Don’t Let Life Live You
Hello everyone, this is Dr. Trish – physician, author, and Health Catalyst speaker and I am over-the-top excited for this podcast entitled, “Live Life, Don’t Let Life Live You,” with Bert Oliva. Hi Bert!
Hello Dr. Trish Murray!
Welcome to the show.
I thank you very much for this opportunity. I usually say that to everyone that’s going to do an interview. It’s just an opportunity, being able to connect with you and your followers.
Yes, and I have experienced Bert’s coaching. I was at a professional public speaker boot camp in Pennsylvania about a month or so ago and Bert’s amazing! I’m going to read about his bio in just a second, but he’s been in business for over two decades and he is an internationally renowned coach. I can tell you now from my experience he doesn’t hold anything back. He’s a straight-shooter and he’s taught me so much! But also, he is all about human behavior and so I’m just so excited to have him on this Discover Health podcast because I’m all about subconscious patterns in us that can block us from reaching our potential. So, thank you so much, Bert, it’s such an honor to have you here.
I’m going to read a bit from your bio. Bert Oliva is a world-renowned international speaker, author, and corporate trainer on leadership and human behavior. Bert has received global recognition for delivering “how to” techniques with a high-energy message; showing people how to communicate more positively and powerfully. Bert Oliva’s teachings come from his studies of psychology, numerology, physiology, sociology, and neurolinguistics programming. By studying 4-dimensional concepts: physical, emotional, logical, and spiritual, Bert has mastered the science behind human potential and empowers, motivates, and teaches people worldwide how to unlock the potential inside them.
His vision is to share his knowledge and empower over 100 million individuals to follow their dreams and take action! Through his signature seminars, keynotes, and programs, Bert demonstrates how every single person has a seed of greatness inside of them but the conditioning we received from our parents, our schools, our peers, our bosses, society, and culture has caused us to subconsciously place limitations on ourselves. The key goal in Bert’s teachings is to reach your maximum potential and push your limits. Bert many times uses what are called “breakthroughs” which are feats such as walking barefoot on glass, eating fire, or even bending steel rebar with your throat. Without guidance and focus all can be dangerous but in Bert’s signature presentations, they are metaphors for the other challenges life can present. It is by not backing down from the feat and facing the discomfort and not succumbing to the pressure one feels during breakthrough that one develops a new outlook of what is possible in one’s life. That’s amazing, Bert!
https://tmwellnessom.podbean.com/e/live-life-don-t-let-life-live-you/
So, first question I like to ask everyone I talk with is how did you get to where you are in your life today?
That’s a good question. It takes a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of discipline. I truly believe that we need to follow a certain pattern, for example, being consistent, following directions so that way we can learn how things were done at one time and at least figure out the recipe and then making sure you follow through. A lot of people don’t follow through. They get excited, they get into something and it works out for a little bit and then they get sidetracked. If you want something in life and you really want to be great, we all have potential of being great within us, the only person that holds us back is really ourselves.the only person that holds us back is really ourselves.So, at the end of the day the reason that I’ve been doing this for over twenty-six years now is because I fell in love with the self-help world because I figured out that a lot of it was about systems, creating some systems and certain techniques and tools and you apply them. Anyone can be successful, but you should actually be consistent and be very disciplined and follow through. Anyone can be successful, but you should actually be consistent and be very disciplined and follow through.
By the way, I want to sidetrack really quick. We just did the speaker boot camp with Orly Amor and you were a topic! We were talking about leaky gut!
I love that!
Why we were talking about it is because you were so passionate with your delivery in Pennsylvania that those people that attended the event again didn’t forget it! So, it was really a strong anchor. That’s what I’m talking about, when you really do things that you truly love, and you put your heart into it the audience can tell, people can tell. I wanted to bring that in because that was something that became a topic for the entire weekend, actually. And then when we were choosing foods for lunch or dinner we were like, “Remember leaky gut!”
That’s awesome! Thank you, Bert. You’re the one that taught me the anchor, “you might have leaky gut!” That’s awesome.
Bert, why did you become involved in human behavior?
Well, one of the things is I’m an immigrant. I came to the United States when I was eleven months old. My mother left the Cuban regime because my father happened to have been communist. When I got to this country I never had a brother, no grandparents, no sister, basically my mom and myself were the only thing that I knew. I never had a family. I started realizing that…I used to work for corporate America. I used to work for a company called Xerox Corporation. They used to take us up to Leesburg, Virginia where they had the university where they would teach you sales techniques and all these other things and I was able to actually see like Jim Rohn and Zi Ziglar. I was like, wow, this is really cool. This is really cool, and I want to learn more about this.
