Show Transcript

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Imagine a version of you that's stronger, wiser, ready to take on the world

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despite the challenges that you have endured.

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Today, we're exploring two powerful takeaways from my recent interview with Tondi Montgomery.

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Each one of these, let alone both, have the potential of completely transforming

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your life from this day forward.

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My friend, I welcome you to episode 301.

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Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life? Because those bad days,

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they're just doors to better days.

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And that's exactly what we do here at Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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Your host, Kevin Lowe. He's been flipping the script on his own life,

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turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight up inspiration,

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motivation, and encouragement just for you.

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So, kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

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What's up, my friend? Welcome back to Great Grace and Inspiration.

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I'm excited to have you here today.

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This is something new that we're starting here on the podcast, episode 301.

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Typically, I always do an interview on Tuesday. Thursday is a solo episode,

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and we repeat that same schedule each and every week.

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Well, I think I mentioned in our last episode, that was episode 300,

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that we're going to to try mixing things up because now instead of just one

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solo episode in between each interview, you're actually going to get two solo episodes.

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Yes, a little bit more of me. Hopefully that makes you excited and not disappointed.

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But more specifically, my plan is, is that each solo episode following an interview.

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So just like today's episode is I'm going to do my takeaways from the interview.

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The interviews that I do with my guests have so many insights,

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so many takeaways that, to be honest, it's absolutely mind-blowing.

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You could truly make each of my interviews a masterclass in their topic.

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And so I thought, you know what? Let's give it a little bit more life.

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Let's break it down a little bit easier.

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And so like in today's episode, I'm breaking down my two biggest takeaways from

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my interview with Tondi Montgomery.

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And it all starts right now.

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If you had a chance to listen to my interview with Tandi, you will know that

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she had a really tough time with cancer.

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But what I thought was so profound was this idea of her becoming a new version of herself.

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Matter of fact, she refers to her old self as Tandi 1.0.

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Now, here on the the other side of cancer, she's Tondi 2.0.

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Same person, just revealing a new piece of her, a new side of her.

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And I think the powerful thing about this is it's such an amazing reminder to

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us all that on the other side of the big events in life, we become bigger,

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better, stronger, more resilient people.

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Basically, the person we were then, it's no longer who we are today.

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The things that we used to laugh at, the things that we used to be interested

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in, the things that we used to think were funny, they just aren't anymore.

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We've become a bigger person. We've become a new version of ourselves.

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And this profound realization is exactly why Tandi realized that she had to change careers.

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In amongst this conversation, Tandi, she would ask herself one of the most powerful

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questions that any of us can ever ask ourselves.

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And that is, who am I at the core?

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When I get rid of all the titles, when I get rid of all the descriptions, who am I really?

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Who am I on the inside? Who am I when nobody's looking?

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Who am I when it's just the quiet? Who am I?

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And the powerful thing is, is that these traumatic events that we go through,

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And whether or not you feel like you've had a quote unquote traumatic event,

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I can tell you that if you're living in the same world as me,

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you've been through some stuff.

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You may look back at it now and try to downplay it, but I guarantee you it was

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fundamental in building the person you are today.

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And I don't believe that these moments turn us into somebody new,

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but rather they just peel back another layer.

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I don't know if you're a fan of the movie Shrek. That was the animated movie

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with the ogre and the donkey.

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And there was one point in the movie, if you know it, if you love it,

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you know what I'm talking about. If not, just play along.

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The ogre, he's trying to describe himself to donkey as an onion.

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Because onions, they got layers.

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And this is the same for you, my friend.

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I believe that the stuff we go through in life, yeah, sometimes it hurts.

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Sometimes it damages who we are, but more so it builds who we are.

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Some may think that it takes away when each layer is peeled back.

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But in fact, the opposite is true.

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With each layer that's peeled away, It just gets closer and closer to who you

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really and truly are on the inside.

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And for myself, I think that's a really powerful way to think about life.

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Is that the stuff that we go through, it's not harming us.

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No, in the big picture, it's just helping us to understand who we are, who we are at the core.

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That's what it's all about. Now, the other thing that really stood out to me

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in my conversation with Tondi was her analogy of the bow and arrow.

