Always Live Your Passion with Robert Riopel

Today's guest is Robert Riopel, international bestselling author, app designer, entrepreneur, and trainer.  He has held trainings all over the world and has tackled the challenge of shifting to virtual trainings.  

 Robert fully believes that all facets of being affect each other, and the area that you ignore is the area that will hold you back.  Robert's focus on his career caused him to neglect his self care and he had to have 2 back surgeries.  

Robert's top 3 tips to grow wealth:

1. Take ownership of your finances. Don't play the blame game.
2. Surround yourself with growth-minded people, not like-minded people.
3. Avoid instant gratification and overextending yourself.

When you're making habitual changes, it can feel uncomfortable - and that's okay!  Listen for a sneak peek into Robert's new book about the four phases of life, centered around chaos.

For your free download of Robert's book, "Success Left A Clue," visit his website: robertriopel.com

Connect with Robert:
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRobertRiopel/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rrriopel/
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertriopel/

Connect with Magic:

A Magical Life Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amagicallifepodcast/

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholisticnaturalhealth/

Online: https://wholisticnaturalhealth.com.au

A Subito Media production

Transcript

Magic Barclay: 0:58

Welcome back to a magical life. This is episode 72 and I'm talking to Robert Riopel today and Robert is going to talk to us about all things, health and wealth and entrepreneurship. Robert Raymond Riopel is an international best-selling author, an app designer, entrepreneur and trainer who spent the past 18 plus years traveling around the us. BC, before COVID, sharing his passion. He's also shared the stage with and trained many of the top trainers throughout the world and thought leaders that we have today. Welcome, Robert.

Robert Riopel: 1:39

Oh, thank you. I'm so happy to be here. And especially cause you were about health that, uh, you know, it's a good thing that it's not smellovision that we're on because I just finished some beautiful, beautiful, fresh out of the garden, zucchini fries with, um, they were Parmesan and garlic fries. So all my goodness and I am I'm ready to keep eating healthy.

Magic Barclay: 2:00

Well, you're making me salivate. I've got a cup of elderberry and nettle tea sitting here that tastes like grass clippings.

Robert Riopel: 2:09

Well, I'll tell you, my wife loves having her big garden and our zucchini plants have been producing like crazy this year. So I've been having fun Googling the different recipes. And I came across these, these zucchini fries that are Parmesan and garlic. Let's try these out. And we tried them the other night and they were just so delicious that I had to make them again today. I've been craving them the other day.

Magic Barclay: 2:32

Now I want some, that sounds fantastic. Robert, we've been in touch for a little while by email, but I really love your passion when you start talking about what it is that you do. Obviously we've just done a little intro, but can you tell the listeners, what do you do and why do you do.

Robert Riopel: 2:54

Well, if we go for the BC and I'm glad you already said that that stands for the before COVID, um, not only am I a serial entrepreneur, uh, an international best-selling author with my book, success left a clue. Uh, app designer had an app that I designed based on my book, but I'm also more passionate about the fact that I've been blessed to travel around the world several times and personally train over half a million people in live trainings anywhere from three days to five days, a hundred people at a time to 6,000 people at a time where I'm on stage 12 hours a day up to 12 hours, just fully immersing people into understanding how they can have a greater life, what options they have, what holds them back and how to have breakthroughs and to truly live that passionate life. So I'm living my passion and having a great time. Now, of course, since COVID. I've had to do a re-invent and I've gone virtual, including I'm now a week and a half in brand new office that my wife and I built our training center on our acreage. Cause it was one of our dreams and I've now got a 1500 square foot training center that I'm going to turn into a super zoom room so that I can have. You know, 350 400 students on the screens at a time and have all the four or five camera angles and just being able to reach out and interact with people in a different way. Cause I'm a high energy person on stage, and I don't want to be low energy just sitting in a chair and here's what we're going to do on our training today. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to be able to just bounce around and move and have fun.

