Goals

#418 - 5-YEAR CRUSADE with John Soforic

Today’s episode is a very special one. I'm chatting with someone whose work has deeply influenced me - and our Dream Life community - over the years… the incredible John Soforic, author of The Wealthy Gardener and now The Five-Year Crusade: The Easy Way to Achieve Your Impossible Goals.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know just how much I love The Wealthy Gardener.

So when John released this new book, I was beyond excited - and couldn’t wait to bring him back on the podcast to unpack it all with you.

We talk about everything from dreaming big and structuring your life for success, to simplifying and slowing down in the pursuit of a more meaningful, purposeful life.

And what I love about John’s approach is how grounded and practical it is. No fluff - just real wisdom that you can apply daily.

So go grab a coffee or a cup of tea, settle in, and be prepared to rethink what’s possible for you in the next five years of your life.

...and we're reading Johns new book in my book club GROW this January. Join us!

As always, I’d LOVE to hear what resonated most with you - so please share and let’s keep the conversation going in the Dream Life Podcast Facebook Group here.    

…and remember, it all starts with a dream 💛

Dream Life & kikki.K Founder

P.S. If you’re ready for guided support, explore Dream Life Coaching here: https://www.yourdreamlifestartshere.com/course 💛

SHOW NOTES:

  • Buy Kristina's book, Your Dream Life Starts Here
  • Follow Kristina on Insta and TikTok
  • If you feel it's time to take a leap and invest in you, join:
    • My Platinum Coaching Program where in January our focus will be on Plan Your Year 2026. Laying the foundation with clarity, vision, and intentionality. Learn more here.  
    • My Dream Business Book Club here. In January, we'll be reading and learning from: Building a Story Brand 2.0, by Donald Miller. Learn how to clarify your message, and genuinely stand out. 
    • My online personal Growth Book Club GROW, January, where we'll be reading and squeezing the learnings out of The Five-Year Crusade: The Easy Way to Achieve Your Impossible Goals, by John Soforic. Learning how to rest - the smartest life hack of all. Learn more here.

RESOURCES:

TRANSCRIPT:

Dream Live podcast. I'm Kristina Karlsson, and today I am so excited because today's episode is really, really. Great. If you've been part of this community for a while, You may know that one of my all time favorite books is The Wealthy Gardener by the wonderful John Ric, and today we have John back on the podcast. I can't tell you how thrilled I am about that because last time he joined us, you. my listeners, absolutely love the conversation and today [00:02:00] we are diving into his brand new book, five Year Crusade, the Easy Way to Achieve Your Impossible Goals.

[00:02:08] And I'm extra excited because this is also the book we are reading inside Growth. My book club for the month of January. it couldn't be more perfect as we step into a brand new year, fuller possibility, intention, and fresh energy. John has such a gift for taking these big, bold dreams and goals, the ones that feels almost too big to say out loud and breaking them into simple, meaningful, daily actions.

[00:02:36] You know, I'm all about progress, not perfection, and these books. Fits so beautifully with everything we talk about here, dreaming boldly, planning intentionally, and then showing up each day to bring it to life It's all about a daily, it's consistency.

[00:02:54] so grab a coffee or a cup of tea, take a deep breath and get ready to be inspired. Let's welcome John Ric.

[00:03:08] well, welcome John. To say that I'm excited to have you on my podcast back is another statement your book, the Wealthy Gardener is one of my all time favorite books ever and I talk about it all the time and I, I talk about you all the time, so I am so excited to have you.

[00:03:26] Welcome.

[00:03:27] John: Well, thank you to Kristina. I think I was talking to you before. I can't seem to say no to you. You're my only You know, my only podcast for this book. I'm trying not to do them, but I

[00:03:36] can't say to Kristina.

[00:03:39] Kristina: Oh, thank you. That is so, so kind of you. I, I was so thrilled that you came up with, another book and one of the people in my community, Liv, who it has also been on my podcast, she texted me and she said, it's out. And, uh, we, in my coaching program, I talk about your book and I also have a book [00:04:00] club, as you know, and I talk about your book all the time.

[00:04:02] So it was felt like Christmas when I woke out this morning.

[00:04:07] John: Well, thank you. Thank you. I looking forward to talking about it because, uh, you've been through so much. It's nice to talk to people that have experiences. You, you always seem to ask the right questions.

[00:04:17] Kristina: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've, um, I had, a few years of, rebuilding and, uh, and when I read your book, I actually, I actually read it in one day to start with because I was just taking a day off and I was just on the couch and I read it all in, in one go, and then I've been rereading it since and it's such a great book, and it's such a good timing to have you on with a new year.

[00:04:40] But, before we dive into your book, I like to ask you, have you got a new dream? So I always ask my guest about their dreams, but do you have a new dream now since you have, you know, come up with two books and you obviously in a, in a new stage of your life?

[00:04:57] John: Absolutely new stage of my life. I think that, um, you know, I, I look at my life. I'm 60 now, so I look, I've always looked at life as not having two halves to it, but to have three acts you know, and the first act was zero to 30, and I was kind of just trying to, you know, figure life out and, and you, you kind of get socialized in those, those years.

[00:05:19] You, you figure out what works and what doesn't, and you make a lot of mistakes and you look back and you have to forgive yourself for a lot of things. You've done that 30, 30 to 60. I, I, I look at that. It's a phase of life without a doubt, where I, I see it as just extreme productivity. You're climbing, climbing, climbing, foots on the pedal and now I'm 60 and I definitely see a difference.

[00:05:41] There's the third act, you know, and, there's no fourth act. So, you know, that's where I am. What's the dream for that? I. I have time now for, uh, some things that matter more than climbing that ladder. I definitely have an ambition to, uh, pursue a lot of, uh, [00:06:00] spiritual growth. that's something that you can't do when the pedal's down as well as you can when the time, when you have the time to do it and you have the time to slow.

[00:06:07] I look forward to a lot of reading. I look forward to grandchildren. it might sound like the dream is, uh, to simplify my life and to slow down somewhat. that's the dream.

[00:06:19] Kristina: Yeah, I, I love that. And I think that's, um, it's so interesting because I think once you, so I, I'm now in my fifties and, uh, I'm still on the pad. I'm re building. So I lost my business and then now I'm rebuilding a new business. And, uh, I love it. But I am absolutely all about simplifying and, uh, I don't wanna have another big, big business.

[00:06:41] I wanna have it, you know, I'm happy with a big turnover, but not in a, in a global reach. But I, I am not going to have a big team, and it's just so nice to simplify things. And now I really enjoy speaking and coaching and my book clubs. And, uh, I travel a lot as well, which, which is what I love. So I think it's, um, different stages of life is, uh, it's good because we live and we learn right?

[00:07:08] John: Well, you know, you don't, you don't know what you don't want until you get to achieve that. That's the thing. So if you, you have a big business and you say, well, you're gonna chase that dream forever unless you achieve that dream and find out you don't want it. If it's always that carry dangling out there that you can't achieve, that's just a forever chase.

[00:07:29] So it's really good to be able to get that thing that you're hoping for so that you can then pivot once you find out, that's not the thing I'm really hoping for. And you, and that's how it works. Now, where's the pivot? But yeah. Um, a hundred percent. That's how it works.

[00:07:43] Kristina: yeah, if we have everything sorted, it will be really boring. So I love, I love the challenge that we are facing all the time.

