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You're listening to the Transform your Life from the Inside Out podcast. This interview is with a current student of mine named Eric. And this episode is titled From a Life Upside Down to a Life Transformation Right Side Up. This is really, I believe, quite an amazing story. And if you're experiencing. An adversity in your life right now of any kind. Maybe a divorce, health, relationship, money, job, whatever it is, you're going to absolutely love this episode. In this episode, we talk about Eric and where his life was when he met me. Literally he was dealing with a divorce. He a little later on had a significant health issue. He lost his job. And he had all these things coming, coming into his life and crashing down on him. Eric started working with me. And began re-inventing himself. Literally you'll hear his story of how he hit rock bottom. He lost his marriage. He lost his home. He lost his job. And he describes and even talks about his lowest points emotionally.

What I find really amazing about this episode also, number one is Eric's really an amazing guy and I love his resilience. I love his fashion and his desire to bounce back in life. And he talks about a major health scare. When I say major, I'm not going to tell you what it was, but it was pretty major, and Eric came back from that. And this has only happened in the last couple of months. And then finally we talk about rediscovering. Eric talks about rediscovering himself and he talks about letting go of his old stories. And he talks about reinventing himself. Again, like I said, if you're dealing with any kind of adversity in life, or you're having significant things happen in your life, health, wealth, relationships, divorce, whatever it is this episode is for you. And if you don't have any of that, this is a great episode on the power of resilience and the power inside of you. Keep listening.

Hi, I am Jim Fortin, and you're about to start Transforming your Life from the Inside Out with this podcast, I'm widely considered the leader in Subconscious Transformation, and I've coached super achievers all around the world for over 25 years. Here you're going to find no rah-rah motivation and no hype, because this podcast is a combination of Brain Science, Transformational Psychology and Ancient Wisdom all rolled into one, to take your life to levels you've never thought possible. If you're wanting a lot more in life to feel better, to heal, to have peace of mind, to feel powerful and alive, and to bring more abundance and prosperity into your life, then this podcast is for you because you're going to start learning how to master your mind and evolve your consciousness. And when you do that, anything you want then becomes possible for you. I'm glad you're here.

Jim Fortin: Okay. So, we're visiting with Eric today. He is a former T C P student. He's currently in the inner circle, and he wanted to share his story with all of you guys about, well, I'll just say one thing about complete life, dishevelment and reinventing your life and about having a, and you can say whatever you want or not say about a health situation that could have been very scary. Well, it was very scary, I think, for a lot of people the last couple of months ago and where you are today. So, Eric, thank you for being here today and sharing your story with people.

Eric Gewiss: Thanks, Jim. I'm happy to be here and, forgive me, I may get a little emotional in between.

Jim Fortin: Fine.

Eric Gewiss: It's been an interesting 18 months and I'll just prefaces with, part of this involves a divorce. I got married in 2003 and over the course of 19 years, my now ex-wife and I moved eight times. And I think we were one or both of us were trying to run from something and find something, where we were both happy. And, clearly over the years, we determined that we couldn't give each other what we wanted from each other. And there was not now for me, and I think her no anger or animosity, we just realized we probably shouldn't have done this in the first place. And so that we are at a point in our lives now where we refinding ourselves and who we want to be moving forward. So anyhow we lived in some beautiful places. We lived in the San Juan Islands in Washington and in Bend, Oregon. And most recently just South of Jackson Hole in Wyoming. And so, the culmination of all this I guess the starting point for the constant wax in the face started in November of 2021.

Jim Fortin: Well, hang on. So, I wanna, I just, you're welcome to lead. I don't care. We're just here to chat. But for people listening, I guess what, we're digging in with you, Eric, right away. This is where your life is now. And this is before we met, so keep on going with that.

Eric Gewiss: Yes, correct. So anyhow, things started getting interesting in November of 2021 when I got Covid. And we things were a little bit tense in our home in Wyoming. And my wife had reached a point where she said, okay I need to get outta here. And so, she left to visit some family.

Jim Fortin: And wait. Wyoming or outta the relationship?

Eric Gewiss: Both.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: Okay. So, she took some time off and went to California and said, I'm not sure when I'm gonna be back, and I hope you feel better. So, she did come back, and we agreed that we were gonna file for divorce and I'm the type of person who was death do you part. Death until we part.

Jim Fortin: Right? Sure.

Eric Gewiss: And didn't wanna lose that stability of having someone in a home and my, three car garage and all of that stuff.

Jim Fortin: Hang on Eric, because I just talked to somebody recently, I interviewed. And so, you didn't wanna lose the stability of the life you have created.

Eric Gewiss: Correct.

Jim Fortin: The bigger question is, because a lot of people listening can relate. A bigger question is, were you happy?

Eric Gewiss: No.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: No.

Jim Fortin: So, you weren't happy, but you're like, you know what? I'm gonna paraphrase here. I'm gonna use my words. You weren't happy, but hey, I've created this beautiful home with three cars, garages and the finances and it's simpler just to stay where we are and be unhappy and okay than it is to completely reinvent my life again. Is that a fair statement?

