August 26, 2025 • 18 mins
In this deeply personal episode of *The Doctor’s Corner*, I reveal the journey that shaped my life and mission. I was told I was ‘retarded’ and would never graduate from 8th grade. But I refused to let labels define me. Through faith, resilience, and relentless determination, I transformed from a struggling child into an International Best-Selling Author, Business Growth Strategist, and mentor to 100,000 teens and parents.
This episode is more than my story—it’s proof for every parent that your child’s current struggles don’t determine their destiny. With the right tools, guidance, and mindset, transformation is possible. And if I could do it, so can your teen.
🎁 Special Gift: Download a free 22-minute deep dive from my book *Connecting with Your Teen* at DrJohnOdaOfficial.com/teen
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-doctor-s-corner-with-dr-john-oda--5470834/support.
Dr. John Oda has spent 38 years helping teens and parents strengthen communication, overcome struggles, and build thriving families. Download a free 23-minute deep dive from his book *Connecting with Your Teen: Send an email to info@drjohnoda.com for your download.
Articles, Books, and Podcasts
https://drjohnoda.com/pr-media
Bonding the Family Together
:https://family.pnbcgroup.com/
If your teen is playing sports and wants that extra edge
https://sports.pnbcgroup.com
This episode is more than my story—it’s proof for every parent that your child’s current struggles don’t determine their destiny. With the right tools, guidance, and mindset, transformation is possible. And if I could do it, so can your teen.
🎁 Special Gift: Download a free 22-minute deep dive from my book *Connecting with Your Teen* at DrJohnOdaOfficial.com/teen
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-doctor-s-corner-with-dr-john-oda--5470834/support.
Dr. John Oda has spent 38 years helping teens and parents strengthen communication, overcome struggles, and build thriving families. Download a free 23-minute deep dive from his book *Connecting with Your Teen: Send an email to info@drjohnoda.com for your download.
Articles, Books, and Podcasts
https://drjohnoda.com/pr-media
Bonding the Family Together
:https://family.pnbcgroup.com/
If your teen is playing sports and wants that extra edge
https://sports.pnbcgroup.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Doctor's Corner featuring doctor John Oda. So
let me tell a little bit of history about myself.
I have thirty eight years in the mental health field. Uh.
Worked with adolescents and teenagers for twenty three uh the
thirty eight years. The rest of the years around clinics
and hospitals and residential programs and literally the list goes on.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
This show is.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Mental health, UH meet UH, neural linguistic UH, the neurosciences combined.
So I do a lot of uh the mental health
and neurosciences and sports performance UH for for adolescents.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
As well as the parents.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Number one goal is to teach you guys some tools
and strategies that I went to the last thirty eight years,
and lower knows I've seen everything. Nothing surprised me, nothing
shocks me. I am Amazon International bestselling.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Author for this book. Pretty jazzed about that. And for
the last three books that we wrote, we hit that status.
So the book's doing extremely well. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
The book UH connected with's your team that you see
on the on the cover that have been out since
two thousand and six. So uh, I remember, uh, I
saw a little bit background. I come from a family
of ten right, and when I, uh, when mom read
the book twenty years ago almost MoMA looked at the
book and she says, man, I wish I had this
book when you guys were.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Grow when you were growing up.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I'm like, wow, that's a who huge compliment. And I'm
thinking that we read uh that uh she read us
damn good to be truly honest with you, you know,
and God rest her soul. But when I remember when
uh when booth from n when both of my parents died.
Dad died about eleven years ago. Mom died seven years ago, right,
Dad died at ninety one. Mom died at eighty six.
(01:51):
And did you know that we thought that we had
that uh, the siblings, all of us thought, uh that
we were the favorite child. And I said, that's just
great parenting. So the name of the show that I'm
doing today is how I was called retarded, and by
the grace of my parents and of course grace of God,
(02:15):
how I fought through and beat all the odds. Because
what I do know, I've been known as I says
stuff for thirty I've been doing this stuff for two
thirds of my life. I know that there's a lot
of people put labels on kids. And if you put
a label that I'm a positive, a label that I'm
a good looking, which I am genius, okay, which I
(02:36):
am right smart, okay, fine, But when you put a
label that you retarded, that you have a depression or ADHD,
that's a different, completely type of label, right. And when
I was a kid, I was put down, I was retarded.
