#1 - Amrit Sandhu | The Intersection of Spirituality and Personal Growth

AUTOGENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Transcript of Self Directed Episode 1

E1 - The Intersection of Spirituality and Personal Growth: A dialogue with Amrit Sandhu

Please note: This transcript is autogenerated by AI voice recognition - so there will probably be some transcription errors along the way 🙂

Jesper Conrad: Today we have invited Amrit, the host of the popular podcast called Inspired Evolution, where he has done more than 200 episodes, and we have been honored to be guests there. He also created an online course called Launch Your Podcast from Idea to iTunes, and we have taken this course and now you're here and it's one of our first guests. 

Amrit Sandhu: It is such a pleasure and such a gift to be here. Thank you so much for A having me and then also B launching your podcast using the Launch Your Podcast. Yeah, we talked about it for years. 

Cecilie Conrad: Yeah, yeah, mostly because I remember when we wanted to go further outside the box than we already were There was not a lot. It's not a lot Now. it's exploding. But back then if I wanted to learn how life is for other people out there, i had like two or three blogs to follow and one little podcast and it was all American and no offense. but we're not Americans and we don't live in the States, so our conditions and options, and maybe obstacles, are different. 

Amrit Sandhu: You know, i totally resonate with what you're saying because when I oh sorry, i interrupted No, no, no, just go ahead. Yeah, just when I first started my podcast, it was much the same. I had actually had a friend of a community, like a bunch of community here, and over time we learned what our medicine is and mine is connecting people. It was one of my medicines and there's all this amazing community around me. We brought them all together and they were just having these amazing conversations in my home every fortnight and they were like you should start a podcast. And I was like, oh, and I checked out a couple of podcasts And again, nothing against Americans, but American podcasts that I was choosing, tuning into, like the expert listened to me, you know and it was very like I'm the eternal humble student Don't listen to me, let me learn. 

Amrit Sandhu: And it was, yeah, i found it culturally. There was because at the time, i think the sort of pinnacle of podcasting was in America and it still is driven a lot by American culture in terms of the free media movement that they basically started through podcasting, because the podcast came from the iPod, steve Jobs, Apple, all of that. Yeah, the uptake was great as there. But I think now it's, you know, spread all around the world and you know, i think more and more people start exploring the medium for what it truly can be, which is just a free expression of your own deepest desires and thoughts and opinion. 

Cecilie Conrad: And which is amazing. It's amazing And the Americans make amazing podcasts. I listen to American podcast. I can't speak podcasts every week, it's not that I'm mine, but I just think, in the whole choir of it, we need something that comes from other angles, of course. So that was why we talked about it and we talked about it and we talked about it for years, and now we do it. 

Jesper Conrad: And now we do it. 

Cecilie Conrad: What was? 

Amrit Sandhu: the click. What was the moment? that? when you always wanted to sort of do it. But then there was a moment where it's something just tipped over and it was like, yeah, i'm doing it. It went from I'm going to do it to I did it. What was the? 

Jesper Conrad: tip, the final tip, the first tip there is more than one was actually the talk we had with you after the podcast episode we did you with you, and after we finished the recording And he was like seriously said okay, yes, well, let's, let's do it, let's take this, launch your podcast program he has and actually get started. 

Cecilie Conrad: So now we have to ask him questions? Yeah, he has the question. 

Jesper Conrad: But then the what finally ticked it was that I read the book hook points by Brendan Kane, who is also made with another book called one million followers in 30 days, and in that book he writes I say yes to podcast interviews, no matter how big they are. So I was like, okay, let's test him. So I wrote to him hey, we have a podcast I would like to interview. And it was just sending an arrow out there in the universe. And then he responded I can do this in this state. And I was like you hooked up point. Okay, now we need to create that podcast. But but so it was actually, it just needed to happen. And at some point we took the idea and made it happen. But we want to ask you questions and one of them is I would love to hear more about how it started. You said a word I didn't quite heard about what kind of person you are. What did you call? 

Amrit Sandhu: it. Yes, we're connecting people. I connected. 

Jesper Conrad: But before that, what do you call the word? You are? 

Amrit Sandhu: a as in myself, i said, my medicine is so you're mentioning, yeah, my medicine. 

Amrit Sandhu: So I think, actually you know, and you know you read it off the bio like everybody, i believe everybody has medicine in them, everybody has a gift in them, everybody has a strength that they put here for you know, and oftentimes I think we walk around sort of in the shadow of yeah, like I don't want to say it this way, but oftentimes and I would say oftentimes I'm just going to pick a number out of the air, but I would say about 80% of the time people are living in the shadow of what society projects on them, that they want to be, society wants them to be, and that's culturally influenced by the place you live, the family that brings you up, and all that sort of stuff. 

Amrit Sandhu: There's all these layers upon layers upon layers of people with their best, best interest, you know, but still sort of navigating you the I don't want to say the wrong way, but not the way that's most aligned to you. There's one of my favorite quotes is the Ellen Watts saying where he goes, please let me help. You said the monkey scooping the fish out of the river into the tree. Yeah, and I think everybody has their way, as you guys have your way right. 

Amrit Sandhu: And like very following your own path And it's as you know. It's off the beaten path, it's not the norm. I think we share that perspective on life as well, and potentially some of the influences, that sort of yeah, it's hard to find the right language around it. It's somewhat insidious, it's somewhat derailing, but it's not that sinister. It's just society needed to find a way in some ways, and these are the ways that it's found. but it makes us more cookie cutter and very, you know, of a uniform sort of taste, when really we are all unique expressions And I feel like everybody has a unique thing to provide to life. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. There is a reason that you're here. 

