Latest / Respark Your Life / EP363: Dr. Agi Keramidas - 88 Actionable Insights For Life
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What I did the first part, let's say, of my life doesn't mean that I have to do it in the second part of my life,
- 0:07Speaker 1: especially when I have found something that really I'm drawn to, which is what I do.
- 0:14Speaker 2: Hello, this is Raymond Aaron, New York Times Top 10 bestselling author,
- 0:18Speaker 2: bringing you ReSpark Your Life podcast, the world's premier podcast to ignite the fire to allow you to live life on your own terms.
- 0:27Speaker 2: Every single Thursday, I bring you a multi-millionaire, world-famous celebrity to teach you about
- 0:35Speaker 2: the most fascinating ways in order to live a far better life.
- 0:40Speaker 2: Every single Thursday, you just need to subscribe by hitting the subscribe button.
- 0:45Speaker 2: I'll see you every Thursday to re-spark your life.
- 0:52Speaker 2: Yes, this is Raymond Aaron, the founder and interviewer of Respark Your Life.
- 0:59Speaker 2: And I always bring you stealth wisdom that you couldn't find anywhere else.
- 1:04Speaker 2: And today, today I found Dr. Aggie Karamidus.
- 1:09Speaker 2: He's from Greece, which you'll be able to detect from his accent, but he lives in the United Kingdom.
- 1:15Speaker 2: And he's the host of Personal Development Mastery Podcast, which has over 500 episodes and ranks in the global top 1%.
- 1:28Speaker 2: Now, that's a big hoo-ha.
- 1:30Speaker 2: I have over 300, and I don't rank in the top 1%.
- 1:36Speaker 2: He's interviewed such amazing people as Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Dr. John Demartini, all my dear friends.
- 1:45Speaker 2: as well as inspiring you, people like you, from all walks of life.
- 1:52Speaker 2: And his most interesting story is how he guarded a wheelbarrow full of hot coals
- 2:00Speaker 2: at a Tony Robbins event.
- 2:02Speaker 2: And by the way, I also teach how to walk on hot coals.
- 2:08Speaker 2: But for insurance reasons, I can't do it any longer.
- 2:11Speaker 2: In any case, Aggie, are you here with us?
- 2:14Speaker 1: I'm here with you. Thank you very much for this great introduction. Thank you.
- 2:19Speaker 2: Well, tell me, I understand that you have a podcast, but what is it that you do during the day?
- 2:28Speaker 2: What is, if someone says, what do you do? Would you say podcast?
- 2:33Speaker 2: Like, do you make your money podcasting or coaching or speeching or what?
- 2:38Speaker 1: Nowadays, when you ask me, I will say coaching and mentoring.
- 2:43Speaker 1: The podcast, you referred earlier to my name as doctor.
- 2:48Speaker 1: So my background is in dentistry.
- 2:51Speaker 1: So I have, that has been my background for over 20 years.
- 2:58Speaker 1: But now to answer your question, it is coaching, mentoring, making a difference in that way.
- 3:06Speaker 2: And you can make a bigger difference coaching and mentoring on personal development than you can as a dentist.
- 3:13Speaker 2: Is that correct?
- 3:15Speaker 1: Look, it depends.
- 3:16Speaker 1: This really is on the definition of what making a difference is for someone.
- 3:23Speaker 1: For me, it is the whole point of the transition was not about making a difference as such.
- 3:30Speaker 1: That happened when I started walking the path.
- 3:35Speaker 1: The difference was, the main reason for the transition was the calling of, you know, the heart, if you want.
- 3:43Speaker 1: What is really, what I did the first part, let's say, of my life doesn't mean that I have to do it in the second part of my life.
- 3:53Speaker 1: Especially when I have found something that really I'm drawn to, which is what I do.
- 4:00Speaker 2: Yes, well, we are brothers in that sense.
- 4:03Speaker 2: I graduated in mathematics and physics and computers, and I don't do that any longer.
- 4:11Speaker 2: I am now in your same field of personal growth and wealth mastery.
- 4:16Speaker 2: So we have both found a new path.