So let me exp I you my story that I
have so you well can be on the same page.
(02:58):
This podcast as my focus right now and is teach
you guys some tools and strategies how parents can get
out of the funk, get out of get some strategies,
to get some tools that they can actually use so
they can apply it. I just don't want you to
listen to the podcast and say, oh my god, this
guy's amazing, which I am.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
But I want you to get some tools or some strategies.
You can take these tools and.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Use it on your adolescents or use it on whoever
that you want to use is on, so you guys can.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Go further faster. Is that a yes or yes?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Beaudif I urge you guys, right, So that's one of
my outcomes that I will have for this show right
moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
My outcome is I do have an outcome that I have.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
The show come on Tuesdays and Thursday at six am
Eastern Time, and at six pm on Sunday, and all
of them will be pre recorded. I might do some
live ones on a Sunday. Maybe it might get a
little bit funny crazy to get some live for.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
But that's the outcome.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
My outcome is to have you guys work on some
skill sets that you guys can work on. I know
schoo started for most of you guys two weeks ago.
I'm in California, right, so a couple of schools started
two weeks ago. And I'm like Mike, and if I
remember starting back when I was a kid after Labor Day,
you know. But as they always say, that's that's a
stone injures. So I was like forty some odd years
ago as well, you know, So I guess that was
(04:14):
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Time fra him.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So when I'm gonna go get teach you guys and
to some strategies to actually move forward, right down here
to go.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Here's I do have a a precursor.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When you guys hear this on a on Apple or
on Spotify, on whatever that you guys listening on, give
me five stars and pass this on to somebody else.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Who do you think of double actually need the program now?
Speaker 1 (04:37):
It makes funny sometimes I talk fast, sometimes slow when
I'm gonna go with to push you guys to that
next level so you guys can get to school, so
you cause get to skill sets to to take your
business and to take your family business.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
To the next life.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So talking about business, I do have another program if
you guys are a business owner, and the program is
called the Doctor Joheral.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's method.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
We talks about busines, business strategies and we put for neurosciences,
neuroscientists meet business masteries. So it's another show what I'm
doing pretty much same times as well, and when goals
is get you guys some feedback, some tools. I wrote
three books, and the three books that were first connected
with your team. I wrote that back in two thousand
and six, Life's of Garden. I wrote that when my
(05:19):
dad died, we had a mini farm.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Probably about an acre.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
There's a vegetable farm back in Indiana, but it smack
in the city. And last not least I put I
wrote a Life of Guardian Presents unlimited business growth.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
So it's a business book, right.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So we wrote these three different books, but the same kinds,
some same strategies, and the list goes on. So let
me expind you about showing my story that I should have.
So my story is, I said, I come from a
family of ten biological I have six, three brothers on
the number eight. I'm the baby boy of the family.
Growing up at us a very start in public. I
(05:57):
can't speak.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
It was terrible. I have to tell you, it was terrible.
I wouldn't wish to my enemy. I really wouldn't. Couldn't
say my name that much. We're on fan friends and family.
I could. It was hard.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I thought, literally, God cursed me. I thought I was,
you know, curse my God. I went to the priest,
went to a pastor, I went to lively everybody. Everyone says, well,
you grow out of it, damn it. And I'm like, what,
like when I remember a first grade teacher. So we
went to a a school called Saint Mary's in Michigan City, Indiana,
which was forty five miles west of Chicago. So when
(06:32):
I went there, we were pretty much the only black
family in the whole school. We did have black families
come in, but you know, not all as not as many,
but we did have some come in. And remember my
first grade teacher, the meanest lady in the world. She's
a nun sister. All the funds, God rest your soul.
Remember she said she wanted to meet my mom. Of
(06:53):
course me and my mom saw her many times cause
I'm number eight out of ten, so.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
She saw her seven times.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And you know, she mom met her and s off
and mom worked midnight as a nurse. She came on
and she said, Missotho, John's good kid. And you know,
first I was playing these c crazy downs and stuff,
the little stick dollars, and I said, do I leave,
because you know, back when where I was growing up,
we you know, growing posts speaking, but kids don't be
around it. So she said, well John can stand on
(07:19):
cass stayed and played it. Well, John's good kid. Yet
I haven't smiled about that. And then she said something
that totally completely shocked me. She said, we think John's
returned and he would never graduate eighth grade, and he
should go to a grade. He should go to Garfield School.