Eric Gewiss: Absolutely. A fair statement.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: And she was more prepared than I was for that because I was hanging onto that and she was like I need to reinvent myself now, not while you're thinking about it. And so,

Jim Fortin: Okay. Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: So, and in hindsight, I respect her for that and totally understand where she came from. I was just hanging on too long. So anyhow, in in February of 2022,

Jim Fortin: Hang on, let's go again. I, yeah, I interrupt a lot because I wanna create more clarity. Yeah. For people listening. So, you were hanging on too long. That now that you're not in a relationship, do, and I don't want to use the word regret. Do would, do you see ways that had you let go earlier, your life would've started, would've started improving earlier?

Eric Gewiss: Absolutely. You have no idea. I wish we would've figured this out in 2004.

Jim Fortin: Okay. Okay. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: I think we didn't do it back then, but we were both just like, okay, let's just keep trying to glue this together. And we did it for way too long.

Jim Fortin: Paint by the numbers, basically step one, step two, step three, step four. This is what life is.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: We're not happy, but we're gonna keep doing step five, six, and seven and eight now. Okay. So, then we go to 2021, I think you were saying.

Eric Gewiss: This was February of 2022. We decided to file for a divorce. And I don't know if you mind me skipping around, but I just have to say.

Jim Fortin: Please. Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: At this point in time, once we got to the relationship portion of T C P was like, oh my God, I get it. I, and it's not like you can beat yourself up over it. It's just you come to and go, oh, okay. I, this was the right thing to do in order for me to move on and the right thing for her. But so anyhow we filed for divorce. And ironically, I had asked my wife to marry me on the same day in 2002 as the day she left in 2022.

Jim Fortin: It never worked in interesting ways.

Eric Gewiss: That was an emotional day. She, we had a dog and two cats, and she knew where she had a place to go. I didn't have a place to go. And so, and at the same time we agreed to sell the house. And so, I said, in fairness, I want to keep our pets together as a tribe, so you take them. And so, then I was all alone, completely alone. And that's shocking in itself. And so, then the next step was to sell the house. As part of splitting up. And we had a gorgeous 3,800 square foot house in the middle of a beautiful valley, just south of Jackson.

Jim Fortin: Wow.

Eric Gewiss: On an acre. And we had moose running through the yard and deer and elk and the occasional bear and it was a beautiful,

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And so, it was very hard to let go of that. We ended up selling the home and closed it in May of 2022. And at the same time, I was like, I got a lifetime of stuff in this house. What am I gonna do with it? And where am I gonna go and where am I gonna live? And so, I had to find a storage unit, which was impossible to find in this place in Wyoming. And I finally found one by the grace of the universe. Cause it is literally, there's hundreds and hundreds of storage units, but everybody from Jackson and all over the area has 'em occupied constantly.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: So, I found one, luckily right on time as I was moving. And I found and at the same time there were no places to rent. So, I ended up finding this weird little cabin on five acres of Sagebrush. And fortunately, the guy liked me, and he said I want to rent it to you. And I said, thank you. There was nothing else to rent. I was prepared to write.

Jim Fortin: We're similar in Sedona, there's nowhere to rent. If you don't own a home, you can't find storage. I've been through all that. I can relate a hundred percent to what you're saying. And then we were even building a home here and we're like, they're not done. We can't find rentals. Maybe we're gonna have to get a place in Phoenix two hours away to just live there because we don't have anywhere to live.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah,

Jim Fortin: I get it a hundred percent. I know that feeling.

Eric Gewiss: It was scary. I thought, thank goodness I just bought a brand-new Grand Cherokee. cause maybe I can live in it.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And so anyhow I didn't have a place to go. I found this place; it was not optimal. It had dark wood paneling and hardly any windows. And not a very enlightening place to live when you're in this state. And so anyhow I lived there, probably drank a little too much while I was living there and trying.

Jim Fortin: Understood,

Eric Gewiss: Trying to not feel how I wanted, how I was feeling. And in January, so this was May, we sold the house. I moved into the cabin and in July I parted ways with the company I was working for. And honestly it was a really toxic environment, and I was 75% relieved and 25% lost again, because it was like, okay, no job, no wife living in a cabin,

Jim Fortin: Right?

Eric Gewiss: What's next? So, and at that time I started exploring ways to. I started looking at other programs like master classes on weekends and people who were doing clearings and cleansings and teaching you how to manifest and all that. And I was poking around in that and learning about different meditations and self-hypnosis and just exploring that. And so, I thought I needed something to continue my steps forward. And it's interesting. The other day I was watching a series called Quarterback on Netflix and Kurt Cousins made the comment this quote was go out and do one more play. You just don't know where it's gonna go. And I just kept telling myself that I needed to take the next baby step or steppingstone to see what's next. And it was hard. It was super hard. And, because I really thought, I don't know where I'm gonna live. I'm originally from Oregon and I have family in California or what I was gonna do for a living at that point. And,

Jim Fortin: No dog, no pets, no house, no, no wife, no anything. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: So just totally alone. And it, the shock of it all was just unbelievable. And so, I lived in this cabin and after I parted ways with my company.

Jim Fortin: Eric, hang on. I wanna make sure you're comfortable. Do you need some water or something? Are you okay?

Eric Gewiss: Thank you. Yeah.

Jim Fortin: I just wanna make sure you're okay.

