Roadmap to Warrior King? Find Out Now!
Jan. 30, 2019

025 Robert Christiansen: How to Increase Self-Worth (And Positively Impact Everyone You Meet)?

025 Robert Christiansen: How to Increase Self-Worth (And Positively Impact Everyone You Meet)?

Robert is a cloud technology leader, motivator, speaker, and innovator. Robert is a contributing writer for CIO magazine, is the Editor in Chief for The Doppler (the leader in cloud thought leadership) and the host of the popular Motive For Life...

Robert is a cloud technology leader, motivator, speaker, and innovator. Robert is a contributing writer for CIO magazine, is the Editor in Chief for The Doppler (the leader in cloud thought leadership) and the host of the popular Motive For Life Podcast.

We talked about:

  • How intermittent diet gave him more energy than ever
  • How he deals with his darker sides (with a daily dose of chocolate)
  • His journey to befriend with his lower self
  • How he overcame his victim mindset and victim status to empowered states
  • How his guys earned the right to enter his inner world
  • The 4,5,7 count breathing technique to calm his fight/flight response
  • The willingness to ask for help is the first step
  • His encounter with amazon’s ‘bar-raisers’
  • How he got an offer with a seasoned entrepreneur with multiple billion dollar exits
  • How he faced his upper limits( and faced with his little self sabotaging behaviors)
  • How self-worth leads to self-confidence (and how to increase self-worthiness)
  • 3 things he found to effectively let things go (including a pound-of-flesh visualization to have forgiveness and peace of mind)
  • The path to enroll others to discuss self-worth in your organzation
  • His 1st Burning Man experience (and the bike miracle he experienced)
  • And many more!

 

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Transcript

CK LIN 0:00
Welcome to noble warrior you hear my friends because you believe that expanding your mindset in service of your highest purpose is what makes life meaningful. Our goal with the show is to introduce you to leaders and entrepreneurs and ideas that will accelerate your self actualization. So if you want to continue this conversation or ask any further questions, go to noblewarrior.com/group. Alright, let's get started. I'm really excited to have Robert Christiansen with us today. Robert is a cloud technology leader, motivator, speaker and an innovator. Robert is a contributing writer for CIO magazine. He's the editor in chief for the Doppler magazine, the leader in cloud thought leadership and a host of the popular motive for Live podcast. He's also a best selling author for the book The bug in our brain. And I'm he's also one of my my guys, you know, someone that I admire someone that I look up to someone that I learned from in my men's group. So, welcome to the show, Robert.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:05
Thank you for having me, CK.

CK LIN 1:06
Yeah, absolutely.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:08
So the practice I've been doing for almost 14 months now ever since I listened to Terry Crews on Tim Ferriss podcast he was talking about Terry was talking about how he adopted intermittent fasting. Right. And Tim was talking to him about how amazing he looked for his age. Right now you know, Terry's all it right. He's, he does not let food control his life. He is a understands the nature of having his body as the anchor to all things. Being good in his life. As he eats, he feels good. As he goes through life, knowing that his body is healthy. He's out of anchor. It's his anchor position. Right? And I love that. And so I've always struggled with food ever since I was a kid. Sugar has always been my first addiction. Right? Since day one. I would steal money from my parents run down to the store get a candy bar. Wow, that's what I would do. So as I got older, I found that sugar was my always my go to diversion. Right wherever I wanted to turn off my head. I eat a candy bar. I'd eat some sort of sugar or something that was sweet that distracted me and I would get that that high that comes with sugar. Right? You know, insulin would kick in. And you know you're feeling good. You little jolt energies, like people smoking cigarettes. Yeah, nicotine and that kind of stuff. So for me, I had to understand that that reaction to food was one of my key indicators that something was upsetting me inside that I was not okay inside, right. And so listen to the Terry talk about intermittent fasting, I started studying and looking into it. And I decided to commit to it, right to commit to doing intermittent fasting. And so the first week was difficult getting out of the routine of getting up and making breakfast and going getting something and stopping at the store or going someplace. So I just disconnected from any kind of eating in the morning at all of any type. Right? So now it's coffee, right? I have a coffee take me up to about noon or one. And then I'll break my fast with typically some sort of protein typically eggs hard boiled eggs consume a bunch of hard boiled eggs.

How many?

Yesterday was four and had a lot of greens yesterday. What else did I eat ate some protein, good protein, good meats, right? It could be any proteins doesn't much matter, right. And then I have to consume a large amount of greens of some sort. I love spinach but it doesn't usually agree with my stomach have a bath and close by I know if I eat any large amount of Spanish. But you know I'm mixing them with KL. So a great deals I just got on the Rouse and take one of the things that just cram as much lettuce and various things in there, throw some turkey or chicken on top of that. It's like seven bucks. I eat it here and it takes me 10 or 15 minutes to eat because it's so much right, right and then but you know, fills me up. I feel good carries me into the later time. Then maybe two or three o'clock, I might find myself with some nuts. Or it depends, you know, I give myself a lot of permission to eat what I want to eat during that time. But come seven o'clock 730 I shut down. But I also discovered as a result of intermittent fasting, I allow myself some chocolate. Okay, almost a daily basis as some peace because as I recognize that this is so visceral and so tattooed inside me to fight it would be it just know me. It's It's so buried inside me as a psychological fallback. I give myself something to satisfy that identity inside me that seems to be going not not not. You're not paying attention to me. Right? So I'm making more friends with it. And then slowly rather than fighting it, but yeah, I've come to recognize that this thing inside me that wants attention. And the way it gets my attention is either you either deal with me now, I'll deal with you later. Right, right. I mean, you know, people find themselves doing all sorts of dark things. And they don't know why instead of engaging that darker side and just saying and recognizing that darker side is there and will always be there. It's the nature of humans, right that we have a we have a darker side. And I let that darker side vent out, like it's a steam, right and then vent out and I give it something to keep it okay. Hmm. Right. And I've given myself permission, that's what I learned through this intermittent fasting or is that I can be okay with myself. being okay with a darker side. And that's, that's, that's a different place to be. It's like a self love of all of me of who I am what I am, it doesn't make me wrong. But somewhere along the line, I got this thing inside me that says that shouldn't exist, right. And I need to squash it. Right? to suppress it to suppress it. And that is not from it for me. I've learned it is not a healthy process because it's going to come up right. And it's going to vent and it's kind of like a volcano. Right? The volcano is going to steam out right,

CK LIN 6:39
like a dead volcano versus live volcano.

Unknown Speaker 6:41
Where the live volcanoes everybody is okay, with live well can because we can see what it's doing. It's venting, right, it's steam off. All right. But you know, I don't want to be Mount St. Helens, right? I don't want to have this cap, this Caldera on top of that thing that finally destroys everything in a 30 mile radius,

CK LIN 6:58
right. And then when it comes up, it's even when I speak for myself was was surprised me? It does. And then I surprised everyone else. And it just said, most of power just comes up. And then I learned over the years to really let that go in a healthy way.

Unknown Speaker 7:14
That's exactly right, Vice gotta come out, right. It's got to come out, especially for I think for men is that we, we are so hard on ourselves to be a certain way that if I have that dark side and it comes out, I must be wrong. And that voice of I must be wrong, is what I beat myself up with. Right. And it's this high speed hamster wheel that's in my head that I'm doing something wrong, and I gotta fix myself.

CK LIN 7:46
Right.

Unknown Speaker 7:48
That's the part that I was tired of being on.

CK LIN 7:53
Yeah. And in in our time today, there's a lot of this this phrase going around like toxic masculinity and then really turns me off. I think I can be okay with healthy, unhealthy, right? Well, now well like you to describe my internal state, I can deal with that. But when you use the word toxic right now, this judgment behind that way of being? Who are you to tell me whether or not I'm toxic, or not only I know what's healthy or unhealthy for me, right? So when when that word has been thrown around, when guys started using that word, to describe themselves or describe other men, or society in general, that's, to me is a externally imposed judgment. And to me, that's a really turn off.

Unknown Speaker 8:40
It's a it's a strong word, it's a very, very toxic masculinity is very strong term to describe, excuse me to describe uncontrolled masculinity is what i would i would think of is and, and, you know, I'm married for 28 years to a very strong woman, okay, who's very tuned into today's society, right. And she understands from her perspective, what toxic masculinity is, and there is no room for that in my house, right? She and my daughter are actively involved with what's going on in today's world, right. And I listened to what it is that they're saying and what they don't like and what they're seeing. Right. And from their perspective, those are the words that they would use to describe what they're seeing and other men. And in the, in the vacuum of not understanding the from a male perspective, that's the words that they are able to articulate how they feel, I see. Okay, and and I'm okay with them articulating it that way, I see. Okay. What I have to know is, is that I have come to the position of recognizing that when I serve the feminine in my world, when I go as a a servant, to my wife and daughter and the women in my life that I am there to serve them. Right? All that term, all that thing that comes around that just flies out the window, right? And I find who I am, okay, I find purpose. Right? You know, I throw on the back of my back right of what they need to get done. And I'm serving them to the best of my ability. But I get that, I get that term. I don't like it. Okay, but I get it. Right, I understand we understand where they're coming from and and, you know, having strong love and support for what they need from us, is really what the question is, right? Where's that? What do they need from us?

CK LIN 10:43
So why don't we she's talked a little bit about going back to the theme of, in my mind a mental motos, not so much it's a darker side, the lighter side, the way I look at it, it's, it's, it's our, our lower self versus higher self. It's very similar. Yeah, it's the lowest self is the primal. Right, the sex drive, I think, whether it's some people call it, to kill it, to fuck it, to, to eat it, to, to hack it to, to friend it or follow it, you know, these type of like primal drives, they're all there. Yep. Versus the higher drive a higher self that is to use our cognitive ability to, to be purposeful to be to follow our mission to follow our core values, right, all of that stuff. So So I guess going back to this, how do you? What was your journey? Yeah, in recognize that lower self, and bring more and more awareness that that need to have that finesse? That control? Using your words, right to to, to bring that awareness to come to terms to be friends with it, rather than suppress it? Or, or or I try to make it wrong? That's a great question. Tell us a little bit about your journey, how you had what were the pivotal points, well, and learn all that lesson?

