I listened to this podcast 3 times. One time on Saturday when cutting the grass in our summer cottage, the second - yesterday in the car with Ausra on our way back to Vilnius, and the last time - this morning while doing my 10000 step practice (actually I did 15000 steps) around the old town of Vilnius after I practiced organ at my church.
The podcast was from the James Altucher Show where he interviewed Jon Morrow, the famous American entrepreneur and blogger who has been paralyzed from neck down from his birth. He can only move his face and drives a wheelchair. His condition is the most severe type of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He was supposed to die when being 2 years old. Actually he was supposed to die maybe some 17 times. But he's still here, 34 years old. Perhaps the oldest person with this disease. The most amazing thing was that despite all those terrible conditions (and a car accident when he ended up underneath his wheelchair all covered in blood with his legs shattered in 17 places), he was able to create million dollar businesses and inspire millions of people worldwide. Ausra said that his mother should be named a hero explaining to him when he was little what the word "disabled" meant: "It means you can't do something as well as somebody else can. Like moving around. But it also goes the other way. You're really smart. You can do things with your brain that nobody else can. So in a sense we all can't do some things as well as somebody else can. So in a sense everyone is disabled." Jon's 3 steps for achieving anything in life are: 1. Believing that whatever you want to achieve is not only possible but normal. He spent 4-8 hours a day listening to podcasts and audio books of inspirational people. This elevated his sense of what "normal" is. 2. Accepting the price you will have to pay to get there. There's always a price. Not always money but sacrifice you have to make. Perhaps sleep, time, relationships, family. 3. Finding the gun to your head (negative reinforcement). For Jon the most terrifying thing was if he failed, he had to go to nursing home. This was the gun to his head. Before I listened to this podcast, I actually sent a link to my friend organist from the US who was slowly recovering from severe illness. He said it was so inspiring. Don't miss this mind blowing conversation. If this won't inspire you to do some incredible things in life, nothing will...
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