August 26, 2025 • 27 mins
Episode 105 Finding Your Why: The Power of Purpose in Overcoming Any How
In this episode of "Your Inner Advocate," host Kimen Petersen explores the transformative power of discovering your "why." Through personal stories, inspiring examples from athletes and professionals, and heartfelt reflections on overcoming adversity, Kimen illustrates how a strong sense of purpose can help you navigate life's toughest challenges. Listeners will learn how connecting to their deeper motivation can turn pain into empathy, obstacles into opportunities, and dreams into reality. Whether you're searching for your own "why" or looking to reignite your passion, this episode offers practical insights and encouragement to help you live with greater authenticity, resilience, and impact.
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Podcast Episode Timeline: "Find Your Why: The Power of Purpose in Overcoming Any How"
- 0:00 — Title & Introduction
- 0:23 — Welcome to Your Inner Advocate & show purpose
- 0:41 — The power of "why": Overcoming any how
- 1:25 — Personal story: Searching for purpose
- 2:03 — Writing a book and discovering empathy through pain
- 3:04 — The first glimmer of "why"
- 3:16 — The power of "why" in athletes
- 3:43 — Athletes’ dedication and sacrifices
- 4:14 — Why athletes persist: Stronger than excuses
- 4:27 — Life lessons from athletes
- 4:58 — Why do I do what I do?
- 5:23 — My "why": Helping others
- 5:45 — A doctor’s story: Finding purpose through adversity
- 6:11 — The doctor’s journey: Losing a limb, inspiring a patient
- 7:14 — The moment of hope: Changing a young patient’s life
- 9:11 — Personal struggles: Depression, substance abuse, and transformation
- 9:43 — Turning darkness into empathy and purpose
- 10:15 — My dream: Impacting lives through my story
- 10:51 — Story of my father: Overcoming economic hardship
- 12:06 — The importance of context and opportunity
- 13:06 — My father’s "why": Saving lives
- 14:11 — Buddhist inspiration: The Bodhisattva’s purpose
- 15:07 — Reflection exercise: What is your why?
- 16:41 — Childhood memories: The urge to help
- 17:24 — Lessons from hardship and a favorite quote
- 18:14 — Finding your why: Questions to ask yourself
- 19:12 — Another athlete’s story: Overcoming challenges
- 20:26 — Your why comes before the how
- 21:28 — You are here for a reason
- 22:31 — Final encouragement: Find your why and live it
- 27:08 — Outro: Keep building your inner advocate
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to Your Inner Advocate,a podcast by Kimen Petersen,
formerly Conversations with Kimen.
This podcast is a space forinspiration, soulful insights,
and meaningful life lessons.
Your host, Kimen Petersen drawsfrom personal stories and powerful
conversations with remarkablepeople to help illuminate your path.
These episodes reflect his livedexperiences and thoughtful perspectives,
(00:25):
all aimed at encouraging you to live lifewith greater authenticity, joy, and ease.
Your inner advocate is here tohelp you tune in, trust your inner
wisdom, and move through life withmore clarity, flow, and fulfillment.
If your why is powerful enough,you can overcome any how
(00:51):
This thought has carried me throughsome of the darkest moments of my life
because when you know why you'redoing something, not just in your
head, but in your heart and soul,
every obstacle, everyobstacle becomes something.
You move through instead ofsomething that tries to stop you.
(01:16):
But I'll be honest, there was a timewhen I didn't have a why, or maybe
I just wasn't conscious to my why.
I had a vague dream that I wantedto make a difference, but I had
no idea how no clear direction.
And without that, it's easy to drift.
(01:36):
Easy to feel like you're justsurviving instead of living.
So today I want to talk toyou about finding your why
and how if you have a strong enough one,
you can overcome anyhow.
(02:02):
So one of the things that.
Started my first glimmer on understandingmy why was when I spent years working
on writing a book that's never beenpublished, but the book was called The
Child Steps Into the Flow, and it wasthe story of my life, the struggles
I've been through, the strange andpowerful lessons hidden just inside them.
(02:27):
And as I wrote, I realized something
very, very important.
The things that almost broke me, gaveme my deepest empathy and compassion.
And it wasn't in spite of mypain that I learned to care.
It was because of it.
(02:49):
Because I understood what it felt liketo hurt, to ache deep in your bones
and your soul, and I didn't want anyoneto ever have to go through that alone.
And that was one of my first glimmers, oneof my first conceptual glimmers of my why.
(03:16):
But what about athletes?
What?
What about the power of their why?
You know, I have always beeninspired by the athletes I've met,
especially the university athletes.
They're often the top ofthe academic programs.
All Canadians, all all Americans,getting talk marts while
(03:37):
training at an elite level.
Uh, none of them, none ofthe university address.