[00:07:50] John: I, I really wish I had everything sorted. I'm sorry. I disagree with you. I wanna have everything sorted. It just never sorts.

[00:07:59] Kristina: I [00:08:00] enjoy the growth phase. So,

[00:08:02] John: Oh yeah. No, no. I, I agree. I know what you're saying.

[00:08:04] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:08:04] John: Yes. And you know what happens? As soon as, as soon as it gets sorted, you get bored and you, you throw yourself into something.

[00:08:10] Anyway, that's

[00:08:10] just how it works, Yeah. And I think if you do what you love, if that's like underpinning everything, then you know, the ups and downs that happens in, even in the most perfect life, it's just, you know, if it's not in your own life, it's, uh, you know, out in the world. So it's just, dealing with it, the ups and downs.

[00:08:26] Yeah. And if you don't know that's coming, uh, it's gonna be a lot, lot harder for you. and when I say I'm going to simplify my life and I'm gonna slow down, keep in mind I'm never happy without a goal. I, I know that's a part of me, that's part of my DNA. So yeah. My wife is, if my wife's sitting near me, she's gonna roll her eyes and, and put her hand over her head at me trying to slow down.

[00:08:47] you know,

[00:08:47] you're, you're,

[00:08:48] you're blessed with ambitious. Purpose.

[00:08:50] Kristina: yeah, that would be your challenge.

[00:08:52] John: exactly. So you're gonna, choose your purposes in the light in the last semester of life, but there will always be a lot of purpose, I'm

[00:09:00] Kristina: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fantastic. So I'm curious, what made you write your new book, the Five Year Crusade, the Easy Way to Achieve Your Impossible Goals?

[00:09:14] John: You know, a lot of readers asked for that. You know, we, we first had that book that you spoke of, and, you know, we had a lot of kind people, uh, they reach out and they, they seemed like there's a theme on the five year crusade that was continually, brought up. Uh, they, people like the idea of having a finite amount of time where they can put down a one-time sacrifice and maybe just elevate their life from that sacrifice.

[00:09:41] that was a common theme. That. And keep in mind, that's the book I said I'd never write, I said, I'm never gonna write a sequel. I'm never, there's that word. I'd never, uh, because it's just too hard. these, these books kill me. they leave me dead. Uh, so why I, it was an answer to that.

[00:09:59] I [00:10:00] think I, I, that got me thinking, but then I, it, just felt to me like the reason for that book was that I needed, like, I, I lived my whole life by a system like the Wealthy Gardener is, you know, I left it all in there. No question. That was my book to my son. I left everything there. What there wasn't in the Wealthy Gardener, which maybe is in the next book, is just a continuum of can we just narrow this down to the essentials?

[00:10:26] Like, what are the items that you cannot not do? That was my fundamental question throughout this, trying to write this book. And, you know, I'm pretty well read. I see, I see that you have a stack of books behind you. Uh, so I am too, and I also have 40 years behind me, of working in this world trying to succeed and, and doing okay, so what were the things I could not, not do?

[00:10:51] What did, what did I bring with me from 20, 30, 40, 50 and simplify it? And it's not gonna be, it's not gonna be a magic bullet because these are timeless things that we all know. The basics are timeless. That's why they're, they don't sound so new, but can we put 'em all together and create a, what we call a lifestyle, which is what I did all my life.

[00:11:11] And people will say to me from this book, they say, well, it takes a pretty motivated person to do what you're writing about in that book. And I say, I did that today. in my time, it's 4:00 PM I checked off the list in that book for myself today. I

[00:11:23] do it every day. So, you know, tracking is very, very important.

[00:11:28] And to track, you have to have a list. And so I felt like that was the reason for it. Can we narrow it? Can we focus it? Not that the wealthy gardeners wrong in any way, but can we just make, make the next step? Maybe the protagonist of the story comes in, comes back and narrows it down to the essentials.

[00:11:47] You know, that was the idea.

[00:11:49] Kristina: yeah. I love it. I think that that is so true and I've been thinking about writing a second book as well. I have a few things brewing in my head and, uh, and I [00:12:00] do think that systems and, you know, having almost like a, A plan made for you that people can just put in their things is really a great way and you've done it in such a good way.

[00:12:10] So let's, jump in. I wanna start with the power. One of the chapters is the Power Within. Can you just talk a little bit about that and then we'll get through, you know, the C and the R and the U, et cetera.

[00:12:23] John: Sure. so the power within, I've always had a fundamental belief, and, you know, when I look at the, uh, when I look at this image of you with all these books behind me, that's, that's me with all the books that I've read. And I'm sure that I've, uh, I've been formed by other thinkers before me, but Maybe it's, um, just a fundamental belief throughout my life that, if I can turn on what's inside of me, if I can use that, uh, if I can just not waste that. If you wanna call it your soul, if you wanna call it your potential, if you wanna call it your innate wisdom, your abilities, your what, whatever that essence is, that's you.

[00:13:02] If you can squeeze that, I can get what I want in this world.

[00:13:06] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:13:06] John: a lot of what I do is about the, about making sure the resources that were given to me aren't squandered, are used, are focused. And that comes down to time. It comes down to self-care. That comes down to what I put in my mind, comes into daily, daily feeding myself, reprioritizing myself, making sure that I'm not screwing around with time, money, attention, those kind of things.

[00:13:31] Health. You know, so it was really basic, but that's what came, that's what came through it. I could increase and I could empower that. And if I could empower that essence in me and not ruin that e with bad habits and things like that, and then learn to express it and engage it, uh, that's the system, that's the thing.

[00:13:51] Kristina: Yeah. I so agree. And when you came into my coaching program as a guest speaker, when you just came up with Wealthy Gardener, you said something [00:14:00] that has been brought up many times in the coaching program, especially for those people who've been there for a long time. And one thing was that, you talked about not wasting your time on watching television and you said you never criticize people who are watching.

[00:14:16] Television versus other people might criticize you for, you know, spending all that time creating financial freedom. So have you still got that frame of mind?

[00:14:26] John: It is sacred to me, Kristina, that's sacred. in the united, in the, the United States. It's 700 hours a year. that's TV alone. the cell phone is over 2,700 hours alone. we're talking about 3000 hours a year. You could learn languages in, in at that kind of time. so, like, I, I don't believe that everybody's has the same ambition.

[00:14:55] I don't believe so. You have to find out what works for you. For those who feel unsettled, for those who want change in their life, for those who have ambition, God-given ambition, and they're just not satisfied. Well, you can't have it all. You just can't. I don't care how smart you are, you can be a one 50 iq, but if you spread it thin across sitcoms, it doesn't matter.

[00:15:22] Nothing matters. You can take care of your health. You can influence, you can put your mind on things, focus on goals manifest. You can be the best person in the world all day, but if you use your free time on nothing but entertainment, forget it. It's not gonna work. Stop complaining. mean, if you're the one who needs that, now, if you, if you don't have that ambition, okay, fine. Watch all the TV you want. I mean, it's easier, just do it. But there's some of us that won't be happy that way. And so if you're not happy, like me, without having achieved something. Goals, you gotta turn off that [00:16:00] tv.

[00:16:00] It does. It just costs you your life.

[00:16:03] Yeah.

