1 Simple Mindset Shift for Breaking Down Barriers & Overcoming Life's Challenges

I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.

Twenty years ago, I awoke from a life-saving surgery only to find that I was left completely blind.

And since that day, I've learned a lot about life, a lot about living, and a lot about myself.

And here on this podcast, I want to share those insights with you.

Because, friend, if you are still searching for your purpose, still trying to understand why, or still left searching for that next right path to take, well, consider this to be your stepping stone to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

Have you ever stood on the edge of something crazy?

Something that's challenging you.

Something that you want to do, but you're scared.

You're uncertain.

You hate to even make the first step because you know once you do, there is no stopping.

There is no turning back.

Oh my goodness.

Have you been there?

Maybe you're in it today.

Maybe it's a challenge that you're dealing with right now.

Wrestling around in your mind, trying to decide: is it worth the risk?

Is the reward worth it?

Well, today, let's experience it.

Let's dive into it.

Just like the firewalk.

Hey, Fred, my name is Kevinolo.

I'm your host as well as Transformation Coach.

And today I am bringing you what is episode number 216.

I'm still pretty pumped up from our guest, Dave Albin, who was featured inside of episode number 215.

If you have not listened to that episode, please do yourself a favor and go listen.

The guy has an incredible story that I feel as though can be a benefit to anyone.

And if you need a little bit of uh enticing to get you to do it, you need me to kind of uh drag you over, make you press play, well, it involves the infamous Tony Robbins.

Enough said.

But in that conversation with Dave Albin, a big part of his story is the firewalk.

The infamous firewalk at the Tony Robbins events.

An event that changed his life from the first time he experienced it.

And well, the firewalk, something that happened at the end.

Well, that would prove to be totally life-changing.

Now, the firewalk, what is the firewalk?

In case you didn't listen to that episode, let me cue you in.

Better yet, let me allow Dave Albin to share with you briefly what exactly am I talking about?

What is the firewalk?

SPEAKER_00: I'm at the front of the line and I'm looking down at the coals on that lane, on that three-foot wide lane and 18 feet long, and they're glowing bright red.

And there's a wheelbarrow there, and you can feel the heat coming off, and I'm staring into the abyss.

My heart is pounding so, I mean, I thought it was gonna jump out of my chest.

I am, I am out of my mind with fear at that moment.

And as I'm staring into the abyss there, there's a trainer standing there.

And all of a sudden the trainer goes, eyes up.

I'm like, oh shoot.

I pull my eyes up.

Well, I'm a slow learner, obviously, because when I was in the room with Tony for 10 hours, guess what he teaches you to do?

Keep your eyes up.

Don't right?

Don't stare at what you fear.

Look to the celebration end.

That's where the reward is.

Oh.

Right?

So now my eyes are up.

And the trainer goes, squeeze your fist and say yes.

And I went, yes.

And he went, stronger.

And I went, yes.

Well, he could tell I wasn't in a peak state.

I was close, but I was leaving a lot on the table.

Well, then he screamed at me.

And he screamed at me really loud, like in my face, stronger.

And now I'm kind of ticked off.

So I threw my hands in the air and I screamed at the top of my lungs, yes.

And the and the trainer goes, go, go, go.

I took off.

Well, here's the first thing I learned about firewalking.

When you take the first step, oh, you'll take the second, third, fourth, and fifth.

100%.

You will not stop along the way, I guarantee you.

Well, Tony positions two people at the end of the fire lane and they they interlock their hands and their arms and they stop you.

And they're like, stop, wipe your feet and celebrate.

So I'm wiping my feet and I'm celebrating.

And I turn around and I look, and the calls are bright red, and I'm thinking, what how what?

I mean, I'm not doing this.

And then all of a sudden I feel it and I can I can feel I've burnt myself really, really bad.

Super bad.

And I lift up my left, my right foot and I look at it, and it's it's dirty, but there's no burns.

Oh, it's my other foot.

I look at it, it's dirty, but there's no burns.

And so I just walked on coals that were a thousand degrees and I was successful at it.

But here's what's interesting I had no clue how they did it.

SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that is what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the firewalk.

