Money or Happiness - Mehdi Akbary - Humanitarian, Author and the founder of OWDA - Season 5 - #222

Mehdi Akbary - Humanitarian, Author, and Founder of OWDA

In this episode of the Us People Podcast, host Savia Rocks interviews Mehdi Akbary, a humanitarian, author, and founder of OWDA. Mehdi shares his inspiring journey from growing up in an isolated village in Afghanistan to overcoming physical challenges and becoming a successful entrepreneur and humanitarian. The conversation delves into topics such as determination, the power of the mind, the essence of true success, and the importance of living in the present moment. Mehdi also discusses his book 'The Five Inner Laws of Change' and the impactful work his organization is doing in Afghanistan.

00:00 Introduction
02:28 Mehdi's Childhood and Overcoming Challenges
11:38 Defining Success and Values
20:17 The Five Inner Laws of Change
32:34 Living in the Present and True Fulfillment
55:25 Conclusion and Contact Information

Youtube: https://owda.ca/about/

"Understand that happiness gives you everything, but money will give you loneliness. ” - Savia Rocks

Transcript

Savia Rocks: 0:00

Hey guys, we made it to season five of the Us People podcast. I'm your host Savia Rocks. And in this season, we aim to empower and embrace creativity through diversity as we dive into the fascinating stories and experiences of a diverse range of individuals. Highlighting their unique perspectives and creative endeavors from artists and entrepreneurs to innovators and activists. We celebrate the power of diversity in driving creativity and fostering positive change. Join us as we engage in thought provoking conversations like. I made myself intentionally homeless. In pursuit of my purpose,

Jay Harris: 0:41

we're aware that a lot of people want to present and they, and they were in my position and, and what's worse, they weren't a white male, which is a joke that that's even still a thing.

Mel: 0:49

Think my family never, ever say you can't do something. So full of support, full of support for whatever dream. If I said tomorrow when I fly to the moon, they'll probably say, I wish you all the best smell.

Savia Rocks: 0:59

So guys. I just want to say thank you for supporting the Us people podcast for the past five years. And we look forward to sharing another new theme song with you. Let's go.

Mehdi Akbary: 1:12

Hopefully you guys will listen. Hey guys, welcome

Savia Rocks: 1:17

to another episode of the Us people podcast. I'm your host, Daphne Rocks. And today I am humbled to have Maydi here with me. Maydi is a humanitarian, an author. and the founder of older, an organization for work and development in Afghanistan. Guys, I am so excited to speak to you today because before I even let him talk for a second, the beautiful work that he does for people and the passion that he has within what he does. is outstanding and I'm humbled to have his presence here. Also, we're going to talk about his book as well. So Mehdi, thank you so much for coming on the Us People podcast. How are you?

Mehdi Akbary: 2:05

Oh, thank you very much. I'm, I'm, I'm glad to, to be here and I'm fine. Thank you very much. Looking forward to this conversation and I'm really thrilled.

Savia Rocks: 2:15

So my first question for you Could you tell me, I would love to know about yourself, but also where you grew up and how that influenced you to be the person who you are today.

Mehdi Akbary: 2:27

Yeah, I was born in Afghanistan in 1973 and in central Afghanistan, one of the most isolated part of the country. People who are really, you know, poor and isolated that As far as I can remember I thought behind the mountains there is no world exists So I thought this is this was our world, you know, that village that I lived in was our world And I, I was born for for some reason paralyzed, my, I couldn't move my legs from waist down. I was paralyzed and I was pronounced as such and and I, and I accepted myself like that when I was young and I just would sit there, but, but I had a lot of question as a young child and why, why I cannot walk. You know, and that, that because I couldn't, I couldn't use that energy just like other kids running around and playing. So I, I wanted to know what's, what was wrong with me or my, why my parents fouled or why it's something I could find. I would find all the wrongs and I would keep Using my mom the questions. And I think that, that, that, that, that made me very curious that I, that's what my curiosity started about life, about everything else.

Savia Rocks: 3:39

I love that. I totally love that. See, the funny thing is, is that even before we've gone into other questions, I can feel a sense of you are a type of person who doesn't want to give up. You don't give up. You are curious about what you want to do, but you also feel like you always want to not necessarily win the battle, but keep fighting the good fight, which is fight the battle.

Mehdi Akbary: 4:02

Yeah, well exactly what back then when I was a child, all I wanted was to walk. And I, I, and everybody telling me that I couldn't didn't make any sense to me because I had legs and they were growing. But the only reason that I believe that I couldn't walk it because I haven't learned how to. Why can't I learn how to walk?

Savia Rocks: 4:25

Yeah.

Mehdi Akbary: 4:25

Yeah. So I keep Using that question over and over again. But everything changed with me when I, when I was about five years old. And then. And I, I cut my index finger to the bone with a knife and day after day, when, when I, when I, I witnessed my, my, my, my finger healing itself, the wound is, the wound is closing, the cut is closing after a week or two, it was all gone. And as if nothing happened and that kind of woke me up and says, Hey, who did it? What happened? And then I did realize that there was something inside me. And if that thing can fix my hand, it can, it can. Teach me how to walk. That's when my fight started. And, and I, I didn't give up. I, I, I, I went through hell trying to, you know, trying to stand on my feet because nobody believed me. Nobody would help me to get up, you know, and, and, and, and, and I would beg everybody, can somebody please hold me up? I know I can walk, but all I have to know is teach myself how to walk. Exactly. Since nobody believed me, nobody helped me, but I didn't give up. I, I, I, I broke door handles trying to lift myself up. I did everything I could and I, and I was, I was punished for, for, for, for trying and, but I, I didn't give up.