Unknown Speaker 12:11
The pivot for me, happened about 10 years ago, with my wife, and, and financially, I was struggling, I had a business that wasn't doing well, right. Financially, we were having a difficulty, we had to sell a dream house that there's bunch of things that were going on. And my wife said to me, I'm so worried about money, my hair's falling out. Literally, literally, literally, she Her hair was falling out, because she was so concerned. And she she loves me so much and supports me so much, and my desire to achieve and my desire to be what I thought was a man, right? That she would stay with me in that car until the end. And then that's, that's an amazing emotion, but it doesn't make me feel like I'm holding up my end of the bargain, right? When I was dragging her through my emotional bullshit. Okay, and that's a big, big problem, right? A lot of guys that I hang out with, are in similar strong relationships. And they resonated deeply with them. They say, I'm not being as the guy that I thought I would write, you know, I there's a, there's a voice inside me that says, This is who I can be. But I'm not getting there. I'm cycling up and down, up and up. And so that was a real wake up call. And I think prior to any shift in your life, you have to have this wake up call, there's got to be this bell that rings inside you. It's such a visceral level that this is no longer acceptable anymore, I have to change. And if you don't recognize that bell, when it goes off, it rolls right past you. You just suffering again, you just keep going back into the suffering cycle again, right over and over. And so the first stage was recognizing that I was not going to go back to that step again, that space again, ever again, ever. And it was unconditional. I'm not doing that ever again, I'm going to do whatever it takes in my life, to change the inner voice inside me that says that space, that emotion is not going to happen again. Alright, so there was a kickoff, right? When that shift happened, suddenly, people started showing up into my life talking to me about changes that they were making in their life. They were I was resonating with the creative force, this life force inside me. And it was bringing to me people that were saying, I felt like you. And I recognize that this is what I did. So I just start trying them. I just start trying their different things, right. Well, I met a group of men. Okay, you and I are part of that group. Right? So we we did that. I went to a men's weekend that helped me considerably to strip out a lot of preconceived notions of what kind of guy I should be, or what guy I shouldn't be. Right. So that helped define it helped laid a bedrock of definition on that. The challenge was, is that I wasn't my relationship wasn't dying in the terms of a relationship. We weren't talking about divorce. We weren't talking about separation, we had kids, you know, the the family entity was pretty strong, right? The quality of our life sucked. Right? Mostly because of money. And a very emotional state that I was in having not see who I was. I found the courage to change the relationships with some other men that I was having in my life from being a victim, to owning the relationship. And And so, when you're being a victim, you're being powerless. That means like, I can't do anything, therefore, I fall into a victim role. Sure. And when you're a victim, you now are perpetrating your victim status of victim emotions on those around you. Okay. And so my wife, family, anybody around me were being victimized by me. She was her hair was falling out. Ok. So my victim status, and when you're in it, you don't know you're in it. That's that's the challenge with being a victim, as you don't know you're in it. Once I found I was transparent, and started telling other men in my life, what was really going on, because I was not telling a whole lot of people. Once I started telling other guys, what was happening, I was becoming more transparent, and I was shifting into an empowered state. Hmm. Okay, so I started telling these guys, I'd say, hey, like, CK, I say, Hey, man, I, I can't seem to get my business out of this wacky state I'm in right now. And a guy came to me and says, Well tell me what's going on. And I said, Well, I own 15% of the business, but I'm the guy who runs the whole damn thing. I'm the guy who's got all the risk on it. I'm a technology guy. I invented this whole platform, I built the whole thing globally, it ran up runs on Amazon's web services platform. And I've got these great customers, but these two guys who control 50% of the business are not doing anything. Okay. And so I played my cards, I was holding four aces in my hand, but playing it like I had some crap hand. This is the shift, right? So I picked up the phone and said, Hey, either you sell me Your, your, your shares of the company, give me a chance to buy out, I'm walking. And I was able to buy their shares out. All right, and I went from 15% ownership to 65% ownership, I did control it. And I just took one step after another, and I end up selling the company, like five or six months later, okay, to my number one customer who really wanted it, right, and I got paid out. And I was able to clear all the debt and get us a little bit of money into another house, right and get things settled down again, right. And it was a huge win. It's huge win. And the thing that happened was me was was that I was not going to stay in that situation anymore. I wasn't going to stay in that one position anymore. I was going to change. Either I was gonna walk away from the business and let them do what they're going to do. Right after prepared for that. Or I was going to convert business salad. Right? With there was no one either way about it. Right. Right. And so this happened five years ago, six years ago. Okay. From there, I was now putting the position of a lot of confidence, man. I mean, guys feel it. This is what Terry Crews was talking. I feel it. Yeah, Terry Crews would say, hey, Robert, if he was sitting right across the table, like you and I are now he say, this is a confidence game. He said that over and over again, on Tim Ferriss podcast, I go, he is right on, he says it's a confidence game. You walk in with confidence. You know, shit happens. Things happen, people start moving forward, things go and people want to fall in behind a confident leader, right? So stuff like that happens when you lack confidence. Fear goes into the rest of the people feel it, they feel it when you walk into a room. So I do public speaking, I speak in front of hundreds or thousands of people on a regular basis, the technology industry. When I walk into a place where I am going to speak, I bring my confidence. And I say internally to me, I say this room is mine. This is my room. Hmm. Okay, so when I stand up on stage, and people are talking and they're all chit chat and stuff like that, I just stand there until they get quiet. And it doesn't take long. Suddenly, when somebody who's displaying confidence is on a stage who's just looking at people, it's an amazing energy transformation. They all just kind of go. Yeah, and they lock in. I know you felt it. I know you've been in places where someone who walks in with confidence. Everybody kind of just kind of shifts. Right. Yes. changes. So that put me into another opportunity with a startup company.

CK LIN 20:49
Before you go there. Yeah. I want to unpack something you said, Okay. Because we went through it very quickly. We did. I'm the kind of guy who like, Hey, wait a minute, there was a moment. Alright. Sounds good. So because what you describe a lot of times, this is a common issue, just being human stress about money, you know, these things? What I heard was a recognition of the external world, hey, we lack money. My wife's hair was falling out. But then you recognize it was the internal game. Yes. As an as a manifested manifestation of what's happening internally. And then you had other men to, to share in a transparent way? What's really going on internally? And then they help you make that internal shift. And have you got that clarity, you got the inner power, then you able to make some power moves? Right with these two other partners accurate? That's exactly what I ok. Cool. So so to follow up with a couple of points. Some people then say, I want to be radically transparent everywhere. So did you just become transparent to every man that you meet? Or a select few? Just let's put some quad life? Okay, so say a little bit more about what some of those men that get to see the inner world of Robert Christiansen?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 22:15
That's a really good question. That thanks for parking on that one. The, I think about the guys that I talked to, there was a, there had to be a solid foundation of confidentiality, right, that I had to be able to talk to them about. This lack of confidence that I had, that I was falling into this failure role. And I felt like I was rolling down a hill uncontrolled. When I that that failure, feeling would come and go, right? It's like, it's like some with a switch. Right?

CK LIN 23:05
It's very, very subtle, subtle, right? So internally is like a couple of degrees difference.

Unknown Speaker 23:10
It's like trying to if you ever done sailing, right, it's like tacking, right? You got to go back and forth. But you're heading to some some compass direction. But the real great sailors are the world's best tacklers, right, they change directions, they come back and forth, back and forth against the wind, right. And they're sailing into the wind, but they're using the power of the wind to move the ship.

CK LIN 23:32
I love that analogy. By the way. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 23:33
it really is, is that I needed daily, or if not every other day check ins with these guys and say, Hey, you know what, I've been able to go a couple two or four days, but I'm right back in that funk again. And I would call him up and I'd say, Hey, I don't understand what happened. I am falling backward again, because of a comment my wife made said, right? She's She's expressing her fear. Because I'm not demonstrate I haven't had enough history to demonstrate that I've to give her enough confidence that she can know that Roberts got this, right, we're not there yet.

CK LIN 24:14
And then plus circumstances don't change that fast. They don't your internal things change a lot correctly. But the circumstances may take, you know, days week wherever to change.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 24:24
But I don't have history with her. Exactly. My history with her was okay. We just went through five or seven years of bullshit, right? And oh, by the way, this is five or six weeks in right now. And you know, you expect me to just accept this doesn't work that way. Right? So my emotions would get tied up with that. And I'd have to be able to talk to another guy who knows where I am. I call him on the phone. I spend five minutes on him just you know, saying, Hey, I don't understand what's wrong here. I keep getting thrown off course. And he would say, Well, what are you doing today? And I would say, Well, I'm doing you know, I was able to start putting a consistent morning routine together. This is good. unpacked, by the way. Going back now. Yeah, please, right now. It's so routine for me today. Right? Yeah. I was not able to consistently meditate prior to that. I'd have fits and starts and I knew meditation was going to be a good thing for me. But in my mid 40s, I was having challenges, right. Every time I close my eyes, my head would just spin off in left field. But something happened there. He would ask me, What have you been able to, you know, least sit quietly for a couple minutes today? And I said no. I said, Well, why don't you just do that right now? start there, start there. Just breathe, go into the car, close the doors, go sit in the parking lot and close your eyes and breathe. Right? So I learned a basic simple technique of letting your air out on the exhale be longer than the air inhale. Right. So prior to this podcast, right now, we did a little breathing, where I do a four count in, I hold for five counts. And then my exhale is going to be seven counts for longer. It's a fundamental calming of my nervous system of the fight or flight instinct. And this is old, old, you know meditative techniques. Right? There's nothing new here. But it worked

CK LIN 26:31
well as a reason why it lasted for Yeah, isn't thousands of years.

