In this episode, Bert Oliva talks about how he believes everyone has greatness in them, and how he helps people tap into that greatness and that true potential. He also shares how people who look like overnight successes actually did a lot of work before they got to where they are, and how getting started is the most difficult part.

Bert Oliva is sought after by companies all over the world for his passion, his knowledge and his infectious spirit. He is a Leadership Expert that has transformed lives and helped many to find their true potential.

I am super excited to have with me today, Bert Oliva.

Hi, everybody.

Welcome to the show. He is so delightful. This guy is testing the bounds of what it means to be superhuman. I am really, really excited to have him share some of the experiences with us. He has been, for decades, changing the world with regard to what’s possible and living courageously. One of his quotes is, “Live life. Don’t let life live you.” You know right off the bat he is our peeps. I am really excited to have him here. He travels all around the world just showing people what’s possible and teaching them that they’re capable of so much more than they think they are. He really does embody that with such a huge heart. His energy precedes everywhere he goes. Bert, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us.

Tonya, that was such a great introduction. Thank you so much. I am really happy to be part of the show. I am excited.

We are excited to have you here. We jump right in and we’re going to ask you. What are your superpowers?

True Potential: My superpowers are helping people find their true potential, because I believe greatness is inside of everyone.

I was waiting for that question because I had listened to some of your podcasts. When you go to Oprah and Oprah says, “Bert, how long have you been doing this?” I was waiting for that question.

My superpowers are helping people find their true potential, because I believe greatness is inside of everyone however society, your significant other and other situations and circumstances sometimes tell you that maybe you are not that powerful, you’re weak. Everyone has greatness. Everyone has superpowers. My power is to really help people to tap into their potential and create the lifestyle that they deserve to live.

You do that in some pretty unique ways. I don’t want to give away all your secrets, but I think it includes things like fire and glass. Let’s talk a little bit about these extreme things that you do with people to help bring that out of them.

Years ago, when I first started my career, I used to work at a company called Xerox. Xerox had the best sales training in the world. We went up to Leesburg, Virginia and that’s where the training was done. I was able to meet Brian Tracy, and Zig Ziglar. They turned you on to all these great speakers. I said, “One day, I am going to be able to do this.” However, I realized that at that moment, they were either Anglo whites or black Americans. There was no Latin speaker in the industry. I said, “This is perfect. This is a great opportunity.”

I started mentoring with a lot of them. I paved my way to go to their events. I paved my way to get to know them. Long story short, most of them became my friends. Most of them have shared the stage with me. One time it was a dream, it became a reality. When I started doing this, I started realizing, “A lot of people do breakthroughs and society has this condition that you have to have a breakdown before you can have a breakthrough.” The person became a drug addict. They lost everything. They were about to kill themselves, and then. Now, they become successful. Why? Because they had a breakdown.

What about if we have a breakthrough without having a breakdown? That would send a different signal to your subconscious mind and let you know how much superpower you have inside of you. We decided to do it. Jim Rohn also told me, “Look Bert, people like entertainment.” Zig Ziglar says, “People like knowledge.” I said, “If we put it together, it’s edutainment.” We have the most breakthroughs. We have people eat fire, walk on glass. I don’t do the fire walk because every time I do it, they associate me with Tony Robbins, which is not a bad thing. However, that is his thing. I actually put people on a bed of nails with a cinder block, and we get a sledgehammer and break the block on them. No one’s has ever gotten hurt.

Every breakthrough has a reason for the breakthrough. Once they do that, the audience participates, even people who don’t want to come up and do it, because I don’t choose. The person chooses to come on stage. The whole energy of the room, everyone actually works as a team to make this breakthrough happen. While we’re doing that, we’re also teaching why we’re doing that. For example, when we do the fire eating, we usually tell the person, “You want me to do it first?” They’ll say, “Yes.” I say, “Look, this is really important.” The reason being is because if you see someone else do it then obviously you know you can do it. There’s a method. Look for a mentor and look for someone that’s doing what you are doing. Right now, there’s someone out there saying, “I want to do a podcast one day.” Reach out to Tonya and say, “This is what I want to do. Can you teach me? Can you help me?”

