June 18, 2024

From Crash to Clarity: Esther's Story of Plane Crash Survival and Growth

From Crash to Clarity: Esther's Story of Plane Crash Survival and Growth

Give us feedback,suggestion or make a request What if the life you’re living today is the dream your past self once yearned for? Join us in this episode of the Unleashed Podcast as we sit down with the inspiring Esther Longe, who takes us through her transformative journey embracing gratitude and perspective. Esther helps us explore the idea that our current realities, often taken for granted, were once the fervent wishes of our former selves and the unspoken aspirations of those around us. W...

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Give us feedback,suggestion or make a request

What if the life you’re living today is the dream your past self once yearned for? Join us in this episode of the Unleashed Podcast as we sit down with the inspiring Esther Longe, who takes us through her transformative journey embracing gratitude and perspective. Esther helps us explore the idea that our current realities, often taken for granted, were once the fervent wishes of our former selves and the unspoken aspirations of those around us. We delve into the rich cycle of human desire and fulfillment, the importance of pausing to appreciate our blessings, and seeking guidance for the future.

We also tackle the age-old struggle of wanting to be universally liked and the liberating realization that this is neither possible nor necessary. Using relatable analogies, Esther and I dissect the notion of embracing your unique identity and how channeling your energy towards those aligned with your values leads to genuine connections and fulfillment. We also discuss the importance of resilience and sticking through life’s challenges to fully appreciate our environments, rather than making hasty exits when the going gets tough. Learn to invest in relationships and opportunities that genuinely value your presence and contributions.

Esther's gripping account of surviving a plane crash and her subsequent emotional journey is nothing short of miraculous. She shares how she transformed her initial terror of flying into a path of healing and spiritual awakening. This episode uncovers the public scrutiny she faced, the pressure to find purpose, and the profound impact on her mental health. Esther's story is a testament to resilience, mental fortitude, and the power of rediscovering one’s purpose. You'll be inspired by her incredible journey and motivated to confront and overcome your own challenges with newfound strength and perspective.

This episode is sponsored by MyCareerLabs

Support the show

00:02 - The Power of Gratitude and Perspective

09:53 - Embracing Your Unique Identity and Journey

19:00 - Unexpected Journey of Self-Discovery

22:48 - Miraculous Survival in Plane Crash

36:09 - Journey of Surviving a Plane Crash

41:54 - Unraveling Mental Strongholds

52:57 - Heart as Superpower

01:02:00 - Discovering Your Unique Purpose

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this podcast with Femi Akinyemi, the podcast where we bring amazing guests to share the amazing stories that could transform our lives and help us to unleash our greatest selves.

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It's been a minute since I've come to you a long time actually but you know what?

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If I did have to come back, it was going to be for an amazing, amazing guest, and that is what I have for you today.

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I have with me someone who needs no introduction for those of you very familiar with her and, by the end of this podcast, for those of you who didn't know her but now do, you will be gobbling up all her content and following her up, because she is someone who is just all about faith, execution, passion, and even when I was just following her, I just realized she was just a person of action.

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Go, go, go, go go.

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So I love tapping into her energy and her story is unique and amazing.

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So it's really a pleasure to have you, esther Lunger.

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Esther, welcome to the Unleashed Podcast.

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Thank you so much for joining us.

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Thank you so much for having me, Femi.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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Thank you.

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So I mean, I look at your profile and you have a very, very unique story and you probably fall into maybe less than 100 people in the world by the time you share your story.

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Probably I mean less than a hundred people in the world who have been through what you've been, and I'm making that number up through my head.

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But do you know how many people have survived where you survived?

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Do you follow that?

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You know broadly how many?

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No, okay, but we can assume it's probably going to be very low.

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Right, it's going to be very low, which makes you a very unique person.

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So I don't want to get into that first, because that would make everyone go wow.

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So I guess I want to say the first thing I want to say is, as you look back on your life, to everything you've been through to get to where you are today, when you look back, what's your number one feeling?

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Looking back on your journey of life to get to where you are today, what's your feeling when you look back on your journey of life to get to where you are today?

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What's your feeling when you look back on your life?

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I think, as cliche as it sounds, it's probably going to be gratitude, and I know you asked for one, but gratitude and joy, you know.

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Gratitude because I get to be here, and joy in that I haven't even started to scratch the surface.

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So it's exciting to know that there's still another half of my life yet to unfold.

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So I'm excited, you know, and that is encapsulated in joy.

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Yeah, and I get that because that must be, be and, ultimately, that should be the feeling for all of us, because everybody here, as I was speaking to one of my friends and, um, her daughter goes to a really good school.

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As you're saying, her daughter, that, look, life is a fight, because the moment you were conceived, even then it was a fight because, if you know the way biology works, you have, or you are, the one that survived to be conceived in my womb.

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So, day one, life is a fight.

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So the fact that you're here, you have to be grateful from day one and make the most of every opportunity.

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So I think it's quite amazing what you say, which is about gratitude, and I think a lot of us, we go through life not realizing how blessed we are.

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Right, we don't realize how fortunate we are.

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Yeah, yeah, and there was something I read in one of your profiles, I think in your instagram post, where you said where you are is someone else's prayer point, and that struck me, which is kind of like saying what you have is what someone else wants.

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Right, speak on that a bit.

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When you say that, dig deep into that, what do you?

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What do you mean by that?

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I think that a lot of times.

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So it's an, it's an interesting cycle, and sometimes I wonder how god feels, because we're praying oh lord, oh lord, oh lord, please, please, please, give me my husband, give me my wife, give me my job, give me this thing.

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And you're praying, you're fasting, you know, you're in fact you're praying like never before.

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You're crying, and then the job comes, and then you're like oh God, you know, I really would like to spend time with you, but you know I got to be at work.

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You know time's going.

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And then you get this manager and this thing that you testified in church and said oh father, I just thank you for this amazing job.

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And everybody knows that it was a God job, right?