Magic Barclay: 4:20

I totally hear you on that. I love being on stage and you know, 30,000 people in front of me, not a problem. But what I'm finding with the transition to zoom is, I'm not myself. So certainly, you know, I've done all of the presenting courses, but to kind of redo it, to pivot to the world that we're in now, um, that's such a huge thing. Well, you

Robert Riopel: 4:45

know, I'd agree, but I disagree because over this last 18 months, it's like what I tell any trainer when I train them, the number one key is just practice, practice, practice, and I'd rather, you have sloppy success as you get going. Then waiting to have perfect mediocrity. And so when I started transitioning, I had, you know, terrible set ups. I do some on my phone, but I just did it so I could get used to, how do I look at the camera? How do I connect? How can I make it interactive with my audience? I'm always having them. High-fiving, I'm having them typing into the chat box. I'm having them put their hands on the hearts and do declarations. So when I started doing the transition, it was rough. It absolutely was, but now I'm just going again and again and again, making sure that I'm putting in the practice to get better at what I do. And as I set up my office, you know what I do a live training like tomorrow morning, I have one at 5:00 AM for the Philippines. I'll be standing in front of my camera and have my two screens. So even though I don't have a great, great setup yet, I'm still doing it. I'm not waiting if that makes sense. And it's just like same thing for health, right. Just get started and watch how you get into the flow of it. So I'd recommend that for you cause you, you obviously have a passion for it and you have a great training voice and great presence, even though your camera's not on, I can feel your presence. So don't hold yourself back.

Magic Barclay: 6:07

Thank you so much. Yes, listeners. I do need to tell you normally my guests can see me, but my camera is just started pack it in and I can't pick something up till next week through click and collect. So, um, all these times I can see the fabulous Robert in front of me. And all he can see is my logo.

Robert Riopel: 6:26

And what a logo it is.

Magic Barclay: 6:31

Like, it's a good logo. I like it. Now let's get into these questions because the listeners really want some answers from us. So the first question Robert is what can your expertise do to accelerate health? Now, when we're talking health, we're talking emotional, spiritual, physical, financial, mental, the whole gamut. Well, first

Robert Riopel: 6:55

of all, you hit it right on the head that I believe that we're definitely holistic beings and it's not just one area. The area that you do not focus on is area that takes you out. And this is coming from a person magic that used to be so closed down. I was, you know, I come in from an area where it's here's the box. Don't think outside the box, don't question the box. This is what you believe. And that's all you need to know. And so a lot of the things that I have experienced over the last two decades was so foreign to me and as I've experienced and I've opened myself up to believing the fact that, Hey, I did a 4-day Zen retreat in 2002 that changed my life. And now my daily practice is to see how much I can be meditating by being present. Not by having to necessarily sit, cross my legs and meditate, but by being present with what I'm doing in the moment, because meditating is being present. And as I opened up to it, I started to notice the trainings that I was doing around the world, a lot of people, their mind is one of the things that holds them back the most. And if you want to talk unhealthy their negative self-talk is one of the most healthy things that people have going for them. So I've made it my mission to how can we help? Take and turn around that mindset and almost become your best friend so that you learn what positive self-talk is. Even if it feels kind of hokey in the beginning, how I can teach the science behind why it makes a difference, you know, why the vibrations, why the den regs, the neurons, how they fire it, all that works. But I love to keep it fun so that people understand that, you know, what being healthy. Doesn't mean I have to, um, try and fit into a certain mold to be healthy. I want them to know that they can have fun on the journey. Enjoy it. Even though there is ups and downs. If that makes sense.

Magic Barclay: 8:46

That makes perfect sense and something I tell my clients in regards to their physical health is, when you're just taking a medication or you're just following a doctor's order or a naturopath order or whoever it is, you're not taking ownership of what's actually happening. You're not looking at the mechanism of action of the medication, for example, and what that's actually going to do to the inside of your body. But the same goes for mental health. If you're having those negative thoughts, they're having a constant effect on you. They're actually affecting your immune system. They're affecting your endocrine system. They're affecting your neural pathways. You were talking about, you know, dendrites and axons, the D myelination that can occur in your neural pathways, just from thinking bad thoughts about yourself. It's just exponential. And I don't think people realize the depth of that.

Robert Riopel: 9:41

Well, yeah. And look at what the research also says that for every one minute of negative energy or negative news as an example that you take in, it takes you five times or five minutes of positive supportive energy just to neutralize, not even to then get ahead, but that's just a neutralize the one minute. And so no wonder when people are, and I'll use my dad as an example. He is locked to every news broadcast. When he's in his suite all day long, he sit there and he knows you have to have the 9:00 AM morning news, the 11 o'clock news, the 1:00 PM, the 5:00 PM and then the 6:00 PM international. And then he still got to catch the 11:00 PM as well. And it's the same news all day long, but he wants to make sure he hasn't missed anything. And I know when I have a phone conversation with them the first five minutes, it's pretty much. Hey, did you hear what happened today in the news? And I'm, my dad knows I don't listen to the news, but I've learned to yo, I love him for who he is. And, and so the first five minutes, I know he, he, we have to let them get it out of his system and then we have a great conversation. And so having that much impact and, and taking five times to just neutralize it, that can be very tedious. So I love to help people with what are the habits you have so that you don't even have to worry about working so hard on neutralizing. You can actually get ahead of the game by supporting your mental health and the, your mindset and what you believe about yourself or not. No, there's little again, little adjustments you can do that can go a long way.

