Revealing The Diamond Within Us

#82 I used to wish for my problems to go away. I dreamed of nirvana and this carefree existence. I learned that problems never really went away and that is part of being human. What did change though was my relationship to problems and how I handled them. It helped me bring new meaning to things when the chips were down. In this podcast, I share a bit of my journey when things were pretty tough, and why I'm so grateful for that period in my life. Enjoy!

About Guy: He is a coach, speaker, podcaster, wellness advocate and entrepreneur. Originally co-founded natural supplement company 180 Nutrition in 2010.180 Nutrition became one of Australia's leading natural proteins was a Telstra business awards finalist and gained multiple national media exposure or their efforts. Guy also founded the no1 ranked iTunes podcast 'The Health Sessions' achieving over 2 million downloads whilst interviewing some of the worlds pioneering health experts and New York times best-selling authors. With over ten years in the health and fitness industry, Guy has also explored many facets of health including what's deemed 'alternative' and the measured effects on the body; from using meditation and neuroscience to create altered states of consciousness, shamanic rituals, cold exposure and breath work to name a few. His latest project 'Let It In' is a community based platform that helps people bridge the gap between the life they live and the life they truly want to live. Guy shares his findings via his workshops, retreats and 4 week online program, creating a space for individuals to come together as a community that supports transformation and change. Learn more about Guy: www.guylawrence.com.au Let It In Academy: www.letitin.com.au TRANSCRIPT Please note, this is an automated transcript so it is not 100% accurate.

Guy: Hi, I'm Guy Lawrence and you are listening to the Guy Lawrence podcast. If you're enjoying this content and you want to find out more and join me and come further down the rabbit hole, make sure you head back to the guylawrence.com.au. Awesome guys. Enjoy the show.

Guy: Welcome to the guidelines podcast. I'm your host Guy Lawrence. After building a successful health company and the number one podcast, I decided to do something deemed a little crazy. I let it go, set a new destination called the unknown and use my heart as comfort. Each week I sit down with great minds as we explore topics beyond conventional health, wealth and wisdom to inspire and ignite that passion. Within us all to create the life we truly want. So my question to you is, are you ready to let it in?

Guy: Hey rockstars. Thanks for tuning into my podcast and your host Guy Lawrence and really appreciate you giving me your time today. And I thoroughly enjoyed doing the solo episode the other week. So I thought I would do another one for you today and 'cuz had a good response and it's good sometimes to try and express things, learnings, stories, teachings, you know, from my own experience and be able to pass on and hopefully inspire you who is listening on the other end to this. And I wanted to talk a little bit about context today and revealing the diamond within us 'cuz I found myself the other week I was at a friend's house and you know, we were just having great conversations, just run a workshop, actually let it in. And we found ourselves talking about the past and different times and different difficulties. And, and I was telling her some of the things that I, uh, where I was at, uh, at some stage.

Guy: 'Cuz if you hadn't been to my workshop, uh, you know, I'll share, I share a few stories about my past. But, uh, there was a point in my life, uh, when I was first in Sydney, this was gone back or 2005, six, seven, 2008 all sort of through this period where I was trading the stock markets. And, um, I had this connotation in my head that I, when I become rich, uh, I will then be happy and then I can look, pursue my dreams and do what I love. And I kind of, I kind of wonder where my head thinking was looking back now. But ultimately, um, I was caught up in it and I really, um, was determined to, um, make, make some sort of myself. I think a lot of my twenties and my teenage years and, and even going into my early thirties, when I immigrated, I locked up.

Guy: I lacked a lot of self belief in, in about myself and who I was. And, um, and I just couldn't sell. I couldn't, I couldn't just get it going. And I kinda thought enough was enough and I ended up borrowing some money, which wasn't the smartest of ideas, but I was determined at the time 'cuz then I never really was that good with money or never had a lot of money and I borrowed some money to trade the stock market and I thought I'm, you know, I'll be cautious, I'll do this and make it work. And at the same time I, um, I became a fitness trainer and that's my, my journey before 180 nutrition. I was working in a university, in Sydney and it was great. I landed this great job and as you know, I got to knew hundreds of awesome people and the university was like a village and because I was on such, I was so committed to the stock market, to make it work.

