Turning Wounds into Strength: The Path to True Power with Jon Gordon

23:27They are counting salvation. So they have a scoreboard and that drives them. So every human being needs a scoreboard to measure. And again, so many times we lose the one scoreboard, we got to find another one. Yeah, that's true. You want to be happy. You want to be fulfilled. You got to have both. And so you got to have the mission. You got to have the team and you got to have a scoreboard. You're so right. I, uh, I've had friends of mine that were a little bit lost and all of a sudden they found a passion and a mission. Again, it could be, you know, a charity they're involved with or something in their career.

24:00And you see them a year later, like me, you're completely different persons because they've got a mission in their life. And then one thing I've accepted about myself that I just no longer try to escape. I'm a competitor. I want to compete. I want to win. I want to be great. And the times in my life where I'm like, I'm kind of tired of competing in the scoreboard and I'm more mature than that now. And no, it's just, if I'm not competing, if there's not a scoreboard, if we're not keeping score, it's like, I want to win. And I've just accepted that about myself. However long I live, if I live to 110 or I live 10 more days, I'll be competing to the end about something.

24:35And it's, it's just, you need those things. You need a mission. You need a team. You need a scoreboard. It's just facts. It's just, it's just an absolute fact. By the way, my producer just said you and I aren't good at promoting things. So if you wanted to go to our event and I'll just say this, I'll say it at the end. It's a day with John and ed.com. Is that correct? Yes. A day with John and ed.com. Okay. And we are counting how many people are going to come. We're competitive. Sure. We're competitive about it. You know what's great about competitive? You just said that. I love that because the competitive spirit is actually in every great human being and everyone who is to who strives for that greatness they have a competitive spirit i've been thinking about this recently i've been watching people i've been looking at pastors i know there's some of the most competitive people i know the most successful people i know are really competitive i asked john maxwell are you competitive he said oh yeah i played ball he was very competitive ken blanchard everyone thinks He's kept in this sweet human being, this nice.

25:33He's older now in his 80s. Ken, are you competitive? Oh, yeah. I was competitive my whole life. I was an athlete. I played basketball. So we learn to compete at one level. We have this competitive spirit in us. And I believe God uses that competitive spirit that you have, that he puts in you to be competitive, to fight for things that are noble, to fight for what is good, to fight to create positive change in this world. And so you have the competitive spirit for a reason, and it must be channeled in the right direction for the right purpose. And when you know your why, you'll know the way, and you will let obstacles get in the way.

26:08And we don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. So you get that why, you get that purpose, you get that competitive spirit, man, you will be unstoppable. That's so good. Let's talk about great people for a minute, because you can go everywhere with John. That's why I love having him on the show. You're around a lot of great people. I'm talking about high level now. Okay, I want your take on this. So let's just take coaches, for example, high level. Let's take college football, which I believe college basketball and football coaching is two of the most difficult leadership positions in almost any area in any industry.

26:41Constant pressure, constant recruiting, boosters, kids. Now with the NIL transfer portal, do you do it? Do you not? You know, you got to make sure you win a certain amount of games. Your kid's got to graduate at a certain rate. You got to deal with everything on television and the media and competition and schemes and the game changing and staying modern and keeping up and the new rules and officials. And it's just you guys, you can't even imagine the endorsements and the gear and the replacing coaches who leave to go to other schools all the time. People don't realize this leadership thing is it's an ongoing process.

27:18And the people you interact with are already at the top level. Right. But then there's a few, like two or three, that are even different than them. So you take all of coaching, then you go to Division I, then you go to top 50 schools. That's where you're usually working. So you're talking about a handful of unbelievable leaders. And then even in that group, there's a subgroup of two or three or four. I want to know from you specifically, what's the difference when you walk into the program or know the coach, the man or the woman, who's in that 2, 3, or 4, even out of the 50? What's the difference with them, their programs, their leadership, their environment, whatever it is?

28:04When I think of that, I think of Dabo Sweeney. I think of guys like that who are leading at such a high level. They have such integrity. I mean, the integrity of their, they are aligned. They know why they're doing what they're doing. They have a clear mission. They know the kind of culture they want to build. And they build that culture every single day. And they don't compromise. They do not compromise their principles for short-term gains and short-term gains. They are in for the long haul. And I've seen Dabble make decisions that weren't the best decision to win, but it was the best decision for his program, best decision for his faith, best decision for his team, and best decision to stand by what is right.

