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Speech Transcript

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L. Scott Ferguson: [00:00:00] Time to shine today, podcast, varsity squad. It is Scott Ferguson. And I just recorded with my good friend, PJ wisdom. And he would probably laugh at me about saying this, but it’s like, I’m kind of like teared up a little bit just because I left this podcast. Very emotional with that. I mean, PJ he has a disability, he has MD.

It’s no use of anything except really his mouth. , and just what he does and rocking stages and the people that he’s put himself in front of makes me say, dude, what is wrong with me ever having a day that is not, , up to up to par and leveled up and the knowledge nuggets. He’s going to drop on here are going to change your mind on anything and everything that you might be fearing that you are struggling with challenges that you have.

PJ is the epitome of funny. He’s the epitome of winning. He is the epitome of caring, serving, any, [00:01:00] anything that you can think of that has to do with good PJ is the epitome of, so I’m going to shut up. But I’m going to tell you this, share this with somebody that’s having a bad day. Share this with.

Somebody that needs to hear from somebody that goes through absolute hell every day just to live on this earth, okay? If you like it, please smash the like button and the subscribe button again sponsors and affiliates love that stuff So without further ado, here’s my really good friend pj dixon from pj’s wisdom.

Let’s level up

Time to shine today. Podcast varsity squad. This is Scott Ferguson. And I have to first give a really quick shout out to my good friend, Luke DePron, who thought deep down that I would be a great connection for my guests that I’m bringing on Mr. PJ Dixon and he was absolutely right. So DePron, thank you so much for this.

It was just me and PJ had like an hour long conversation about a month ago we just kind of wrapped and just feels like a brother from another mother for, so first of all, thank you, Luke. [00:02:00] And. I’m super stoked to bring on my guy, PJ Dixon. He’s an international speaker and resiliency expert. He has delivered more than 4, 000 presentations in his lifetime.

It’s considered one of the world’s leading authorities on overcoming obstacles. At 19, he was the youngest person to be inducted into the national hall of fame for people with disabilities and has been seen and, or worked with People in more than 35 countries, despite PJ’s disability, he has lived a better life than most able bodied people.

And ain’t that the truth. And PJ, thank you so much for coming on. Please introduce yourself to the time to shine today, podcast varsity squad. But first what’s your favorite color and why

P.J. Dixon: my favorite color? I struggle with giving you one, but I’ll start with one bright yellow because it’s bright. It’s vibrant.

It’s energetic. It’s enthusiastic. Yeah. But it can also add into that bright orange. And believe it or not, hot pink fuchsia is a gorgeous color. Dude, I rock hot pink all the time. It’s in my color also. I know you do . I love it, brother. I used to have a hot pink [00:03:00] wheelchair . Did you really? Yeah. I actually had two of ’em in the past.

That’s

L. Scott Ferguson: legit, dude. That’s sweet. Yeah. So let’s get to the, , kind of the roots of stuff here. I mean, your disability. we’ve kind of kind of dig you might have went through with it, kind of pulled o helping people really leve you’re rocking that stage

P.J. Dixon: listen I’m not, I’m n I didn’t really go through the dark times with my disability a little bit maybe on occasion, , where you sort of like dip a little teenage depression, , but not, and I mean, nothing, nothing really to speak up, but my disability is a very rare form when I was it’s a form of muscular dystrophy.

And when I was in the eighth grade, there were 25 people in the world that had what I have. And I say had what I have because I was only expected to live until seven. I was only expected to live until seven. I turned 55 this year. So I figure one in two things. Either I’ve got something good to do, or God’s pissed and I have to work off my karma.[00:04:00]

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s awesome, dude. But you’re, so you turned 55 this year. I did. So I’ve lived

P.J. Dixon: 47, 48 years longer than I was expected to at this point. And, and my intention is to be 150, man. Like I want to live as long as I possibly can. I want to live at least another a hundred years. And truthfully, like I would live as long as I was, as long as I was able, because I love life.

There’s so many things to see, taste, smell, experience, so many people to talk to, so many conversations to have, so much depth to go in terms of meditation and enlightenment. Like, why would I want to leave? Like, I really am in this place where when I die, I want to be like, God, this was amazing. When can I go back?

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. That’s true, man. And people like we need you here, , because a lot of people I’d love to say here that you really didn’t feel sorry for yourself. And again, we all go through our dark times, but if you could have really leaned into it and had everybody kind of wait and hand and foot [00:05:00] on you and stuff like that.

But what was the click that it was like, listen, I’m not going to like, I’ll accept help because we all want to be reciprocated to, but like to say, Hey, I’m not going to rely on that. What was that PJ?

P.J. Dixon: Yeah, listen, man, my mom used to say to me all the time when I was little, it’s okay to ask for help. And I would say, I can do it myself, mommy.

Right. So maybe it was something that I was ingrained with, but it was also I think partially the way I was raised. I remember when I was little, like nine, 10 years old, I would yell to my mom. I put on my little leg braces. I’d put on my little sock, my little chonies, pull up my little pants, my little shirt.

And I said, little, I don’t, I mean, everything I wear is still pretty little. I’m a small dude, right? Like four feet tall in my wheelchair. But I remember I would yell, okay, mom, I’m ready for you to come help me get buttoned and zipped and she would yell back, okay, I’m busy. You keep trying. And I would say, okay.