Uh, athletes have sponsorships, butthen even the elite athletes I meet
and the pros and semi-pros, most ofthem don't have big sponsorships.
And a lot of them are, surprisinglyenough, they're barely scraping
(03:59):
by, even though they couldbe the best in the country.
And yet they still get up earlyevery single morning, they train
in awful weather, push throughinjuries and just keep on going.
And why?
Why would they do that?
(04:20):
I believe 'cause their why isstronger than their excuses.
I think about how easy it is for mostof us to quit when it feels too hard.
And yet there are people, there arethese people holding down studies, jobs,
and training, all because they love it.
(04:44):
I mean, they're missing out on fun withfriends because training takes precedent.
And I think that's a lifelesson for all of us.
I was recently talking to one of myathletes who's a volleyball player, and
we'd been talking about their why andyou know, where, where my why comes in.
(05:08):
Like why do I do what I do?
Why do I work 12 hoursa day, six days a week?
Why do I do everything I do?
Why do I do this podcast right now?
Why do I do all the most social media?
And it's very simple.
I know I'm here to help.
(05:30):
I want to have an a positiveimpact on as many people as
possible, and that's my why.
And that's the thing that gets me up, getsme going, gets me through the hard days.
But here's another idea.
'cause like, this isn't just forathletes, for myself, it's for
(05:51):
all kinds of extraordinary people.
There's this, this doctor I work with,um, they're in residency for facade.
And this, we, we, we were talkingabout the her why one time, and it's
interesting that sometimes it's hard to.
(06:11):
Elaborate or like verbalize your why,but this will give you an idea of one of
the most powerful whys I've ever seen,
and she's given me permissionto talk about this story.
So she's in one of the most abandoned,uh, medical programs there is, but
years ago, while she was early in herresidency, she was on vacation and
(06:36):
she stepped on something in the ocean.
And it caused an infection, andthat infection spread the bone.
So she lost the lower half of one limb.
So from the knee down, orjust passed the knee down.
And I mean, she's amazing becauseshe just, she's I, she keeps on
(06:58):
going and she told this story about.
In practice, she's, she's in practicefor physiatry and she's working,
um, in a, in a place where they'reworking with people who've lost
limbs or have spinal cord injuries.
It's kind of a rehabilitation center.
And she told me this vivid memoryof, there was a, there was a
(07:23):
young man, she was treating
young boy probably under14, and he'd lost a limb.
And he was incr, completelydepressed, hopeless.
In fact, he didn't want toparticipate in rehab or getting
fitted for, you know, for prosthetic.
(07:47):
He j he just, he figured his life was over
and he was incredibly depressed.
And no matter what she did, shecouldn't get through to this young
man, or at least she felt she couldn't.
And one day she was just frustrated andshe walked into his room and she pulled up
(08:08):
her pant leg and knocked on her prosthetic
and his eyes lit up.
He says, you have aprosthetic and your doctor
that instantly changed his world.
He wanted to get fitted for a prosthetic.
(08:30):
He wanted to do the rehab.
He wanted to get on with his life,and I wouldn't be surprised if that
young man did something amazing
in that instant.
His world changed.
I,
you know, through her pain,through what she'd been through,
(08:51):
she gave him possibility
through her story.
She gave him hope and she toldme with tears in her eyes.
That's my wife and I. Got it.
(09:11):
So let's turn to a little bitmore por um, personal story.
I, I had been through depression.
I've been treated for depression,for bipolar disorder, for self.
Um.
Self-destruction.
I've been through substance abuse.
I've literally been on thebottom, and I stayed there for
(09:34):
quite some time, far too long.
But here's what I learned.
The darkness that tried to destroyme became the fire that forged me.
All the pain I'd experienced at thatlevel, at a soul crushing level.
(09:55):
It gave me this familiaritywith what it feels like to hurt,
and when I see somebody come into mylife that's feeling pain, I light up.
I lead in and I'm here
because I want to help.
(10:17):
That's my why.
I want to change the world.
I wanna have a positive impact on asmany human beings as I can through my
story, through my, through my life.
In fact, now my dream is, and I want toextend this life incredibly long, I'll
tell you the truth there, but my lastact on my last day will be recording one
(10:41):
more episode, something so impactful thatI know that that will change many lives.
I'll publish it.
Maybe I'll take a nap in the afternoon andin that nap I'll pass on to what's next.
And I don't want this to happen very soon.
(11:02):
I'm telling you the truth.
I'm doing everything I can to extendmy life as far as I can to learn as
much as I can to make the biggestD impact on this planet that I can.
That's my focus.
I want to extend.
I want to grab every single extra minute.
But in the end, my why, why do I exist?
(11:25):
Because I'm here to help
tell you a story about my father,who also inspired me in, in my mid to
late twenties, maybe early thirties.