Cecilie Conrad: So we have something a lot in common. But one thing I think about right now is so you made 200 podcasts and you're like off the path of what do you call it Like outside of the box kind of yeah, And live in a radically different way than what you could call most people. 

Cecilie Conrad: And so do we Very often when we give our speeches and at the end then sometimes it seems like the distance between the life I live now and the life of the people I talk to has become so big that they kind of give up. It's like, yeah, you got out, but I have no way to get out. That's kind of their conclusion, which makes me very sad. So how can we, how do you, what do you do to get closer or to like make a bridge on that? 

Amrit Sandhu: Absolutely, absolutely. So coaching is a big part of what I love doing. So this question that you're asking is very ripe in the intimate sort of setting of coaching one on one, where you're trying to facilitate transformation. And actually it's interesting with facilitating transformation because sometimes it's necessary to zoom all the way out and show people how high the mountaintop is, and then sometimes you've literally got to get down on your knees and tie their shoelaces for them so that they can take the very next step. So the dynamic between the two is the range is huge. 

Amrit Sandhu: Now the short answer that I would offer into your space would be to your question would be there's, i just take it from marketing. So at the moment, when you know this was about a decade ago they used to say with marketing, in order for someone to buy something from you, let's just get as gluttonous as marketing and buying. buying psychology, right, people needed to buy some. they would need to connect to the concept or their brand or the energy of it four times. Yes, they needed four touch points before they would make a buying decision Either yes either no. they needed to be exposed to it four times. That's how billboards worked. You're driving past it. you didn't even see it, but in your subconscious it went past, so they know that they've made an extra touch point right. So those were the four points, and it was this is probably outdated information now, but about five odd years ago I remember this being one of the facts that I read up on was it's now. it was, at that point, 17 touch points. right Now you can sort of there's a whole bunch of myriad reasons of why that has gone up, probably because we're saturated with media and information, right, but nonetheless it's 17 points. So that's just marketing. Now, when you talk about the lifestyles that you guys live, the different sort of ideologies that I contain, and trying to inspire evolution, trying to literally nomad traveling around the world, yes, it's different And yes, there is a bit of an onus on us to try to share our story with others so that it can impact others. 

Amrit Sandhu: But the reality is I rest in the knowing that if I can do it for me, yeah. One of my favorite quotes is this Mary Ann Williamson quote where she goes once we liberate ourself from our fears, we unconsciously liberate others. Yeah, so if I can live my best life, if I can go away and do the things that I am limited by and believe that, you know, i am limitless and try and actualize some of those things which really bring me the greatest joy, but it's just my fears standing in the way. Yeah, if I can work through that stuff and get out on the other side and be like, hey, i can do it, you can do it too, and I may share my story. And in that audience, one person may be hearing such a story for the first time, another person may be hearing it for the 17th time, and that might be the exact time they tumble over and transform. 

Amrit Sandhu: Someone's hearing it for the fourth time, someone's hearing it for the sixth time. So, resting in the knowing that the ripple effect is occurring and that each person is on their journey and they're coming along and that they're going to transform in their right time as well, and that you are still contributing to their transformation. right, but it may not look like from the outside what you wanted to look like right here and right now, but trusting in that the universe has its ways with such things. 

Cecilie Conrad: I personally trust exactly the same And I've said for years the best thing we can do is we do it and we do what we believe is right. And it's very, very different. Before we started traveling, we also like, didn't put the kids to school and did weird stuff like that. And I truly believe it that you impact a lot of people just by not even doing the podcast, not even sharing the story, just doing it Because there's someone doing it and you see it on the bus. So, yes, ripple effect, but I'm still interested. 

Cecilie Conrad: And how you react to this question when it comes like or this people saying yeah, but for me it's impossible. I hear that a lot And I suppose maybe you hear too. So you share your story or you shared yes, you can get rid of the limitations, you can get closer to who you really are, you can start living a better life, a freer life, more conscious life. And then the response to me often is you can do it, cecilia, but I can't. I'm too stretched by things or constrained by economy or whatever health issues, or so do you need that question Or is it just my I need that question. 

Amrit Sandhu: It seems less than you do, because obviously I have the ecosystem of the inspired evolution And the people that tune in have tuned into the podcast and followed along for a certain amount of the journey And like, are ready to transform by the time they reach out to me to go hey, like, i'm ready. Obviously, are we ready to go? I'm like, yes, we're ready to go, let's go. So it's almost like that question is interfaced by the person that is tuning into the podcast for the first time And that almost does the sort of hey, like, you know, warming them up to like, hey, you can transform, hey, you can transform, hey, you can transform. 

Amrit Sandhu: It probably does all that heavy lifting for me, which I do like, i do recall, you know, and I still go like, still deliver seminars, and there are people that are less inclined to change than others, but it's also, you know, this was one of the things that I had to learn early on, especially, you know, being in transformation and personal development is that everybody's got their own timing, everybody's got the divine timing. And this comes back to what you like, you know your question in terms of if someone comes up to me and goes, hey, like it's all well and good for you to do this, but this is there is no way in hell that I could, you know, be a coach or be a speaker, or be a this or be a that. My honest truth is you probably not. You're probably not a coach, you're probably not a speaker, you're probably not an author. 

Cecilie Conrad: My honest truth is it's mindset period. If you say it's impossible, it's impossible. You're right. You'll be right. 

Amrit Sandhu: No, matter what if you say it's impossible, if you say it's impossible, then you're right. 