And so I would, I would like tuck my shirt into my [00:06:00] underwear. Cause that’s what you do in the night when you’re nine years old. Sorry to say ninth grade, when you’re like nine years old, I try to, I’d be laying on the floor, like, like just trying to get the right leverage to tuck my shirt in and my mom put these little rings on my zipper so I could slide my finger in and.

Oh, that’s cool. And pull up on the zipper and yeah, this is way back in the day when you didn’t button your pants, you snapped your pants, snapped ’em. Yeah. So I push, , really hard and I push so hard. I get like a little red divot in my thumb the whole time I’m struggling and fighting and sweating and r rolling around the floor trying to get the right the right angle and leverage right to be able to get everything done.

Meanwhile, my mom was sitting in her bedroom. Crying because she wanted to come and help, but nine years old, I’d already lived two years longer than I was expected to live because of that. My mom was like, if this kid’s going to live, like I want him to have the best possible life. So instead of praising me so much for doing a good job, I got praised for trying and not just me, but my sister too, right.

We would say, but I can’t do it. My mom would say, can’t doesn’t live here. [00:07:00] It never did a thing. Keep trying. I know you can do it. Keep trying. And this was long before this study came out that said, if you praise your children for for trying versus praising your children for doing a good job, this was a 20 year study that the children that grew up into adults that were praised for trying were far happier and far more successful than the kids that were praised for doing a good job.

Wow.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s amazing. And that

P.J. Dixon: is because. Yeah. But part of that, it’s, it’s also pretty obvious because if I’m praised for doing a good job and I’ve never done something before I go in my psychology, my psychology goes, what if I don’t know how to do it, then I’m not going to get that praise. So maybe I shouldn’t even try.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. Whereas a

P.J. Dixon: person who’s praised for trying, that’s

L. Scott Ferguson: amazing.

P.J. Dixon: Right. Does your mom know

L. Scott Ferguson: this psychology or like, well,

P.J. Dixon: my mom became an art therapist later in my life. She was an art therapist for 28 years. Sure. But I think she just was. She just was a good mom, man. That’s awesome, man. , and here, let me tell you another, [00:08:00] like, I have several stories about me almost almost dying.

So the psychology, one of the first, one of the first ones is in December of 2000, 2001. I. Like the physical strength that I had at that time, I can lift my arms shoulder height, I can hold a bar of soap, like dove soap. , there’s big, heavy bars of soap. I can hold a bar of soap in one hand, switch it to the other hand, lift up my arm, watch my armpit.

, like I had that kind of physical strength. I could still crawl. I don’t know if I could get into my wheelchair still at that point. I think I could still climb up into my wheelchair from the floor. Right. And then I woke up one morning and my hands were gone and my shoulders were gone. And by gone, I mean, they just didn’t work anymore.

Like I couldn’t close my fingers. I couldn’t lift my arms and I had to pee. Right. So I had to find a way to get up on the side of the up on the side of the tub to get down to the toilet. So I could go to the bathroom, , and with my floppy dangly [00:09:00] arms. Like I had to find a way to survive. And for about three months, I was super sad.

I was scared. I was going to die. And I remember saying to people that I worked with, I don’t want to die. I’m not ready to die. I’m like, I’m a mid thirties. I’m not ready to die yet, but I still have so much life to go, you know? And so there’s like that dip. Right of sadness, but then at some point you hit your new normal and you just come right back up and I, I when I got sick in 2019 and lost 85 percent of the strength that I had left and about 50 percent of my lung capacity, my friends came to see me, some old college buddies came to see me and they said, dude, like, how is it that you’re still so upbeat?

And I said, I have two choices. I can be sad and scared and negative and angry, or I can be upbeat and positive. Feeling bad, feels bad, feeling good, feels good. And if it’s choice, I choose to feel good.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. And so [00:10:00] like I moved, dude, I’m sorry. It’s just like, awesome. So it’s like, usually I have questions ready to fire what now, but like.

Is it kind of like an almost a new normal kind of coming out daily for you with some of your motor functions kind of Like you’re losing them. Is it like it like again like you’re a true winner because winners make adjustments, right? Mediocre people or if you want me to be harsh losers make excuses.

Okay, you didn’t make them Your mom didn’t allow you to make them Okay, which is bless her heart. Thank you, , and also you mentioned your sister is your sister with md also or No

P.J. Dixon: but I laugh because My brother mentality wants to say that , it’s special. Yeah, right but no, she’s she’s actually perfectly normal In fact, she’s a special ed teacher or was a special ed teacher and now she’s actually a teacher Like a teaching coach, but no, she’s perfectly normal.

Very, very smart older sister, PJ, a younger five years [00:11:00] younger. Okay. Wow.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s cool. You’re a big brother. She stepped up also when she could as well. I’m sure when he did, man, like

P.J. Dixon: I remember like she was sort of my living Walker when I was walking in leg braces at like , eight years old. And at nine years old, I threw away my leg braces.

But at eight years old to go down the driveway, I had hold on to her shoulders. That meant she was like three or four. You know what I mean? And I would lean on her shoulders and use her as a walker. I mean, I feel terrible about it now, especially because I know that it hurt, , but I mean, she stepped up and helped me out, , but she also used to tie me up with a jump rope and drag me around the house.

