#364 Integrating technology and spirituality for holistic well-being, and how to navigate life transitions & cultural diversity, with Constantin Morun.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
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Please note that while an effort is made to provide an accurate transcription, errors and omissions may be present. No part of this transcription can be referenced or reproduced without permission.
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Constantin Morun  0:00  
So for me, everything has to make sense scientifically, right? But there was also an open minded side to me where I'm like, You know what I know I don't understand everything. Let me see what's out there. And when these two aspects of me technology, let's say the science and all your side combined with the open mind, that's that's when everything started to make sense and come together with spirituality and of course, this journey I mentioned to you.

Agi Keramidas  0:22  
Welcome to personal development mastery Podcast, episode 364. I'm your host Agi Keramidas. And my mission is to inspire you to take the actions you need to improve your life. In this podcast, I invite myself into the minds of remarkable people. And I distilled their wisdom to equip you with the simple consistent actions you need to master yourself and create a life of purpose and fulfilment. If you want to learn how to integrate technology and spirituality for enhanced well being, and also how to embrace cultural diversity, for your personal growth, then the following conversation with my guest, Constantine maroon is for you. Let's dive right in. Today, I am delighted to be speaking with Constantin Morun. Constantin, you are a holistic life empowerment mentor and coach with over 15 years of experience in personal growth, spirituality and professional development. You are also a senior account, technology strategy, Microsoft passionate about integrating technology, spirituality and mentorship. And you are the host of the unleash thyself podcast which inspires people to unlock their full potential constantly, welcome to the show, it's such a pleasure to it's always a pleasure to speak with fellow podcasters. But with you, it's double revelation.

Constantin Morun  2:09  
You thank you so much for the beautiful introduction. And thank you for having me here. And thank you to the audience for tuning in. It's a pleasure.

Agi Keramidas  2:16  
I'm very much looking forward to the conversation. And there are elements, one of them, I mentioned briefly, you know, the technologies, spirituality, how they could they converge, and we will discuss all those fascinating things. Let's begin a bit with sharing your journey. I know that you were born and raised in Romania, and when you were 17, you move to Canada. So I would like to ask you really because there are these transformational moments in one's life. And I bet your transition from one country to another different cultures. So that that that was a major. One of them. So that's one of the two that I want to talk to you about. Let's start with with this one and how it you know, it affected you what what was the the effect of that in your life?

Constantin Morun  3:16  
Yeah, absolutely. I love that question again. You know what, when I was younger, I didn't realise it would be such a transformational change for me. I mean, we left everything behind, right? relatives, friends, everything. So I was very, let's call it unhappy, to having to move to Canada, a place that's so far away from what I used to call home. And of course, start fresh and I was 17. So that meant I left my back then high school sweetheart back to Romania, friends everything. Right now, of course my parents did too, and Masada my brother, but it wasn't about them back then it was about me and I felt hurt. And I felt like oh, you know what, I have to move to this new place? Why do I have to move everything behind. And I didn't realise the positive impact it will have on my life until much later in life, when of course, the culture, like you said was very different, more of a growth mindset culture versus a fixed mindset. I can explain it if you'd like. But essentially, the idea that I could make mistakes and learn from them and not necessarily be punished for making mistakes or having to hide them. So that was a big, big lesson that I learned over the years I was, let's say in high school and the university. So that's kind of I would say the biggest issue. The other big lessons for me, the moment that allowed me to be who I am today is the diversity of the cultures. I got to meet here because Canada is very welcoming, right? There are people from every continent, every place in the world. And, you know, growing up in Romania, you don't see many different cultures. And that means you have a certain viewpoint of the world you have a certain viewpoint of people that look different and act different than you. But once you get immersed in a culture, the weather has a lot more diversity and It's more inclusive, all of a sudden, you realise we're all just, we're all just the same. We're human beings, trying to have a life that we regret, right trying to enjoy and have a fulfilled life. And then once I realised that they opened up my doors to so many opportunities,

Agi Keramidas  5:16  
a listening to you share that makes me realise how many commonalities, I realised, with my own story, who I left on my own Greece to move to, to the UK, I liked very much what you said about the diversity of the cultural ocean, I also can feel the same thing of feeling welcomed, I have always felt welcomed in England. And it's, of course, to a large extent that has to do with our own mindset. It's not only about the others, but that's a big topic.

