65: From Illiterate to Illuminated: The Transformational Path of John R. Spender

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Cherie Lindberg

Hi, I'm Cherie Lindberg, and welcome to Elevated Life Academy, where we share real stories of healing, hope, and transformation. Tune in to hear how everyday people are rising above and lighting the way for others. Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of Elevated Life Academy. Stories of Hope and healing. And I am your host, Cherie Lindberg, and we have a guest tonight named John Spender,

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Cherie Lindberg

And he is going to introduce himself. And we are going to start talking about his journey to living an elevated life and everything that he's learned about that. So welcome, John. Thank you so much for for being here.

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John Spender

No. It's great. Yeah. Thank you for having me. And, yeah, I'm excited to chat with you. Your evening. My morning.

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Cherie Lindberg

That's right. Yeah. John is in Thailand and I'm here in Wisconsin. So temperatures are different. And so our, our our daytime hours. Please introduce yourself, John, and share a little bit about your story and what you've learned.

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John Spender

Sure. Well I mean yeah. Where to start. Maybe just to give you a little bit of an insight. I actually was illiterate till I was nine, ten growing up in Sydney, Australia. My parents went through a nasty divorce, and I kind of fell through the cracks a little bit at least academically. I was reasonably good at sports, and my second grade teacher discovered that I had the issue because I was just a master class clown.

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John Spender

I'll just drop the class and get kicked out. Any time was my turn to rate and yeah, she basically I worked. I wrote a story called Sausage Man from Outer Space when I was in the third grade, and not to here's my second grade teacher to go back to her, and she I left her classroom with a scratch and sniff sticker and the proviso that it should speak to my mom about my writing potential.

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John Spender

years, so that in: 2010

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John Spender

hing practice online. This is: 2013

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John Spender

Why don't you have a book as part of it? And then the clients can share their stories. And that's how Journey of Riches has started. So I wish more than 450 authors in this series were published, 42 books today, the 43rd book is being released. This coming Wednesday, and I've also a documentaries coming out of it featuring people like Jack Canfield, Doctor John DeMartini, Marco Bernard Beckwith, and it's won bunch of different international awards around the globe while amazing.

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Cherie Lindberg

So what a journey from landscaper to to coach, you know. So so tell me more about the stories and how that turned into healing for for you, it sounds like and for people that you are engaged with.

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John Spender

c Games contracts with Sydney: 2000

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John Spender

So that was around 98, 99. And the pressure of it was just it was too much for me to handle it. It brought up a lot of things that I was suppressing from my childhood emotional, physical and sexual abuse. And I didn't even know these things were part of my makeup was until, like, I would be these pressure situations and I would get angry or frustrated or upset and I just didn't know where it was coming from.

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John Spender

So everything that I, I got support, which was just what I'd need it, but it got me so far. So at first I had a counselor, then I worked with a life coach, was indigenous theology, past life regression, healing, and that really helped you get to a certain level. And I went into like a different seminar trainings. And so I was with Insight Seminars, Landmark Forum, all these gave an organization to have like or his suite of programs.

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John Spender

Tony Robbins, Chris Hallett and I would just dive into personal development just to explore more about who I am, why do I do what I do, and and just exploring the various different I mean, because so much was it was so pushed down, I guess automatically. I mean, it still is to this day. I suppress emotions and feelings.

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John Spender

I guess we all do a different level and yeah, just a matter of being aware of that. So embracing is a lifelong journey. Whereas, you know, in the very beginning I used to think I'm healed now like I, I this have this amazing healing session and, and I work with some amazing shamans and all the rest of that are Native American Indians in the hills of the San Diego Cherokee Medicine Wheel, vision quest.

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John Spender

So I've done all these different things and yeah, just gets it just and I would me to expand and grow. I get to another level. But then it's just more layers and layers and layers and I used to think that that was a curse. Now I see it as a blessing.

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Cherie Lindberg

So how did this idea about about the stories and the, the riches come to be.

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John Spender

y a term. It was back in like: 2013

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John Spender

So then I reached apps and then gain them watching a new program. But now it's kind of have a book as part of it. That's how Journey of Riches started. So it was initially through a typing program, and after the first book I was like, I know I love the stories of reading them, and I brought so much positive feedback and healing and points of reflection.