28:44So I've seen that over and over again with someone like that. There's this high level of integrity and alignment. There's this incredible belief and just contagious energy to be able to rally people towards their vision, towards their mission, to get them on the bus, to really get them to believe in where they're going and why they're going there. Leadership is a transfer of belief. Steve Jobs, for all his flaws and faults, he had incredible vision and belief that people were attracted to. And he was able to really rally people towards that vision. That's why Apple is what Apple is today. And I see Dabo and Sark now with the culture he has built at Texas and PJ Fleck, an incredible aligned leader, right?

29:27In college. I think there's more than three or four now, though, and I'm starting to see like really great leaders rising up and meeting more and more of these guys and talking to them. And they're just getting better and better. Like it's, it's great to watch him improve. And I love being these guys and we get to have these incredible conversations. Matt rules up there. I knew Matt rule was going to turn around Nebraska and he's already on the right path. Just beat Colorado. Matt rules an incredible coach and spending time with them. Got back to me right away. Read the one truth. Like it's really cool talking to these guys.

29:57And then as, as you interact with them, you start to see why they are so successful. And Matt, for instance, like I can always tell a great coach, they get back to you right away. like they respond to you at you text them they respond right away they they have this ability to be connected present and able to handle a lot of things you have the same thing you're able to do a lot at one time manage a lot of things manage a lot of people and people like how do you do it i think there's an incredible amount of energy there too there's a lot of energy there's a lot of fire 90 of you don't know the names of the five people that he just said most people don't know who Matt Rule is or PJ Fleck or most especially listens to the show but those those characteristics are what matter and one of them just is infectious big energy that's abundant that's why you need to stay physically strong it's why you need to stay hydrated it's why you got to be so connected to your why the other thing I think everybody should know is you do build up to this you know I found out in my life about every room this is my next question for you too about every new level I've gone to, I didn't feel completely prepared when I stepped into that room, but I somehow have built now the belief that I will figure it out once I'm in the room.

31:13So I don't need to know everything to go to the next level. I want to know as much as I can, but when I get in there, I'm going to figure it out. And I think a lot of you just need to have some faith in yourself and in God that when you step into that unknown space, you have the capacity to innovate, improvise, figure it out, navigate your way through something more than you probably realized. However, I have had bouts in my life where the level got so high. I remember the first time I spoke in front of like 30 ,000 people. That's different than 3 ,000, right? Like you walk out and it's like, oh my gosh, the first time.

31:52And that might be that next promotion you get, everybody or that next time you, you know, you have an account. That's the biggest account you're ever going to get in your life, or you're finally going to start branding on social meeting. You're putting videos out and one of the, that's an unknown thing.

32:08Your birthday party. I want to take everybody into from it. And then I want to ask you the truth about this in you. John's birthday party was really interesting. I was honored to be there, but you looked around the room that in this party, we were honoring John for his 50th birthday. Was Was it your 50th we were doing, but we did. It was my 50th, but I was 52 because we didn't get to celebrate. We didn't get to do it during the deal. And, um, but in the room was like, there's an NFL football coach. Then there's a video from a major league baseball coach. Then there's this professional golfer. Then there's this very famous TV personality.

32:39And then there was so-and-so and so-and-so. And I watched you that night. You were very emotional, but I felt like it was emotional in two ways. Like a lot of gratitude. but I also felt like there was a part of you and this is healthy. You're like, I can't believe all this has happened. I can't believe I know all these people. I can't believe I've influenced all these people. Give everyone a peek when you get to the other side of your dream, which is you're on the other side. Now you're making new dreams happen, but I think everyone here would love to know, like I got this dream. I'd love to have that happen someday.

33:11What does it feel like? Is it an out of body experience? Do you feel like an imposter? What's it feel like to get to that other side? So at first you feel like an imposter. You're like, how did I get here? And do I even belong here? And so often you don't. But I love what you said earlier, Ed, because you talked about that you're not always ready for it. You have to go through it. You actually have to go through the fire to be sharpened, to be refined, to become who you're meant to be. And so every great leader I know had to go through a lot of stuff, a lot of challenges, a lot of adversity, a lot of lessons along the way to become the leader they are now.