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You know, all of a sudden you get this manager and you're like I don't even think that.

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Did I even hear from God?

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Was this really the will of God?

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Is this really?

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you know, as in am I here?

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Oh no, please.

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And the cycle starts again.

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You begin to pray oh God, oh God, please, give me a new job, give me a new job.

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But if you would actually pause and reflect and take a second, you will realize that you are living in some of your answered prayers.

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The house that you're living in now was once a prayer point.

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The job, the life that you are living right now was once a prayer point, and it was once a prayer point for you.

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It is also right now somebody's prayer point.

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There's somebody that is looking at you, no matter where you are and you're complaining.

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Somebody is looking at you and saying, oh, I wish I had what this person had.

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And so if we're able to stop and reflect, then we're able to be grateful and then, from that point of gratitude, now begin to say okay, lord, I thank you for what you've done.

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Help me to know if my time in this season is over, if it's time for me to move on to something new.

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And what is this new thing that you're asking me to move on to?

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So, just as an example, yesterday I me to move move on to.

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So, just as an example, yesterday I was teaching a class and, um, as what he was saying, you know, um, you know god answered my prayer and got me and gave me well, I mean, I got this job that allowed me to stay on in the uk.

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You know, I don't know, for I mean, I'm not that grateful, but and I'm looking at this person like you do know that there are people who, they finish their courses, they cannot find anybody to file, you know for them and they are kicked back to wherever it is that they're coming from.

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You know.

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So can you hear yourself?

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You know you have somebody paying for you to stay in a different country while you figure out what your next move is like.

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You know.

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So I think a lot of us could do with a little bit more reflecting on wherever we are, you know in life.

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It's that word, perspective, isn't it?

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We lose perspective sometimes.

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Definitely One of my favorite words.

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Yeah, yeah, and I think we also.

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We measure ourselves by ourselves.

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Sometimes you look at someone else and one of the things I'm always learning to do myself because, like you, I do a lot of coaching as well One thing that I always try to do.

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Or everyone understand that all of us are in the school of life, but my curriculum it's even to your curriculum.

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My assignment is even from your assignment.

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The path set for me is even from yours and that's only formed by my background, who my parents were where I'm from, background who my parents were where I'm from.

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So the distance I have to travel and yours are different.

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So, someone who came from absolutely nothing, getting to be a humble civil servant is a lot.

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It's a big achievement, um, someone who started with everything they'd be given.

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So it's really about making but using the five talents kind of thing.

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Scripturally it's almost like it's with everyone has one, someone have one, someone have three, someone have five.

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It's what you do with it.

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That is success.

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Success is not the same for everyone, but we all have responsibility to make the best of what we have to get where we should be.

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And so don't say, because he had five and I don't have three and I don't have five, I'm my three, I have, I'm not going to bother with it because it got more than me.

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No, it doesn't work like that.

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You know, when we even talk about this analogy, you know some people think that quantity supersedes quality.

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So you can have five, right, and the five I mean local businesses, this and that, and you can have one and your one is apple or facebook or tesla, or do you know what I mean, like your one your one blows one million out of the water, you know.

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And so, like you said, even the problem is to compare ourselves to ourselves.

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It's foolishness.

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So a lot of times you're looking oh, I wish I had five talents.

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But sometimes the problem that the person that has five talents is that they have is to even concentrate on which one should.

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I will focus on per time, per season, because I have all these ones.

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You know you have one.

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You can't focus.

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This is what I have.

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I'm going to mine it.

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Make sure that you know I take it to the nth degree and make sure that everything that is of value inside of it, you know I show, showcase it to the world, you know.

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So, like we are saying now, perspective changes everything.

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It changes the way that we even show up to the world.

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It changes the way that we, you know we value the things that we have been giving.

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Somebody can say, oh, my one talent is speaking, but you can be the best orator that there is.

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You know what I mean.

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You know, like you can become a president based on your speaking ability.

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Like there's no cap, you know, the only cap that is put is the one that we put on ourselves.

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Yes, and that's where you have to find.

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We're going on to your next thing I saw that I'm curious about to do is you said you have to find your tribe, and there was something you said.

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You said I'm not for everybody.

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You said I'm not for everybody, I have to find your tribe, and it's one of those messages that is easy to it's.

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I would say it's easy to say it's, we all know it, but we struggle to practice it because, ultimately, we all have a.

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We are social human beings and we all want to be loved, we all want to be wanted, we all want to be appreciated.

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So, to be able to go, this is.

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These three people are my people and these are people that champion me, support me and everyone else.

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I love you, we're all good.

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How easy do you find it to get to that point where you understand that you're not for everybody?

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And because I want what I'm trying to do is also encourage our listeners to help them understand that you have to start focusing on yourself and being the best you can be, and being the best you can be is for the people you are sent to, not to everybody.

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That's right.

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Honestly, you are subject of what I'm now walking, because the truth of the matter is this there are at least 7 billion people in the world, at least.

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But let me backtrack.

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There's something in us as human beings, inherently, that wants to be liked by everybody.

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But as we grow older and begin to understand and hone our identity, you realize that you're not like everybody else and you're not for everybody.

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And I always say this.

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I say, look, there are people that don't like bread, there are people that don't like ice cream, there are people that don't like pineapple, you know, and the ice cream that they don't like is not because they are lactose intolerant or they just don't like ice cream.

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There are people that don't like chocolate, do you understand?

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You know?

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And if I want to even go deep, there are people that don't like chocolate, do you understand?

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And if I want to even go deep, there are people that don't like Jesus.

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So why do you think they must like you?

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But the people that you are called to, they will respond to your message.

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They will respond to you like you're literally the best thing since sliced bread, and you will not have to work as hard to convince them of your value, to convince them of why they should track with you or why they should go through life with you, because they already see you, they already see your value and they're like.

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This is somebody that I want to align with.

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So a lot of times we waste very valuable time and energy trying to convince people that are not our stakeholders to buy into the message of our lives.