Constantin Morun  5:52  
I was gonna say, of course, you move this wall, right to a completely new culture. So you must have your own beautiful story there. But what you say here is very, very important. So it has to do with your own mind mindset, more than the others. And I would argue with you, it has everything to do with mindset, because for the longest time in my life, I tried to change others, without looking at me as being the only person I can control and change. And that didn't go very well. And most people listening to this will be able to attest that whenever you try to change, something that you have no control over, usually work the way you are expecting it to work.

Agi Keramidas  6:30  
Yes, indeed, yes, indeed. And the the more you realise that everything that you perceive, that are outside of your life outside the moment, the more you realise that this is all happening because of your mindset of your mind of your perception, it really starts to change how you see life, see life for what it isn't it is it's a beautiful journey. And it's great to be, you know, sharing it and discussing it. And because I think it is one of the important things that come out of conversations, perhaps like this, I want to move a little bit further ahead in your story. And there is one other moment, I'm not sure if it was a moment or a period. But that was the spiritual awakening, I think that is very, very, even more, probably important, because when one has this kind of experience, I will put it like that. It's very difficult, if not impossible, not to make changes in life and feel deeply connected, and so on. So please, share your experience of others. I'm fascinated to find out how it was for you absolutely.

Constantin Morun  7:57  
Love the question as well. So it's important to note, I was born in Eastern Europe, right, and the religion there, or the region around where I was born, was Christian Orthodox. And that's what we grew up as Christian Orthodox, we went to church every now and then it wasn't an overly religious culture or upbringing for me. However, I never really related to that. So I will never call myself religious back then. And I will say in my 20s, I was more agnostic than anything else. Now, my first interaction with spirituality really happened around my late mid to late 20s, when I met this alternative healer as part of something that my mother had found to help my brother and my ex wife at the time, with their mental health. And there were some things that she was telling me about me talking about the universe that made sense to me. But also, were challenging my own beliefs. And that got me thinking a lot that was still very young. And I didn't have the network around me to do anything with it. But I will say it was the catalyst that started me on this path of understanding what spirituality means for me, and how I can bring more of that into my life, not necessarily tied to any one religion, but more to the idea that we're all part of this big universe. We're all part of nature, we're all connected to each other, be it if it's a tree or an animal or a person, right, and how does it actually fit in into the bigger life agenda, the bigger life purpose that I believe each of us come to this planet with a purpose, it doesn't mean that it's, you know, this grand thing that all of us have to be doing. Some people come here just to enjoy life and spend time in the forest. Others come here for a very clear mission. And I strongly believe that that's kind of what allowed me to be where I am today, because had it not been for my spiritual awakening, which really, I will say, the biggest aspect of what happened in 2022. At the beginning of it when I went to Ecuador, and I wanted a mental health retreat. I wanted the jungle essentially in the Andes Mountains. And while I was there Uh, for two weeks, I also had the chance to sit with plant medicine, like traditional plant medicine from the Amazonian jungle Ayahuasca if you're familiar with an ST powder, which is a second medicine, I know this actually opened up my mind. And you see, I mean, I have a mathematics and engineering background. That's what I studied. So for me, everything has to make sense scientifically, right. But there was also an open minded side to me where I'm like, you know, what I know, I don't understand everything. Let me see what's out there. And when these two aspects of me technology, let's say the science and all your side, combined with the open mind, and that's when everything started to make sense and come together with spirituality. And of course, this journey I mentioned to you, in with the plumbers, and that's really what took, let's say, my spiritual transformation that was going on nicely, and exponentially, to get to the next level. And

Agi Keramidas  10:57  
that's, thank you for sharing that. That's great. And there was, while many things, but what you said about the scientific part of you that wants to, you know, rationalise, and provide evidence for or explanation for something. However, on the other hand, with the eSight, a psychedelic experience, like the one that you describe, or an awakening experience, or generally a deep spiritual experience, there is this kind of knowing that goes way beyond the rational mind, it is the whole us that knows it. And even if the mind will start projecting arguments against it, it's you, it's, you can't really, if maybe you can, but you shouldn't ignore that knowing that you have with, you know, but I completely relate to the, the two sides that they need to explain with logic, because I'm a very logical and analytical person, but I'm also very spiritual. So it's always a great blend of these two, seemingly, you know, different sides