Cecilie Conrad: It's just I disagree. You know I disagree with impossible personally. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, but also, when we drill deeper, what I generally like, the first place we sort of start on a journey with myself is we get really clear on your values. Yeah, i find values really helpful because what happens is it's kind of where the 3D meets the spiritual, but it's also it doesn't come across that esoteric When it's like what are your values? Organizations have values, people have values. What value do you bring me? How can I exchange? Like, value is a very 3D term, but it is actually quite a spiritual concept when you the way I look at it anyway. So then, when we start looking at our values, my values yeah, my highest values are connection, contribution and celebration. Yeah, these are my three highest values Now that I like there's a whole bunch of others in there, but those are my three highest values. So when I start looking at connection, contribution, celebration, let's have a look at what podcasting does. 

Amrit Sandhu: Podcasting, i connect with people all over the world, such as yourself, and I'm connecting to an audience. Yeah, so I get to connect. On steroids, yeah, contribute It's helping others grow, evolve, it's inspiring some people to start their own podcast. So there's a massive contribution there. Yeah, it's doing its own thing. Then there's celebration, hopefully. People are living life more fully, more richly, you know, and they're celebrating their life even better, more like, even more, right, because they've tuned into this podcast. So, podcasting, my three highest values, tick, Coaching. I'm connecting to people really deeply, like in a really intimate setting. Right, they're telling me stuff they don't even tell their wives or their parents or their children, stuff They've always wanted to get off their chest, right. So that's connection, contribution, that space is affording them a lot, yeah. Then there's celebration They're living life free because of it. Yeah, public speaking, connecting to audiences, contributing with the content, celebrating life. So those are my values. 

Amrit Sandhu: So, absolutely, when you look at podcasting, when you look at this conversation, you're like Amrit's, you know, touch wood. Hopefully you guys think I'm reasonably good at this. I've worked, like you said, a lot on myself to try and come here, but those are my values And I've watered those values and I'm going yep, these are my values And I'm going to continue to double down on my strengths, right, and walk that path. Now your values are probably adventure, right, like one of your massive values between the pair of you is probably going to be adventure Now. So if I turn around, like I could turn around to you and say, hey, like what you guys do is no match. Traveling around the world I can't do, and I probably can't, yeah, because I'm probably risk adverse. Now, that doesn't mean that I should be able to do it. No, my values are different. 

Amrit Sandhu: But if I get clear on my values, what I can say is that everybody has a divine right to follow through on exactly who they are And your values are and you know pardon me, i'm Indian, so it sounds a bit loaded when I say this but the values are the temp, like the pillars, of the temple that is you. Yeah, and you can live by your values. You don't have to have a temple that has broken pillars, that's tumbled the ceilings on the floor. Yeah, you can erect your values and erect your temple and live your life with the energy just flowing through freely. Yeah, that is the dream living in alignment to really what your soul's purpose is, here and now. And your values really help you discern that. 

Amrit Sandhu: So you know, when people say, oh, I can't do what you do And it's like maybe you're not meant to, yeah, but your thing is a thing. You have your own medicine, you have your own reason for being here. You have your own calling. That much is certain within me. Yeah, and the reason I'm that bloody certain about it is there was a moment in my life when I struggled for depression for six years, and I don't wish it upon my worst enemy yet, no, it's a long time. During the recovery period, there was someone, touch wood, who believed in me when I couldn't even believe in myself. I wasn't necessarily suicidal, but I was apathetic. I was completely apathetic. Whether I was here, whether I wasn't here didn't matter. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, yeah, completely numb on that recovery journey and there was a person in my life that saw me and said I believe in you, i see you, you're worth it, keep going. And That, just when you don't believe in yourself and someone does, and it actually pulls you through To the other side what that does for you. I cannot give you words, except that I have dedicated my life To coaching, because I believe in the power of others, because I know how much of a gift it is, because it transformed me. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah, and so. 

Amrit Sandhu: I believe everybody has something, everybody has medicine. Even that challenging time, the met, the six years of depression Brought me to meditation which completely changed my awareness, the way I navigate life. It was totally a cocooning experience in which the butterfly spread its wings. Obviously, you can only see that with hindsight, when you're going through your challenges. It's a very I'm gonna swear, it's very hard to see it that way, yeah, but with hindsight you start to realize. 

Jesper Conrad: You answered some of you said in your podcast Course, prepare some question, and you actually chose them out. I haven't reached that point late yet. Boy skim them. I was like I answered that. He answered that. He answered that. But one thing I would like to Go a little deeper with is the start of your podcast. You talked a little about it when we, after our dialogue last time, you started in your living room just inviting people, connecting people, and had some trolls. Can you tell a little about that? because I'm like, yeah and mark people like to drink a lot when they're together And they're the conversation seems to you know, go, go outside the realm and not so. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, thank you so much. 

Cecilie Conrad: Like intellectual conversations over expensive wine with my friends. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah, I didn't. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, there must be a difference between what they put in wine and what they put in beer, just Yeah. So for me the Yeah. Thank you so much for remembering so. The Inspired evolution journey is you know, it's been a long journey actually, but in some ways I can't believe it's only like it's. It's been like this It's almost like parenting. In some ways It's pretty trippy. 

Jesper Conrad: But I'm the years that we on now, five years of the inspired of a lot of, yeah, five years, which you know. 

Amrit Sandhu: The things that have already happened are like beyond my wildest dreams. Yeah, i definitely had a plan, but then also I know I give myself 10 years to start. I give myself 10 years to sort of see where this is actually going. I'm sort of wisely. I don't know where this dropped in. Initially, when I started, i was like I'm not gonna measure Performance for 10 years, i'm just gonna commit myself and sort of see what happens, because a lot of podcasts fall off And a lot of people actually that you speak to that are famous podcasts. 