Uh, our region was in an economicdownturn, and the news was grim.
(11:47):
And everybody was talking abouthow every, so many people are being
laid off and businesses are closing.
And my dad is a guy who watches a lotof news and he was just fully, fully in
the conversation of how terrible thingsare and how everything's falling apart.
And his business was actuallyfalling apart to the point that
(12:09):
he could barely pay the bills.
And his whole fear wasdominating everything.
And he used to try to convince me ofhow bad things were and I used to try
to try to talk 'em into looking atthings from a different point of view.
(12:29):
And finally one day I just hadenough and I told him a truth
that I'd read a while back.
And I don't know if you've heardthis before, because right now, um.
The world is, is heading, it looks likeit's heading for an economic downturn,
or maybe we're in one, I'm not sure.
(12:50):
See, I I, I live a life ofabundance, so all I see is abundance.
So
I told 'em the simple truth thatmore millionaires and billionaires
are made inside an economicdownturn than at any other time.
(13:13):
He was like, W why is that?
How could that be?
I mean, everything's falling apart.
I'm like, yeah, like, andeverybody's focusing on how
everything's falling apart.
And the truth is, there'salways opportunity, but you
have to have a context for it.
You have to believe that it's possibleand you have to be looking for it.
He's, the difference is when everybody'stalking the story that there's no chance,
(13:37):
there's nothing, um, there's no jobs.
There's like.
If everybody's in that conversationand there's a certain amount of people
out there that knows there's alwaysopportunity, those people are going to
be watching and they will take, takeadvantage of the opportunities that
present themselves because, and theywon't have any competition for them
(13:59):
then.
I said, well, yeah, okay, that's good.
So my idea there was just to kindof change the context, uh, crack
a door, a possibility within thatstory that he was so strong about.
And then I asked him,why did you start this?
Why did you get involvedin this kind of thing?
'cause his company wasdoing health and safety.
(14:21):
Um.
Teaching first aid, teaching safety andcreating safety programs for companies.
So his whole life was abouthelping people and saving lives.
I says, well, you know, you know, andI'm like, well, tell me again why.
So it turns out when my, when myfather was about 19 years old, he
was married to my mother and shewas pregnant with my older brother.
(14:43):
She was 17, he was 19, and hewas working in a hard rock mine.
And back then there wasn't alot of safety or first aid.
So he was, he was welding a boxcar and they didn't know he was,
they didn't realize he wasn't out.
They set off a massivecharge, an explosive charge.
It threw him down the shaft, and hewas smart enough to find his way back
(15:04):
to the oxyacetylene tank, turn offthe acetylene and crank up the oxygen
and put his hard hat on his face andbreathe oxygen till they got there
and found him and they dust him off.
You're okay, Peterson.
Go home with pay.
And so he went home to his new wife and hewas moving a refrigerator and he collapsed
and they rushed him to the clinic.
(15:24):
They were way up in the interiorof long ways from a major hospital,
and the clinic was like, there'snothing we can do for him.
So they got it back.
Back then, it was a Bush pilot, so wouldfly sa life lifesaving, um, flights.
They flew him down to the major cityand he actually was in surgery for
(15:45):
five or six hours, maybe seven hours.
And he died three timeson that opportunity table.
His heart stopped three times, oncefor seven and a half minutes, and
because he was such a young, healthyman, they worked and worked and worked
and worked and brought him back.
And it's interesting.
After that, rather than gettingupset and frustrated and
like hating life, he started.
(16:08):
Learning.
He went out and he got trained infirst aid and he started, started
to be a volunteer firefighter,volunteer ambulance attendant.
He got a job in the mill, in the,in the first aid and safety end.
And he wanted to change the world, butthen he hit a block, uh, because they
gave, uh, the director job to somebodywith a university degree, a young guy.
(16:32):
So rather than, once again, ratherthan just going, I hate life.
This sucks.
He started going to night University,so he'd work all day and he'd
go to university and then he'dsleep a bit and work all day.
He got his university GA degree andhe worked for, he went and worked for
work workers' compensation board, the,the safety regulator for work, and
(16:57):
he worked there a number of years andjust banged his head against the wall
because it was very bureaucratic, cratic.
So he decided like, that's not my path.
And he started his own company.
And when he started thiscompany, it was amazing.
People were beating down hisdoor and it was so successful.
(17:18):
And then we skipped forward to thiseconomic downturn and he said, yeah,
like I said, I, I wanna save lives.
And like, you've been doing great at that.
So what happened?
He said, well, I startedfocusing on the money.
And I said, take out a pen, a feltpen, and a piece of paper right now.
(17:40):
And right on that piece ofpaper, I am here to save lives.
That's his why.
Why you put that right beside the phone onthe wall, and every time the phone rings,
before you answer the phone, read that.
And when you talk tothat person on the phone.