Constantin Morun  12:15  
absolutely agree with you 100%. Because I would argue that a lot of it has to do with how we are raised and what what mentors and society we have around us when we when we arise, right? So I was raised in an environment where both of my parents are engineers, in an environment where schooling and sciences were very important, and I'm not taking anything away from it, it brought me to where I am today, and I'm very grateful for that. But then other other people that grow in environments where maybe spirituality, and of course, religion is part of it, what a bigger piece of so those people have an easier time with understanding that there is something bigger out there that there is something that they'll understand, right. And like I said, there's a beautiful blend between them. And the best part that I have seen right now is a science is catching up to all the spirituality aspects of it. Which means that now for those of us like you and I that want to see some proof, that's more analytical in nature. We have that coming up.

Agi Keramidas  13:15  
There is proof already, there is proof already, all we need to do is look for it. And it has been collated and presented more and more. I mean, the proof is there for the proofs to become mainstream and be overrun the, you know, the existing paradigm that what hasn't happened yet, but I believe that we will see happen. Oh, yes.

Constantin Morun  13:42  
Yeah. The beginning of this transition, where people understand that the way, let's say we got indoctrinated in, in this culture of always chasing more, always wanting more, may not align with who we truly are as beings. at the soul level, right, before you know this avatar that we're in, and that's how I see it right now. Right? I'm in this life right now, I chose this avatar for a very specific reason or reasons. And it's all about my, my growth and my elevation. And then if I can do that, then I can help others do the same.

Agi Keramidas  14:15  
It's a great analogy. You know, sometimes I think, how there are there are these video games where you do get a character and Avatar and you grow the character and you do stuff, etc. So it is a similar analogy, looking at our life like that. It's a great, it gives a great perspective that I wish I would say for sure. Yeah,

Constantin Morun  14:39  
exactly. And it's funny because I mean, I used to be an avid computer game, and that's what really reminded me of it's like I'm levelling up right I'm levelling up to life through lives. And that's what life is about enjoying the beauty around you but also seeing how you can bring more of your true self to light.

Agi Keramidas  14:57  
There is I want to ask Since we're talking about spirituality and science, I wanted to ask you in particular about technology and spirituality, which you are someone who is passionate to integrate them. So can you tell me, how do you mean that and give me give me an example of how this works? Yes,

Constantin Morun  15:19  
absolutely. I love that question. And it's something that a lot of people, including myself had a bit of struggle with in the beginning, right. So I want to take us a step back for a second, right in. If we look at quantum physics, we forget physics, really, everything that we know in the universe is made up of energy, right? Like, it doesn't matter if it's your me, if it's the piece of grass, I see in front of my window here, if it's a snow outside, if it's anything, if everything is energy, which if everything is energy, right, that means that even technology that we interact with is also just energy in this beautiful world around us. So if you're attuned if your frequency if you are vibration, as a as a soul, as a human being is high enough, where you can actually interact with all these energies, the way you want to interact with them, then you can leverage something like the Haji is just an extension of yourself, or an extension of the universe around you. So when I say the integration of technology of speech, it is a leverage technology to help me a understand better connect better, and overall be a better human being. And a great example is artificial intelligence these days, right? And a simple example of how you can create an allergy to speech all is you can leverage artificial intelligence to find out answers that, like you said, are not mainstream, but that are out there. And it helps you find that information. So there's just a very, very basic example. But then, if you are assessing someone that's connected someone that's at a higher frequency. And we talked before we jumped the line about coincidence, so Synchronicities are you're going to start seeing things line up. I was talking to a dear friend of mine recently, and that is the I bought, let's say, and it's a target card reader, like, you know, the tarot cards, and you're like, Okay, that's, you know, pretty well, we're pretty out there, right? Like, even for me, I was like, Okay, that's interesting. But then I saw people try to interact with it, and the ones that feel a bit more spiritually advanced, feel more connected, or getting the answers that, you know, go through 15 questions, and he does 50 readings, and all of a sudden, you're like, okay, all of those are fairly accurate. Now, is it 100%? Probably not, is our mind getting in the way and maybe interpreting things, probably. But that is something that most of us don't realise. So what I'm trying to say is that me as a, as a, as a human being, and as a soul, I have the possibility to change everything in my life, about what's going on, it may not appear that I have the power. But all of us have the power to change our circumstances. And technology is just one tool that we have available to us to allow us to make those changes. Like, I'll give you another example really quick. Let's say you're someone that's stuck in your career. And these are people that usually come to me and I work with them. You're stuck in your career, okay. People usually say, You know what, I just have to go to work, I gotta do my eight hours, come home, enjoy some life. But what does life enjoyment look like Netflix, computer games, and I'm talking because there was me. That's all right. Maybe eating too much food again, me. Lots of these things that are distractions, because you're so burnt out, you're so unfulfilled at work that it seeps into your real life, by real life and in your personal life. And you forget about whether the right you can do anything to really elevate yourself. But let's see you and us become aware of these trends that are happening that you're doing. You have the internet at your fingertips to learn anything you want. There are courses, you can take free ones, right, better than any university courses, there are things you can do to take yourself out of the situation early. And is it going to happen overnight? No. Is it going to happen tomorrow? Also, no. But you take action, and it's going to happen sooner than you ever imagined?