One of the things that I learned was that God gave us the gift of doing whatever it is that we want to do, however, there are certain patterns. It doesn’t matter what country, culture, or what gender – we all have patterns. We all have certain things that we do, and we don’t even know that we’re doing it on a subconscious level. I was so intrigued through psychology how we’re all the same, but yet we’re not. The more research I started doing, the more I started getting involved, the more I realized that there are systems to create success. In order to create success, there are certain systems, certain things that we do – how we respond, how we act. The anchoring, for example, having a leaky gut right? There’s certain things that we’re doing. We don’t even know that we actually do it. When you realize it, you realize how much more powerful you are as a human being by finding out how the human mind works. I just became fascinated and I kept doing more and more research and became a leading expert around the world.
That’s awesome. You know, I was looking at your website and obviously all your material and one of your logos is, “make it happen,” and you’re an awesome coach with people in that. I read this term, “synchrodestiny,” and I was so intrigued by that word, that term. Sychrodestiny. Is that something you came up with? Is that something that someone brought to you? It’s that idea of being in synchrony with your destiny and where you’re going to head.
I’m really known for things like that. For example, for many years when I travel I tell people I do “workations.” Right? Where you work and vacation at the same time. Whenever I do a keynote anywhere in the world, I usually either come in a little early or stay for an extra two days and enjoy the environment, enjoy the culture. I can learn more and see how people relate.
I kind of put words together. My latest one for the new decade is not “workation” it’s “paycation.” For many years I was working and vacationing. Now it’s time for you to get paid and still vacation. So yeah, I just come up with words and I kind of put them together because it’s really systematic. We’re all systems, there are certain things that we do. We’re conditioned. One of the things I tell people is in the United States we see the color red on a light pole, what are you supposed to do when you’re driving?
You’re supposed to stop.
Right. And if you see green, you’re supposed to what?
Go!
The holidays in this country, what’s orange and black?
Well, Halloween.
Red and green?
Christmas.
Colors condition us. Words condition us. How we dress, how we actually communicate is all about conditioning. That’s why I’m so fascinated. And I’ve done this for a room with over 10,000 people in the room and they all answer together because it’s conditioning. A lot of people a lot of times say they have success within them, they’re doing the right things but they’re not paying attention to the details. There are certain things that they would just suggest a little bit more. If you do just a little adjustment like they’ll be here in life and then the next ten years you’re over here. But it also goes backwards. You adjust something and then ten years you’re over here. The whole thing is about being aware. And that’s why I tell people, “You want to be successful? Don’t just wake up in the morning. That’s just waking up. Being aware is really being enlightened. You see things other people don’t see.”
So, what is the biggest thing that people think about motivational speakers?
Well, hence my latest book is called, Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid. The reason is because a lot of times, especially when you start creating a larger following and people attend your seminars, your significant other or your counterpart or maybe even a family member will tell you, “Oh, you drank the Kool-Aid.” It goes back to Jim Jones and the whole incident about the mass suicide that they created with drinking Kool-Aid. The thing is a lot of times because you want to do better in your life, the people that are around you don’t understand it. They automatically think, oh you just got into that motivation and at the end of the day that’s not really going to change your life. Why don’t you get back to work? That’s the way we’ve been conditioned, right? If you go back in history, or not too long ago, baby boomers were conditioned to go school and check in. That’s why they did the attendance. Later on in life you knew that you had to have eight hours of work, you’d go ahead and check in and then check out. Again, it’s all about conditioning. What I’m trying to tell you is basically people that go to seminars and they really get into it a lot of people will tell you, “you’ve drank the Kool-Aid, you’ve been brainwashed.” We’re all being brainwashed without going to a seminar. Media brainwashes us. Sometimes even the people we surround ourselves with will brainwash in a negative way. That’s what they think. Most of all, we’re all motivational speakers in some sort of way, right? If you have children or significant other, we always have an answer for them. One of the biggest issues I see is a lot of people have those answers, but when it comes to themselves they kind of forget the advice that they’d be giving someone else. It’s not about motivation as much as inspiration. Motivation is great. You go to an event and you feel good, but then life happens as soon as you walk out of that event. All of that stuff was just momentary. But inspiration can last you a lifetime. Motivation is great. You go to an event and you feel good, but then life happens as soon as you walk out of that event. All of that stuff was just momentary. But inspiration can last you a lifetime.”] Especially when you get proven tools and techniques that people can actually apply immediately – that’s really what it’s all about.