Amrit Sandhu: Now You ask them It's like what is your recipe for podcasting success? and And every single person I've asked has said the exact same thing, which is like kind of like whoa, but it's a hundred percent of the time the response I've gotten is I didn't quit or something to that effect. I kept going and It's literally just that. It's like when you look at the number of podcasts that are out there Recently we got this award as inspired evolution top 2% of podcasts in the world and my wife was like this is amazing. And I was like I'm not sure, because a lot of people start and don't finish and they're in that hundred percent. That's like 50% of podcasts probably. So, really, you know, but obviously I'm being self-deprecating, but a lot of people don't like, don't keep going, and there's a recipe for success in there with podcasts. So I realized I've digress. 

Amrit Sandhu: Coming back to the answer in your question was um, yeah, so we started with. It was an interesting time actually. I'll give you the full story. So my wife, she's a dentist and she had this moment in her life where she, they kind of say, at the ages between 27 and 30, you have what they call a satans return. For those that are into astrology, for those that aren't into astrology, basically it's a time Where and I'm definitely not an expert in this year, guys, so just bear with me, but satan, apparently in your astrological chart, is back where it started when you were born. Yeah, and it happens again when you're between 54 and 60, which is when we're known to have them in life crisis, right, so you kind of have this quarter life crisis at 2730. Yeah, roughly speaking, now Satin is responsible for purpose, is what they say astrologically. It drives the chariot which pulls the Sun, and the Sun of your life, the light of your life, is the reason and the purpose that you're here. So Potentially that was what was going on. It seems to fit the narrative. 

Amrit Sandhu: My wife had this existential crisis going. This gotta be more to my life than filling holes in people's teeth, like there just has to be. You know, gonna work, waking up feeling all the people to eat and going back home and going to bed, waking up doing the same thing, and so she went on basically what we could now call a sabbatical. Back then She just basically left and was we didn't really have the Linguistics of like the word sabbatical in our mind. She was just I'm leaving and. And so she left. 

Amrit Sandhu: For we didn't know it was an indefinite amount of time. We thought it was gonna be rough. It ended up being about 10 months. In that time we went travelling for the first six weeks together and then she sets sail on her sabbatical. I came home and I just continued to work. Now it was the first time that I sort of worked, lived on my own with our dog and she was away travelling, and it was very lonely. It was a winter Winter is good for cuddles and there was none of that. So it was a hard time, to say the least. And then also, work was really, really intense And often, as you'll know, between you two. Often times when one part of the partnership is going through something, it's often that energetically you guys are connected that the other part is going through something as well. 

Jesper Conrad: We know that. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, i know, and so it's interesting The quantum behind all of that. they're starting to research some of that stuff and it's really trippy, but with it's another conversation We'll totally digress, even into rabbit holes we won't return from, but nonetheless. So she's away and I'm starting to have this existential crisis as well, which is like because I'm the same age and the same experience and we're connected and I'm like there's got to be more to just, and I literally felt like if you guys have seen the movie The Matrix, it's one of my favourite movies I started feeling like a human battery cell that is running the corporate machine, basically, and I was like there's got to be more to life than this, like there's just. You know, this is really rubbing me up the wrong way and I was giving myself to it daily, daily, daily. 

Amrit Sandhu: And in there was a moment before I left my wife what for her to go on a sabbatical. When we went six weeks travelling, we were sitting in Guatemala, in San Marcos, on this really beautiful jetty, and there was this really beautiful place. I saw more shooting stars this one night than I had seen in my whole life put together. It was one of those moments. 

Amrit Sandhu: It was New Year's Eve, it was just like you know, and I've never really set a New Year's resolution because I thought it was always a bit cheesy. I've always been in a personal development. I was like New Year's resolution, like that's fairly, you know, those that play in the kiddie pool That was kind of my egotistical spiritual judgement. So I never really set a goal. But this year I had the intention. I set an intention, this voice just do more of what you love. And that's all it said to me. I was like do more of what you love. So I was like okay, and I came back and I was, you know, in this grind, working through all of this, you know existential angst almost of like being this corporate machine. And there was this do more of what you love. And one of the things I had managed to do when I was in Guatemala also was I quit alcohol. And it was really interesting coming home to not have alcohol and also have this intention of do more of what you love. And I remember I was sitting opposite a computer screen in my living room And we used to be that, you know, the dining table and the computer used to be my setup. I was always working on my business. It was like my, you know, happy place. My wife would be sitting on the couch, you know, doing her thing, and I remember watching this Tony Robbins video and going, oh, like breakthrough. And then I had that moment of aha And I turned to her to say, oh my God, i just realized. And then I realized she wasn't there And the, the, the emptiness inside was like, oh man, but again, how everything sort of cascades. In that moment I had this sort of what we now call in my community here a mandala moment, this sort of cascading of clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, like when the safe, like all the ratchets, sort of clicking in the safe door, opens the epiphany, the insight. It happened. We were traveling in Mexico. 

Amrit Sandhu: I saw this club called mandala, which was an amazing name, and I thought it was sacrilegious to call the club that, because mandala is a very sacred word And I'm not sure if sacred stuff happens in clubs, from my experience anyway. And the other idea of like the average, where the average of five people we spend our time with, i had given up alcohol and Friday night drinks was my favorite thing to do. I had one idea when I first moved to Melbourne that I was going to do like Friday night cocktails at my house at some point, which never actually happened. So all this stuff started to drop in and it was just like, oh, you have three hours, create a Facebook group called mandala moments, yeah, and invite people over to your house every week. And it was like, nah, every fortnight, once a month, okay, every fortnight, okay, every fortnight. And what are you going to do? We're basically going to watch Tony Robbins videos and have aha moments together. I've always wanted to do this, right, watch Ted Talks, watch Mindvalley Talks, watch, you know, any of this sort of content that's inspiring, and then we can unpack it together as a community. And it became chai chats and community. I brewed chai to replace and supplement alcohol instead of no longer drinking, so it was an alcoholic free thing that I was doing every fortnight And it just created the event and I invited and this was the other big piece, i invited the five people in my community that were inspiring to me. 