Magic Barclay: 11:11

I totally agree. You were talking about the news. I live in Victoria in Australia. One of the most locked down state, I guess, in a world. And I never know what's going on. I actually have a walking buddy who I walk with at sunrise every morning. And I require her to tell me what's happening because what's the news. She drove to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, thinking I could go to our local K-Mart, which happens to be miles away from us. And I got there and it was all shut and I had no idea.

Robert Riopel: 11:46

Yeah, exactly, right?

Magic Barclay: 11:47

You know, walking around the city, going what's going on. And then, you know, actually having to text her and say, Kmart's closed, the supermarkets are open, but nothing else. She goes, yeah, we're in lockdown. I forgot to tell you. Well, and that's where I'll use LinkedIn because every morning I get an update of here's what's in and I can in 30 seconds breeze through to see if there's anything I need to put more focus on or read otherwise it's like, okay, I'm good for the day. And that's, that's what I rely on just to cause yes, there are some times when things happen that you probably should know about sometimes. Yeah, yeah.

Robert Riopel: 12:23

Yep. Absolutely.

Magic Barclay: 12:24

Now, Robert, we like to create wealth here on this podcast. When we're talking wealth, we're looking at financial, of course, personal and emotional wealth. So what are your top three tips to creating wealth? Well, again,

Robert Riopel: 12:38

first of all, glad that you're talking about holistic wealth, because people think wealth just means money, but it's not. And, you know, going from a person, the reason I do what I do today is my wife and I ended up over$150,000 in personal debt, stressed out beyond belief. And because we started to, we were introduced to personal stress. From a three-day training. We learned why we handle money, the way we did took ownership of the debt instead of blaming it on other people. So that's one take ownership of your finances. Don't sit there and say, well, that person lost my mind. No, you're the one that decided to give him the money. So if you didn't do your due diligence, you know, I have other people do a lot of my investing, but I know enough to know if they're doing a good job or not. So I do my due diligence and if we lose money, which let's be clear my investments, I don't always have winners. I do have losers. I take responsibility for it. So that would be one thing. Take responsibility for your financial situation where you're at. Um, and we learned specific actions to take if we wanted to get out of debt. And we were able to actually go from the information we received from over 150,000 in personal debt to we actually retired completely financially free nine months later at the age of 32. And that's actually what got me into doing what I do today, because my mind went, wow. That worked. And if I can even help one person do the same thing, it'd be all worthwhile. So a second tip, I would give out Magic, is this. Surround yourself with not like-minded people. I used to believe like-minded people are good, but surround yourself with growth minded people. And here's the difference. If you surround yourself with like-minded people, it can be a group of people that are complainers. And then you're just going to be complainer with them. A growth minded person is not only are they the person that is willing to pick you up when you stumble, they're going to be your greatest cheerleader as you're doing great, but they're also the ones that are willing to have the tough conversations with you. Have the tough conversations with you, like, Hey, you know, you're playing small right now. Why aren't you stepping up? Or, you know, you're kind of being a jerk there. Why are you doing that? And it's not about speaking their truth to be malicious or anything. They speak their truth with compassion to help you own how great you are. That's probably one of the greatest things that you can have in your corner is this group of growth minded people. So that would be my second tip. And the third one, if you're looking at strictly like money, wealth, quit going for the instant gratification. This is why we got into debt is because as we became more successful, my wife and I had gone and been able to become Domino's pizza franchisees at the age of 23, and as we started creating more success, we started spending more money than we're earning because we wanted all the instant gratification. Keeping up with the Joneses because Hey, we're successful. This is what successful people do. Meanwhile, we are ruining our financial life and putting ourselves into mental stress. And so we were willing to take a hard look and say in our life, what don't we need right now that we have expenses on, that if we are to simplify our lives, And downsize, it would allow us to create that financial freedom and we were willing to make some tough decisions. So those would be three things I would recommend to your audience.