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John Spender

But it was I found it so difficult to publish. I self-published it and I just thought I would, you know, I thought a one said, that's enough. Then people kept asking me, and it just is kind of like an idea that wouldn't go away. And so the power of story, I mean, it's just so healing by the authors, you know, writing, sharing your story, looking back, connecting the dots.

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John Spender

a full time around the end of: 2016

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Cherie Lindberg

So it's been doing coaching and.

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John Spender

doing a lot of work. Even in: 2018

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John Spender

He's really struggling with vertigo, and he's had it since he was seven, and I spent six hours with him, and he hasn't had it since. We went right at the top of, I think, one of the tallest buildings in downtown Los Angeles, and he was small and he could never do that before. And look down. He couldn't go up escalators.

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John Spender

And so, yeah, I was doing a lot of profound work through NLP aid and still like people just have hadn't heard of me previously or word of mouth. So still doing a little bit, but I haven't done it for a while now. Not under that banner as a writing coach and still using those tools, but it's just in a different way.

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Cherie Lindberg

Wow. What? What a journey. Who would have thought? I mean, I'm I'm listening to where you were in school and now where you're at. I mean, that's a pretty amazing story, John, that you're sharing.

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John Spender

Yeah. Thank you Cherie appreciate that. And I use the coaching skills when I was on set and interviewing people, bringing out their story. Right. You know, it's so different bringing up all the lights set up. And you know, you're facing a camera and you've got all these different people around the asking, you just look in the camera lens and share your story.

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John Spender

That can be quite challenging as well. And, and as well. And it brings up a lot of stuff, a lot of emotion and, and triggers some, you know, past things that now maybe we haven't resolved within ourselves. And I feel it's so advantageous to do a lot of that, at least for me. It has been in a child work and and I still do.

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John Spender

I used to go to Raw or just bring up a whole lot of stuff that I didn't know existed around, am I not? Am I worthy, you know, who's going to listen to me and all that sort of thing? And I'm, you know, it came back from my in in child and and I'm not feeling is love. I feel it's never too late to wrap around ourselves.

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Cherie Lindberg

Right. Well, you and I are on the, on the same track here. I mean, it's one of the reasons why we created this podcast is to seek out folks like yourself because we we really want people to know that there's a lot that you can do so that you can live your best life, you know, to live in an elevated life.

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Cherie Lindberg

And I really like hearing how you just kept going after your own personal growth. You just kept trying new things out. And it I also hear from your story that you didn't pigeonhole yourself, that you allowed yourself to learn and evolve and try out different things and shift the way that you needed to as your story started to shift and take, different shapes and sizes, it sounds.

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John Spender

Like, yeah, I think it's important to let your heart lead, and that can be very scary. And just trust the trusting that. And I'll find the yeah, that can be very, very difficult to to trust yourself and but trust that because it means change. Right. I guess where you know why. You know to fear the unknown. And I guess it's just it feels safer just to accept, you know, the ordinary and, you know, because it's predictable and, and things.

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John Spender

But there's just so much more out there and it's in the unknown. It is a little scary at first, but it's never been easier with the amount of support available, you know, online, in person. And yeah, that's that's pretty cool because I mean, I remember like back in the, I mean, in my, in my parents days, I'm sure was this was the same for you two areas that it was a real negative stigma to say, you know, I'm getting counseling or seeing a psychologist or I've got a life coach and people would be like, what?

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John Spender

Like, what's wrong with you? You're crazy cuckoo. Or, you know, and now it's like, well, why haven't you say so? I know it's a real paradigm shift. And so, yeah, I feel it's, on many levels. It's exciting time to be alive.

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Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Can you share a little bit more about, you know, your journey in terms of maybe you were you came across a challenge and how you overcame that, that challenge?

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John Spender

Sure. Well, making the documentary, I'd never had any experience. I was living in. I when I lived in Bali for eight years and now living in Thailand. And an idea came to me about a film, you know, we published the first book. It was a success, and this idea came to me the should make a film out of that.

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John Spender

And then I was like, well, and all these different people came to me, that would be great to have in the film Hong Kong. Like what happens in In The Secret if you saw that film? And so I thought, well, how am I going to organize the I mean, how am I going to reach these people to film them?

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John Spender

And so I had to do a lot of research. And then I was reading Thinking Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I need to think that it took 25 years of research behind to write that book, interviewed countless thought leaders, and he had this section at the back of the book about creating your imaginary accounts or different people that you looked up to that inspired you.