[00:16:04] Kristina: Yeah,

[00:16:04] I couldn't agree more. And because we don't, in our living space downstairs, we have a TV upstairs for movies, et cetera, but I never see a television except if I'm at the airports. And then I'm reminded that people actually do, do watch, do watch, uh, television. Uh, and, um, yeah, I, you know, I do a lot of, plane trips and, um, I'm just about to head over to Sweden and, I'm so excited about 24 hours on a flight, and it's not gonna be movies, it's going to be books, you know, I always really listen to the Wealthy Gardener, so that would be definitely on my playlist.

[00:16:39] But also, I, I love working on the plane and, and thinking and,

[00:16:43] John: I love planes. Nobody can get you, nobody can get you at a plane. It's, It's

[00:16:47] free time. It's un it's so uncompressed and if you need to think, you look out that window at that vista out there. And there's something about it. The, I love planes. Like my wife doesn't like to travel. Gimme a good seven hours on a plane.

[00:17:00] I'm happy.

[00:17:01] Kristina: Yeah. And I was saying yes, I was really slow to replying back to you with, with the time. I, um, I need a good flight to get through my emails. That's like, so, and I travel every week, so that's what I do on my planes. But, um, the long haul fights for me is gonna be about, you know, dreaming, setting the intentions for the year ahead.

[00:17:19] It's really, really exciting. So let's get into crusades. So C is for clarity, and this is something that you mentioned in the wealthy Gardener, that I have a Ian board, and that is you are what you do today. Let's talk about that.

[00:17:37] John: Absolutely I, and that's gonna give right back to tracking. I can promise anybody at this stage of life, I could say that's a black and white to me. I can promise anybody that you will not know what you do if you don't track what you do. And generally speaking, you will tell yourself stories that you're doing your best.

[00:17:57] And I'm one of the human [00:18:00] beings I'm talking about. I, I learned the lesson, the tracking. I. Makes it objective and so that you are what you do. I track my hours, I have, for those just listening, you won't see it. This is my little

[00:18:12] timer. I come down here, I probably have two hours every morning in before my wife walks down and she goes, hit your clock.

[00:18:19] I goes, beep. I'm, I'm off the clock. I turn around and talk to my wife because if I don't do that, I'm, I'm gonna think I got eight hours in, but I don't, unless I track so you are what you do. That's an Aristotle quote. You know, I don't make things up. Right. Uh, you are what you do repeatedly.

[00:18:36] Uh, so in this day, I'm an exerciser in this day, I'm a writer in this day. I'm a I'm talking to Kristina in this day. I, ate to perfection on my keto diet on this day. Like, so those are the things you are what you do. No talk.

[00:18:52] Kristina: Yeah. Yeah. And how do you, how do you Track it for, for people who are listening? Are you tracking it manually or are you checking it.

[00:19:00] on this, on an app or is, uh, your app

[00:19:03] John: Well, yeah, I do track on my app. I, I use, because that just grew out of the, uh, card that this was my card I would track with manually, all the time. So I just have like, whatever your habits are, you just have to keep track of it. Winners are trackers, trackers are winners.

[00:19:21] if you show me an exercise that's gonna do a marathon, I guarantee you they have a book and they track what they do. It's no different with anything else you're doing in life. If you wanna lose weight, you're gonna track your calories. You're gonna run a marathon, you're gonna track your miles on the road.

[00:19:32] You, if you're gonna, if you're gonna write a book, you're gonna track what you do in your free time when you're not working, making a living. So those are the ways you do it. So now I track, I, I have a app that I created for the, the, had a developer do it for the book to help people actually follow the principles of this book you're talking about.

[00:19:50] So yeah, I actually have six hours logged in, in terms of what I call impact hours. And then I have two hours that I call just regular busy [00:20:00] work hours. And I'm pretty much done after talking to you, I'm gonna make some dinner and, uh, take my dog for a walk.

[00:20:07] So I track on an app now.

[00:20:08] Kristina: Yeah. how do you review that?

[00:20:11] John: so every morning, uh, I will wake up. There's a planner, a weekly planner, which I, prioritizing a day is one of the, one of the essentials of the book. So you, you start your day with a planner, just look over what your goals are for the week. This is nothing that everybody listening doesn't know.

[00:20:29] let me just make this disclaimer. I will talk about nothing new. I will talk about prioritization, making three top priorities a day, and not, not doing them. You have to do them. I'll do that. How do I track it? I guess start my day with a morning, weekly. I have weekly goals. I check out what I'm gonna do in the morning.

[00:20:48] I, I always start with a spiritual time in the morning before I do that. I wake up pretty early. Then I start my day. you prioritize. But that all starts on Sunday because if you don't, if you don't have weekly goals, you're not gonna have urgent goals daily. We all know this, but do we do it?

[00:21:05] That's the thing. We all know what to do. A system helps you do what you know ought to do. And that's what this book was for people. It was a, it was a system to help people to do what they know to do but aren't doing. Let's just do that, you

[00:21:18] Kristina: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I couldn't agree more. And it's, um, and I think sometimes we, um, when we hear this, it's so simple, but it doesn't mean that it's easy because, you know?

[00:21:30] a lot of us get distracted, a lot of us get excited if you're ambitious person. One of my biggest challenges that I get excited about too many things, and, uh, as we know, that's not a, not a good thing either.

[00:21:42] So, um, so yeah, I think, uh, you know, what we are talking about here is nothing new, but it's often what people say is common sense, but it's not commonly practiced. And I think that's why it's so important to reread books and, you know, being super clear on what you want.

[00:21:59] John: and that's why a [00:22:00] system is so important. Like that's the one thing I would say that, if I didn't track everything like that prior, prior, I'm making three priorities a day. I check that off.

[00:22:11] Kristina: Yeah,

[00:22:12] John: It keeps it in front of me. I would forget it. I'm just dumb. I wouldn't stick to my diet.

[00:22:18] I'm just dumb. I would float somewhere else. I wouldn't do 45 minutes of exercise today. I would just do something else. It it, we don't decide to not do these good things. it just floats away. That's the whole idea with a, a checklist and a system. and I would say of all of all of them, it's the checklist, the system to keep yourself, to keep it in front of you.

[00:22:39] that's why it's just, it is easier if you have a system. It is easier, it's really hard, if not impossible to keep everything together if you don't,

[00:22:49] in my opinion.

[00:22:50] Kristina: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:50] John: So that's the idea of that Yeah, you are what you do, but, but if you list what you do and follow a list, it just becomes so much simpler.

[00:22:59] I've always done that. I used to make fun of me in college. They have a pull, where's your list? And then they'd pull this little list out of my, out of my pocket. Am I Well, yeah, I have a list. What are you doing? You, you know, these guys, these guys are going home and smoking pot. All they're, they're making fun of my list,

[00:23:15] so, you know.

[00:23:16] Kristina: yeah. It's, it's so, it's so interesting and, you know, I also think that, you know, in your college days things were perhaps more black and white. Today, in today's world, it's very gray because often when we, we might pick up our device to do something productive, and then you see a notification or you see you thinking, I'm just gonna, you know.

[00:23:38] I, I spend a lot of time on social media because that's where, how I promote all the things that I do and share and all the things that I wanna share with my followers.