Eric Gewiss: I have water and I've blessed it.

Jim Fortin: Okay Good. So, we can get to that in a bit, but I just wanna make sure there's nothing worse than being on a podcast or an interview and you don't have any water around and your throat is dry and you're like trying to do a good job, but you can. So

Eric Gewiss: I have two waters.

Jim Fortin: Okay, good. We're in good shape then. Okay, so you lost all these things. 2021. Let's keep going with this Great story.

Eric Gewiss: Okay. So anyhow in mid-August, the divorce was final, which was another traumatic experience for me. Just knowing that it was official and then in this cabin I kept thinking,

Jim Fortin: Wait, we already knew each other. This August that it happened, or we did not know each other yet.

Eric Gewiss: We didn't know each other yet.

Jim Fortin: Okay. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. And then, and when, after I parted ways with my company, I was in a pretty good depression and my brother came to visit me. From Arizona and another friend of mine from Oregon, and they knew the state of mind I was in, and they said, we've gotta go make sure you're okay and then figure out if there's something we can do to help you to wherever's next.

Jim Fortin: What, where what state of mind were you in? I know you've talked about circumstances.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: But what state of mind were you in?

Eric Gewiss: I was lost, just completely lost. And I thought I just had no compass at that point. I have no idea where I was gonna go or make a living or live. And at the same time, in this 10 by 20-foot storage unit, I thought, what am I gonna do with all this stuff if I go somewhere? And there's another part of that story I'll get to in a minute, but so anyhow, about mid-September and I posted this in the group. During this whole time, there was this annoying magpie that would come and sit outside my bedroom window, literally every day at 5:00 AM and screech at me. And it was like he was annoying me, or at least trying to tell me something.

Jim Fortin: His getting your attention.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. And so, and it was the first week of September while all of this was going on, I was outside and literally having a beer and this big thunderstorm came and it hit the cabin. And I thought, oh boy. So, I lost electricity. I lost electricity to the water pump. I lost the internet. I lost I thought, oh boy, this is a sign to go. Go. So, I,

Jim Fortin: Wow.

Eric Gewiss: Packed my car and I went on a 1500-mile road trip for a week and a half and visited family and friends in California, Oregon. And it gave me space to just not think about where I was, which was depressing. And long in the short of it is I ended up my trip in Portland, Oregon. And some friends of mine, very dear friends that I've been friends with since high school and went to college with said, come and stay with us until you figure it out. And I said, okay, there's it's the do something, right?

Jim Fortin: Yeah, just do something.

Eric Gewiss: You do something. And so, I came back, and I took three weeks and I sold or gave away everything in that storage unit. And my thinking was I'm starting over. I may as well start over.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: So, I thought I, I don't know where I'm gonna store stuff, and I don't, I had a trailer that I sold, but where am I gonna park that? So, I, I literally got rid of my entire life except for what I could fit in my car. And

Jim Fortin: Hang on. How did that feel, because I don't know your age, but how did that feel being middle aged and you're in that place?

Eric Gewiss: It was weird. It was it; I went back and forth. I thought, oh, I can't get rid of this because I'm, I'm attached to it and or this or that. And finally, I came to the realization, hey, this is a whole new world you're facing. You don't need to be attached to anything right now. And so, I unattached myself really from stuff because I, then I came to the point where I thought, it's just stuff I can replace stuff. I do have some regrets about some stuff that I got rid of that.

Jim Fortin: Sure.

Eric Gewiss: But it is what it is at this point. And so anyhow, the first week of October I packed my car with the last of my stuff and I drove to Portland and stayed with some friends there. And that's really, that was in October and that's when I really started a job hunting, but also really exploring some ways for me to grow and expand and figure out what tools I could find to reinvent myself and give me some enlightenment as to what's next in my life. And so, in November, I, like I said, I started exploring more webinars and master classes and there were all these different programs out there.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And if memory serves me, I think I came across you on Facebook.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: I started poking around and I watched a couple podcasts, and I was juggling several different options at that point. And the more I watched and listened to you, the more intrigued I was. But the main thing is I felt a connection with you because you weren't you were no bullshit. And I love that about you. I love that about you. And everything else was hype and rah and it just felt fake.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. I get, trust me, in this industry I get it 100%.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. It didn't feel authentic to me.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And the more I explored it, so, sorry I want to talk about this more, but let me just this real quick. So anyhow I was job hunting. I got a job offer with a great company, with a great culture, with a great position. I'm in marketing, I have been in my whole career and rented an apartment. And I thought, my first thought was I went from a 3,800 square foot house to a 700 square foot apartment.

Jim Fortin: No, you went to a cabin that didn't work for you to a 700 square foot apartment with nothing to take with you.

Eric Gewiss: Exactly.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: So, I pretty much bought all new stuff and moved into this apartment and just because I wanted a place where I could feel grounded and comfortable. Environment's important to me and

Jim Fortin: By the way, let me interject, that's why I already knew that about you, not because I've learned before, but we talk in T C P about the importance of environment on week number nine. So, you're a person, and a lot of people are like this. Your environment literally contributes to your mental health or lack thereof when you move to that place that was all dingy and everything else. That environment did not in any way foster growth in you. The universe says, hey kid, you're not paying attention. We're gonna strike the place with a thunderstorm or whatever to kick you out to go somewhere else.