Unknown Speaker 26:35
Right? Right. It's good stuff. So I started there. And I had this guy named Neil. He taught me just to all right, just right now man to rubber, rubber, just walk, go outside and get some sunshine, right? Look at the sky, you know, take a walk around the parking lot. So now consistently, sometime around 11 1130. Most days, I'll do a walk around the parking lot two or three times, just to get some sunshine, give my brain a break, get myself a little calmness. And it's such a good grounding. And I feel better, right? I physically feel better. So I started picking up some of these initial techniques from these guys that I was they were next to me. And the reason they were showing up is because I was willing to take it in, right? If you're not willing, you're not gonna hear it. So that was one thing.

CK LIN 27:24
And you also were willing to execute

Unknown Speaker 27:27
more, I think is you'd want to mark more than willing, I was willing to call. Therein lies the trick right there. If I'm not willing to pick up the phone or text somebody that says I'm in trouble, and to recognize my emotional state as being that negative falling back state, I will never get better. I have to have somebody around me that I can connect with that's going to suggest take this action or do this thing, right. That's why I think coaching and having people around you who are your trusted partners in life is so critical. A man on his own is a hard, hard road. Right? You know, I think any human on our own. It's a hard road when we're social creatures. But a man who has another man or a group of men around them that are walking with Him in this and helping him get better. It's an unbelievable emotional guidance system. Really, it's like this thing that pushes me down this path, right?

CK LIN 28:46
Thank you for sharing that. That's a beautiful journey. Over the weekend, I went to a meditation retreat, and a realization that very similar to this conversation, I have thousands and thousands of people acquaintances over decades of my life, have hundreds of friends. But a handful of brothers. Yeah. To me. And what makes someone a brother is the longevity of the relationship, the depth of the relationship, but also their willingness, usually shiny mirror for me. That level of trust confidentiality really showing each other's you know, what's really, the internal grappling that we have. As human being

grappling is a great word for that, by the way.

Yeah, it's a couple of degrees of grappling, like, things we wrestle with. Sometimes we don't even have words for those.

Unknown Speaker 29:40
We have to tell stories. Yeah, that's, that's why stories are so powerful for us. They give meaning to the emotions I'm feeling. But I can't put words to

CK LIN 29:54
Yeah. And so so some is weird to me sometime when someone calls me, brother without that relationship. And like my mind thinking, we have that level of relationship.

Unknown Speaker 30:05
Are we there yet? Right? Why call you brother? For sure.

CK LIN 30:08
No, I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah. You and I, we have that kind of relationship. And we can have the privilege to shine mirror for each other. It's an earned position

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 30:16
Right. It is an earned thing. That is so true. It's really interesting that you say that, because it's so easy to break that trust. Right? It is, I find that comes about by a simple act of the somebody follow up with what they said they were going to do. So often, hey, call me. You know, like this podcast. Right? Right. You said, You asked me, hey, wherever I'd like to have in my podcast. And I said, Yeah, that sounds great. And you said, I'll send you something to set a date. I responded. Okay, and now we're here. Right? And we, we were at the place, we said we were going to be at the time that we said we're going to be there. And we're in that process of whatever's next is going to come next right? That simple follow through process is not in a lot of people. And that's that, that's I don't know if that's new. Or if that's a long time, human thing. I don't have the context around it. But what I know is that the guys that earn a space with me as a brother, do that they're there when they say they're going to be there. And if they're not, they give me enough head time to say, hey, let's figure it out and go find something else to go do.

CK LIN 31:41
Yeah, for sure. In my minds, think of it as a like a bank account as an analogy. And that promises and requests fulfilled your deposit into that bank account. That's it, you know, that deepens the relationship? Further, versus if you don't make that deposit with the promises and request fulfilled, then it's like, Can I really count on this person? Because he or she said, it's going to be here in this particular time that their excuses or whatever, not fulfilled? By the time it's going to say it's going to fulfill, I'm going to subconsciously, or unconsciously, I'm going to question, can I really count on this person when it counts?

Unknown Speaker 32:25
That's a really, really good point. You know, the earning of trust is like in a bank and account of requests and fulfillment. That's that's like a promise. Would you say? promises and requests, promises and requests? There's a good takeaway from today.

CK LIN 32:38
Yeah. Thank you.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 32:40
Use that one of my own little repertoire? Yeah, please. I guess a CK gave me this until two more times, then it becomes mine.

CK LIN 32:46
Yeah, absolutely. All good. All good. Take it. Take it. So So I interrupted your your your journey. Yeah. You are going to say you now sold your company. So join other startup? Yep. Okay. Continue, please.

Unknown Speaker 33:00
Yeah, so the previous company I sold was company called Cloud nation. And in the cloud computing industry. It was just taken off. So this is 2013, when we sold. And Amazon Web Services was really, you know, breaking glass at that time. And not a whole lot of people were plugged into what they were doing in the industry. But I just the company I just sold was built on top of that platform. Right. And I remember using it. And I was saying this, this is going to change the world. I remember saying to myself, and I go, I want to be involved with the next company who's going to ride this wave. So I, I interviewed two places. This is really crazy. I went to the Amazon show in 2013. And I was walking the halls looking around for opportunities and stuff like that I needed to get a job job, right. I couldn't be an entrepreneur anymore. I needed to get a job job.

CK LIN 33:53
But hold on one thing and what Couldn't you be entrepreneur again?

Unknown Speaker 33:56
That was my thinking at the time. Right. All right. I did want to have the burden of payroll on me. Okay, yeah.

CK LIN 34:06
payroll is one of those things that one could call it burden. one could call it responsibility. But you know, when someone else's livelihood is in your hands, it's it's a heavy responsibility.

Unknown Speaker 34:17
Until you have to write checks for somebody else's livelihood, you have no idea what it's like to run a business. That's, it's like jumping out of an airplane, right? until you actually put something on your back and jump out of an airplane, and trust that the chute is going to open. You have no way of knowing what that's going to be like, and until I don't think someone is a true entrepreneur until that actually happens. That's my definition of an entrepreneur. Sure, sure. Okay. So I went and got the nearest thing to that right and in this industry, and I was walking the halls and this guy named Chris Greendale. He was a he's a long time. successful investor launching companies. He done multiple billion dollar exits, right. He's just a great dude, love him. And he steps into the hallway while I'm walking into this, the show's packed right this this little corner of the Venetian and Las Vegas. And he says to me, he goes, Hey, young man, what do you do? And I looked at him right now, I don't do anything right now. I'm unemployed. I sold my company. I got no place to go. yak yak Laugh, laugh, laugh, and it just struck a chord with him. He goes, takes a card out of his shirt. And he hands it to me says call me. Wow. And I go, that's it. That was that was it? That was it. He just called me. He said, I want to talk to a guy like you. All right, it was all feel it was all vibe. I was super transparent. I had no job. I don't a place to go. I sold my company. But that stitching together that transparency with that guy, right? That moment, stepped in front of me amongst, you know, there must have been 1000 people in that aisle I was packed. And so at the same time, I was interviewing with Amazon, right Amazon Web Services, and they only had maybe 10 or 15 people in their professional services group, which is now thousands. And I had two interviews. That's only two I took I really wanted the job with Amazon. And I thought that that's where I would want to be, and the ones with Chris Greendale and a company called cloud technology partners. And my confidence, though, was Hi. Yeah, you know, games try inner game was strong, because I just pulled off a transaction, right. I sold the company. Yeah. And, you know, it wasn't, you know, knocked down the world money like that. But it was, it was a transition did it? Did it right. Yeah. Nothing and we pulled it off.

CK LIN 36:36
You did a single a double. Yeah, sure. Exactly.

Unknown Speaker 36:38
Right. And so I didn't get the job at Amazon, they turned me down. Okay. Now I pass through all of these things with flying colors, and tough until I got to the last interview with these guys. They call them bar razors into an Amazon world. Bar razors are people who go around, and they'd say, Hey, CK, this is where I think you should be in your career. And why aren't you there? What can we do to get you there? They're constantly raising the bar. That's their job, right? And I knew that I was going to meet him. I'd studied the whole interview process and stuff. And I remember specifically the moment, they said, Well, what questions do you have for us? And I said, Well, what do you guys do? To make sure that the people here are feel like they're on a mission? And they're they're part of something?

CK LIN 37:29
It's good question.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 37:31
They didn't have an answer. And they go, What do you mean? And I went, the green flags, I head up to that point instantly turned yellow. And I went a deep thing inside me goes, That's not a priority. All right. And I so I didn't let up. I said, Well, what I mean by that is, do you guys like come together in some kind of social situation that says, hey, we're supporting each other. And we're on this goal, and we're trying to drive towards purpose, right? What's our purpose is that flew right over him. Like it was a frisbee that they couldn't catch, right? They didn't know what that was talking about. And eventually, they got to finally saying, Yeah, well, we have a pizza party, when we do a release on a product. And I go, and I knew at that moment, the interview was over, and it was done, and I wasn't gonna get the job. I was walking down the street to Seattle down an eight Street, saying to myself, Buck, just like that. I'm just saying to myself, you know, but I still hope it right. So it's painting red flags, green, right, you know, just and RR calm when my guys got any motors. And Otis just listened, right? And then I got the call, but three days later, we're not going to hire you. And I thought to myself, you know, I was pissed, right. But at the same time, Chris Greendale, and the CCP people wanted me, they wanted what I had, right. So I take the job there. And I'm the one guy who understands the whole Amazon world, right. And so we start building the practice, okay, we start building the consulting practice and what our whole job was, was to convince large organizations, big companies, financial companies, the biggest ones, actually, you name it needed a top 10 financial companies in the world, they've worked with us. And all the security systems that are now part of cloud computing today, we established and worked with them to build, right, so just just this ground knowledge stuff, the confidence that I had back then, and my abilities to do business in this world was like an all time high for me personally, because I was falling back on what I know. I know. I know. Right? And these guys, let me run. They just let me run. They would there were the finance guys. They were guiding the ship. All right, the whole deal was to build this thing and sell it. That was the deal. And I knew that and I knew what run that was a mission. That was the mission. And we ran that company for five years. Okay. And we sold it. Hewlett Packard enterprises, huh. Okay. And it was a great exit. It was a great exit, right?