So I’d be like, come on, bro. Yeah. So, this, , there’s no love lost between Can’t have that.

L. Scott Ferguson: Can’t have it with your sibs, man. , I mean, I beat up my little brother who’s way bigger than me now, as much as I can, you

P.J. Dixon: know? Right. So let me know if you need me to help you take him out.

L. Scott Ferguson: Let’s go. Yeah, let’s go. And I’m not small. I’m six, one, two 30. I’m not a [00:12:00] small guy. My little brother is way bigger. So, , it’s kind of crazy. So like, how much do you have to rely on people to get by in life?

P.J. Dixon: Yeah, man. Yeah. I have somebody that helps me out for about an hour and a half, an hour and a half to two hours in the morning, they help me get showered, they help me get dressed, they help me get my wheelchair, they make some food, put it in the refrigerator for me so I can take it out and microwave it later.

And then I have somebody come by in the evening for about a half an hour, help me go to the bathroom, change clothes. And that’s about it. I don’t drive. So I either have to take public transportation. Yes, I do ride the short bus. But no, I’m not a window licker. No window licking, huh? So hopefully that’s not offensive to anybody, but listen, there might be people I can You’re living it,

L. Scott Ferguson: man.

Right, for sure. There are things you can say that we can’t, which I’m fine with, brother. I’m fine with that, PJ. What I’m saying?

P.J. Dixon: Yeah, yeah. So as far as my own independence, I’m I still do everything that I possibly can on my own. Okay. But I can’t get dressed in undressed anymore. I can’t get in and outta my shower [00:13:00] anymore.

I can’t get on the toilet myself anymore. I can get off, but it’s not a pretty landing, . Sure, sure. Face plant. So I don’t do that very well anymore, but I can still get outta my own wheelchair myself. , when I first got sick in 2019, I couldn’t even roll over. I just didn’t have the strength.

I didn’t know, I didn’t know. How to even drink out of a straw anymore. I didn’t know how to get into my bed from the floor because I don’t have a bed frame because then I can’t get to the floor very well and I can’t get from the floor into my bed. So I right now just have a futon that sleeps on the floor.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

P.J. Dixon: Because it’s just physically convenient for me and I have to solve for what’s physically convenient for me so I could live at the highest possible level. And so I was so weak that I couldn’t. I couldn’t have a blanket on me because I couldn’t roll over. And if I did get rolled over, I couldn’t unroll, you know?

And so there was several months where I just, I didn’t have, , I didn’t have anything to sleep under. And then [00:14:00] my friend came to visit and he was like, well, why don’t we put a towel on you? And I was like, Oh, I guess we could do that. You know? And then I got to the point where I could use a sheet and now I can use a blanket again.

But, , I’m still like when I when I have a particular normal new normal, then I get sick. I lose about, let’s say, I don’t know, I’d go down to 80%. So I lose about 20%. And when I come back up, I come back to about 10 of about 10%. Okay, I lose about 10%. But when I got sick in 90 and 2019, and I lost all of the strength, hardly any of it’s come back, maybe 15%.

So I’m, I’m significantly less sick. Strong than I used to be. But listen man, I like, I don’t care. I do care. Like I want that strength back. If I could go back to the strength that I was three years ago, oh, I’ve taken a heartbeat. If I could go back to the strength I was in co. The strength I had in college, I would take it in a heartbeat.

But at the same time, I can either like be sad about that. Yeah. And focus on [00:15:00] all that is. Oh god, I wish I had all of this stuff or I could say I don’t care about that I care about where I am right now and how I can get to where I want to go in the future

,

I still I want to jump out of planes again.

I want to do indoor skydiving again I want to do aqua jetpacking again. I want to go snow skiing. Hell. Yeah, man No, like all of this stuff is important to me. I used to play wheelchair sports. I’d still teach martial arts They still train martial arts I’m training cops right now and we’re expanding.

We’re doing what we can to expand that business. As much as we can across the country. Because, , this is, cops don’t have the training that they need to deal with physically disabled subjects. They are suspects. And so, I’m doing that and we’re looking at blowing that thing up nationwide, man.

We’re trying to make it so that it’s a mandated training in every state. Like, I don’t have time to be weak. I don’t want to be weak. I want to live my life. As long as there’s a breath in my body, I want to live. Like, I’m like, everything is on fire, not in a bad, scary way, but on fire, like, wow, this is [00:16:00] so fun.

Let’s get going. Yeah. No, I want to be alive. And I want every person. I genuinely believe I was born to inspire people to come alive and actually do what they want to do. Because I don’t think that. I believe that if people really, truly living the way they want to live, really looking inside and saying, well, I really want to be doing this and it doesn’t have to be a career, it could be sailing.

It could be painting. It could be hiking. It could be traveling around the world. It could be starting in building companies. I don’t care what it is, anything that really sings to their soul. When people are living in that authentic, integrous way. Then what happens is suffering, struggling, fighting goes away.

There’s no need for war. There’s no need for anger. If I have, if I’m living the way I want to live, I’m filled with enough that I can be naturally generous. Right. So, how let me say this last thing. Yeah. And I love Tony Robbins and I love Dean Graciosi and I love Simon [00:17:00] Sinek, but all three of those guys talk about, you got to find your why, right.

