54. Dmitry Kozlov - Dancing with Fear in the Face of Change

“The universe doesn’t stop giving us likes and clues, we just develop a resistance to hearing them because they’re usually inconvenient”

This week’s episode is definitely one of my favorites.

Dmitriy Kozlov, who I affectionately refer to as Dima, is a successful entrepreneur , spoken word poet, and a friend who I attribute a lot of my personal growth to.

Dima’s purpose in life is to accelerate the evolution of love through inspiring and empowering influencers.

One of the ways he does that is through his company, Influex - an agency that specializes in building personal brand websites that express essence and amplify influence. (in fact, the Influex team built www.rajjana.com!)

But this podcast is less about business and more about self-awareness and personal evolution.

I’ve never met anyone so willing to dance with demons and let go of attachments.

Dima isn’t afraid of ‘ego death’ - if there’s any chance it will take him closer to his truth.

He’s not afraid to be vulnerable and to reveal his heart (and his soul) to others. He doesn’t even care if his entire life turns upside down - as long at that turmoil brings him closer to who he really is.

Dima is all about living his fullest life possible and I’m sure that in this episode, he’ll inspire you to do the same.

What I value most about Dima, and you’ll hear it all throughout our conversation, is his ability clearly articulate his thoughts, feelings and emotions with a sense of poetic justice.

It’s all communicated from a place of love, and the way that he shares the deepest and most vulnerable parts of himself will leave you empowered to share your own story in a beautifully unique way.

So tune in now and discover what incredible things you can open up for yourself (and your life) when you listen to your inner voice.

Discover what happens when you actually trust the universe to take care of you.

Find out what’s possible when you transform pain into purpose and allow challenges to guide you on a hero’s journey that takes you ever closer to your core.

Because once you go within, you’ll never go without.

Resources:

Story: https://dmitriykozlov.com/my-story/

Website: https://www.influex.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmitriykozlov

This episode is great for you if you

• Are struggling with tuning into your internal voice
• Are experiencing fear around making changes in your life
• Are feeling stuck in terms of your career or are figuring out who you are
• Want to learn more about how powerful of a tool vulnerability and authenticity can be

[05:22] Dima, more than anyone that I know, is extremely attuned his feelings, emotions, passions and motivations. We discuss his journey of self awareness and how he came to this journey of personal evolution. He discussed his experience with depression at age 13; being an immigrant, he was subjected to a lot of bullying and eventually joined a gang as an act of rebellion. That same year he attempted suicide and it was surviving that experience that gave him a renewed energy for life. These moments of renewal continued to show up in his life - what he describes as “deaths” and “rebirths;” there would be things in the Universe that would pull him to a mini death of what his life was at that moment and into a rebirth process of following his truth and his heart.

[9:10] “If you’re sensitive enough or awake enough, staying stuck in whatever life you’re in, even if it seems good on the surface - I can listen my soul crying, I could feel that pain inside”

Dima says that the pain of not living the life of your desired dreams can trigger a quick, mini death that drives things forward, brings about change, growth and evolution or it can feel like a more slow, painful death from the inside out. On the other side of that pain exists courage, strength and even naivety to keep moving forward, often into the unknown.

[12:15] I asked him how to tune into that voice, especially when things are going well. How do you hear the voice and how do you learn to trust it? We’re surrounded by voices, from the people in our lives, including our own. The lesson is figuring out how to understand them so that we can decipher which are the messages from divine guidance/intuition. Dima mentioned it’s important to develop this relationship with those voices so that we can be aware of them since they don’t always come from our higher self. Knowing the difference gives us the power to choose.

[18:12] We talk about the power of authenticity and vulnerability. I talk to Dima about vulnerability and how it plays in his life. His biggest lesson has been learning to share his truth with himself and others. He says that our world becomes a reflection of ourselves and he wants to live in a world where people are vulnerable and free to authentically express, that has to start with him!

[18:57] We all want to be seen, that’s the deepest human need and vulnerability is the key. It unlocks our own doors and breaks down the walls for us to be seen for who we are. It also does the same for others, giving them room to tear down their walls allows for an authentic connection. We also touch on navigating the need to be seen versus the need to be validated. Dima says validation and vulnerability doesn’t always jive.

[26:30] Being vulnerable when you feel like the world is expecting something from you has happened to Dima multiple times - especially w/ having to reconcile his internal feelings with having an external identity that’s based on clarity, vision and an ability to lead. He had a recent experience after Burning Man and had a vulnerable conversation with his leadership team about what he was able to contribute. By addressing his limitations, he created a conversation with his team around their dreams and visions, followed by a discussion on how they could manifest them into the culture without having to rely on him to contribute at full capacity.

[32:31] “Truth is more powerful than any of the most powerful lies” was his response when I asked him why he thinks that things tend to line up when we lean into radical honesty and authenticity. Even if it doesn’t appear that way, honoring our truth is always more aligned with what the Universe is conjuring up.

[38:27] We talk about Dima’s spoken word and what led him to expressing artistically,

‘Art is the outlet for whatever wants to come through us that doesn’t always find a channel through the rest of our lives.” He rapped as a teenager and channeled a lot of his darkness and anger. He picked up spoken word at age 25, a time when he was going through a heartbreak. Spoken world has also became a safe way for him to express his emotions.

[45:03} Dima shares how he stays grounded with yoga, meditation and journaling. He hasn’t been consistent with each practice but he makes sure to maintain at least one; currently, it’s journaling. He journals 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing daily. Dima suggests that we all do something each day that serves us and to do it consistently.

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