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January 19, 2026 28 mins

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Cut The Tie Podcast with John Brink

What does success really look like when you are eighty five years old, still building companies, competing in bodybuilding, writing books, and hosting hundreds of podcasts?

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with John Brink, an entrepreneur, author, and podcaster whose life story spans war time Europe, immigration to Canada with almost nothing, decades of business building, and a late in life discovery that finally explained everything. At sixty two, John learned he had ADHD and dyslexia. Instead of seeing it as a limitation, he reframed it as the key that unlocked his true identity.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that it is never too late to understand yourself, redefine success, and cut ties to the labels that never fit you in the first place.

About John Brink:
John Brink is an entrepreneur, author, competitive bodybuilder, and prolific podcaster based in British Columbia, Canada. Born during World War II in the Netherlands, John immigrated to Canada with a suitcase, three books, two sets of clothes, and $25.47 to his name. He went on to build multiple successful companies, author five books with a sixth in progress, and host hundreds of podcast episodes. John openly shares his journey with ADHD and dyslexia, advocating for mindset, discipline, health, and lifelong growth.

In this episode, Thomas and John discuss:

  • Discovering ADHD at sixty two
    John shares how finding the book Driven to Distraction finally answered the question he had been asking himself for fifty years.
  • Growing up labeled as not too bright
    How failing grades and early school rejection shaped his determination to prove himself.
  • Starting with nothing by design
    Why John chose to immigrate to Canada alone and build his life from the ground up.
  • Attitude, passion, and work ethic
    The three principles John believes always precede success.
  • Why ADHD is not a liability
    How John reframed ADHD as an asset and a competitive advantage.
  • Staying physically strong into your eighties
    John explains his disciplined approach to diet, training, sleep, and longevity.
  • Building a life without regret
    Why John would not change his path even with all the challenges he faced.
  • Giving back as the real definition of success
    Success as contribution, mentorship, and service rather than titles or money.

Key Takeaways:

  • ADHD is different, not broken
    Understanding yourself changes everything.
  • Success will try to find you
    Your job is to be ready when it does.
  • Health is non negotiable
    Longevity and quality of life are built through discipline.
  • Labels lose power when you define yourself
    The story you accept shapes the life you live.
  • It is never too late to grow
    Self discovery can happen at any age.

Connect with John Brink:
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnabrink/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://instantlyrelevant.com

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Welcome to the Cut the Tide Podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, ThomasHelper, and I'm on that mission
to help you cut the title,whatever it is holding you back
from success.
You better define that successyourself because otherwise
you're chasing someone else'sdream.
And today I'm joined by John A.
Brink.
John, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 (00:16):
I'm doing well.
How about you?
I'm delicious.

SPEAKER_02 (00:20):
Thank you for asking.
I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 (00:22):
Um take a moment, introduce yourself.
Where you're from, what it isyou do.
I didn't quite get that, Thomas.

SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
Oh, to bring up.
I said take a moment tointroduce yourself, where you're
from, and what it is you do.
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Okay.
Uh so my name is John Brink, uh,and I'm living in Prince George,
British Columbia, Canada.
And uh, you know, the other partthat you may want to know about
me, I'm birthday is about amonth and a half, and I'm 85
years young.
And so I'm an entrepreneur, havea number of businesses.

(00:56):
Uh my foundation is attitude,passion, work ethic, and I work
harder than anybody, even now.
Uh, I wrote, uh I'm working onmy sixth book.
I'm a very active podcaster, uh,Global 1% or better.
And uh, you know, so and then myfoundation is attitude.

(01:16):
I avoid negative, don't evencome close to me, and passion.
Whatever I do, we give it 125%and work ethic and what will
follow is success.

SPEAKER_02 (01:26):
That's crazy.
Well, that's awesome.
I'm excited to have you on here.
I'm I'm gonna learn something.
Um but you you're here today.
What do you what do you do?
So like what's your uh whatwhat's the uh what's the thing
you want to talk about today ispart of your journey as we get
into you a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Anything that you want to talk about is uh I'm I'm
very open.
Uh, you know, the obviously I'man author, I'm a business
person, uh, an entrepreneur.
Uh the other part that you maylike is that I'm also have ADHD
and and uh so uh I call it asuperpower, and uh I do a lot of

(02:05):
stuff at about 10 differentcompanies and uh been in Canada
for 60 years, was born duringthe Second World War in 1940,
blah blah blah.
Still know a lot about that, anduh you know, so in uh in the new
media is obviously podcasting,and I do a lot of that.
Uh I've done about uh close to500 uh podcasts where I'm

(02:28):
hosting, I think 455 or so, andthen about 200 where I'm
guesting, and uh uh that's thenew media, and I love it.