Savia Rocks: 5:47

Why was you punished for trying?

Mehdi Akbary: 5:50

Well, because everybody, You know, when, when you, when you think outside the box, outside the norm, you become abnormal to them. That's true. And, and, and anything you do is considered wrong. So they believe that I shouldn't be trying because I can't walk. That's how I'm born. That's what God has in store for me. So but I believe otherwise. So when I tried something I, I would hurt myself. My mom didn't do that and because, because she believed that I could walk and I said, stop me. She believed that I couldn't walk, so I would hurt myself. I was in agony all the time in pain, and so was she, because seeing me trying and failing, trying and fell and trying and fell, she couldn't take anymore. One day she came and sat next to me and she, she, she, she held me in her arms and she cried with me because I was crying because I, I said, what's wrong with me? And she cried with me. You know, and, and says, please, please stop it. I cannot take it anymore. So they, they tried to stop me and, and and I, I totally, totally understand, I didn't understand them back then, but now I understand why they did that.

Savia Rocks: 7:04

But don't you feel like now that you've, how do they feel now that you. Do you understand that you kept fighting that you wanted to walk, even from seeing the smallest thing from the cut on your finger, it made you realize that you were capable in life of literally doing or being anything that you want to be in life?

Mehdi Akbary: 7:26

Yeah. Well, it, it, it kind of is, it was a wake up call that how powerful we are as a human being and, and, and, and how much work and effort is gone through to actually believe, make us believe otherwise.

Savia Rocks: 7:43

Yes, limit

Mehdi Akbary: 7:44

us. And and, and, and that, and I, that wake up call for me what was like enlightenment, you know, I said, wow, am I, can I actually do this? If something can fix my hand. How can I, I just need to find a way how to talk, how to communicate with this thing in order to help me. The question was not, can I do this? The question was, how can I figure it out? Yeah, so and, and I for the next two years from five to seven years old, I tried everything. I fell a million times. I was bruised 24 seven all over my body because I fell every time I got up. So but I, I, I didn't, I didn't give up because that's all I had luckily or unluckily I didn't have an option. I couldn't say, okay, let's not do this one. Let's do another one. That one will help me. There was, there was no other option. So, when I was about seven years old and I fell one more time and this time I felt pain in my knee and that's when the whole thing changed. So, and I, it took me about, I don't know how many more months to just be able to stand on my feet. So, I, because we didn't have access to any doctor, I had no idea, nobody knew what was wrong with me, but.

Savia Rocks: 9:02

You know what, just from hearing just maybe like the 10 minutes of me talking to you now, I hope that people listening to this understands what determination is and what it can achieve. You know, another question that I do want to Us you, which is connected to the previous one before, which I feel will resonate together, is can you define yourself as a person? But who do you see when you look in the mirror? But on the flip side of that question, has there ever been a time where you have looked in the mirror and not recognized the person staring back at you? How did you manage to? Come back and be the person who you are today.

Mehdi Akbary: 9:41

Well that, sometimes, and I'm a human being, I, I, the mind overtakes me sometimes as well. The environment overtakes me sometimes as well. And I do doubt stuff sometimes. And when I do have doubts, I do look myself in the mirror. And then I do tell myself, this is not who you are, this is not who you are. Look behind this thing that you see, look behind, look inside you, look at that. And then, then, then I, then I keep telling myself, my mind is so powerful. Just, just, just look, look, look, look, look at, look at one thing that it does. You eat food and it creates bone, hair, skin, flesh, blood from, from something you eat. You eat And if, if, if the mind is so powerful and I have, if I have such a powerful mind, How come, why wouldn't I be able to find a solution for this challenge that I face? No way. No way. And that wakes me up. And then I see my true self. And then I get so excited. I literally get excited. Oh my God. Oh, that's okay. That's so, and I forgive myself. That's okay. You just fell in the trap that, you know, the society is trying to throw you in.

Savia Rocks: 11:02

I love the way you, and you do get excited. I know the guys can't see you now while I'm talking to you, but he's actually getting excited while he's talking, which is, which is really, which is really nice to see because not before this whole situation with the pandemic happened, people were going about their day, doing their work and so on and so forth. Now more people are starting to find their passion in what they love doing. But it's beautiful to see when somebody is really deep into their passion of what they love and what they want to do. Can you tell me what do you believe your values are? What do you believe that how you lead people to victory in what you do? Because you do so many different things, especially as the humanitarian. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things that you can be in the world. But how do you feel that you lead people to victory?

