The Power of Purpose and Presence with Colin Scotland

Before I jumped on a call with a marketing expert Colin Scotland to tackle the *exhilarating* topic of how to improve my website’s lead conversion, I would have bet a million bucks that nothing much would come of it other than a few practical ideas to help scale my company. 

I knew nothing about Colin but given his marketing expertise, I assumed he’d be a wheeling-and-dealing type, trying to pitch me on some overpriced business coaching package. I had no idea Colin’s mission was about far more than marketing and that this 30-minute free zoom call would set a wildfire of transformation that would blaze through every area of my life. 

So far from the stereotypical sales guy I’d imagined, I encountered a humble, kind, and soulful man who seemed genuinely interested in making a human connection and generously helping me achieve my goals.

This week on Waking Up, Colin and I reconnected to discuss higher purpose, presence, spirituality, and the freedom to let down our walls and reawaken childlike play and wonder. 

 For the latest updates, offerings, and ponderings visit www.brookesprowl.com

Transcript

0:00
[Music] welcome to on living my name is Brooke Sproul and today I have Colin Scotland  
0:10
joining me Colin has been a mentor of mine both in business and it really  
0:16
evolved into more of a spiritual uh partnership and and mentorship and  
0:21
just just through our shared kind of  connection and what evolved in in our 
0:26
process and one of the things that struck  me most about Colin the moment I met him   was his kindness and I expected to jump on this super salesy  
0:36
high pressure call and he was just so  gracious and so kind and so generous 
0:42
with his time and his expertise and it  really modeled for me a new paradigm for 
0:48
marketing this like just genuine  position disposition of service and uh 
0:54
I've just been so grateful for all  the ways that Colin has helped me   both personally and professional so Colin welcome thank you so much what a delightful  
1:05
introduction thank you Brooke I'm honored yeah tell us a little bit   about yourself and your background before  we get into things oh where to start hey so 
1:15
I'm I grew up in Liverpool England and uh spent  my youth on the market stalls of Liverpool with 
1:22
my dad uh that was how he earned his  living and that was a that was a fun 
1:27
experience I can tell you watching how  the market Traders kind of get the get 
1:32
people to to buy things off the stall  and like you know scratching a living   really but it was it was interesting it was an education and something that kind of  
1:42
shaped who I who I am today from that very early age and that like  
1:48
that was the Genesis of my interest in like buying how we buy things you know these  
1:54
guys would be sat on an empty stall no way to pay their rent and they would like shout and  
2:00
make signs and do all kinds of wacky  things to get people interested and you  know it was just a it was a real  fast became the beginnings of a real  
2:09
Fascination for me and that was really where my interest in all of the whole  
2:15
marketing sphere started hmm and when we first jumped on our call you asked me  
2:21
why why are you doing what you're doing  why do you you know why do you want to  scale why do you want to um why do you  have these Ambitions and it kind of  
2:29
stopped me in my tracks this was several years ago now and I was like I don't know  
2:35
why well like why like you know why am I doing this you know I don't I'm   not just trying to make more money I'm not  just you know and it really kind of sent 
2:44
me into a little bit of an existential  spiral where I began to really rethink a 
2:51
lot of what I was doing and why and  that was the Genesis for my truest   North which we recently launched and um just kind of this new desire to be  
3:02
in service I mean I've always had the desire to be in service but to really   think purposely about how can I be in  greatest service of the world so I'm 
3:09
going to turn the question around on you  and ask you what's what's your why Colin   oh what a wonderful question so I think mine is really simple and it it is 
3:22
I'll tell you through a story right so for  a number of years I've practiced Jujitsu the   martial art of Jiu Jitsu and I was teaching a class  
3:31
probably eight years ago or so now with this young guy and we pick people up and  
3:36
throw them down on the ground right for  those that don't know and um this young  kid he just wasn't getting the move  right he wasn't he just wasn't doing  
3:44
it he was trying to put his body in the  right place and I was like move your  left leg no no your other left leg right  it was like bumbling through the move just  
3:52
couldn't get it getting really frustrated with himself and   um I was guiding him and helping him and he  he did this throw and it was beautiful it 
4:01
like like lifted the guy up dropped him  down on the floor and he was he came   up from that move and his eyes there was a light in his eyes Brooke and in that moment  
4:11
he changed he kind of he's it was like he came alive and I could see  
4:16
in his eyes this just this brightness this newness of wow I can do that and you know I came 
4:24
away from that class feeling great that  I'd like not not great that I'd taught   him how to do this move but more of a something that stuck with me it was like  
4:35
that light in people's eyes when they go and do that you know and that was  
4:41
something in that like it was like a light bulb moment for me and it just   really connected with me with the thing that I feel like I'm here to do and that  
4:51
is to help people to kind of have  that light in their eyes and go 
4:57
right right that's so beautiful and I  love I love that story and I think that 
5:02
was a lot of my experience with you too like oh   wow I can actually do these things  there's actually you know and it 
5:10
was both the kind of philosophical and  spiritual inquiry but it was coupled   with practical skills to implement right and that's that's part of the way that's  
5:20
that's part of the empowerment is  we need both the kind of Spiritual  Awakening component but we also need  these you know skills and principles for 
5:30
implementation and execution and that that's  one of the reasons why working with you has  
5:35
been so rich and and meaningful for me   um and you know I'm curious too I guess I'm reflecting on um something I  
5:46
think about a lot is how business can be spiritual   so I'm wondering if you have any thoughts  or anything to share on that because as I 