CK LIN 40:06
So for those of you that don't know, Robert, smiling really big right now, yes.

Unknown Speaker 40:12
I wasn't a money guy in but I was like, right on the heels of those folks that were the money guy. So I, I always said to the people who were in that pool with me, I said, these guys know what they're doing. Let's draft on them. Right? We're going to like being behind a, an ocean liner, right? And you're in behind the draft and you're just being pulled along. Okay, let's draft on these guys and learn. So I got a front row seat to what is now easily the biggest, most single tectonic shift in technology ever. To me ever. The consumption of cloud computing, globally, the where it is right it right now. I mean, it's it's stunning. And so, you know, I'm now with Hewlett Packard enterprises, they've been really good to me. They've they listened to what we're talking about and stuff, and we're changing within them. Right. So the next next is what's next, right? But let's just say that. It's given me a space by which I could keep going back to the men in my life to say, Hey, here's where I am. I don't know if I have the confidence to step into that CIO conversation with a fortune 10. Company. All right, think about that. I mean, you're talking to a guy or a gal who runs 30,000 technology people and has a $10 billion budget, and you're going to try to convince them to use the cloud for what they're doing on premise. Right? Right. You better have your shit together. Right? You better be know what you're talking about. Right? And so to have that conversation with my, with the teams that were around me and the just the amazing men and women who we come together with to make all this money happen. It's stunning. And, you know, there it all started with Chris Greendale. Yeah, stepping in and handing me a card because I was transparent and confident.

CK LIN 42:11
Well, actually, let me backtrack for one. So yeah, from my observation you started with you. internally. Right, you, you were in a funk. You found your game. Yeah. With the help you have your men. Yep. And then you may some power moves. Made a single minute double. Yep. met a guy in power. Where you influence? Yep. Chris. follow your intuition. I did that. Right. Right. Instead of falling through, try to like, Oh, my God, I should have gone to Amazon, please take me going back. You follow your intuition. Join Chris's team draft behind financial guys learning from those learning, learning, learning. You know, your craft, of course. And then you step into to that new platform, following the momentum built your team have a big exit. Now you're stepping down to a bigger game. Yes. Right. So Confucius said, self mastery, family, nation world. bigger and bigger platform. Yes. But it's fractal stars always. First, right? first domino, oh, no matter what things don't go well, hence why when I talk to people, I asked them a series of questions, but always kind of get a trying to get an idea what's going on internally? Because that's where the internal competence starts a couple of degrees over, as you said, tacking? It's going to make a huge external shift. It is right. So did I hear your story accurately?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 43:53
You did. But I there's another complete other side of this, please. Let's hear it. While I'm going through this. I would fall back into a couple of series of mental states emotional states that I didn't understand. I mean, I never had it so good. I'm serious, right? So coming out and advancing through with Chris Green Day, another guy, James john john rounds, who was his partner, and a guy named Eric's the best and they were the original founders. They would say things to me, go do it. Just go, we got you. That level of belief in me, or the teams that were working with and the things that we were trying to get done, was was ridiculously empowering. I mean, like, okay, now it's about do I trust myself, I'm okay to do that. And what happened was, I would I would come off the rails for about a week or two right now, I didn't understand what was wrong with me.

CK LIN 44:57
What do you mean coming up emotionally?

Unknown Speaker 44:59
So I would have these free floating anxiety attacks. Okay. Well, I was on an airplane flying someplace. And I didn't know, was it butterflies? And what was wrong with me? You know, I'd have these for lack of better words, they were diversion attacks, I'd eat too much sugar, for example, right? I somehow gained $10,000 in credit card debt, and I wasn't paying attention. I have the cash in the bank I coming I'm not paying the credit card. Right. So there's It was weird behaviors that were showing up in my life. As the more I succeeded, these behaviors became more apparent. Hmm. Okay. And back to that darker side, right. And what I realized was that there was an inner voice to me that said, I didn't deserve the success that I was having. Hmm, that's the short answer, okay, that there was a worthiness issue inside me that was holding me back from becoming that next level. And a book that changed me completely changed me was written by a guy named gay Hendricks called the big leap. Now, the big leap is about people who are going up above their comfort zone, what they call the upper limit. Yeah. And its upper limit of success. Now, it could be in relationships, it could be in health, it could be in career could be in finances could be spiritual, right. But there's, there's like eight areas he talks about. But he is really renowned for working with executives of large companies who are trying to make those big leaps. Hmm, okay, and they don't know what's wrong. And so you see this all the time with lottery winners, right? And sports figures and folks who succeeded a level and then they just burn their winnings down, right? They just do silly things. Right,

CK LIN 46:43
right. irrational,

Unknown Speaker 46:45
irrational behaviors. And you just look at them and go, what are you doing? Right? What, what you cheated on your wife when you're What? Right, right. And the whole thing comes crashing down because they're at a level that they simply do not know how to handle because there's something wrong, there's a big. So this book, I started implementing the there's a bunch of mantras and meditations in the book. And I started doing them every morning. And every time I started feeling awkward, I do this definite settle me down. One of them that I got from another book way back when was from the master key, okay, and it goes like this. I am whole perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy. I'm whole perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy believers and supporters surround me. That is burned into me. So anytime I start feeling wobbly, like a minute upper limit problem, I repeat those, and I get grounded. Believers and supporters surround me. everywhere I go. People want to talk about success, they want to talk about doing something good. They want to do the next thing. I'm whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy. So that book, then push me into what why is there an upper limit? What's going on? What is the reason for the upper limit, and from where I come from an all the studying I've done in all the research, I've done it just endless, endless, you know, get this research paper, go look at this thing, go talk to the spiritual people like that, I've come to a fundamental conclusion that I have a worthiness about that. My worthiness is like clay. And it can either be attitude or pulled away. And it's an identity inside me, that can be dark or can be light. And it's my self worth and self worth would increased naturally lifts confidence. Naturally, when I say I am worthy of a good exit with CTP, I am confidently stepping into the exit with CTP with my company, right? When I feel I'm worthy of selling my company, I step into selling the company, it's kind of like riding a bike. If I'm pedaling, and I pointed towards something that looks really cool, which is my worthiness, imagine the front wheel, your steer, your handlebars are pointing towards that direction, I feel worthy of heading that direction, I naturally start pedaling more towards it, I find the energy to pedal towards whatever that is. And I avoid the things that I don't want. What ends up also happening is is that my perspective widens, so you can't see my hands right now. But I'm I'm as if I've had my hands cupped around my eyes and I widen my view, my perspective views when my worthiness goes up. Now I see more. Now I see more opportunities, I see more doors, and I step into those. So that whole education process got me to write the book, the bug in our brain, and the bug in our brain is worthiness. And so the book is about how do you late raise your worthiness how to identify, you know, poor worthy this language, emotions, images and your life. So that that happened. And it now has become a fundamental teaching thing that I go through with all my clients and all the people I work with anybody I'm around and my job is to elevate and to help you elevate your worthiness.

CK LIN 50:16
Beautiful. I love it. Yeah. So let me unpack that just so you recognize during those times when you're flying, having anxiety attacks and things like that, that internally, and then he jumped into the big leap and in that really opens up new ideas of this idea of worthiness. Totally agree I can empathize for sure hundred percent I know where my internal game isn't strong. When when is strong. Right? Right, that I am worthy versus Am I not enough like then that I try to artificially inflate it with more knowledge. And then so so so here's actually interesting nuance that only, you know, not you, Robert, but you whoever is listening that, you know, if it's artificial, I'm pumping myself up, externally, mantra, whatever, then it will appear as arrogance, versus someone who's truly grounded. I am worthy. Doesn't matter what you think of me like I am I know who I am. Authentic worthiness. Right, right. How do you discern where's the line between the two?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 51:28
It's about being clear. Same Day, it's called dense energy in your heart. Okay, I'm going to shift gears pretty hard. Yeah, that's, that's here, please. So Michael singer, he's an author wrote a great book called The untethered soul, beautiful book, okay, in there, he talks about energy locked in your heart, and how to clear it. Right, he truly believes along with a lot of Eastern philosophy that the, that the heart is at the center of energy, and that that energy gets locked in there. And painful energy, right? Much like, like a Santa singer uses an analogy that it's like a thorn in your skin, right? And just pull it out and deal with the pain of it heal. But we build these fences around the thorns to protect it from getting poked at. But we got to go back to the pain. We got to go into the heart, recognize the injury that I have. And release it. Okay, and that's a clearing. Good, that's a clearing that's a process of clearing and the process of clearing is to know where your injuries are, know where your pains are, what happened as a child as an adult, you know, she left me, right. Somebody if men and women, you know, somebody attacked me, right? There was an accident that happened no fault, but I'm angry. Maybe God abandoned me pick a topic, right? You know, that's going to cause you injury. And what I found to be true in my life is that I had to read visit that event. To clear it. I was not able to clear those that the gold dense energy and your heart. By just wishing it away or talking it away. I had to emotionally go back to that spot in time. Right. So I remember one time I was attacked as a teenager, in a bathroom. Okay, these kids were picking on me, I was a freshman. And they were juniors. And they they attacked me in a bathroom. Right? They made me push a panty around a toilet seat that I was really funny, right? But it was buried in my consciousness. And I every time I thought about it just made me angry. Right? until I was able to go and unwind that story with somebody I trusted. Right? I had to carry that energy in me, it was like that Thorn and I built all these little fences around like Michael singer did, right? He's talking about, and until I was able to go back there and unpack that. And recognize, you know, that they too, are on their path. And that where would they be now? And what would they say to me today? If I was to run into them. And it was really interesting. I remember I remember working through this. And I thought to myself, they were either be very, very sorry for what they had done. Okay. Or they would normally completely and tried to avoid me. And either way I was okay with. So why was I holding on to that story? Why was I holding on to that thing, right, that whole piece and I was able to let it go a bit, you know, and I worked on that over and over. But that was just one of you know, how many? Everybody's got it. Right? Sure. are being human being human. Yeah. But as soon as I was able to start loosening up that energy inside me, I was now able to start recognizing what's my authentic self? Right? How do I come from that confidence spot that you're talking about? In my authentic self? I had to be more clear inside me so I can recognize who I am. Am I injured? Little boy? Okay, or am I, you know, getting clean, getting more clear inside me. So I can be my more authentic self so that when my confidence is there, it's not looking like ego or pride or, you know, I'm driving this really fast car. Look at me, look at me,