Mehdi Akbary: 11:59

Yeah. Well, first of all, a little bit about our organization. We have about 431 orphans under our wings, and we help them, we accommodate them, and we facilitate their education and get them off the street and try to put them in school. Xavier, if you, if you try to lead people it will be hard for you to do that. But if, if you, if just be yourself, just be the person who you are. If you find yourself, you find love. You find, you find compassion, you, you find a world full of possibilities. You see behind what everybody taught you, what everybody says, you see behind the mUs that we always wear. When you see that, People love that because people haven't seen such people like they're not used to seeing people who are really open, who are really genuine. First, at the beginning, they don't believe you to say, well, you know, you came to Afghanistan, left life, you know, spending all your money to help. Nobody does that. But, but as slowly, they actually, they see, wow, this is genuine. This is amazing. When you are yourself, people will follow you because they need people like you in this world who are genuine or loving, who are caring. And people, the reason we have chaos, stress, People are people fighting. People are, are, are, are and, and misery and pain because we, we have forgotten who we truly are.

Savia Rocks: 13:47

Yes.

Mehdi Akbary: 13:49

And, and, and from that perspective, from not being ourself, and we try to be a leader, we try other people to, to, to, to follow us, or, or we try to be kind to the other people. Whatever we do from an. Uncomplete state of mind will be an uncomplete. So you need to find yourself first from that perspective, then you can do whatever you want. People would love to follow you because you are you. You are the kindness, you are the compassion, you are everything. Whatever you go.

Savia Rocks: 14:21

I love that. I love the way you break that down. Can you tell me what a day is like? In your life from the moment you wake up to maybe when you do work in your organization to when you are, you know, being a humanitarian or spending time with your family. What is a day like in your life?

Mehdi Akbary: 14:44

Well I have, I have taught myself to limit my focus and energy in seconds and to what I'm doing right now. So a day for me, like when people say I have a goal, what is your goal today? I have this, this, and this, this is the goal that I have. And I usually tell people, well, that that's, that's, that's not a goal. That's, that's a vision. That's a dream. You know? Everybody has everybody wakes up in the morning, say, I want to have a good day. That's just a dream. But goal is right now, this moment, this is the goal. And that's what we have learned wrong about perception of goal. We have, we have, we have set goals where we, there's nothing we could do about it somewhere in the future, in the distant future. And the more we cannot achieve it, the worse it gets for us. The more anxious we get, the more worried and fearful we get. Your goal is right now. That's the vision. That's a dream. You all need to have a vision a dream. Yes So my my day Starts with a vision and and today i'm going to do my best And I have I do have a to do list. I this is what i'm going to do This is what I need to do But those are those are just just a vision just a goal just a a dream that I need to get to And then my goal starts whatever I need to do in the morning, if I, if I'm waking up in the morning at that time, that's my goal. Okay, what am I going to, what is my mind doing right now to me? Is it telling me that, Oh, what a terrible day? If it is, then it's my job, my responsibility to switch, to change his perspective, to change my perspective. Oh no, it is a beautiful day. So my day doesn't actually, is not a day. Every moment is, is it? There is no day, no month, nothing. Every moment is life. And I take it moment by moment, but some people might mistaken it. Oh, you don't have any vision. Like you don't have a plan. No, no, no, no. I do have a plan. I do have just like everybody else. And I, and I insist you to, you must have a plan, but your goal is the most important part of your life. Your goal, which is right now, which is right now. And if you achieve your goal right now, if it is having a breakfast, for example, you know, before going out, that's your goal. Your goal is not your job anymore to do list. And one hour later, your goal is right now I'm having my breakfast. What do I need to do right now? To enjoy this breakfast, or am I going to go on my phone and try to watch YouTube at the same time or just, and then just, just, just throw food in my mouth? Or is it actually trying to be grateful for what I have and look at my children and my wife and my family and be grateful? That's my, that, that, that becomes my goal to say, okay, how am I going to achieve that goal? Right now, the minute my mind takes me away, I bring my mind back. I said, no, no, no, no. It's not time to think about that. This is, this is it. So I don't have a day, every, every moment I live moment by moment.

Savia Rocks: 17:51

You know, and, and that's a beautiful thing to do. I think everyone has a different perception of their day to day, but you seem to have it. in your mind very differently, which is really nice.

Mehdi Akbary: 18:08

Yeah. But I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I believe I've, I've heard this one when I was very young, that time is an illusion, time doesn't exist. And that always, that always intrigued me. And, and I, and I believe in that time is the biggest problem we have created time. And then then we live, then the time creates a lot of anxiety, stress, either it's the past or future. And the minute we buy the time exists. We're in trouble then we live by time. Yes I I I I teach and and in a bambian university, I was I I I I would try to empower students to take control of their life. So I have seminars there. So some somebody Used me this question and I told them. Yeah. Yeah time doesn't exist. It says it does exist I said, okay prove it He said tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning You I said, well, tomorrow at eight o'clock doesn't exist. He says, yes, it is tomorrow. I said, what is tomorrow? It's not, you know, can you touch it? Can you feel it? Show me. He says, he said, I'm going to prove it to you. I said, okay, you prove it to me. The next day at eight o'clock, he calls me the next day. He says, didn't I tell you tomorrow at eight o'clock exists. I said, when, when says tomorrow, eight o'clock. I said, is this tomorrow at eight o'clock? It says, no, no, this is today. I says, well, okay, what is tomorrow then? So, and then he, he finally got the point. So this is, this is, this is how. Time kind of ruined our life. Not that it's a bad thing. Time is a great thing. We have to understand it. We have to use it at our advantage, not let time use us. So there's a psychological time. There's a real clock time, you know, so we, we miss, we mess this thing up all the time.