Two things will happen. She will either say no, but what about if she says yes? That’s what I did. I talked to Les. I want to learn how to be great. This is before the old days. You’d be surprised how many people, when you really go up to them for real, not as a sales pitch, when you tell them, “I need your help. Can you help me?” At least, they’ll give you five minutes and those five minutes will change your life. The dumbest question is the one we don’t ask.

I think that’s so true because when you break it down, all of us who do this work, all of us who are transformation in some capacity, I’ve yet to meet somebody who truly didn’t at least start off wanting to do it for a good reason. They wanted to create change for themselves. They wanted to see that reflected in society. The majority of those folks in the personal development self-help arena, we’d love nothing more than to do what we do. It’s like, “Come talk to us. You want to make change? I got something for that.” We’re so happy just to have people want to listen. I think it’s a great, great point that you’re bringing up. The stories that we concoct around fear is always twenty times greater than what can actually occur. Playing that game with your mind, “What’s the worst that can happen?” They can say no. You’ve been told no before. You’re not going to die. But what if they don’t say no? I think that’s such a valuable point.

No is one step closer to yes. Les says, “Fear is false expectations appearing real.” Wayne Dyer says, “Once you choose to change the way that you look at things, the things you look at change.” Look at things differently. You’ll be surprised how much more potential power are there for you. The only problem is because you choose not to take action.

I talk a lot about what I call the abstract frequency. It’s really playing in that total creative space and taking responsibility for everything that exists in your existence. What I found in really moving into embodying that space was that everything you do there is almost completely counterintuitive to what you’ve been taught to do. It’s almost like you have to break all the rules again, just like when most people talk about breaking out the matrix or whatever, to do that.

You and I were talking earlier about watching The Secret for the first time. “Is it possible that things aren’t what I thought they were?” You had to really be willing to challenge rules and norms of reality that you thought were concrete. I see that happening again now for folks who did a lot of journeying in that capacity, but they get to that “What now?” place and realizing that the only way you did it before was you were willing to question everything that you once accepted is real. Doesn’t it stand to reason that you may have to turn around and do that again?

Let me tell you, I truly believe that everyone has greatness inside of them. In fact, I sometimes ask the audience, “How many of you ever had a mistake in your life? You’ve had made a mistake or have had a mess? How many of you ever had a mess in your life? Raise your hands.” They will raise their hands. “What about, have you ever been tested? You’ve had a test and you failed.” They will raise their hands. “Guess what? Mess is part of the message and test is part of the testimony.” You already have what you need to go in front of your audience and be able to deliver your message.

The thing is that most people compete with each other. They’re like, “Yes, but maybe Bert’s going to be on stage or Tonya is going to be on stage.” Don’t worry, it’s not about that. It’s about you. It‘s your moment. I tell people all the time, “Look, we’re living a movie and you’re the main character in the movie. If I was to watch your movie right now, will it be a good movie or a boring movie?” The next question is going to be, “What’s your final chapter going to look like?”

We used to talk about that all the time when I did surveillance for the government. We’d sit there. People think that surveillance is sexy and all kinds of other stuff. There are moments. For the most part, it’s about nine, ten, twenty hours of not exciting. We used to sit there thinking about that and be like, “If somebody were surveilling us, what would our life look like?” For the most part, most people are pretty consistent in what they do and it’s Groundhog Day every day. I love that you just said that. It totally reminded me of my former life doing surveillance.  

True Potential: If something is really bad or something really bad happens, with social media, you will find out. You don’t have to watch the news.

People can change, but are they willing to do what it takes? I ask, “Are you willing to do it?” “Yes, I am willing to wake up an extra hour.” Let’s say you work a 9 to 5. You want to get out of that 9 to 5 mindset. You have 6 to 2 in the morning. What are doing in those hours? Are you watching reruns? Are you watching the news? I tell people all the time, “CNN, constant negative news. If it’s not negative, it’s not news.” Why are you watching these things? If something is really bad or something really bad happens, with social media, you will find out. You don’t have to watch the news.