Girardyfield is like a for a return to kids. Ride.
(07:40):
His short and bust over nine yards and I'm like,
what the hell really?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And mom, and my mom was a bomb. You know
my dad.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You know, my dad worked sixteen hours a day, you know,
for forty plus years, right, so he was always working.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But Mom said something. Mom said that John Lee.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
They all leave and we had the kids in high
school as well as the grade school. They said, oh no, no, missus,
order calm down, come down, come down, Johnkin's day.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I'm like, yeah, that's my mom, that's my mom. Boy,
she got the backbone. But I had stipulations.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And here's the stipulations was I had to go to
speech therapy and mister Anderson was the nicest guy in
the world, but he told me to tell people that
I'm John my stutter and I thought I was a
curse and that didn't really take place. And he said
that you know, when you feel like I was studying,
and you don't say the word guarded, say the word
God then and I'm like, man, if I stick like that,
(08:34):
I'm gonna act like I am retarded. And he meant well,
blieve he did. He meant extremely well. But it's just
that was not where I wanted to be at or
and that one time, three times, yet three times a week.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The following year, I was back in first grade. They
flumped me.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I'm like, yuck, but that's what they did.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So I had started back and had first and second grade.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I remember this kid named Damien Delaney, little redhead carrot kid.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You would say, John, oh, duh, you're so stupid. You're
not in for second grade, You're in first grade. Dumb, dumb, dumb,
dumb dumb.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Oh my god, and Damien I would fight almost every day.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So it was a challenge. Man.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
It was like, okay, and I swear man. I thought
God cursed me. I thought he did.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
But by the grace of God and by the grace
of my parents, I got through it.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
My mom said, he son, your dad started, the grandfather started,
and they overcame it, and so can you. Those are
the words I took, and I didn't think it take
me twenty seven years overcome it. But it was consistency.
I had to do what I had to get done.
So I did it, and it was hard. I remember
my uh, third grade teacher, missus Coooch. She's so nice.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She's still living today, matter of fact, nicest lady in
the world.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Man. Then she'd have me read and I told her
that I couldn't read, and she said, everybody be don't
tease John and how to read. And I swear that
that damn thing took it for like it took ten
thousand years. Sweat coming pouring down my body and wow,
it was crazy. And yeah, she's stayed in them with
me and another teacher, sixth trade, Missus Carrizo, nicest lady
(10:18):
in the world. Matter of fact, she named her son
John John Richard Cresle, sixth grade teacher, nicest lady.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
In the world as well.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I lost contact with her, but nice, really nice lady.
And she was patient as well. She wanted me to
do well. Yeah, she wanted me to do well. And
that was really a touching because yeah, parents was phenomenal.
Don't get me wrong, but you have to have a tribe.
(10:50):
You have to have a village to raise your kid.
People who who encourage you, who makes you want to
be better and be.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Better and do better. Right of course, graduated high school.
You know, I forgot.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I had a growth spurt, guys in the fifth grade,
sixth grade, summertime, ninety days, I went from five one
to six five. Whoo, everything just stretched out. News was
popping out. That's why I have needs. Not the greatest now,
but oh my god, that was a growth spirit and
my mom and dad just walked me through it, like
(11:26):
I called them poetry in motion or wisdom, and ouch
I had, I literally had, and in my mind I
had the best parents ever. No, were they a hundred
percent right all the time now, but at least ninety
you know, ten percent.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We all couldn't improve.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
They're not a hundred percent death, but love them to death.
And so went to high school graduate. You know, remember
my uh eighth grade year. I I told her none
then I graduated eighth grade and she looked at me alive.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
She said, now you never graduated high school. You got lucky.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Uh. My sophomore year she died. Miss Eliphus died. So
such Elophonse died, uh bittersweet. You know, maybe spiritually she
saw the success that I had. But I was pretty
jazzed about that high school.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I went to college and my goal was to be
I wanted to be, uh a developer.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
You know. Back then, you know, we had Trump and
Trump was the bomb back uh And I'm like, guys,
this is uh forty some odd years ago. Right, Trump
was the BOMBA wanted to be a developer, had older
towers everywhere, older old or older everywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Right, that was my goal. And you know I was
when they reached that goal.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And I remember a f a friend of mine's sister
was talking about killing herself and everything else, and we laughed,
and to our surprise, she did it.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And that changed another change in my life.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
You know. So I started doing mental back in eighty seven.