Eric Gewiss: Right.

Jim Fortin: Because had you grounded there, you would not have gone somewhere else most likely. Yeah. Okay. So, your environment's important. You have your new environment.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. And it's still not my optimal environment.

Jim Fortin: Yeah,

Eric Gewiss: But in, in my past I'm gonna call myself an artist because I guess I still am an artist even though I haven't painted in a while.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: But it's a passion for me. And I used to sell a lot of art in Washington and Oregon. And it, I guess it was, I felt like it was a hobby. I made money doing it. But I'm good at it there. I have some paintings on the wall and back of me. And it's something that I aspire to do again because another part of T C P was, that resonates with me, that resonates with me still is putting value on what it is you have to offer. And it made me realize that, well, I can sell a painting for three or 400 bucks but honestly, I'm. Pretty good. And I know how good I am, and I think I could sell paintings for a few thousand bucks.

Jim Fortin: There we go.

Eric Gewiss: So that is something I aspire to again. And this space is not conducive to that. So, the part of my next step is creating a situation or opportunity for me to have an art studio where I can begin creating again. Because I really feel it's part of my essence and my soul and what I was meant to do. And I have people reach out to me all the time saying, hey, just wanted to share this picture of you, of this painting I've had on my office wall for 20 years. And I love it. Every day I look at it and it's like, that means so much to me.

Jim Fortin: By the way, I talk a lot about the learnings I've had from Don Xavier in TCP and especially Inner Circle. He taught me years ago. Everyone has their artistry, whether you're an accountant or a dancer or a painter, but many of us are afraid to live our artistry. And our artistry is what we are on the inside that is soulful and comes out. So, your soulfulness is coming out, is what it is.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah, and I have designs on doing some writing as well because I'm very good at that too. So, I have some story ideas. Anyhow, so I'm here. I have a new job. I work with great people. It's not optimal, but now I'm in a space of being very grateful for where I am now.

Jim Fortin: But let's for people listening. Okay. So, you've had, because we haven't gotten to the good part yet. Yeah. A hell of a lot. Go on. What do you think when it comes to where you held your attention, that got you through all that? Because I, I talk all the time about you are where your attention is. Yeah. Where was your attention that got you through all that life adversity?

Eric Gewiss: I, so my attention in the bed before I met you in T C P was about survival.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: My attention. Since I've evolved from T C P is more about setting my intention.

Jim Fortin: And by the way, people listening. Intention? Not attention. Intention by intention. I N T E N.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: Okay. Your intent. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. And that in terms in turn makes me very cognizant about the choices I make and the decisions I make based on what I've learned from T C P so that my intentions are aligned with my choices and decisions.

Jim Fortin: Okay. Good. Meaning your conscious intentions, because every thought is an intention.

Eric Gewiss: Correct.

Jim Fortin: But you're meaning you're consciously choosing your intentions now for the outcomes that you want to create.

Eric Gewiss: Yes.

Jim Fortin: So, you no longer what's the word here? You're no longer being the pawn to your circumstance. You're managing your circumstance through actually your choices and your intention and different tools you've learned to shape your reality.

Eric Gewiss: Yes, absolutely.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: I think that now I don't think I know that all of the monkey mind stuff is happening. Right. And so, I love to stop it and I know that'll come up at some point.

Jim Fortin: Wait, you love what you cut out.

Eric Gewiss: Stop it.

Jim Fortin: Oh, stop it. Yeah. The Bob Newhart videos. Stop it. Okay. Yep.

Eric Gewiss: I actually made this, I don't know,

Jim Fortin: Stop it.

Eric Gewiss: This is a button with my voice. Stop it. Which I keep,

Jim Fortin: That's very creative.

Eric Gewiss: I keep it on my desk, and I use it all the time because I'm learning now where my mind, when my mind is going, where I don't want it to go, I stop it and so it, it redirects my attention. And there's some, a simple thing that's my thing that I created. That's it's not a like a mantra, it's just something I've taught myself is if something is going not where I want it to go, I tell myself amazing things are about to happen. And that's what I use to redirect my attention.

Let me segue here for just one moment. As you're listening to every single person in this eight-part series. You're going to hear the same thing. And I know you're going to hear the same thing. That is because I asked them all and I asked them, would you have gotten the same transformation from the podcast that you got from the live program, working with me and my coaches. Every single one of them, as you will hear, emphatically says no. Absolutely not. I've said it a lot of times. Listening to the podcast, I appreciate it seriously, very, very much. And I know that it's helpful when it comes to gathering information. But you know what. It doesn't transform your life from the inside out. Because you don't currently have the context to assimilate all the information. As you're listening to different interview episodes. You'll hear people that have been through my program multiple times say that they missed a lot of it. The first time. Because they weren't the kind of person to get it, to understand it. And then later episodes and in time with me, meaning their episodes with me and more time with me and my coaching. They get it at a deeper level, and it starts to become part of their permanent behavior. That's not to say you won't start changing right away when you and I start working together. And my team and I started working with you, however, there's a difference between listening to something and actually putting it into practice. And that's what we do in the Transformational Coaching Program.