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John Spender

And so I created my own imaginary castle as a vision board with all the different people. I thought would be great to have in the film. And so, yeah, Jack Canfield, Wayne Dyer, I had Doc John DeMartini all these different people, Rhonda Byrne and yeah, Marco Bernard Beckwith, they're all these different people. And I had this imaginary council.

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John Spender

And so as guided by Napoleon Hill's description in the book, he's saying, you just bring everyone in and then it feels a little weird at first, but then it it takes on a life of its own. And lo and behold, like I used to had like these imaginary conversations. Then they started to become kind of like real, almost like telepathic communication.

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John Spender

And I remember one particular afternoon Michael came in and I imagine him coming in, and then we'll talking about the vision for the film. And he said, what? I think it's amazing. Let's just make it happen. And I was like, like hell. And he's it felt very real. I felt like he said to me, we'll just come to a gap.

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John Spender

I will make it happen. You will see. And I was like, wow, okay. And so I, I'd been working with the DP on other smaller project and I didn't tell him about the imaginary conversation, but I said, we're going to Los Angeles and let's, we're going to film this. Michael Beckwith I told a friend of mine who lives in LA, I, he's from United States, and we'd met in some trainings and things that I'd done in the US.

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John Spender

And I told him, like the full story, all I'm sharing with you now. And he said, yeah, just go there with the intention that you're going to film Nim. And and then he said, well, you got to take my ex-girlfriend. She's in film and she'd love to be involved. And we walk through the car park and the DP is taking a set of still shots.

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John Spender

th on a Sunday: 2016

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John Spender

And he made this delayed August all the photos. And then he turned to me. And what on earth are you doing here? I see you've got film equipment, but you don't have. Maybe it passes. And I said, well, as you explain the idea and vision for the film, with this a gift in reverse, there have been challenging. Lost good things can come out of negative experiences.

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John Spender

And he looked at these like, wow, that's interesting. Well, let me introduce you to Jacqueline Brown. And then we spoke to Jackson Browne and she uses the Lydia Brown mix. Then we got VIP passes right at the front. And we're sitting there and we got stood. We stood up. And what I'd not least is being there for the first on and was an extraordinary experience.

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John Spender

And and a week later we're filming Mark Cuban on that wave. And then I had a similar experience with name that's nanny Jack and build and yeah. Wow. The rest is history.

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Cherie Lindberg

Well, that that is really, really interesting. I really love the idea of and I've talked about this actually, in my experience, having that inner counsel that you're talking about, which is, you know, your own inner wisdom. And so listening to you do that like a vision board inside and actively having those conversations, that is really, really neat. I just really get excited hearing about that.

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Cherie Lindberg

So the people that you interviewed through these stories, do they do you primarily seek them out or do they reach out to you for publishing in the book?

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John Spender

Both. I, like everyone that's been in in the series, is either being a referral or invited by May, supposedly, yeah, reach out on Facebook or LinkedIn or wherever, like the through personal development events. I mean, initially everyone that appeared in the series was clients or formal clients because that's kind of have a theory, start a vibe. We're in the coaching program.

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John Spender

And so that's how I first got started. And then it was like their brands or would be friends that I've met through the personal development training. So I did so much in that a personal development trainings and things. And there's always, you know, so many different people a lot of times in the rooms and you do build connections.

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John Spender

And I think when they're like, oh, say that you're doing the Vaughn and I asked about it or since oh, wow. I mean, like, congratulations on this book. I never like I didn't know you were doing that or, you know, congratulations. You know, I know you do. You struggle with it or, you know, whatever the narrative was their perspective.

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John Spender

And so that's how I kind of got started. And then yeah, it's just sort of progressed from there. But just developing that ask not afraid to ask you because you see, I think it's just seeing qualities in people and then communicating those qualities back to them and then them saying, wow, okay, you really feel like people would resonate with my story.

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John Spender

It's like, yeah, like that's and most of the time I when I hear that, I know they've got they're sitting on a really inspiring story. And so it's just a matter of just helping them and, and explore that. A bunch of processes that we do that's I guess, are one of the gifts that I've acquired from, you know, struggling early on with literacy and the basics of the English language.

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John Spender

Is it actually been a simplify the writing process and so can make it a whole lot easier for first time writers? Yeah, that's pretty neat.