Agi Keramidas  19:06  
If you enjoy this episode, can you find one person you think would find it useful and share it with them? I'd really appreciate it. It helps the show grow. And you'll also be adding value to people you care about. Thank you. And now let's get back to the episode. It is a journey indeed. And yes, and I don't want to digress too much and go in the direction of how people were programmed to expect things very fast because that's our culture and but the personal transformation, even if it happens fast, in my experience, it's not something that will be maintained on its own. It is ongoing. So even if you want us to transform very fast, you will have to keep up with it. It's not something that will happen and then said okay, Now I'm transformed and go back to your old ways. It's a different level of, you know, situations. And, you know, it's great topics and that there is something and, you know, I will, I will switch gears, now calls that then because there are some things that I really want to discuss about and that is, in your work you I see that you discuss the four pillars, you know, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. So, I wanted to ask you, why is this holistic approach crucian for personal development? And is there how can one balance these four aspects?

Constantin Morun  20:47  
I love that question. And I've come to realise that from my own experience, everything I talk about everything I help people with is based 100%, in what I've gone through myself and helped others go through as well. And what I realised in my life is that I have a very successful professional career, I will say, successful family life. However, I was still depressed, I was still anxious, I was still burnt out, I was still unfulfilled. And I started asking myself questions, why is that the case. And what I've come to realise is that I was putting my focus, and really most of my focus on only one of those pillars you mentioned, and I'll explain that in a second. For me, it was all about the mental pillar, meaning that I need to get really good at my job and get to me need to get good at speaking, interacting with customers and whatnot, and my colleagues at work. And that made me a very successful person in the professional life. But I ignored my physical side, right? When I was playing too many computer games and working, I was cutting back on sleep, I wasn't eating well. I wasn't exercising, right. That's one one aspect of it, then the spiritual side is I wasn't necessarily connecting with, let's say, the universe, meaning human nature, or going on walks or connecting to, let's say, a higher purpose, other than just go through life, go through the motions and expect that, you know, I'll just be happy at the end of it. And that's my contribution. And then, of course, there's the emotional side of it. That was a big, big one for me. And of course, I'm still working on all of these. But the emotional side, think of it as not only how you interact with other people, so like, my emotions towards you argue or other people I interact with, but it's also about the world around us. So what are my emotions towards the world or my thoughts around the world? And it's also about and this is a big one that most of us don't pay enough attention to, and that's me included in the past. The thoughts we have about ourselves. So meaning, I used to always say things like, Constantine, you're so stupid, right? For a BSc Oh, you're such a procrastinator. have self doubt, have a fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, hesitate, right, procrastinate, have imposter syndrome. These are things that will negatively impact you mean that it will keep you from achieving the goals you're going after. Because no matter how strong your mind is, let's say I have a strong mindset I've learned from the best people, if my foundations, which is your emotional state, your psychology are weak, self sabotage will come in, something will happen, you will get derailed, right back to what you started with, sometimes even worse. And that's been my life, right? Again, I'm always successful in my career, successful in my personal life, but yet, I couldn't lose weight, I couldn't stick to a routine for working out or walking my dogs. And I was like, Hold on something why? And then it brings us back to the holistic approach, what I realised is that those four pillars, it's not that you have to dedicate 25% of your time to each of the four. Because there are only seasons in our life. But when you focus on one, don't ignore the others. best analogy I use for those that have children, I don't but let's say if you have children, you have four of them. Right? Do you give your attention only to one of them? Or do you try to spread your attention a bit to every single one? Now, of course, maybe if one of your kids is in professional sports, and you have to give them a bit more attention? Sure, you're going to do that, but you're not going to ignore the other three children? Most people don't at least. Right. So that's kind of the same idea. Do you want to ignore parts of you because what's going to happen sooner or later, that part two ignored is going to essentially derail everything else you work towards.