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But if you use that time and energy to refine your message, to continue to mine your value, you will find that those that love you love you even more and they make up for the ones that don't.

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So even if you look at even brands because my background is in marketing we look at Apple there's always this Apple versus Samsung debate.

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Do you understand the people that are Android users?

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They swear on their Android.

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People that are Apple, meanwhile, people will be abusing Apple.

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Apple, your design does not change.

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That's for your pocket, because the people every September, the minutes they stand up, do their presentation by December.

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There are people that are queuing for this product.

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There are people, so you can say what you want, but the people that are brand loyalists are the brand loyalists.

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There's a lot that they will live and breathe.

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Die with Android, no problem.

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Jiggets, the markets, the stage, the world is big enough for everybody to fly.

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It is when there's a lack mentality, meaning that, oh, if this person doesn't like me, then I'm finished.

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No, if this person doesn't like you, there are 10 others that will.

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And so when you look at life from an abundance mindset, through a you know, I am the value mindset, then you find that people are drawn to you and what you carry, and you don't have to convince them as much as you know, because they already see what is inherent in you.

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Yeah, and I love that you connected it to your marketing, because you got there ahead of me, because, ultimately, the best businesses are the ones who are sure of who their customer is.

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Because you can target your marketing, your everything, and it's the same for all of us.

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Not everybody can be your friends and I think when I do a lot of career coaching for people as well as well, I always tell them you can't work for every company.

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There are some companies you go to and they just celebrate you, the thing you did somewhere else, that everyone looked at it like you go somewhere else and they say, wow, you're amazing, and yet you want to go.

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So and this comes back to my mind.

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I think when I was younger, I always wanted to work for really, really, really big companies.

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But when I got there, I realized that for the big brands, they're very impersonal, it's very process-driven, and I was always like just a face in the crowd.

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But when I worked for smaller companies, I love interaction with people, I love meeting people.

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So all of a sudden, when I was in these smaller places, my engagement came to life and I felt like I could have more of an impact.

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I think the message is kind of for people here is that in your personal life, in business, in everywhere you have to find where you are celebrated and where you are appreciated and wanted, right?

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Isn't that the message?

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That's it.

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That's it In life, in life in general.

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Wherever you are, just go where you are celebrated, not tolerated.

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Now, I must put a caveat to that, because I find that you know parts of our generation and definitely the generation that is coming after.

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There is something that is missing, which is the ability to stick, stick at it ability, the ability to stick through things.

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A lot of people say, oh no, no, no, no, it's not giving, it's not working for my mental health, and before you even get a chance to even find out why you're there and what it's about, you're moving on to the next thing.

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This is not what we are saying.

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What we are saying is be so secure in your identity and in the value that you carry as a person that you go and you expect to be valued.

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You don't have to convince people of your value.

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You don't have to convince people to partner with you, to track with you.

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It doesn't have to convince people to partner with you, to track with you.

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It doesn't say that you're perfect or there are no places to improve, but it just lets you know that the people already celebrate you for the essence of you and, whatever needs to be added, they're willing to work with you through whatever the processes are.

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Yeah, that's true.

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It's about knowing your identity and knowing that you're you're.

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You are who you are, and your experiences make up who you are, and that gives you your own unique perspective.

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That somebody would value, and I think the also that thing is I don't know if that's what you find as well is try not to take it personal when people, when you're not for people, don't take it personal.

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I think that's why a lot of us we take it personal right doesn't like me.

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Oh, I don't get on that person.

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We try to force ourselves and then we cause more stress and make it even worse yeah, that's so good.

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That's actually really good yeah so I couldn't let you go before we now start getting to, because we're kind of going back to fun.

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So when I tell your profile he said plane crash survivor.

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And I looked at her and I went I've never seen that before and I'm like is this possible?

00:16:08.644 --> 00:16:19.606
And I guess that's why, when we started the conversation we're speaking about, you are one of the few, the few people who have been through this near death experience of being plane crash.

00:16:19.606 --> 00:16:28.325
So by sharing as much as you feel comfortable sharing, I mean, what was life like before for you?

00:16:28.325 --> 00:16:32.388
Who were you before and this whole event happening.

00:16:32.388 --> 00:16:40.355
How does that, when you look at your life and that chapter, how have you come to reconcile yourself with it and how did the whole thing happen?

00:16:40.355 --> 00:16:44.662
I mean, in your own words, talk us through that whole when you narrate it.

00:16:44.662 --> 00:16:46.909
How do you narrate that whole chapter of your life and that whole thing?

00:18:01.800 --> 00:18:04.269
I feel like you've asked me like three or four questions.

00:18:04.659 --> 00:18:26.304
I know I have, but it's because it's such, and the reason why is because and this is where you can also help as well is because there are some people I've met who have been through let's call them, traumatic events that sometimes they they struggle to deal with, articulating the shame because maybe it's not something they've dealt with on part themselves yet.

00:18:26.304 --> 00:18:42.222
So part of me was trying to find the right way to ask you so you can feel comfortable, but also I kind of also know I've been with you long enough and followed you long enough to know that you've embraced it and you've used it as part of your story to become who you are today.

00:18:42.222 --> 00:18:53.996
So I guess the way I'll put it is tell us more about your experience as a plane crash survivor what led up to it and how it shaped you to who you are today.

00:18:54.036 --> 00:18:54.896
Okay so, thank you.

00:18:54.896 --> 00:19:17.572
Okay, so, as concisely as possible, so I grew up in a single parent home, right, and up until that point in my life, yes, I, yes, you know, I went after things, you know, and by the grace of god, I had good education, um, but I never really thought that there was anything remarkable.

00:19:17.572 --> 00:19:27.865
I mean, yes, I had, I was driven, I had ambition, but remarkable that God would single me out for anything.

00:19:27.865 --> 00:19:32.581
In fact, I even thought that God was like a heavenly uncle, so I didn't think I was on his radar.