5:54
mentioned that's really been my experience  with you and I I think you've said that's   been an experience that you've  had with a lot of your clients 
6:01
and you know I had no idea you were a  spiritual guy I was enrolled in your   nurture sequence and you know I I didn't realize that we had that in common so it  
6:09
was really interesting how that emerged  and how you find people halfway across  the globe and if it feels really  orchestrated so do you have a  
6:17
sense of you know how you see business as spiritual I think everything is spiritual 
6:25
whether we see it or we realize it or  not everything is energy Everything is 
6:31
Everything is making an interaction in The  Invisible that we're not we're not cognizant of 
6:38
all the time and so we're seeing glimpses  these invisible forces that are at play in the 
6:43
world and yet we are presented with  this material Physical Realm that is 
6:51
just a tiny fraction of what it means to  exist what it means to be alive and so 
6:57
the realization that in a small way how  you show up in the world the intention 
7:04
you set before you even take an action   that has such a powerful impact on your experience in the day but also your  
7:13
influence on others as you move through the day so to try and just be all  
7:19
matter of fact about things without an acknowledgment of the spiritual I think is  
7:24
just leaving so much undone yeah how more than what right I  
7:31
mean there's so there's such an emphasis on achievement outcome productivity at the end  
7:36
and how do we bring ourselves back into a more Soulful and present way  
7:42
of relating with our lives with our goals even I mean I've been kind of in constant  
7:48
conversation with these goals and  dreams and so motivated and inspired  and how do I stay really really present  and grounded and grateful and kind in 
7:59
that Pursuit I think there's a way that we  can really find this optimal balance where  
8:04
the future is energizing us but it's not taking us away we're not   waiting for this future time when you  know oh I'm going to be happy we're 
8:13
actually inspired in the present by our  North Star while still being fully awake 
8:21
and embodied in our values and that was  one of the questions I came to this call 
8:26
with because one of the things I really  admire in you and in general is as I 
8:33
said before your kindness and so I'm  curious what practices what you know   what can what can we do to cultivate that you know how to how do how did you  
8:43
develop that and and what guidance can  you offer me in terms of cultivating my 
8:48
own kindness so it's not  it's not an easy thing right 
8:53
there's a I love that saying by uh  Buddha before Enlightenment chopping wood 
9:00
fetching water after Enlightenment  chopping wood fetching water right   so there's a like you mentioned before there's a a practical like a practice element  
9:08
a doing but also a being as well and I think having a having a 
9:17
grounding in that being element the  feeling the emotion the connectedness to 
9:24
the now that's something that runs  alongside a practice I find so 
9:33
look I'm still learning this stuff like  all of us right it's a journey and so   some days one helps the other so without the practice the being is altered without  
9:44
the being the practice Falls away  and so you have it's like a dance  between the two and I think you have  to have a a practical discipline 
9:53
to meditate to journal to practice  gratitude and affirmations and do all of 
10:00
these things that gets you like you said  into the emotion of the goal and state 
10:05
keeps you connected to the goal but not  in a way that's like abstract I I don't 
10:12
I consider myself a very spiritual  person but I don't see myself as a 
10:17
I guess I don't know like um a spiritual  Guru in that sense I feel like for me it 
10:23
has to be practical I have to be able  to get up every day and live live and   be this this person that that I'm striving to be to be and to become you know and so  
10:34
it has to be that balance between what we do in every single moment  
10:39
and how we remain connected in that does that make sense absolutely and  
10:45
and so mindfulness gratitude uh Jiu Jitsu does that is that one of the practices you  
10:53
wouldn't believe yeah how connected  that makes you to your body you know  that's like a that there isn't time when  somebody's trying to choke you out there  
11:00
or break you around there isn't there just isn't time to kind of have this   head chatter that says hey Colin who  do you think you are what do you think 
11:08
you're doing you know well it's really interesting  that you brought that up because you're the 
11:13
second person whose kindness really  struck me right off the bat and this 
11:18
other person who I'm also having on the  show John verakee also mentioned that   he practices Jiu Jitsu so there must be something to this uh to this practice I  
11:28
think there's a there's endless list of things that you can do the bottom line   is feeling a connectedness to the body  because in reality we are not the body 
11:36
we are not the mind you know we are the  the witness Consciousness the seat of 
11:42
self the higher self however you want to describe  it right we are something aside from each of those 
11:48
and through the connectedness of the  body and the mind and that that place of 
11:56
witness Consciousness that sits behind  and above all of those that's where you 
12:01
find that place of of being in a in a Stillness it's a it's a place that isn't 
12:12
bothered by all of the chatter it's a place  that isn't just constantly carried away by this 
12:19
feeling of that and oh will she like me  and Willie like Willy like that and and 
12:25
you just you just allow you know those  things are still there but you're in a 
12:30
in a different place where  you're able to just kind of   just see and respond to the thing that's in front of you which is this this moment right  
12:40
now what Eckhart Tolle talks about  and the power of now right this this  moment in front of you is the only  one that you've got it's the only one  
12:48
that matters and so when you're able to through that practice stay connected and  
12:53
stay focused and stay in this moment all of a sudden it feels different so now  
13:00
the feeling of connectedness to what you're trying to do and be and Achieve   is almost effortless that's what they  talk about be effortless effort right 
13:11
it's it's not something that you need to  strive for in striving for it you miss 
13:18