33:46We often see someone now like me at 53 now, and my friends cannot believe what I'm doing now. I was a mental wreck in college. I was a division one athlete, and I was a mental wreck. I was a mental wreck in most of my 20s, early 30s. I started to transform in my early 30s, and it's been a journey ever since now to 53. So yes, the feeling is, wow, like how did I get here? Do I belong here? But then as you start to help people and you start to lead others and you start to see the impact, then it goes towards conviction. Like, okay, I know what I'm talking about. I know what really helps. And I want to help even more people.

34:27So there's an expectation of this is why I'm here. This is what I'm meant to do. But still in every moment, like that birthday party and becoming friends with you, that was a big moment in my life. Being friends with you elevated me in so many ways because I saw the boldness that you had. I saw the courage that you said. I saw the way you thought at such a high level. I saw the way you worked out and took care of your body. I started to work out after that. I had to go through some fires and learn and grow from people like you to become who I was meant to become, right? Then you get to that level and there are moments where you say, wow, I still can't believe this is my life.

35:04And I ask the same thing of all the great coaches. Can you believe this is you? No, no way. So they feel the same way. Everyone is thinking and feeling the same way. I even think Sylvester Stallone actually says to himself, I can't believe I am Rocky. I can't believe this is my life. I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that. And the ones who feel that and think that have a deep sense of humility and gratitude and also faith, they know that they didn't do it alone. There's no way I could have done this or planned this on my own. when I look back of who I was and who I am now, what I'm doing. And this should give hope to people because there is a plan for your life.

35:43And your job is to show up every day and do the work and get better and live with integrity and love and serve and care and live the principles that Ed talks about and that we talk about. You live those principles. They will result in incredible long-term success. but so many people are not willing to do the work or they don't have the integrity or they want immediate success right now. And they wind up giving it all away for short-term gain and short-term success. And they often do things in an unethical way to get there. And you know what? Live in the right way, doing the right things, surrounding yourself with the right people, everything we talk about.

36:22These are not just words. They are how to live your life if you want success. So I think as I get older, I'm looking forward. I'm 53. I look at John Maxwell. I know you do as well. okay, the next 20, 30 years, how do I want to live? What do I want to accomplish? And who do I want to impact? And how am I going to do that every single day? So I'm very intentional. And I think that's the other, the hallmark of great leaders that we talked about earlier, very intentional in everything they're doing, intentional in culture, in their mindset, in their leadership, and how they build relationships and develop others.

36:53I have to tell you that it's such a great explanation. By the way, it is true of Sly. Sly can't believe it. And here's what I wish everybody had. I wish you had the benefit of knowing so many of these high impact people. And the reason I do is that as I got to know all of them, it's what you just said. It's, um, they're very much human. They very much, uh, have their own weaknesses and frailties and they're not superhuman. And I wish so many of you could get to know so many of them and you could see their humanness on full display because it would give you so much more hope that you're much closer to your dreams than you believe you are that these are not crazy unbelievable people with somehow these unreal gifts for the most part that you don't have what they are as they are average ordinary people who have developed extraordinary patterns thoughts and habits and their belief systems are slightly different now but believe me, they struggle as well.

37:52And if you knew that you would have more admiration ironically for them because you'd know that they did it with a very average set of skills in the most part. And I also want to encourage everybody this, those people all have one other thing in common. And this may seem very basic, but it's not, they didn't quit. And most people quit when that imposter thing kicks in. Most people quit when their 16th failure kicks in. And there's so much to be said for built up inertia in progress, that you just eventually move past through inertia, through just sheer force of effort over time, that sort of overcomes most of your deficiencies and weaknesses.

38:33And then when you mix that with God's grace and blessing, I almost think sometimes God's sitting back there going, I'm just going to watch you. And if you just won't quit, if you'll just keep planting the seeds, you keep, there's a harvest coming, but you better have some faith. and I think most people, they just quit because they don't ever get to the other side of the inertia and then they start convincing themselves, no, that guy's just better than me. That lady's just smarter than me. They're just special or they just got all the breaks. None of which is true. The combination of knowing how human most of these people are and have their own frailties and weaknesses and the combination of not quitting until you develop these habits, thoughts, beliefs, and patterns is really the holy grail of getting to wherever you want to get in your dreams.