And I’m sure your audience has heard that all the time. Find your why you got to find your why the problem, buddy. Is that people don’t find their why you either have it or you don’t have it, right? Like if you’re a dad or if you’re a parent, you’re a mom you’re driving across a bridge Your car goes out of control you go over the edge of the bridge and your car goes into the end of the drink Right.

And you, you will do everything you can to get your child out of that car. Absolutely. At the expense of dying yourself. Why? Because that love is absolutely unquestionable inside you. You don’t have to find that why that why exists. And so for me, what I say for people, it’s not about finding your why it’s about letting go.

Life is not about having the courage or the endurance to push on when things get difficult. Life is about finding And letting go letting go of and releasing everything, making it difficult. Because the moment I start to let go, this is where I go different than Simon and Tony and Dean. They say, find your [00:18:00] greatest why.

And I said, hold on. Don’t look through your greatest. Why? Let’s pull that anchor up. Let’s let go of what’s holding you back. Let’s like, let go of what’s pulling you under. Let’s let go. Because the moment you let go all of a sudden. Like you can breathe again, like your wings spread, the room opens up, there’s expanse, there’s opportunity for growth, right?

But find that why means I’m dragging all that crap with me. Don’t do that. Let all that crap.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love it. You said that. I agree with you. And most of that, absolutely. , cause I’m like, people ask, what’s my purpose? What’s my why? And I’m like, to be useful. That’s that’s it man, , and what’s my definition of success is living a life of options and not obligations, right?

It’s like I I dumb it down. I simplify it because I want to live , a laptop lifestyle, , and, and I’ve earned it because, , I put the reps in, , a lot of people will say, Oh, that’s impossible. I’m like, it’s possible. And people look at [00:19:00] you, it’s freaking possible, bro. You know what I’m saying?

So PJ, what scares you?

P.J. Dixon: Snakes and alligators. Sure. Me too, bro. And so. You can’t run from him,

L. Scott Ferguson: dude.

P.J. Dixon: When I was a kid, I used to be attacked by by alligators in my dreams. They bite my leg off. Right. And the thing about snakes is I can’t, I can’t put a snake down. Right. You don’t hold a snake. A snake holds you.

Right. You know what I mean? Right now with my arms, my hands being the way they are, , so. I joke about that. And it’s a little, it’s a little tongue in cheek, but it’s also true. What scares me is not being able to breathe on my own. What scares me is not having the power to have control over my life.

What scares me is being stuck on my back and I don’t have any way to sit up because I feel completely powerless. , something that, that everybody else takes for granted. And you wake up in the morning, rub your sleepy eyes.

L. Scott Ferguson: You have [00:20:00] an itch to scratch, just some stupid shit like that, man, ,

P.J. Dixon: that doesn’t scare me, but what scares me is not having the ability to control my life.

Right. To be in control physically of my life. Like, I can’t, I can’t go up and down steps.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

P.J. Dixon: And, Well, that’s not that big of a deal because I’ve got great friends that’ll take me up and down steps and elevators.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

P.J. Dixon: Right. Got

L. Scott Ferguson: one here,

P.J. Dixon: man. A

L. Scott Ferguson: hundred percent, dude.

P.J. Dixon: You know what I’m saying? The idea, the idea that I’m not able to breathe independently is scary.

The idea that that I’m not going to be in control or have the physical strength to make the bodily decisions that allow me to live or to live the way I want to. Or escape the things that I don’t want. Right. Right. That’s scary. Like not having physical control. Like it’s terrifying to me when I think of people that might [00:21:00] be in a semi conscious coma, right.

Where they know they can hear, maybe they can even see because they’re catatonic, , but if they can’t, they can’t speak, they can’t move their body. Man, like that’s I’m not gonna lie. That’s that’s

L. Scott Ferguson: scary shit pj. I mean, I I you’re , well I put myself through Hell every morning. Yeah. , I have, I I I, I put myself through it and I’m, and like I meet people like you, I’ve bet a couple other people that are disabled, and then, and you guys just inspire me and, and I know that you, I know that, , that you do, what I’m saying?

And, and it, it gets, gets me, , again, I torture myself for a good, , 45 to 48 minutes every morning with cold plunges and, , just pushing my body to the brink just because at 52 I wanna. , I want to live to 150 with you, brother. You know what I’m saying? Absolutely. So, , that’s, that’s about 52 million minutes, right?

P.J. Dixon: Yeah. Going back to going back to the the cold plunges and [00:22:00] putting yourself through hell. I was looking at the wrong camera. Going, doing the cold plunges and putting yourself through hell for 45 minutes every day. Like, this is one way that people can actually improve their life by setting challenges up for themselves.

100%. When people have anxiety or panic attacks, that comes because they don’t feel empowered. Sure. Right? Anxiety and panic comes because I feel disempowered. I feel like something else is in control of my life. And so if instead you can set up these little mini challenges every day or massive challenges, like, like whether it’s cold plunge or I’m doing heavy lifting to create additional bone density and strength in your bones.

Right. If it’s running, if it’s, you’re afraid to swim. But every day you get in that pool, what is that doing? That’s giving you power over the thing that scares you. And then that way there won’t be paralysis within the fear. You’ll still be able to take action despite the fear. [00:23:00] That’s one of the most important things.