And so I had a job making of course a sixty.
It's a good job making five bucks an hour. And
I started my mental still. And I always wanted to
help out people and to be the best and and
and I and in the sense I boimed myself for
(13:16):
the young lady who died, but found out it wasn't
my fault. We had a choice, she had a choice.
I just didn't know her history. And that changed literally
everything about me. So I was working midnight shifts and
I they had a day shift open, and I wanna
say it, I wanna work day shift.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Midnight's killing me. So I started working in the day shifts,
and I started doing groups, right, and most people do
two groups you know, per you know, per week.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I did my first group. Man, these kids were so cruel,
but I love kids. They said you should stay on
the stay on the midnight shifts because you suck.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You're terrible. Oh wow, the wrong person to say that.
I'm terrible and I'm too compared. I did that for that,
and I worked my butt off.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I started reading books and started reading reality therapy and
Coggitive therapy and this and that, and started going to
similars and workshops Tony Robbins stuff and start taking everything
that I can actually put my hands on. Cause I
wanted to be the best. So I started doing four
groups of freaking a day. I did four groups a
(14:24):
day for twelve fifteen years, and I my groups have
I can do groups on a little bit everything to me.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
You've been doing speaking this with.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
A group, Oh my, I'm gonna I gonna speak eight
hours eight groups. Okay, I can come up with eight
of sayings. And that's why I would do things. But
the kids taught me a lot. If the kids loved
the program, I know the adults would write the kids
didn't like it, but okay, we need to tweak it out.
So I started doing like NLP and Ryland Western Program
and I started doing a lot of different strategies and
(14:55):
all of different things to make these kids better in
a quicker way, and worked with his kids and Skid
was uh diagnosed with schizophrenia and we changed the voices
and that was kind them we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Done some phenomenal stuff, work with adolescents and teams.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And figured out that mental health w We figured out
mental health works, but the neuroscientists work ett better. So
I started doing literally all of the NP stuff and
neuro linguistic program and then changing these kids'.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Life like rapidly. It didn't take in whole.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Years and years and years, so it's a rapid way.
And then I still use different stuff. I used different
mold mo it's modality, it's a change its quality of
people life. But what I had to do with myself
what some of your kids have to do also, I
had to change my whole identity. That's why I started
doing these these weekend programs to change these kids identity,
(15:53):
change 'em what they can do, the possibility to make.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
A complete change. And I immersed myself in this stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
And I god damn good, worked with over one hundred
thousand kids and my thirty eight year period of time
at a ninety percent success rate. And here's how I
charged my success rate. My success rate ninety percent is
that that they went to a college, transcort or something,
which they did. We have kids who was the worst
(16:23):
kid that was in the state of Boargan and well,
he's a he's a commercial pilot.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
We have doctors, we have lawyers, we have Swish word.
We have so many.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
People that went to the program who said, you know,
you taught us the exact same thing that Tony Robbins
teach his adults. Absolutely because if you know, in fourteen
fifteen sixteen, by the time of the so we saw.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Rapid change in people lives. And I think that was
my outcome.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
I wanted to change the quality of these adolescents life
because I believe that I had great parents and I
had of a decent adolescent life.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
But if I.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Had someone who know what I knew, the NLP can
change these kids' life in a completely different way, lives
would have been better. So I work without a lesson kids,
I work with different stuff. So, well, this show's gonna
be pretty cool, guys. I'm going to give you guys
some tools to some strategies to totally change the quality
of your lives and all the privilege of that you
(17:22):
have to touch everybody Elsese.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Now I do programs about three or four times per year.
Matter of fact, they're free of charge.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Is I do it through my nonprofit right And the
next one program's gonna come on, uh jeez, I think
October twenty fourth in Irvine in California.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So we do them.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So we're do one in Irvine and the Chicago area.