Magic Barclay: 15:58

I think that instant gratification is a big thing, certainly with lockdown and, you know, people really suffering worldwide that they're looking to buy things like here in Australia, online shopping has just increased so much. And they're now delivering on a weekend, like they never used to. Sunday, you get a package like that used to just happen here the week before Christmas. But now it's a thing. It's a regular thing. And people are spending money on things they don't need.

Robert Riopel: 16:30

Oh yeah. In Canada, because the government's got the subsidies and all that and income replacement. Cause you're at home RV sales have gone through the roof. And it's like if you were working, would you have bought that thing? Well, no, but I'm home. So we might as well do something. Yeah, but how are you going to make the payments when life goes back to normal? And people aren't thinking about that, and what you're going to see is this was going to be, uh, you know, if you're a savvy person in next couple of three years, There's going to be a huge marketplace to be able to buy items for super cheap, because people are going to start realizing what they're buying now they couldn't afford. And so, yeah, you've got to think long-term and not just that instant gratification. Sure, you want it now, but do you need it right now? This is the best time to be really fortifying yourself for the future. Because, especially if there's, you got time at home, learn new things, get yourself in better health. So that as we come out of lockdown, you've got better mindset, better body, better outlook on life. If you've got a business, what can you do now to make the adjustments to it, to have it even be stronger as you come out? There's a lot of things that can be done.

Magic Barclay: 17:38

I totally agree. I've thrown myself into my veggie gardens and, uh, you know, I'm just reaping the rewards now and ready to sow the next season. But you were talking about the things that will be on sale. Pretty soon, I've seen people around my town buying new cars. Oh, yeah. Then I'll let it go. Anyway. They're in lockdown, right? I know thinking, you know, when the payments catch up to them, I'm going to get a really good car, really cheap, with low miles.

Robert Riopel: 18:10

Yeah. Right. Because it's like, oh, it went in your driveway, out of your driveway, in your driveway, out of your driveway. Yeah. I'll pick that up for half the price.

Magic Barclay: 18:18

So bring it on. I'll have a new car soon.

Robert Riopel: 18:22

And, and the real estate market did the same thing here because also now people, while I'm at home, locked in with my kids, oh my goodness. We have too small, a place. Our real estate prices went through the roof, you know, and it's like, what's going to happen in a couple of years again, when people are going, oh, I really couldn't afford that house. You're going to see another real estate crash and people who are ready are going to be able to make a lot of good money off.

Magic Barclay: 18:47

Totally. I actually thought here in Australia, the real estate market would bomb because you know, people were losing their jobs. But as you said, government subsidies and things were happening here as well. And the amount of houses in my small town that are getting snapped up for much more than they're worth at the moment. It's incredible. They're on sale for three days and they're gone, but those people are in 12 to 24 months going to be going, how on earth do I pay for this?

Robert Riopel: 19:16

Yup. That's exactly it. And, and, you know, we, my wife and I were lucky we had, when we bought our acreage here three years ago, we have our other house that we were, you know, we owned before and we just did a slow move over the couple of years. We never rented it out. It's just been there and the real estate prices were down, down, down. Well, all of a sudden COVID hits the real star prices started going up. We just went and listed it ourselves. And within 21 days it was sold and we got quite a bit more than we would have got even six months earlier. And then people are going well, but the prices are still going up and I'm like, yeah, but I don't need to be greedy. I'm happy that that expense is gone because I'm looking at the long-term again. I don't want two mortgages all the time. So now, you know, it prepares us to do other things. this, It goes along with what keeps people from being healthy in all their different ways is their habits and habits. Developing them is one thing. But then it's easy. I'm going to say it like this, and people may disagree, but I'm going to kind of speak my truth on it. Developing a habit is easy. Making change is easy. It's the maintaining it. That is the tough part. And that's where people have the hardest time is they get excited for a couple moments. And then once it starts becoming monotonous, it becomes, oh, this is work. Then they end up going backwards. And if you want to have that full wealth in all areas. Yeah. Is being willing to develop and maintain habits and it doesn't have to be hard. It maybe takes a little work in the beginning, but then as you get going, the maintenance can be just easy minute things, but it is about keeping it maintained. That's the key, in my opinion.