- 4:19Speaker 2: And I sure didn't do it like a step-by-step program.
- 4:24Speaker 2: I didn't say, oh, let me think of what would be better for my heart.
- 4:29Speaker 2: It just kind of evolved.
- 4:30Speaker 2: Is that what happened with you?
- 4:32Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. The heart gives the nudge, the direction, if you want. Then it's up to you to take the action and to walk that journey, which takes some time. I'm not going to put definitions or anything like that.
- 4:50Speaker 1: But what I will say half jokingly, but the other half is very serious, is that things usually take longer than what we expect them to take.
- 5:03Speaker 2: Yeah. So leaving physics and math and computers was scary for me because I was so darn good at it.
- 5:16Speaker 2: And I could effortlessly get high paying jobs in it. And leaving dentistry for you must have been
- 5:24Speaker 2: just as scary, especially since it's not exactly easy to figure out how to make a living at
- 5:33Speaker 2: personal growth at helping other people so did you trust your intuition or if you did
- 5:41Speaker 2: how do my listeners trust their intuition or maybe they're wrong maybe you and like maybe we're just
- 5:48Speaker 2: only two good flukes in the world maybe everyone else who trusted their tuition left high-paying
- 5:54Speaker 1: jobs and crashed and burned i don't think that's the case that it's you and me that
- 6:00Speaker 1: There are so many people that have done similar things, and I believe that anyone that wants to do it can do it.
- 6:14Speaker 1: However, what most people do not realize at the beginning is that there is going to be a period of time before you reach to that destination, before you change or you go where you want to go, that it will be uncomfortable.
- 6:34Speaker 1: It might be scary.
- 6:36Speaker 1: It might be all sorts of these things.
- 6:39Speaker 1: I mean, you said your background in physics, in math, mine in dentistry.
- 6:44Speaker 1: Apart from the job and the income that this offers, it is also a big part of one's identity.
- 6:54Speaker 1: So for me, the phrase, I am a dentist, I have introduced like that myself for decades.
- 7:01Speaker 1: So there are things that we have to go through in order to transform or to reach the other level that, you know, to do something that fulfills us or something that responds to our calling.
- 7:17Speaker 1: So I think that I would say in a nutshell, I mean, this answer could take a long unwinding, I suppose, because it's a deep question.
- 7:30Speaker 2: A long and winding road, he says.
- 7:32Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
- 7:33Speaker 2: Okay.
- 7:34Speaker 2: Well, what daily practices or consistent actions have had the greatest impact on your life?
- 7:48Speaker 1: Some very important ones.
- 7:50Speaker 1: I was thinking of which ones, but I will tell you two that popped up when you said it.
- 7:56Speaker 1: One of them is meditation, which I have been practicing for a long time, many, many years.
- 8:06Speaker 1: The thing I will add to that, because for some people, meditation might mean that I have to sit for an hour with my eyes closed.
- 8:15Speaker 1: Many times it's just 10 minutes.
- 8:19Speaker 1: Other times it can be up to an hour, but not very often.
- 8:23Speaker 1: So that's one habit that I have done very consistently over the years.
- 8:33Speaker 1: And it gives me, Raymond, if there is one thing, it gives many things, but if there is one thing that I take is a groundedness, a centeredness.
- 8:49Speaker 1: I will just leave it to that.
- 8:52Speaker 1: I will tell you one more other habit that is extremely important for me, and that is journaling.
- 9:01Speaker 1: I like writing things down, and I have been journaling about my day or my goals or my wins or my learnings of the day every day for probably,
- 9:20Speaker 1: It's not a decade yet, but it's closing to that since I started in 2017.
- 9:26Speaker 1: I started journaling every day.
- 9:29Speaker 1: And it is a great process.
- 9:33Speaker 1: First of all, it allows me to bring some things to the surface
- 9:37Speaker 1: that when you have them just in your mind,
- 9:40Speaker 1: they can be a bit unclear or a bit muddled,
- 9:47Speaker 1: not as accurate.
- 9:49Speaker 1: When you write them down, you articulate them, you express them better, and that clarifies the idea in your mind.