Things you're listening to hear we put into practice. But in the Transformational Coaching Program right here, you're only getting like 5% of what I talk about in the Transformational Coaching Program. And the program we like literally opens the doors big time and digs into what's causing you to be stuck in life. So, you can listen all day long. But I'm telling you right now, you don't know, what's keeping you stuck why because it's subconscious. And that's where we help you in a live program. So, if you're serious and I do mean serious about your life transformation. That goes beyond just listening to the podcast. Transformation needs to be necessary in order for us to take action on it. It must be necessary that we create a better life. And if you're serious about a better quality of life. Then get on the wait list for my live Transformational Coaching Program. Go to jimfortin.com/tcp. The acronym stands for the Transformational Coaching Program, jimfortin.com/tcp. Okay back to the episode.

Jim Fortin: Okay, good. So that's what I wanted people to know because I've been there before where your life, your circumstances are upside down. You're dead broke, you don't know what you're gonna do. You have no direction, meaning not you, but people. I've been there. You just don't know. And then that creates a little fear in people and more ambivalence. And then that creates more fear and more ambivalence. I've been there and I've learned before, but it took me a long time. I kept creating all of that in my life because of where I had my attention. You started moving your attention, hence your life. Shocking how it happens, starts moving,

Eric Gewiss: Right? Yeah. And I guess the, to this point when I told my story, if you will,

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: I feel as if I've let go, literally let go of all that stuff from Wyoming. I don't think about it hardly anymore. My attention right now is on now. And I think the foundation of that from T C P was, is really going back to the core of everything and evaluating your beliefs and your values and who you are and using that as the core foundation for everything else. That's so amazing in T C P. And then, taking that foundation and then starting to develop clarity and vision and what it is you want to commit to and making commitments. And then the whole training around creating new habits. All of that culmination is just perfectly designed to get you to this point. Not everybody's not the same in this path.

Jim Fortin: Right.

Eric Gewiss: And I find myself now, even this week, going back to going, okay, let me just look at my beliefs and my values again to make sure that they're still the same as they were back in March.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: The beauty of this is you can pick up that stake in the ground and put it down again and realign it to who it is you want to become. Right.

Jim Fortin: Absolutely. Yeah. Eric let's go here if it's okay with you. So, let's fast forward. You were in T C P and as the community’s share, you're, you were in the smallest T C P we've ever had. Yeah, it's different. It doesn't matter why, but again, doesn't matter why, but normally we have a lot more people sharing, but I think there were like a hundred and something people in your T C P and, but it's a community of people that can just say, can share whatever, and it's cool. People support you, but you had something happen in our time together.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: What was that? By the way, it's never happened that I know of in T C P.

Eric Gewiss: Let me just echo what you said, but I wanna reiterate it's not, it, it's a such a safe place and supporting environment.

Jim Fortin: Thank you.

Eric Gewiss: Its people are so genuinely caring. And I'm not talking about just you and the coaches, I'm talking about everybody in the group.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: We're all there to help and support each other. And it's so safe. There are people that were so afraid to come out of their shells who are blossoming now.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: So that's the amazing part of that.

Jim Fortin: Thank you.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. So anyhow,

Jim Fortin: We do that together because I had tracked the energies that are all just wonderful souls, aside from the bag of skin we're walking around in.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: And hey, we're all just trying to get through life and make it the best possible experience. And in our time together, in T C P and the group people, they're just there going, hey, I've been there, I've done that. Let me support you, let me help you when you're weaker. So that's, to me, I didn't create that. I call that's just divine creation. But you were going out of the group one day, and I noticed, and then we got a message from Eric in the group.

Eric Gewiss: This is on May 10th.

Jim Fortin: Just a couple months until 2023. Listen, so this is July now, guys.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. So, I have an office in just south of Portland, and every Wednesday we have a gathering if you want to show up. And we have lunch together. I work out at my home office. And I thought I hadn't been there in a while. And I was planning a trip to the East coast the following Monday to see a client. And I started to head out of here about 10:30 in the morning on May 10th. And I started having this pressure in my chest and my jaw hurt and I was driving to my office, and it wasn't getting better. This had happened for a couple of weeks, but it would get better after I'd sat down for a few minutes. This time it wasn't getting better, and I thought, I'm just gonna keep driving to the office and it'll probably pass. And I kid you not, there were two lanes. One was to take a left onto the freeway, and one was to take a right into the emergency room, into the hospital, which happens to be one of the best cardiac hospitals in the region, by the way.

Jim Fortin: Shocker.

Eric Gewiss: I took the right, and you can relate to this. I thought, I'm a guy, I don't like doctors. It'll pass, but I kid you not, something almost took my arms and turned me right. And I, at the same time was like, Eric turns right, right now. And it was God or the universe or my higher self or whatever you want to call it. And I thought, this is gonna be either a very expensive anxiety attack in the ER or I did the right thing. So, I went into the ER, and it started getting worse. And I sat down, and someone came to help me, and they did an E K G and they said, you're not having a heart attack, but something's not right. So, then they did an angioplasty, which is a, taking a picture of your heart with

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And they said, you are having an issue and you need attention now. And they said we could do one procedure, which your situation is a, in a very precarious place. And within 60 seconds I had like four doctors and two surgeons and they said, you need open heart surgery right now.