Savia Rocks: 20:13

We sure do. We definitely do. I know that I would love to start talking about your books, but there's one in particular I know that you would love to express and tell us more about, which is, please correct me if I'm, if I ever say this wrong, which is the five inner laws of change. I was abundantly grateful to be able to read this and I would love for you to talk about this a lot more.

Mehdi Akbary: 20:39

Yep. Well Savia, I was, when I was in Afghanistan I had a small vehicle, a small car, and I would get into Minor accidents all the time because unfortunately people did not follow the traffic law. So my car was dented and and, and the, the side the side mirror was hanged by electric wire and duct tape. So my bumper was held by screws that I put in there. And then when I looked at my car and I looked at people's life, they were in the same People are also dented, you know, and they're broken. They're hanging by, by, by threat, you know, and they're trying to patch it with duct tape and try to hold on. To everything. Right. So, and I realized, wow, this is my car is in the same condition as people people's lives. So, and then I, then, then I said, okay, wow. But my car is not like that in Canada. It's all in one piece. I've never had an accident in Canada and 27 years that I lived here. So, and what are the differences? Why? Okay. And, and then I, then there's, there's a law. The reason my car in Afghanistan was dented, not like that, because nobody followed the law.

Savia Rocks: 22:05

Sure.

Mehdi Akbary: 22:06

And, and, and Canada, mostly people did follow the law. In Canada, when there was, there is an accident, anybody who actually observed there's an accident, they, they obviously broke the law. So in life, we, life is no exception. Everything has a law. We have so much information nowadays out there about how to improve yourself, how, how, how to do anything in life. But nobody does it. Or if they do, they quit it the next day, next week, next month. So, and then I said, okay, why? Why? And, and that's when the five laws of, you know, change comes about and I, and, and, and I've realized that, wow, we, the reason we don't change, we don't, we can't create lasting change is because we constantly look outside for something. Well, we, we all try to create change in the outside world, totally ignoring the inside world. And that's our biggest problem. It's like looking for something in the wrong place. So, and when we cannot find it, we get worried, we are anxious, we get angry. That's what this book is all about. If you want an outer change, you have to create an inner change. The outer world is a reflection of your inner world. That's true, that's true. And, and, and if that's the case, then that is the great news. It means that I have control. I have control over my inner world. Nobody else. If that's the case, then wow, isn't it an amazing thing? You, I can do, I can change anything that. The reason in business, for example, more than 95 percent of businesses close their doors and, and, and, and and five years and less than five years, it's because inside them, they, they believe poverty, scarcity, they're raised in a scarcity world. And all of a sudden they want to go change the outside world, trying to be rich. You can't do that. And, and inside you, you believe scarcity. All of a sudden, you want to go make It doesn't work. It doesn't work at all. There will be a huge conflict. And the Five Laws of Financial Change says that if you can, with this Five Laws of Financial Change, you pick anything you want, if it is school, if it is business, apply just like anything else, just like any other law, just apply this Five Laws of Financial Change and there is no way that you will not be able to achieve your goals.

Savia Rocks: 24:45

You also talk about Peace, fulfillment, success. There's so many different things that you talk about in your book. One of them, one of them, everyone, like I saw a book that said why aren't you successful yet, for example. And for me that caused controversy because I think, and this is just my belief. I think that success is defined in so many different ways, you don't have to have a car and a house and loads of money in your bank account for people to turn around and say, you are successful. I think that society has manipulated that in our minds to make us feel that. That is what success is, and that's not what it is at all. Success, like yourself, can just be waking up in the morning and trying to walk. Success for somebody else could be beating cancer. Success could be, you know, having mental health and waking up in the morning and saying, I'm going to do something good and be fulfilled today in my way. What does success mean to you? How, how can you define success to me in your terms?