(18:03):
How, how in thisconversation can I save life?
And it doesn't matter if they're gonnacome and you're gonna make money off
it or not, how can you help save lives?
That was halfway through a year.
By the end of the year, he'd had the mostsuccessful year he'd ever had his history.
And of course it keep on, kept ongoing from there in half a year.
(18:26):
If you have a p most,uh, powerful enough, why?
And you really focus on, you can overcome.
Anyhow,
so there's this interesting thing.
It's called, um, I didsome Buddhist meditations.
I learned this.
This interesting being, they call thistype of being, they call it a body satis,
(18:49):
and I don't know if you have beliefoutside and it really doesn't matter.
This is kind of like an idea for me,and I heard about this body satis, and
these are these beings, the the buds.
Look at life like this.
Like you're here learning to come toa place of enlightenment, which means
you get to move on to what's ever next.
(19:11):
But these body Satur are incrediblyspecial beings because they are ready to
step over into enlightenment, and yet theychoose to not step over and they choose
to keep on coming back 'cause they believein reincarnation over and over and over.
And their why is until allbeings become enlightened, I'm
(19:36):
just gonna come back and help.
And if that's real,that's what I want to be.
That's why I get up before 5:00 AMwhy I run to take care of my hell.
I want to add time tomy life and I literally,
(19:57):
I'd like to keep on coming backto help until everyone is good.
So here's a reflection exercise.
Let me ask you, what is your why?
Why do you get up in the morning?
(20:18):
Are you living from inspirationor are you drifting?
You know, if you take amoment and you think back
to when you were young, what lit you up?
What did you daydream about?
(20:41):
Sometimes our why has been with ussince childhood, but we just forgot.
I mean, I remember being threeor four years old, there's
somebody crying down the street.
I'm in my, on my tricycle, and I'mroaring down the middle of the road,
which I really shouldn't have been doing,
(21:04):
but I knew I was here to help.
And I stopped in the middle of the street
and I looked up and I said,but I don't know how to help.
How do I help?
And I said, I'll figureit out when I get there.
And I kept on roaring down the street.
And that's prophetic.
Okay.
(21:24):
'cause maybe that's when Iinvited the universe in life
to, okay, teach me how to help.
And we don't learn easy.
I'll tell you that.
It's the hard stuff that teaches us.
There's this quote that I love that Isaw a while back and it said, blessed
are those who escape from the fire
(21:49):
only to return with water to helpthose that are still trapped.
Yeah.
Hey, listen.
If you don't know yourultimate wi, hey, that's okay.
Start with a small one.
Something you care aboutenough to keep showing up for.
Ask yourself, what breaks my heart
(22:11):
out in the world?
What do I want to change?
What lights me up?
What can I do that makes me feel great?
What kind of country vision can I be?
Who do I want to help andwhat problem do I wanna solve?
And write down your answersand look for patterns.
Follow it with your curiosity.
(22:36):
Your why might not show up in onelightning bolt moment, but it might
grow quietly with every step you take.
Or maybe just like an interactionI had with one of my athletes
recently, a volleyball player.
We'd been talking about why.
And.
(22:56):
I mean, she,
she's got some stuff in her body thatis, poses a challenge, and I've been
trying to help her reframe it to the,the reason she's so strong and incredible
is because she has this challenge andit's the overcoming of that challenge
that has given her all the beauty.
She is,
(23:17):
and we were talking about.
Uh, she, she didn't qualify forone of the events and she was
gonna go and visit some family.
And as we're talking about why she,it's suddenly she, her eyes lit up.
She's, oh man, I justremembered, what was it?
What was it?
And she's like, you know, when I wasabout 16 and I was getting really good,
(23:39):
I think she was, uh, qualified for a,uh, an international competition, or she
was move working into that direction.
And she was loving, loving volleyballand she really, really, really wanted
volleyball to take her around theworld to see all kinds of spaces.
That is a valid why.
(24:00):
Your why doesn't have to be my why.
It can be, it can be as simple as that.
I just wanted to have this sport I love.
Take me around the world.
And how about this,
if we can find the why thatcomes first, it comes before
(24:24):
the how and here's the truth.
Once you know your why, howreally becomes less important.
The how will change it will adapt,and sometimes it will break,
and then you'll build a new one.
Because if your why is strongenough, you'll always find a way
(24:48):
because if you have a strongenough why, it will tear down
every how that gets in the way.
And I just want toclarify something for you.
The truth is.
(25:09):
You are exceptional, and I'mgonna prove it right now.
There was a time just before Confeconcept that you were in a race
with a hundred million others
and you won.
And in doing so,
(25:31):
it created a DNA, which is you.
Which is completely unique onthis planet unless, unless of
course you're twins, then the twoof you have a very similar DNA.
Everything.