But of course, in this situation, in your perspective, I'm not expecting that you are facing a line of burning embers and that you're ready to run across them barefoot.

No, I'm actually just talking about the challenges in life, the things that we face in life that really challenge us, that test us, that really make us dig deep and discover parts of ourselves that maybe we never even knew were there.

I'm talking about the firewalks that are inside of your life that you deal with on a daily basis.

And here today, in this podcast, I want to walk that walk with you.

Because, well, sometimes when you have a friend, maybe it doesn't seem so scary.

Now, I want you to just imagine, even if just for a moment, I want you to imagine that you are standing in front of those burning embers, that you are there at the firewalk, that you hear the drums, you feel the beat in your chest, you feel the power, just like Dave described.

And I want you to keep your eyes closed and I want you to picture it, feel it, imagine it is you and you are ready.

And those burning embers, well, they're not just embers, they're the biggest challenge standing in your way.

I want you to feel the heat burning from the embers.

I want you to feel the excitement radiating through you.

And I want you to notice that little feeling inside that says, you know what?

Maybe I can do this.

And we're gonna take that maybe and we're gonna turn that into a you're darn right I can do this, because I am doing this.

Now, here's the thing: that burning heat that you feel, it's not just from the coals.

Matter of fact, it's coming from inside of you.

It's the passion, the fear, the excitement for what is to come, for the unknown, for the fact that you're about to do something big.

And well, welcome to the human experience where all the emotions rage and you're about to do something big.

And then it's time.

You do it, you take off running, you put one foot down and you don't stop, just like Dave told us, and you do it, and you don't stop until you get to the finish line.

That is the challenge we are taking on today.

That is the challenge that I am encouraging you to embrace.

Because in this life, every challenge we face, every obstacle we come up against, it's just another firewalk.

And it takes the same type of courage that Dave Albin had to have, the same enthusiasm, the same inner power that he didn't even know he had.

It takes that same amount to get through this stuff in life.

Because let's face it, life is not easy.

Gosh, it's not easy.

And in this day and age, it's more difficult than I think it ever has been.

And so we have to live every day with a courage, with a desire, with a need to thrive in life.

But I think one thing that we have to remember is that it takes preparation.

We have to go into the day with the mindset to take it on.

If you listen to the full interview with Dave Albin, you will know that the firewalk is at the very end of a very long day at this Tony Robbins event.

All day, Dave was being prepared for the firewalk and he didn't even realize it.

He spent, what did he say, 12 hours in a room with Tony Robbins?

I mean, talk about power.

It took all of that and more to get him ready to endure what he was about to do.

And so for yourself, I'm here to tell you, you got to work every day on your mindset, on that mental toughness, and getting yourself ready to handle what life throws your way.

Now, you can choose what that looks like.

For some people, maybe it's meditating.

Some people, I don't know, it's it's just getting out there and enjoying the day, going for a walk, opening your mind, your heart.

For other people, maybe it's turning to God.

It's praying.

It's realizing that God's hands are in control.

And you can find peace in that.

And you know that you can find your strength through Him.

I just want you to get ready for it.

I want you to get that energy pumping, to get that adrenaline ready to take on the challenges, ready to embrace the firewalk.

Now, at this point, I can sense the hesitation.

I can sense you already starting to put your guard up and start to think, uh, Kevin doesn't know what I've got going on in my life.

And even though maybe it's not burning hot coals, it's pretty darn close to just as difficult.

Well, you know what, friend?

I don't doubt it.

I've been through some stuff too.

I've endured something that I never thought I could overcome.

That being plunged into a world of darkness, waking to be left completely blind, being thrown into a season of my life when I should have been thriving in adulthood.

Instead, I was knocked back decades, felt like a child, live a life now plagued with medical issues, things that are far more of a hindrance on my day-to-day life than even just being blind.

So when I say that I get it, I mean it with all my heart.

I understand.

But what I'm here to tell you is just like the firewalk, sometimes you just have to take the first step.

And well, like Dave so humorously shared with us, is once you take the first step, you darn sure are going to take the second step in the third step.