Mehdi Akbary: 25:57

Yeah. Well, that's a, that's a great question, Xavier, because I've been Used that over and over again. And, and this is one of the big, one of the biggest problem we have is that we have been taught almost everything wrong. The minute, the minute we know a little bit about ourself in the world, success is defined as, as, as, as a financial term, as materialistic world. You know, you have this, have that, you're successful. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and, and money can buy happiness if you, if you don't have the money, you're not successful and all that. And that, and then we, we, we are forced, not, not even voluntarily, we are forced to pursue that route to go get, make more money. At the same time, they've been telling us that making money is hard. It's not for everybody. You cannot be rich. They're teaching us all kind of this stuff and which contradicts each other. And we're we and then we go after something that we ourselves inside don't believe that we can we can achieve. Like, for example, money. As a child, I was told over and over again, and I'm sure a lot of us have experienced it, that money is hard to make. It's hard to come by. Being successful is hard. You have to do this, you have to work hard, this, this, and that. Why? Well, because that guy, who, who is now a billionaire, had to work 18 hours a day. He worked really hard, so you need to go follow that. And then people, and people keep going after money and the more they did not look, nobody's looking after money. Let me clear that nobody is looking for money. Nobody, everybody's looking for satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness. They believe that money is going to success and it's going to get them there. So that's why they're after money. So let's, let's see those successful people who are billionaires. They have, they were at the same boat. They say, okay, if I, if I make my first million, I'll be the happiest man alive. He's looking for fulfillment and tranquility. But when, when that person gets there, he can't find it because it is, it is not there. Fulfillment, happiness is not there. It's an inside job. It's not out there when the, when they say, wow, it's not here. So what they do, because they don't understand, they say, okay, wow, actually it was not here. Okay. Two billion would, it's on two billion mark when I get there. There it's over there. And they go there. Well, it's not there when they, when they get the, Oh, it's not, it's a hundred billion. Oh, then when nothing is the richest man alive. And that's, Oh, maybe it's in the sky. You have to go to the space. And this is, I'm going to find it there. Discovering another, you know, another, another plan it, we'll do the job, you know, we'll make me satisfied. That's how wrong, that's how we are taught wrong and send us the wrong direction about success. To me, success is nothing but completing the tUs at hand. Whatever tUs you have at hand, at the moment, whatever tUs it is. If you're going to school, you obviously have a plan. You want to, let's say you want to be a doctor. Success is when you're sitting in the class and listening to a lecturer, to your professor teaching. How can I learn today? Do that complete, that is success. If, if you're, if you're, if you're walking, if you're hiking, listening to all the tweets of the birds, the, you know, the wind and the sound of nature, understanding them, believing them, being part of them, enjoying them, Is a success. You come home, you, you, you feel great. You feel energized because you are successful in something now. Now, imagine you are, you are successful on this tiny, small step step that you take. The ultimate vision will always be achieved. No way that it will not, because you're actually walking to that direction. Just like a Manson and, and, and Bamiyan Afghanistan told me he, he, he, he built this guy was building brick houses and he charged almost twice as other people that I, that I knew. And he was booked a year ahead. And I Used him, what is your secret? He said, I take care of one brick at a time. One brick at a time. When I put that brick, I want to make sure this brick has the right material, the right brick, and put in place a hundred percent that I have nothing to worry about the wall. That is success. It's putting one brick at a time. Staying focused. Use your energy on that one brick at a time. It doesn't matter what it is.

Savia Rocks: 31:09

I love the way you just broke that down. That itself was a beautiful way to break things down for people, especially it was simplified because that's literally how life is one brick at a time. That's a good thing.

Mehdi Akbary: 31:24

Exactly. Exactly. And Xavier, look, look, look, look, look at the way, unfortunately, we have been trained. We are told over and over again that life is over there. It's not here.

Savia Rocks: 31:40

It is tomorrow. It all starts from young. It all starts from young. I think It all starts from, like you say, your parents, so your your issues that you build from young starts from whatever your parents or your role models as your parents might say to you, like when they said you can't do this, you can't do that. Automatically, it puts something in your mind for you to say. Oh, I can't do that because my parents said I can't do that on unless we have the mentality in our minds to say we can do it. We won't change that. We'll keep doubting ourselves to think that we won't. I agree.

Mehdi Akbary: 32:17

Exactly. Exactly.

Savia Rocks: 32:19

I totally agree. There's something that stood out for me and it's, you speak about stress as well. I know you speak about stress and anxiety and uncertainty, but one of the things I would love to you for you to talk about is never letting your circumstances stop your life from achieving. Could you break this down for me?