Magic Barclay: 20:50

Agreed. And it's really important that the listeners know that. When you are making changes, habitual changes, it can feel uncomfortable. And that's okay. That feeling uncomfortable as you're getting out of your comfort zone, into your learning zone. And really that's when you're going to achieve the success. If you don't have that discomfort and that kind of icky feeling of, or this is a big step, why should I do this? Then, why bother? If you can't adapt, which is part of your, your human capability. In fact, any animal can adapt. If you can't do it, but really embrace that slight discomfort, then it's not going to mean anything. And you won't stick to it.

Robert Riopel: 21:37

And that's it. And one of the things like in my new book that I'm writing right now, I talk about something called the four phases of life. And it's really, especially during this time with COVID, it's very, um, to me, very pertinent for both business owners, for people who are wondering how things are going to go. And if you'd like, you know, I can go through it magic or what the four phases are and how to really embrace them.

Magic Barclay: 21:59

Please do.

Robert Riopel: 22:01

Excellent. And it's all centered around, um, chaos. You know, chaos enters people's lives and, and COVID you talk about chaos? It's chaos had hit the world and a lot of people when they struggle is because they resist chaos. And if you understand, and it goes to something you said just a few moments ago that, you know, here as humans, we were put on this planet to evolve. Not to stay in a comfort zone, but to evolve. And chaos is actually the part that forces us either gently if we're embracing it or harsh, if we're not, to actually evolve to the next level. Because you know, life will throw us lessons and if we listen to them great, but if we don't, we get the lesson again, more intense. And so I use the acronym of open because I like to keep things simple. I'll tell you magic, you know, I'll, I'll do my best Forrest Gump impersonation. I'm not a smart man, but I like it simple. So that keeps it easy for me to work with. The O stands for the observation phase. And what that is, is this the time to create. Just like your logo, where that beautiful growth is coming out of your hand, new life, new trees, new leaves, new branches. That's the observation phase. This is the time to dream, to visualize, to meditate and ask yourself, what would I like in all areas of my life. What would I like my mental life to be my emotional, my spiritual, my physical, my financial? Now not, how will I make it happen? What is it? You know, what do I need to do is just, this is the time to be that human creating the life of your dreams. And then the second phase is the one that most people that struggle, is the one that they either ignore, or they don't believe they can do it. And the P stands for the pamper phase. This is where if you've ever heard the saying, you cannot give what you do not have. Most people are givers, givers, givers, and they get overwhelmed because they forget to rejuvenate. They forget to care for themselves. And this was a big one for me. When I started training, my first four and a half years, I did over two hundred multi-day trainings around the world where I was so busy, I was only at home on average two days a month over living my passion and I got burnt out. And because I wasn't taking care of my body, I herniated a disc and ended up going through two back surgeries. I had to take three and a half years off to heal me. And the reason I'm sharing that is I don't want your audience to think that I have a perfect life. I'm no different than anybody else. I have my good times, I have my bad times. And my biggest lesson from that time was is important that I pamper myself because if I don't, then I can't give truly, like I want to. And when the pamper phase comes in, this is where you book a holiday or go on a holiday. Well, Robert, we can't, we're in a pandemic. Great. Get a massage, have a manicure, have a pedicure. Read a book if you enjoy reading, take time to yourself, to just read. Sit down and just take time for you, your family, the loved ones. Those are the things you do in the pamper phase. And one of the keys of how to do that, I'm going to use a wealth rule at magic. Have you ever heard in Australia, have you ever heard of wealth rule number one, pay yourself first. Have you heard of that rule?

Magic Barclay: 25:23

Yes, I have.

Robert Riopel: 25:25

And that's an important rule, especially for financial success. So my question is, is if you're going to pay yourself first in money, why wouldn't you pay yourself first in time? So for me, my wife and I, what we do is we live by our calendar on our phones. And we, when we go to add things to our calendar, the first thing we put on the calendar before any thing else is what we call our balanced pieces. Time for each other, time for ourselves, time for family, our health, all those things go on the calendar first, instead of at the end, hoping we still have time. So if people take that one tip alone, it'll change their life. And so when you're in the pamper phase, make sure you're taking care of yourself. And when I say get creative, one of the reasons, and it's a little secret of why I love traveling overseas and doing long flights. A, I love helping people. That's the main reason I traveled to other countries, but B when I get on the plane and I sit in my seat, that's my time. That's Robert's time. I don't do work. I don't connect to wifi. I read books because I love to read or watch movies because I love to watch movies. I'll get a little rest. I'll eat some good food and I'll drink some great wine. Because I know the moment I land, the next three to five days, I'm on stage up to 12 hours a day, giving people everything I have. And if I don't take care of me, I can't take care of them. Does that make sense, Magic?