Guy: Sometimes I'd find myself trading, you know, um, late at night, you know, and then just trying to find it, make it work. I would trade to like midnight, one in the morning cause I was on the American markets on my computer. And then I had, uh, myself getting up at five, uh, to go to work to the city to then train clients. And I was even trying to the other way round. But I'd get up at three in the morning, sometimes no joke and then, um, trade for a couple of hours and then go into work. Like I try, I was trying all these different things and I was, I was all in. I mean this cost me friendships, this cost me relationships. It cost me. I think looking back there was a lot of sacrifices and, and a lot of unhappiness come from that. And I was telling my friend as well that I had this push bike and I would say five, five days, it was my only former transport.

Guy: I mean I couldn't afford a car. I didn't have my motor bike at this point. And the only way I would do it was get around on this push bike. Um, I didn't even do my shopping on this push bike. You know, take my backpack and fill up my, my food and, and cycle to the shops. And I was living in South Koji at the time and uh, I was in shared accommodation but, and I would cycle into the city every single day and it's pretty bloody hillier as well, coming out of, uh, Koji, um, into and getting into down to central Sydney. And I used to take me about half hour each way and I was doing this five days a week there and back. And then I was running classes, uh, fitness classes, boxing, TRX and spin with my forties. And I was doing them as well. So I was getting really, really fit at the time.

Guy: But that was all I knew. So, so there was this, I've, I was two years in, I was finding myself racking up all this debt cause I couldn't get the trade into work even. I mean, looking back, there were so many mistakes I did, you know, never treated with borrowed money, money, can't afford to lose and affects your psychology in a big way. And I just felt myself digging this hole deeper and deeper and deeper. And I was like, how the hell am I going to get out of this? I just, and it was, and I was getting depressed and I remember, like I said, I would, I would trade to 12 one o'clock in the morning, I'd get up at 5:00 AM and in the winter, you know, regardless, it was like sometimes it was raining sideways and this might be the fourth day. And I've already racked up over 150 ks and I pushed back that week.

Guy: I've already done taking multiple spin classes and boxing and I was coming, you know, and I'd be exhausted and my body would be so stiff yet I had to get the, I had to, I had to cycle into work. Like there was no, um, there was no getting out of it. And I remember, you know, it'd be freezing cold and I would just have to suck it up. I'd get wet and cycle for half hour. And by the time I got into the city, quarter of six in the morning or whatever it was, you know, I'd be soaking wet and you know, I jumped in a hot shower and then thing, next thing you know, I was trained in a client and, and there was no escape and this was raw and real. And I was earning just enough money to pay the rent and feed myself.

Guy: Literally that was it. And I couldn't see a way out. I just couldn't see a way out. And it was getting harder and harder. And I remember like, I was just getting to this point and I remember I'll never forget sitting down. Um, I was part of the Surf Club as well at the time back in Koji. And I remember sitting down one day on patrol with a guy that I knew and he was similar age to me. We were in, you know, early thirties and he pulled up in his BMW, I think he worked in law and he sat there and he'd go, and he was sitting there thinking, wow, isn't life great? You know, he said, now, you know, we know what we want, we know where we go in. We cashed up and I said, life's just isn't just a great place to be. You know, and I remember sitting there feeling so small, so just so worth lot.

Guy: Um, and I'm just speaking from the heart year and I didn't even know how to express this at the time and thinking, oh my God, here I am in debt. I don't know what I'm doing. I've got a push bike that's managing just to hold itself together. I can barely pay my rent, my food, and I'm trading the whole, I can't get out of this debt. And it was just sucked. It really sucked. And the only thing I could do was keep going. I could feel the only thing I could do was keep going. And I've shared this story with you because many years later, you know, my life's very different now. Like, uh, you know, not a few years later, 180 nutrition was born and, and, and, uh, you know, where we created a natural supplement and natural protein. And, and that went on and did well. And within three and a half years, it was turning over millions of dollars.