Mehdi Akbary: 32:44

Well severe stress is one of the biggest causes of anxiety. failure, whatever, however you describe failure and stress is nothing but living in the future or in the past. Stress is nothing but thinking, leaving about the stuff that you left incomplete in your life. Stress starts when you cannot Achieve your goal. That is what stress is all about. But if your goal, but we have, but, but if we have learned that our goal is in the future, how can you achieve something that is in the future right now? If our goal is to change the past, how is it possible for us to sitting here and changing the past? And when we, we cannot, when we have this wrong goals, And we cannot achieve it. Stress is definitely there. It is the outcome of living anywhere but in the present moment. If you want to eliminate stress, stress, it is not as easy. The problem is that we think, okay, people, okay, go read this book. And, and, or, or, or, or just go have take a walk, or, or play this sports and your stress will be gone. Temporarily, yes. Yes. But you need a solution for long term because we don't know how the mind works we have no idea what it does to us. Let's say you you're worried about your future let's say you're worried about a future because you have a, you, you, you People think that if you don't achieve this, you don't achieve that, you're a failure and you believe that and you're worried, what am I going to do? And you stress over that. I want you to think about where you are all the time, your mind, what your mind does. Your mind constantly projects, you takes you to the future. And it creates a failed state, a failed environment, where you actually has all the future you've already failed. And then you want to solve that, where it hasn't even arrived yet. The mind creates a problem in the future, and it wants you to solve it in the future, which you can't. And then you feel it, the failure, the intensity right now. And all your energy and your thought and your focus goes towards this solving of a future problem that doesn't even exist. Now, because you don't have any more energy, you cannot do anything right now. You're, you're, you're, you're disabled. Your, your, your, your decision making ability is compromised drastically. Why? Because we have learned you, everything is in the future. You have to worry about the future, think about the future. Let's say you, you want to be, you want to be rich. You want to, you want to have a business. Let's say you want to have a business and you have no idea what to do. And you constantly think, Oh, I don't have the money. I don't have this. If I do this, I'm going to fail. Let's say your mind does that. Now you, let's say, let's say now you read the five laws of energy and you know how the mind works. And now you can tell when the mind goes to the future, you can tell your mind, Hey, hey, hey, hold on, hold on. Think of your mind as a different entity, as a different person. Now your mind takes you somewhere. Don't go there. It says, Oh, hold on a second. I know you want to take me there. I know you want me to be careful, but that's okay. What can I do right now today? What can I do that I will start a business? What can I do? When I started my first business, Savvia, in Canada, when I decided to get into business, I had 2. 50 in my pocket. And I decided to start a business. And everybody was laughing at me. And for good reason, they say what you just want to, you have no money, no experience whatsoever, and you want to start a business. And if I knew how the mind worked, if I didn't know how the mind worked, I would, I would accept their, their logic behind it. I would say, yeah, they're right. And my mind sometimes did come and tell me, Hey, come on, be real. But, but, but because I knew how the mind work, I said, no, no, no, no, that's not true. That's not true. How am I going to start a business? I have no idea, but I, I know if this thing can fix my hand, it will give me ideas how to start a business. The minute you, you continuously tell your mind that yes, you can do that. And you know that your mind takes you and you don't go and you can, you bring your mind back here. Give me ideas. Your mind will come up with ideas and places that you walked before that I used to walk before. I didn't see any businesses before, but, but from that day on, I saw businesses everywhere before I didn't see what it was. This business is before that's how powerful the mind is. Once you know how to direct it towards something you want and not allow it to go to the past and future, don't go with it. And I used to go to the same convenience store to look for a job because the guy gave me the newspaper for free to look for a job at the classified section. Now, I'm going to the same store. Opening the business section of the same newspaper that I did it for, for months and months that I didn't see any business before. Now, I actually, I see business. Now, the, the guy who, that I used to buy my grocery from now, I actually, I see him as a businessman that I did before. I just saw him as a guy who's selling something. Now, he's a business. I'm Using him question. How did you start your business? That's how powerful mine is, Savya. It will find ideas, give you ideas. And then I did realize that, wow, there are so many businesses for sale. And I went and saw this businesses and they were really, some of them were 10, but they were all losing money. That's all I could afford. And then I said, Oh my God, why are they losing money? And then I realized, Oh my God, They're not doing this. They're not doing this. They're doing this wrong. And my mind would come up with ideas how to improve the business and I bought a business That was losing money and I turned it around in nine months. I bought a business for ten thousand dollars that I had only I I let me just make it a little more clear hopefully the audience will the Listeners will understand better how the mind works When I, when I realized that I need at least 10, 000 or 15, 000 capital in order to start a business, my mind start looking for any job that I could save that much money. And I did find a job before I was looking for any job, but this time I was only looking for the job that I could save money. And I did find that job that I could save money. I saved money for, I think eight months, I saved about 13, 000. And, and I used that money to buy this business. It was losing money. And I, and I turned that business around and sold it at nine months for 169, 000.

Savia Rocks: 40:49

See what I mean? But that's perseverance as well. That's perseverance. And yeah. What was the most for one thing what was the most fulfilling part of doing it? I don't want to put say the money is the most fulfilling part because People always say sometimes that mine and I don't want that to be the outline of your story For me, I want the outline The outline of your story to be something valuable for people to understand.

Mehdi Akbary: 41:21

Well Svia, I have a, a, a 19-year-old daughter who, who's an golf scholarship in the United States in one in University of Arkansas. She, she's home for summer. She, she'll go on for her third year. She says, dad, I have no idea what I want in my life. You know, what should I do? What should I take? Unfortunately, just, this is a great question because most people, especially our young generation are lost. They have no idea what they want.

Savia Rocks: 41:51

Yes, that's true.

Mehdi Akbary: 41:53

And I tell her, well, it's okay if you don't know the first year, but second year, you gotta know, you know, so because they're, they're really confused. Because we, in one, in one way we tell them, go find yourself, do whatever you want, but we haven't actually equipped them to know who they truly are.