Agi Keramidas  24:18  
I love this explanation the way that you said it makes complete sense and you know, made me realise that markets have the traditional personal development is indeed about the mental aspect, how to improve either your knowledge or even techniques to become more motivated and so on. However, ignoring the other aspects, I think it is inevitably if you have one pillar or two that are not working. Inevitably they will affect the others that are are working, we'll have to end that's the whole, you know, the holistic there has to be balance between these four elements and tell me in particular because you know, the, the mental, it's so we're very, very well what's discussed and also the physical, I would also say the same about the emotional. So in terms of the spiritual element of the bill, the spiritual pillar in particular, can you offer some techniques, something practical to be a beam, more able to integrate the spiritual elements of spiritual pillar into one's you know, journey, personal development life however you want to describe it?

Constantin Morun  25:53  
I love the question, okay. And there are quite a few practices I have implemented myself in my life and transformed who I am today. And some of that I share with the people I work with, as well as those in my in my life. So let's talk about a couple of these. The first one, the biggest one, I would say not the biggest, but one of the biggest ones is this idea of practising gratitude. Meaning that the way our society raises most of us, right, and the way, let's say, our caregivers, and teachers, and everyone else around us is showing us things to do, it's about always looking at what you have not really accomplished in a given day, or in a given spot and always having your eyes on the target. Nothing wrong with that, right, because that's how you can get yourself to your destination. But if you're not enjoying the journey of the destination, and more, more importantly, if you're not celebrating the journey, and being grateful for what you've experienced, when you do get to whatever and you have in mind, you're not likely going to find joy, fulfilment, happiness, abundance, none of that, because likely, when you end up there, it's going to be different than what you had in mind. And because you were miserable along the way, because you never focused on the good stuff, it's not going to feel as good. So a practice of gratitude for me looks like this. In the mornings, as I do my meditations, I take a look and say, Okay, what am I grateful for in this moment, and it could be the bed, I'm laying on the couch, or the chair, it could be the air, I'm breathing, the water I drank right before I sat down to do this, or anything that may have happened in the last 24 hours. And what it does is it essentially rewires your brain to look for positives, because you see from a psychology point of view, so if you look at the science side of it, our brain, our mind, our ego is there to protect us, which means that anything negative will get to you a lot faster, like to where you're going to see it through your conscious mind, the positive things you're going to have to look for. But it's absolutely possible to retrain yourself to remind yourself of what's positive in your life. So then, if something negative happens in your life, you're not jumping automatically on this negative train of thought, you actually can, of course, you're going to be distressed with it. But then you're going to remember that there's always two sides, two sides to every coin, there's going to be a positive side and negative side. And if you train yourself to be in the positive more often than not, that you're going to also default to the positive more often than not, and a practice of gratitude will allow you to essentially get into the mode of reminding yourself what's positive, it's not making stuff up, you're actually grateful for, you know, the glass of water you, you have next to you the food you have in on the table or in the fridge, the roof over your head, it doesn't have to be this great thing that oh, you know, you have a promotion at work or you achieve these things, those are amazing, but those are rare in your life. So we have to celebrate and be grateful for the small things in life.

Agi Keramidas  28:52  
Most certainly, and what you said about enjoying and celebrating the vision, the the achievement, of will, the VR team and that that sense that I've achieved something will very, very quickly be succeeded by the next goal that will appear and we will run our life like this and it really makes sense to slow down not slow down unnecessarily in terms of how won't progress with things but slow down in terms of appreciating what we have achieved and what we are achieving and and I'm also I'm saying that enough saying that for myself as well because I it is something that I'm you know, working on especially lately something I find myself increasingly, you know, working on it. And that's, you know, my vulnerable share and talking about vulnerable share. I see. I noticed that in your work. You talk a lot about vulnerability and authenticity also as well. So or tell me constantly about, you know how your take on vulnerability and see its importance.