Use those hours to work on your craft. Use those hours to build what it is you want to build in your life and what you want to leave behind. The legacy you want to leave behind. You have enough time.  Everyone, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, myself, yourself, we all have 24 hours in the day. The question is not that you don’t have enough time, it’s what you’re doing with your time that makes a difference.

I used to fall victim to the whole concept of, “If somebody else is doing it, then why should I?” It finally got to the point where the only reason I could really think to do it, there’s all the good altruistic reasons like it’s good for the world, you’re helping people, all these things. But what really did it for me was because I want to. I want that experience of doing it. I want to crack the code. I want how it feels when I know that I’ve reached out to somebody and helped them.

When I was willing to sit in that, sometimes that’s all it takes. What do you want? What are you going to choose to use these moments for? I think that I love the whole, “What is your mission here? What is your purpose?” conversation at a certain stage of the game. But I’ve noticed that it really does paralyze people at other stages of their development. It can become a trap of thinking that, “If it’s not this big, huge, grandiose world changing thing that you’re doing, that there’s no point to it.” But sometimes the biggest impact are the baby steps. Just taking one little step and then what transpires because of that. Everything you’re talking about is absolutely in alignment with the idea of, you just have to move forward somewhere, somehow.

For example, look at the podcast. How long have you been doing this podcast?

Probably about fourteen months or so.

Let’s say, first month. First month you got one interview, maybe two. Second month, you’re maybe getting one or two. Now, you have a line-up of interviews. Now it becomes easy. What happens two years from now when it’s mainstream and everybody’s listening to you around the world? “She was lucky.” You weren’t lucky.

Overnight success.

Do something for you to know. This is me. People have this perceived value that, “It happened overnight.” When you go back, do your homework. I tell this to everyone. When you see anyone who’s been truly successful, and I’m not talking about illegally, I am talking about legal. People have really have worked their buns off to get to where they’re at. You think they’re overnight? Go do your homework. They suffered. The average person goes between seven to ten years before they make it and become an easy overnight success. That’s what people don’t realize. It doesn’t happen overnight.

Truthfully, I think that we have to take the hit for that because I believe we’ve built a whole industry around saying that it’s easy. I feel like it’s happening for two reasons. One, when you get there, it is the easiest thing in the world and sometimes we even forget everything we did to get there. “I just did this thing and look who appeared and it was magic.” But it’s like, look at how you’ve been setting that stage your entire existence. I do think people get amnesia a little bit.

The second thing is that nobody is going to buy it if we tell them it’s hard. Nobody wants to do that. Really ripping the veil off of that and saying, “Here’s the deal. It’s the easiest thing in the world to exist. However, there is challenge in getting rid of everything that’s not that.” People will say to me, “Why would I want to do this? All you ever talk about is the fact that I have to work at it.” I say, “Here’s the deal. I’m not going to set you up for failure and tell you that it’s always going to be easy. What I’m going to tell you is that it’s going to be worth it. If I can’t emulate anything else, then allow me to emulate that because that’s what’s going to get you through and you have to really be willing to face that.”

I would say the set-up is the hardest part, getting started. Because once you do what you love, you are not working. That’s not work. This is just something that you created and it took a little knowledge, maybe some brainstorming sessions with Justin and yourself and maybe saying, “What software are we going to use? How are we going to implement it?” That’s the hardest part. The next thing was, “How do I get people?” Then the third thing is, “Now, how do I control so many people?” Is it really work? Yes, of course. You can call it work. It’s going to bring eventually the amount of money you want and the lifestyle you want. It’s work, but it’s not really work when you love what you do. I can hear how much you love what it is you’re doing here.

You also. We’re definitely cut from the same cloth. Again, it’s easy and I think a lot of folks are disillusioned and so the first little hiccup that they get they’re like, “I must not be on the right track because this is not easy.” I love to bring up the story about the guy standing on this roof and the city’s flooding or whatever. He’s praying to God, “Come save me. Come save me.” Here comes the boat. The guy is like, “Jump in. I’ll help you.” He’s like, “No. God’s going to help me. God is going to save me.” Then here comes the helicopter and all these other things. Then the guy’s up at the Pearly Gates going, “What happened God? Why didn’t you save me?” He’s like, “I sent you a boat. I sent a helicopter. You’ve got to take some action. How can I help you if you are not helping yourself?”