it and that's the difficulty I think a  lot of people have is and it's something   I struggle with a lot is sometimes you get caught up in practice I'm trying  
13:26
to be this and I'm trying to be that  and I'm trying to do that and often it  misses the mark you know and that yes  there's just a need at a certain point  
13:36
for surrender and just allowance like here I am right now and that's all   part of it that's all part of what I am  called to be present with and allowed to 
13:45
move through me and then trust that in  that allowance we will shift you know 
13:51
one of the practices that's really  helped me to awaken more to uh greater 
13:57
sense of presence and that kind of magic  that happens in the present moment is 
14:03
just slowing down I just you know and  and I I mean I'm still you know kind of 
14:10
productive inspired a lot and doing  a lot of things but I stopped kind   of booking myself Florida ceiling I started to create space between appointments space  
14:20
between commitments and I found that just giving myself that room   to breathe even if I wasn't necessarily  taking that time to formally meditate I 
14:30
just wasn't in that constant state of  I need to get there I need to be here I   need to oh I need to eat lunch I need to it was like it allowed for just the the  
14:39
space for me to open my eyes a little  bit and just kind of savor each moment 
14:44
and there was a lot of there's been a lot of magic  and kind of new Consciousness just in the kind of 
14:52
slowing down and allowing and seeing  myself not so much as I am the conductor 
14:59
who needs to have it or the captain who  needs to have it all figured out and is   is make calling all the shots but rather a conduit where I'm just allowing life  
15:08
to move through me and surrendering and  accepting you know I mean gosh there are 
15:13
times when you know I am not my body and  my mind and my energy are not cooperating   and you know I want to be I want to be inspired I want  
15:21
to be energetic I want to be kind and I'm  just grumpy and and tired and fatigued and 
15:26
and you know that's all part of the  allowance I think and the you know   the thing that we have to cultivate and surrender is okay I don't get it you know  
15:35
I don't get why I'm feeling like  this and you know how can I bring  kindness to myself and I think as we do  it allows us to to create more kindness 
15:44
and patience with others I mean I think for me my   flaws more than anything have taught  me about kindness and compassion 
15:52
and how much nicer is it when you're able  even when the energy is not there and you  
15:57
don't feel it when you lean in to that because it's it's   anti-everything that we're programmed  with isn't it it's against what our 
16:06
conditioning tells us you know when when  the propensity is to be busy and get 
16:13
busy with busy things the last thing we  think about as being a valid thing is to 
16:18
stop and breathe and take a breath  and yet it's the most important thing 
16:24
that we can do that's the that's  the the difficulty isn't it but the   the difference when you practice that that loving kindness to self first and foremost  
16:35
then that that's what makes the difference in how you show up in the world um 
16:44
you were sharing really really  speaks to what I find when I'm 
16:49
when I don't surrender is this sort of  coercive and warlike relationship with 
16:54
myself where I'm constantly kind of pressuring um  uh struggling uh forcing you know you've  got you know shaming and I find that is 
17:06
just so draining and counterproductive  it doesn't actually achieve the thing   that we think it does to engage with ourselves that way we think that kind  
17:15
of pressure and shame motivates us but  it actually depletes us of the resourcing 
17:20
of the energy of the inspiration that  we're actually trying to find and so   that's where it's like that that surrender is so critical to  
17:30
um to re-energizing restoring uh replenishing our our reserves and  
17:35
we forget that we I don't know where this comes from but our culture has this a lot of  
17:42
emphasis on Willpower and kind of top-down uh very  
17:49
um you know aggressive kind of how we relate to ourselves and there's actually  
17:55
a lot of research that the concept of  willpower is really not valid at all  there's no actual Empirical research for  it and yet we all have this kind of myth  
18:04
that we can just logic our way and will power our way and if we were just mentally   stronger and actually I find that  the strength and the energy emerges 
18:14
in the allowance of not being so strong  and energetic all the time and then when 
18:20
we when we bow to that the energy  naturally kind of comes back online when 
18:26
it's ready and that's again kind of what  the everything is spiritual it's like this  
18:31
kind of day-to-day dance with life with our own energies with our own   bodies with our own minds with the  circumstances of Our Lives how do we 
18:39
kind of just allow and and stop being  so coercive and what's the relationship 
18:44
between kind of agency and surrender  because of course there are more moments 
18:50
where we want to bring agency into you  know our lives we want to be purposeful   and mindful and intentional but that's not quite the same thing as this sort  
19:00
of coercive uh thing that happens it's it's like knowing when is the right tool to use  
19:08
absolutely and I think in that you have to recognize   the universal law of Rhythm that's at play  through everything there is a time and a 
19:18
season under heaven a time to live a  time to die and I think in that within 
19:24
the bounds of that Rhythm that universal  law of Rhythm you have to accept that at 
19:30
the moment the sun is in the sky and the  Moon is not you have to accept that it's   the season of of this or it's the season of that and that's the hardest part  
19:39
because we refuse to accept it's like going outside in the morning sun and   waving your fist at the Sun and kind of  saying why are you not the moon why is 
19:48
it not dark right now that's the  futility of what we do to ourselves   really because we're trying to fight against this natural Rhythm that is the  
19:58
universe unfolding in front of us and it is what it is and will always be what it   is no matter how hard we wave our fists  no matter how hard we protest it will 
20:08
always be the way that it will now  within that within the bounds of that of 
20:13
course there is we have agency we have  our expression of who we are and that's 
20:19
where that's where the fun I think that's  where it's fun because within the within  
