, if it's touched you in some way, if there's some idea or moment in the story or in the conversation that you really feel like you would share with somebody else, that it would make a difference in somebody else's life. Take a moment and whatever app you're using, just share this episode with somebody who you think it'll make a difference for. Email it if that's the easiest thing, whatever is easiest for you. And then of course,
Starting point is 01:07:50 if you're compelled, subscribe so that you can stay a part of this continuing experience. My greatest hope with this podcast is not just to produce moments and share stories and ideas that impact one person listening, but to let it create a conversation, to let it serve as a catalyst for the elevation of all of us together collectively, because that's how we rise. When stories and ideas become conversations that lead to action, that's when real change happens. And I would love to invite you to participate on that level. Thank you so much as always for your intention, for your attention, for your heart.
Starting point is 01:08:32 And I wish you only the best. I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.
Starting point is 01:09:03 The Apple Watch Series 10. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday, we've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing.
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