George P. Kansas joins Phil and me from his hotel room in Seattle. Yes, he stopped EVERYTHING he was doing to jump in a hangout with us when he could have been sojourning the Pacific Northwest with Greg Hartle whom, by the way, lied to George that this was his big TV moment. To George’s disappointment, all he won was a little robot dancing from me and a little twerking from Phil before we hit record. Hence the reason we kicked off the show with huge chuckles and things that made George go “hmmm.”
I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I continue to be blown away by the amazing guests we feature on our show. Today’s episode with George is no exception. Any guy who can mediate away cancer in less than five months is pretty effing amazing in my book. And that wasn’t even his shut up moment!
Share Some Shut Up Love –> We’re not perfect but we’re perfect. We’re not brave but we’re brave. – @gpkansas on @_theshutupshow #shutupshow (click to tweet)
Fun Facts:
- In 2005, George was diagnosed with rare Leukemia which had completely destroyed all of his bone marrow.
- George has run 4 full marathons, many more half-marathons, published 5 books, has spoken to hundreds of audiences from corporate events to retreats for survivors and caregivers across the country.
- George was an attorney in his former career.
- George is the Chief Enthusiasm Officer of Leadership Motivation, transforming leaders for the 21st century.
Defining Shut Up Moment:
The one I immediately thought of was when I first became aware that I had cancer. As obvious as that seems, that’s not really my shut up moment. When I found out I had cancer, it was the day before I was diagnosed and I thought this was my shut up moment. But the real one happened a year later. And I’ll be honest with you. It wasn’t until you made me point to this spot… I wouldn’t have called this my shut up moment, but it really is.
With medical treatment and about four hours a day of mediation and real focus on creating really powerful imagery about my healing, four and a half months after being diagnosed I was cancer free. I amazed myself and a lot of people around me. I thought it was way behind me, it was rock n’ roll. Because I had been teaching these principles before I got sick and a year later right around the time I was diagnosis, I started to get really anxious. I’m not a nervous guy.
So for the first time I went to a survivors support group. When I walked into that support group I was scared to death. I went around the room and listened to everyone.They were very ill and still wrestling with their disease and it brought me to tears. It was like I got hit by a truck all over again and that was my shut up moment. I was like I am healthy why am I nervous? Because I thought since I was healed I got it and I don’t have to be scared of forever. When I faced my mortality and realized that I’m a human being who went through this thing and yes I’m well and healthy. Thank God. And, yes, I can still get scared. My message for people isn’t I’m superman. My message is yes you can focus on your health and your spirituality, and yes you can heal from this.
Shut Up Tips:
My whole mission through my treatment was not to defeat or fight my dragons but to befriend them and tame them. My vision was to get those dragons off my back and on my shoulder so then they can walk with me. – George
I was really wrestling with big ideas. My threat of death. The work I had to do. I was raising my kids as a single dad. A part of me just wanted to celebrate the awe that I was still alive and just wanted to focus on that and pretend that the real emotional dragons weren’t still lurking in there. But I knew the magic is in those dragons. – George
To realize that I could reach out to other people who were dealing with this thing that I had dealt with… that didn’t make me any less of who I was. In fact, our willingness to do that frees us up to be way more of who we are. – George
That’s what we’re really meant to do here is step into that giant space way bigger than this little body of ours is supposed to contain. – George
Take that fear. Tell it to shut up and then move forward. – Phil
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. – Mark Twain
Make the outcome more important than the feeling. – George
Recognize that some of your fear comes from thinking you gotta do it on your own and knowing you can’t. Ask for the help. – George
When I reach out for those talents and bring them into my circle of influence and then combine them with my enthusiasm and my vision… BAM! With a little bit focus and a lot of juice, I just go. – George
Every fear can be traced back to one of three big fears. The fear of death. The fear of loss, respect and admiration. And, the fear of poverty. Once you recognize where fear comes from, that takes care of half of it. The rest of it is how you muster up the strength to act anyway. – George
Everybody needs a coach. – Phil
George Recommends:
Sign up here to get George’s popular eBook: Jumper Cables for the Soul in a Pinch – Stress Busting Meditations
Find George:
Visit George’s website: GPKLive.com
Tweet George: @GPKansas