Yes, I mean the idea of getting into the energy of a room and the motivation but then like you say the inspiration. You can ride that inspiration because energy is flowing everywhere, if you just shift it. You talk about transforming self-limiting beliefs into self-fulfilling breakthroughs. What are some of the ways you promote or help people to do that?
Well I do that with the breakthroughs like having people lie on a bed of nails and getting a cinderblock and putting it on their chest and getting a sledgehammer and breaking through that. Usually we do that when there’s relationship issues, right? The husband and wife are not getting along and I’m like, “Well, does he make you upset?” “Yes, he does!” “Well, why don’t we lie him down on a bed of nails?” And her physiology and everything starts shifting like, “I don’t want to see him get hurt.” “But that’s not what you said five minutes ago. You were done.” “So, here’s a brick, a cinderblock on his chest. By the way, here’s a sledgehammer. Why don’t you hit him?” “No, I don’t want to do that.” “But that’s not what you said.” So be careful with what you say because in reality that’s not what it is. A lot of times we justify why it is when we’re going to do some things in our lives. So long story short, we’ll go ahead – I’ll take the sledgehammer, I’ll break it. Nothing happens to the person, the person gets up and they’re like, “Wow. Phenomenal! Yeah!”
Look, it’s mind over matter. If you actually put your mindset and you’re going to succeed no matter what, the economy can go to crap, we can have ten wars. There’s always people that, if you look at the history books, have succeeded because they don’t see that and allow what other people or media are telling them to actually hold them back from what they really want out of life. Life is going to continue to happen. How you approach it or how you embrace it is really the outcome that you’re going to receive in your life. Life is going to continue to happen. How you approach it or how you embrace it is really the outcome that you’re going to receive in your life.” Look, we’re all on this place called earth for a certain moment in time, and most people by the time they become older like maybe 70, 80, 90 whatever their age is like, “I should’ve, would’ve, could’ve.” Why? You’re never too old and you’re never too young. The best time to get ready to have an amazing life and leave a legacy behind is right now!” quote=”The best time to get ready to have an amazing life and leave a legacy behind is right now!
That’s one of the things I fell in love with when I saw you doing your talk, I was like, “Wow.” Even though the leaky gut might be a hook, just to get them to listen because there’s so many other issues with people and their health that they’re overlooking. Sometimes that would be a breakthrough. That would be like a shock and awe. Maybe I have a leaky gut. At that moment they realize, “Dr. Trish, what else can I do?” “Well, Bert, you know what, maybe you don’t have a leaky gut, but have you ever thought about this? What about are you eating the right foods? How are your macros? Are you sleeping enough?” Just sleeping alone will change your life. People don’t realize it. They’re like, “Oh, I sleep six hours a day.” “How’s that working for you?” Maybe you’re a person that can do six hours a day, but I tell you what, if you add an extra hour I guarantee you that you would be more focused. You’ll have better energy. Right? Because sleep is important and how you’re sleeping. There’s so many other things that you can teach them, but we need to shock and awe the system. By having a quote like that, “leaky gut,” it’s like, “what?” Now I have your attention, let me talk to you about what else Dr. Trish does. That’s the same thing as when we did the breaking through having people eat fire, walking on a bed of nails, walking through fire, all this stuff! People are like, “Well it’s a little gimmicky.” “No, it’s not. It’s edutainment.” There you go again, putting two words together. When education and entertainment come together, people are entertained. Once a person is entertained, they’re willing to learn because they’re having fun in the process.” quote=”Once a person is entertained, they’re willing to learn because they’re having fun in the process.
Absolutely. “Live life, don’t let life live you.” I can remember (I don’t think you know this about me) I was a public-school teacher for ten years and I left at 35-years-old to start medical school. People would look at me at that time and say, “What are you doing?” And I’d say, “It doesn’t matter what my age is. I’m going to be forty whether I keep teaching or whether I leave and go to medical school. Who cares? I want to live life!” That’s what led me down that path.