CK LIN 55:19
right. Yeah. So let's see, if you don't mind. Let's get tactical, because we can intellectualize anything. Yes. So I've done you know, landmark. And when we talk about things like that, so yes, intellectually, I understand that I'm putting meaning on that. Right. All that stuff. Okay. Totally beautiful model, great framework. But what are some of the tactical things that you've experienced that actually really helped release that this, you know, concrete highs, so you want to go there? Now this letting go Yep. Versus because it's easy to say I'm letting go of things. And then you can talk about it, you can journal it, you can meditate on it, you can talk about with a friend or you can talk to a therapist, you can do psychedelics, you can just and a lot of things that one can do, from your point of view, personal experience of working with clients. What are some the best tactical things that people have taken on? To let things go? concretely?

Unknown Speaker 56:29
Three things I can think of right now. Yes, let's go. Okay. Number one, learn to meditate. Okay? meditation,

CK LIN 56:37
any specific kind of meditation?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 56:39
I find myself doing more TM these days, I'm having a mantra repeating the mantra over and over again. There are those that will teach it and they do charge money for tm, and I think that's appropriate. Yeah. And there are those that will do more. If you're in the Buddhist path, there's a loving kindness methodology, right? You can do that. Well, there's probably 10 different ways to go meditate for me, I tend to go towards the Buddhist practice, initially, that's where I started. But in the last year or so I've been adopting, what would tm be like? Right? I wanted to try it. And I've been finding it very useful for me. So I do that 20 minutes every morning, I'm up at 5am I do my little things. And then I sit for 20 minutes, right? It's it's just part of my day. But starting out, that's what's number one. Number two, the owner on upon upon a prayer. Okay. That was introduced to me to bizarre set of circumstances, right, where I found myself actually practicing the prayer to get over a resentment that I had for somebody. And I love you, please forgive me. Thank you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you, right, just though the whole series of that, but there was an addition to it. That comes from a 3000 year old practice. I can remember I think it's, it's an Indian practice where, while you're doing it, you literally metaphorically, and in your mind's eye, as you're with your eyes closed, you take the the flesh off your body, and you hand it to the person and they eat it. Wow. being shy, because their energy, if they're angry at you, or you're angry at them, is that they want their pound to flesh. And unless they actually get the energy in that process to do it, then they are not satisfied.

CK LIN 58:37
To say, mental image for energy transference.

Unknown Speaker 58:39
Well, exactly. Well, let me just be do the practice. So I close my eyes and I hold the image of the individual who I've done this with, I just did this like three days ago, because there's somebody I was mad at, right? I would, I am so sensitive to that emotion of being angry. Right? I go back, I'm not going to tolerate that, for instance, right? So I'm gonna do whatever I can take. So I don't feel I don't want to go there. So I close my eyes. I hold their image in my mind. Now I see him right now. I'm literally doing it right now. So I see that person now. And they're happy because I've already solved it. Right? Right. done that. But the image back then I did the I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you. Yeah, right. So and then I would take my Pan Am I my thigh here, I grabbed my thigh, pull it up in my hand, in my mind's eye, I've got a piece of my flesh, and I reach out. And that individual takes it out of my hand, and depending on their anger, will show me how they're consuming it. Now it can be easy, but I don't try to change the energy. I don't try to guide it. I just let it happen. In my mind's eye, and this this particular time, this man literally almost tore my hands off while I was while he was eating it. He was so pissed, right? And I had to do it six or eight or 10 times I go from each thigh, I go to my shoulder and I this I reached back out and stuff until he finally slowed down. And then he threw up. He purged a purge, right? He couldn't he couldn't take all of it in that he wanted. He was unable to consume what he thought he needed in his vengeance. And then he collapsed and he started crying. And then the last act is I take my heart, my beating heart, I pull it out of my chest, and I hand it to them. And they never take it ever. I have yet to have somebody take the heart out of my hand because they have they're done. They're done eating me

CK LIN 1:00:39
is in your mind's eye.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:40
Mind's eye, right? And then they sit and then they finally tell me what's wrong. And then I say I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you, and I love you. And that practice is probably saved me more often than anything. That one practice.

CK LIN 1:01:00
So then what happened to your body, and that's all it says back the whole comes back home. Okay, back home,

Unknown Speaker 1:01:05
then my mind's eye and I'm, and I'm settled. And I just let it sit there. I don't try to change it. I let the energy and if it comes back, I do it again. But it's not nearly as intense. Now for some people, I've had long, long standing anger with like those two men in the bathroom, right? I had to do it five or six times. Okay, but it went away. And only reason I bring that story back because it was on a shelf in my mind. I pulled it out. And this is what happened.

CK LIN 1:01:32
Yeah. No longer has any hold on you as a whole. Yes, the second memory is like a story you can tell to illustrate a point,

Unknown Speaker 1:01:39
right? So the energy in my heart has now gone, right? That locked in negative, dense energy around that injury is gone. And I don't let those energy stay with me. And then the third practice, pivot to the last one Sure, is what they call EFT tapping. Right where you you if you don't know that practice, it's a tapping on energy zones, kind of the acupuncture areas on your body, where you use tapping to say a statement around a situation. Although this man used to be really pissed at me today. I know he and I are loving kindness and I'm walking away today. Something like that. Right? You kind of bring together the old and the new and you're tapping on different parts of your body. No, no, you have you have a very specific pattern. Okay, I suggest going online. There's a number of YouTube videos about it. There's a practice there's actually a certification for it. Oh interest, right. It's typically used for PTSD. Yeah, people who are having some severe trauma, emotional traumas.

CK LIN 1:02:43
you found it to be actually effective,

Unknown Speaker 1:02:46
very effective for making Yeah, yeah, it's called EFT, tapping. Those are the three things I use to clear the energy. Now, there has been a few other times where I've been with licensed individuals who have taken me and regressed me back to almost a hypnotic state of that moment. I'm still conscious and stuff but I'm actually acting out the events

CK LIN 1:03:14
in your mind. No, no. verbally or verbally. Yeah. You describe it

Unknown Speaker 1:03:18
as I'm, I'm using the voices of the two people involved. Interesting it out during dry day. You know, it's it's a it's a path that psychologists use and you got to be really careful with it. Find somebody who knows what they're doing. Yeah, right. That will take you through and licensed clinicians will use that as well sometimes Sure. And they use that on me I don't know if that was the one thing or not I don't not quite certain but those three things I can do I can meditate and do the on a porno per and if it's really hard I can do my flesh right and then last one is it's really difficult I can use some EFT tapping but I haven't had to use tapping yours now.

CK LIN 1:04:00
So for you the tapping is the most powerful

Unknown Speaker 1:04:03
it is it is the tapping is so if you don't know you taught you tap the so i'm i'm using my left hand and air and I'm using my right hand my fingers to tap the karate chop part my palm right and the edge of my palm and you'll say something let's say that you're having difficulty with sugar okay I'm so I'm tapping my palm right my palm I say although I used to consume sugar to avoid my emotional state today I know that sugar has no power over me and I eat nothing but healthy and good foods and and there's this rewiring that goes on inside you and then I go to the top of my head and I do the top Mike my very top of my head I do my temples but my eyes below my eyes right above my lips between my nose my lips on my chin my solar plexus here and on my sides interest and that that's taught online swear I learned it

CK LIN 1:04:57
that's beautiful You know when I was younger I met technology guy and super in my head well I don't know the match correct myself I haven't met in the past so pretty my head and these type of things when I first heard it it was even like hypnosis on like super hokey like pretty Whoo Whoo Whoo Whoo out there. I don't believe I did it worked out tie dye while I'm doing it right yeah but but but but as I get older and hopefully a little wiser I realized the integration between the body the mind the heart and spirit Yes, it really is integrated. It I my body is not just carrying my head. it's totally integrated

Unknown Speaker 1:05:34
when I recognize that you and I are actually exchanging energy I mean through whatever ether that's between us right now that you and I are exchanging we're rotating through this energy back and forth to each other when I accepted that that that the physical distance between us is nothing when I accepted that that that I have the ability to exchange energy with you when I focus on that all sorts of doors open for me. So when I speak in public, I am mindfully exchanging energy with the audience as a focal point

CK LIN 1:06:16
to your mind we use your words are lending to then the energy coming back to you

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:06:20
more than that it's my physical presence is my body language is how I'm walking it's how I present myself I am a prism by which energy is traveling through like a vessel a vessel No no, it's a prison like glass. It's like a it's like a you know when light goes through a prism it turns into a rainbow right and correct refracts right yeah, I look at it that way that I am that prison for that event at that moment right and all energy is wrote coming through me are coming through me I am not what they want. This is really important as a as a leader as a speaker as a man it's not Robert they want they want what's traveling through me. They want the energy that I'm that it's coming through me they want to connect with the the life force that's traveling through me and however I'm presenting what got them there was a technology talk. Right? Right on you know, Microsoft as yours latest security things right? You know, I haven't been taught it, but what holds them in their seat is my energy. Hmm.

