Hello, everyone. This is Tonya Dawn Recla, your Super Power Expert. And I am pretty ecstatic today about this conversation. I think you’re going to be excited about it. Actually, I know you’re going to be excited. More importantly, you’re going to get a lot of, excuse me, a lot of froggy throats and coughing. You’re going to get a lot of wealth of information out of this around the transformational world, right? So many of you are starting to step into this whatever space from the real world. The more linear, conservative, industry standard kind of conservative-esque structured existence. And you’re looking into this transformational space because something happened. You had a near death experience, God talked to you, angels appeared, or you’ve just all of a sudden woke up and realized maybe there’s more than this. And you’re looking at it going, “What is going on here? It’s kind of crazy.”
And then some of you have been camping out in this space forever, or at least for a while. And you’re like, “What? No, it’s cool. Come on.” It’s weird, because we just accept that it’s kind of weird, and we don’t think about it anymore. And how do we have a conversation about what it is? What are we in pursuit of? Why are we in pursuit of it? Is it even worthy to pursue? And all of that yumminess that goes into that dialogue.
So today we’re talking about the nuts and bolts of transformation. Let’s say that word again. The nuts and bolts of transformation. And we have Dr. Tony Ortega on with us, author of #Are you here yet? How to STFU and Show up for Yourself. So this is going to be a rather colorful conversation. And real and in there and raw and deep, because that is the work, folks. So sit down, strap in, hold on tight, because this is going to be a fun ride.
Please, please join me in welcoming Tony to the show. Welcome, Tony. How are you?
I am doing fabulous. How are you, dear?
I am so excited about this conversation, and I’m going to tell you why really quickly. Because of course, all this stuff that I just got done saying, but also, this is the reason for. It’s the essence of the entire existence of the network and why it’s been such an amazing success, because it harnesses this. You do similar work to what we do. Your stories are very different from mine. Your vernacular is different than mine. Your doorways are different. And we get to come together in this conversation and say, “Wow, let me shine my light on your brilliance and illuminate that.” And say, “This is the beautiful exchange that we get to have here. This is what we’re invited into, if we choose to do the really hard work in persevering through that.”
And that includes not abdicating, which I know you’re a staunch supporter of that, as well. And so that’s what really excites me about it. But before we dive too deeply into that, I have to ask. I don’t have to ask; I absolutely want to ask and am choosing to ask. What are your superpowers?
You know, being a comic book fan since I can remember reading, I can tell you what I’d love my superpowers to be. But it’s funny, because … And you even said the word just a little bit ago. If I were to pinpoint one superpower, is perseverance. I don’t know if it’s because I’m Latino. I don’t know because I’m 52. I don’t know because I had amazing parents, but I just refuse to give up. I have had the crap hit the fan quite a few times in 52 years, and while I may have laid down for a little bit, I was like, “Nope, nope.” There’s just something in me that refuses to lie down and just accept mediocre.
I love that. You know, when I’m in a particularly pondering kind of state of mind, that is one of the spaces I go to. I remember reading a book called Grit, and they were talking about how … It was one of the military academies that was having difficulty because they get assessed for a lot of things, but they couldn’t assess resilience and grit. And brought this woman and her team in to kind of see if you could come up with some mechanism to predict how people are going to respond when they’re thrown in the fire. And in this work, in this transformational world, that question comes to me a lot, because inevitably, people say, “Well, why you? How did you do this?”
I’m like, “I actually don’t know.” I just know that just like what you gave voice to, that was my experience, also. It didn’t feel like necessarily a choice to me, although I take full ownership of stepping into it. But it was almost a foregone conclusion for me. But that’s not true for everybody, and so I haven’t really come to a good conclusion. Have you? Do you have my answer?
I don’t know if I have an answer. I have my answer. I know that I’ve had windows of time in my life where literally the angels are singing. The clouds are open. Channing Tatum is naked in my bedroom. Everything is wonderful.
Perfect!
I’ve had those bursts. I’ve had those moments. And it’s not that I’m chasing the feeling of that moment. I know that when I feel like crap, a lot of it is self-created. Yes, there are external factors that will trigger these negative feelings, but I’m the one taking these negative feelings and running with it. I compare the two. Of these moments I feel great about myself, because the majority of my life, I felt like crap about myself, to where I’m at today. And it’s like, “I’m tired of feeling bad.”
I shared with you … Before the show this morning, I got myself into this rut of literally saying, “Is it worth it? All this hard work I’m putting in, is it worth it?” And literally, one of my dear friends had to say, “What’s the title of your book?” And I was like, “Are you telling me I have to STFU to show up for myself?” He’s like, “Yeah.” And I giggled because that’s the answer. I needed to shut up, stop complaining, and show up for myself and bring myself back to the space where I won’t give up. I won’t lie in that puddle of depression and sadness and really self-absorption.
So, so, so true, and I love that you framed it up in that way. We’re going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we’re going to dive into that and help those individuals who are sitting in that exact space right there. But Tony, before we go to break, where can people go to find out more about you?
My website is drtonyortega.com.Â
Perfect, awesome. Folks, we will be right back. We’re talking today with Dr. Tony Ortega about the nuts and bolts of transformation. Stay with us. You’re not going to want to miss this, folks. We’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
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