SPEAKER_02 (02:38):
That's fantastic.
Um well, let's talk about yourjourney a little bit.
But before we dive into, I mean,you got a you got you got a lot
of stories, I'm sure.
How do you define success at age85?

SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
Success for me is more than anything that during
the your journey, John, all theway that you've lived, what has
been the most important isprobably giving back to the
community and then giving backfrom my experience to others as
to going through challengingtimes all the way.
And I wrote a book about that,Against All Oz.

(03:11):
Uh, you know, going through allthe ups and downs along the way.
And then uh obviously ADHD anddyslexia uh, you know, has been
a challenge for me.
And then starting from thebottom up is that uh attitude,
passion, work ethic, and to staypositive at all times.
And then uh and a lot of peopleask me, how do I become

(03:34):
successful?
I say success will try to findyou, just be ready for it.

SPEAKER_02 (03:40):
I love that.
And as somebody, so you know, Ilive the cup to tie principles,
and mine this year was adultADHD.
So I just started uh the threelegs of the stool, which is uh,
you know, therapy environment,which is you know, just making
sure you got things right, andand uh medication.
So I'm I'm uh you know 49,almost 50, and I'm like you
know, sorting out what 49.7years was like, and like looking

(04:02):
back on it, you know, with alittle medication going, oh god,
I gotta unravel some shit.
Uh sorry, honey, my wife, I'mlike, ooh.
Oh, she's still here.
So I feel you.
Um it is a superpower, but it isuh it's a significantly a
double-edged sword you can cutyourself with and often do uh
along the way.

(04:23):
Uh, would you would you agree ordisagree with that statement as
it relates to ADHD?

SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
So for me, Thomas, that uh it was by pure
coincidence that I had no ideauh about ADHD or dyslexia, no
idea, until I was here in Canadaalready for 32 years.
When uh, you know, so and at thetime that I was virtually in

(04:52):
1997, January 1997, I was herefor 32 years.
And so uh walked into abookstore and I found a book
Driven to Distraction.
And I picked up the book.
Amazingly, it's in my studio.
I'm in the boardroom of one ofmy companies here that uh I'm
I'm getting interviewed, so Idon't have it here.

(05:13):
But the actual book I stillhave.
And then the first page I wrotein Dutch, now I finally know who
I am.
And and the reason that I wroteit in Dutch, because it was
suggested that maybe ADHD is amental uh issue, uh, and uh I
was building companies and andlending millions of dollars to

(05:34):
build companies.
And if I said I uh here's myproposal and blah, blah, blah,
oh, by the way, I also have amental issue, and they would
say, have a nice day.
So then by the time that I wasuh you know already 57 years
old, I found out about ADHD.
Then it took me another fiveyears before I would go to my

(05:56):
doc.
I looked at books, I looked atGoogle and found out about ADHD
and dyslexia, but it's allabout, blah, blah, blah.
And then I went to my doc when Iwas 62 years older.
And my dog was a personalfriend, delivered our two
dollars.
And I and my doc said, hey John,why are you here?
I said, I think I've got anADHD.
And and so we checked it out,and I do.

(06:18):
And and so, and then from thatpoint forward, uh, I realized
that it is a superpower.
And uh, you know, so but can youimagine?
I was not very successfulacademically in Holland.
I failed grade three, I failedgrade seven three times, and
then they said to my parents,what are you gonna do with this
guy?
Because they took me out ofschool at 12 and a half years

(06:39):
old.
My parents were beautifulpeople, and they suggested send
them to the mentally challengedschool.
They said, No, we're not gonnado that.
And so they got me a job in thefurniture factory at 12 and a
half years old, and then I lovedit, and then my dream was to
build a sawmill, go to Canada,be liberated by the Canadian
Army, uh, in 1945 at five yearsold.