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Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Well, nuts. That is a wonderful gift. And I'm just listening again to your story and how through all of those what seemingly were obstacles that turned into actual stepping stones, the persistence like, you know, most people would have been like, okay, well, how do we self-publish? I don't know, and too much and, you know, give up on it.

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Cherie Lindberg

But you're like, all right, we'll figure it out. Right? So then you did that and then, well, let's do a documentary. Well, how do we do that? Well, I don't know. It's research. We'll figure it out. We will. You know, we'll get we'll get it done. So it's a very inspiring story, John. And it's good to for the audience to hear how much everyone is capable.

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Cherie Lindberg

Right. And I'm hearing you also say how you pull all that self-knowledge out of your authors, helped them see what they are capable of. They might not even realize it. But you you hear something when you listen to.

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John Spender

Them, and once you get the positive triggers and you just get a little momentum and the the belief just expands. Does this being reflected back, back to you and. Yeah. And one word at a time, one sentence at a time, paragraph page and or you know, if I could place a chapter and, and then a lot of the authors go on, you know, come back a second, third, fourth and fifth time that I would actually repurpose the chapters into other forms of content.

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John Spender

Weekend workshop retreats, free half day or all day events that there's a coaching program, a keynote presentation, Ted talks. And so it's been amazing. It's said expand on from there. It's just that ripple effect. We I always get that when we do. It's just so fulfilling and inspiring. And I guess the reason why we do this work.

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Cherie Lindberg

So what brought you to to Thailand?

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John Spender

I was for post-production for the documentary. The studio was in an island down south from where I'm based now in Copan Yang. And so I was living down there and yeah, we're we catch up.

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Cherie Lindberg

Every.

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John Spender

Every month or every second month, every other month. And. Yeah. And just it was it took a lot. It took a lot of post-production is probably the biggest component you have where I think we had like over five, 30 hours of footage to go through and put it into frames. And yeah, with a lot of just rewatching the same footage over and over again.

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John Spender

And yeah, so it's like just remembering, almost remembering parts of the film verbatim. That was pretty special, was so challenging because long hours.

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Cherie Lindberg

So then you liked it so much. You're you're hanging out there more.

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John Spender

Oh yeah. So because it took so long, I took it actually because I was living around carp on a nearby island, Koi or Tao, or just go across the Seine like I had 40 minute ferry ride and then I. Yeah, with accommodation there that had a bit of a shortage when I was there. And yeah, that's a whole other story.

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John Spender

st finished the film December: 2024

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John Spender

Yeah, in the US trailer and around Europe, Asia commentary farm.

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Cherie Lindberg

Is there anything that I haven't asked you that would be good for the audience to hear from you? Is there any anything else around your story? Or. I hear determination, I hear persistence, I also hear joy, passion and aliveness. When you when you talk about your journey, is there anything I haven't asked you about that would be good for you to share?

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John Spender

Well, just thing I'd be afraid to ask for help. Put it out there. That can come in many different forms. I remember one particular instance in the early days of the idea, the exhibition period with the film. We filmed a bunch of the guests. Then I was like, well, what am I meant to do next? And I just felt so overwhelmed.

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John Spender

I was just like this strange of thoughts and doubts, and it was too much for me to handle. And I was just like, almost like I was speaking to God. Spirit source, whatever you want to label on call. I was like, this is too much for me. I can't handle that. It was a Sunday morning and I was like, If I'm meant to do this, show me a sign, bring me some support.

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John Spender

And as I got to that, because I was like, it was almost like I was banking and just releasing overwhelm the the static around my mind and just with these thoughts and that and I just forgot about it. And I was playing indoor cricket that day. It was I was in Bali and I went there and were playing cricket, and it's kind of like baseball in it's indoors and one of the guys in my team, he brought his neighbor, who was dog.

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John Spender

Sydney used to be obsessed as he was from the US. And so I met him and we just had a bit of a chat and it's all he's like, I just wanted to see what cricket was about. And I heard it and and he just want to come and watch and observe. And I was more focused on the match because, you know, playing and etc. we actually won and that didn't happen very often.

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John Spender

So the guys, when they go and celebrate at the at the bar, at the pub and I don't normally I actually don't drink. And so I would normally go over to this reason and just tell him that I should go. And so I went. And bars are actually really good places in in Bali they cater for people don't drink and so they actually do fresh juices.