20:24
the bounds of the universal laws you can play that's what you're here   for you know there's that saying that the Earth is a place that souls go to evolve  
20:33
that's what we're here to do that's  what it means to grow spiritually in  Awakening and to experience the fullness  the richness that is in front of you but 
20:44
within the bounds of the law you know within the  bounds of that Rhythm and going with that flow 
20:49
yeah that dance with life yeah it's so  nice it's like that's the that's the 
20:56
whole like purpose of this of this  short dance that we get to play out   on on Earth in this physical body it's it's you just got so much richness in front of  
21:06
you and if you just accept the Rhythm for the Rhythm you know because people   die and people get ill and things happen  and nothing is good nor bad they're just 
21:17
things that happen and all of these  things happen to us in different   measures to different degrees and it's just things that happen you know we  
21:25
have to just flow with it flow with it  yeah and I call that well one principle 
21:32
that I use in that dance is what  I call the reflection principle   the idea that every moment every element of Our Lives is actually here to teach us  
21:43
something even our problems all the  things that we see as external are  actually reflections of the internal  I think you actually were the first  
21:51
one to share the quote with me as within so without As Above So Below you know that old  
21:57
I think that's a hermetic kind of saying um and what you originally were talking  
22:03
about reminds me of what I call the  Paradox of control which is this idea  that the more we strive to control things  the more out of control we feel and the  
22:13
more we surrender and allow and accept the more empowered we feel   and it's quite it's quite surprising and  it's a hard one lesson that I think we 
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all have to encounter at some point and  there's a beautiful quote by um Marcus 
22:27
Aurelius the um impediment to action advances  action the obstacle therefore is the way and 
22:34
how beautiful is it that everything  that's put in front of us is a gift no   matter how we interpret it is our choice right but everything is a gift like you  
22:43
just said everything whether whether we  deem it a label it a failure whether we  label it a success or anything and  everything in between they're all pathways 
22:52
to growth everything is here  everything is put in front of you 
22:57
so that you can grow yeah it's  so amazing when you wake up to 
23:03
the orchestration in things and you  begin to see that and that's not for me   at least a constant state but the more I Surrender the more I begin to see that  
23:13
everything in my life even the things  that have felt painful problematic you 
23:18
know things that I thought oh this is terrible  I'll never recover have ultimately been in service 
23:24
um and I think that's just such a  beautiful thing when you begin to   witness that and that's really what allows us to start to cultivate  
23:31
faith is when we you know are able to become conscious of in advance like oh  
23:39
here I am in another moment where I think there's no you know possible   Redemptive element to this experience  and we go okay okay God okay Universe 
23:49
okay you know um I know you're teaching me  something here I'm gonna trust you I'm gonna I I'm 
23:55
I know there's something on the other side  of this and and that's the kind of concept   death and rebirth you know in the Bible Paul says I Die daily  
24:04
and I think that's just such a beautiful  metaphor for you know just the constant 
24:10
putting laying on the altar all of  the things that all of you know the   things that we identify with our ego are um you know our sort of worldly aims that  
24:21
aren't really in alignment with our  true values and then just constantly  recalibrating and iterating and  you know how do I how do I keep  
24:28
um in on the path facing toward my North Star how do I embody my values well  
24:34
kind of going after the thing that I feel called to in the world yeah and that's where  
24:42
the balance between Enlightenment chopping wood fetching water right it's the same it's the  
24:48
same thing you're constantly trying  to find that that that middle way what 
24:53
latsu calls the way right the the Dow  it's the it's that that that place of   balance that is Elusive and actually doesn't exist and that's part of  
25:01
the dance you've got to constantly play  with that because no matter how how many 
25:07
enlightened experiences you may have  or may not have had or experienced   it's not actually about that it's about your ability to remain in this moment  
25:16
right now that's in front of you the  moment where we took a pause a few  minutes back that moment's gone and will  never be repeated again this moment right now 
25:27
this is the one that we're in and this is the one   that we have to respond and  react to and we will always 
25:33
not respond in the way that we expected  we will always trip up we will always 
25:38
find ourselves failing and falling and  not meeting the standards that we set   ourselves it's the nature of the Mind the mind will always pull us back and  
25:46
tell us that we're not good enough or  we're not doing enough or we haven't  been productive enough and I think  that's the that's the daily challenge  
25:54
for us is to be consistent in our approach to that and consistency  
26:00
really is the key and then look it's one  thing saying this but then somebody dies or 
26:06
you have a severe a severe trauma or  something happens that's like big man 
26:13
then it's difficult not to fall off the  wagon so to speak you know and things just   kind of change but that in itself is the gift in 2013 Brooke I um 
26:24
I had a business that was running  multiple seven figures a year in Revenue   I had more money than I could spend I was like doing really well in business  
26:35
2013 that business went bust and I lost everything that I owned in the world and  
26:40
we had the saddest part about all of  that wasn't losing all of the material  things I had it was the 30 people that I  employed whose families and children no 
26:49
longer had an income right that was  that that was the hardest thing to bear   when I when that first happened to me I felt so traumatized and so so much of a failure  
27:00
I never thought I'd ever get over it it felt like it was like a grief to me   because I I loved running that business  and in the aftermath of that now eight 