[00:23:47] And, uh, it's so easy to all of a sudden find myself 10 minutes later in a rabbit hole. you know, and I'm very conscious of that, and I can only imagine if you are not conscious of that, that all of a [00:24:00] sudden, you know, we, we, we just entering entered a social media ban for here in Australia where I live, under 16.

[00:24:08] You're not allowed to use social media, and I think

[00:24:10] John: Oh, I love that.

[00:24:12] Kristina: And I think it's, yeah, and I think, you know, and it's funny because I actually think for us over 50 should also stop using it because I, I, and you know, I am also guilty of it for sure, but I see, so like when I've traveled, uh, and I have the most incredible, I moved to Sydney this year, and, uh, I have this incredible, commute.

[00:24:33] I, I go from, um, I go on a ferry, to the Oprah house, and then I jump on a train to the airport. And I do that every, every week. And, and it's so beautiful and, uh, I, I am never gonna take it for granted, but most people are. You're just looking down and I think we, we are missing so many of the, we miss being bored, which I think is really important

[00:24:55] John: I was gonna say that. I was gonna say that. Yeah, we, you're old enough, as I am, to understand something called boredom, which doesn't exist nowadays, where you would come to a stop sign and you just have to sit.

[00:25:09] And wait, it's even harder for you if you're, because you're engaged in the social media.

[00:25:14] we all know this, this system is stacked against us. It is a dopamine addiction. Uh, they're, that's the game of it. They, they want that, they're after our attention. And it's like, so what holds you away? Like, I, like, so part of the bad habit fast that I do now, I, one of the things is, okay, I don't look at, any news.

[00:25:36] I have one, one app that'll give me the top five things that's happening that day. Uh, that's all. And it's gonna give it to me in very vanilla terms.

[00:25:44] So it's really boring. Uh, so it, you have to fight it. It's like, it's like spiritual warfare, uh, against social media. But if you're especially involved in it like you are with promoting and stuff, I don't know if I'd be big enough for that.

[00:25:57] I mean, I.

[00:25:58] Kristina: No, you just have to, I [00:26:00] mean, it's, and uh, and I'm not perfect at it, but I, it's, um, it's something I'm really, really conscious of. And, um, and especially because it's really, especially if like, if something goes viral, it's really interesting to see how that's all happening. And so like, so it's almost become like a little project in its own, but then I'm like, no, I'm gonna spend a, you know, certain amount of time on it.

[00:26:20] And, and it's also, I.

[00:26:22] find it really difficult because in today's world I get messages from, so many different places that sometimes I'm like, I actually don't even know where that came, You, know, where that, where that message came from. And it's kind of disappeared in all the other messages. So it's a, it's not easy to navigate and, um, yeah, if you're not conscious of it, it's, um, it's definitely a big challenge for a lot of people.

[00:26:43] So this book will help for sure. So I wanna move on to restore calmness. Is. Power. And, um, I love this because I, you know, the, the mental load that we have in today's

[00:26:58] John: You, you need exercise with what you're doing. You have a pace and a load where you need exercise. I don't know if you do or not, but it would, you really need it because you have so much going on,

[00:27:12] Kristina: Yeah. Oh, for sure. And, uh, I, I mean, I start my day with A walk, so it's not the exercise, but it's just out in nature. 'cause I, I need it, so I need that more for my health versus, yeah. So that's how I see it and it's how I feel. And I live in the most, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the world by the water here.

[00:27:34] And it's just so beautiful. So I, I feel like I crave that.

[00:27:38] John: Absolutely. Well, I can't wait to come down and visit you with my wife, and if you're ever home for two days,

[00:27:44] Kristina: I'm, I'll be, I'll be, I think we need to do a, um, when you come to Australia, we need to do a, we have a global community, but majority of our people in the coaching program and my book club are in Australia, so we need to do an in person for sure. [00:28:00]

[00:28:00] John: That'd be great. Yeah. No, but you know, we're on the front wave of this whole, uh, this social media thing. It's not just the time you're taking, like, and we, I go into it in this book right now. It's because this, the, the habit of checking that phone, checking the phone, checking the phone, which is what people, you know, we all do.

[00:28:15] You see it, it's, it's commonplace. It's doesn't have to be even, uh, explained it will create a, a tension deficit disorder in us that we didn't have. Because of that, it will affect our dopamine. We can go through a dopamine reset. We are really pliable. If we, if we just stay away from that thing, we can go for a month.

[00:28:35] Uh, the dopamine reset will happen. So. There are ways to really, really get that attention back. And I'm seeing people my age, telling me that they can't concentrate intelligent people. Uh, doctors, and I look at them, they're worse than teenagers. They're always on that phone, like touching things, you know, and they're telling their kids not to do exactly what they're doing.

[00:28:55] Kristina: yeah. so for restoring, what kind of advice would you give for people who kind of feel like they're in that kind of bad rap? Like how do you get out of it? What's your

[00:29:06] John: just exact, I would do exactly what you're doing. You know what people do is they, they don't start something because it looks so hard or they do start it and they make it so hard that it's just agonizing and they don't stay with it. What people just have to do is just, uh, you really have to take. I'm, I'm a jumping guy.

[00:29:26] I, I tend to jump in with, I'm like that, I'll, I'll start out big, but I think with exercise it's really smart to set a time limit and just make your goal movement. I don't care what it is, just get used to the idea that there's a time allotment and make that time separate from your life. Get used to that.

[00:29:47] I promise anybody if they start walking like that, just during that time allotment and that might be enough. maybe you don't have to get your heart rate up to one 30. Maybe you, a lot of walkers, I'm not sure if you do heart rate, but you're [00:30:00] probably walking at 1 20, 1 25 and it, your, what you just said your age was, that's about what you should be doing.

[00:30:06] Quite frankly, you know, you, you should be doing the majority of your time in a zone two exercise.

[00:30:11] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:30:11] John: What's, what's my advice this is the easy way. You know, it sounds like you, you're tacking things on. You want life to be easier, you. Just do a little walking regimen, start it, then build up.

[00:30:22] Most people will do it that way. It will make it easier. You'll empower yourself. You become a different person

[00:30:28] mentally, as well as physically. The energy is different, but it's what you do with your mind. The invisible stuff. Exercise changes you to make you better for that day. It changes your personality and you can do exactly what you're talking about.

[00:30:43] But sit 15 minutes. You don't have to kill it.

[00:30:46] Kristina: Yeah, absolutely. And you And you know this, since I moved to Sydney, um, I started going back to yoga into, so I've always done yoga, but, since COVID I was doing it at home and then I went back and, um, when I started it was hard and, uh, still, still hard, but, but I. the hardest part is walking out the door, grabbing the yoga mat, and rolling it out at the studio.

[00:31:12] The rest is actually easy in terms of, the hardest part is getting there. And, um, I think both of us love a Zig Ziglar quote, and I, this is one that I probably repeat every podcast. You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. And I, it just sums it, up so easily because you just have to start.

[00:31:31] And even if like around the block or even walking outside and back in again, that momentum will then start and you feel good and you, you know, you get dopamine effect in an earning way versus just through, you know?

[00:31:43] those quick cheap ones.

[00:31:45] John: and know that that's normal. Uh, like even me, I've exercised for 40 years. My wife and I are driving to the pole and I'm, I'm saying. I just gotta get through the first 10 minutes. If I can get to the first 10 minutes, then I can get to that 20 minutes, then I can get to the [00:32:00] 30 I. Okay. And so that's called normal.