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John Spender

Thought of fresh papaya juice. And I noticed that the American guy's name is Adam. He wasn't drinking. He was having a soda. And so I went over and just started chatting with him and asked him what he was doing and things like that, and vice versa. And I told him, we're working on this project. He goes, oh, like I working in film as a producer, I actually produced a number of different mount, and I told him about what I was doing, and he and I came on as a advisor.

00;26;01;21 - 00;26;20;19

John Spender

So I had a couple of sessions with him and just, yeah, just really reconfirmed what I was doing. I was wrong, the right track, and that's just what I needed and said, and don't be afraid to ask for help, even if it's to guard the ether, you know, prayer, you know, whatever it is that's really close to your heart, reach out.

00;26;20;19 - 00;26;48;12

John Spender

Surrender. Now. You'll have to just see in the overwhelm or self-doubt. And is it going to bring up anything that you do new, you know, embrace. And you, you know, when we follow our goals and dreams that it's going to bring up stuff that we need to address. Now, when I was speaking, when I was what was in Jack Canfield, Sean in Santa Barbara, and he was talking like an analogy, and this part did make it to in the film just because the film would be so long otherwise.

00;26;48;12 - 00;27;14;20

John Spender

But he was saying, it's like when you go to a festival or fair and you have the machine where all these different clowns come up in the hall and you've got to pop them down and you get so many, you win a prize. Because that's what it's like when you pursue your dreams, when you pursue your goals, all these different things pop up limiting beliefs, self-doubt, self-sabotaging behaviors, you know, imposter syndrome.

00;27;14;20 - 00;27;34;28

John Spender

And you go to them one by one with that, that behavior, you know, and dump them back down, address them, get to the root cause, you know, and I really like that analogy. And it's the same, you know, when we're getting it into the stepping into the unknown, into that, that field of infinite possibility, it's going to bring up a lot of stuff.

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Cherie Lindberg

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm listening to what you're saying. And, you know, when we grow, you know, it's part of the growth is bopping that stuff down because it it is definitely going to come up. You're absolutely right. So and it sounds like you've had your your own set of we call it like there's little groundhogs that you you hit and bop them back down knockdowns.

00;27;59;29 - 00;28;24;05

Cherie Lindberg

Well you've had those and you've over you've overcome them. And I just I really like what you have said today and the inspiration and the positive. Like, yeah, you're going to have doubts. You're going to have imposter syndrome. You're going to have limited beliefs. But don't let that stop you and don't forget to ask for help. And I loved what you said about surrender.

00;28;24;08 - 00;28;54;03

Cherie Lindberg

So often we don't surrender. We try to control or we try to analyze it and fix it, and and whatever. And so I really it almost to me listening and almost feels like you had a community of support to help you to on this journey. And then you in turn did the same thing. You were support to others so that they could be on their journey.

00;28;54;06 - 00;29;22;16

Cherie Lindberg

And that's really what this is all about. These are the stories that I want to bring on to this podcast, because our world is in trouble. It needs some positivity out there, you know? So, so thank you so much for for sharing your story. And I look forward to watching the documentary and hearing hearing more. I got a feeling, John, that we, you know, we've got some things in common.

00;29;22;16 - 00;29;26;09

Cherie Lindberg

So we'll have to we'll have to chat about that.

00;29;26;12 - 00;29;28;28

John Spender

Yeah. If you write to. Yeah. Collaborate with you. Yeah.

00;29;28;29 - 00;29;32;05

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

00;29;32;12 - 00;29;35;19

John Spender

Thank you for having me. It's yeah, it's been great chatting with you.

00;29;35;21 - 00;29;41;21

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Take care.

00;29;41;23 - 00;30;05;28

Cherie Lindberg

Thank you for joining us today. on Elevated Life Academy stories of hope and healing. As you move back into your world, I invite you to take a breath and hold on to whatever stirred something in you from our podcast today. Healing isn't always loud, but it is always sacred. Whether today's story opened your heart, gave you a new perspective, or just reminded you that you are not alone, it matters.

00;30;05;28 - 00;30;26;00

Cherie Lindberg

And so do you. Keep choosing alignment. Keep trusting your becoming. And remember the elevated life is imperfect. It's present. If this episode resonated. Share it with someone who needs a little more light. And if you're ready to go deeper in your own journey, you know where to find me. And till next time, stay rooted, stay rising and stay you.