We're doing also in Texas, Florida. We do were doing
them all over the places, right, So when the next
one comes up, and for sure, I'll let you guys know,
it's for adolescents for program and they can change your life.
So my thing about it is about changing people lives,
change change people, asking the positive way.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So again, guys, my name is doctor John Oda. Oh
you do get.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
A download of my my my book Connected with your
teen that we need a twenty two minute They did
the interview of my book. Put it in the link
about that as well, so you guys get a sense
about what I do and everything else. I'm pretty jazzed
about that as well. But what I'm saying is, guys,
(18:26):
I'm just excited. So you guys will hear from me
on Tuesday, which is today, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at
six Sunday at six pm, and that's all Eastern time,
and we'll go from there. We'll put up on social
media to do some posts and give you guys and
give parents for tools and strategies that they need to
change the quality of their lives and all the lives
(18:47):
that have a proofe of touching guys.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Again, thank you guys so much. My name is doctor
John Oda, and you guys will see me soon. Until
next time, take here and bye for now.
Welcome to the Doctor's Corner featuring doctor John Oda. So
let me tell a little bit of history about myself.
I have thirty eight years in the mental health field. Uh.
Worked with adolescents and teenagers for twenty three uh the
thirty eight years. The rest of the years around clinics
and hospitals and residential programs and literally the list goes on.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
This show is.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Mental health, UH meet UH, neural linguistic UH, the neurosciences combined.
So I do a lot of uh the mental health
and neurosciences and sports performance UH for for adolescents.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
As well as the parents.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Number one goal is to teach you guys some tools
and strategies that I went to the last thirty eight years,
and lower knows I've seen everything. Nothing surprised me, nothing
shocks me. I am Amazon International bestselling.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Author for this book. Pretty jazzed about that. And for
the last three books that we wrote, we hit that status.
So the book's doing extremely well. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
The book UH connected with's your team that you see
on the on the cover that have been out since
two thousand and six. So uh, I remember, uh, I
saw a little bit background. I come from a family
of ten right, and when I, uh, when mom read
the book twenty years ago almost MoMA looked at the
book and she says, man, I wish I had this
book when you guys were.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Grow when you were growing up.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I'm like, wow, that's a who huge compliment. And I'm
thinking that we read uh that uh she read us
damn good to be truly honest with you, you know,
and God rest her soul. But when I remember when
uh when booth from n when both of my parents died.
Dad died about eleven years ago. Mom died seven years ago, right,
Dad died at ninety one. Mom died at eighty six.
(01:51):
And did you know that we thought that we had
that uh, the siblings, all of us thought, uh that
we were the favorite child. And I said, that's just
great parenting. So the name of the show that I'm
doing today is how I was called retarded, and by
the grace of my parents and of course grace of God,
(02:15):
how I fought through and beat all the odds. Because
what I do know, I've been known as I says
stuff for thirty I've been doing this stuff for two
thirds of my life. I know that there's a lot
of people put labels on kids. And if you put
a label that I'm a positive, a label that I'm
a good looking, which I am genius, okay, which I
(02:36):
am right smart, okay, fine, But when you put a
label that you retarded, that you have a depression or ADHD,
that's a different, completely type of label, right. And when
I was a kid, I was put down, I was retarded.
So let me exp I you my story that I
have so you well can be on the same page.
(02:58):
This podcast as my focus right now and is teach
you guys some tools and strategies how parents can get
out of the funk, get out of get some strategies,
to get some tools that they can actually use so
they can apply it. I just don't want you to
listen to the podcast and say, oh my god, this
guy's amazing, which I am.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
But I want you to get some tools or some strategies.
You can take these tools and.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Use it on your adolescents or use it on whoever
that you want to use is on, so you guys can.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Go further faster. Is that a yes or yes?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Beaudif I urge you guys, right, So that's one of
my outcomes that I will have for this show right
moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
My outcome is I do have an outcome that I have.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
The show come on Tuesdays and Thursday at six am
Eastern Time, and at six pm on Sunday, and all
of them will be pre recorded. I might do some
live ones on a Sunday. Maybe it might get a
little bit funny crazy to get some live for.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
But that's the outcome.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
My outcome is to have you guys work on some
skill sets that you guys can work on. I know
schoo started for most of you guys two weeks ago.