[00:32:03] I have a treadmill in my house here. 'cause it's, it's cold and it's snowy and it's not a day to run outside. And I have, I followed these, these pros around. And they're telling you, huh, okay, this is what you do when you, they don't wanna do it either. That's called normal. We just have to get moving.

[00:32:18] It's not gonna go away. And most of this stuff we're talking about right now, it's not like a one and done. Ah, got that one checked off. I'm, I'm gonna, ma I got that mastered now. Not gonna worry about, no. They always come back in these cycles. It's always hard. You're always gonna have times when you, you feel like you're too busy, you can't exercise because blah, blah, blah.

[00:32:35] Feeling the excuse. I'm tired, I'm too busy. Uh, and, and those, those are all just that don't turn on your tv.

[00:32:41] Don't turn on your phone, don't do anything until you exercise it. We all have 15 minutes stare at your phone while you, while you walk on it. I don't know, do something like that. But, that's what's really important is that you just don't allow the excuses to overtake you because they will always be there.

[00:32:57] Even when you're in shape. Marathoners have excuses,

[00:33:00] Kristina: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[00:33:01] that's the power of consistency. It's just, you know, you just show up and you just do it. and I always say you, I have never come back from a walk feeling worse. I always, not always, but most of the time I feel better and I feel excited.

[00:33:15] And if I listen to something, I normally go quiet to start with because I walk as soon as I wake up after my meditation. So I often wanna start kind of slow and then I put something on in terms of a podcast or a audio book and, um, then I just come back so inspired.

[00:33:32] John: Absolutely. And you know, hey, it's the biggest roadblock I always see is that people want that 30 minute workout, let's say. And because you can't fit that 30 minute workout in, you do nothing. You know? No, no, no, no, no. You shrink it. Let's do a 15. You've still got time for 15, right? Okay. No. Okay. 10 minutes on a treadmill.

[00:33:51] Do that. Then you can always shrink it on the busiest day of your life. Just, just make it smaller. You'll be glad you did. And you won't break the consistency [00:34:00] string. Uh, that's what happens is you miss one day, you miss two days, and guess what? It's two months later. just don't miss two days in a row.

[00:34:08] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:34:08] John: miss one day here. Don't miss two days in a row.

[00:34:11] Kristina: Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So then we come to you in crusades and that is unlearn. Your vices are just habits that feel good but harm. You unlearn your vices with a habit fast. So what is a good habit? Fast. So we spoke about social media, obviously. That's a good one.

[00:34:28] Are there some other ones that you have done that has been useful for you?

[00:34:33] John: well, here's the thing, Kristina, whatever, like, we talk about this like, you know, that there's, the people will complicate things so much and we'll, we're trying to do all these things, so Right. And we're, we're doing all, everything is like, we're trying, trying, trying with all these good habits and all this work and everything, but we can be held back by a few bad habits that just still the living power out of us.

[00:34:55] Uh, one of which, let's say if a person. mixes drinking with, with, uh, on weekdays and things like that. You're gonna, you're gonna find that if you, if you don't do that, it's gonna make your life a lot easier, far, far easier. Uh, if you don't, I would say that's a big one here in America now, they're, they're getting away from drinking a lot, but now we're moving into, maybe, you know, mar other substances that'll, that'll fit the bill.

[00:35:21] That's a big one. Uh, maybe your bad habit is, is just emotional. Maybe it's just anger. That's where you're dissipating a lot of your emotion every day all of us know what our bad habits are. I don't believe we don't. those are the kind of things we don't want to talk about to people.

[00:35:36] You kind of know, you kind of have a little bit of shame. You carry it with you and you say, you know. I know I'd be better without this one. A lot of times it's the, so it's the obvious, the social medias, the TVs, the entertainment addiction,

[00:35:49] call it what you want. There's a whole umbrella that fits under that I would say diet is, is you can really change your personality through what you eat and [00:36:00] what you drink in a day.

[00:36:01] Uh, throughout my entire life, I would never have a big, carby pasta type of, uh, food for lunch. I'd be dead. so eating, uh, whatever your bad habits are there, I happen to be, uh, a sugarholic. I have to, I watch, I watch my carbs because I can, I can go off the rails. I love sugar.

[00:36:19] I love sweet foods. So I track that right now. That's one of my bad habits that I track and don't allow myself to do. I never really did. Drink. it messed with my productivity and sleep too much. I, I just, I, I couldn't do that. Uh, so everybody has their own bad habits.

[00:36:36] Those were mine.

[00:36:37] Kristina: yeah, absolutely. so I did three and a half years no alcohol. A few years ago, and then I started drinking occasionally again. And then last year, so 2025, I decided to not drink at all. because of sleep and because of productivity and the way I looked at it, because people say, oh, you need to have some fun every now and then, then I do have fun anyway.

[00:37:02] It's, uh, it is not really determining if I have fun or not. And for me, it was not fun to wake up and not feeling great because I didn't sleep well. And it really affects me. 'cause I, I track it on my aura, ring

[00:37:15] my sleep. Yeah.

[00:37:16] John: I got the same one. You're gonna never drink if you have a, or ring.

[00:37:19] Kristina: Oh my gosh. It's like, and, and even like eating late, that was another thing. So I tracked my sleep. it was like, alcohol. Absolutely. And I share my results with a, a girlfriend in Sweden. And, uh, you know, when we, when she's drinking or if I, when I used to drink, I'll be like, don't track, don't look at my, my, don't look at my, um, my score because I'm gonna have a glass of wine.

[00:37:43] And even if I just had one. or two glasses of wine,

[00:37:46] it would just, oh,

[00:37:48] John: See. Here's what people don't know though. They don't know. Like if, if you keep yourself a little bit, uh, drinking here and there, you kind of always feel fuzzy. you don't realize what real clarity is with total abstinence. I [00:38:00] always joke with my young nephews and nieces, I said, don't ever stop drinking because one drink is gonna mess you up.

[00:38:05] You are gonna feel like you just drank some NyQuil cause it's gonna make you feel worse because you are now used to a, a better norm. Your baseline is better,

[00:38:14] uh, without it. So, yeah. That's funny because you pulled, you pulled that ora ring up. 'cause I did the same thing.

[00:38:19] And

[00:38:19] the late meals too.

[00:38:21] late meals. Yeah.

[00:38:22] Kristina: yeah. And it's so good. and one of the things, because when I started my new business, I didn't wanna get to the end of the year and thinking I could have done more because I slept better. So I, that was my real, real focus. So, um, Yeah.

[00:38:37] I'm really glad and I'm not continuing it, which is great.

[00:38:40] So I wanna go, into s in Crusades for sacrifice. An extraordinary life requires the sacrifice of ordinary things. We're already, um, touched a little bit about that, but what do you think? The everyday person apart from television and social media and uh, what, what do you think we need to sacrifice to actually create For me, that's.

[00:39:06] John: I think that one of the hardest things for people to swallow is that we have to come to grips with the fact that we're gonna have a job. Plus overtime, hours, whatever that is. Now, that means what everybody says, well, I, I would rather have a family.

[00:39:24] I'd rather have time with my family, uh, as opposed to get rich. I'd rather have time with my family as opposed to go, you know, have this career. I've rather this dream of mine. I, and they used the family a lot. I raised a family while I were pursued. My, my, you know, financial freedom, uh, was a big thing for me.