27:10
nine years on from the fact that was actually one  of the best things that ever happened in my life 
27:16
because through that through the  fires of that that the aftermath 
27:22
I actually became awake I realized I've  I've got feelings I think what are these 
27:28
funny things that have been stuff that  have been pushing away all of these   years you know what is this and and that actually was the starting path to what  
27:36
you would call like being self-aware  being awake being alive and and only 
27:41
because of that failure that was labeled  as a failure was I able to be the man I 
27:48
am today yeah it's beautiful you know death feels sometimes like a necessary precondition  
27:56
of rebirth you know and it's in the moment you don't see it you don't know what's  
28:02
ahead of you um you you only go oh I'm in pain I'm decimated I'm destroyed and  
28:10
um it's it's so incredible though when we are open to the lessons of life when  
28:16
we have that mindset that invites inquiry what opens up in that it's  
28:21
like that that decimation is the seeds of this new um I'm just thinking multiple metaphors  
28:28
here Garden building you know this kind of this new new based New Creation new  
28:34
self that emerges From the Ashes you know and I think for me I just that's  
28:40
that's the image for me that is most Salient most representative of my  
28:46
experience of spirituality it's just  that oh die again Diane be reborn again  you know in in little and big ways  I mean that was a a really huge and  
28:55
emblematic experience that you had um of that but then there's just the   daily daily version and I think you know  it comes back from me to character and 
29:06
integrity because I think that we we  have to be fully committed to a process 
29:13
of opening ourselves up colliding with  life and being willing to be changed by 
29:19
the encounter and when our character is  poised in that way we can trust in the 
29:26
orchestration we can trust that  everything is in our highest good but 
29:31
when we are not you know oriented in  that way we can't see what life is 
29:38
offering us and that's why I think the  metaphor of Awakening is so you know 
29:44
apropos because it's like it's always been  there the gifts have always been there the 
29:49
the treasures that life is offering us  are always right in front of us and it's 
29:56
just learning to wake up learning to  pull the wool from our eyes learning to 
30:02
see the thing that's there that's the beauty  of our interactions with other human beings 
30:07
you see the light the brightness the  life the spirit the soul the essence 
30:16
of who that other human being is but  all of us are clouded we're all like 
30:21
a bit murky a bit Dusty we've got like  wrappings on we've got like a bit of mud 
30:26
on us you know we're like well we're  just a little bit we're wrapped in this   body and we've got all of these things  going on that just make things a little 
30:33
murky you know we don't see the Brilliance  the pure Brilliance and the light   that is inside at each one of us and so often when you are able to  
30:44
see it in somebody else or reflect it back to somebody else with their words   or a kindness or a gesture or something what what you're you're not giving  
30:55
anything to that person in reality  what's happening is a little piece of  that murkiness a little piece of that  mask that thing that's covering the 
31:04
brightness that's covering who they are  in essence it's just breaking away and 
31:09
then all of a sudden they shine brighter  you shine brighter as a result you know   and that like that I spoke about in that young boy's eyes when I was teaching in that Jiu  
31:18
Jitsu throw that wasn't me that was him realizing how special and beautiful and wonderful he is and  
31:25
that's that's what we're talking  about right now it's recognizing  that in ourselves and in others and in  doing so we all get to shine brighter 
31:34
you know it's that indra's indra's net  have you heard that that whole concept 
31:39
of of we are all these beautiful jewels  in Infinity you know stretched out to 
31:46
Infinity The Brighter each one of us  shines the brighter the whole web you 
31:51
know everybody benefits were all  interconnected the interconnectedness   of all things so when when you bring happiness and joy and gratitude into the  
32:01
into the world through your energy and your intent I benefit as a result of  
32:07
that even though we're other sides of the globe when we talk and I see your  
32:12
smile we I I feel you in a very real way it's not it's not like I don't know how to  
32:20
describe it even it's it's Indescribable but it's tangible and I think when you're able to  
32:25
connect to that connectedness by realizing you know we're all just   we're all just doing the best that we can  do we're all just here on this journey oh 
32:36
wow ah becomes easy does it becomes easy because you're like shining makes my life  
32:48
shine brighter that's what it means to have purpose you're not you know   when you're in service of others you're  literally helping them to see wow what 
32:57
I've got this I've got this bright light  inside of me whoa what and you can see 
33:02
it and you see me and you recognize that  wow what a gift you give people when you 
33:09
when you serve them in that way you don't do  anything there's nothing that isn't already there 
33:15
that light is already there it's just about  uncovering it and allowing it to shine oh 
33:21
hmm I love what you said and so many  different things came up as you were 
33:28
speaking one was just this paradigm  shift that I think we're all being 
33:33
invited to In This Moment from a  scarcity kind of winner take all you 
33:39
know me argue mentality to a an  abundance more for me is more for you is 
33:45
more for us you know the more that we  all benefit the more we all benefit and 
33:50
so you know one of the things that I  feel strongly about is changing that 
33:56
Paradigm and inviting people because  the the Paradigm exists because of our 
34:01
projections because we engage with  it it it needn't exist in reality 
34:08
um it only exists because we we're all  playing that game and we can choose to   play a different game we can choose to play the infinite game and I think that  
34:17
that's really you know how do we change Collective Consciousness how do we  
34:24
how do we all really see and understand that the that the finite game is a construct  
34:33
and that it's not real it only exists it's the Matrix it only  
34:38