39:19And they're willing to work through their challenges. And I get the call from the coach or the leader who's struggling. You do as well. We get those calls. We are the trusted advisor to a lot of these leaders. And when they call, they're struggling with something. And I see it as my job to help them through the struggle, to give them some great clarity, some wisdom, and some ideas for a path forward. And man, I've had some really special conversations. I can't share, of course, what they are, but incredible conversations where you see the humanity and how human these people are. And you realize that, man, everyone's going to go through something.

39:54Everyone's going to go through a challenge. Everyone has a wound that needs to be healed. Everyone has a past that they need to work through and get through and overcome in order to create their future. And here's the thing. This is the journey of everybody who wants to be great. Everyone will have to go through opposition, adversity, and challenges. My friend Brian Schwartz wrote a book called Worthy Opponents. We all have to face worthy opponents on the journey of life. The worthy opponents make us stronger. God actually gives us those worthy opponents to make us stronger. They're meant to refine us.

40:29They're meant to test us. They're meant to help us grow. Again, did you have a rival ed in high school and in college? I bet you did. Yes, absolutely. So did I. We have rivals throughout our lives. We have adversity. We have setbacks that happen. and they all help us become who we're meant to be. If you don't have the competitive spirit and you don't learn to fight and you don't learn to compete and you don't learn to take on those challenges and you don't learn how to get back up after getting knocked down, you will not become who you're meant to be. So this is part of God's curriculum and the growth process for who we're meant to become and the leaders we're meant to be.

41:02So the thing is, people, when they're going through it, think something's wrong with them. No, it means you're actually on the right track. It means that actually God is giving you the opposition so you'll grow stronger because there's something greater for you. Gosh, that's so good. God's curriculum. I'm stealing that. That's mine now. I want you to talk about the antenna a little bit. One of the ways that you get there is you change things about your disposition. And so when I was younger, I used to think certain things about me were my strengths or I could get away with them. And what I learned is sometimes it's not a matter of just even developing new skills or talents.

41:38it's shedding the thing that holds you back it's pruning yourself almost when i was young i used to think my intensity my passion was my strength but very close brother or sister to that was anger and i was more of an angry type leader i think that's really hard for most people to watch my stuff now like i or that you were a negative thinker because it's just so contrary to what you see with you now. But mine was anger. And I had to, I was winning in spite of that thing that I kept telling myself was one of my gifts. And when I finally decided that I was going to grow up and mature and change this thing about myself and tap into better thinking and better behavior, my whole life took off.

42:19And you talk about the antenna. You also talk about the fact that it's hard to believe that you're the positive guy that was always constantly chronically negative. So take those two things together, just dive in on that. Is part of becoming successful happier, shedding things that about yourself that are holding you back and being honest about what that thing is. And then if I'm right about that, how does one tap into the good stuff? Man, that's a lot right there to unpack, but we have an antenna and that antenna causes us to tune into two main frequencies, a positive frequency or a negative frequency.

42:52And there's a choice between two and there's only two and everything in life comes down to positive and negative. It's why there's a main gist in our life. And there's also a shadow part of that. There's duality. And so that anger is caused by something deeper. There's love, there's hate, right? There's confidence. There's a lack of confidence. There's always two sides to every coin. You have to understand that. And you're either fueled by the positive or the negative. You're fueled by either the wounds or the healing. And so often people are fueled by anger because they're hurt. And that anger actually feels better than depression.

43:31So it fuels them. But anger and depression are actually very close. Anger is depression that gets off the couch. Anger is depression that gets off the couch and goes and does something and finds the juice to do it. And so I call anger steroids of the soul. It actually gives you temporary boosts of energy, temporary power. So it feels good, but at the same time, it's actually destroying you in the process because it's coming from a place of hurt, a place of a wound. And so many people are driven by this anger or this wound and the need to be successful, the need to be liked, the need to show that their father who left, that they are someone.

44:09And so the wound drives them and it drove me for a long time. This is how I know this so well. My biological father left when I was a year old. So there was a wound that drove me to be successful. Then I lose my job, 30, 31 years old. My wife's about to leave me. I'm almost bankrupt. Everything comes crashing down. The guy that was fueled by all of this at the scoreboard of success and wealth and fame, everything came crumbling down. Now what am I fueled by? It was a crisis of epic proportions. And everyone will go through this at some point in their life, I believe. And it was during that time I said, okay, I want to make a difference.