00:19:32.581 --> 00:19:49.771
And then fast forward to 2006, which is when it happened, when I go for National Youth Service, which is something that happens in Nigeria when you finish your first degree, right?

00:19:49.771 --> 00:19:52.034
So I was posted to Sokoto.

00:19:52.074 --> 00:20:05.469
Now, as a bit of background, in the year 2000, my auntie died in a plane crash, so she went on a missionary journey for Deeper Life, which is Deeper Life Christian Ministries.

00:20:05.469 --> 00:20:14.143
It's a church in Nigeria, and the Kenyan plane that she was in crashed into the sea.

00:20:14.143 --> 00:20:19.961
And then we're told that we're lucky or fortunate to be able to find her body to bury.

00:20:19.961 --> 00:20:29.175
But that had an impact body to bury, but that had an impact, I mean on me.

00:20:29.175 --> 00:20:36.916
I just pretended that she remained in Port Harcourt where she lived, you know, and that's how I processed that grief, but for my mom it impacted the way that she flew right.

00:20:36.916 --> 00:20:45.342
So she stopped flying internationally and locally and it wasn't broken until 2014, when my younger brother was getting married.

00:20:45.990 --> 00:20:47.382
Yeah, so my mom's younger sister.

00:20:47.382 --> 00:20:48.695
Yeah, my mom's younger sister.

00:20:48.695 --> 00:20:56.063
So my mom did not fly until 2014 when my younger brother got married.

00:20:56.063 --> 00:20:59.972
Wow, so when we had got so fast forward.

00:20:59.972 --> 00:21:08.782
Now to 2006, when we finished uni, nyc lists come out and they say I'm posted to Sokoto.

00:21:08.782 --> 00:21:21.204
I'm like you said what I do not even remember that Sokoto was a state in Nigeria, because the last time I heard about Sokoto was in states and capital you know, a primary school right.

00:21:22.072 --> 00:21:22.713
So I'm like who?

00:21:22.713 --> 00:21:37.398
So I said what you know, and it was, I think, 36 hours by road and an hour and a half by plane, so it was almost like a no-brainer.

00:21:37.398 --> 00:21:38.755
You'd have to fly, you know.

00:21:38.755 --> 00:21:41.438
And I remember my mom being so prayerful, you know.

00:21:41.438 --> 00:21:44.643
In fact she wanted me to defer my NYSE posting.

00:21:44.643 --> 00:21:45.813
She was like wait for batch B.

00:21:45.813 --> 00:21:53.052
But I'd heard stories about how, um, you wait six months for batch B and they'll push you to the exact same place.

00:21:53.052 --> 00:21:57.371
I'm like I'm not gonna wait six months to end up having to go there, you know.

00:21:57.371 --> 00:22:06.012
So she prayed for me and she was like Lord, this is my firstborn, you know, take her and bring her back safely to me at the end of this process.

00:22:06.012 --> 00:22:15.519
And so I go to sokoto and I'm there for nine months, you know, and it was an interesting time you spent nine months there I spent nine months in sokoto.

00:22:15.719 --> 00:22:20.278
My idea when I was going was I was going to, only going to spend three weeks in camp, right.

00:22:20.278 --> 00:22:26.780
But you know, the people that were, yeah, people that were redeploying, or they were saying, oh, they have brain surgery, they have this.

00:22:26.780 --> 00:22:30.092
I say, god forbid, I cannot swear for myself because I want to redeploy.

00:22:30.092 --> 00:22:39.760
So I just, you know, I was like, okay, it looks like I'm here, and it taught me a lot about myself.

00:22:39.760 --> 00:22:41.304
I think that's a different conversation for you.

00:22:41.304 --> 00:22:42.351
I was there for nine months.

00:22:42.351 --> 00:22:54.567
Now I'm 21 at that time, about to be 22 in november, so you're 21 and you think, oh, you can fight, because every time I would come home, it was a dramatic production because my mom, you know, would pray fast and pray.

00:22:54.567 --> 00:22:56.195
You know, do you really have to come back?

00:22:56.195 --> 00:22:57.016
Do you really have to?

00:22:57.016 --> 00:22:57.778
You know, do this.

00:22:57.778 --> 00:23:00.014
And I'm like, please, I need to come for my sanity's sake, I need to come back to civilized.

00:23:00.014 --> 00:23:02.864
I need to come for my sanity's sake, I need to come back to civilized.

00:23:02.864 --> 00:23:06.353
I need to come back, right, and I would come.

00:23:06.994 --> 00:23:18.730
And when I was returning, because the flights were on Wednesdays, fridays and Sundays, my mom would start fasting on Monday and wouldn't stop fasting until Wednesday when she knew I'd landed safely, right.

00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:22.715
So it was always a strain on her.

00:23:22.715 --> 00:23:30.804
You know, for me, I always used to tell people that I believe that air travel is one of the safest means of transportation.

00:23:30.804 --> 00:23:38.543
Because I'm promising, yeah, because you know how many people die, you know, in road accidents on a daily basis, right?

00:23:38.543 --> 00:23:40.791
So I always used to say this.

00:23:40.791 --> 00:23:59.043
You know, I even had friends who were afraid of flying, who would change their flight tickets to fly on the same day as me because I was so confident in this thing that I was saying so fast forward to October, right, my friends have been flying up and down.

00:23:59.043 --> 00:23:59.871
So I'm like, I want to fly.

00:23:59.871 --> 00:24:01.152
I'm an adult, I'm 21.

00:24:01.152 --> 00:24:03.594
Why do I have to tell my mom I'm flying?

00:24:03.594 --> 00:24:10.224
So, the very first day and time in my life that I would fly without telling my mom.

00:24:10.244 --> 00:24:11.646
So you know there's some of us.

00:24:11.646 --> 00:24:13.056
You went outside the cover.

00:24:14.795 --> 00:24:17.617
There are some of us, you know, everybody can be climbing fence.