And you're gonna keep moving faster and faster to get off of the coals, to get through the challenges, to break down the barrier.

But you have to have the courage to take the first step.

What I've been talking about previous to this step is what's preparing you, is what's giving you that fuel to do it, the energy to do it, the enthusiasm to take it on.

Now it's your turn to choose to put your foot down, to take a step forward and to not stop moving forward.

Just as the firewalk, as with the challenges that you and me have to overcome, there's no pausing halfway.

We can't start and then stop and turn back.

It just doesn't work like that.

At that point, the challenge has already beat us.

We've already lost.

No, you have to keep moving forward.

You have to use the power of momentum.

How do you make it across the second half?

You remind yourself that you already did the worst half.

The first half was by far the toughest because you had to choose to make the first step.

Now you just have to keep going.

You have to keep moving forward.

So don't stop.

Now, at this point in the episode, I want to pause for a moment.

And I want you to really think what is the firewalk that you're facing?

What is the challenge that you've been putting off?

What is that obstacle that you've allowed to stop you from achieving your dreams, from making your goals become reality?

What is it?

What is stopping you?

What are you dealing with?

And what would it feel like if you broke down that barrier?

What would it feel like if that was no longer standing in your way?

What would that mean for your life?

What would that do for you?

Now I want you to visualize it.

If you know what it is and you say to yourself, you know what?

Yeah, I am ready.

Well, I want you to visualize it.

I want you to feel it.

See, I want you to pretend it is the firewalk.

And I don't want you to focus on it.

I want you to keep your eyes up.

Keep your eyes up, focused forward, straight ahead, beyond the challenge, beyond the barrier, and see to the other side.

Because that's where you're going.

That challenge, oh, it's just a little speed bump in the way.

Because right now, if you're ready, baby, you're ready.

There's no stopping you at this point.

Because, see, on the other side of the firewalk is an accomplishment that words cannot express.

When you break down the barrier that's been holding you back, there is no words to explain the way you will feel.

Yeah.

Maybe it's not gonna be easy.

Maybe the coals do burn.

Maybe it is scary.

Maybe it does put you to the test.

But oh my gosh.

When you step into the cool grass on the other side, wow, you did it.

You did it.

And what's gonna stop you now?

Nothing.

Because if you've overcome the one, you can overcome the next.

You just have to believe in yourself.

You have to trust in yourself and realize that you're capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for.

Maybe you don't think you are, but I'm here to tell you that I believe you are.

I know you are, because I believe in all my heart that you are capable, you are able, and you are deserving of having everything that you could ever dream of in this life.

Sometimes, though, you just gotta fight for it.

Sometimes you got to walk across fire to get it.

Before we end today, I want you to promise yourself that the next time a challenge gets in your way, the next time that you find yourself not living out life the way you wanted to, because, well, you've allowed some type of barrier to stand in the way.

I want you to make a promise to yourself that you'll remember this episode, that you'll remember the example of the firewalk.

And I want you to promise yourself that you will not allow that to stand in your way forever.

That at this moment is your opportunity to break down the barrier and experience what lies on the other side.

A little bit of discomfort, a little bit of uncertainty, they're worth it in the end.

You got to trust yourself, you got to believe in the process, and you got to understand that this world is here for you.

It's waiting for you to live it, to love it, to enjoy it, to thrive in it.

Sometimes we just got to fight for it.

And well, today it's your opportunity to do that.

My name is Kevin Lowe.

I am the host of this podcast as well as a transformation coach.

If you would ever like to sit down and talk with me, maybe you got some issues that you're dealing with.

Maybe you're trying to figure out what your firewalk is and how in the world you're going to overcome it.

Well, I encourage you to book a call with me.

I would love to offer you a free call where we can just sit down, me and you, and let's work through some things.

This is no sales call.

It's just me wanting to help you, a listener of my podcast.

If that's you, please check out today's show notes where you can find a link to my online calendar to book that call today.

Until then, listen, you gotta figure out what that firewalk is and you gotta walk it.

You gotta run it.

Because, baby, you got life to live, and baby, there ain't no stopping you now.

Get out there and enjoy the day.