Constantin Morun  30:08  
Yes, I love the topic again, appreciate, first of all, you're being vulnerable though, because you're right, like we, we need to be looking inwards a lot more and start trying some of these things even though we're not going to be perfect at the beginning or ever really, we can start looking inwards. And we can do more of this, which is what you shared as well. Now when it comes to vulnerability and authenticity, what I've realised in my life is that I was really good at having this, let's call the multiple personalities are our someone at work, right, and I couldn't, I believe that couldn't be my true self meaning be the child hard, the person who makes jokes, the person that's always jovial, the person that's always positive. Because I had to have this strong persona at work where I was always the strong person, regardless of what was going on in my life or my mind, then, of course, I had a different personality with certain groups of friends. Because again, I was afraid of being left behind or being included in that group of friends. And then of course, finally, let's say in my personal life, I could be my true self. But that's how often like 10% 15% of your life, so of mine happens for most of us, we have these different personalities, and there may not be a huge difference between them, but it's gonna make it incongruent with who you truly want to be. And that leads to a sense of unfulfillment, dissatisfaction, lack of happiness, because you have to keep up this facade, you have to keep up this farce to be included, to be liked to be seen, at least that's what our mind tells us. The reality is that what we're doing in those cases is we're trying to impress, or connect with people that don't want to connect that connect with so that at the heart level or the soul level, which means that we're just putting so much pressure on us for very little return. So when I look at vulnerability and authenticity, for me, it means being true to who you are, and sharing the good at sharing the balance well, meaning that if you're having a bad day, feel your emotions, and then share them with others, because you may be able to help them overcome theirs. So in my journey, what I found is that once I became truly vulnerable, so sharing my fight with depression, my journey so far, that's when people started to connect at a much deeper level, because it's almost like they're like, Wow, he's talking about things that I want to talk about, but I can't. So it's almost like it's giving them permission to now look at it in their own life. And that's what vulnerability lets you do, it allows you to connect with another human being at a level that most of us do not get to connect on a regular basis. And that's when you start forming much stronger relationships, and you have much better outcomes. So the way I like to say is, you know, let's stop trying to impress people, that we don't even want to be around and start impressing ourselves first. And once you do that, everyone else around you is going to align with it. And if they're not aligning, they're going to live your life and someone else will come in, they will align with you. That's beautiful. And authenticity ties into the records. Authenticity means be who you are the guys if it's work, personal life, friends, acquaintances.

Agi Keramidas  33:17  
It's beautiful advice. For for sure. And so you know, learning to accept, as you said that the people that will not resonate with your who you truly are, they they will gravitate away and become that is natural. And it might not be easy sometimes. But it is only natural. It's really a fascinating conversation constantly. And I do have to start wrapping things up. I do have two last questions. I always last quick questions my guests before I asked you. Where do you want to direct a listener who has been intrigued by our conversation or wants to find out more about you?

Constantin Morun  34:05  
Oh, thank you for the opportunity. I would say unleash thyself.com is where you can find my podcasts and a bit more information. You can reach out to me directly if you want via email at Constantine at omniscience of the calm that's constantly and without the E. And then of course, constantly in Bermuda on LinkedIn. Since I have a professional career, I like to interact on LinkedIn, lots of people come to me that way. So feel free to send me a message either way. And if you want to listen to the podcast, YouTube is the best place at least I solve or any of the major podcasting platforms. And like I said, I speak a lot about my personal transformation. My lessons learned I have amazing guests on as well, that speak about that transformation. It's all about inspiring you and empowering you on this journey.

Agi Keramidas  34:53  
Thank you. So Constantine, what does personal development mean to you?