(07:01):
It made such an impression on methat I always knew I would go to
the land of my heroes, and Idid, Canada, and I wanted to
start with nothing, and I didthat, and then subsequently
built sawmills and a number ofother companies, and uh, you
know, so uh, you know, and thencan you imagine you can because

(07:23):
you were late in beingdiagnosed, but I was diagnosed
at 62.
I started working in a factorywhen I was 12 for 50 years.
I was wondering, who am I?
Why am I different?
And so uh so that was part of mylife.
And then once I understood and Istarted to deal with the issues,

(07:48):
uh uh, then all my life changed.
I started to write books, Ibecame a presenter, and I
started to build companies, andbut uh I didn't use medication.
At one point, the docs uh I wentto the doctor and I said, after
I read some people did, I said,should I use medication?
And he said, Oh, we can try.

(08:09):
But I said, like what?
He said, Adrol is maybe good.
So he gave me a container ofAdherol, 100 pills, and I had
about three of them in 2003.
And so, and they didn't donothing for me.
So the same container with hisAdherol pills, 97 in it, is

(08:30):
still sitting in my desk draw.
I never use it again.
So the uh uh and so I do this isthe way I am, and and so since
that time, obviously uh I'vebecome successful in the
businesses, I've been sosuccessful as an author, and
then as a podcaster, and uh andthen dealing more with the who

(08:52):
am I?
And uh kids can be hard on eachother.
When I left school in gradeseven, uh, you know, it was
suggested, well, John is not toobright and obviously he will not
amount to much in life.
So if he finds a casual jobsomeplace, that's probably good
enough.
But I always felt I was just asgood as the others, not better

(09:13):
than, but just as good.
And for me to challenge myselfto do that, I followed my dream
of going to the land of myheroes, Canada, in particular
British Columbia, and then thedream of building a lumber mill.
And I did, and and a lot ofother places, and so uh I'm
still very, very active, uh,obviously in podcasting.

(09:34):
I wrote a book about uh ADHD,uh, you know, uh very popular,
and some number of other books,and so uh so life is good, and
it's good, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (09:49):
Yeah, I mean listen, I I I'm happy that I, you know,
I think I've known I'vedefinitely known my whole life
about ADHD.
I just never it was one of thosethings your parents go, oh well
we're not gonna medicate, that'sjust who you are.
I don't like the stigmatism thatwe're the ones broken, because I
point out to all those peoplewho aren't ADHD who get things
done that you are doing thethings that the ADHD years

(10:11):
created.
They created it, you figured outa way to operationalize it.
You need both.
One's not broken, one just doesshit differently, and then the
other.
So we won't go down that path.
I I do want to know if you couldgo back in time at any point in
your your your you knowtimeline, would you go back
anywhere and do anythingdifferent?

SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
No, not really.
Uh and some of the things werechallenging along the way,
there's no question about that.
And if I could do it again, Iwould do it probably slightly
different.
But do I regret any of theperiods that I've been in?
No, I don't.

SPEAKER_02 (10:47):
That's great.
That's a good life, right there.
You look incredibly healthy, 85.
I would have guessed you're like62, like you just got diagnosed.
See, this is what happens inEurope when they put you to work
in 1952 as a 12-year-old, right?

SPEAKER_00 (11:02):
I wrote another book, Living Young, Dying Old,
and life is just a number.
That's a picture of me,actually.
Uh, I'm very active.
I'm a bodybuilder.
Uh, you know, the I'm the oldestcompetitive bodybuilder in North
America.
And I qualified in 2018 for thenationals here in Canada and for

(11:22):
the Arnolds.
And now again, I'm training forbodybuilding.
And so the reason that I do thatis simply in order for me to
have quality of life and longlevity, I have to watch out for
my diet for one.
My wife is vegetarian.
I always was not as listened toher as good as I could have.

(11:44):
I do now.
I'm probably 80, 20, maybe 90,10.
And I do all the shopping.
And if I go to the store, Idon't shop in the aisles.
I go to the inside of the store,and because inside the aisles is
all the uh processed food, and Idon't know what is in it.
If the letters are very small,it's probably not good for me.

(12:05):
And and so, and then the otherthing that I do is I go to the
gym uh four times a week and Iwork hard and uh and stay fit.

SPEAKER_02 (12:13):
You know, I found with uh with me back to your
ADHD piece is that uh I'm notone who likes routines, but I
find the benefit when they'repositive.
But what I'm also noticing is ifI break a routine anytime, it's
really hard for me to getstarted again.
So I go every day at 8 a.m.
Um I'll occasionally take aSunday or a day off on the
weekend just to just because I Iwant to and I might not worry

(12:34):
about it.
But if I take two days off, thenMondays is it's a little slower
start, but I I made it so it'slike integrated in life that
it's like eating or breathing.
I'm there from eight to nine orso every morning.
Not every day is the best.
Some days are better than theothers, but I have no non-zero
days.
There's always a positive gainof some sort.