Unknown Speaker 1:07:25
That's what keeps them there. And then they're not going to remember a dang thing I say, but they have for sure gonna remember how they feel. Right? Right, the event and the emotion of that event. will get them talking about Oh, hey, that that speaker Robert bleep did that was really pretty interesting. What do you say? I don't know. I got maybe one thing out of it. I spoke for an hour. But so CK I think about what you and I are doing right we're just flowing a consciousness between us. And when I accept that that is happening. Just everything change. I think it's pretty interesting that we got to that point here in this conversation actually that Yeah, we never we had to we get to this spot. Right? You know.

CK LIN 1:08:08
Thank you for that. That's really really beautiful. Man. You dropped so many gems. How are we doing on time by the way? Yeah, okay.

Unknown Speaker 1:08:13
Yeah, we got we got 15 minutes we have two minutes.

CK LIN 1:08:20
Speaker room about the whole energy work like a speaker on your journey how you come to the conclusion there because you're a technology guy. I am such a tech guy. mean, such a geek you and I we relate on many different levels. Yeah, Andrew brothers in that way because I can't speak for you I can speak for myself heady guy in the past that realizing Okay, we're more than just our mind. There's definitely more to that in life. And and so So speak more about the how you got to the whole idea, the mental model around energy and, and how do you actually use that as a way to enhance your life, your relationships, your business, really enriching your life that way? The

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:09:05
there came a time. that I had to recognize that there was more working here that I could measure. I'm a scientist, I went to school for science, I practice get the scientific method tattooed on my forehead. Right. You know, if you can't measure it, it doesn't exist. That's right. Right. That's right. I mean, that's how we are taught world what we're in right now is all evidence based. There's such a movement right now and evidence based action, right? How do I life hack only life hack something if I got evidence that it works? Right. So, you know, God bless Tim Ferriss. Right. But I think he's making a big shift in his own personal life again, you know, if I can't measure it doesn't exist with it. How do you measure love? Show me the meter that I can plug into that tells me that love exists, right? There is not. However, love is love is what it is, right? It's a it's an energy, it's a feeling, it's an emotion, it's Paul connected like this. And when something happens with my wife, and and we call each other almost exactly the same time to talk about something, there's a connection there that cannot deny it exists. So assuming that that presence is there, that that I am going to release the need to understand why something exists. Release it

CK LIN 1:10:31
one more time. you lost me, okay.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:34
I'm going to release release the need to understand why something exists. This is this thing that's going on in our society right now is that I need to go find out why that works. Right, we have this big science and technology is flying at us at Mach Speed today, right? I mean, it's going faster than ever before. Moore's laws left in the dust,

CK LIN 1:11:02
right singularity coming in no time, right?

Unknown Speaker 1:11:07
The issue is, is that people are over rotating into that to me right now. While at the same time denying the fact that the connectivity and the the spiritual connection, our souls requirement for connection, our souls requirement absolutely have to be connected. Otherwise, we die. Infants have to be held. They have to have to have love, right? There's something there that's connecting us. Let me give me an example. My wife and I taught our children when they were three, that if they were ever lost, to go find a mother. Hmm. And you know what? They got it. And so we took them to a supermarket. And we say, Show me a mother. And they literally picked out every single mom. You get lost go find a mom and kiss know that they instinctively know that how do they know that? Right? There's that there's something there? Right? There's an energy there. There's an understanding there, they they're born with that. So when I accepted and released the need to know that if if there is evidence in my life that this is working, but I don't understand why it's working. And I just decided, say, Okay, I don't even know. Let it go. Instead of figuring out why this particular technology needs to work. I'm just going to use the technology.

CK LIN 1:12:35
you don't understand how electricity works. just flip on a switch. Because the reality is we actually because I'm a scientist myself, right? If you really get down to the nitty gritty, why it works, nobody understands.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:12:47
That's right. light, light can be light behaves in a way, either a wave or a particle, depending on how you look at it. That's right. Okay, so my observation of the test screws up the test, right? What does that tell you, that tells you that I have energy into the system. And my energy is messing up the system? So how do I even know what the system is? You mean, so this whole need to measure psychological behaviors and best practices and all these things that that? I totally recognize that and I take a lot out of it, right? But I am not going to ignore the obvious, right? That literal obvious evidence. That's what's inside of me that my belief, and my confidence has power. And that power allows me to move forward in a in a way of good, and that good, is infectious and people love it.

CK LIN 1:13:46
Yeah. I love that. Thank you. Yeah. So there's a interesting mental model that I use Personally, I love that in gang sign, the older I get union sign and just such a beautiful model. Tough. Okay, there's a little bit of. white is in everything in black, there's a lot of black and white. back to my original thing. Yeah, exactly. So in me, so the way I look at it, I use it for a lot of duality ways I look at the world. There's the sovereign self, my name is strong will write sovereignty. But then on the flip side, surrendering flow. And II'm unpacking what you're saying. You're not saying to say go to the extremes, a the world's all about technology, or the world's all about love the intangible things, right. Striking that balance striking that harmony between the two is a way to help us operate at the highest level and this round. Totally, is that what you're articulating?

Unknown Speaker 1:14:55
As is I have a tendency to swing all the way to the technology side. I love bits and bytes and speeds and feeds, right? And you die enzyme engineering, right? I love that stuff. But that little bit of black and the white, or though white and the black, is that recognition that I am a connected human being. Love connects me to the world. And when I hug somebody when I see them, right, they feel that connection. And in the technology world. It's It's so desperately needed. Everyone I the people, but one thing I didn't know about is that CTP all the teams I work with like that. I hug them. I tell them, I love them. And that when they first meet me, they almost like someone put some electric shock on them, right? They're like, I don't want rubbers hugging me, right? This is business. We're not supposed to be talking like two or three times. They expect it. And they they wait for it. And I remember one man named Dave. I love David to death. And he said they didn't get my hug. And I went, Wow. Wow. Right? I purposely you know, big hug. Right? And it just it just struck me how much our technology industry needs. Just that that compassion piece on the side of it right just to bring it together to make a whole

CK LIN 1:16:31
we are human. bring that humanity into technology.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:16:36
Look, here's what I'm This is my mission. By the way. I don't know if I've told you.

CK LIN 1:16:39
Yeah, go ahead. And that's it.

Unknown Speaker 1:16:42
I'm all about bringing self efficacy, self application worthiness to the technology world. That's my my goal is to help technologist find a little more humaneness in their work. Right. And it's, it's not a easy thing to do for most men or women. They don't know what that means. But they know what when they feel it.

CK LIN 1:17:11
Right.

Unknown Speaker 1:17:12
When I bring it, they go, I want more whatever that is, but I don't know what that is. It's pretty interesting.

CK LIN 1:17:20
How do you actually articulate that? I mean, the way I look at it, our body is something you know, the external was something I can point to this is a black table, right? That is my muscle, I want a bigger muscle I want bigger black table, I want more money, my account, whatever. That's the external. What we're talking about here the self worthiness is so like, in the internal of the internal. How do you and it's intangible? How do you talk about it? Because when you ask anyone do you have self worth? Everyone will tell Yeah, I do. I do. But but but that's without looking if you actually look even if somebody the most successful people. You look at what they do. It's a desperate cry for please give me some words because I have not.

Unknown Speaker 1:18:10
Right. You tell me you like me enough. I'm worthy.

CK LIN 1:18:14
That's right. That's right. Some of the most like the biggest celebrities wherever their social media stars wherever it's the desperate cry for please validate. That's right. Me. Yep. So going back to this. So then how do you describe is very intangible quality that every human being have? We don't start there.

Unknown Speaker 1:18:36
Okay, so So, so so. So we went pretty deep pretty in this this hour plus that we've been doing this and and you got into Roberts head pretty pretty far. But that's not how we go to market. That's not how we talk to people. The first level is almost always money. It's almost always money. I want to succeed better so I can have better prosperity in my life. prosperity means free time, by the way. Okay, I have free time to go do things I want to go do my money brings prosperity, which gives me more free time. Okay, that's what money does. It also flows abundance to other people in the world and benefits them. So we start with how do we help you do better in your business world and your technology career? And that starts with advocacy or self? worth basically you say, Hey, what do we need to do to elevate your confidence? And we talk in terms like that we don't usually go to the word NS conversation because people don't connect at that level. They connect at the confidence level and they connect that, well, how do I make my career better? communications? is the number one vehicle teaching better communications. So how do I talk to the rest of the world is almost exclusively the one Keystone that improved they're their life. So when you start becoming more clear, with your conversations more clear with how you communicate to people, how you stand, how you hold yourself, your actual physical presence, how you whiteboard, how do you share information, how you type an email, those things are notoriously bad in technology people? Right? So you're a good communicator? You're an exception? No, thank you. I'm just this clear. If you talk to anybody in corporate America today, and they say who the worst communicators in your organization, they're going to point straight to the computer people, every time 99% of time because computer people have been enjoying the the the really good benefit of being able to hold sacred knowledge that no one else wants to learn. And then people have the tolerate their behavior.