Guy: And it was, you know, it was just this really random transition. And, but at the time when I was on that push bike, I started listening to all the self help stuff I could muster myself. I listened to Tony Robbins cycling into work. I would, I would listen to Deepak Chopra, I would listen to echo tol, I'd listen to Wayne Dyer. Um, and I started to find, I started to let go of my, there were many others incidences and I won't go into it today. I'll keep referring to the episode, but I really started to let go and, and find, except where I was at. And, and it was from that acceptance. And then I started to change lanes, if you like, I could start to see light at the end of the tunnel. And I just kept going. I like, my ships were burnt, this was my situation and I had to accept it.

Guy: And even though, you know, for few years, my, my situation didn't change. Initially I changed and I could feel it and I could feel myself changing within. And that energy and that cultivation started to just grow and grow. And, and it really taught me to be grateful for many things. And that's where my first gratitude practice really started to come back into kind of come and take true meaning. And it started to reveal the diamond within me, like the, the true self. And those years, I look back now and I'm forever grateful for them. And I remember having the conversation saying that there was something rural, unreal about those years for me. And I, I learned to enjoy the rain being soaking wet where I found myself literally laughing and smiling. I'd done a 12 hour shift at the university and I'd come out, it'd be nine o'clock at night, they'd be pissing down the rain.

Guy: It would be cold. And I've just like game on, you know, and I could start to really embrace the, the, the wrongness of the elements and everything. And I would look at people at the bus stop and sitting on the bus and kind of looked like in this time, warped, I don't know, Coma, you know? Uh, and I was like, wow, this is an hour. I was like breathing in life. The essence of it, it's really a, I'm sure it's hard to explain sometimes, but that's really felt like an, and then I started to find the joy in, in the, in even the simplest things. And it taught me so much. And I think without that experience, if the, the good things that have come along later and since, um, if I hadn't had that, I wouldn't have had context. I wouldn't have had the, the ability to look at things that when they do come now in a different way with perspective and I guess wisdom from some of the things that have happened in my life because I'm sure you agree.

Guy: We all have fears. We all have things that can be difficult. We all have it tough and some have a tougher than others, but ultimately it's still as still owe bodies. We all feel fear the same way. We all feel lack the same where we all feel self Unwerth the same way. It's just our circumstances are different triggering those emotions and feelings that are happening for us. And I wonder to put this, share the story with you today because I wanted to know, let you know that it's this, how can I say it? There's so much, there's so many lessons to be learned. There are so many things and if we can change the meaning behind the stories that are going on within our minds, the emotions and the feelings and what's happening and we can start to shift that and put a different meaning to it or in the same situation.

Guy: I think that's where true transformation can start to lie. That's where true change can start to lie. And that's when I really started to investigate in the mind, body and the self and why I'm so passionate about this work today and why I'm so passionate about let it in and run in retreats and running workshops. And I have a podcast, like I can't tell you how much energy it takes goes just to create podcasts week after week, month after month, and put this free content out there for you. But, but from all lists, you know, I believe in the law of reciprocity, like by that, by the fact of sharing and an open and being able to share the things I learned hopefully will inspire you into action and inspire you to start to take change. And maybe start to realize that there's context and you can create different meaning from the situations that we you're in or I'm in or whatever that might be.

Guy: And what really amazed me is that once you look at this work, now I realize that I'd been thinking a certain way, feeling a certain way, seeing the world a certain way for so long. And I've trained my nervous system to behave a certain way or the autonomic nervous system. And without getting too technical, you know, you can retrain that and you can start to, and, and the, the nervous system and the f is the filter between how you perceive the world. And the directly, the signals you send your body. And this is why I get so excited and I'm recording this. We will actually close to Bordeaux August retreats, which looked to be bought, sold out, which is phenomenal. And when we start to dive in deeper with this work where we're able to get people to really tap in to that nervous system and start to send it a different signal, which is amazing, which sends the body a different signal and we can start to release quite a lot of emotional memory that the body holds.

Guy: Like it's fascinating stuff. And then from that we start to clean house. We started cleaning the body, you know, we create a bit of chaos in there. We're pulling the furniture apart, we moving things around with Dustin with throwing things out we don't want anymore. And within that chaos we can then start to put it all back together. But you know, it's a spring clean. It's a very different fields, very different environment. We create space within us to let in the new to layer in the things that we want to move toward. And it's brilliant. And for me now it's like an honor because I learned this work and it's, it's pivotal and it's made such an impact on my life and why I'm so passionate about it. And now I get to help other people that want to learn this stuff. I mean, it's incredible.