SPEAKER_00 (12:53):
I agree with you, Thomas.
So, what I do is that I knew uhtaking me back to 2008, I had a
case uh where I nearly diedbecause I had a case of diabetic
colitis that ruptured.
And for those people that I'mnot a doc, obviously, but
usually if you have pain on yourright side, it could be the
appendix.

(13:14):
And if you're on the left side,then it maybe is your uh uh
colon.
And in my case, uh that's whatit was.
They took 20 centimeters out ofmy colon and I waited too long,
and the doc said the followingmorning to me, you came discuss.
And that changed me in terms ofI knew that I had to change my

(13:34):
diet, follow my wife more, anduh in terms of diet, and then uh
the other thing was that uhexercise.
I had to hire a trainer becausemy life is appointments, and and
so I will go out of my way tomake sure I meet my
appointments, and I like that.

(13:55):
So I've been doing that for thelast 16 years.

SPEAKER_02 (13:59):
Yeah, it and it helps you because it helps you
just kind of keep the routine ofI need to show up.
Yeah, I love and listen.

SPEAKER_00 (14:06):
I work hard, I don't take a tackle, I'm not there for
social, I don't take my phone assome people do, and no, I'm
there to work.

SPEAKER_02 (14:14):
Yeah, the uh I I'm guilty of phone, but it's it's
my entertainment for two minutesin between sets.
But the uh I will tell you thatI think the uh the the first
thing I did for cutting the tiewas uh for me personally was uh
stopped drinking.
And so two years ago, almost twoyears, two years, seven days
actually, I I quit.
And so uh and I was only becausethe last 10 years of my life, I
actually said I want my last 10years of my life to be as

(14:34):
healthy as possible, which isprobably aligned to your one of
your books, which is you know,live old, die young kind of or
exactly living young, dying old.
What uh what's the biggestlesson you'd give to to I'm
gonna say to the ADHDentrepreneur?

SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Understand it, it's not a liability.
You will have certain qualitiesthat other people don't have.
And I believe ADHD is an asset,it's not uh a liability.
And so, and for younger peoplein particular, the sooner we
understand them and and workingwith them, uh I don't make

(15:13):
comments about should you orshould you not use uh uh
chemicals or medicine.
Uh each each one has to maketheir own choices.
I don't, and then at the sametime, understand it and work
with them, but give themconfidence that they are normal
and that uh you know that theyare just different in the way

(15:33):
they approach things.
And then the other thing that isimportant for me, expose them to
other people that have beenvery, very successful.
And I did that in my other book,uh uh Billion Dollar Uh the
Communication Skills.
I that came out July 31st.
It's already the bestseller onAmazon, and it's about

(15:57):
communication skills.
It's not about how to become abillionaire, but what is
important is that thebillionaires that I focus in
here have are all excellent incommunication skills.
That is what made themsuccessful.
And so, and then buildingconfidence and and and who am I
is very important.

(16:18):
It took me 50 years to getthere, and and for others, I say
the sooner we can say and learnthat the young people in
particular, that they are notspecial, but they are different,
maybe, and and then teach themas to what to do to become

(16:38):
successful in different ways.
And then the other part that isvery important is that likely
between 25 and 30 percent of thepopulation worldwide, male and
female have ADHD, uh, althoughfemales usually portray it
differently than males.
Yeah, and that's not just mycomments, those are comments

(16:58):
from individuals.

SPEAKER_02 (17:01):
That's uh that's a medical position as well, and uh
it it and no question about it.
Uh it's very obvious to boys.
And I will tell you the appledoes not fall far from the tree.
It is, you know, I can see it inmy son.
It's like I look at it this way.
I wish, you know, if I askedmyself my question when I could
go back in time, whatever else.
Uh I don't think I would havegone back to age 13 and done the
medication and stuff and thetreatment, um, because I would

(17:24):
have missed my life that I have.
Um but I would have done it themoment after my maybe my uh my
uh youngest daughter wasconceived.
So so so they're so I had themall here and then I could have
done something a little bitdifferently there.
But I look at it as because I'velearned something I can give my
son and daughter, you know,whoever else, a better advantage
in life by understanding whatthey probably do.