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Now, maybe that's because I'm a huge fan of an analogy.

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Matter of fact, if you listen to this podcast very much, you hear them all the time.

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Me coming up with some creative way to compare something we're going through to something else.

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Well, Tondi, she spoke about the bow and arrow.

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Arrow tondi explained that if you

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think of yourself as the arrow and

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the bow well that's life she explained that the further you're pulled back well

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the further you're going to be able to soar forward i want you to realize that

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you're the arrow and you're loaded and ready to go you're You're going through life.

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You're ready for big things to happen, but then challenges sink in.

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There's things that keep pulling you down, keep trying to pull you back.

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It's like the string of that bow is being pulled further and further back.

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And you can't help but feel discouraged.

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You can't help but worry that you're never going to get to move forward.

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But remember the bow and arrow. The further it's pulled back,

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the further, the higher, the faster it's going to fly forward.

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And at some point, it's going to come to the point of release.

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And I want you to be prepared for it because I want you to realize that life,

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it's honestly, it's a series of ups and downs.

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There's times in our life when things are smooth sailing. And boy, are those good.

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There's other times when the sea gets crazy rough, scary rough.

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And then there's other times when we're cruising along and it's an unexpected

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challenge, an unexpected wave we have to deal with.

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I, though, want you to realize that all along the way, it's just the bow and arrow.

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Those struggles, those challenges, they're just setting you up for an even bigger comeback.

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So remember this, my friend. The further that life seems to be pulling you back,

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holding you down, the further you're able to fly ahead, to soar into the future

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that you want for your life.

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I don't know why, but for myself, that just really resonated.

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It really just gave me this visual image of, wow, you know what? It's right.

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Because in this life of ups and downs, sometimes we feel like we're never going

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to come out of the bottom. But we do.

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We always do. With the ebb and flow of life.

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Just remember, the harder it is, the tougher it is. The further that string

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is pulled back, the further you're going to soar forward.

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And with this, I would love for you to think about your life today.

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What challenges are you facing right now that feel like the string is being

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pulled back further and further?

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What challenges maybe have you faced in the past that at the moment,

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they felt like they were never going to end?

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You felt like it was about to break you.

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And yet, finally, at some point, it was released in the arrow.

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Zero, you, you went shooting forward.

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I want you to remember that so that you can have proof that what I'm talking

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about, it works, not just in an imaginary sense, but no, it works in your life

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just as it has in the past.

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And I can guarantee you that it will work again in the future.

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It can work again right now, work today.

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And well, I also can't help but wonder, what version are you?

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Are you Tondi 1.0 or are you on your way to Tondi 2.0?

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Maybe you've been Tondi 2.0, but you've not realized it.

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You've been trying to put it aside, trying to downplay the changes that have

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happened in your life and who you are.

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Well, maybe this is your opportunity to realize, wow, you know what?

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I did become somebody new and it's time for me to embrace it.

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It's time for you to enter 2.0.

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Now, if you did not listen to episode 300 with Tondi Montgomery,

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I'm going to encourage you to do yourself the biggest favor you can ever do

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yourself, and that is to go back and listen to her story.

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The two takeaways that I shared today, they are literally just the tip of the

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iceberg because what she has to share is going to blow you away.

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It was without a doubt one of the best interviews I have ever had on this podcast.

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Podcast so go back to episode

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300 check your favorite app it's

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all numbered right there and i also am

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going to include a link to episode 300 in today's

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show notes but most of all my friend my hope my prayer is that you heard something

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today that can be an impact on your life that's why i do this podcast my mission

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is that somebody you maybe on the other side of the world and you'll never reach out to me.

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I'll never talk to you. I'll never even know that you exist.

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And yet you heard something by me or my guest and it makes a difference in your life.

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That's why I do this. That is why I'm here four years later,

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over 300 episodes later, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon because,

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well, I know that this world is tough.

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Life is hard. and I want to do my part to help to make a difference.

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So my friend, thank you for being here. If you enjoyed today's episode,

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if you got something out of it, please be sure to share it with somebody else. Spread the love.

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That would mean the world to me.

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And with that, my friend, get

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out there and enjoy this day. I'll see you inside of next week's episode.

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Music.