exists because we're all saying it exists  and we're all acting like it exists and  we're all playing that game and how do  we really start to play a different game 
34:48
together collectively in action and in  mind and in you know Spirit it starts 
34:55
with you because you have to evolve your  Consciousness to a place of actually 
35:01
realizing that you know I came across a wonderful  term called sunder a number of years back the the 
35:08
and it changed how I looked in the eyes  of everybody I ever meet and it has done 
35:14
ever since this idea that everybody  is a human being with feelings 
35:20
with thoughts with desires with hopes  with dreams with all of these wonderful 
35:25
things and experiences wrapped around  who they are and just the reverence of 
35:31
that makes you see people in different  lights you know and I think if you work 
35:37
on self enough to have that realization  that we are all interconnected that your 
35:45
pain is my pain My Love Is Your Love and  the more that we share the more that we 
35:51
lean in to that energy of abundance rather  than scarcity like you mentioned then 
35:58
goodness flows from that magic happens  on on the invisible rather than the 
36:04
material so the invisible is what dictates  the material and the more that we put   our energy and intention into the positive in The Invisible the more  
36:13
that that then breaks through into the  material into the Matrix right the more  we're able to break into that material  and it's it is a like you said it is  
36:22
a construct it's not real it's part of that um what they call Maya that delusion  
36:29
that we all exist in and people that haven't had that experience yet  
36:35
they exist in a state of like Maya of delusion for that business that I ran when 
36:44
bust I was in a state of Maya I was  chasing money I was trying to be a 
36:50
multi-millionaire you know that was the  only thing that drove me if you just   spoke to me about spirituality back then  I would have been like what are you even 
36:57
talking about what is that right I  wasn't I was just wasn't ready at that 
37:02
at that moment in my life and  so we have to appreciate that 
37:08
everybody has we start we started our conversation  with the universe a lot of Rhythm right 
37:13
so everything there is a time and a  season and that beautiful saying when 
37:19
the student is ready the teacher will  appear and so if we see somebody that is 
37:25
shouting hate and talking uh completely  in in Maya right not not aware that's 
37:34
it's the timing thing you know it  doesn't mean that that person may not be   wow one of the most spiritually Advanced people in by the end of their lifetime  
37:43
we've just met them in a snapshot a  moment where they're dealing with the  thing that's in front of them in the  best possible way that they can and you  
37:51
know no matter what's in front of you if we breathe love and compassion into it   ah boy does think do things change I heard that when asked when Mother  
38:02
Teresa was asked you know how do you  serve the world uh how do you know how  do you change the world she said  go home and love your family  
38:11
nice nice and that's it that's the work right the work is is so deeply individual  
38:18
to be in greatest service of the collective we have to start   in our own minds and hearts we cannot doesn't mean that we have to be perfect  
38:27
before we serve the world of course not  of course we serve the world you know in  our imperfection but the idea that you  know the changes out there is part of 
38:38
the problem when we assume sort of an  ultimate position of responsibility 
38:44
um I think that is what opens up our  Consciousness to do the greatest amount 
38:49
of collective change so it's it's a bit  paradoxical perhaps in that Collective 
38:55
Awakening requires us as individuals to  wake up and transform our Consciousness 
39:01
and it's so simple but it's so deep  and so uh profound and so so complex in 
39:09
another way right like it's it's we we  complicate it it's it's actually not 
39:15
very complicated it's not it's not that  lovely that lovely misquoted Gandhi that 
39:20
says that be the change that you want to  see in the world it starts and ends with   you you can literally change the world just by changing the way that you speak  
39:31
to yourself the way that you show up the  way that you hold yourself the way that  you um incessantly pull yourself down and  don't share love and compassion for self 
39:42
it all starts and ends there  when you can do that genuinely 
39:48
then instantly and it immediately spills  out into your interactions with others 
39:54
because you you love yourself how  many times do we tell ourselves   i i i wrestle with this all the time Brooke oh you you can't do that nobody  
40:04
nobody wants to hear what you've got to  say who do you think you are Colin you  know and that these These Little Things They come  up they creep they niggle away at you all the time  
40:13
and I think that's where the practice comes in just to reset and and just   find that place of of power of of love and compassion for self so that you can do those  
40:23
things anyway you know it reminds me of that Wayne Dyer quote when you change the way you  
40:29
look at things the things you look at  changed and you said to me a long time  ago when you smile the world smiles  back at you you know that back to that  
40:37
reflection principle this this thing that happens where we we really are   co-creating reality like how as you said  how you show up in the world how we show 
40:47
up in the world really dictates how  other people show up in response to   us so we actually have so much more power than we believe that we do because we don't  
40:57
necessarily know how to heal ourselves and how to relate   differently so we don't have an experience  of co-creating reality until we can do some 
41:07
very deep healing deprogramming you know  shifting our self-limiting core beliefs 
41:12
um really Reckoning with the traumas that  have have shaped this way of seeing the   world this old Paradigm the finite game and I I think that you know  
41:22
it's so powerful though when you start to feel  like in some ways well at the same time  you're in a state of surrender you're 
41:31
also feel you start to feel more like  the architect of your own destiny and 
41:37
it's quite it's quite profound at least  for me living for so many years feeling 
41:43
so deeply disempowered so deeply in pain  so deeply confused by you know why it 
41:51
was that I was showing up in a way that  wasn't being received because I my heart   was always service my heart was always loved my heart was always you know  