(17:44):
Well, one does for sure have andthe other likely has.
And that that to me is the giftback.
It's like I'm that that's wherethe venue is.
I learned it at the right momentto give it to them in their
teenage years to say listen.
Um what what is you know, 85,what's the metaphoric tie that
you're struggling with today?

SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
Uh I don't know.
Uh, you know, the there's uh Ihave many, many companies that
we are dealing with, and uh, youknow, the personally, uh I don't
have really any other than uh,you know, I'm I I spend a lot of
time, I'm busy, busy, busy.
I get up at 5:30, uh, and thenI'm usually the first one at my

(18:26):
main office and the last one toleave here.
And we have lots of challengesalong the way, uh, especially
now these days with uh tariffsand duties and all of those kind
of things.
Uh those are challenges.
And then the other one is uh,you know, saying uh, you know,
stay fit, healthy, communicatewith others, uh, help

(18:47):
communities, and and help uhpeople that are challenged.
And uh that to me, uh givingback to me is very, very
important and working withcommunities.

SPEAKER_02 (18:59):
Now, when's your next competition for
bodybuilding?

SPEAKER_00 (19:02):
By me?

SPEAKER_02 (19:03):
When's the next competition for bodybuilding?

SPEAKER_00 (19:05):
Probably sometimes early next year.

unknown (19:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (19:08):
I've never been to a bodybuilding competition.
I've never been to one of thecompetitions, but how what
what's your uh like is it thesame thing you go on stage?
Do you like do you highlight onearea your body you're most proud
of, or you just kind of have toshow the whole thing off and let
the judges?

SPEAKER_00 (19:23):
Yeah, so the uh it is very structured uh
bodybuilding, both for males andfemales.
Not maybe uh males, uh femalesin in another way, they have
categories of bikini and then anumber of other ones.
But contrary to showing off yourbody in particular, it's not
about that.
It is that most of the peoplethat I've been meeting in

(19:45):
competition, every single one ofthem belongs there.
It is hard, hard work, and firstand foremost.
And then so what you do then ina very structured way and How
I'm posing here is one of theones that you do in a structured

(20:05):
way, and then from differentsides of your body, you show
your developments in a flowingmanner, and that is presenting,
uh, you know, in posing.
And so the category that I'musually involved in is the
oldest or the seniors that is 55and older.
And most of them could be mykids, really.

(20:28):
But usually I came in uh secondfor bodybuilding and third for
physique.
And uh, you know, so and evennow uh going to the gym is that
I work hard, and this is how Ilook.
If you would go with me to thegym tomorrow, that's how I look,
maybe even a little bigger thanthat.

(20:50):
And so uh that's what I do, andthe whole idea is that it brings
you to the gym, but at the sametime, it is hard, hard, hard
work, and that applies to malesas well as as females.

SPEAKER_02 (21:08):
Do you feel uh my philosophy in lifting,
specifically in the last year,was I focused on uh it's it was
to keep it simple.
It was to focus on two bodyparts, the same two, twice a
week, which gave equal rest inbetween and just repeat it.
Nothing complicated.
I see people doing some crazyass exercises in the gym.

(21:29):
I'm like, can you just dopush-ups and do the same shit?
And like, do you do you havemore of a simplistic thing, or
are you doing some crazy andtwists and I don't know?

SPEAKER_00 (21:39):
Sorry, Thomas.
What I do is I work with thequalified trainer, and I work
with them all the time.
And so their objective is towork my whole body and do it in
a systematic way and then keeptrack of what we are doing.
So I go four times a week nowand for an hour with the trainer

(22:02):
that has been training me forthe last two, three years, four
years.
And so that's what I do and in avery skilled way because I, as
you can see on my body, uh, youknow, I don't tidle tattle
around.
I do some very serious weightsand so very serious things, but
it's not about big weights, butit's more doing it in a

(22:27):
structured way so that itinvolves diet, it involves uh
understanding your body, andthen from there on in monitoring
it and do it structural, thatyou know follow this, follow
that, follow that.
So that's what my trainer does.
And and I would recommend to thepeople that want to get involved

(22:50):
in some form or fashion, thenevery so often, if you don't use
one full-time, use one just toguide you through the different
simple ways of doing it.
Uh, you know, like you nobodyhas to become a bodybuilder
necessarily or an Olympian as Idid.
It was coincidental that I gotthere.

(23:11):
And uh, you know, so after I'vebeen training for about six
months or six years, somebodycame up to us and said, Hey
John, have you ever thoughtabout competing?
I said, Me, really?
And I was already 78 years old.
And I said, Why not?
And I did.
But so the key is to understandyour body and then do it
systematically.