Jim Fortin: Like this minute right now, like, like 10 minutes ago.

Eric Gewiss: And I'm by myself, no friends or family and I actually called my boss and I said, hey, just so you know, I'm at the ER. I'll keep you posted.

Jim Fortin: You should have said, you know what? I'm at the ER, I need to have open heart surgery. I'll be in after lunch today.

Eric Gewiss: So, so literally it was 10:30, 1:30. They said, you really need to have this happen. If you would've kept driving, you wouldn't have been here. You would've died. It would've killed you. They said I had a 99% blockage and at 1:30 I was having open heart surgery and I was out at 4:30 and I was in the I C U and all these doctors and surgeons came in and said, you were this close. You didn't have a heart attack. You didn't have heart damage. And we caught it just at the last second. I was like, oh my gosh. And of course, they've got you all drugged up and

Jim Fortin: Right.

Eric Gewiss: And so, the next morning and they're poking you as you well know with needle.

Jim Fortin: I know. Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: Giving you pills and injections and drips and

Jim Fortin: You're wired to cable.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. So, then the next day, I got more visits, and they said so let me say this. I was bound. It was such a surreal situation. And on top of all this other stuff, over the last many months, this has been happening.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. No.

Eric Gewiss: So anyhow I spent literally, and I don't know, I don't know if you'd mind if I talk about WOM.

Jim Fortin: Sure. Please.

Eric Gewiss: I literally, and I've been doing W O M since the beginning of T C P,

Jim Fortin: By the way, Eric's, everybody listening it's a procedure that I created inside T C P that we teach people. It's called the Workshop of the Mind, and it literally reprograms your subconscious mind for whatever you're creating in life. So, you were doing WOM, okay. Please take it from there.

Eric Gewiss: And I'm doing WOM for many different things because while I was going through the T C P process, I was like, all right, what am I gonna focus on in WOM? And that was a big part of the conversation in the group. It was like, what do you focus on?

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: It was clear to me at this point, my focus needed to be on being a hundred percent well. And so that's what I focused on. And I literally probably spent four hours in this self-hypnosis the following day in the I C U and I felt incredibly good giving considering the situation. And I took my IV on my walker pole and I went out for a walk and came back and even one of the nurses said, why are you up and around by yourself? And I said, because I can. And so, they said you were gonna be in the hospital for six to eight days at a minimum. And I thought, all right. I, again, it was so surreal, but I just kept focusing on being a hundred percent well. And literally on day four, they said, you are healing so fast. It is weird, but we're gonna let you go tomorrow. So that was on the morning of day five. And I came home, and I had some friends helping me and my work was very gracious with me and gave me time off and some food delivery and so forth. And I went in for a one-week check-in after I got out of the hospital. And the nurse practitioner for the surgeon said, you're literally in the 99 percentile, the fastest healing patients we've ever seen. And I was like, there's only one reason for that. I it's my will and my conviction to healing and being a hundred percent well,

Jim Fortin: Which is your will.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: It's your will and your intention also because you had the intention which engaged the will.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah.

Jim Fortin: Which by the way, there are podcast episodes on about a hundred episodes ago.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah,

Jim Fortin: But please go ahead.

Eric Gewiss: No, I attributed that a hundred percent to T C P, W O M, the group the support, my will and I thought, I've come this far, I'm gonna keep going. And so, I took some time off. I took most of June off and had my eight-week checkup about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago. And the cardiologist said, “You’re great. You can do anything you want. I said, can I golf? And he said, do whatever you want. So last week I went fly fishing, golfing, swimming. And it goes back to commitment. I thought, okay. cause I was sitting around like a blob for so many weeks, I started losing muscle mass and

Jim Fortin: Right.

Eric Gewiss: And so, two days ago I thought, okay, I'm going back to commitment. And part of what the cardiologist told me was, you need, I want you to do 30 minutes of cardio a day. I don't care if it's walking or on a stair machine or an elliptical or whatever.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I woke up this morning and I was not in the mood, and I thought, that's not commitment Eric. And I put on my shorts and my t-shirt, and I went outside, and I did 50 minutes of cardio.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I came back, and I thought, okay, this is what it's all about. Because I felt you're, you made the commitment, you're following through, keep going. And now you have a, after all this, complete slip a level playing field, and another clear canvas. To do whatever it is you want to do with it.

Jim Fortin: After your life literally came unglued from A to Z basically most people would say, dude, your life sucks. That's just layman's terms. Yeah. But you literally reinvent your entire life.

Eric Gewiss: Well, and the thing about it is there's still so much I want to explore and change and grow and create and rather than I'm in this space now where I think, okay, it's a 700 square foot apartment, but I could be living in a lot worse places.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I have a great job. I have great friends; I have a great family. Everybody's been super supportive and now I'm gonna take these tools. I literally went back to TCP week one this morning and started going back through some of my notes. Because I think as we evolve and go through T C P and I will go through the next T C P, which we start next. We start on the eighth of August. So, you're going to the end.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. I'm gonna get even more out of it and more aha moments and things that didn't resonate the first time.

Jim Fortin: Yep.