00:24:17.617 --> 00:24:21.039
Climbing fence, it's not going to school the day you climb fence, that's when the principal catches you.

00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:30.893
There's some of us, I'm telling you.

00:24:30.893 --> 00:24:33.239
There's some of us, I'll tell you.

00:24:33.239 --> 00:24:35.844
There's some of us that don't have the liberty to, you know, color out of the safety lines, right, you know.

00:24:35.844 --> 00:24:36.927
So I, I go to abuja.

00:24:36.927 --> 00:24:42.858
So one of our um nyc cohort mates, or course mates, right, she had redeployed after camp, so she was in abuja.

00:24:42.858 --> 00:24:43.960
So we said we'll, oh, we'll, visit her.

00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:46.293
So my flatmate and I said we're going to go see her in Abuja.

00:24:46.293 --> 00:24:47.557
So we left on Friday.

00:24:47.557 --> 00:24:48.682
Now we're leaving on Friday.

00:24:48.682 --> 00:24:58.632
The plane is full of the Sultan of Sokoto's entourage, so he was flying on Friday, so he's flying from Sokoto into Abuja, so the plane is full.

00:24:58.632 --> 00:25:00.753
I'm there for the weekend.

00:25:00.753 --> 00:25:02.974
We're coming back on Sunday morning.

00:25:03.635 --> 00:25:13.643
Sunday morning I'm woken up at 5 am by some minor ruckus in the house that I was staying and you know I decided OK, let me have my quiet time.

00:25:13.643 --> 00:25:16.846
So I open our daily bridge.

00:25:16.846 --> 00:25:30.956
You know, at the time, and the reading for that day was James 4, 4, 13 to 17.

00:25:30.956 --> 00:25:32.884
That says, and I summarize who are you that says today you will do this, tomorrow you do that.

00:25:32.884 --> 00:25:33.949
That life is like a vapor and you're about to travel.

00:25:33.949 --> 00:25:37.170
I'm like, oh no, if you still have my life, be like a vapor, but you don't really think that anything is going to happen.

00:25:37.170 --> 00:25:40.757
You just pray those prayers, right, don't just cover myself, you know, and all of that.

00:25:40.757 --> 00:25:46.692
So we get to the airport and I never went to Abuja before that day, so I didn't know.

00:25:46.692 --> 00:25:49.481
You know where the exits were and all of that.

00:25:49.481 --> 00:25:59.108
But because I was serving in the airport in Sokoto and in Sokoto there's not a, then at the time there wasn't a middle class.

00:25:59.268 --> 00:26:05.253
You're either very rich or very poor, and so it was the rich people that were flying, because plane tickets were expensive.

00:26:05.253 --> 00:26:12.177
And so I looked around and I was familiar with it, because there's certain people that are flying over, and as I looked around saw familiar faces.

00:26:12.177 --> 00:26:17.019
I said, when they get up to go, I will follow them, because I know that we're going to the same destination.

00:26:17.019 --> 00:26:20.235
And when they got up to go, I followed them.

00:26:20.235 --> 00:26:40.704
Now I got outside and I don't know if you know the northern heat, so it's very hot in the north, and then there's a rain that comes after it's been so hot, and it's usually very heavy rain, and so it starts to rain and we're, you know, queuing to board the plane, and I remember thinking to myself that, oh, I wonder if the pilot can fly when it rains.

00:26:40.704 --> 00:26:48.615
But then I also thought to myself that they don't cancel flights every time that it rains, so it must be okay.

00:26:48.615 --> 00:26:57.436
So we get on the plane, and I used to say then that patience was not really my virtue, so I like to sit in the front of the plane, so as soon as the plane lands, I'm one of the first people out.

00:26:57.436 --> 00:27:11.043
That was impossible, however, because the plane was full of the Sultan of Sokoto and his entourage going back to Sokoto, and so they are taking business class and some of the you know, the early seats and so on, you know.

00:27:11.043 --> 00:27:18.581
So I'm in the middle, so I'm trying to find my seat in the middle and then I hear somebody call my full name at the time, esther Kemba Modana.

00:27:18.581 --> 00:27:24.762
I'm like who knows me, you know, and there was somebody as another copper who was serving, you know, with the airline adc.

00:27:24.762 --> 00:27:34.438
So I served with the federal airport authority of nigeria, she served with adc, so she called my name now for somebody who was already adverse to sitting in the middle of the plane.

00:27:34.438 --> 00:27:45.271
You know, the next few things that will happen, you get a part of the things that are supernatural about the testimony, because I heard like a voice in my head saying, oh, you know, go sit next to her.

00:27:45.271 --> 00:27:53.215
And I was like, okay, and I also, you know, heard a voice saying, oh, be nice to everybody, because you never know when you'll need people.

00:27:53.215 --> 00:28:02.052
So I was like, so it was like my friend's voice in my head, right, but now, with the knowledge that I have, I realized that it was the voice of the Holy Spirit right now.

00:28:02.052 --> 00:28:05.902
So I sat down beside her and the plane took off.

00:28:05.989 --> 00:28:10.371
Now the flight had been delayed for a few minutes, so this is like 11 o'clock or around then in the morning.

00:28:10.371 --> 00:28:14.606
And so we took off and the plane is gaining altitude.

00:28:14.606 --> 00:28:18.581
Now, the flight had been delayed because the pilot was supposed to be refueling the plane.

00:28:18.581 --> 00:28:27.202
So we're gaining altitude, gaining altitude, and all of a sudden the plane drops and we just think that, oh, it's normal turbulence, right?

00:28:27.202 --> 00:28:28.143
So everybody's still okay.

00:28:28.143 --> 00:28:30.753
Then we're going again and then it drops.

00:28:30.793 --> 00:28:37.092
This time, you know when the plane drops like a roller coaster, when you feel it in your stomach, when you're almost like the seat of your stomach drops.

00:28:37.092 --> 00:28:38.273
That's how it felt.

00:28:38.273 --> 00:28:39.474
Boom, and I was like aha.