I do think that part of it is the perseverance of even if it isn’t easy in that exact moment, still moving ahead and seeing what it looks like on the other side of that, because it’s very hard to see clearly in the midst of when we’re breaking down our own obstacles.

I agree with you. The thing is not only are we trying to break down our own obstacles, people that are around you are telling you, you can’t do it. You really hear a lot of those naysayers. But to me, that’s what you need because if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

The sandpapering helps you build that conviction because you do have to have a really solid foundation in and of yourself to walk that path and to be willing to stand up and hold true to what you believe. You’re holding potentially somebody’s hopes and dreams in your hands in a singular moment because of how they perceive of you. When you aren’t owning that, when you haven’t done enough of your own work, then you can cause some real damage in those moments. Being in awareness of that and being able to set your own fear and ego aside to sit with that person in their space is a real gift. I know a lot of people really, really want to be in that space and that’s why I think it’s worth the effort.

True Potential: Whatever you put in, you’re going to get out. It’s in the Bible, “You reap what you sow.”

It is. Whatever you put in, you’re going to get out. It’s in the Bible, “You reap what you sow.” What are you reaping? Are you reaping enough? Are you really putting out enough? Where do you want to be? For example, with you, Tonya, where do you want to be five years from now with this podcast?

I really want to bring to light the playfulness of the personal power conversation, as it relates to superpowers and challenge people to push the bounds of what they think is possible.

I believe it. When you said it, at first, I get the joking and everything is awesome, because that’s really the message you’re getting out there. I can see this happening. Every listener that’s listening to this podcast needs to be part of something great. If you love what she’s doing, the way you can help is to share it with the world. Let other people, and maybe not this one, maybe there’s another one that you like, a different podcast, share it. Let people know. We need to collaborate. We need to work together to make this world a better place. I want to change the lives of a hundred million people with positive life and I’m going to do that in this world. However, I’m not going to do it on my own. I’m going to do it teaming up with you guys. I am going to do it teaming up with Les. I am going to do it because it’s compound interest. You’ve got to spread it out. I tell people, “Go ahead and if you find something you like, share it with the world.” That’s the only way The Secret made it so big. It was shared with the world.

Something like this, with this good content that you’re going to hear today, not because of me being here because I went back and did my homework with my team. When we heard, I think it was four or five of them, we actually went through four or five different podcasts and we realized, “This is good stuff. I want to be associated with this.” That’s what’s important. Go out there and share. Don’t keep it to yourself. I know you want to be better. I’m not talking about you. I am talking about the audience. I know you want to be better. I know I am talking to you and you want to be better because if you learn all these stuff, then you’ll be great. But you’d be even better if you share it with the world. When you start sharing it, you start owning it. It’s part of that. The more you give, the more you will receive.

I I talk about concentric circles a lot. Once I got the framework down for SP, almost immediately I got hit with this knowing, “Go find everybody doing this stuff and figure out how you all can play together.” It’s bringing people together to play in an environment, but then also joining together all of the efforts of other people because superpowers doesn’t appeal to everybody. It’s got a wide bandwidth, but for the most part not everyone’s drawn to it. There are many, many, many other ways to create change in the world.

Bert, what you and your team are doing is phenomenal, regarding the outreach that you have and what you do with children in other countries. Folks, I told you, when I saw this guy has a heart of gold, it’s the truth. If you ever get a moment to sit down with him, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. The value really comes in, how do we find a way to exponentially increase the power in what both of us are doing and expand on that? The way you do that is be willing to show up. I’m touched beyond measure that you even bothered to listen to some of the podcasts. A lot of people come on they’re like, “What are we talking about?” I am like, “This is going to be painful.” It’s showing up 100% in everything that you do. If I could overlay you with an additional superpower, Bert, I would say that is what you do and that’s what you model for people.