Remember when you said, what, what scares you basically comes down to paralysis, right? The inability to function or to move. I heard a story just recently of this lady who’s, I don’t know, 85 years old and she’s just not strong enough to move her body at all anymore, bro. Like I have hardly any muscle whatsoever.

That is terrifying because I want to be able to move. Like I want to stand, I want to rock climb.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. If,

P.J. Dixon: if you gave me my ability right now to be able to be perfectly normal, first thing I would do is rock climb, ? Yeah. Why? Because I want to test those muscles. Yeah. I wanted, I want to challenge the fear of the height.

, I want to make sure that I’m like. Can I cling to that wall? Can I overcome the obstacle? I want to climb to the you want to

L. Scott Ferguson: scare the shit out of yourself on something you can actually control Like right now you can’t control what you’re afraid of. You know what I’m saying? And i’m not saying to control everything But you would love to know that feeling and the [00:24:00] people that have the ability like myself And they don’t I feel that they’re sinning and i’m not saying in a religious connotation.

Okay sending the root word of Sinning is the mark. Yes is to miss the mark and people miss the mark, On a daily and I hope that people out there are listening to this and saying listen man. You’re like this guy fears The, the worst fear, , and we, a lot of people get up and fear, Oh man, I have a headache or I’m hurting, bro.

I’m sorry. I’m not saying, Oh, look at PJ. He’s this. And we need, no, dude, I’m just like, bro, build off of that. , because we, when you have the ability to do something, get the brick out there and do it, man. Yeah,

P.J. Dixon: but don’t, but don’t do it because like you’re afraid. Right? Because then you’re feeding the fear.

Do it because you want to be free. Yes. There’s a slight difference, but there’s a profound difference. No, I want to be free. So focus on the freedom. Don’t focus on the fear. Yes. Right. The fear is going to pop up. You’re going to hear it. You’re going to [00:25:00] recognize it. You’re going to smell it. You’re going to see it.

Right. But you don’t have to give it attention.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. You

P.J. Dixon: just keep going. Like, no, that is my mission. That is my goal. That is where I’m going. I don’t care about all this other stuff. That’s where I’m going. Oh, but what about this? Yep. Yep. Yep. I see that. That’s where I’m going.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. Yeah. So PJ, you’ve seen the movie back to the future, right?

Of course. All right. Let’s do that. This is

P.J. Dixon: one of your favorites.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, this is, this is it, man. I have to ask this question. Let’s go back to the double deuce, , getting that DeLorean with Marty McFly. Let’s go back to the double deuce, right? PJ, what kind of knowledge nuggets might you drop on him?

Cause you had so much unknowns fricking ahead of you, bro. You know what I’m saying? Us, we can be predictable, , like what kind of knowledge nuggets would you drop on him? Not so much to change anything. But to really help them shorten the learning curve and get to maybe some of that PJ wisdom that you have now, maybe when he was younger,

P.J. Dixon: two things a Ask more questions, right?

Don’t and and this is part b which [00:26:00] really could be arguably part a which is don’t be concerned about what other people think if you don’t know something ask and the reason I say this is because , I didn’t, I’ve been speaking since I was seven years old. I’ve been on stages since I was seven years old, but nobody took me to the side and said, Hey, , you can make money like this, right?

Like I had to learn that crap on my own. Instead, , if somebody pulled me aside at like 17 said, Hey man, like you’ve been speaking for the past 10 years, let’s get you on some stages that are going to pay you and here’s how you do it. But I didn’t ask questions because I was. Too arrogant, right?

And I also wasn’t smart enough maybe to realize that I could do that as a career Right and like who to ask And so I would say, I’m going to

L. Scott Ferguson: interject nothing bad against your mother, but she had you try everything on your own. So she might have, she might have programmed into you. [00:27:00] And again, it’s about that plant analogy, right?

Yes. Where we breathe in oxygen, we breathe out carbon dioxide. The plant breathes in carbon dioxide and it breathes out oxygen. That plant doesn’t have a fricking choice. It just doesn’t. We give ourself choices, right? So I’m not saying nothing against you, Miss Dixon, if that, if that’s your last name, nothing against you, but you were trained to do shit on your own brother.

You know what I’m saying? And so, God, what a lesson that you would have taught yourself. Be open to reciprocity. Be open to things to come to you. And if you, if the opportunities are there, , go after to make money, bro, part of that live a life of options and not obligations. You got to have freaking money.

It’s you got to have health and money, bro.

P.J. Dixon: You know what I’m saying? So a hundred percent. And my mom tried to teach me to ask for help, but I was just stubborn, arrogant, Disabled. You’re at that age where you know everything. Yeah. And I’m male. And I’m disabled. So I have to prove everything. Right. And I, and I honestly just also, I just was innocent.

I just [00:28:00] also just didn’t know that speaking as a career was an option and I didn’t know who to ask. I didn’t know where to go and how to set that up. So if I would have dropped any ego and I would have asked more questions, I would have gotten further

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah,

P.J. Dixon: but it’s not just dropping the ego and asking the questions.

It’s also implementation Baby, yeah, exactly great ideas or just ideas without action.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah So how do you want your dash? Remember, you know what that is, The little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date, which again, it’s it’s another 96 years down the line for you Okay so like You What, how do you want your dash to remember that?

, how do you wanna be remembered, brother?