00:28:39.474 --> 00:28:44.438
So by this time, even though it's in the morning, the lights in the plane are on.

00:28:44.438 --> 00:28:49.163
You know, the Muslims are calling Allah, the Christians are calling Jesus, children are crying.

00:28:49.163 --> 00:28:54.106
But even at that point in time, we just think that it is really bad turbulence.

00:28:54.106 --> 00:29:02.349
We don't think that anything untoward is about to happen.

00:29:02.349 --> 00:29:06.719
And so I look out the window and I hear so what do you give me the language for it.

00:29:06.719 --> 00:29:07.987
I said I had a big bow, but first of all you had a big bang.

00:29:07.987 --> 00:29:08.349
Yes, I had a bang.

00:29:08.610 --> 00:29:20.023
A bang does not really convey the same thing as bow you know, but I heard a big bang and then I looked out and then looked back to the front.

00:29:20.023 --> 00:29:24.496
So I looked out, the window had the big bang looked to my front and I was sitting the same way.

00:29:24.496 --> 00:29:27.442
I was sitting in the air, but in front of me was grass.

00:29:27.442 --> 00:29:29.324
The plane had crashed.

00:29:29.324 --> 00:29:32.454
Now people ask me did I black out?

00:29:32.454 --> 00:29:56.336
I know I didn't black out right, but I used to say that before that day I believed in God, but that day I believed in angels, because literally the way I was sitting in the air is how I was dropped on the ground and you may think that, okay, that dropped you yes dropped me sitting and you think, oh, that's everybody, you know that survived, that's how they were dropped.

00:29:56.356 --> 00:29:58.751
But no, the person was sitting right beside me.

00:29:58.751 --> 00:30:04.983
The impact of the plane crash flung her somewhere else and she was trapped under her seat right.

00:30:04.983 --> 00:30:12.202
So I unhook my seatbelt and you know, I had my hand luggage under my back.

00:30:12.202 --> 00:30:16.516
Under my seat I had my Motorola Razor.

00:30:16.516 --> 00:30:17.557
It was all still there.

00:30:17.557 --> 00:30:18.641
It was there.

00:30:18.641 --> 00:30:24.021
It was under my seat, my Motorola Razor, clip by my side.

00:30:24.021 --> 00:30:35.054
The phone was on the floor beside me, clipped it, unhooked myself, heard the person beside me screaming for help, unhooked her from her own seat and then we climbed out of the debris.

00:30:36.438 --> 00:30:38.282
Climbed out of the debris and went in the field.

00:30:38.282 --> 00:30:40.253
We did not know where we were right.

00:30:40.253 --> 00:30:48.632
When it filled, it was raining and when the person beside me saw I had my stuff, she went back to go look for her stuff.

00:30:48.632 --> 00:30:58.862
Now I saw three ladies on top of each other and the one on top was trapping the ones below and you know they were screaming for help.

00:30:58.862 --> 00:31:02.876
And there was a guy that was sitting on the ground, spread eagles, just looking.

00:31:02.876 --> 00:31:06.402
And I remember thinking to myself that we're all in shock here.

00:31:06.402 --> 00:31:08.025
You know, like help.

00:31:08.025 --> 00:31:12.161
It was later that I found that he couldn't move because his legs were broken.

00:31:12.161 --> 00:31:19.824
So I'm unhooking the person on top, you know, and she's trapping the ones below.

00:31:19.824 --> 00:31:23.050
And I remember, you know, because her, you could see the white of her bone.

00:31:23.050 --> 00:31:28.882
It was not a very pleasant sight, but I remember saying to her that at least you are alive, they can fix your body right.

00:31:28.882 --> 00:31:33.518
And those three ladies ended up being the daughters of the Kogi state governor.

00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.992
Now we were in a field, we don't know where we were.

00:31:37.992 --> 00:31:39.936
There was a lady that was crying.

00:31:39.936 --> 00:31:51.818
So she had a broken hand, you know, and I'm not sure if her leg was broken, but she had a broken hand and she was crying her brother, her brother.

00:31:51.818 --> 00:31:54.550
In the Northern culture the men sit in front, the women sit at the back, and so I thought so I said to her your brother is fine.

00:31:54.550 --> 00:31:57.233
Because in my mind, the plane had broken in half.

00:31:57.233 --> 00:32:04.724
We were in one part and there was probably another group of people in another part, somewhere, and so Adi said you're alive, they'll find your brother.

00:32:05.911 --> 00:32:13.360
Now, in the middle of all of this, villagers had heard the commotion and then they start to run, you know, in our direction.

00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:19.041
And that's when we now discover that the plane had crashed outside of the airport.

00:32:19.041 --> 00:32:22.771
But the people in the airport did not know that the plane had gone down outside of the airport.

00:32:22.771 --> 00:32:25.333
Yeah, so they ran in the airport, did not know that the plane had gone down outside of the airport.

00:32:25.333 --> 00:32:48.639
Yeah, so they ran to the airport, came back with a pickup truck for the three of us that could move Right, and so they put us in that truck and we were in this muddy field and so the truck was just slink and by the time we got to the airport hospital we're bringing in bodies and all of that stuff.

00:32:48.679 --> 00:32:50.503
I just had this irrational desire to be as far away from the airport as possible.

00:32:50.503 --> 00:32:54.967
So I called my friends who had literally dropped me like an hour or so before to say this is what has happened.

00:32:54.967 --> 00:32:55.931
Please can you come and get me.

00:32:55.931 --> 00:33:02.797
And so they came to pick me, and then he took me to a private hospital where the first thing that they would do was to put me on a morphine drip.

00:33:02.797 --> 00:33:07.717
You know, because of the headache Now they are fixing the morphine drip.

00:33:07.717 --> 00:33:09.717
And then my mom calls me.

00:33:09.717 --> 00:33:13.458
She's like ah, cnn breaking news.

00:33:13.458 --> 00:33:16.014
They say that the airport in Sokoto.