Amrit Sandhu: So I invited people. That because, on the average of the five people I spend my time with, i knew at work that I wasn't going to be that person. Right Like, my work was very challenging in terms of the people that I was around, but I knew that in my downtime, even then, i wasn't consciously spending my time, i was just getting hammered, yeah. So it was like, okay, let's try and find speakers. Authors. My yoga teacher was one of the first people like these people that really inspired me to be a more spiritual, better human. 

Amrit Sandhu: So I invited these people and, lo and behold, they started rocking it up. First week there was two of them. Next week, next fortnight, there was one of them. The fortnight after, five people showed up and then the words started getting around and people started showing up to my living room to the point where, regularly, there was 20 to 25 people in my living room and we would discuss Khao Young's archetypes And then we'd go around the room and call out the archetypes we saw in each other. Then we'd discuss dreams, then we'd talk about vulnerability, we'd talk about all sorts of like career stuff, relationship stuff, like family stuff, you name it. We started unpacking it together as a community And there was this voice in the community which was like hey, you should record these chats, they're invaluable. And my response to them was they're invaluable. Yes, because there's no fucking microphone in the room because it's a sacred container. 

Amrit Sandhu: It's a sacred space We're sharing. From this, like really safe space amongst each other, there's trust. The minute you put a microphone in it, it leaks that trust, and so it's like I can't do it. And so they kept pushing, i kept saying no, and then eventually they were like you seriously have to do this. And then a mentor appeared out of nowhere and basically said hey, like, and it was London, real Brian Rose. And he said I'm about to launch your podcast program, which he charges, i think, about $10,000 US dollars for. It was insane. And he said, like, broadcast yourself is what he called it, which is not too dissimilar to launch your podcast, right, so broadcast yourself, and my friends will like do a podcast. 

Amrit Sandhu: And I was like no, no, no, no, no. I could see myself as this sandwich. That was just this pure resistance. I was like no, i've tuned into podcasts and I want to do that. And I remember waking up at 3am and going just do it. I woke up in the middle of night with no idea like why I'd waken up And it was just like just do it. And I was like dude, you don't have $10,000 just to spend online some course you know which you don't even know if you want to do And it's like listen, all your friends are saying doing it. This person is saying they want you to do it. You respect this person and that person has subsequently London rules, been some very interesting journey since then, so pardon them for that or whatever they're up to. 

Jesper Conrad: But he started out, my friends were saying it. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, it sounded out amazing And so, and then I was like I'm just resisting, So if I just get out of my own way which you hear people say, this is personal development and then the two could just click together. So I gave myself permission to get out of my way, invested a lot of money and, boom, it clicked in together. The rest became history and the podcast began. So that's the origins of the podcast the conversations we were having in my living room and the community that inspired me. And it started off with me just wanting to interview those people that were in my living room. Now it's just blown out to sort of interviewing people from all over the world, and she's beyond my wildest imaginations. 

Jesper Conrad: I got both goosebumps and a little cheer, so we're moving. 

Amrit Sandhu: Thank you for asking. 

Jesper Conrad: No, yeah, but about those, all those people, more than 200. I tried to count and I was like ah, I cannot, You can't count. No no, no, no, but it was the longest. I think more than 200. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah, it was so And I was thinking what it must also have been a long personal development journey. You meet some people, you talk with them. They are, they are transformational leaders, a lot of them, the people you interviewed, and so can you mention some of them or some of the things that you still are. This one, i've taken that into my life. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, there's quite a few responses to that question. 

Amrit Sandhu: And I get off this. I get asked this question in different ways. The way you've asked this question, yes, i can answer it. So one of the biggest takeaways for me has been the Marianne Williams in podcast episode, which happened about 12 months ago And she was running for politics and she had just bowed out of the USA candidature for running for office And she wrote a return to love which was a sort of dissertation on a course in miracles. She's like an amazing, amazing spiritual leader, but full of Yang, not like stuck in Yin. So she's incredible. 

Amrit Sandhu: And one of the things that I took away from her podcast with conversation was and I'm butchering the living daylights out of it, which is unfortunate but she basically went to the effect of saying power without love is corrupt and love without power is anemic And for some reason, i really needed to hear that. 

Amrit Sandhu: That was huge for me because there was always this my whole journey is spiritual entrepreneurship, spiritual entrepreneurship, but this sort of reclaiming of power. Power just had this. I had these connotations around greed and ego that were in power And, yeah, she reminded me that that isn't necessarily power. Like power is this very pure sort of force that is just a very beautiful masculine force that is available to us to harness accomplishment of things, and that reconciliation was huge for me. Yeah, left a very profound impact, and so what that meant for me was to double down on all the things that I'm doing, because it was very the inspired evolution has this soft rainbow colored energy. It's like, hey, like inspired evolution, like we're going to get there, don't stress, but she invited this, not stress, but it's like we're going to get there. 

Amrit Sandhu: You ready You know this different sort of like uh-huh, and it's already happened. 

