Surround Yourself with Strength

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

I sat in a leadership seminar in California.  The MC entered on to the stage with the theme song from Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, as if he was entering the boxing ring.  He stood on the stage clapping his hand and encouraged the crowd to clap along.  Then he told everyone to stand up and act like they are jumping rope.  It was loud, people around me yelled while others threw air punches.

As the chaos ended and the music faded, the MC said, “Yes! You feel that energy.”

The crowd applauded and yelled, “Woo…”

“Now that we are alive and energized, we can get to work.” This followed with more applause.

I looked around and everyone were at the edge of their seats with eyes wide open as if they just snorted a line of crack and hypnotized by the Eye of the Tiger.

I was exhausted and wanted to leave.

Yes, I’m an Introvert

Being in large groups drain me and leaves me exhausted for days.  My friends know this about me.  After spending a night or weekend out in town or at bars, they won’t hear from me for awhile.  I retreat back to my solidarity to recharge my batteries and recover from complete overload of stimulation, not from drugs and alcohol, but from the overwhelming energy from crowds.

It’s a stretch for me to meet new people, but when it comes to starting a Revolution or even a business, you have to get out there to share you story with others outside of your personal network.

So when it came time for me to get over my fear of meeting new people and finding more like-minded individuals, I start with podcasts.

Why podcasts?

Going back to the opening quote above by Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with.” Being an introvert, my 5 people were my parents, wife, and that about sums it up.  So to fill in the other two spots I turned to podcasts like Jason Ferruggia, John Lee Dumas, Jordan Harbinger, Pat Flynn, Tim Ferris, among others.

While I’m driving, sitting on my porch, going for walks, designing, and doing other activities, I’m hanging out with those guys.  I stopped listening to the radio because the conversations going on there doesn’t bring me any meaning or value, just noise.  Although I do enjoy 93.1 JAMZ’s Booty Call, we could always use a good laugh.

Stepping out into the unknown

A Revolution is nothing without the right people.  Whenever I share my story or thoughts with people about building a Kū body and living a Kū life, I come home with a new found energy.  But then again, itʻs only within my personal network.

I decided to step out into the unknown and out of my comfort zone.  I speak about the importance of becoming stronger, and one of the ways to do so is to put yourself out of your comfort zone.  Only through overcoming fears, getting a little uncomfortable, and experiencing struggle can you become stronger.

With that being said, I started The Kū Project Podcast to expand the Kū Revolution’s reach and meet other people who embody the Kū lifestyle and mentality with hopes of finding our way into the cars and ears of the people of Hawaii.

In order to find guests for the podcast, I researched through social media, magazines, and on the internet for potential guests to share their stories of strength.  I had to do something I’ve always hesitated doing – meet new people.  So far I met a parkour instructor, a battery specialist and entrepreneur, a spiritual healer and community leader, and the list continues to grow.

The effects are amazing when you surround yourself with strength and the feedback from the podcast has been great. So once a week, I sit down with someone who shares their story and becomes part of our Kū Revolution.

Continuing to grow

Britt Yap, from Holomua Healing Arts and Perpetuate Hawaiian Culture, from episode 008, contacted me after her interview to create a group called, “Engaged and Empowered Hawaiians” to meet other like-minded young Hawaiians who are working on projects and businesses.

At first I thought to myself, “Great, more strangers.”

But the purpose of bringing together people to help one another become stronger within their own projects, organization, or business spoke true to the Kū Revolution.

We decided on a time, date, place, and put it out there into the universe.

Again, I found myself stepping out into the unknown and finding a new sense of strength. To my surprise, there were 8 of us who met up and shared what we do and the projects we are currently working on.  There were marketers, graphic designers, strength and life coach, entrepreneurs, writers, hypnotherapists, teachers, organizers, people with law backgrounds, and non profit and political experience.

It was crazy to hear all the different experiences gathering in one place with the intention of becoming stronger and helping others become stronger.  To me that’s Kū.

You could tell minds were churning and an experience that would usually have me feeling exhausted and drained, left me high on life and stoked to continue my journey of sharing the Kū Revolution.

Strength is Contagious

When you are looking for a little strength to get you over a challenge, an obstacle, or even if you need some help (we all could use a little help), you need to surround yourself with strength even it means you have to get out of your comfort zone.

“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”
-Edmund Lee

If you are looking for more strength in your life, the first place to look is the people who you spend the most time around.  If they are negative, bring you down instead of lift you up, and influence bad habits and bad behaviors, you need to re-assess what you want out of your life and think about letting go.

This is hard to do, but you will only become stronger.

That’s why we created the Kū Revolution, for you to have a source of strength you can come to and share your thoughts, dreams, and passion with a community who’s sole purpose is giving you strength to be Kū.

Have you read the Kū Revolution Rules Yet? You can by clicking, HERE.

This is our space to strengthen one another and we are always looking for way to better help you.  Would you want access to a forum, a private facebook group, or membership login page on The Kū Project for exclusive access to connect with one another and myself.

Your input it greatly appreciated! Mahalo and A hui hou.

Daniel Aipa, Founder