00:33:16.014 --> 00:33:23.318
It must be going crazy, because a plane that should have come to Sokoto did get crashed, you know, in Abuja, and I was like yeah, it's crazy.

00:33:23.318 --> 00:33:25.838
I couldn't tell her that I was on the.

00:33:28.130 --> 00:33:37.945
So, you know, I slept, woke up and, you know, my flatmates parents wanted to go greet my mom whatever the greeting is for surviving plane crash.

00:33:37.945 --> 00:33:45.902
You know, my friends were telling me you need to go to the military hospital where they are keeping survivors, because they'll just think that you died, that you couldn't find your body.

00:33:45.902 --> 00:33:51.876
And so I had to now call my mom to let her know that I was one of the survivors of this main crash.

00:33:51.876 --> 00:33:59.679
And so I called her and I told her and she just gave the phone to my brother that I don't know what your sister is saying, you know.

00:33:59.679 --> 00:34:05.061
And she says that she looked in the mirror and asked the Lord like, why me?

00:34:05.061 --> 00:34:06.152
What is this about?

00:34:06.152 --> 00:34:10.782
And the Lord says that my grace is sufficient for you and my strength is made perfect in your weakness.

00:34:10.782 --> 00:34:13.478
And that was what she held on to through that process.

00:34:13.478 --> 00:34:18.663
So I go to the military hospital and they keep me there for three days to make sure that I had no internal injuries, which I did not.

00:34:18.663 --> 00:34:25.824
And so the next morning, monday morning, 4 am, I wake up and CNN is playing the story.

00:34:26.530 --> 00:34:46.931
I now realize, and I start to weep, because I realized that the only part of the plane that survived was literally the tail end, which is where, you know, I was in, and so of the 105 people that were on the plane, only nine survived, and of the nine that survived, only one had no injuries, and that was me, you know.

00:34:46.931 --> 00:34:50.503
Know, to the glory of god, so I'm crying, you know.

00:34:50.503 --> 00:34:52.929
And then the nurse comes and says why are you crying?

00:34:52.929 --> 00:34:53.692
You should be grateful.

00:34:53.692 --> 00:34:56.601
I'm like, I'm crying because I'm grateful, auntie, you know, like.

00:34:56.601 --> 00:35:08.731
So anyway, um, oh, the president comes, ministers come, and because I'm one of the more lucid ones, you know, there are so many interviews that happened in that state, so people were telling me oh, I heard you on the radio, and I'm which radio?

00:35:08.731 --> 00:35:20.592
I didn't do any video interview, but literally they must have been interviewing me while these people were speaking to me and it's all a blur right now it's all a blur, because you were just doing interview exactly.

00:35:20.612 --> 00:35:22.473
So I didn't know who was who and what was what.

00:35:22.473 --> 00:35:32.360
So, but I had a conundrum, because I was in Abuja, right, and it was nine hours by road to Sokoto, nine hours by road to Lagos.

00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:33.781
So I was right in the middle.

00:35:33.781 --> 00:35:35.763
Where am I going from here?

00:35:35.763 --> 00:35:38.304
And my mom was like, are you crazy?

00:35:38.304 --> 00:35:39.545
You're coming back to Lagos.

00:35:39.545 --> 00:35:45.690
So destination sorted us.

00:35:45.690 --> 00:35:46.331
So destination sorted.

00:35:46.351 --> 00:35:50.280
And I had a friend who worked in Virgin Nigeria at the time and he said to me he said, esther, god did not save you on Sunday to kill you on Wednesday.

00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:54.855
You will fly back Now by Wednesday morning.

00:35:54.855 --> 00:36:00.751
I'm excited to be leaving the hospital because I want to go home, I want to be with my family.

00:36:00.751 --> 00:36:02.635
So I'm excited.

00:36:02.635 --> 00:36:11.105
Until I get to the airport, get on the tarmac and see the plane, I start to weep, I'm crying, I'm crying, I'm crying.

00:36:11.105 --> 00:36:21.991
And so the airport manager takes me to the cockpit and he shows me the pilots right, and you know my dad says, um, he calls me a word.

00:36:21.991 --> 00:36:27.848
I'm not gonna use the word because you know what he's like, because I said, my heart was calm when I saw that they were rainbow people that were flying.

00:36:27.848 --> 00:36:29.051
I said, okay, people know what you are doing.

00:36:29.092 --> 00:36:34.353
Carry on so they now asked me, they now asked me do you want to stay in the cockpit with us?

00:36:34.353 --> 00:36:35.476
I said, do I look like I'm mad?

00:36:35.476 --> 00:36:36.918
You fly the plane.

00:36:36.918 --> 00:36:39.210
We are the back of the plane.

00:36:39.210 --> 00:36:45.902
And so I cried throughout the hour or so of the flight and and people were looking like who is this one that is just entering plane for the first time?

00:36:45.902 --> 00:36:46.523
Because, you get it.

00:36:46.523 --> 00:36:55.503
I was like this village girl, but at the end of the flight they said we want to dedicate this flight to Estamada, one of the survivors of the ADC plane crash.

00:36:55.503 --> 00:37:01.317
And so, you know, people were asking who, who, who, pressing money, taking pictures, all of that stuff.

00:37:01.317 --> 00:37:09.734
Anyway, I got home and my mom carried me on her laps, just like she had done when she was releasing me to start the NYC process.

00:37:09.734 --> 00:37:13.217
And you know, channel television carried it all of that stuff.

00:37:13.217 --> 00:37:17.340
But my house was inundated with people.

00:37:17.340 --> 00:37:21.690
People wanted to see this person that had survived the plane crash.

00:37:22.594 --> 00:37:24.715
Nigerians are interesting people.

00:37:24.715 --> 00:37:29.195
God made you survive for a reason, asking what is your purpose?

00:37:29.195 --> 00:37:30.534
I'm like which purpose?

00:37:30.534 --> 00:37:31.277
Now, jiggy has a.