Savia Rocks: 42:17

Yeah,

Mehdi Akbary: 42:18

I heard

Savia Rocks: 42:18

that one. So,

Mehdi Akbary: 42:20

so they are trying to figure out what they want from an incomplete state of mind. Of course, they're not going to find what they want. So now back to your question for me, it was more or less the same thing. I said, okay, I can do anything in life. What is it that I want to do? Because I was so I was passionate about learning how the mind works from a very young age, traveling to this to especially third world countries, living among people, learning about different culture. What was what exactly I wanted to do. And I said, okay, if I make money, because I, I backpacked for five years when I was a teenager and I, I, I learned that was the, the, the, the, that was the best university for me and taught me so much about life and about people. And I wanted to do that again, but this time I wanted to make money and do that. That I could go and actually at the same time, because there are a lot of poor people, I wanted to help them as well at the same time I would learn. That was the purpose behind making money. And when I came to Canada and I saw people struggling, just like everywhere else, and it didn't make any sense to me. I said, this is one of the richest countries in the world and people are still struggling to make money to pay bills. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. And I said, I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to prove everybody wrong. And, and less than six months, I was a millionaire. Less than six months of, yeah, I was a millionaire. You know, I, I bought and sold businesses and I turned them around and I sell them. I turned them around. I sold, I said, wow, this was easy. And for me, back then I wanted to travel and then I made money. And then I traveled, I traveled when my money finished out, come back and do something on that, go travel. Till one time when I realized that. I had the, I had the, the, the, the front, the leg front, the waterfront house. I had the boat, I had the sea, do I had everything? I traveled the world. And then sometimes, you know, there's something inside you says, what is it that you want in your life? And that's when I started and I went to Afghanistan, start building schools. And yeah, because it's, for people, people like, like yourself, like me, we, we are the 20 percent of the population. Okay, the 80 percent of the population are okay with, they love to conform and they're good with that. They follow the rules and they do whatever the society and the environment has created for them. They love it, they go work, nothing wrong with that, good for them, they're happy. But 20 percent of us, We are the troublemakers.

Savia Rocks: 45:14

You know, I was literally just about to say that I am not very good with rules. I am being completely honest right now. If you tell me that I must do this and I must do that, I, and my partner will say this, I will completely go and do the opposite. Yeah. I'm so much about fulfilling things in a, in a positive way. An authentic way about being creative in an authentic way about fulfilling my inner being in an authentic way. You give me a rule, I'll break it 10 times. And I just, and, and the reason why I am like that is never been about, it's never been about the money. No. Yeah, because you don't die with the house or the money or the car. It's for money. I'm gonna be really honest, and I'm sure you would agree with this. Money makes your life easier. Yeah, but it doesn't fulfill your inner being and there are so many people in the world that go Oh if I'll be everyone always talks about money is I I actually don't like talking about it. I'm surprised I am but When people talk about money, they always turn around and say I'll say oh What do you want to do? Or what would you like to have as a question to somebody everyone away? 90 percent of people turn around and say money You I'd like to have money. I'd like to be a millionaire, but then I'll say, what would you do? Would you still work if you, if you had money? Are you crazy? But see a wise person who told me, yeah, and I'm, I don't know if you'll agree with this. A wise person told me that one of the best jobs to do, even if you are a millionaire is to sit and be the receptionist. And I was really young when they said this and it was a very valuable story to me anyways. And I said, why do you want to be the receptionist? And I said, because that receptionist is the person who represents your company, who knows absolutely everybody who comes in and out and And takes the most abuse. And if you can take abuse from people and still remain calm, collected and know who you are as an individual, you will go far in life. If you decide to have your own company, because it's still the same. It's just that you have a different. And the only thing is, is when you get a different title and more money is that for some sad reason, people respect you more when you have money in title rather than respecting you, even if you have nothing. But the wisdom in your mind.

Mehdi Akbary: 47:52

Exactly. Exactly. And then one of the, another reason is I say, okay, because this 20%, just like you, the reason I said you're 20 percent because what you're doing is indication that you're the 20 percent because we believe that making a living is easy. It's the simplest thing. Why are you worried about making a living? You can do it anytime. Just go get a job or something. We want to do more. We want to change something. Okay. We don't settle for, for, for, for, for a normal or mediocre life because we know we believe we can. And one of the, one of the, one of the tragedy is that this 20 percent have no support whatsoever. Not just we have no support and understanding from the rest, we are discouraged, even forced to. pull back, trying to hold us down where they are. And we have to fight everybody

Savia Rocks: 48:59

every day,

Mehdi Akbary: 49:00

every single day, and trying to get out there and do what we love to do. And that's why you and I go through so much struggle in life. So much, you know, we try, we work hard because we have no support whatsoever. And we don't have, we're not born in a family to be this 20%. That will be normal for us. We're not, we are, most of us are born and, and, and, and this 80 percent family society. And, and for us to break free is really, really hard, really, really difficult. We have to fail a thousand times in order to go succeed. Once. Exactly. But for, for a lot, for some people who are born in this environment, it is great for them. It's a given. But for us, people like you and me, we are, and we continuously have to work and work and work and work and try and find our way out of the crowd.

Savia Rocks: 50:02

Yeah, that

Mehdi Akbary: 50:03

is

Savia Rocks: 50:04

true. What do you believe is your most valuable lesson that you have learned in life?

Mehdi Akbary: 50:10

That you are everything. The minute I realize that it is me, if I'm angry, it is me. If I'm happy, it is me. If I fail, it is me. If I succeed, it is me. And that gives you control, Xavier. Then you are it, you are it, you know, you can't blame anybody else. Oh, you made me angry. No, that doesn't exist. Just like you said about the receptionist. Right. And, and I, and I, and I tell people, some, somebody complained about their wife about kids or something. I, you know, I, well, I, they come and Us for help because I do Life coaching as well. So, and, and I tell them, wow, this is, which means great. You have a teacher. Your wife is a teacher constantly poking. You say, Hey, you're not ready, buddy. You're not there yet. Don't claim it yet. It's just like the receptionist. He said, yes, the more, the more, you know, a quote I heard about, it's a beautiful quote. It said the bad person, bad people are the good people's responsibility.