I'm in California, right, so a couple of schools started
two weeks ago. And I'm like Mike, and if I
remember starting back when I was a kid after Labor Day,
you know. But as they always say, that's that's a
stone injures. So I was like forty some odd years
ago as well, you know, So I guess that was
(04:14):
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Time fra him.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So when I'm gonna go get teach you guys and
to some strategies to actually move forward, right down here
to go.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Here's I do have a a precursor.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When you guys hear this on a on Apple or
on Spotify, on whatever that you guys listening on, give
me five stars and pass this on to somebody else.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Who do you think of double actually need the program now?
Speaker 1 (04:37):
It makes funny sometimes I talk fast, sometimes slow when
I'm gonna go with to push you guys to that
next level so you guys can get to school, so
you cause get to skill sets to to take your
business and to take your family business.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
To the next life.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So talking about business, I do have another program if
you guys are a business owner, and the program is
called the Doctor Joheral.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's method.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
We talks about busines, business strategies and we put for neurosciences,
neuroscientists meet business masteries. So it's another show what I'm
doing pretty much same times as well, and when goals
is get you guys some feedback, some tools. I wrote
three books, and the three books that were first connected
with your team. I wrote that back in two thousand
and six, Life's of Garden. I wrote that when my
(05:19):
dad died, we had a mini farm.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Probably about an acre.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
There's a vegetable farm back in Indiana, but it smack
in the city. And last not least I put I
wrote a Life of Guardian Presents unlimited business growth.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
So it's a business book, right.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So we wrote these three different books, but the same kinds,
some same strategies, and the list goes on. So let
me expind you about showing my story that I should have.
So my story is, I said, I come from a
family of ten biological I have six, three brothers on
the number eight. I'm the baby boy of the family.
Growing up at us a very start in public. I
(05:57):
can't speak.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
It was terrible. I have to tell you, it was terrible.
I wouldn't wish to my enemy. I really wouldn't. Couldn't
say my name that much. We're on fan friends and family.
I could. It was hard.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I thought, literally, God cursed me. I thought I was,
you know, curse my God. I went to the priest,
went to a pastor, I went to lively everybody. Everyone says, well,
you grow out of it, damn it. And I'm like, what,
like when I remember a first grade teacher. So we
went to a a school called Saint Mary's in Michigan City, Indiana,
which was forty five miles west of Chicago. So when
(06:32):
I went there, we were pretty much the only black
family in the whole school. We did have black families
come in, but you know, not all as not as many,
but we did have some come in. And remember my
first grade teacher, the meanest lady in the world. She's
a nun sister. All the funds, God rest your soul.
Remember she said she wanted to meet my mom. Of
(06:53):
course me and my mom saw her many times cause
I'm number eight out of ten, so.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
She saw her seven times.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And you know, she mom met her and s off
and mom worked midnight as a nurse. She came on
and she said, Missotho, John's good kid. And you know,
first I was playing these c crazy downs and stuff,
the little stick dollars, and I said, do I leave,
because you know, back when where I was growing up,
we you know, growing posts speaking, but kids don't be
around it. So she said, well John can stand on
(07:19):
cass stayed and played it. Well, John's good kid. Yet
I haven't smiled about that. And then she said something
that totally completely shocked me. She said, we think John's
returned and he would never graduate eighth grade, and he
should go to a grade. He should go to Garfield School.
Girardyfield is like a for a return to kids. Ride.