That’s where that quote comes from. I came up with that quote and it’s “live life, don’t let life live you” because we spend too much time letting life guide us. “Bert, the beard is not going to be working for corporate.” When I had no beard, corporate wasn’t hiring me anyways! When you are you and you are in your being state, which is what Orly spoke about this weekend at the event, when you’re in your being state, who are you being? Because at the end of the day, there’s over seven billion people on this planet, and there’s a huge group of people that want to connect with you, they just don’t know you exist. That’s how you’re able to help people – you have to get your name out there. You have to get people to understand what messages…but you’re not going to do that by wishing. You’re going to do that by taking action like what you’re doing right now! This is so important. Just having this interview, not because I’m on your show, I know you love what you do, and it came out when we saw you on stage and it comes out even here in the interview. Because you’re just like, I’m going to have two or three questions, and then you go in what some people would call a rabbit hole, but we actually expand on it. Let me tell you something, at the end of the day we’re all the same. It’s nothing new that you’re going to learn. A lot of this stuff maybe they heard in another book or they’ve seen in another video – it’s not going to change but how you deliver your message is what makes a difference. Which is why I believe that was so important because no one else in your industry would do that, and eventually you’ll be known for that! As crazy as it sounds, crazy people succeed!
That’s awesome. Bert, if people aren’t familiar with your stuff, how do they get in touch with you? How do they find you?
Very simple. If you look up the word “Bert Oliva” you can Google me, you can go to any social media and we are actually there as Bert Oliva. I’m not hard to find.
No, you’re not! I Googled you, and I found a ton of information. The last question I love to ask all of my guests, Bert, is what is your secret for living a healthy life?
There’s a couple of things. I’m going to make it really quick. A couple of years ago…no matter how motivated you are, life will happen. So, my mom passed away and at that same precise moment I got sued for over $800,000 which we won the lawsuit, but at that moment it was just more leverage, more leverage. I’m 6’2” and usually carry about 240 pounds and I work out a lot, however, my life started falling apart. And you’re like, “Yeah, Bert, but you’ve been doing this for so many years.” “Yes, I know, but I am human and so are you. You’re going to have bad moments in your life. There’s transitions.”
What happened was I went up to like 310 pounds, and I said, “Well Bert, how much further are you going to get in life? Eventually you’re going to have a heart attack or stroke. Something’s going to happen. Why? Because you’re not taking care of yourself.” It’s so important to balance your life out. A lot of these gurus are saying that life/work balance doesn’t work. I does work. Find your balance, not someone else’s balance. One of the things that we do is I make sure I work out five days a week. I make sure that I eat a healthy diet. Am I doing that all the time? No, a lot of times when I travel especially in these other countries you’re not able to get certain foods, so I know that as long as I do it a majority of the time it keeps me healthy. I also jot down all the food that ingest like I’ll have an app that I’ll download, whatever your preference in apps are. One is called Lose It! The other is called…I forgot the other one…but that’s the one I use – Lose It! And I’ll go ahead, and I know my macros what I need to do and how much protein and calorie intake and fats and carbs so before I put food in my mouth I’ll look at it to the point that now I’m aware what is half a cup of rice versus one cup of rice. So, eating is really important.
And then nutraceuticals – vitamins. Making sure you’re getting your vitamins. I also do make sure that I have a physical no less than twice a year. To make sure as we age certain things needs to be adjusted. A lot of times I don’t need a stack of vitamins, I can get a lot of those vitamins from the foods. I knew you would agree with this because this is what it’s all about! Buying a bunch of vitamins is really going to get you sicker, the best thing I tell people is, “sometimes certain vitamins you really can’t get from food as much. Depending on the amount if you’re depleted and you need. But for the most part, if you change the way you eat, your entire lifestyle will change. If you eat better, you’ll be able to be more motivated to be able to create that massive change you want to do in people’s lives.” If you yourself are falling apart, how are you going to be able to change people’s lives or even get your message out there? Forget about changing people’s lives, just getting the message out there. How are you going to do it if you’re tired and you’re overweight, you can’t breathe?
Right now, we had a conversation before we started the webinar. You were working. You had just done a project the entire weekend, and then now you’re doing a podcast. As soon as we get off this podcast you’re going back to work! Why? Because you’re eating right? That’s what the source of energy comes from.
And one last thing – water. Drink water! Water will cleanse your body. Instead of drinking an energy drink, grab a cup of water. You’ll get more energy out of that and you won’t get hurt by having energy drinks…even though at one time they were my sponsors! But I really, honestly the older I get I realize how important our temple is and we take it for granted.
Absolutely. Folks, listen to Bert because he has gotten it right! He’s found the balance, and he’s teaching others how to find it. If you’re looking for a coach to help you make it happen, Bert Oliva is definitely the one that I know has helped me make it happen! Thank you so much, Bert, for being on the show with me today. Thanks for all the great tips!
Thank you so much and looking forward to connecting with you again. Everyone out there: make this decade the best decade ever! Don’t look at it as, oh this is a new year. This is a new decade. A major transformation’s about to happen but only if you take action. My name is Bert Oliva – remember to live life and don’t let life live you. I’ll see you guys real soon.
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