Savia Rocks: 51:24

Yeah, that is, you know what, that's a, that's spot on. Yeah.

Mehdi Akbary: 51:29

So don't, don't go yelling and says, Oh, you're, you're, you're not a good person. No, that's your responsibility to understand. To understand that person, however, or whoever that person is

Savia Rocks: 51:42

and to educate

Mehdi Akbary: 51:43

them to educate themselves. When you try to understand and be yourself, once they're around you and you be yourself, it is inevitable that they will change.

Savia Rocks: 51:54

Yes. I agree. I totally agree with that. I only have two more for you. It's gone so quickly. It just felt like a nice, easy conversation. It has gone so quickly. So my last one, well, my second to last one for you is when was the last time you yourself felt totally at peace with yourself?

Mehdi Akbary: 52:18

Well I, I, I, I love nature. I just, I just love nature. And I go hiking in the mountains. I, I, I stay in the mountains for, for days and nights and I go canoeing for, Days and nights and I am at most at peace when I'm with nature.

Savia Rocks: 52:39

Yeah.

Mehdi Akbary: 52:41

And I, I, I try to be at peace when I'm with people. I have to really work at it.

Savia Rocks: 52:50

I was just going to say that can be really challenging.

Mehdi Akbary: 52:53

Yeah. It is. It is. In order for you to have a peace of mind, you need to have an environment for that.

Savia Rocks: 53:06

Okay.

Mehdi Akbary: 53:08

You have to be really, really mentally strong in order to have peace and environment where peaceful peace doesn't exist. Nature creates that environment immediately for you. You become part of it. As long as you're open to listen to the nature, to be part of nature, don't have your, you know, your, your earphones listening to music while you're, you know, you're in the hiking and this beautiful, amazing natural hike, be part of it. Feel the wind. Listen to the music all the leaves are playing. You would be amazed how much nature teaches you.

Savia Rocks: 53:58

That's

Mehdi Akbary: 53:58

true. And when you look at the tree, just look at the tree. You know, you learn a lot from this. Just look at the trees. The trees, when the wind blows, it just sways with the wind, no matter how hard the wind is. It doesn't resist just like human being do. You know, when the problem comes, we resist. Why this problem is here. I don't want this. OK. Oh, imagine the tree resist the wind. It will have no branches. They all will be broken. OK. Look at look at look at the animals. Look at the birds. They always live at the present. They have no idea what tomorrow is, the day after tomorrow is. They have no clue. They're happy. They're, they're really, really happy part of the nature. The nature always teach you, always teach you. If you don't have a you know, to go to really, you don't have to go far. Just go, go to, go to, go to a local, go to a city park. You can even observe people.

Savia Rocks: 55:00

Yeah.

Mehdi Akbary: 55:02

It appreciate everything there, you know, if a swan is swimming there, I appreciate that you can find peace everywhere you go, but you have to really know how the mind works in order to create peace.

Savia Rocks: 55:20

I love that, which is actually a nice way to end the podcast, but by me saying I would love for everybody to know where they can find your book. If anybody would like to get in touch with you or contact with you to speak about your organization or what you do. As a humanitarian, an author, where can they find you?

Mehdi Akbary: 55:41

Well we have a website o do ca o wda do ca. And they can find the book Five Laws of You Change on Amazon. It's, it's been on Amazon for I think a few months now.

Savia Rocks: 55:54

Perfect, guys, you hear that? Go and read a book. Go and support. Please. This is what the podcast is all about. And this is where I say, thank you so much for taking your time to come on the Us People podcast. Thank you so much for being patient, kind, being who you are and being yourself, which is one of the most important things that you can be. So thank you so much.

Mehdi Akbary: 56:18

Thank you for inviting me. So happy. I'm so glad that we talked and I really, really appreciate your time.

Savia Rocks: 56:24

Thank you so much, guys. Thank you so much for listening. Bye. Did he Us people podcasts? And please remember you can subscribe and leave us a review on Spotify, iTunes, Google play, and any other platform that you are listening to. Please also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And you can also donate to the US people podcast by simply going to the savvy rocks website or just typing in paypal. me forward slash us people podcast. Guys. Thank you so much for listening. Stay happy, stay positive, and as always, please continue to be kind to one another.

Mehdi Akbary: 57:41

And so do I really appreciate you. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I'm so glad that I talked to you and hopefully we'll cross paths sometimes again.

Savia Rocks: 57:50

Oh, definitely.

Mehdi Akbary: 57:52

Yeah. Yeah. Let, let me know if you need sometimes if your guest doesn't show up or something, just let me know. We can talk. There is a lot to talk about.

Savia Rocks: 58:25

Spread your wings and let the wind glide you high. We're just soaring through this journey, leaving fear far behind. Our hearts are full of courage, you can win if you try. We're not rebellious to you, you'll see the power in us if you try. I fly like I'm Superman. Spread your wings and let the wind glide you high. I'm superman.