44:45I want to impact others. I want my life to be about others, not myself. I want to get closer to God. I knew I didn't have God in my life. And that was a defining moment in my life. And then from there, it became about a healthy ambition. It was a healthy ambition, which is different than anger, which is different than being fueled by a wound. Now it's being fueled by your healing, not the wound, the growth, the healing to heal yourself and then to heal others. And from there comes power and peace and confidence and courage. And you can see the difference. Someone who's fueled by love and someone who's fueled by fear.

45:19It all comes down to love and fear. What's driving you? The love of others or the fear of not having enough? The fear of not being successful or the love of competing and the love of being your best and the love of your teammates? One will help you perform at the highest level, the love. The fear will cause you to have short-term success, but eventually will be a constraint that brings you down. So I tell everyone, look at what's fueling you and what's driving you. And you're either living from your wound or your healing. And that's how you'll know whether you're on the right path or not. Now, Ed, you were obviously driven by the anger that came from a wound.

45:55Then you began the process of healing and self-growth, self-mastery, and then it led to a different mindset, different perspective, different energy, connected to a greater source, a greater power, to God. And all of a sudden you now become a conduit for all that God wants to do in the world, rather than this person who's blocking the flow of God's power and peace in your life. So are you being blocked or are you actually being a conduit for everything that wants to happen in your life and in the lives of others? And so that's how I look at it from a duality perspective and what each person is facing on this journey.

46:31And everyone will move from the wound to the healing. And I really believe this is the path forward for people at work, people in life. More and more people are talking about wounds today because wounds are meant to be healed. And in the healing process, you become your most powerful self.

46:50I'm glad you used the word fear later in the comment because for me, the other side of anger wasn't depression. It was fear. When I got afraid, I got angry. Fear and anger, very close. and the other reason you want to move to the antenna plugged into love over fear is that you know you can leverage the dark side that works it really does and it's okay that you do that i suppose but i can tell you two things about it those people that get to the other side when they win they're really tired and they don't sustain their growth because either one of two things happens they heal the wound and then there's nothing to move with because they've healed or two, it never heals.

47:30And they're just tired of trying to heal this thing over and over. And that's why a lot of athletes you watch that were fueled by anger their entire career, you watch them post-career and you're like, wow, they don't have the mission. They don't have a team. They don't have a scoreboard anymore. And their entire fuel was moving away from a wound. And so they're tired and burnt out. And frankly, I'll use a term, kind of used up. They used up candy and sugar to become successful. rather than leverage something healthy to become successful that's never ending, that has a ripple effect that infects other people, that becomes infectious, that's long-term.

48:07There's so many reasons why what you just said is profound. You can continue to have that if it's your pattern right now and you're without the other, but you can simultaneously start to build a bridge to love. And the quicker you can get over there and tap into that antenna, I'm telling you your energy level will be higher. And that's why you're looking at two 53 year olds, right? On a call right now in the prime of their careers, still in the hunt 30 years later, after a bunch of ups and downs, because we're moving out of that love button. Now, by the way, I don't dye my hair. John does. Everybody knows that.

48:38And so that's one of the things we were talking about off camera. That's why John looks younger. Actually, you're looking pretty good. Tell him the truth. You really tell him about your hair. I don't dye my hair. People ask me all the time, do you dye your hair? I'm like, no, I do not. My brother has dark hair as well. He's three years older, still has dark hair. Our grandfather died with a full set of dark hair at 60 years old from, you know, yeah. He doesn't dye his hair, everybody. He wanted me to get that on the podcast. And that was pretty smooth how I got it in right there for you. You're welcome.

49:06Of all the things you wanted in the podcast, we let him know I don't dye my hair. John, I'll let him know. Hey, it's a competitive spirit. we're both you know we're both guys who are staying young and finding ways to do it and working hard in the process because we're mission-driven focus and we know why we're doing what we're doing going back to everything we just talked about and the antenna when you're tuned into love that is the highest frequency you could be tuned into fear is actually a low frequency energy it seems like it's powerful but it's not it's pervasive but not powerful Love is so powerful.

49:44So when you are tuning into love, you will be your most powerful self. And a lot of people are so driven by fear that they don't know what to do though to move to the other side. It's like, I've been taking this drug of fear for so long. I've been taking this drug of anger for so long. It's my edge. It's what makes me successful. And you want me to give it up? No. But man, I've gotten a lot of these people to replace it with love and they have found themselves to be happier, more joyful and more successful. because I'm not saying don't give up your competitive spirit. No, it actually is now a healthier competitive spirit.