Your quirks, your strength, yourchallenges, they're not random.
(25:52):
Everything that is you is on purpose.
It's not just intentional,but it's designed perfectly
for the purpose of your life.
You're here for a reason.
You are here for a reason,and it could be a million.
You could be here to change the world.
You could be here to raise achild that changes the world,
(26:13):
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
You could be here just toinspire one person at a time.
You could be here to lift othersone hard moment at a time.
That's what I'm, I'm prettymuch here for right now.
You are here for a reason.
Find it.
(26:33):
Start living it.
Let it carry you through every how andif you don't know it yet, get curious.
Take a look.
Think about your past.
Follow a little sparksuntil they become a fire.
Because once you findyour why, you will never,
(26:56):
ever.
Be the same.
Thank you for listening andspending this time with me.
Keep learning, keepfighting the inner critic.
Keep building your inner advocate.
(27:21):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Your Inner Advocate, a podcast by
Kimen Petersen, formerly Conversationswith Kimen if you found value in
today's episode, please follow likeand share the podcast with someone
who you think may benefit from it.
You can listen on Apple Podcast.
Spotify, Podbean, and connect onInstagram @ your inner advocate.
(27:45):
Until next time, keep listening toand developing your inner advocate.
Welcome to Your Inner Advocate,a podcast by Kimen Petersen,
formerly Conversations with Kimen.
This podcast is a space forinspiration, soulful insights,
and meaningful life lessons.
Your host, Kimen Petersen drawsfrom personal stories and powerful
conversations with remarkablepeople to help illuminate your path.
These episodes reflect his livedexperiences and thoughtful perspectives,
(00:25):
all aimed at encouraging you to live lifewith greater authenticity, joy, and ease.
Your inner advocate is here tohelp you tune in, trust your inner
wisdom, and move through life withmore clarity, flow, and fulfillment.
If your why is powerful enough,you can overcome any how
(00:51):
This thought has carried me throughsome of the darkest moments of my life
because when you know why you'redoing something, not just in your
head, but in your heart and soul,
every obstacle, everyobstacle becomes something.
You move through instead ofsomething that tries to stop you.
(01:16):
But I'll be honest, there was a timewhen I didn't have a why, or maybe
I just wasn't conscious to my why.
I had a vague dream that I wantedto make a difference, but I had
no idea how no clear direction.
And without that, it's easy to drift.
(01:36):
Easy to feel like you're justsurviving instead of living.
So today I want to talk toyou about finding your why
and how if you have a strong enough one,
you can overcome anyhow.
(02:02):
So one of the things that.
Started my first glimmer on understandingmy why was when I spent years working
on writing a book that's never beenpublished, but the book was called The
Child Steps Into the Flow, and it wasthe story of my life, the struggles
I've been through, the strange andpowerful lessons hidden just inside them.
(02:27):
And as I wrote, I realized something
very, very important.
The things that almost broke me, gaveme my deepest empathy and compassion.
And it wasn't in spite of mypain that I learned to care.
It was because of it.
(02:49):
Because I understood what it felt liketo hurt, to ache deep in your bones
and your soul, and I didn't want anyoneto ever have to go through that alone.
And that was one of my first glimmers, oneof my first conceptual glimmers of my why.
(03:16):
But what about athletes?
What?
What about the power of their why?
You know, I have always beeninspired by the athletes I've met,
especially the university athletes.
They're often the top ofthe academic programs.
All Canadians, all all Americans,getting talk marts while
(03:37):
training at an elite level.
Uh, none of them, none ofthe university address.
Uh, athletes have sponsorships, butthen even the elite athletes I meet
and the pros and semi-pros, most ofthem don't have big sponsorships.
And a lot of them are, surprisinglyenough, they're barely scraping
(03:59):
by, even though they couldbe the best in the country.
And yet they still get up earlyevery single morning, they train
in awful weather, push throughinjuries and just keep on going.
And why?
Why would they do that?
(04:20):
I believe 'cause their why isstronger than their excuses.
I think about how easy it is for mostof us to quit when it feels too hard.
And yet there are people, there arethese people holding down studies, jobs,
and training, all because they love it.
(04:44):
I mean, they're missing out on fun withfriends because training takes precedent.
And I think that's a lifelesson for all of us.
I was recently talking to one of myathletes who's a volleyball player, and
we'd been talking about their why andyou know, where, where my why comes in.
(05:08):
Like why do I do what I do?
Why do I work 12 hoursa day, six days a week?
Why do I do everything I do?
Why do I do this podcast right now?
Why do I do all the most social media?
And it's very simple.
I know I'm here to help.
(05:30):
I want to have an a positiveimpact on as many people as
possible, and that's my why.
And that's the thing that gets me up, getsme going, gets me through the hard days.
But here's another idea.