- 9:58Speaker 1: So these are only two. There are many of these habits, but these really make a difference.
- 10:12Speaker 2: So I understand what you're saying about in your mind things are muddy or unclear,
- 10:18Speaker 2: and when you write them down you can see distinctions yeah we work on it yeah i've i
- 10:26Speaker 2: i don't journal but every so often when something is stirring in my mind i race to a pen and paper
- 10:37Speaker 2: or to a word document on my computer and i just start writing and writing and writing most of
- 10:43Speaker 2: which is nonsense. And then the gems come out. So I do it occasionally, but not on purpose or
- 10:51Speaker 2: just before I go to bed or something like that. And the other meditation, you know, all my super
- 10:58Speaker 2: famous friends in the personal growth industry, some of whom you've already interviewed,
- 11:03Speaker 2: they all meditate. They all boast about how amazing it is. I've never been able to. I don't
- 11:10Speaker 2: know what it is. My mind just goes racing into different nicks and crannies and cabinets. And
- 11:19Speaker 2: I remember all kinds of weird things that happened in my life. And then I reprimand myself for doing
- 11:25Speaker 2: that. And then I try to be calm. And then I'm thinking of myself trying to be calm. And the
- 11:30Speaker 2: whole thing is more of a mess than if I just didn't meditate. So finally, can you give me the cure
- 11:39Speaker 2: to my terrible attempts at meditating in my past.
- 11:44Speaker 1: I hope I can.
- 11:46Speaker 1: I hope I can.
- 11:48Speaker 1: What you just described with what happens with your mind
- 11:51Speaker 1: when you sit down to meditate,
- 11:54Speaker 1: I think if we were in a stage
- 11:59Speaker 1: and there were, you know, a hundred people underneath
- 12:03Speaker 1: and we said, who knows exactly what Raymond is talking about?
- 12:07Speaker 1: raise your hands, I think the vast majority of the people would say exactly the same thing.
- 12:12Speaker 1: And I will say personally that that's exactly what happens to me as well.
- 12:16Speaker 1: The mind will start racing and it will hijack my attention and I will forget about that I'm
- 12:24Speaker 1: meditating at that moment.
- 12:25Speaker 1: I will start thinking about, you know, a conversation that I had yesterday or whatever.
- 12:34Speaker 1: But, and I think this is the key, and I think that is the focus or the shift, if you want.
- 12:43Speaker 1: As soon as you catch yourself that your mind has drifted,
- 12:49Speaker 1: that moment is, that is the moment of mindfulness.
- 12:53Speaker 1: That is the moment that you are aware of the mind.
- 12:58Speaker 1: And then, usually, after a few seconds, it will drift away to another direction.
- 13:04Speaker 1: or the same direction
- 13:06Speaker 1: for
- 13:07Speaker 1: X period of time.
- 13:09Speaker 1: It can be seconds, it can be
- 13:11Speaker 1: even longer.
- 13:13Speaker 1: When you catch yourself again
- 13:16Speaker 1: excuse me
- 13:23Speaker 1: excuse me
- 13:25Speaker 1: when you catch yourself again
- 13:27Speaker 1: that you have drifted
- 13:30Speaker 1: that is another moment.
- 13:32Speaker 1: So that is the key.
- 13:34Speaker 1: So there is no reason to beat yourself up for your mind drifting off.
- 13:41Speaker 1: That's what the mind does.
- 13:42Speaker 1: Our mind is designed to do like that.
- 13:45Speaker 1: Our mind is not designed to stay still.
- 13:49Speaker 1: The mind will not stay still, but we will separate in a way and observe the mind
- 13:56Speaker 1: because we are not the mind.
- 13:58Speaker 1: We are whatever it is that can observe that, oh, my thoughts.
- 14:06Speaker 1: I hope that gives you a little bit of better understanding.
- 14:12Speaker 2: Okay, so your lessons to me are everyone has trouble with their mind,
- 14:17Speaker 2: but the more I notice what my mind is doing, the more awareness or consciousness I'll have.