P.J. Dixon: He changed my life.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Yeah. He changed my life. Love it. Yeah. That, that, and you are so pj, what do you think people misunderstand the most about you?

P.J. Dixon: About me?

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

P.J. Dixon: [00:29:00] Honestly, that sometimes I break down and I cry also. And then as soon as soon as I do, I get back up. Right. And I think that people see me as.

Never needing help. Never. I mean, obviously the physical assistance, of course. Yes. Yeah. But emotionally brother, you know, yeah. Yeah. But I’m a human being too. And like, sometimes I get sad. Sometimes I get I feel lost. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. And then as soon as I, I get past that feeling bad for myself, boom, we link back in, we take action again.

But sometimes just like anybody else, I just want to be hugged. You know, I just want that physical connection.

L. Scott Ferguson: That connection with people, the community, , the affection and whatnot. Yeah. I love that. So what keeps you up at night?

P.J. Dixon: Not much, buddy. I sleep pretty well.

L. Scott Ferguson: Do you have to be in like a certain position physically to make sure you’re safe?

When you sleep,

P.J. Dixon: no, no, I can I let my legs hang over the edge to stretch [00:30:00] them a little bit. Okay. I’m sitting in my wheelchair all day. And then at some point I sleep mostly on my side, I sleep on my back a little bit.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

P.J. Dixon: But what keeps me up at night? Let me think about that for a sec. Not knowing what I need to do tomorrow when I have a big project and I’m just like, ah, God, like.

There’s 10, 000 things to do. I’m so great at helping other people identify the order that they should be doing things. But when I look at my own stuff, I’m too close. And so I look at all the pieces and parts and that sometimes slows me down. So that might keep me up at night where I’m like, let me think about like, what do I need to do first, second, third, like it just, , just trying to navigate that process.

So prioritization.

L. Scott Ferguson: Do people bring people that are going through what you kind of went through to you just for conversations and to be leveled up? Like, , somebody else that might be diagnosed with MD or whatnot, do [00:31:00] they, do you find people reaching out to you or saying, Hey, can you talk to my son or my daughter or anything like that to find some inspiration through you?

And if not, why the hell not?

P.J. Dixon: Yeah, on occasion, but I’m not super connected to the disabled community. Okay. I used to play wheelchair sports. Snow skied, water skiing played quad rugby, started several quad rugby teams but I don’t thanks to me, but I don’t have a lot of disabled, I don’t have a lot of disabled people come to me and say, Hey, can you talk to my, my son or my daughter or my husband or whatever on rare occasions it’s more like people saying, Hey, I’m, I’m stuck in my And I don’t know how to move forward.

Can you help me move forward? , I would say my expertise really isn’t letting go. Do you know anything about Buddhism? A little bit, yep. Okay, so have you ever heard of the Four Noble Truths? Right, the Four Noble Truths is sort of the foundation of what Buddhism is built on. And it they basically are just the first three [00:32:00] All life is suffering.

There’s a reason for the suffering and the, and it’s attachment that causes suffering, right? So attachment, as soon as I heard that, and, and I was in 19 and I, yeah, I was 19, took my first Buddhism class in college, and as soon as I heard that suffering is caused from attachment, boom, like everything in the room in my life spun 180 degrees around.

Like in that one moment at 19, everything shifted for me. And I, I, my eyes were opened up. I had a completely new perspective on life. And from that moment forward, any suffering that I’ve that I’ve had, I’ve been able to look and say, how am I attached? Where am I attached? It lets me let go of things quickly and easily.

That’s one of the reasons that I say, it’s not about finding your biggest why it’s about what can we let go of that then liberates you to be able to move forward. So for me, letting go is the, is massive. [00:33:00] And that works, , for people that feel stuck, like I’m stuck. Okay, well, how do we get you unstuck?

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. And we even talked off Mike about that anchor. Like we gave each other our metaphors for the coaching that we do with people on the anchor and, and just holding onto that anchor is the worst thing that you can do to for progression. Right. I mean, absolutely.

P.J. Dixon: Like I even say, don’t, don’t pull up the anchor.

So your sailboat, if your sailboat is your life, in essence, like to shorten it, the metaphor in the anchor is your past. Don’t pull up the anchor and take that shit with you. Rather let’s, let’s untie that rope. That line link, that chain that’s connected to the anchor of your past. Let’s let that go. You can sit out of that bay that you don’t want to be in anymore.

Sail out of that bay. And when you get to the place that you want to be, let’s then get a new anchor. That down. We can pull that up and take that one with us. Oh, yeah. We pick up that new anchor. We’re actually picking up a new past, picking up a new identity, [00:34:00] picking up a new meaning and purpose in our life.

And that old anchor can stay back there. There’s nothing you can do about your past. It’s not the past that’s the problem. The anchor is not the problem. It’s the link, the line, the chain, the attachment that you had to that past causing you to suffer. Because

L. Scott Ferguson: there’s actually lessons in that anchor that are good.

As well. What I’m saying? There’s actually happy memories in that anchor, that anchor kept you safe at one time. It got you, , kept you where you were. So I love that you cut off the attachment to it. That’s awesome. I

P.J. Dixon: say that, I say that your, the doors to your remarkable future are in your past.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, the

P.J. Dixon: doors to your remarkable future in your past, because if that anchor is lodged strong, certainly in the ground and you take off running and there’s a rope tied to your like your emotional center is tied to the, to the anchor, you take off running towards what you want. Right. Come off your feet, man.