50:17When I'm playing pickleball, I am more driven than ever to beat these 30-year-olds that I'm playing. And I'm playing at a high level and I'm competing against these guys because I'm driven by the love of competing. I want to win, but I don't need to win. Difference in business. I want to succeed, but I don't need to succeed. It's different. And by need, I mean, not to provide for your family. I mean, I need to succeed for my identity to know that I'm a person of value. No, I know I already am. So I'm coming from a place of wholeness, not a place of lack. Lack is there. I'm disconnected. Wholeness, I'm connected.

50:56So when I am whole, I'm powerful. When I'm disconnected, I'm weak. And that's the key here. Yeah, I just was talking to somebody about this very prominent athlete. And we were talking about that very thing. And I said, well, I, um, my success is a validation of what I already believe about myself. What you're trying to do is prove something and you're never going to prove it. So if you, it'd be much easier to attain these things you want. If you just held this belief system that you're worthy, that you deserve it, that you, that it's something that you are capable of doing that you don't have to have to prove somebody else wrong.

51:31And by the way, what we're both saying, it's a hell it's, it's, it works. It's just, it's going to be short term. You got to tap into the love. Let me ask you this last, by the way, everyone, I'll just say this one last time. It's a day with John and Ed.com. A day with John and Ed.com. And the cool thing about that is the conversation we're having now, it's going to be a completely different conversation on that day. New ideas are going to merge, new thoughts, new conversations. And that's, what's cool. When we, when we get together, you never know what's going to come out. And the gems are going to come out of this spending time together and be life changing for people that are there.

52:04Another huge key in your life is to have two or three people, five, whatever you can get around you that do what John just said. Remember this truth and love vibrate at the highest frequency, period. Truth and love. It's the highest vibrational frequency in the world. And when you're vibrating at that high of a frequency, you can make an awful lot of things in your life come true that, that other people won't because they're not vibrating at that frequency and tapping into something that they had their entire life. It's not like we had something you don't just a matter of tapping into it and experiencing it.

52:33Okay. last question for you for today by the way what a great conversation again it flew by can you believe it's been an hour i can't believe it's been an hour already but i wanted to ask you about this i wanted to ask you about it for a while since you talked about it with me and this is detailed but it's faith-based everyone but it'll it'll help you so we i we tapped into it on the last podcast but we didn't get fully to go into it i talk a lot about the subconscious mind and so do a lot of my friends and i believe in the subconscious mind programming it working with it you said to me one time yeah uh there's no such thing and he kind of said it offhanded where is it right and you said to me what you're about to say and i said then what is it do i have to know its location in order for it to exist because i could push back on him where exactly is god located and so I want to challenge you on that a little bit and let you really talk about your belief system about what most people refer to as the subconscious mind and what you believe it really is your subconscious is your soul so we call it a subconscious but it's your soul your soul and your mind are one in the same and your soul and your mind are your spiritual expression of you and ultimately creates everything that you are.

53:55And so you're a soul first and your mind then creates your reality and it actually drives your brain. The brain doesn't drive the soul. Your soul and your mind drive the brain. It actually creates your life. It goes through the struggles, the challenges, the light lessons, the adversity, the opposition, the moments of love and deep gratitude and support. All of that is an expression of the soul. That's why Jesus talked about taking care of the soul. He knew that this body was temporary, but the soul was eternal. And so the more we invest in our soul, the more we invest in nurturing the soul, the more we live a more fulfilled life.

54:36And that soul is the integrator between your flesh and your spirit. The soul is in the middle. It's the integrator. So we can either be driven by the flesh or the spirit. And Romans 8, 5, 6 says, a mind governed by the flesh leads to death. A mind governed by the spirit leads to life and peace. So this means, are we governed by the flesh, the things of this world, the greed, the lust, all of the challenges in this world and the things that bring people down, the sins that cause people to have their lives ruined? Or are we governed by the spirit of prayer, of God, of purpose, of love, of joy? What are we governed by?