CK LIN 1:20:58
I think that's worth repeating one my time please

Unknown Speaker 1:21:01
technology, people for the last 40 years or so, have had sacred knowledge, business business, those run on technology. Today, it's almost exclusively on technology. The people who know how to make that technology work, have sacred knowledge, on how to make that work so that the businesses will work without them, the businesses stop. Okay, because of that very pivotal position. They can be jerks. They can talk poorly, they can speak to people in appropriately, it can be pretty ugly, they can be very quickly, and leave me alone. I'm doing my job. I'll tell you when I'm done. I'm okay. Why are you next to me, it's supposed to be working in this way. Just bad, what I call back communications. That world is changing right now. The business world who run business are abstracting technology away from these people and putting it into a more consumable state. You're seeing evidence in cell phones, you're seeing an evidence in cloud computing, you don't need to have technology degrees to get really amazing artificial intelligence or machine learning systems.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:17
There are options,

CK LIN 1:22:17
there's options, right? They can do arbitrage to other countries, right? They can do artificial intelligence.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:24
there is all sorts of different things that are happening now that that are that are making the technology people who used to have that secret knowledge is less of an option. Right, right. And so what ends up happening is that because of the communication skills of most of the people I work with today, and today out in my technology world, they have to learn how to talk in a way that the rest of the businesses will be able to have compassion and understanding and connection and all the things that the other businesses, one out of them is a huge problem. It's a huge, huge problem right now. So many of the technology people today, I find are scared. They don't know what to do next. They don't know how to take their career to that space that like that. So to answer your question, we come in and we say, hey, how do I help you communicate better, let's, let's see the things that you're doing to talk to the rest of the world pretty quickly recognize that if you speak this way, or talk this way, or like that these people get mad. If you change how you talk, and we back to the inner game, right? You're going to talk the way you feel Hmm. And if you don't feel good about yourself, you're going to talk poorly,

CK LIN 1:23:41
I like that. Right?

Unknown Speaker 1:23:43
Right, you're in your words are going to match your vibration. If you're vibrating at a poor level, you're going to talk in a poor level. If you're no matter how many pretty words you say, if you're not vibrating inner, inner, your inner being in a way that is consistent, your words are going to come out very nicely.

CK LIN 1:24:03
That's so interesting that I mean hearing your, your, your, the way you describe your client journey. Yeah. Mirrors my own journey. I started this whole thing started with my desire to improve on public speaking our Toastmasters. Okay, then the landmark ministry, looking at my inner world, whatever the stories that I had, that didn't serve me, right and just go more and more inward as a way to really look at Okay, who am I being such that my action or my words, how I speak to myself ally self worthiness, all that, that totally mirrors how I think about and really started from this desire to be more competitive. That's right, it

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:24:51
all starts with money. Okay, so so I know it's let's be real man, having money is nice. Yeah, right. Financial in security goes away when you become financially secure. If you are financially insecure, there might be some other issues going on. Right. So I believe that we are heading into a reboot of communications and are as a human community. Okay, more connection personally, than there is electronically. Right. Look what look what happened at Burning Man, man. Yeah, there's there's no electronics. Right? I went for the first time this past

CK LIN 1:25:37
year actually. Let's talk about that. Yeah. What do you got? What did you What did you expect and what you got? I know that you had the series of podcasts with people who would like you can go deep dive there. But quick summary like what did you what was surprising to you most about Bernie man experience,

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:25:53
the temple. The temple is where people go and honor the passing of the loved ones, right? They bring their pictures, their writings, they thought they sit down and meditate and pray. Prior to the, to the Burning Man, I had lost four men in my life. They died within 60 days of each other. Oh, wow. And one of them guy was named Jimmy. And Jimmy was one of those men that you could go to no matter what. He dropped everything and be there. And he died of cancer. He'd been find it for about a year and a half stomach cancer left a teenage daughter and a wife. And I hadn't let any of that should go. All right. I, you know, just and I when I said I'm Burning Man, and I hit the temple, and just all these things started flying out right, just started losing what I thought I was supposed to be carrying, right? So I agreed a couple, two or three people that I've lost. That was the first day. Okay. I immediately started asking myself why was there? Who am I? What mask am I wearing? And why am I wearing this mask? Did you go to Burning Man, everybody's got a mask, the Medvec they put on a bunch of mass, right? They were all these costumes and stuff like that. I just wasn't fitting in. I didn't fit into any of it. I didn't fit in in any of the garb they were wearing. I didn't fit in any of that. I'm going What am I right? I'm on my bike, pedaling around going to art, art art, right. And I sat back at the temple again another day. And I realized that I need to lose everything that I thought I was. And that's identity and let it burn in this place. So I went back to my trailer, I had all this these bins of these things that I would carry, right and I had the stones and at the leather and I had some other things I'd carry and I had it was a bunch of stuff. The sacred items. Basically, I pack them all up, rode out to the temple, laid them down there. meditated on it. Let the emotion out. And it burned. That was it. I mean, I have never been that free

CK LIN 1:28:15
to walk around naked the whole time.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:28:18
No, I had a I had a ahead thing. And I yeah, I kind of went you know, I had been barefoot the whole time I was out there to you know. And dirty and everything like that. But I grew up in the desert. I love the DESERT. Desert amazing place. It's electric. I I let go of what I thought I my identity needed to be and stop caring what I thought other people thought about me. And that's that's a layering by the way. That doesn't just happen. It was like a big piece of it came off though. And watching it burn when the temple burn was a very freeing thing.

CK LIN 1:29:03
at Temple design.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:29:05
It's amazing.

CK LIN 1:29:06
spiral burns, goes all the way up to the heavens. It's amazing.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:29:11
It's It's a crazy thing, man.

CK LIN 1:29:13
Burning Man, to me is a very, very spiritual place. It is a lot of people think of it as a crazy party at the desert and where people do drugs, whatever. Yes, there's certainly find that if you were sure but to me. Spirituality is everywhere. It's a very, very holy place for me.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:29:32
But it was it really was I by the time I left, I had deepened some connections with some people there that I had never thought I'd go. Right. met so many people from around the world, right. I talked to so many people about why they're there. And you know, mostly couples, right? A lot of couples, lot of people their young people getting married there. There's just a whole bunch of kids running around. Okay. Yeah, I don't know if I'm back to the kid part. Right? Yeah. My father Right, right. Yeah, I there's a time and a place for some things. I didn't think that was me. But that but that's me though. Right. I don't need to bring my my stuff on them. they'd let them do their thing. That's not me. I felt that. Oh, there's one story. Yeah, go ahead, please. So here's the story about Burning Man. Why was that burning? Man? I had this bike. Right. I love my bike. So I painted it as a beach cruiser had some like that. And I'm pedaling around. They always say lock your bike at the bike Burning Man. But I spent the whole first five days not locking it up. You tested it. Let me tell you right now you're testing your luck. Okay. But most of the places I went no one had luck. Right. Okay, and so we get to the last second the last day when the not when they burn the man. Right? And it's a party. I mean, you know, you have optically, you can't take it all in it is it is something to see you just can't visually take in what's going on is so so amazing. Actually. hundred thousand people all around the burn, right? Lot of people fly in for that day, right? Just just a bunch of going on. Go back out to find my bike, and it's gone. Right? So install it. And I thought to myself, I didn't really steal it. They borrowed it. It's here someplace, right? Because they're not there's no way no one's going anywhere. Right. And by the way, Bernie man, there's some five to 6000 bikes left each year that they donate, and they get rid of but so high pitched for about five minutes, right. And so I start walking back takes me a good walk to get back. You know how that goes. Yeah, it's like a short walk. It's like miles, miles, mile and a half.

CK LIN 1:31:34
looks longer at night.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:41
man, it's late, you know, everybody's having a great time. And I'm walking, and I got to carry a light with me now because I don't wanna get run over. That's right. Because there's so much stuff going on. That's great. So, next morning, I get up, can't find my bike. It looked all over for it. Don't find it. It's gone. Right? So I'm with a couple of Rangers at the very point watching the sun come up right there, that main playa center there where they sell the coffee. And I'm watching the sign up. We're having a great conversation with them. I said tell them about the bike and the yak, yak yak should have walked it up. I go. Thanks, man. Right. So I decided I'm going to walk out to the temple one last time, right. And it's a long walk. I start walking. And there's an art installation about 400 yards out. And I had not seen that one. I didn't stop it that when I was outside the detour over there, and I start walking towards and walking towards it. And there's a bike. It's laying outside and I go Oh, that's interesting. I get closer and closer. It's my bike. It's my bike man. Out of 50,000 bikes. There's my bike right there, man. It's a needle in a giant needle haystack right there it is. I guess I literally lost my mind. I was so damn happy, man. I just go, oh my god. I jump on my bike. I start pedaling around. I'm waving the other way. I am. I am a seven year old boy on Christmas day with his new bike pedaling up and down the neighborhood. I was I was so lit up emotionally having found this bike that the playa a gifted back to me, right? There is no other way. You have to be at Burning Man to understand how rare point 000 1% chance of me finding my bike.

CK LIN 1:33:26
That's amazing.

Unknown Speaker 1:33:27
It's amazing. I just jumped on it and started pedaling. And the buddy I came with he was way up like that. And he and I, I was yelling Hello. Hey, good morning, everybody like that. And I ran right into him as an accident. Yelling Hello, low dog, Steve. Right. And he was the guy connected with at such a deep level then, you know, good friend 25 years one of my one of my men. And it was such a good story, man.

CK LIN 1:33:50
let's unpack that a little bit more. There's so many stories like that. Yeah, to me. It's quote unquote miracles is miraculous. Right. It's it's infinitesimal. I mean, it's not even testament. But it's close, pretty darn good down smart chance to find your friggin bike out of the whole place of playa, right? What did you learn from that? what's the takeaway lesson to let go?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:34:14
Let go to Let go. Let go of what the my attachment to anything that I brought their clue to the bike. Right? And that I needed that lesson to that the whatever, whatever energy was there was going to respond to me. I had to be clear of all the things that were holding me back, I just need to be clear of those things and attachments and the How do I look in front of you? And all the things that they're self defining? And what is it that I'm scared of? You know, what am I worried about? When I stand up in front of an audience? Right, you know, what is it that I'm really concerned with? Hmm. And there was I don't I don't know, the reason why the bike came back, but it came back.