'cause like, this isn't just forathletes, for myself, it's for
(05:51):
all kinds of extraordinary people.
There's this, this doctor I work with,um, they're in residency for facade.
And this, we, we, we were talkingabout the her why one time, and it's
interesting that sometimes it's hard to.
(06:11):
Elaborate or like verbalize your why,but this will give you an idea of one of
the most powerful whys I've ever seen,
and she's given me permissionto talk about this story.
So she's in one of the most abandoned,uh, medical programs there is, but
years ago, while she was early in herresidency, she was on vacation and
(06:36):
she stepped on something in the ocean.
And it caused an infection, andthat infection spread the bone.
So she lost the lower half of one limb.
So from the knee down, orjust passed the knee down.
And I mean, she's amazing becauseshe just, she's I, she keeps on
(06:58):
going and she told this story about.
In practice, she's, she's in practicefor physiatry and she's working,
um, in a, in a place where they'reworking with people who've lost
limbs or have spinal cord injuries.
It's kind of a rehabilitation center.
And she told me this vivid memoryof, there was a, there was a
(07:23):
young man, she was treating
young boy probably under14, and he'd lost a limb.
And he was incr, completelydepressed, hopeless.
In fact, he didn't want toparticipate in rehab or getting
fitted for, you know, for prosthetic.
(07:47):
He j he just, he figured his life was over
and he was incredibly depressed.
And no matter what she did, shecouldn't get through to this young
man, or at least she felt she couldn't.
And one day she was just frustrated andshe walked into his room and she pulled up
(08:08):
her pant leg and knocked on her prosthetic
and his eyes lit up.
He says, you have aprosthetic and your doctor
that instantly changed his world.
He wanted to get fitted for a prosthetic.
(08:30):
He wanted to do the rehab.
He wanted to get on with his life,and I wouldn't be surprised if that
young man did something amazing
in that instant.
His world changed.
I,
you know, through her pain,through what she'd been through,
(08:51):
she gave him possibility
through her story.
She gave him hope and she toldme with tears in her eyes.
That's my wife and I. Got it.
(09:11):
So let's turn to a little bitmore por um, personal story.
I, I had been through depression.
I've been treated for depression,for bipolar disorder, for self.
Um.
Self-destruction.
I've been through substance abuse.
I've literally been on thebottom, and I stayed there for
(09:34):
quite some time, far too long.
But here's what I learned.
The darkness that tried to destroyme became the fire that forged me.
All the pain I'd experienced at thatlevel, at a soul crushing level.
(09:55):
It gave me this familiaritywith what it feels like to hurt,
and when I see somebody come into mylife that's feeling pain, I light up.
I lead in and I'm here
because I want to help.
(10:17):
That's my why.
I want to change the world.
I wanna have a positive impact on asmany human beings as I can through my
story, through my, through my life.
In fact, now my dream is, and I want toextend this life incredibly long, I'll
tell you the truth there, but my lastact on my last day will be recording one
(10:41):
more episode, something so impactful thatI know that that will change many lives.
I'll publish it.
Maybe I'll take a nap in the afternoon andin that nap I'll pass on to what's next.
And I don't want this to happen very soon.
(11:02):
I'm telling you the truth.
I'm doing everything I can to extendmy life as far as I can to learn as
much as I can to make the biggestD impact on this planet that I can.
That's my focus.
I want to extend.
I want to grab every single extra minute.
But in the end, my why, why do I exist?
(11:25):
Because I'm here to help
tell you a story about my father,who also inspired me in, in my mid to
late twenties, maybe early thirties.
Uh, our region was in an economicdownturn, and the news was grim.
(11:47):
And everybody was talking abouthow every, so many people are being
laid off and businesses are closing.
And my dad is a guy who watches a lotof news and he was just fully, fully in
the conversation of how terrible thingsare and how everything's falling apart.
And his business was actuallyfalling apart to the point that
(12:09):
he could barely pay the bills.
And his whole fear wasdominating everything.
And he used to try to convince me ofhow bad things were and I used to try
to try to talk 'em into looking atthings from a different point of view.
(12:29):
And finally one day I just hadenough and I told him a truth
that I'd read a while back.
And I don't know if you've heardthis before, because right now, um.
The world is, is heading, it looks likeit's heading for an economic downturn,
or maybe we're in one, I'm not sure.
(12:50):
See, I I, I live a life ofabundance, so all I see is abundance.
So
I told 'em the simple truth thatmore millionaires and billionaires
are made inside an economicdownturn than at any other time.
(13:13):
He was like, W why is that?
How could that be?
I mean, everything's falling apart.
I'm like, yeah, like, andeverybody's focusing on how
everything's falling apart.
And the truth is, there'salways opportunity, but you
have to have a context for it.
You have to believe that it's possibleand you have to be looking for it.