[00:39:41] Uh, I had a family. You will not be present every minute of the day whenever you're doing something. So one of the sacrifices are time with people very ordinary times. And I would say though, okay, so like, they'll, they'll always say that, well, you know, you'll hear that. priorities [00:40:00] are mixed up.

[00:40:00] You're not spending time with the kids. Your kids don't wanna spend all the time with you and they're teenagers, like, don't use them for excuses. They don't really wanna be with you all the time. Uh, so yeah, time with people, time with wives and spouse, you know, your partners that will be diminished, but only to the extent.

[00:40:18] I mean, you're still gonna have a lot of time, people, uh, not, it's not exclusive, it's not absolute. I think that's the biggest one people have to understand.

[00:40:26] Kristina: yeah,

[00:40:27] John: you sacrifice time with people.

[00:40:29] Uh, the rest of it is a lot of the entertainment stuff. We come back to that stuff again, which gets into the bad habits and so forth.

[00:40:36] Kristina: yeah,

[00:40:37] John: But time, let's put it this way, in, in that chapter, we said this, write your dream on a piece of paper. Put a line across the middle. Put everything you currently do in your non-working hours, everything. Everything below that line is competing with a dream above the line.

[00:40:58] Kristina: I

[00:40:58] John: you gotta pick and choose.

[00:41:00] It doesn't all have to go, but that's the game of sacrifice.

[00:41:04] Kristina: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's so powerful because it's, it's the choices. And we, people get sometimes frustrated when I say we all have 24 hours, but this is truth. We have 24 hours. And yes, some people are more privileged to have more support and, meal cooked for them or whatever.

[00:41:20] But in, if we just have to go into our own reality and then decide, because we cannot compare to someone, you know, like, uh, Oprah or, you know, who has made it in a different scale. We cannot, like we can compare for the rest of our lives, but it's not gonna change us. And I think that's so important to kind of come back to ourselves.

[00:41:39] It's like where you are at, that's where we need to start working on and not, you. It's easy to say, well, she has that and that. I'm like, yes, that's what she has, but what I have is what I can do. with like, that's,

[00:41:53] John: do.

[00:41:53] Kristina: You know, it's, it's just another excuse I guess.

[00:41:56] John: You can do what you can with what you have, where [00:42:00] you are.

[00:42:01] why do you think they would push back from the idea that it's so obvious that everybody has 24 hours? Why do you think they do that?

[00:42:09] Kristina: well, it's just another excuse to, you know, having to do the work. It's, um,

[00:42:13] it,

[00:42:14] John: them, you're making them uncomfortable.

[00:42:15] Kristina: yeah, yeah, you know, creating a dream life. It's, um, it's not easier in any shape or form, but it's more meaningful. And that's how, that's what I come back to all the time.

[00:42:25] It's like, you know, living an ordinary life in terms of going to work that you don't love and not doing things you don't feel meaning in that is not easy either. So you

[00:42:37] just have to choose.

[00:42:39] John: And you know, Absolutely. and you know what Kristina, people always say, well, I don't wanna bust my ass like this. I don't wanna, well, you know, if you look, if you put a camcorder, a, a, a GoPro on my head and follow me around, you're gonna see that I'm not really busting my ass at all. What I'm doing is just always controlling my focus, and I'm always on purpose.

[00:43:00] I'm not in a coal mine digging, you know, shoveling, I'm not digging ditches, I'm not even sweating what we call really, really hard work. People hundred years ago would laugh at us like we're doing an air conditioning. And so we're, all we have to do is control our focus and use our hours, and that's what we call hard work.

[00:43:21] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:43:21] John: pretty privileged problem these

[00:43:23] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:43:23] I know it is. it absolutely is. I want to go into a for activity. Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right. And I think this is for, perfectionists out there. I think we all have a little bit of that within us. So, um, what's your thought on people who are wanting to do things perfectly, which sometimes that means that you actually never start or you never finish because you always think that you can do it better.

[00:43:53] John: Well, so I preached from experience. I'm one of those people.

[00:43:58] I started this [00:44:00] book. I wrote and had a first published manuscript paid for, I threw it in the trash, redid it. Published, paid for, ready to go through that in the trash. had a narrator do this, uh, the first narration of the book through that in the trash.

[00:44:16] So now I'm up to how much money, I don't even think about it. how much time, how many years, how many efforts. So yeah, I'm preaching from experience. I don't know. I go both ways on this one because sometimes my, see, it doesn't paralyze me. Like, it's like that's the one thing, uh, if it paralyzes you, if you feel fear out of perfection, I would say that that's a negative side of it.

[00:44:38] some of the, the, the perfectionist in me can drive me into unhappiness in the process. No doubt about that. But it does create a better product.

[00:44:47] So I I don't know about that. What, like, I, I haven't figured out, I kind of gotta go with my, go with what it is. I cannot, I just can't release it.

[00:44:55] I can't let it go unless I feel like my goal for this book is just that. Okay, uh, it's gonna be the best I can do. Like, I know it's easy to say, but there's, there's a time when you say like, I don't care anymore. Do you ever get to the point where you go to a, you take a test in school, let's say everybody goes to school and you know what, you've done all the studying you wanna do, you can't study anymore and you're ready to take the grade no matter what.

[00:45:21] I don't care what it is. I've done my best. And if I didn't, if I don't get a good grade, it's just 'cause I'm not smart enough to hell with it. Well, that's, that's kind of how I, I got to with this book. Like that's where I can get to a level of contentment where I say, okay, I can take anything anybody can say to me now and.

[00:45:39] Even though I'm a perfectionist because I did my best, and if they don't like the book, I'm just gonna say I'm sorry. I wish I was smarter too. Okay. I really do wish I was smarter. I I, it's the best I could do. I'm sorry. that's where perfectionist is. Uh, I think what the terms of the action, Kristina, I think it can get challenging there because you're [00:46:00] gonna be the perfect person to talk to when you're in charge of so many businesses at one time.

[00:46:05] There are so many important things competing for your time. they sometimes look all important and it's hard to see which one is the 10 versus the nine. 'cause they all look mandatory, urgent, important, which one is gonna move the needle the most? That's what I'm talking about with the activity, the strategy of, what you do in your free time.

[00:46:26] Let's say we actually do this free, this five year crusade, and you're gonna work five to 20 hours in your free time, like which this book really does preach what you do, what you fill those hours up with matters immeasurably there's so many things I could have done in real estate, but my, what I had to do is get my butt into houses and make offers on houses and That's the thing, like there's always a thing, right? A one thing that was the one thing for me, but sometimes that thing becomes a secondary thing because I have all my money tied up over here in these houses, and I have to jump in here with the contractors, get as dirty as anybody, because now that's the thing, because I'm outta money.

[00:47:07] And so it's always that prioritizing the weekly strategy session, which is reverse engineered all the way back from your five year goal. You bring it back into it, the whole process like that, we all know it. We've heard it a million times. We don't do it. So we bring it back and we have our urgencies and those, they can change weekly.

[00:47:24] It doesn't always, like with you, I can't even imagine a hundred businesses. I, I don't know how you did it. Uh, so like you're juggling so many things at one time. You really have to streamline.