Amrit Sandhu: Let's go Yeah, and it's this real? and it was a real, it was very. It was medicinal for me to receive that. Now one of the other questions, in line with what I guess it's like on a personal level, like what have you learned in terms of your own organization, running a, running a podcast for five years and all this sort of stuff, you know what has been one of the biggest takeaways for you? no-transcript, the recurring lesson again and again. The big takeaway that, having interviewed 250 stories now, is that people are like these people are all inspiring other people's evolution. What I've learned is that our biggest challenges, all my biggest gifts I know that when I podcasted you guys and you guys set a sail and started traveling around the world we spent a lot of time in our podcast talking about what were some of the challenges that were the linchpin to you going. You know what? finally, fuck this, i'm out. You know, fight in the French. Here's not French, but you know what I mean. 

Amrit Sandhu: Like fight in my language, and it's like that story is again and again. My challenges six years of depression brought me to meditation. Now, it's something I heal like I don't want to say heal the world with it, but like it's something that has healed me, that I offer the world. That's probably the right way to put it right. Meditation is something completely changed my life. Then, career misalignment yeah, I spent like more than a decade doing that, yeah, and the friction of that was painful, yeah, but then that birth, the inspired evolution, right, and that became my gift to the world, yeah, so your biggest challenges equal your biggest gifts. Yeah, we look and look at any like great leaders. They've like, really struggled and they've walked through that dark night of the soul and they've come back with this sword from the hero's journey, having slayed the dragon and gone boom, this is the sword. What can I do for you, society, with this sword? And they learn to serve others with it, right, and that has brought them to greatness. So that has been a massive lesson for me, which has been like the value of that. You know, as a young man in his 30s, to know that any challenge I'm facing is a blessing in disguise. You know what that does for you and your resilience is. You know, i can't even put that into words, it's been phenomenal, and then on a mundane level, like. 

Amrit Sandhu: Another lesson that I've learned is the power of consistency. We talked about this a little bit earlier. Not giving up producing a podcast for five years every week, it's probably one of the most. Yeah, it's honestly outside of my relationship with my wife like which is a conscious relationship, that I chose. This podcast is something that I have been consistent with the longest. You know, like my friends I'll see sporadically, even my family I'll see sporadically. My wife I see all the time. This podcast I see every week. So it's outside of that. Consistency builds. What is this thing that no one taught? I find talking about is momentum. With consistency you build momentum, and momentum with the laws. You know it's the laws of physics something that's moving, it takes just as much energy to stop it. So if it's moving, the universe doesn't want it to stop, it wants it to keep moving, and it just keeps moving, and moving, and moving, and moving, and moving. Yeah, it took ages for it to get off the ground, but once it did. Now it can't be stopped. 

Cecilie Conrad: I had a question. I have to remember it now. Yeah, now, i was thinking about this how our greatest challenges become our greatest learning in motors or driving energies coming out with the sword. We also have the concept post-traumatic growth reverse to the post-traumatic stress, and I was just thinking about those who don't Like. So I have the mindset if there is a challenge, i'm learning something and I'll come out stronger. We have a saying I'm always happy. If I'm not happy, i'm happy, i'm learning something that will make me happier. So when you have this mindset, the challenging moments or elements, they are easier, not easy, because then when the challenge but some people to me seems to not get this to kind of drown, and I would like to help them. 

Cecilie Conrad: Yeah, that's what I do. I'm a psychologist and the coach as well. but I'm interested, as I'm speaking to a colleague, What kind of life was like? what is it called, like these things you throw at? 

Jesper Conrad: Life belts, yeah, life belts. 

Cecilie Conrad: Life belts do you send out, throw out, for people who don't really believe this yet? 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, and once again, like it's a great question. 

Amrit Sandhu: So once again I rest in because I've actually got those people in my life like those are some of the closest people in my life, to the point where one may even argue that a whole impetus for me to be the individual that I am looking to consistently grow is because there are people around me that potentially need to grow and this sounds like a judgment but refuse to. 

Amrit Sandhu: Now, one of the things in there is and this has happened right, like you continue to change and grow, you can change and grow and change and grow, and it may not happen overnight, but five years later someone turns around and goes, oh, you've changed. And it's like, yeah, i chose not to be that way. And then you see them sort of go, it was a choice. Like this is a choice, you know. And you can see them short-circuit, you know, because it's like but it took five years of me working on myself in some instances for that person to have that penny drop moment. Now, if I was trying to hand that person a life, but I don't have five years worth of patience. I'm gonna be straight up with you, sister. Like I don't have five years worth of patience. 

Amrit Sandhu: That's another people Like I'm part of the millennial generation. We don't have five years worth of patience. But again, rest in the knowing that, as you know, I continue to evolve and change, that the ripple will happen in some space, way, shape or form. yeah, Now the other part that is huge for me is, as a coach, having to learn to realize that everybody's got coping mechanisms. yeah, Because we're dancing between order and chaos at any given time And there is, like there is, a great deal of chaos. 

Amrit Sandhu: Life is like a mystery, yeah Like the fact that I am here having this conversation with you two. Like, if you start to pick at the threat of chaos, you can start very quickly coming apart at the seams. Yeah, like, what the is going on, like, what is this thing that is called life? Yeah, like, and where do we go after here And how did we get here And who are we connected to? And what are we doing? We're having conversations, what? like it's super trippy And yet that is completely balanced by order. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, now, psychology, our minds navigate the world with patterns, recognition of those patterns and order. So we get this order that helps support us navigate this chaos, this 3D reality, yeah, which is an amazing gift of consciousness. Now, we are supported by our coping mechanisms. Yeah, and many of them end up outdated and we don't put them in the recycle bin and hit trash. Yeah, and we continue to carry them around. But I know, even now, as I'm speaking to you, i run the risk of sounding enlightened when I have plenty of outdated limiting belief systems myself that I'm actively working on trying to trash. 