Thank you. You’ve mentioned, “How do you do it?” Really easy. First of all, you show up. You show up. Whatever it is. If Tonya is doing an event in Chicago, don’t worry how you are going to get there. You just show up. If you believe in this person and their message and what they’re doing, you show up. Next thing is take action. You’ve got to take action. Then share it. Share it with the world. If you do those three steps, not only will you help her expand to get to her dream, but you will reap what you sow. By helping her achieve her dream, your dreams will become a reality. That I can guarantee you. That’s the way I’ve done it. That’s why we work together with so many types of people all over the world.

There’s a young lady, Dionne Chamberlain that worked in Belize. When we went over there in Belize, I was there on my honeymoon. I had finished doing an event on a different part of the island. When they knew that I was there and they were like, “Bert, it’s awesome to have you here. Can you speak to a couple of children?” I looked at my wife, I said, “This is our honeymoon, but this is what we love to do.” She says, “Okay. Let’s go.” We got a couple of children to being 5,000 children in two days span. There goes my honeymoon, right?

Long story short, we connected. We built strength. She said to me, “I want to be able to talk to 10,000 people.” She had just started her speaking career. By the time we’re done, she helped me talk to over 50,000 children in Belize. That was five times the goal that she wanted, 10,000. She spoke to 50,000 people. Now, when you go to Belize, you look her up, Dr. Dionne Chamberlain. She’s actually the one running all of the motivational and seminars up in Belize.

How does this work? You’ve got to really go and do it the old-fashioned way. One hand helps the other. The person you are helping is either at the same level or above you. Don’t try to grab somebody from beneath you because if you’re not strong enough and you are not standing strong, they’re going to bring you down. You can bring up those people, but make sure you’re strong enough to bring them up. You’ll keep going with that process. I know we’re going to work together. I know Justin and us, we are going to do work together. I know it. How? I don’t know. It’s none of my concern. Les Brown told me that, “The how is none of your business.”

It really does pay off in dividends when you get to that space. It’s just so fun to listen to you talk. I’m very excited about the potential ahead of us. Let’s go ahead and wrap up. If you’re up to it, I’d love to have you back on the show. Maybe we can pick a topic and mold it around a little bit from our different perspectives. I love to show people an example of what it looks like when two thought leaders, who don’t use the same words and don’t operate in the same paradigms, come together and can dialogue about something. Would you be up for that?

Whenever you have an idea you want to work with, you let me know. If we are available, you can count on us 100%.

I believe that, Bert. That means the world to us. Real quick before we go, I want to let people know where they can find out more about you. Where would you like to send them?

Very simple. You look up the name Bert Oliva. Once you look up that on Google, I am all over Google. We have different websites, but if you go to BertOliva.com, once you look at my website, you will be able to link to all social media and connect with me with your favorite social media.

I know you all are going to want to pay attention to what he’s doing next. He moves fast. You’ve got to keep up with this guy. We’ll do our best to rein him in whenever we can. Follow him. Reach out to him. See what he is up to. They’ve got a lot of really neat projects. We’ll make sure that we stay entwined. Take the effort too.

When you reach out to me, tell me where it is that you heard me. Tell me that because of Tonya, you went ahead and connected with me. It’s important to let people know. That automatically will bring you closer to me because now I’m like, “You actually listened to our podcast.” I will ask a question, I’ll say, “Which one did you like, because I listened to most of them?” That’s how you build relationships. Don’t just go to my site and click subscribe to Facebook, Instagram, or whatever. Don’t do that. Just go ahead and contact me. Once you’ve subscribed, let me know how you found me. I can come back to Tonya and say, “Six people, ten people, 500 people came to me because of you.” That makes her feel better and making her feel better, only better content and energy will come out of that.

It’s very cyclic. Bert, it’s always a pleasure. We love what you all are doing. It’s just nice to know that you’re out there doing your part in the world as well. I look forward to all of the many ways that we’re going to be able to collaborate.

Thank you so much.

Absolutely. To all of you out there, as always, we appreciate your loyalty. Until next time, go out, uncover your superpowers and change the world. Take care everyone.