41:58
wanting to connect with people but for  so many years until I did my own healing  work and therapy I just didn't  realize how many unconscious defenses 
42:08
were dictating the way that I was showing  up and the way that other people were  
42:13
responding I wasn't aware of these things and so I was just constantly   perplexed and then the world seemed like  a cruel place but as I began to kind of 
42:23
unearth um you know my truer Essence and heal I began to really co-create new experiences and  
42:33
it's so striking how for so many years it was like   I can't find any good people Los Angeles is  such a superficial place people don't share my 
42:42
values and now it's it feels like  everywhere I turn I'm having these   incredible spiritual conversations meeting beautiful kind people and  
42:51
it's not a coincidence it's really kind of the the fruit that you yield you know when  
42:57
you do this work it's like it comes to harvest but it often takes many   years and it happens and fits and  starts you know it's not linear 
43:06
it's not linear it's like it's like traveling up a  mountain and imagine a a conical Mountain we walk 
43:14
around the mountain at the Foothills  and we're traversing up and down and up   and down and moving our way around and up the mountain and we see a village across  
43:23
to the side of us and then we carry on  our journey and a little while later we  see the same Village and we think what are  we doing we've passed this Village we are 
43:33
going backwards here we're not  progressing what's going on and   we're not realizing that we're traveling around the mountain we're seeing the  
43:40
village the same Village the same Vista  from different perspectives so that's  the journey that's the essence of the  journey we're traveling up the mountain  
43:48
and we're making upwards progress but it never feels like it or it rarely feels  
43:53
like it occasionally we'll get a glimpse  of a glorious sunset or something that 
43:58
makes us stop in our tracks I get I go  running early in the morning and often   I can't tell you the amount of times but where I've literally stopped and had a  
44:05
tear rolling down my eyes at the sky  Sky it just makes me realize you know 
44:12
how lucky I am to be studying this this  place and witnessing this beauty that's 
44:17
unfolding in front of me occasionally  we get moments like that but for the   most part we're going well I've been here before this I'm going backwards I'm going  
44:25
down the mountain here why aren't  why why aren't I at the top you know 
44:32
um but if we if we view it as that  that continuous traversing around   and around the mountain and we see the same things 
44:38
from different elevations that for me is  a real a real nice way to be acceptant 
44:45
of what we're seeing and what we're  experiencing In This Moment sometimes we   have to go down to go up and that's okay that's okay it's okay yeah it's all  
44:56
part of it it's all part of you know sometimes those   the ways that we go down deep in us you know and they expand our ability to be  
45:07
with our own emotional experience our own flawed humanity and therefore to   serve others and connect with others and  so those wounds that we carry the wound 
45:17
is where the light comes in right it  would be too easy just to push be too 
45:22
easy to push them away wouldn't it and  push them down push them away lean away   from them and ignore them but when you do that when you're brave enough and  
45:30
you're courageous enough to do that that  hard thing what a great blessing that is  because that's like you say that's when  that's when those things peel away and  
45:40
the essence the Brilliance behind it is allowed to shine through that's what   they mean when they say the obstacle is  the way those things those resistances 
45:48
those things that you're feeling they  are the pathway whether we choose to 
45:54
lean in because it's uncomfortable or not  that's that's the journey isn't it that's   the journey we're all on look at the difference you just mentioned  
46:02
there about having done that work on that  healing that internal work how different 
46:07
the conversations are how different the physical  world is for you as a result of doing the work 
46:13
that's all there is to it for any one  of us and you know what makes it so 
46:19
special for every single soul that you  meet are those wounds those scars those 
46:27
things that make you you because  they're not bad things that we   need to get rid of that's who you are you are that person that has had that  
46:36
experience that no other Soul on the planet in the whole 13.8 billion  
46:41
years or whatever that we've the planets  existed and all of the years ahead of us  that the planet will exist no other  soul that has ever had the experiences  
46:50
that you've had nor ever will in exactly the same mix in exactly the same moment at exactly the  
46:57
same time wow what a gift that is for you you know to to love and embrace who you are what's and all  
47:04
right I say to my clients our goal is to become the   truest expression of self not to be their  expression his expression her expression 
47:13
our own truest expression of self  unashamedly unapologetically and that 
47:20
really is the journey that we're on isn't  it it's just that striving to be me hmm 
47:27
it's really about recovering or  coming back into contact with our own 
47:32
preciousness our own childlike Wonder  our own play you know our own kind of 
47:38
unfettered um you know expression there's and that's you know that is really deep though  
47:47
I mean it's really profound I I love spending time with my niece   because I feel like I have permission and  it's not a conscious permission it's like 
47:56
this unconscious permission to be silly  to be dumb to play to you know move in 
48:02
in crazy ways to make weird noises to to  imagine you know to to not be so logical 
48:09
to not be so curated um to not  have to be so perfect it's so   relieving and I recognize that you know that um sense that I don't have permission  
48:21
normally is self-imposed it's not real I'm I'm bringing it into things I'm  
48:28
I've I've internalized it and now I'm projecting it um and when I spend time with her  
48:33
it invites me into this childlike play that I think is really  
48:41
um it's so precious it's so life-filling and I think that that really as we deepen  
48:48
spiritually that's where we find ourselves is in more and more play  
48:54
definitely definitely playful curiosity that childlike curiosity for life  
49:02