55:17And so the minute your soul starts to actually bathe in the spirit, as it bathes in the spirit, it actually finds life and peace and power. So it's really understanding that. So our whole conversation of the subconscious, my soul is the subconscious. So every thought you've had is stored in your soul. Every idea. That's how you know how to ride a bike. Because think about every cell in your body over time we find is, is, is, uh, dies. And then we have new cells that are created to make your body use. So you're always changing every seven years. Like our, our cells in our body are new. How do you become you again?

55:59How does the person who's riding a bike right now, if you haven't ridden a bike in 20 years, know how to ride a bike right now. And you haven't ridden that bike in years. And you learned when you were young, you're storing it in your mind and your soul. And what is that mind and soul being governed by? the spirit or the things of this world? Is it fear or is it love? Is it drugs or is it meditation and prayer? And Ed, can I just share this? I'm just feeling led to just share how to fuel yourself with the power of prayer. I think people need to pray more, but they don't know how. You see, if you take a cucumber and you take that cucumber and you put it in pickle juice and you put it in for like a second and pull it out, is that cucumber transformed?

56:42transformed? No, that's baptism. A lot of people get baptized, for instance, but they're not transformed. So maybe they've given their life to God and they've accepted Jesus, but they're not transformed. It's why so many Christians struggle or why so many people say, well, that person doesn't act like a Christian or that person who's spiritual. Maybe they're not a Christian, but they're spiritual, but they don't act in many spiritual ways. They haven't integrated that into their soul, in their mind. The key is that cucumber must bathe in the spirit. It must bathe in the pickle juice. So as your soul bathes more and more in the pickle juice, you'll be transformed.

57:17You'll be renewed. You'll be healed. So I can attribute every success in my life to literally walking and practice gratitude and prayer over the years, renewing my mind. That's where my healing took place. So how do you pray? Praise God. So that's praise and gratitude. And that's the P. R is repent. Repent for your sins. Repent for the things that you've done wrong. Just repent. Ask for forgiveness. We all need to be forgiven. I know I do. So just ask to be forgiven and then forgive others who repent. A, in prayer, ask. Ask God for what you want. Guess what? It's okay to ask. People go, oh, I don't want to ask him.

57:58He's got busier things to do. He's better things to do. No, no. God wants to give you. God's a good father and he wants to give you blessing. So ask for what you want. He may not give you what you want, but you should ask. I remember in college, I asked to marry this girl and thankfully that didn't happen because I met my wife. We saw a picture recently of my old girlfriend and I said, thank you, God. I'm so glad that I met my wife. Like we were not meant to be together. She was not for me. I would not have become who I was meant to become with her. It was supposed to be my wife who I was meant to grow with.

58:35So that's the A. Ask for what you want. God will give you what you want. Y is yield. Yield means to surrender. Get out of your ego. Get out of your way and surrender to the creator of the universe. Surrender. God, I can't do it alone, God. I need you. I surrender to you. Use me for your purpose. Guide me towards my purpose. If you say that prayer all the time, it's amazing what happens when you say it and then the e expect you ask you surrender and you expect you expect god to deliver on his promises you expect miracles expect great things and also trust in god's plan for your life that's the e trust and expectation one and the same expect and trust and then the r i love the r part it's receive you're praying and as you pray receive God's blessings.

59:25Receive what he wants to give you. Receive his gifts. Receive his wisdom, his power, his love, his support, his ideas for you, his plan for you. I also say I receive all the people that are going to come to my events. I receive all the people that are meant to read my books. I receive the millions of people who read them and benefit from them. I will actually say that I receive all the people that are meant to meet and help along the way. God, bring me the people I'm meant to teach and help bring those people to me. And I receive all of it. So you pray and you do this day in and day out. You do this every day.

59:58Just try it for 30 days of walking and practicing prayer. P-R-A-Y-E-R. You will see your life transformed. I guarantee it. Just give it 30 days and you'll want to do it for the rest of your life. So good, John. I love you, brother. So good today. That's one of the fastest hours I've ever spent in my life. So I'm so grateful for it. Thanks, brother. Hope people come join us at our event. And if they don't, join us both in our books and podcasts and everything else as well. No pressure whatsoever. I love you, John. Everybody, I don't have to even ask you to. I already know you're going to share this episode with as many people that you possibly can.

1:00:34You think it'll make an impact. It'll go to millions. All right, everybody. God bless you. God bless you, everyone. Max out your life. This is the Ed Myron Show.