You’re jerked back into the past. [00:35:00] Why? Because your unconscious mind is like, Hey, I see you want to go over there and you want to go over there really fast. So we need to let go of this attachment

L. Scott Ferguson: that

P.J. Dixon: you had so that you can move forward. And then you’ll run forward again. At some point you’ll come off your feet again and get jerked into the past again, because there’ll be another rope or line or chain or, or attachment.

To that past again, that you’re going to want to let go of again. So it’s not that the unconscious mind is holding you back. The unconscious mind is actually showing you what to let go of. Love that, man.

L. Scott Ferguson: So true too. It’s so true.

Time to shine today, podcast, varsity squad. We are back in PJ. We’ve talked about some of these off Mike before and held when we meet up, , when you get out here to Tampa or whatnot, or I get out West, we can talk about some of them, but today you got five seconds. With no explanations to answer ’em.

So you know this drill. So Roger, you ready to level up? Roger that. And again, thank you for listening to the pod as well. So I know that you mentioned some stuff, so I really appreciate love. I love it man. Absolutely. [00:36:00] Alright, pj, what is the best leveling up advice you’ve ever received?

P.J. Dixon: One inch wide. One mile deep.

Love that

L. Scott Ferguson: Legit. Yes. She. One of your personal habits that contributes to your success?

P.J. Dixon: I dope myself not with drugs, but actual dopamine. every day to get myself in motion. Whenever I feel like I’m low, I get myself excited. I don’t have to think about anything. I just turn on the dopamine, flush it through my system, motivated.

I’m in action again.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s beautiful, brother. Awesome. So you see me kind of like at a networking event, or maybe we’re just hanging out and you’re like Fergie’s in his doldrums a little bit. What book might you hand me that maybe flip that level up switch for you?

P.J. Dixon: Okay. So that’s a slightly different question.

I would say what book would I, I would suggest is one good thing. I think it’s called the one good thing. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. The one thing by Gary Keller. The one thing by Gary Keller. If you want to flip, if you want to flip the mood, I’d give you a very tiny thin book called the [00:37:00] sacred tree. Okay.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Write that down, Danny. Awesome. Thank you. Most commonly used emoji when you text?

P.J. Dixon: Heart.

L. Scott Ferguson: Nicknames growing up.

P.J. Dixon: Nicknames. PJ is I’ve always been PJ. My mom calls me peach bodge. Sometimes people call me peach.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Love that dude. I’ve

P.J. Dixon: had somebody call me PP, which I thought was super cute.

L. Scott Ferguson: Any hidden talent or superpower that you have that nobody knows about until now?

P.J. Dixon: I can tie a cherry stem and a knot with my tongue. Ladies, you hear that? Love it. Love it. Talent that people don’t know that I have. I think a lot of people don’t know that I play the didgeridoo. The what? The didgeridoo.

It’s that long. You can look. Oh, yeah, yeah. Didgeridoo. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Australian ABOs. Yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. That they have those. I’m breaking my own rules here, but did they have did they have those at the [00:38:00] the world cup in 2010? Was that what that noise was that everyone was blowing on in South Africa?

Okay. Did you? Yeah. Chest checkers or monopoly?

P.J. Dixon: Yes.

L. Scott Ferguson: All right. Gotcha. Headline. I love

P.J. Dixon: all three, but chest.

L. Scott Ferguson: Headline for your life killer. Doesn’t quit. Love it. Go to ice cream flavor. Watermelon mint. Wow. Never had to try that one. Have a, there’s a sandwich called the peach podge. Build that sandwich for me.

What’s on that sandwich brother.

P.J. Dixon: Oh, all right. This morning we’re going to go with pastrami three Swiss cheese. Thi some old aged Parmesan cheese. There we go. Some ogo. Yeah. And maybe some some spicy brown Mustard. Mustard. Yeah. Dark mustard. Alright. And rye bread.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Love it.

Sounds good, man. We’ll, definitely brothers here. I love that . Got [00:39:00] any favorite charities and or organizations you’d like to give your time and or money to?

P.J. Dixon: Absolutely. The Exodus Road, I think they’re out of Colorado. Okay. And they help to get children and women out of sex slavery.

L. Scott Ferguson: Thank you for doing that, brother.

That’s awesome. Absolutely. Danny, throw that in the show notes too, please. Thanks.

P.J. Dixon: The Exodus Road.

L. Scott Ferguson: Best decade of music. Sixties, seventies, eighties, or nineties.

P.J. Dixon: Eighties. Are you kidding? Okay. My bad. Hands down

L. Scott Ferguson: when you graduate in about 85. 86. 87. Oh, 87. 80, okay. That’s cool. Yeah. Couple years ahead of you, I think.

Yeah, that’s right. Three years of you. That’s right. Yeah. You’re three years old. Got you. 90. Yeah. It was 90. Yep. So eighties. Was it?

P.J. Dixon: 87, early nineties. Hands down. The best music ever on the planet.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, it, there’s so much that happened. In the eighties, we mean like, , you, you phased out that disco stuff.

Now I was not, not a fan of, not a fan of disco, but I just was like, whatever, , but like you kind of had, we got invaded by YouTube from Ireland, Duran Duran from England, , just men at work from Australia. We got invaded and [00:40:00] then you had hip hop or rap, I should say with run DMC and beastie boys and big hair, don’t care.