- 14:28Speaker 1: the more moments like this that you actually are aware that you might have drifted or
- 14:36Speaker 1: you keep on picking them up or collecting them the the better if i can say it like that you become
- 14:44Speaker 1: at touching yourself and not drifting away for one minute doing it for you know 50 seconds or
- 14:52Speaker 1: whatever and it is a practice it is a practice yeah okay new topic okay you're coaching
- 15:04Speaker 2: on personal development give me an actual example you can change the name if you wish but
- 15:11Speaker 2: an actual example uh your most loving example your most delightful example of someone who came to you
- 15:18Speaker 2: and they were like lousy in some regard.
- 15:22Speaker 2: They asked you for help.
- 15:23Speaker 2: And lo and behold, the great Dr. Aggie cured me.
- 15:28Speaker 2: And now they're happy.
- 15:30Speaker 1: I will give you an example that came to my mind.
- 15:36Speaker 1: It might not be exactly as you said it,
- 15:39Speaker 1: but I think you will see the kind of something that happens.
- 15:43Speaker 1: And I suppose it is quite common.
- 15:47Speaker 1: I was coaching a lady who wanted to have her own podcast.
- 15:54Speaker 1: And actually, I was helping her with that as well at that time,
- 15:58Speaker 1: how to formulate a podcast.
- 16:02Speaker 1: So she was ready, ready to launch.
- 16:09Speaker 1: And all the episodes were good to go.
- 16:11Speaker 1: And on the evening before the big day, she called me and said,
- 16:16Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I want to do this.
- 16:18Speaker 1: I'm very scared.
- 16:19Speaker 1: I mean, the episodes, you know, they were out.
- 16:22Speaker 1: What will people say?
- 16:24Speaker 1: Which were things that we already had discussed about.
- 16:29Speaker 1: But, you know, when the time comes that it is a real key moment
- 16:35Speaker 1: that one can allow their fear, because that was fear at that time.
- 16:41Speaker 1: When you have prepared for something for months, you know,
- 16:44Speaker 1: you have researched, you have done the work,
- 16:47Speaker 1: and you're ready to go.
- 16:48Speaker 1: And just before it is fear,
- 16:52Speaker 1: then it is the reframing that needs to happen.
- 16:57Speaker 1: And, you know, the next day after we had a brief conversation,
- 17:02Speaker 1: which, you know, there was no magic formula there.
- 17:06Speaker 1: It was really allowing her to reconnect with what she wanted
- 17:11Speaker 1: rather than what she didn't want.
- 17:15Speaker 1: and the podcast launched the very next day
- 17:18Speaker 1: and actually the launch was very successful
- 17:21Speaker 1: because it went in the charts in her home country
- 17:25Speaker 1: in Cyprus
- 17:27Speaker 1: so it was, you know, that's an example that came to me
- 17:33Speaker 2: That's a good example
- 17:34Speaker 2: you seem, if I had to give you one adjective
- 17:38Speaker 2: I would say gentle
- 17:41Speaker 2: you seem to be very gentle
- 17:43Speaker 2: Your approach to her wasn't dogmatic, it wasn't methodological, it seemed to be just gentle.
- 17:51Speaker 2: It's just like you cuddled her back to what she wanted instead of following in her fear.
- 18:01Speaker 1: I think it is a very accurate description.
- 18:05Speaker 1: There is the gentleness and the groundedness, as I was saying earlier.
- 18:16Speaker 1: It helps what I have found, and without digressing too much,
- 18:21Speaker 1: that it allows people, and I mean this characteristic that you just said,
- 18:27Speaker 1: the gentleness, it allows people to be more open,
- 18:32Speaker 1: to open up and express.
- 18:35Speaker 1: And I think that is very important,
- 18:38Speaker 1: both in podcasting,
- 18:39Speaker 1: but also even more in coaching.
- 18:42Speaker 1: You want people to be open
- 18:46Speaker 1: because that's the only way you can help them
- 18:48Speaker 1: if they don't hold back
- 18:49Speaker 1: and if you don't hold back either.
- 18:52Speaker 2: Okay, so now I'm going to ask you
- 18:53Speaker 2: a really tough question.