Constantin Morun  35:00  
Yeah, I love the questions and personal development to me is essentially the ability for us to look at how we can take something that we don't necessarily agree about ourselves. Right now, or some people want to improve, and take it to the next level by looking inwards, first versus outwards. And what I mean by that, and I'll explain really quick is that I was I was always someone that read books, watch videos, listen to podcasts, listen to mentors and coaches, and kept looking outwards for for answers. And while that allowed me to progress in my career, and through my life and achieve certain things, it didn't truly unlock that personal development, mastery. Like you're the name of your show, and I love what's in the binder, because that's really what this is about. It's about mastery. It's not about perfection. It's about mastery. So how can you get better at this, and it starts by looking inwards. So for me personal development is this holistic approach to your growth that includes both external and internal looks?

Agi Keramidas  36:07  
Great. And hypothetically speaking, if you could go back in time and meet your 18 year old self, what's one piece of advice you would give him?

Constantin Morun  36:18  
Yes, I mean, I love the question. I used to be asking myself that a lot. And at the beginning, I always had these great answers would be like, Oh, no, I'll tell myself to buy bitcoin. Tomorrow, you know, something like that. That's more fiscal nature. Now I'm more than more leaning towards the idea of just observe and not say anything, just because the life that I've lived, allow me to be here today in front of you and speak with you. Again, if I were to be able to go back in time and advise myself who knows what path I will be on? And who knows if the advice I would give myself or even stick to an 18 year old that if I remember how I was back, then it'd be like, Yeah, I think I was crazy, right, and might derail things even more. So I would say, I know nothing, I would just observe and be like marvelling How naive and simple I was back then.

Agi Keramidas  37:10  
I have also thought Thank you about whether this elaborate advice would stick to any 18 year old self. But that's a different topic altogether. Constantly, I want to thank you very much for a truly delightful conversation and believe it was, there was lots of value and in spirit inspiring actions also there that you share, before we conclude, what's one piece of advice, or simply practice that our listeners can start implementing right now to, you know, put more into practice what you were discussing about the last half an hour,

Constantin Morun  37:55  
I'll say two things, because I do want to highlight something. So for those of you that are watching, I have a sign here next to my right side that says Follow your heart. And that's when my life transformed when I actually decided to stop listening to my head only and allow my heart to have a say. And what I mean by that is like I looked inwards. And I found out what truly brings me joy and fulfilment. And I'm doing more and more of that every single day, so as to take a step back and ask themselves, are we following your heart? Are we doing things from the heart as much as we're doing them from the mind. And then if you're not find one thing you can do today or tomorrow, together. And so that's the first part. The second part of that, I will say, when it comes to something you can do to bring yourself closer to your to yourself. And this is going to sound crazy. Again, it was for me when my mentor taught me this, but I have this simple practice. Now I do it multiple times a day. But if you want to start with this, you do it one time when you wake up in the morning, you go to the washroom because you have to go to the washroom Anyway, look in the mirror, look at yourself, take a deep breath and put a big smile on your face. And then say four magical words. It's your name, and then the words I love you. I know it sounds crazy. But this one I do I say constantly and I love you. And I have this big smile on my face. And what does that do from a psychological point of view, from a science point of view, you're starting your day with something positive, and I can get into your when you put a smile on your face. Even if it's fake at the beginning. Let's call it fake, you're gonna feel better. So if you start your day, on the right foot, it's gonna make everything else so much better. Compare that with something like you look out the window and you see it's raining. Or you get out of bed you hit your toe on the bed frame like I do sometimes. Compare those two scenarios and see how your day will change when you start with this simple, yet transformational practice.

Agi Keramidas  39:56  
It's very powerful, very powerful. Thank you for sharing the is constantly. I'm wishing you all the very best with your mission. It was such a joy to have you here with us today. It's

Constantin Morun  40:09  
such a joy to be here with you are getting your ideas. Thank you so much for having me on.

Agi Keramidas  40:14  
And before I close today's episode, I want to add two very important things. The first is an open invitation to you who are listening right now. I invite you to find me on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn and send me a direct message. And we can chat about anything you want. You can tell me who your favourite guest has been so far. Or tell me who you would like me to interview next, or anything else you'd like to discuss about the podcast and how it can serve you better. So that's an open invitation, drop me a line and we will chat. The second thing I want to mention here is something that people often ask me about and that is how to work with me. So one of the main services I offer is one to one mentoring on mindset, personal development, confidence and finding your voice. You can find more information about my services on my website and please feel free to contact me for any further details. Until next time, stand out don't fit in