Eric Gewiss: To begin the next part of this journey to create the life I want.

Jim Fortin: Let me ask you this. Number one, I'm gonna say something. You will do that. You will do that. Secondly, do you see yourself yet being a successful commercial artist?

Eric Gewiss: Oh, yeah.

Jim Fortin: Okay. That's the key.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah, I just need the space.

Jim Fortin: Create it. Be responsible, be committed, make it happen instead of needing the space, what can you do today to make it happen by the end of the week, which is five hours, whatever. But I, you, you know the drill. We've already been there and are we spending our time together? But instead of needing the space, what can you set your intention on today that this space somehow just shows up in a week, two days, whatever, for you to open the door for your next step.

Eric Gewiss: I can hold that thought in my and vision in my mind and see it in WOM.

Jim Fortin: And it's already done.

Eric Gewiss: And it's already done. And then let it go. And I think the culmination of this, and I posted this in the group, and I actually wrote it down for myself to look at yesterday, was do you mind if I read it?

Jim Fortin: Please.

Eric Gewiss: The culmination of this is I am not a victim. My old stories are just stories that have no power over me. Now I take full responsibility for my thoughts, actions, and habits that no longer serve me my highest good, and I release them. There's no other than me that can change me. I own what I've created or agreed to align with previously that doesn't serve my higher self. Now I own my authentic self to create new habits and intentions. I'm my own power. There's only now be still and listen.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. Wow. Well, how did, how, okay. The key is this, do you feel that.

Eric Gewiss: I'm getting there.

Jim Fortin: Okay, that's fine. That's fine.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah, I'm getting there. Every day is a, every day is a new awakening moment, right. And it's been a lot of traumata over the past 18 months, including heart surgery. And so, I'm just right now, honestly, the best thing I could advise myself is still surrendering, listening, letting things come to me with an open mind setting my intention so that the things that come to me are aligned with my intention.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I feel like I'm in a funny way after all this and the heart surgery regrouping and being reborn again during the T C P process.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. You know what's interesting is that you found, and we're not gratuitously promoting T C P in this conversation, but I look at what I create. I didn't create it; it came through me. I look at it sometimes and I'm like, damn, this is really good. This is really good. And for them, all the life-changing stories. And what's interesting is that you found T C P at the lowest point in your life almost. You were at like 97% the lowest. And then you decided for your heart to give out and you were at 99% the lowest. And look where you are today.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. Well, I found you initially through BE DO HAVE. Yeah, which was extremely powerful. And it was almost like, yeah, of course I'm gonna do T C P, I need more of this. And it's it is it's had a tremendous impact on my life. I think that for me, and many people having gone through what I've gone through, not finding you and the group and T C P this is something I could have hung on to for another 10 years.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: I could have drug this on weighing me down as opposed to discovering these tools and people and living again.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. Eric, we need to wrap up here on time, but let's go here. Let's say you're talking to one of your best friends. And their life is what your life just was. Not what it's becoming, but what you've come out of. And they said, Eric, help me. Give me some advice. How do I change my life? What advice would you give them?

Eric Gewiss: Well, I'd certainly share my experience with you and T C P but, or something like this, that help put them in a direction to rediscover who they are what they want. It's funny, I had this happen actually. And for full disclosure, when I say I parted ways with my company in Wyoming, I got fired.

Jim Fortin: Okay.

Eric Gewiss: And the person who fired me literally called me three weeks ago. They didn't apologize. They just were freaking out. And they were freaking out about their job and their life. And I literally just stepped back. I didn't have any emotional connection to me being let go at that point.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: I was listening to this person, and I said, you need to take a step back and breathe and you need to stop and reevaluate who you are and what you want to do and who you want to be. And I said, I have a recommendation for you, something that's helped me very much so. And I shared it with this person. But I was so removed from any old emotion of what had happened.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: Then and I was, it was funny because she was actually calling to get some coaching from me. I thought this is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me for my,

Jim Fortin: But yet, she fired you in the past. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: And so, I shared what the process I went through with T C P and how it's helped me, and I said, I highly recommend you look into this or something similar and, but you need to stop freaking out and take a step back and reevaluate who you are and what you want from your life.

Jim Fortin: You said something there, which is the whole basis of T C P, even though we do a lot of mechanical work, meaning things and thinking at homework and different things. And I created all that to get you guys where I wanted to get you. It was all done to create the outcomes, but you said the word BEing. Meaning, who do I want to be? What, and I always go to, and by the way, anybody uses it. I own the trademark to BE DO HAVE, just to be very clear about that. But you said ways of the ways to be. What does that mean to you now?

Eric Gewiss: Oh, man. So much different than it was a year ago. It is hard to explain. It is it's the difference between I think your old stories, letting go of your old stories and your experiences and everything that you think has made you, and then redefining how you want you to be and start acting and thinking, and committing to that way of BEing. I don't know if that's a good way of,

Jim Fortin: That's fine. That's fine. The things we teach in T C P every week we go through one major concept and are you BEing a hundred percent responsible in your life? Are you BEing committed? Are you self-integral? All these ways of BEing and everything comes down to BEing, and you've shifted your being to create this outcome that I'll tell you right now, you have no idea where it's gonna go because you grabbed tiger by the tail. And I would not be surprised if in a couple of years I say, I see your art. And I'm like, I know that guy.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. I, I think to your point, and this is another thing that I think that will hopefully resonate with folks is I, it was back in April Before the heart surgery. And we talked about habits.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I had a habit, a long-time habit, which I won't go into, but after that week, I made a commitment to not be that person anymore with that habit.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: And I haven't looked back.