- 18:55Speaker 2: Okay.
- 18:56Speaker 2: Okay, here we go.
- 18:57Speaker 2: If you had one adjective to use
- 19:00Speaker 2: to describe me, what would that adjective be?
- 19:06Speaker 2: Intriguing.
- 19:07Speaker 2: Intriguing.
- 19:08Speaker 2: Intriguing.
- 19:09Speaker 2: What a great word.
- 19:13Speaker 2: Wow.
- 19:14Speaker 2: I like it.
- 19:15Speaker 2: And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
- 19:19Speaker 2: Intriguing.
- 19:20Speaker 2: Wow.
- 19:21Speaker 2: Okay.
- 19:22Speaker 2: I can see that and I like it.
- 19:25Speaker 2: Very, very nice.
- 19:26Speaker 2: Now, in your coaching, do you have some kind of superstructure or template or methodology that you use, or you just use your intuition each time?
- 19:45Speaker 1: Well, no and no to both the questions, because I think they are completely the opposite.
- 19:53Speaker 1: Of course, I will use my intuition, but not rely solely on the intuition.
- 19:59Speaker 1: But in order of the methodology, no.
- 20:05Speaker 1: The short answer is no, because it's a person.
- 20:09Speaker 1: And the people that I coach are people who are in transition, usually, you know, in their 40s, 50s, successful in their life.
- 20:21Speaker 1: but either transitioning or wanting to transition
- 20:26Speaker 1: because they feel the void inside them and so on.
- 20:30Speaker 1: So each individual has very unique characteristics
- 20:38Speaker 1: and the coaching that will allow them to formulate that dream
- 20:45Speaker 1: and even better a plan towards achieving that dream,
- 20:49Speaker 1: that is completely, as far as I am concerned anyway,
- 20:54Speaker 1: as a coach, is something bespoke to the person
- 20:58Speaker 1: that will have the coaching.
- 21:01Speaker 1: So there is no template as such.
- 21:07Speaker 1: Intuition will play a big role of it,
- 21:09Speaker 1: but there are other elements that come from knowledge, experience.
- 21:16Speaker 2: Yes, of course.
- 21:17Speaker 2: But let's say a guy came to me and said, Raymond, you're my coach.
- 21:23Speaker 2: And I've just found this guy, Dr. Aggie, and he specializes in being a personal development coach.
- 21:33Speaker 2: Should I go to him?
- 21:36Speaker 2: What would I say to him?
- 21:38Speaker 2: Like, how would I say yes or no?
- 21:41Speaker 2: What is your tagline?
- 21:43Speaker 2: Like, how do I know if you're the right guy?
- 21:47Speaker 2: for a friend of mine or a client of mine?
- 21:51Speaker 1: How will you know or how will the client know?
- 21:56Speaker 1: If it is about you...
- 22:00Speaker 2: No, how would I describe you?
- 22:02Speaker 2: I guess that's my thing.
- 22:03Speaker 2: If your problem is this, then he's your man.
- 22:06Speaker 1: Okay, so if you put it like that, now I understand the question.
- 22:11Speaker 1: If you are a successful, intelligent person that feels that they are unfulfilled,
- 22:24Speaker 1: that there is something more, something different to life than what externally they have achieved by now,
- 22:32Speaker 1: but perhaps you're not sure what.
- 22:35Speaker 1: Or perhaps you've started going that direction and not sure how to get there.
- 22:42Speaker 1: then I can help you. I hope that gives you more clear description.
- 22:46Speaker 2: I wish that Robin Williams had been your client.
- 22:52Speaker 2: One of his jobs this lifetime was to bring laughter to the entire world and he did it.
- 23:00Speaker 2: But there was some emptiness inside of him that was so big that he had to end his life.
- 23:08Speaker 2: So not to put a negative into it, but that's something what you're saying, if you are successful, but there's something missing, then Dr. Aggie's your guy.
- 23:21Speaker 2: Okay, that's very exciting.
- 23:23Speaker 2: Now, you've written a book with a fascinating title, 88 Actionable Insights for Life.