He's, the difference is when everybody'stalking the story that there's no chance,
(13:37):
there's nothing, um, there's no jobs.
There's like.
If everybody's in that conversationand there's a certain amount of people
out there that knows there's alwaysopportunity, those people are going to
be watching and they will take, takeadvantage of the opportunities that
present themselves because, and theywon't have any competition for them
(13:59):
then.
I said, well, yeah, okay, that's good.
So my idea there was just to kindof change the context, uh, crack
a door, a possibility within thatstory that he was so strong about.
And then I asked him,why did you start this?
Why did you get involvedin this kind of thing?
'cause his company wasdoing health and safety.
(14:21):
Um.
Teaching first aid, teaching safety andcreating safety programs for companies.
So his whole life was abouthelping people and saving lives.
I says, well, you know, you know, andI'm like, well, tell me again why.
So it turns out when my, when myfather was about 19 years old, he
was married to my mother and shewas pregnant with my older brother.
(14:43):
She was 17, he was 19, and hewas working in a hard rock mine.
And back then there wasn't alot of safety or first aid.
So he was, he was welding a boxcar and they didn't know he was,
they didn't realize he wasn't out.
They set off a massivecharge, an explosive charge.
It threw him down the shaft, and hewas smart enough to find his way back
(15:04):
to the oxyacetylene tank, turn offthe acetylene and crank up the oxygen
and put his hard hat on his face andbreathe oxygen till they got there
and found him and they dust him off.
You're okay, Peterson.
Go home with pay.
And so he went home to his new wife and hewas moving a refrigerator and he collapsed
and they rushed him to the clinic.
(15:24):
They were way up in the interiorof long ways from a major hospital,
and the clinic was like, there'snothing we can do for him.
So they got it back.
Back then, it was a Bush pilot, so wouldfly sa life lifesaving, um, flights.
They flew him down to the major cityand he actually was in surgery for
(15:45):
five or six hours, maybe seven hours.
And he died three timeson that opportunity table.
His heart stopped three times, oncefor seven and a half minutes, and
because he was such a young, healthyman, they worked and worked and worked
and worked and brought him back.
And it's interesting.
After that, rather than gettingupset and frustrated and
like hating life, he started.
(16:08):
Learning.
He went out and he got trained infirst aid and he started, started
to be a volunteer firefighter,volunteer ambulance attendant.
He got a job in the mill, in the,in the first aid and safety end.
And he wanted to change the world, butthen he hit a block, uh, because they
gave, uh, the director job to somebodywith a university degree, a young guy.
(16:32):
So rather than, once again, ratherthan just going, I hate life.
This sucks.
He started going to night University,so he'd work all day and he'd
go to university and then he'dsleep a bit and work all day.
He got his university GA degree andhe worked for, he went and worked for
work workers' compensation board, the,the safety regulator for work, and
(16:57):
he worked there a number of years andjust banged his head against the wall
because it was very bureaucratic, cratic.
So he decided like, that's not my path.
And he started his own company.
And when he started thiscompany, it was amazing.
People were beating down hisdoor and it was so successful.
(17:18):
And then we skipped forward to thiseconomic downturn and he said, yeah,
like I said, I, I wanna save lives.
And like, you've been doing great at that.
So what happened?
He said, well, I startedfocusing on the money.
And I said, take out a pen, a feltpen, and a piece of paper right now.
(17:40):
And right on that piece ofpaper, I am here to save lives.
That's his why.
Why you put that right beside the phone onthe wall, and every time the phone rings,
before you answer the phone, read that.
And when you talk tothat person on the phone.
(18:03):
How, how in thisconversation can I save life?
And it doesn't matter if they're gonnacome and you're gonna make money off
it or not, how can you help save lives?
That was halfway through a year.
By the end of the year, he'd had the mostsuccessful year he'd ever had his history.
And of course it keep on, kept ongoing from there in half a year.
(18:26):
If you have a p most,uh, powerful enough, why?
And you really focus on, you can overcome.
Anyhow,
so there's this interesting thing.
It's called, um, I didsome Buddhist meditations.
I learned this.
This interesting being, they call thistype of being, they call it a body satis,
(18:49):
and I don't know if you have beliefoutside and it really doesn't matter.
This is kind of like an idea for me,and I heard about this body satis, and
these are these beings, the the buds.
Look at life like this.
Like you're here learning to come toa place of enlightenment, which means
you get to move on to what's ever next.
(19:11):
But these body Satur are incrediblyspecial beings because they are ready to
step over into enlightenment, and yet theychoose to not step over and they choose
to keep on coming back 'cause they believein reincarnation over and over and over.
And their why is until allbeings become enlightened, I'm
(19:36):
just gonna come back and help.
And if that's real,that's what I want to be.
That's why I get up before 5:00 AMwhy I run to take care of my hell.