Jim Fortin: It's amazing what happens when we decide. Yeah. And we use our intention and our will. I've done the same. And I don't want to say I've done the same, taking away from you. That is powerful what you did. And I even look at me and I'm saying, do I wanna be the person who does X, Y, Z anymore? No. I don't want to be that person. How do I have to be different? What am I committed to? What am I responsible for? What's my self-integrity? Dude, thank you for sharing that, for people listening, because it's so easy to hear, but we just dismiss it. But everything comes down to that.

Eric Gewiss: I have one more powerful thing to say.

Jim Fortin: Sure, please.

Eric Gewiss: It is the, it one of the biggest things you've ever said that resonated with me so much at the beginning of this process, and that was do you wanna be the person you are now a year from now? And that hit me so hard. It was like, hell no,

Jim Fortin: I wanna live in a better place.

Eric Gewiss: You give me the tools and direction and ways to not do that. For me to not be that person a year from now, I'm all over that because that is not who I want to be.

Jim Fortin: Hopefully I've delivered on that and we're working on it still.

Eric Gewiss: Yeah. Yeah. It's a process. It's an evolution. And like I said, we're all at different steps, so, don't freak out that you're not at the same level as someone else. It's a personal process. And it will evolve whether quickly or more slowly. It will absolutely change your life.

Jim Fortin: I appreciate that. And a thought I remember now I recall, I think you're 57, right?

Eric Gewiss: Oh, you and I are the same age.

Jim Fortin: 50. You're 45.

Eric Gewiss: No, you, we both know.

Jim Fortin: You're 58. Okay.

Eric Gewiss: I'm gonna be 59 next week.

Jim Fortin: I'm not. Well then, you're older than me. Let's be very clear about that.

Eric Gewiss: August 3rd, whatever day that is.

Jim Fortin: But wait, am I 58? Shit. Okay. I guess I'm 58. But here's the thing is. I go to the gym every week because I've always been somebody who goes to the gym, even from my twenties all the way up. And in my forties, I started doing P 90 X at home. In my fifties, I started building my business even more, and I just stopped being that person who went to the gym. And now I'm saying as I'm approaching 60 a year and a half away, when I'm 60, I'm already there better, I'm in better shape than most people on the planet my age. And when I'm 60, I'm gonna be in the absolute best shape I've ever been in, in my life, inside and outside, physically, and maybe set a goal for yourself like that. Your intention, your will is where are you gonna be with your health? Because you're doing things now, where are you going to be when you're 60 with this, or 61 or whatever. It's just a number.

Eric Gewiss: And that's one of the things I work on in WOM.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: But it's a combination of that and then following through with it making be committed.

Jim Fortin: Yeah.

Eric Gewiss: It is not just a matter of wishing it you have to do the work.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. Lemme go there. I don't know if you said that or somebody I talked to earlier. That's one of the most profound lessons I've learned from Don Xavier that is so banal that we miss it. And he's always said in 30 years, nothing in life is free, and if you want it, you must do the work. You, my friend, have done the work. But many people in your situation, even similar, close, whatever, their life is upside down. They won't do the work, and then they wonder why they're not getting the outcome they want. You said one of the most powerful things in our time together, doing the work. You don't do the work. No matter what you want, you will not get the outcome.

Eric Gewiss: No. It's you. You can't just sit on your couch and eat some potato chips and go, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds. You have to do the work. It's it but you have to be that person. Right? You have to be that person who is ingrained in you as you're being that you're gonna be that person. You are that person. And that in turn influences your actions.

Jim Fortin: Yeah. What, however, you're being is what you do. What you do is what you have. And I'm a marketer also. I've been in marketing for 35 or 40 years. And I just had an idea, why don't you and I start a company and the whole product is the 2023 revolutionary potato chip diet, eat potato chips all day and lose 20 pounds in seven days.

Eric Gewiss: It'd be funny.

Jim Fortin: Trust me, there would be people that would buy it. Oh. So that's not the funny part. But anyway, Eric, thank you brother. From the heart, bottom of the heart. Thank you again for being here, for sharing your story, and I am blessed to be able to continue working with you.

Thank you for listening. And I do want to remind you. If you're serious. Serious about your life transformation. And creating a much better quality of life. Then whatever you do get on the wait list for my Transformational Coaching Program. Let me ask you a question, do you want to create a significantly better, healthier, wealthier, better relationships, kind of life for yourself. As you're thinking about that, there's only one answer. It's yes or it's no. Anything else is an excuse. And your excuses are what keep you trapped and in your old way. If you're serious about creating a much better experience of life, it's not about excuses. It's about taking action. That being said, get on my wait list for my live Transformational Coaching Program. Go to jimfortin.com/tcp and get on the wait list. And we'll let you know when we open the doors again. Thank you for listening and I'll catch you over on another episode. Bye-bye.