Glam rock metal. Right, dude, it was the best. I mean, every. You look at the top five songs on the charts. Now there’s a hook in this music from the eighties. You know what I’m saying? There there’s is there’s something that was born in that decade of decadence. And I’m so glad that you and I grew up in it because.

 it’s, , we came out of kind of crappy times that you and I really weren’t old enough to really remember so much, , in the seventies, like all the high gas prices and all that stuff. And then we roll into the eighties. It was a free for all dude. , It was awesome, man. I would love to have been a young urban professional.

I did not even know that’s what yuppie meant. And so like a year ago, and I was watching something as yuppie as young urban professional. That’s hilarious. I had no idea that dude, I had no idea I would have been that young urban product professional. That’s beautiful.

P.J. Dixon: So dude, it was, I mean, honestly, the music was great.

But there [00:41:00] was a freedom in that time that, that we may never experience again on the planet. We won’t, , I mean, it could happen, but I just think the way things go, and I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen like it, , then I’m glad that we got to

believe that it will.

Yeah, yeah, that it will again.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, because if people like you and I are out there , and then we get our voices heard, yeah, it’s going to. , exactly. I know my, my tribe and my squad does, , they’re living that, but the, the masses. So PJ, how can we find you, my friend?

P.J. Dixon: I would honestly, because I’m rebranding some of my social media, so at this point I would just go to PJsWisdom.

com PJs, that’s with an S

L. Scott Ferguson: guys.

P.J. Dixon: PJ S-W-I-S-D-O m.com.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, it, PJ is wisdom do com. It’s awesome. He’s rocking the mic on there, man. He’s got, , his handsome self laughing. Oh, he is. Got a little Leslie Brown on there, man. Check. Yeah, buddy. Hater dude. He’s a little baller man. That’s awesome. Yeah, I shared the

P.J. Dixon: stage with

L. Scott Ferguson: [00:42:00] You have.

Tom

P.J. Dixon: Bilio, Naveen Jain, who’s a billionaire. Yeah. Kevin Harrington, who’s interviewing me next month.

L. Scott Ferguson: Dude.

P.J. Dixon: Les Brown. Listen to

L. Scott Ferguson: this fucking name dropper over here. Yeah. Just because you have MD, dude, you get all, I’m just kidding. Oh, man. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a speaking gig because somebody’s like,

P.J. Dixon: Oh, you know Les?

L. Scott Ferguson: Dude, you, you are such a fricking inspiration, dude. And I’m not just saying that because your disability, like you would inspire people without it, but with it, you’re using that tool to really level up and lean into that ultimate. So PJ, to shut things down here, can you leave us with one last knowledge?

And I’ll get, we can take with us internalize and take action on.

P.J. Dixon: Give me a sec, because I like it to come through me instead of from me. Got you. Truth comes from within. Don’t ask for permission. Move with commitment.

L. Scott Ferguson: Wow. Don’t ask for permission. Move with commitment, dude. That’s amazing brother. [00:43:00] Yeah, and that’s true in squad I have like one of my new besties for the Rusty’s today that I just brought on and I can’t wait to do think something with PJ, in the flesh and Get out rocking but , he’s PJ’s out there head of mom right guys that , didn’t allow him so much to feel sorry for himself and he didn’t feel sorry for himself.

, he kept, his mom kept on having him try. He learned like, again, we say, , winners make adjustments, , mediocre people or losers make excuses. And he made the adjustments, , we, we praise children for trying the, the children that are praised for trying are happier. That’s just the truth.

I look back and the things that my father and my mother made me do and try. I’m so much more grateful for him. You know, what I love about PJ is that he leans into his new normal, no matter how bad it gets his new normal. He turns into his, his level up his, his power, , he’s planting trees. He’s never going to sit in the shade of.

, and that’s [00:44:00] the kind of people that I love to be around. He’s out there doing things for the intention of things. Now he can be out there getting attention. He could grow a million followers if he wanted. He doesn’t do that, man. He’s out there changing lives, although he will be there, but he’ll be doing it because he does things for the intention and not the attention, , cut off that rope to the anchor that’s holding you back.

Don’t cut the anchor off so much. I mean, it’s a great place to kind of visit and the kept you safe. For a while, but let’s, let’s cut off the addition to the anchor, , to be able to change your life. Don’t be concerned. Like people that know me know I make two new year’s resolutions every year. One.

I make someone smile every single day. And two, unless I’ve hurt you, disrespected you, owe you, or judged you, I give zero whats about what you think about me. And that’s one thing that PJ did. He’s just not concerned about what other people think. If you’re stuck on something, he said to ask people.

Like my good friend Leah Woodford would say, get your asking gear. Get out there and ask for what you want. , lastly, truth comes from within. Don’t ask permission [00:45:00] and move with commitment. That’s what my good friend PJ does. He levels up his health. He levels up his wealth. He’s humble. He’s hungry.

He’s a handsome double. He’s earned his varsity squad letter here at time to shine today. PJ absolutely love your guts brother. And I can’t wait to meet you and collaborate on something.

P.J. Dixon: Roger that. I look forward to it also.

L. Scott Ferguson: You bet brother. Chat soon.

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