I want to add time tomy life and I literally,
(19:57):
I'd like to keep on coming backto help until everyone is good.
So here's a reflection exercise.
Let me ask you, what is your why?
Why do you get up in the morning?
(20:18):
Are you living from inspirationor are you drifting?
You know, if you take amoment and you think back
to when you were young, what lit you up?
What did you daydream about?
(20:41):
Sometimes our why has been with ussince childhood, but we just forgot.
I mean, I remember being threeor four years old, there's
somebody crying down the street.
I'm in my, on my tricycle, and I'mroaring down the middle of the road,
which I really shouldn't have been doing,
(21:04):
but I knew I was here to help.
And I stopped in the middle of the street
and I looked up and I said,but I don't know how to help.
How do I help?
And I said, I'll figureit out when I get there.
And I kept on roaring down the street.
And that's prophetic.
Okay.
(21:24):
'cause maybe that's when Iinvited the universe in life
to, okay, teach me how to help.
And we don't learn easy.
I'll tell you that.
It's the hard stuff that teaches us.
There's this quote that I love that Isaw a while back and it said, blessed
are those who escape from the fire
(21:49):
only to return with water to helpthose that are still trapped.
Yeah.
Hey, listen.
If you don't know yourultimate wi, hey, that's okay.
Start with a small one.
Something you care aboutenough to keep showing up for.
Ask yourself, what breaks my heart
(22:11):
out in the world?
What do I want to change?
What lights me up?
What can I do that makes me feel great?
What kind of country vision can I be?
Who do I want to help andwhat problem do I wanna solve?
And write down your answersand look for patterns.
Follow it with your curiosity.
(22:36):
Your why might not show up in onelightning bolt moment, but it might
grow quietly with every step you take.
Or maybe just like an interactionI had with one of my athletes
recently, a volleyball player.
We'd been talking about why.
And.
(22:56):
I mean, she,
she's got some stuff in her body thatis, poses a challenge, and I've been
trying to help her reframe it to the,the reason she's so strong and incredible
is because she has this challenge andit's the overcoming of that challenge
that has given her all the beauty.
She is,
(23:17):
and we were talking about.
Uh, she, she didn't qualify forone of the events and she was
gonna go and visit some family.
And as we're talking about why she,it's suddenly she, her eyes lit up.
She's, oh man, I justremembered, what was it?
What was it?
And she's like, you know, when I wasabout 16 and I was getting really good,
(23:39):
I think she was, uh, qualified for a,uh, an international competition, or she
was move working into that direction.
And she was loving, loving volleyballand she really, really, really wanted
volleyball to take her around theworld to see all kinds of spaces.
That is a valid why.
(24:00):
Your why doesn't have to be my why.
It can be, it can be as simple as that.
I just wanted to have this sport I love.
Take me around the world.
And how about this,
if we can find the why thatcomes first, it comes before
(24:24):
the how and here's the truth.
Once you know your why, howreally becomes less important.
The how will change it will adapt,and sometimes it will break,
and then you'll build a new one.
Because if your why is strongenough, you'll always find a way
(24:48):
because if you have a strongenough why, it will tear down
every how that gets in the way.
And I just want toclarify something for you.
The truth is.
(25:09):
You are exceptional, and I'mgonna prove it right now.
There was a time just before Confeconcept that you were in a race
with a hundred million others
and you won.
And in doing so,
(25:31):
it created a DNA, which is you.
Which is completely unique onthis planet unless, unless of
course you're twins, then the twoof you have a very similar DNA.
Everything.
Your quirks, your strength, yourchallenges, they're not random.
(25:52):
Everything that is you is on purpose.
It's not just intentional,but it's designed perfectly
for the purpose of your life.
You're here for a reason.
You are here for a reason,and it could be a million.
You could be here to change the world.
You could be here to raise achild that changes the world,
(26:13):
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
You could be here just toinspire one person at a time.
You could be here to lift othersone hard moment at a time.
That's what I'm, I'm prettymuch here for right now.
You are here for a reason.
Find it.
(26:33):
Start living it.
Let it carry you through every how andif you don't know it yet, get curious.
Take a look.
Think about your past.
Follow a little sparksuntil they become a fire.
Because once you findyour why, you will never,
(26:56):
ever.
Be the same.
Thank you for listening andspending this time with me.
Keep learning, keepfighting the inner critic.
Keep building your inner advocate.
(27:21):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Your Inner Advocate, a podcast by
Kimen Petersen, formerly Conversationswith Kimen if you found value in
today's episode, please follow likeand share the podcast with someone
who you think may benefit from it.
You can listen on Apple Podcast.
Spotify, Podbean, and connect onInstagram @ your inner advocate.
(27:45):
Until next time, keep listening toand developing your inner advocate.
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