Magic Barclay: 26:58

It totally does. I actually use Google calendar on my phone and it's linked to my timely account for the business as well. And everything is color coded. So like a Royal blue is my work times, a yellow is personal green is kids and family. And if I have too much blue in there, I'll actually make sure I put some more yellow and green in, but the yellow and green is the first thing to go. And I have non-negotiable times where it's family time.

Robert Riopel: 27:29

Yes. And, and people think they can't have that. And this is where phase number three comes in the E stands for energy phase. And in the energy phase, this is the phase where you get stuff done. This is where you do the emails, the meetings, the, whatever it is that you have to do for your business to make an income. And so, because I take care of the pamper side, when I'm in an energy phase, I can put in an 18 hour day. And at the end of the day, I'm tired, but am I burnt out and wasted? No, because I've been taking care of the pamper phase. And one of the things that people go live while we're Robert, you don't understand my life. I've got family, I've got business, my family is demanding that I spend more time with them because they say I work too hard and I, this is why I'm stressed out. I don't have time for that. And what I've learned Magic, that people are really, really, really good at being busy, but they're not necessarily being productive and there's a world of differences right there. So the second thing I put on my calendar after my balance pieces, I put in what's called focused time because research has shown that a person can only truly, truly stay focused for about an hour at a time before they start to wander. So what I'll do is if I'm writing my new book, I'll say 10 to 11, writing book. And in that hour I come into my office. Everybody knows all my calendar. Don't even try getting ahold of me because I will not answer the phone. I will not answer emails. Won't even be looking at them. And in that hour of being productive, What happens is I end up being more productive than six hours of being busy, which frees up a whole ton of time when you can get in the habit of being productive. And kind of a side note of that, for everybody, who's a business owner or a entrepreneur or someone who's working long, long hours, and you're worried about your family time, I will tell you this. Family will take less quality time with you versus more quantity time with you every day. Because what normally happens magic is, you know, someone and you've, I'm sure you've experienced this. You're having a conversation with someone and they may be there physically in front of you, but you can tell their mind is somewhere else. Have you ever experienced that?

Magic Barclay: 29:52

All the time. All the time, people talked to me on the phone in the ear. And then at the end of the conversation, I go, what was that about? Because it's a time my brain is actually switched off, so I've actually changed it so I don't speak to people in the hours that I know my brain is winding down for sleep. Yeah. I just won't answer the phone. See, and

Robert Riopel: 30:15

that's a subtle little change that pretty much everybody could do, and it won't dramatically impact your life in a bad way that the mind will try and tell them it is you'll. And, and when I'm traveling around the world, I can get off the stage after a long, long day. And one of my commitments between my wife and I is we still connect before I go to sleep, no matter the time zone difference. And no matter how tired I am, it might be a five minute conversation and we love using Facetime. Love technology, so that we can see each other. And even if we only have a five minute conversation, because we're truly there present with each other, we know that there's, that connection. It's not like, yeah, honey. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is what people think well, I connected with you. No you didn't. And one of the little, um, kind of subtle tricks, my wife and I have is if we're talking face to face live or over the phone, if we sense the other person drifting, although we simply have to say it's, we don't get upset. We just say, come back to me. And that's a signal to the other person that they were drifting. It's like, oh, hi. Okay. I see you. And

Magic Barclay: 31:33

That's such a simple tip there, Robert. That's fantastic. Could say that in-person to people, come back to me.

Robert Riopel: 31:40

Right. And, and, and take a look at the movie avatar. I see you. That's such a powerful statement of I'm present. I'm here right now. I truly am here instead of a thousand miles away in my mind.

Magic Barclay: 31:55

Love it, love it.