(07:40):
His short and bust over nine yards and I'm like,
what the hell really?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And mom, and my mom was a bomb. You know
my dad.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You know, my dad worked sixteen hours a day, you know,
for forty plus years, right, so he was always working.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But Mom said something. Mom said that John Lee.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
They all leave and we had the kids in high
school as well as the grade school. They said, oh no, no, missus,
order calm down, come down, come down, Johnkin's day.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I'm like, yeah, that's my mom, that's my mom. Boy,
she got the backbone. But I had stipulations.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And here's the stipulations was I had to go to
speech therapy and mister Anderson was the nicest guy in
the world, but he told me to tell people that
I'm John my stutter and I thought I was a
curse and that didn't really take place. And he said
that you know, when you feel like I was studying,
and you don't say the word guarded, say the word
God then and I'm like, man, if I stick like that,
(08:34):
I'm gonna act like I am retarded. And he meant well,
blieve he did. He meant extremely well. But it's just
that was not where I wanted to be at or
and that one time, three times, yet three times a week.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The following year, I was back in first grade. They
flumped me.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I'm like, yuck, but that's what they did.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So I had started back and had first and second grade.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I remember this kid named Damien Delaney, little redhead carrot kid.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You would say, John, oh, duh, you're so stupid. You're
not in for second grade, You're in first grade. Dumb, dumb, dumb,
dumb dumb.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Oh my god, and Damien I would fight almost every day.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So it was a challenge. Man.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
It was like, okay, and I swear man. I thought
God cursed me. I thought he did.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
But by the grace of God and by the grace
of my parents, I got through it.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
My mom said, he son, your dad started, the grandfather started,
and they overcame it, and so can you. Those are
the words I took, and I didn't think it take
me twenty seven years overcome it. But it was consistency.
I had to do what I had to get done.
So I did it, and it was hard. I remember
my uh, third grade teacher, missus Coooch. She's so nice.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She's still living today, matter of fact, nicest lady in
the world.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Man. Then she'd have me read and I told her
that I couldn't read, and she said, everybody be don't
tease John and how to read. And I swear that
that damn thing took it for like it took ten
thousand years. Sweat coming pouring down my body and wow,
it was crazy. And yeah, she's stayed in them with
me and another teacher, sixth trade, Missus Carrizo, nicest lady
(10:18):
in the world. Matter of fact, she named her son
John John Richard Cresle, sixth grade teacher, nicest lady.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
In the world as well.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I lost contact with her, but nice, really nice lady.
And she was patient as well. She wanted me to
do well. Yeah, she wanted me to do well. And
that was really a touching because yeah, parents was phenomenal.
Don't get me wrong, but you have to have a tribe.
(10:50):
You have to have a village to raise your kid.
People who who encourage you, who makes you want to
be better and be.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Better and do better. Right of course, graduated high school.
You know, I forgot.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I had a growth spurt, guys in the fifth grade,
sixth grade, summertime, ninety days, I went from five one
to six five. Whoo, everything just stretched out. News was
popping out. That's why I have needs. Not the greatest now,
but oh my god, that was a growth spirit and
my mom and dad just walked me through it, like
(11:26):
I called them poetry in motion or wisdom, and ouch
I had, I literally had, and in my mind I
had the best parents ever. No, were they a hundred
percent right all the time now, but at least ninety
you know, ten percent.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We all couldn't improve.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
They're not a hundred percent death, but love them to death.
And so went to high school graduate. You know, remember
my uh eighth grade year. I I told her none
then I graduated eighth grade and she looked at me alive.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
She said, now you never graduated high school. You got lucky.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Uh. My sophomore year she died. Miss Eliphus died. So
such Elophonse died, uh bittersweet. You know, maybe spiritually she
saw the success that I had. But I was pretty
jazzed about that high school.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I went to college and my goal was to be
I wanted to be, uh a developer.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
You know. Back then, you know, we had Trump and
Trump was the bomb back uh And I'm like, guys,
this is uh forty some odd years ago. Right, Trump
was the BOMBA wanted to be a developer, had older
towers everywhere, older old or older everywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Right, that was my goal. And you know I was
when they reached that goal.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And I remember a f a friend of mine's sister
was talking about killing herself and everything else, and we laughed,
and to our surprise, she did it.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And that changed another change in my life.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
You know. So I started doing mental back in eighty seven.
And so I had a job making of course a sixty.
It's a good job making five bucks an hour. And
I started my mental still. And I always wanted to
help out people and to be the best and and
and I and in the sense I boimed myself for
(13:16):
the young lady who died, but found out it wasn't
my fault. We had a choice, she had a choice.
I just didn't know her history. And that changed literally
everything about me. So I was working midnight shifts and
I they had a day shift open, and I wanna
say it, I wanna work day shift.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Midnight's killing me. So I started working in the day shifts,
and I started doing groups, right, and most people do
two groups you know, per you know, per week.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I did my first group. Man, these kids were so cruel,
but I love kids. They said you should stay on
the stay on the midnight shifts because you suck.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You're terrible. Oh wow, the wrong person to say that.