it's Wonder that's awe that's the place that's the energy where imagination   lives that's where creativity lives  that's where the connectedness to All 
49:12
Things exists and so the more that  you're able to lean into that man that 
49:18
really is the key who says the dog can't  bark while you're recording a podcast who   says like life has to unfold the way that it does life unfolds in the most  
49:28
beautiful way that it ever could do and it felt unfolds exactly as it should   and so allowing that unfolding and  then playing within that whoa with 
49:39
curiousness with like wow you know with  gay abandon and there's there's no this 
49:46
is the the the whole thing of of our  growth through childhood into maturity 
49:51
as an adult is that we lose the  connectedness to that a lot don't   we we become we put layers on we put masks on when I'm in church I must sit like this and  
50:02
behave like that and when I'm sat in  a courtroom I'm going to do this you  know and we have all of these learned  behaviors and ways of being and uh  
50:10
social norms and all of these different programmings that form the Paradigm   of who we are so how wonderful it is to connect why music's so powerful and stories are  
50:22
so powerful because we're able just to let go for a Time  
50:28
when we let go it's we just we we're there we're there instantly we're in  
50:33
that place that we all go through our  lives just finding glimpses of in a  sunset in a moment in a shared moment you know  glimpses we're seeing glimpses Paul said we see 
50:45
um we see just Reflections me elements  through a mirrored glass almost of of of 
50:51
what it means and what what actually  is really there and so you know that's   that's just part of the process when you can feel that playfulness ah there's nothing  
51:02
like it when you're just laughing  so hard and you're dancing with 
51:07
your niece man what a great feeling what  a great feeling that's what it means to 
51:12
be alive and that's part of that's  part of our challenge is to is to 
51:18
spend time in those moments but to  strive to be that who we who we truly 
51:25
are you know and we're not we're not  these stuffy very righteous you know 
51:30
people who are go through life doing all  of these things in the way that we're   supposed to do them you know it's like you you've got to be you and playfulness  
51:40
wow what a powerful way to tap into that Imagining the dance you know we've been using  
51:45
the metaphor of the dance dancing with life and I walk my dog every morning and  
51:52
um there are people who are part of a  program called Chrysalis which is kind  of a homeless rehabilitation program and they  pick up trash and they wear these orange you know 
52:01
um vests and there's this morning that  this guy was picking up trash he had his 
52:06
his cart you know with a wheeled trash  can and like a trash picker up or 
52:12
whatever those are called and he was  literally dancing he was literally dancing  
52:17
as he picked up trash and I wow that for me is like if  
52:23
you can if you can dance while you pick up trash you've got something   figured out I almost wanted to stop him  I hope I see him again I really did I'd 
52:33
like to to stop him and maybe interview him  maybe maybe learn a little bit more about   his Secrets yeah what's your secret what's your secret but  
52:42
you're right look I was in the gym the  other day and there was this lady in  the gym she had these big headphones  on like I'm wearing now and she was  
52:49
um doing these things with the weights and she put the weights down and I couldn't help   but I was running on the treadmill I  couldn't help but like be caught by 
52:56
her because she was just she was must  have been I don't know what she was she   was in she was in in the moment and she was just dancing away from the weights  
53:04
over to this place where they do the the  yoga and the cool downs and she was just  like she was just lost in that moment  in that moment just like the guy that  
53:13
you're talking about there she was like nodding her head and shaking and and it   was it was beautiful to see because  there was Zero inhibition it was just 
53:21
pure joy of life and wow wow I  wish I could be that free Brook 
53:27
right it's it's so interesting how we  put these self-imposed limitations even 
53:32
though on ourselves even though when we see  others it just wakes us up it brings us to   life it brings us joy and yet we go oh no I can't I can't do that  
53:41
I you know I can't be so free I can't  express in that way I need permission 
53:46
um you know and it's just such an  invitation though of wait a second who 
53:53
who are you performing for and who are  you hiding from like you know like that's   all just made up that's all just an idea you have in your head like  
54:01
nobody cares and even if they do who  cares you know like even if someone is 
54:06
judging you that's more about them than  it is about you absolutely and so it's 
54:12
that's the that's the journey that we're  all on isn't it that's the journey that we   continue to be on I'm dancing man I mean I I've consider myself quite  
54:21
a creative expressive guy but dancing  that's like I would be like some robotic 
54:26
guy I'm not a dancer I've I've got  zero Rhythm you know I'm like Dreadful 
54:32
but just the the ability to  let go of inhibitions and 
54:37
express and explore in whatever creative  creative mode works for you wow there's 
54:44
such power in that such power well  I'm noticing that we're coming to   the end of our time here I'm so grateful that we were able to connect today it's  
54:54
wonderful to see you and thank you so  much for joining me absolute pleasure  Brooke absolute pleasure love love the  conversation that's one of the most 
55:04
interesting and expressive things that  we can do is to share the experience   that we're having because in in that your your making an impression you're  
55:14
making an impact you're putting energy  out into the world that can change  people's lives through the change that you  see in yourself what a gift I don't want the 
55:25
conversation to end it's like that this is  why we're here this is exactly why we're here 
55:31
yeah it's that emergent magic that  happens that that neither of us can 
55:37
fully source as individuals separately but  this thing happens in conversation in the  
55:42
dance in that co-creation that is larger than the sum of its parts   and that's a really beautiful place  to end and I hope we can do it again 
55:51
thank you so much [Music]



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