Robert Riopel: 31:58

So that's the third phase and then the fourth phase. I have to admit something here to you magic. I had to get creative because I couldn't find a word that started with an N for the acronym open. So I had to use the second letter as the N in a word. I hope that's okay. So the fourth phase is called the unclutter phase, the unclutter. And this is another way of saying this is, this is the chaos phase. Remember I said earlier, Chaos is natural. It's there to help us evolve. When you go into a chaos phase, this is the time to destroy something, to get rid of something, to let go of something that has not been serving you. So maybe there's a business or a personal relationship that hasn't been working in the unclutter phase. That's the time to let it go. Um, and what happens though, is people don't realize you can actually volunteer for chaos. If you don't want the chaos to be harsh and hitting you big time, you can actually for it. This is why I call it. The unclutter phase is you can volunteer by going to your refrigerator and clear it out. You could go to your refrigerator, clear it out, and now it's uncluttered. Or go to your closet and clean it out and either get rid of, or donate or sell the stuff in there that you're not using anymore. See, by uncluttering your life. Chaos doesn't have to come in as a harsh. And one of the greatest things that I've found that people can unclutter is those negative beliefs that aren't supporting them. And the easiest way to do that is proof is a cure of all doubt. So take it upon yourself when you're in that phase to prove that belief wrong. To show why that's, you know, well, I'm not good enough. Great. Why aren't you good enough? Well, I don't know. Okay. And I talked to myself all the time magic, just so you know, and it's no problem talking to yourself. I think the only issue is if I go to Facebook and I put a poll together to get two points of view and see what my friends say about how my mind is talking to me, that's when I go a little too far, I think. And that is my warped sense of humor as well. Just so you know, in case people, aren't sure that was a joke, I think. But, in the unclutter phase, you can, if you're sitting there and you're doubting yourself, you could actually go to your friends and say, Hey, um, I really want to attempt this, but I don't think I can. What do you think? I think I'm good enough, but I wanted to come to you. And let them tell you why you could do it. Let them be that cheering squad for you. When I mentor people as an example, cause I love training trainers. In the beginning, I only work with people who I know have an amazing message to get to the world. And so I'll tell them in the beginning, you're going to go through self doubt. So let me be your greatest cheerleader because I see something in you that you're not seeing in yourself right now. And when it comes to the unclutter phase, that's where having these growth minded people is important. And I love what my friend said, he said this. Instead of being willing to live life, Be willing to courageously allow life to live you and watch where your life can go.

Magic Barclay: 35:18

That's amazing. That is such a great aspect or viewpoint of living life. I love that. And the unclutter phase, yes. We'll let you start that one with N, that's fine.

Robert Riopel: 35:33

I was talking to a person a couple of weeks ago and he said, Robert, I love acronyms too. He said, you know, because you're destroying something, why don't you call it nuke phase? So I might consider changing.

Magic Barclay: 35:44

That was pretty cool as well. I actually had a situation last week where I felt really, really stuck. No momentum whatsoever. And I was just in the kitchen doing the dishes and I couldn't find something, you know, how we've all got that cupboard under the sink that you can never find what you need. So I ended up sitting on the floor, pulling everything out and actually only put half of it back. And it was stuff I truly did not need, like bits of junk that had overflowed from the junk drawer, which is next on the, on the agenda. But once I'd actually fix this cupboard, I just felt so clear. And I actually came back into my office, did another couple of hours worth of work because I'd cleaned out the kitchen cupboard. It was just the uncluttering. Once you start the process physically, it can really flow on mentally. And I love that.

Robert Riopel: 36:37

Because we are holistic. Exactly. One thing impacts the other and that's exactly it. And the key is that you gotta be willing to let go of something good, because a lot of people get attached. Yeah, but I might use it someday. Let go something good to get something great. Be willing to let go something great to get something absolutely phenomenal in your life.

Magic Barclay: 37:01

Very true. And in the times that we're living in at the moment, something good that you need to let go of, but isn't serving you, may be the savior for someone else. So really look around your community and go, do you know what, I have these kids' toys, all these clothes, all his bicycle or whatever, someone else really needs that right now.

Robert Riopel: 37:21

Yeah, absolutely. That's the key right there.

Magic Barclay: 37:26

Robert, we always talk weight loss here, and it really should be renamed weight release for better languaging for our minds. So have you ever battled your weight and if so, what was the trigger for you to actually achieve that?