(23:31):
But I advise to the people, andthat's why I wrote a book,
Living Young, Dying Old, stayactive and and so uh and
structured, and then walk andstart with doing a half an hour,
and then do a little bit more,and do a little bit more, and
then get some advice on what todo, bits body parts, how do we

(23:54):
do that?
And you know what will happen?
They will say, Hey Thomas orJohn, what are you doing?
You look great, you know.
So, and and so, and that isrewarding.
And then the same applies todiet, extremely important.
And so uh, you know, what I dofirst and foremost, I sleep

(24:15):
between seven and nine hours aday.
Very important to me.
I when I get up, I drink 10ounces of water right away, and
then from there on in I'veusually three or four eggs,
boiled eggs, and avocado.
If it is a big one, I take ahalf on.
And then from there on in, if Igo to the gym, usually around 11

(24:36):
o'clock, then I have a doubleprotein drink, that's my lunch,
and then in the evening I havesome more substance in terms of
protein, and and so, and thenagain I repeat that.
So, and I'm very busy keeping mybody, I probably walk about, I
would say around 5,000 steps aday, maybe 35,000 a week or 30

(25:01):
to 35.
And as part of what I do, andthen I go at least four times a
week to the gym.
And uh, and then the other partthat is very important, keeping
your brain active in particular.
And so I uh you know my uh I didthis morning my podcast number
was 456, I think, where I'mhosting, and then I'm guesting

(25:24):
probably another 200 or so.
I'm very active there, and thenon YouTube, I think I'm close to
a million subscribers, so I'mactive on that part mentally,
and so and then I'm writingbooks, and uh I've done five and
I'm working on the six one.

SPEAKER_02 (25:42):
I love it.
You're an inspiration.
I grew up, I want to be likeyou.

unknown (25:46):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (25:48):
So look I final question just here is there if
there was a question I shouldhave asked you and I didn't,
what was the question?
And how would you answer it?

SPEAKER_00 (25:57):
Are you asking me to ask me the question?

SPEAKER_02 (25:59):
If there was a question I should have asked you
and I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
Tell me when you discovered, what were you doing?
Why but how did you feel aboutwhen you decided to go to
Canada, went to the other sideof the world?
How did you feel then and why?
And the reason is the reason whyis that we were liberated, as I

(26:25):
said earlier, by the Canadianarmy and April the uh 12th,
1945, in northern Holland, afterthe war, that was extremely
difficult.
We solved far too much that weshouldn't have at PTSD and still
have today, and a child, all ofthose kind of things.
But the Canadians made such animpression on me that I knew
once I grew up, I would go tothe land of my heroes.

(26:47):
And then I wanted to start withnothing.
And and the reason for that isbecause I didn't know that I had
ADHD, but I was not verysuccessful academically.
I failed grade two, as I saidearlier, in grade seven three
times.
I wanted to prove to me that Icould do it on my own and build
a lumber mill starting withnothing.
So I went, I I put, I had asuitcase, three books, two sets

(27:12):
of clothes, very little money,and went to British Columbia,
Canada.
When I came off the bus, thissomebody told me to go to Prince
George, that's where they'rebuilding sawmills.
And I came off the bus here.
I had my suitcase, three books,two sets of clothes, and I
counted my money at least threetimes.
I had$25.47.

(27:32):
Didn't have a job, didn't have auh didn't know a soul.
And and so that's proved to me Iknew either I would come back
successful or in the box.
A little bit radical, but Iworked very, very, very hard.
But the biggest discoveries tome were when I walked into that

(27:53):
bookstore and I found a book,Driven to Distraction, on ADHD,
and I wrote in it as I saidearlier in Dutch.
Now I finally know who I am, andthat was that changed my life.

SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
I love that.
John, thank you so much forcoming on today.
I I'm so honored to have you onthe show.
And it's I mean, it's it'sawesome.
I wish I had more time too withyou, but thank you for being
here.

SPEAKER_01 (28:15):
Thanks, Thomas.
It was a pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 (28:18):
I love it.
And listen, anybody made it aspart of the show, you rock, I
hope you go check out John onYouTube and everywhere else he
is and all his books.
Uh get out there, go cut a tieto something holding you back.
Thanks for watching.

SPEAKER_01 (28:27):
John A.
Brain.
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