CK LIN 1:35:15
But what do you think the reason is?

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:35:18
Love. Like I like I stepped into something that was unique. And there was an energy attached to the bike that had to get its way back. I don't know, man. Again, we're back to giving up the reason why. Right? The gift was there. Here's the gift. Are you going to take it?

CK LIN 1:35:46
So the lesson I want to just really unpack

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:35:48
Yeah, I'm going with you.

CK LIN 1:35:50
So. So you give up the attachment. And then then you're going to get the gift, whatever, whatever gifts are there, right.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:35:58
When I let go of what I think makes me happy. The things that make me happy show up. Hmm. Okay, and, and, and trying to figure out why the bike is back. It's like me trying to figure out how to measure love. I don't know, right? And if I if I let go of these things, right, I'm able to accept what's coming at me, which is so much more powerful, which is so much more relevant. It's the flow. Right? You know, and I don't even know where to start with that other than say yes, right? Yeah.

CK LIN 1:36:41
When I was a, I grew up Chinese. I'm still Chinese still. But I grew up in in China. Right? Right. Okay. I grew up in the Confucius teaching system, okay. And it's all about tradition, respect to elders, there's a particular way of behaving and I, Allah sovereignty, there's a particular path, you follow this path, and life will be great kind of a thing. And then I also learned about this crazy guy named Lao Tzu right, and he wrote the Delta gene, I'm quite familiar with it, right. And it's a beautiful writing. I'm reading it again, this time. And to me, he was just some crazy guy will talk about this mysterious thing called the doubt. I was like, I don't understand any of this stuff isn't beyond me. Right when I was growing up, but the older I get, the more I realized this Tao. The way we can describe the way is not the way not the way in the infinite possibility of life, if we can point to and say that's what Robert Christensen is. The fact that I say it, that's in itself, it's the only limits you to whatever I say you are, right. Similarly, how I describe myself, we're infinite beings living a human life. How can I let go of things that don't serve me anymore, such that I can continue to manifest myself with the way that I want to in the infinite possibilities in following that flow? And I know that for the people was listening to this may be like, what the heck is CK Robert, talking about the Tao

Unknown Speaker 1:38:18
Tao Te Ching, is, you know, there's there's three or four books that are My all time all time. best one. And the other one is meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Okay,

CK LIN 1:38:31
Why is that?

Unknown Speaker 1:38:32
it's a very leadership book. It's about community, what's good for the individuals good for the community. He has a very famous meditation called the obstacle, the obstacle is the way right, the thing the impediment to advancement, is the advancement. It's very daoists. Thank you right now, right? The obstacle that you're trying to get through is the is the reason why you're going through it. Right. Okay, so you have to go through it.

CK LIN 1:39:03
Right. The journey, the journey is the journey. It's not the final finish Gong. And when the someone's not doing the song, Yeah. It's the whole song. It's the whole thing, right?

Unknown Speaker 1:39:12
that's right. Oh, no, the end is part of the journey. So meditation is one of those books that was I was turned on to by accident, I was visiting the Getty Museum and the Antiquities in Malibu, and I found it on the shelf, there was a bust of Marcus Aurelius there. And I found a book and I said, meditations, I start flipping through it. And they're just a little short, you know, paragraphs, lot things. There seven scrolls or books that he had, they make up the meditations and what he used to do as the last what they consider the last good Caesar, of Rome, he was between I think, with the years 48 AD to about 6570, about 27 years. I don't know the exact numbers. But he was considered the one of the most grounded, thoughtful leaders of Rome. And then after that, things started sliding down. But he used to carry around these teachings, these scrolls wherever you go, and he would read them, and he would write about them. And so he passed, the scrolls disappeared. And then they were found again, I think, in 300 AD, in the Constantine era, they copied him and kept them. Right. And it's one of those writings that had been passed down since. Right. And so every great leader in history, has had Marcus Aurelius his meditations on their shelf, every president, okay, every leader, man or woman has had them. And so I figured if they're reading it, you know, they've adopted it. And then the third one book is The Odyssey, Homer's Odyssey. Hmm, the original story. And I really cherish that, that journey of the Odyssey, you know, it's part of the trilogy, but that particular one where Odysseus is lost for 20 years after he conquers Troy, he just leaves Troy after being inside the Trojan horse. And it's on his way back, he gets lost. And it's all about how the gods are giving him all these things that stopped in Poseidon really pissed off at him, because he's fortunate, he has the favor of the all of the other gods to help them along. But besides that, really pissed off dude, right? He's the son of Zeus. And every time he goes to see Poseidon gets wind of it right and literally knocks him off course. Calypso captures him for three years and makes him makes him her sex slave for three years, right. And he gets attacked by the Cyclops, which are the sons of Poseidon, he puts an eye out, the only it makes him blind trying to escape. sighing is pissed off again, right? There's all these toys for him trying to get back home to his wife, and his wife. times for him for 20 years. And his son becomes a man, but can't stop all the people who keep stealing all her diseases, fortunes that he's been building. And so there's a fight at home that he can't get to. And the son doesn't have to become a man to try to defend his father's castle. And there's all these classic classic human things that go on to the story about how we have to go through the obstacle to get to where we need to go. So those these are really powerful books and meditations for me. Thanks for sharing that.

CK LIN 1:43:00
Now, there's a car out there without Odesseus. You're loving it that much.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:43:06
Yeah, well, I got the license plate, because it's just a reminder, every time I see the license plate, this as a disease, you know, reminds me that I am a man on a journey. Okay, and there is purpose to my journey. Okay, I am serving my home, I'm serving my my wife and my children, that I am my community and the world. And there will be challenges, there will be the quote, that God's sending things my way that are going to cause me to work, they're going to cause me to have to go over the next obstacle, go through the obstacle, whatever I have to do. And that's just life that's go back to classic, you know, Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey, right? That's fundamental. So, every time I see it gives me a grounding that I'm not unique. The world's not out to get me. It's just our journey. This is, this is the flow right back to the Tao. Right. It's all connected, you know, just be in it.

CK LIN 1:44:09
So following that, on that, and then we'll probably wrap here. Everyone's on their own journey, right? Man, a woman child. As someone whose purpose in life is bring, in my words, elevate consciousness to accelerate to help them with their journey. How do you identify someone who is on their path and ready to receive the tools, the wisdom? versus someone who is not they ask, ask, it goes back to what you were said that's we make the call they make the call.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:44:48
If they call you, they're asking if they? When I was younger, I felt it necessary for me to share my opinion, whether you wanted to hear it or not. You know, CK, you should do this. Right? You know what that does to people? Is them off? Because you're judging them when you do that? I have found the most. I found for me that the best students are the volunteers. say more about that. They raised their hand, they say I want to know more. Will you teach me? Can I be your client? Where's your book? Would you sign it for me? I want to read it. Right? That's those are the people who want to hear what I have to say. I spent a lot of my time trying to convince people who don't want to hear what I have to say about what it is I'm saying. That goes nowhere and frustrates me wasting energy, wasted energy, right, I'm not flowing, I'm not flowing, I'm trying to float to someplace that doesn't want flow. And that's a huge lesson as anybody, a man or woman, that if you want to have significance in people's lives, turn and face those who want to hear what you have to say. They will be tapping you on the shoulder. They may not be the people who you think who you should be talking to. But my realization is that the people are tapping me on the shoulder. They're on the technology industry,

CK LIN 1:46:26
following flow again.

Unknown Speaker 1:46:28
there. I'm just going towards the direction of which that being tapped on the shoulder.

CK LIN 1:46:34
Go where we are celebrated not where you're tolerated.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN 1:46:37
That's a great saying. Yeah, that's a great thing. I like that a lot. Yeah, close on that one.

CK LIN 1:46:44
Thank you so much. You're welcome. I acknowledge you, Robert, for sharing, to go to different places. Things that we probably didn't anticipate. Go we went with flow I really acknowledge you for sharing in a very vulnerable, very authentic, transparent way about your own journey, your hero's journey, your commitment to make a difference in in people's lives, specifically technologist to really help them elevate their game, right. And then therefore, as a way, that's the hook, but there's a way to elevate their self worth their self worth. I really acknowledge you for that mission. It's a beautiful, beautiful mission. So if people want to find out more about what you're up to take your workshops, buy your books, have you as a coach, where do they go.

Unknown Speaker 1:47:31
So they go to motivforlife.com that's MOTIVFOR li FV calm motive for life, contact me there. If you're in the Southern California area every first Saturday of the month, from nine to noon, we have an intentions workshop, where we set out what our next 30 6090 days look like what we want to get done. And it's a it's a visualization using sketching and drawing techniques. Where do you draw out the basic language of how you want to see the next day's unfold as opposed to writing a bunch of words. And images are much more powerful people than they are. They want a new house, they draw the house, right. So it's a lot of fun. So we teach that. And the book is available at Amazon Kindle and paperback. It's called the bug in our brain done quite well this past year. I'm very pleased with that as well. And so there's a lot of techniques there. You can email me at Robert at motive for life. com or contact me through the website of the contact. And if you need direct coaching, I'm very actually I'm full up right now. So we get first of all problem. It's a good it's a good problem to have. So that's a whole nother conversation that I have with individuals to see if they're right to go do that. Okay, but I really appreciate it CK. Thank you so much, man.

CK LIN 1:48:58
Thank you my friend. Alright listeners. Thank you so much for listening. If you have any questions about what we discussed, anything that needs to be answered, please go to noblewarrior.com/group. We'll be happy to answer those questions there. Take care now. Bye