Robert Riopel: 37:43

Oh my goodness. Up and down and up and down. Um, but the one that really comes to mind is when I did go through my two back surgeries.Uh, because I wasn't taking care of myself on stage, I was putting most of my weight on my right leg. And so I was twisting my hips and with all the flying I was doing, I herniated that disc. For two years, I thought it was a sciatic problem. So I started being less mobile. So I started putting on weight, which then made it worse, which aggravated when I stepped back, it came to that one time where my wife said enough, you know, cause I could, I bend to pick something up and it would drop me to my knees. And for a week I couldn't move. I'd crawl to the nearest bed or couch and it would take a week before my back would relax enough for me to stand up and walk again. And we were visiting family the one time it happened while I was on my hiatus and here after week, I still couldn't get out of bed and my wife went, we need to know what's going on. And we ended up finding out I had herniated a disc. And over the time of, you know, here in Canada, we have our free healthcare, which is awesome, but it means you wait forever and a day to get something done. And when, uh, we found out I had a herniated disc, they're like, well, it could take up to nine months to get this. And it's like, wow, cause now I'm three weeks in bed. I can't get out of bed for weeks in bed and I'm getting more mindset miserable. I'm getting, you know, I'm just getting miserable all over the place and I'm putting on weight. And, um, you know, as I went through it, I ended up gaining about an extra 50 pounds. So 20, 23 kilos. And when I made the decision that I was going to come out of retirement and I was going to train again, I knew I would not put my body through the same thing. So my first focus was I want to release those 23 kilos. More importantly, I want to strengthen my core because after two back surgeries, I made the commitment I would never go through that again. So I will do whatever it takes to take care of my health and my back. And so I was able to do that. I also made some adjustments on how much I was training to add more balance in my life. So I only went from doing 40 to 50 trainings a year to 20 trainings year maximum, no matter where in the world I'm used so that I can still take six months a year off and be at home and with family. And I like my comfort food. So I also had to set the mindset that it's okay. And not beat myself up over liking the comfort food. But am I committed to be able to do it? The, the workout in the fitness to be able to keep myself. Lean enough to enjoy the comfort food and make some, you know, little adjustments like eating the fresh vegetables, zucchini, creative ways to have it in a healthy way. So that's kind of what my journey has been over the last number of years.

Magic Barclay: 40:25

Fantastic. I could talk to you forever. This has been a great conversation. Thank you.

Robert Riopel: 40:32

Oh my pleasure. And look, I love staying connected. If you feel that you want me to come back and talk more to your audience, just ask. That's all you need to do. And I'd be more than happy. I love the energy and the vibe of what you teach people and how you express it across.

Magic Barclay: 40:45

Thank you. I definitely will have you come back for the podcast to talk to everyone. now let's talk about how people can find you. So you're on Facebook at the Robert Riopel. You're also on LinkedIn at Robert Riopel and on Instagram at RRRiopel.

Robert Riopel: 41:08

Correct. Yep.

Magic Barclay: 41:11

Fantastic. We love freebies here for our clients. What little gift can you give people?

Robert Riopel: 41:18

Uh, well, and you know, because you were so gracious to have me on your podcast Magic, and I honor your time. And even more than that, the time of your audience to take their valuable time to be with us and listen, what I am doing is I would love for them to be able to get my book success left a clue. My first international bestseller that I release a few years ago as our gift to them. And it's the full digital download. It's not just a couple of chapters and all they have to do is go to Robertriopel.com to get that. But I will say it does come with a caveat and the caveat is this. I didn't write this book for people to read, put on the shelf and make it shelf help. That's not why I wrote it. In this book, I cover six steps on how people can truly have life-changing habits and live the life of their dream. And I wrote it as a workbook because step number three in my book is take action. And out of all the traveling done around the world, the biggest difference I've noticed between success and non-success is successful people take action. So I've got these action steps all the way through the book. And I even have where you'll start reading a new chapter and it'll say, Hey, did you do the last action step? If not stop reading right now, go back and do it. And then continue reading because I do know people are creatures of habit, cause I guarantee if people read the book and do the action steps, they will find that their life, their mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and financial lives will get healthier.

Magic Barclay: 42:44

I love that. Now I know what I'm doing this weekend, so thank you.

Robert Riopel: 42:49

And you're going to do the action steps, right?

Magic Barclay: 42:50

Oh, of course I am. Now folks, this has been a fantastic chat with Robert. Again, I thank you for your time, Robert, thank you for sharing all of your amazing wisdoms with the listeners. I do encourage you to go and down load that book. Uh, check out Robert's social links there and really start investing your time and your effort into yourself. So we talked about investing is money, investing is energy, investing is time and investing is care. And if you don't care for yourself, nothing else is going to happen. So again, thank you so much. This was your episode, 72 of a magical life. Always live with passion. In episode 73, we have a listener question. How do I thrive in lockdown? And in episode 74, I will be talking to you about the P N E I of trauma and how to release generational trauma, social trauma, the whole gamut of, of what really could be holding you back with your health for now. Thank you so much, Robert and listeners go forth and create your magical life.