Cecilie Conrad: Yeah, Yeah, yeah, it's not a walk in the park necessarily. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, and so when I see someone else that's not willing, that is basically not willing to take on one of my like, I guess, expanded thought concepts, I understand that what I perceive is limited is not limited for them. At some part for them, that was the best coping mechanism that they could find and they dropped into that And it still continues to serve them to some degree, which is why they continue to stay in that loop. Yeah, Now, unfortunately, or fortunately, to some point there's gonna be a point where their biggest challenge is gonna be their biggest gift. Yeah, So they're gonna hit a challenge and then, hopefully, they'll evolve out of it. Now, it's hard to sort of say that out loud in public because it's like, shit, you're wishing people challenges and it's like, well, that's transformation, right, Like you grow that way. Now some people won't. I circling back to your question, it's like some people meet those challenges and they just fall into the pity parade and they just fall into the victim mindset and they're still the victim of life And that helped them early on. 

Amrit Sandhu: Right, That helped them early on and they continue to live in that model and that still continues to serve them in some way right. And sometimes that's hard to acknowledge because sometimes it's not even that person's fault, like I know what this sounds like. Everybody's empowered for their own choices, but it may not even be that person's fault When that person goes into their little. There's a better way of putting this. Pardon me, it sounds insensitive when I say this, but pity party. If they go into their pity party or their victimhood is probably the right way to put it right. If they go into their victim state, yeah, other people respond to them And they go, hey, what's wrong? 

Jesper Conrad: Hey, you okay. 

Amrit Sandhu: And it's normal because we're human, we're compassionate, but that continues to enforce that person's behavior, right, because that person is looking for connection and that's how they find connection, so it's still serving them. So how can we disrupt that right Without disrupting the entire Fundamentally, yeah, the things that are circling around that nucleus right, the electrons and the protons and all of that right, like it's, like it's all that the yeah, you know. 

Amrit Sandhu: So there's, there's that, there's that process. So, yeah, i, i rest in knowing that. It's like you know that age old saying which was kind of like I was smart so I tried to change the world, but now I'm wise and I just try to change me, and so that is kind of what I rest in And just trusting that me doing that is hopefully, you know, having an impact in the world in some way. But I, i'm trusting that the impact that it has on me is more than enough. Yeah, because that then ripples out in other places. And I'll give you a practical example of that. Like recently, i've been coaching for quite some time now And for about six weeks just prior to now, i've been through some really like some real challenges, and there weren't necessarily me, but they were in my community here in Melbourne And I just checked out, like I'll, you know, i was just like hey, like I'm sorry guys, but, I can't. 

Amrit Sandhu: You know I can't do this And it was hard for the ego because you're the coach, You're meant to be the one that helps people stay aligned, and you're kind of off the rails for a minute here And I didn't know when I was coming back on the rails. 

Amrit Sandhu: Now I'm back on the rails, It's all good, right, But I didn't know when I was coming back on the rails And I checked out and I've checked back in and I'm subsequently catching up with all my clients and they're like I'm so glad you took that time off. And I was like, oh, you don't enjoy coaching. And they're like, no, because actually there are places in my life where things have happened and I've needed to step back, but I don't because I continue to have to put the log on the file. And you consciously taking a step back, knowing that everything was, you know, going to suffer because of it from your mind's perspective, like business wise, but yet you still chose to prioritize yourself and your own well-being. That spoke volumes to me as your coaching client And I was like, oh shit, okay. 

Jesper Conrad: Thank you so much for that reflection, and that wasn't one person. 

Amrit Sandhu: There was three people that said that back to me, yeah, and I was like, wow, you know, we're having that ripple effect and we don't even know that we're doing it Right, we're just like, well, i'm just looking after myself, i'm just trying to look after myself, yeah, but it's having that impact, touch wood. 

Jesper Conrad: I have a question about ego, because I feel it sometimes myself you know, sitting here in a white boy and shirt like hey, look at me. But I'm starting to. I'm turning 48 this year and starting to just accept who I am in some ways. But part of me can be a little like, oh, telling about our lives, starting a podcast, will it nurture too much that ego part where, oh, i'm doing it because I want people to like me, that little child inside of me, or how do you work with that? Or is that a problem for you? I don't know. 

Amrit Sandhu: Absolutely, it's a huge one. Yeah, it's a huge one And, if I'm honest with you, one of the big. I think everybody's here to work on something in this life. One of the big things for me is ego. You know, one of the huge things for me is ego. And so, you know, and I've even and this is where the power and love was this huge thing. 

Amrit Sandhu: Anyway, i'm conscious of the time, but, like, keep even the part of me that keeps pushing for humility. I was like humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble, stay humble. Who the fuck are you? Stay humble. Oh, you're my ego. Try to push me into staying humble, trying to come across as humble, because the reality of the power of life is that life just is. You don't need to be humble. But if you're forcing yourself, which I consistently still do, there's a part of my ego that is going be humble. Oh, you only need to be humble because you're egoic. Yeah, humble, you're going, humble you're going. And so, yeah, there is that dance. Yeah, but to answer your question, with the podcast, and I'm going to, i'm conscious of the time, so I'm going to try and keep this short, but rest in your values. So connection, contribution, celebration. There is no ego in that for me, it is my, it is those. That's the celebration of my, my spiritual value, like that is what my spirit's essence is. That's what I'm here to do Connect, contribute, celebrate. So if, as long as I'm doing it, it's going to feel great, yes, but it's deeper than an ego, great It's. It's deeper than happiness, it's joy. Yeah, it's a spiritual like, yeah, yeah, like that's it goes all the way in. Yeah. So that's from your soul, not from your head. 