I'm terrible and I'm too compared. I did that for that,
and I worked my butt off.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I started reading books and started reading reality therapy and
Coggitive therapy and this and that, and started going to
similars and workshops Tony Robbins stuff and start taking everything
that I can actually put my hands on. Cause I
wanted to be the best. So I started doing four
groups of freaking a day. I did four groups a
(14:24):
day for twelve fifteen years, and I my groups have
I can do groups on a little bit everything to me.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
You've been doing speaking this with.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
A group, Oh my, I'm gonna I gonna speak eight
hours eight groups. Okay, I can come up with eight
of sayings. And that's why I would do things. But
the kids taught me a lot. If the kids loved
the program, I know the adults would write the kids
didn't like it, but okay, we need to tweak it out.
So I started doing like NLP and Ryland Western Program
and I started doing a lot of different strategies and
(14:55):
all of different things to make these kids better in
a quicker way, and worked with his kids and Skid
was uh diagnosed with schizophrenia and we changed the voices
and that was kind them we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Done some phenomenal stuff, work with adolescents and teams.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And figured out that mental health w We figured out
mental health works, but the neuroscientists work ett better. So
I started doing literally all of the NP stuff and
neuro linguistic program and then changing these kids'.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Life like rapidly. It didn't take in whole.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Years and years and years, so it's a rapid way.
And then I still use different stuff. I used different
mold mo it's modality, it's a change its quality of
people life. But what I had to do with myself
what some of your kids have to do also, I
had to change my whole identity. That's why I started
doing these these weekend programs to change these kids identity,
(15:53):
change 'em what they can do, the possibility to make.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
A complete change. And I immersed myself in this stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
And I god damn good, worked with over one hundred
thousand kids and my thirty eight year period of time
at a ninety percent success rate. And here's how I
charged my success rate. My success rate ninety percent is
that that they went to a college, transcort or something,
which they did. We have kids who was the worst
(16:23):
kid that was in the state of Boargan and well,
he's a he's a commercial pilot.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
We have doctors, we have lawyers, we have Swish word.
We have so many.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
People that went to the program who said, you know,
you taught us the exact same thing that Tony Robbins
teach his adults. Absolutely because if you know, in fourteen
fifteen sixteen, by the time of the so we saw.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Rapid change in people lives. And I think that was
my outcome.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
I wanted to change the quality of these adolescents life
because I believe that I had great parents and I
had of a decent adolescent life.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
But if I.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Had someone who know what I knew, the NLP can
change these kids' life in a completely different way, lives
would have been better. So I work without a lesson kids,
I work with different stuff. So, well, this show's gonna
be pretty cool, guys. I'm going to give you guys
some tools to some strategies to totally change the quality
of your lives and all the privilege of that you
(17:22):
have to touch everybody Elsese.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Now I do programs about three or four times per year.
Matter of fact, they're free of charge.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Is I do it through my nonprofit right And the
next one program's gonna come on, uh jeez, I think
October twenty fourth in Irvine in California.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So we do them.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So we're do one in Irvine and the Chicago area.
We're doing also in Texas, Florida. We do were doing
them all over the places, right, So when the next
one comes up, and for sure, I'll let you guys know,
it's for adolescents for program and they can change your life.
So my thing about it is about changing people lives,
change change people, asking the positive way.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So again, guys, my name is doctor John Oda. Oh
you do get.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
A download of my my my book Connected with your
teen that we need a twenty two minute They did
the interview of my book. Put it in the link
about that as well, so you guys get a sense
about what I do and everything else. I'm pretty jazzed
about that as well. But what I'm saying is, guys,
(18:26):
I'm just excited. So you guys will hear from me
on Tuesday, which is today, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at
six Sunday at six pm, and that's all Eastern time,
and we'll go from there. We'll put up on social
media to do some posts and give you guys and
give parents for tools and strategies that they need to
change the quality of their lives and all the lives
(18:47):
that have a proofe of touching guys.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Again, thank you guys so much. My name is doctor
John Oda, and you guys will see me soon. Until
next time, take here and bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com