[00:47:37] Kristina: Yeah, and you know, I, uh, you know, I'll spread myself a little bit too thin, um, this year. But, I love it. And, uh, but I'm, that my, focus this year is, is really around the, the coaching program and my speaking versus, and then the book club is kind of part of it because that's something I do anyway, so it's not, it's, it's probably sound worse than it is, but one of, one, one of the things with, when it comes [00:48:00] to perfectionism what I have seen, especially my coaching program, and, uh, I have a few friends around this as well, where they.

[00:48:08] talented in their field. So, remember going for a walk with two girlfriends, both really expert in their field, and they were talking about someone who was doing really well in their field. and they were talking, they were admiring her, which was a lovely thing, but I just stopped them both.

[00:48:26] And I just said, Hey, what do you think is the difference between you and her? And both of 'em said, well, she's doing this and that. And I'm like, yes, you can do that as well. The difference between you and her is that she actually is doing it. And I think for people who are really clever and really talented and you want it to be so perfect and you don't do it, and then you look at someone who are doing it, maybe not in a per, they were all admiring her, and she probably didn't do it perfect, but she did it. And I think that's the difference between people taking that next step. And I think that's the most dangerous things when it comes to perfectionism because I don't know if you're a perfectionist, there is actually never a stage where you can release, like your book, you can work on your book for the rest of your life and you're probably never gonna get it perfect. right?

[00:49:22] And, You know it's like, you know when you start your own business and you start a product, you perfect it and you perfect it. And if you're a perfectionist, it's probably never the next version of it. I think it's better to see it as like, okay, this is my first version and then I'm gonna put it out in the world.

[00:49:37] And I think that's a wise thing to do because what other people think about it might be completely different than your perfectionism versus other people's expectation might be very different.

[00:49:47] John: You know what? It's, it's iterations. I mean, my God, you, if, if anybody with an entrepreneurial background of, or anything like whole life, life is an iteration. It's like you try this and then you go there and you [00:50:00] go there. The book, you, you held up that book to me. Uh, you wanna see an iteration, uh, you see this?

[00:50:08] that's the book. sold thousands of books with your cover, the cover that, of the book that you have on there. I thought that was the cover. And you know what, it wasn't selling the way I thought it should, so I had to like swallow my pride and say, okay, let me try this and see how this does on a small sample.

[00:50:24] And okay, don't that work. But, and you know, people, the fear that failure, they don't understand that it's just iteration, iteration, iteration.

[00:50:33] Kristina: Yep.

[00:50:34] and now I need to the buy the new one. I'm gonna buy a few gifts, so I get the, the new one. But this one is like, and we always laugh because I, I just, I use this as my workbook, like I just take notes and I, I have almost highlighted the whole book.

[00:50:50] I love it so much. so um, I wanna move into, uh, to the last three ones before we finish up.

[00:50:57] d in crusades, is about daily success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. Make small efforts one day at a time.

[00:51:08] John: well, a lot of people be listening to this or watching this is your majority of your audience, do they listen or do they watch more?

[00:51:15] Kristina: Listen, because I actually don't, uh, I haven't stopped putting it out on YouTube yet. I do it because

[00:51:21] this is a better way of connecting. But, uh, eventually I will put it out on YouTube, but it's

[00:51:25] John: so so this is for you only. I'm gonna turn this camera around. Okay. I've been working here for decades at this desk, So this little sign is right above my head and what that little sign says success is the sum of small efforts day in and day out.

[00:51:41] I've had that in front of me, free. Decades. That's a Robert Collier Club. And I said, that's actually it. People don't realize base hits wins games.

[00:51:50] When you're talking about that person, those two people you're walking, sure. We all admire the one that's that's got the glamor. But you know what happens is we, we [00:52:00] forget, I, and I know this for a fact, that most people will just, they get stuck in the mundane, daily, average, unsexy, boring work that leads to that thing.

[00:52:13] It's the small efforts, day in and day out, small daily. It's exercise. We don't have to run the 10 miles, we have to do 10 minutes daily. If we don't skip a day, like, I do a hundred pushups every day. I just don't skip a day.

[00:52:31] And that's, that's, the whole key. Well, I don't do well at one time. I don't do 10, and then I do 10, 10, 10.

[00:52:37] It takes me 10 minutes. So it's, it's really when you break it down, you don't not do it. It just gets easier.

[00:52:42] But yeah, daily, daily, daily, daily. That's

[00:52:45] Kristina: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. and the reality is like, you, you cannot change yesterday and you don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring. Today is the day to get it done.

[00:52:55] John: You know what I, that's a big part of the spiritual thing and you know, that's what I appreciate with you is, uh. Uh, you know, I'm heading more toward that decade of my life. And, you know, one of the things I was just thinking about the, past couple of days is that, uh, if you can't, you know, people have a hard time getting into the now, the mindfulness, the now staying in the now, not just on the mat.

[00:53:16] Now, you know, when you're doing your yoga, staying there, but staying in now all day, you're gonna miss your life. and it's obvious. We know that. But on a, on, on a cerebral level, visceral level, you're, you gotta get yourself to be able to focus on right now, this one day, right above that.

[00:53:35] Right above that. This has been with me forever. Can you see that?

[00:53:38] Kristina: Yeah, this one day. I love it. I love it. So good. Okay. The E is for expect. You get in life, not what you want, but what you expect. Practice expecting more. How do we do that?

[00:53:52] John: Guided meditation.

[00:53:53] A guided meditation is what I created for the book, I didn't know how to approach that, uh, to be honest with you, Kristina. 'cause [00:54:00] I personally do am one, uh, person who will sit down with my eyes closed, visualize what I want, try to emotionalize that, get into the feeling of having that goal achieved.

[00:54:10] I'm a person who does that. I don't shy away from saying I do that. No, I don't care who doesn't do that. I don't care who doesn't understand me. I could care less. but what I, I didn't know how to explain this in the book, so I thought, how about if I try to give the reader the experience of what I actually do?

[00:54:31] And that's a guided meditation. So I put a guided meditation in the book where you pretend you close your eyes, you breathe deeply. You try to create in your mind a sense of expectation. Just Google, if you. All the quotes in this world about expectation when it comes to mindset. It's one of the most powerful words you'll get into out there.

[00:54:53] It's like, it's different than wanting, it's different desire. It's different than feeling gratitude as well. It's, I'm into all that. It's all good. I always bring it back to sports metaphors. and I know when I'm walking on a basketball court, back in my day, I'm winning this game, not because I'm happy and I'm sorry you're playing, you're playing the wrong team today, whoever you are.

[00:55:14] 'cause we're expecting to win. And there's the sense, there's a power to expectancy that really comes through. So to me it's practice. You can practice expectancy. What I suggest is that you try it for 30 days. That's in the book. It's an expectancy experiment. And just try it with an open mind. Without judgment.

[00:55:35] What do you add to lose,

[00:55:36] Kristina: Yeah, I absolutely love it. One of the things that I do in the coaching program is, uh, I get everyone, we plan the year in January together, and then we write a vision for the year, and I get them to record if they choose to get them to record that and listen to themselves. In the beginning it's like, you feel like, ah, it's just awkward, but you get used to it.