Amrit Sandhu: Now, one of the this is a parable that I learned recently from a gentleman that I had on the podcast, michael Mead. He is. If you're looking for a great podcast on mysticism, guys, he is my hands down one of the podcasts I listen to most Michael Mead living myth podcast. He was telling a story about diving for pearls. So there's some obvious metaphors here. At the bottom of the darkest place in the ocean, you find this thing that is pure white light. Yeah, it is a pearl. So in your deepest darkness you find light. Yeah. So shadow work and light he's talking about. 

Amrit Sandhu: He also talks about something that's a bit more modern in terms of the myth. So he talked about how, in order to go diving for the pearl, you need two divers. You need one that sort of stays close to the surface and you need one that does the deep diving into the shadows for the pearl. And the top one's responsibility is to pull the bottom diver up so he doesn't die. Yeah, because it's a dangerous expedition, and if he spends too much time down there, yeah, he needs to pull him back up. He's his life raft, right. So the way he describes it is this is your soul, the deep diver. He dives deep, he experiences life's challenges, comes back with the pearl. That is the gift, yeah, like it's. That's the journey. 

Amrit Sandhu: But the ego, which Western society loves to demonize in many ways, has its role as an intermediary, as a filter for this experience between the soul realm and the 3D realm up above, which is where the pearl inevitably has to go back to into the world to provide its value. So there is this relationship with ego, which it has a mediating role in experience. Now, left unchecked and sort of run rampant, yeah, it becomes toxic, real, fast, right. But if it does have a role to play, it's about having a healthy relationship with it, i believe, and I find that metaphor really positive for me because it helps me sort of find my place. It helps me come back to center, kind of going. Oh yeah, there's my ego and it does have a role. Yeah, because, let's be real, like standing up in front of a stage of like thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people, yeah, it's absolutely challenging because some part of my ego goes this is epic. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah, of course. 

Amrit Sandhu: Remember what your content is. Yeah, and can you feel the butterflies? That's because this is really important for them to receive. It's not about you. And I'll share something with you in the essence of keeping things on point, when I was still going to give one of my biggest talks in Europe. 

Amrit Sandhu: Before that, there was a gentleman that I podcast. His name is Murray Kyle and he's a beautiful musician here in Melbourne And I haven't actually shared this with anyone before and I'm hoping he finds it okay that I share this touch with. Thank you so much, brother. He basically I said to him, when he creates these concerts, it's like there's a dynamic, like there is no audience in him. It is just one experience, and afterwards people are coming up and just thanking him. They are literally like moving stuff in the audience, like the energy, the healing, like it's profound. Yeah, his music is amazing. And I said to him and I watched him because we've helped host him And then it was just the most like it was just. 

Amrit Sandhu: It wasn't even an effort to be humble, like it was just like thank you so much. You know, it was just. He was just graceful. So the next morning I was like you know, i really want to learn, kind of what. His thoughts on what? the question you asked me is like ego and humility And I said to him I was like, hey brother, like you know, when all these people are coming up to you and thanking you, how do you you know, you know you can't just, you know value to follow these people? 

Amrit Sandhu: you know how do you navigate this experience, like, how do you stay humble? and he thought about it and I'll never forget it. Well, he drank his coffee, put it down, we reflected and he goes. You know, actually, amrit, the music works best when I am also just an instrument. Yeah, and I was like okay, And he goes and yeah. So when people are thanking me, i am thanking the creator of the and where the music comes from and the music, and I'm thanking also in their gratitude that I get to be an instrument, you know, and that I get to be part of this amazing dance and this amazing experience, and that's been huge for me. You know, when people thank me, i take that thanks and I also give thanks to creation for, you know, this amazing opportunity to be alive and to be able to share in such an amazing gift that is life, you know, really is a gift And there's. You know, in many ways it's a long journey, in many ways it's a dash And it's a miracle that we're here. So, yes, Quickly that helps. 

Cecilie Conrad: To change the topic completely, as we should learn this interesting. We could talk for like six hours. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah. 

Cecilie Conrad: That's actually. I have this idea. Yeah, How about we commit? because we talked about commitment and consistency. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah. 

Cecilie Conrad: It's very interesting We could commit our episode number something to talk to Amrit again. 

Jesper Conrad: That could be cool. 

Cecilie Conrad: It could be a good hook for us, and maybe it could be fun for you as well, to see where we are. 

Amrit Sandhu: I would love to. 

Cecilie Conrad: Episode 100 or something like that. Like not just down the road in October, but you know, would that be fun. 

Amrit Sandhu: Oh my God, it would be my honor, would that be fun. 

Cecilie Conrad: It would be my honor. That's gonna be number 100. 

Amrit Sandhu: Episode number 100. 

Cecilie Conrad: Yeah, then we talk again, Because I feel you know it's very interesting, but it could be for six hours, as I said, and maybe we should. 

Jesper Conrad: Take a long one. 

Cecilie Conrad: Just landed on, just go there. 

Amrit Sandhu: Yeah, I appreciate it. That is, if you're on a weekly cadence, that's at about the two year mark. 

Cecilie Conrad: They give you some perspective. 

Jesper Conrad: Yeah, yeah, But it's a good, it's a good, but we might be here to make up to Australia before And then we can talk. Yeah. 

Amrit Sandhu: But the podcast will be there, i'm on it, i'll be there. 

Jesper Conrad: Podcast number 100. It was a big, big pleasure, amrit, and we will say thanks a lot And thank you for being there. And for people listening in. Please check out Inspired Evolution, And if you yourself dream of starting a podcast or getting coached by this wonderful man, you know where to go. Just go to inspiredevolutioncom. Thank you. 

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