- 23:33Speaker 2: Wow.
- 23:34Speaker 2: 88.
- 23:35Speaker 2: Did you get that from a keyboard?
- 23:37Speaker 2: Is that a number?
- 23:40Speaker 1: No, that actually was my intuition that you asked, purely my intuition.
- 23:44Speaker 1: The number just came to me, do 88, and I went for that.
- 23:49Speaker 1: And then it became like a special number for me since that time.
- 23:57Speaker 1: Yes.
- 23:59Speaker 2: Well, eight is the Chinese lucky number.
- 24:02Speaker 2: And so 88, you must have lots of Chinese clients.
- 24:05Speaker 2: They love eight.
- 24:08Speaker 1: And also eight, if you look at it on its side, it's the infinity symbol, which again, I have found a lot of connections with, shall we say.
- 24:19Speaker 1: So it's intriguing very much how things happen.
- 24:23Speaker 2: Yes.
- 24:24Speaker 2: Yes, I have had that synchronicity.
- 24:28Speaker 2: I created a program called 10-10-10 in which I teach people how to write a book.
- 24:34Speaker 2: And I hired a videographer team and they rented a studio.
- 24:40Speaker 2: And I said, you know what?
- 24:43Speaker 2: I should wear a different shirt every episode, every video.
- 24:52Speaker 2: And so I took all my pretty shirts out of my closet and there were 19 of them.
- 24:57Speaker 2: And I said, well, I guess I need 19 videos.
- 25:01Speaker 2: And when I wrote it down, it came to 19.
- 25:05Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it.
- 25:05Speaker 2: I said, well, I have to teach them this, then this.
- 25:07Speaker 2: Oh, I have to teach them this.
- 25:08Speaker 2: Oh, this is too long.
- 25:09Speaker 2: I better break it into two.
- 25:11Speaker 2: And then I added them up.
- 25:12Speaker 2: One, two, three, it came to 19.
- 25:13Speaker 2: I said, are you kidding?
- 25:15Speaker 2: Has God got nothing else to do but to make sure the number of pretty shirts in my closet
- 25:22Speaker 2: is the same as the number of videos I need?
- 25:27Speaker 2: But gift time, it is gift time.
- 25:30Speaker 2: And you told me before you started that you will give away a digital copy of your whole book.
- 25:37Speaker 2: Is that right?
- 25:38Speaker 2: Your whole book?
- 25:39Speaker 2: That's right.
- 25:39Speaker 2: Yes.
- 25:40Speaker 2: So the book is called 88 Actionable Insights for Life.
- 25:44Speaker 2: And it's a long URL.
- 25:46Speaker 2: So write this down www.personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com forward slash the number eight, the number eight.
- 26:01Speaker 2: So it's personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com slash the number 88.
- 26:07Speaker 2: Go there, download his book, enjoy his book.
- 26:12Speaker 2: He's a master, not just in dentistry, but in getting inside your mind and helping you
- 26:22Speaker 2: fill the emptiness or achieve a leap into another arena.
- 26:31Speaker 2: Whatever you're afraid of, I think that he is a great coach for you.
- 26:37Speaker 2: But in any case, test out his book for free.
- 26:44Speaker 2: Aggie
- 26:45Speaker 2: you did a great job
- 26:48Speaker 2: I really enjoyed this interview
- 26:51Speaker 1: so have I
- 26:52Speaker 1: thank you very much
- 26:54Speaker 1: you also did
- 26:56Speaker 1: fine so I appreciated
- 26:59Speaker 1: the conversation
- 27:00Speaker 1: and the questions that you did
- 27:08Speaker 2: wow I sure hope you enjoyed
- 27:10Speaker 2: fascinating episode. Please make sure you've subscribed and please tell your friends if you
- 27:15Speaker 2: like it that they will probably like it as well. For your information, this experience, this service,
- 27:22Speaker 2: this podcast has been sponsored by the Orbit Coaching Program. All of my friends, all my world
- 27:28Speaker 2: famous speaker friends all have coaching programs. Mine has been independently rated as the number one
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