Guy: Once you start delving in, if you listen to my podcasts on a regular basis, you probably, you know, been listening to the guys I've had talking about quantum physics and how we connect beyond space and time and energetically we can start to move these things around and influence that nervous system. I mean within my leaded in membership, the online stuff, we meet up on zoom and I'm teaching people how to connect and we're having, you know, we're having experiences from meditation, from people in their own living room that might take people years to experience that. And it's just a beautiful thing. And I shared all with this with you because no matter where you're at, that is just your current situation. Reality is, doesn't always have to be like that. And I truly firmly believe if you want to create true transformation and change in your life, then this work learning and understanding this work will have impact to help you navigate that direction.

Guy: But like anything that we want in life, it doesn't come easy. It takes constant consistent work. You know, it's just one step at a time, day by day, week by week, you chip away, you learn in to create change. We have to learn new skills, we have to learn new things and we have to start letting go over the things that don't serve us anymore. And for me, or taking your back all the way back to that story, for me to walk away from that stock trading was huge, you know, at the time. But I was, I was willing to let it go. I'd put three years into it and I realized I wasn't going to succeed at it. I was going to fail. And for a guy that was really hard and to walk away 30 grand down and I'd never even seen 30 grand as well and just accepted.

Guy: But by me letting go, something that I knew wasn't right because it wasn't aligned with my heart in my head. I've been telling myself so many things, but I wasn't aligned in my heart. And it wasn't until my heart and my head were congruent until they were aligned. Was I able to start moving forward in the world and carving my future off for the way I wanted it to go. You know? And it didn't get easier. It still doesn't get easier to this day. But the tools that I've learned and the awareness I have around it, I've developed. So I don't even wish my problems away anymore. All I, all I understand now is that I'm always going to have problems. I'm always going to have challenges. And it's how I equip myself to deal with them. And it's teachable and it's doable. And if you're listening to this and you're sitting on the fence and you're thinking, should I ever go with this and or what do I do?

Guy: Ask yourself this. Where will you be six months from now, one year from now, two years from now? If you continue doing the same things that you're doing now, they might be some great things. And you know, who am I to judge? I don't know. But I asked myself that and it keeps me sharp and it keeps me honest and it keeps me willing to try new things and lean in and step into the unknown. So that's what context does. So this leaving message, partly message for you is, you know, whatever's going on in your life, what can you learn from it? How can you apply different meaning to it? And how can you get excited by your future and you know it's gonna be okay. Cause there's always worked out. It always has. It always will. It has for me. But I think the key is, is this to start tapping into that heart space more and allowing that and literally start to let it in.

Guy: You know, if you want to learn more about what I'm doing, if you want to experience some of the things I'm talking about, I want to do it. I got plenty going on. We've got the retreats. Um, we've got, uh, the online program stuff. And don't even let the online programs stuff put you off guys. Trust me. You will really start to feel it in a, it's a, it's pretty incredible. I'm very proud of it. And uh, yeah, I got the workshops as well. So it's all there. And if it's the first time you ever listening to anything and you haven't even tried it yet, um, gives the, um, the free meditation I give away GL, start teaching your tap into the heart. It's the best. It's a great start. Get in the habit of that. Um, and that's all back@guylawrence.com. Dot. EU. Check it all out.

Guy: Take action. You know, if you're listening to this now, pause, grab the free meditation. Like take action. Like philosophy will only get you so far. You have to start taking the steps, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Anyway, let me know what you think of this podcast. Uh, hit me up on Instagram. Guy Hates Lawrence. Uh, if you're enjoying the solar podcast, I really appreciate it cause uh, I like I doing this, my eyes are closed right now. I hold my awareness in my chest and my heart as I speak and just allow it to come out and it's Kinda cool. Um, yeah. So hope you enjoyed. Uh, I've got some awesome guests coming up soon as always, and if we're enjoying the show, yeah, let me know. Share it, whatever it is,

Guy: how help you get it out there. Always greatly appreciated. Anyway, let's love from me. Have an awesome week and I'll speak to you soon.