[00:55:58] And you know, it just [00:56:00] goes into your subconscious mind and it means that you take actions based on what you really want, even though you are not there yet. It,

[00:56:07] John: I have made recordings all my life. People don't know, like they, so like, you know, instead of just reading it in your, in your, for like five minutes ago your day, I always, I would put on my phone, no question about it. I was back in the, we had these little discs back in the day, the CDs, you know that you stick in your car.

[00:56:25] Oh my God. Sometimes the, the mechanic would, I'd take my car and I forget to take my disc out. He'd turn the keys on. Hello John, this is, and here comes my voice booming over the like, oh no, he heard that. Like, I can't even see him.

[00:56:39] Kristina: that

[00:56:39] John: are gonna have a good day today, John. This guy thing. I'm nuts. I gotta find a new mechanic.

[00:56:43] Uh, so no, I've been that all my life just to try to keep the awareness in front of me. Try to keep my intention there. It's so important. It's like spiritual warfare. 'cause the, the world is pulling you somewhere else. Always. And today it's never been harder.

[00:56:57] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:56:58] John: with his cell phones.

[00:56:59] Kristina: Yeah. Yeah. I lo absolutely love that. That's so funny. Alright, the last one in Crusades is system. You don't rise to the level of your goal, you fall to the level of your system, follow a tracking system. So we already talked about that, but maybe just to finalize this incredible hours, what can people do in terms of setting up the systems?

[00:57:20] John: You know, I, I, I like to gamify things. I've always have, uh, you gamify, uh, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, uh, habit trackers out there. You can, you know, you can certainly look at, mine's a free habit tracker, you know, the, uh, the five, the Crusaders tracker. but those are made for gamifying. So like, basically if you do it, you get points, that kind of stuff.

[00:57:40] You, there's, there's really good ones out there. But the whole key is my son was just, he's just starting a new job and he's, he was saying, you know, I just don't wanna fall into the same, the same pattern I fell into last time. I got burnt out. My, I was in this soul crushing work. I didn't fall. I didn't, I wasn't exercising, I wasn't eating.

[00:57:57] I said, Mike, he's got a baby on the way. [00:58:00] And so what do I tell my own son? I said, Mike, it's almost, I'll say this lovingly because I want the best for you. It's almost guaranteed you'll fail if you don't track.

[00:58:11] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:58:11] John: It's too much. It's gonna be too much. It's like he's moving into this new job, high pressure finance, the very kind of thing that he didn't take before, and now he's doing it with a baby.

[00:58:22] when he exercises, when he eats, right, when he does his goals, when he, when he, uh, goes to sleep on time, when he doesn't eat, eat like crap, does a drink, does all that kind of stuff. When he does habit, it fasting, he does really, really good. He is a really powerful person,

[00:58:37] Kristina: yeah.

[00:58:37] John: it sounds like a lot, but it's easier.

[00:58:40] It's simpler to have a life like that, and that's what I would've convey in this book. This is the lifestyle. it.

[00:58:47] Kristina: Yeah. I absolutely love that. John, this has been so amazing. I just wanna add one more question before we finish up. Apart from your book, so I think I asked You about your favorite book last time you were on. So is there a book that you've been reading lately that had a big impact or that you loved?

[00:59:09] John: You know, I, what I was doing recently so one of my hobbies in retirement is like your, uh, book club. I have, I have something called The Wealthy Book, uh, a website called The Wealthy Book Heads where I will, um, summarize my favorite book in kind of a question, answer, format way. It's kind of weird, but I like it.

[00:59:31] you know, I, I, I gotta say that one of my favorites recently, I really liked this young girl, uh, well, young girl, to me, called The Mountain is You.

[00:59:42] Kristina: Yes. Brianna

[00:59:44] John: Yeah. If. You familiar? You know, I, me too. She's so wise

[00:59:50] She's so wise for such a young person.

[00:59:53] I was really impressed with her, her depth of wisdom. At 30,

[00:59:56] I wasn't nearly that smart.

[00:59:58] Kristina: Yeah.

[00:59:58] John: so that [01:00:00] one, I just, uh, got through one, um, that was impressive. Uh, called the Roofless Elimination of Hurry,

[01:00:07] uh, by Mark John. Mark John Comer. He has a religious, not a religious length on it. He's, he's a pastor. Okay. But what he's talking about there is that by modeling the spiritual, the four spiritual disciplines of Jesus, we could have the lifestyle of Jesus, which is a slower pace, more spiritually attuned, and everything that we are now lacking in our society.

[01:00:33] So he takes you through a process of, uh. I thought that was an interesting book, which the sports, the, the spiritual practices are

[01:00:42] Kristina: Yeah.

[01:00:42] John: Solitude Daily. The, are you familiar with the book?

[01:00:45] Kristina: yeah,

[01:00:45] I actually, you know what's fine, because first I was like, oh, that sounds interesting, but I actually haven't, I haven't read it yet. It's on my very long pile of list. Uh, sorry, very long pile of books that I haven't got to yet. But I, I remember hearing it and I was like, because one thing that I, I do not love is hurrying.

[01:01:03] it's, um, sometimes that is what I do and I don't want it, so I'm gonna read it.

[01:01:09] John: yeah.

[01:01:10] Kristina: Yeah.

[01:01:10] John: It's, he's, well, it's well done. He's funny too, like if you, if you do audio books,

[01:01:15] Kristina: Yeah.

[01:01:15] John: he's witty, he's funny.

[01:01:16] Kristina: Yeah.

[01:01:17] John: gives you a good, he gives you a good ride.

[01:01:19] Kristina: Yeah. Fantastic. Well, this has been so, so inspiring. I, I can't wait for my listeners to listen to this and also to tell everyone in my book club and in my coaching program, because everyone is a massive fan of you and your work. So thank you so much for first taking your time. I know you don't do any podcasts, but I'm So, grateful that you did and, uh, hopefully you enjoyed it.

[01:01:46] And then, uh, what I, uh, love is to just spread the word and get more, um, more people to read your book. 'cause they truly, the wealthy Ghana remains one of my all time favorite, and I love this book as much. And, [01:02:00] uh, yeah.

[01:02:00] I, uh, I'm really excited. I can't wait for you to come and visit us down under when you

[01:02:05] John: The next time. Ah, I can't wait either. I, I, Australia sounds fantastic to me. Sydney, you're in Sydney?

[01:02:11] Next time we'll do a podcast face to face. That would be pretty cool.

[01:02:15] Kristina: that would be amazing. Thank you. so much, John.

[01:02:17] John: Thank you.

[01:02:19] Kristina: Oh, I am so inspired. I hope you love that conversation as much as I did, a huge thank you to John for sharing his wisdom and reminding us what's possible when we commit to our impossible goals. I'm extra grateful because he said. That he doesn't do any podcasts around this book.

[01:02:39] So I'm really, really grateful that he choose to do this one, and I hope you are really excited to read it. Maybe with us a little reminder, we are reading the Five Year Crusade together inside Grow Mobile Book Club in January. So if you would love some extra accountability and community as you put this book into action, come and join us.

[01:03:02] I would love to read along with you, but not just read. Discuss and implement. I am so excited about implementing all these systems in January, along with what we're doing in the coaching program in January is all about planning the year and they work brilliantly together. I'm really excited. Until next time, keep doing big.

[01:03:22] Take those small daily steps and remember your dream life is waiting for you. All you need to do is start working on it. as always, I'll be back on Monday with another episode. I can't wait to see you then.

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