00:37:31.277 --> 00:37:32.552
That's what he gives you a Bugatti.

00:37:32.552 --> 00:37:33.074
Do you understand?

00:37:33.074 --> 00:37:33.636
What do you want?

00:37:33.636 --> 00:37:35.934
You want my firstborn, like what do you need from me?

00:37:35.934 --> 00:37:37.099
Right, you know?

00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:39.271
And then people are like, oh, second Jesus.

00:37:39.512 --> 00:37:53.478
So it was a lot of pressure and before I knew it I started to have panic attacks, you know, and even entered into a two-year period of survivor's guilt right of depression, and it wasn't until I was in my church.

00:37:53.478 --> 00:37:58.757
I left Nigeria the year after because my parents didn't want me to be in Nigeria for the one-year anniversary.

00:37:58.757 --> 00:38:18.213
And it wasn't until the year after, which is two years after the plane crashed, and I was in my church in Cardiff and I got, you know, deliverance, because the Lord was like listen, if I give you the gift of eternal life and you can accept that, then you can accept this second run or second you know turn at life, even with all these trials and tribulations.

00:38:18.213 --> 00:38:25.815
And it was such a simple yet profound statement that pierced through the darkness that was over my mind, profound statement that pierced through the darkness that was over my mind.

00:38:25.815 --> 00:38:30.424
And then I was like, even if all I have to do is just to testify of your goodness, right, then I'll do that.

00:38:31.289 --> 00:38:38.692
And so a lot of times when people think about even what I do now, they think that it's a direct result of surviving a plane crash.

00:38:38.692 --> 00:38:42.443
But it's not true, because I actually didn't like telling people that I survived a plane crash because I don't look like someone that survived a plane crash.

00:38:42.443 --> 00:38:47.799
But it's not true, because I actually didn't like telling people that I survived a plane crash because I don't look like someone that survived a plane crash.

00:38:47.799 --> 00:38:48.913
If I don't tell you, you won't know.

00:38:48.913 --> 00:38:53.913
So I only committed to once a year, on the anniversary, sharing it in a new place.

00:38:53.913 --> 00:38:59.455
But then I had this journey with intimacy with God and that is what has changed the trajectory of my life.

00:38:59.455 --> 00:39:05.699
But I do admit willingly that the plane crash has given me some of the platforms that I enjoy today.

00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:08.558
Surviving the plane crash has given me a platform.

00:39:09.750 --> 00:39:11.237
Thank you so much for sharing that.

00:39:11.237 --> 00:39:12.431
I think what you said.

00:39:12.431 --> 00:39:14.518
You had to catch a plane three days later.

00:39:14.518 --> 00:39:16.261
I'm not being funny, it was me.

00:39:16.261 --> 00:39:17.579
I walked to Lagos.

00:39:17.579 --> 00:39:18.567
I was just thinking about it.

00:39:18.567 --> 00:39:21.538
I walked over, I was cycling to Lagos.

00:39:21.538 --> 00:39:25.034
I was so brave of you.

00:39:25.034 --> 00:39:28.322
Wow, wow and have you out of trusty.

00:39:28.322 --> 00:39:29.182
How are the kids?

00:39:30.972 --> 00:39:34.980
so my daughter is is seven and my son is five okay.

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:42.681
So they're still a bit young to kind of no, oh no, oh no.

00:39:42.701 --> 00:39:44.645
My mother, whoever played crash.

00:39:44.645 --> 00:39:50.445
So I have a plane crash video that went viral like three years ago, okay, and I think it's my mom that plays the video.

00:39:50.445 --> 00:39:51.770
I was like how are you gonna do this?

00:39:51.770 --> 00:39:53.998
So my son doesn't get it, but my, my daughter.

00:39:53.998 --> 00:39:57.469
But I was like, oh no, I don't want to see.

00:39:57.469 --> 00:40:00.065
So anytime she sees the black and white, so the video is in black and white.

00:40:00.065 --> 00:40:01.893
So every time she sees black white, no, I don't want to see.

00:40:01.893 --> 00:40:03.337
Oh, I wish you didn't survive.

00:40:03.337 --> 00:40:07.349
I was just like I think that this is too much information for your mind to process right now.

00:40:07.349 --> 00:40:13.801
But she knows, yeah, she knows, she's very aware, yeah wow, thank you so much.

00:40:13.862 --> 00:40:15.384
I mean there's so much.

00:40:15.384 --> 00:40:17.494
There's so much in that story.

00:40:17.494 --> 00:40:18.498
I was interested.

00:40:18.498 --> 00:40:24.402
You're the first person to confirm to me when I've heard that sitting at the back is actually safer on planes.

00:40:24.402 --> 00:40:27.704
I don't know if that's true, but I've heard that sitting at the back is actually safer in the.

00:40:27.704 --> 00:40:37.681
In the unlikely event that what happened to you happens again sitting in the back, I mean it's very rare anybody makes it, but if you're gonna have a chance at the back is probably better chances than being up front.

00:40:38.431 --> 00:40:40.996
So yeah, yeah yeah, amazing.

00:40:41.396 --> 00:40:48.819
So thank you so much for that and I won't even unpack that much because I think everyone else it's a big enough testimony for everyone who's heard it to take what they want from it.

00:40:48.819 --> 00:40:50.132
But thank you so much.

00:40:50.132 --> 00:40:57.322
But the other thing when I was following you, what I now heard was you said that and you've kind of confirmed it was that it didn't immediately lead to this.

00:40:57.322 --> 00:41:00.993
You didn't wake up next day and be like I'm all for God, I'm on fire.

00:41:00.993 --> 00:41:11.705
It was a gradual process and you mentioned somewhere that actually you went into a depression for a while and you suffered survival's guilt.

00:41:19.029 --> 00:41:22.451
Tell us a bit more about that, that survival's guilt, that whole feeling and depression.

00:41:22.451 --> 00:41:26.231
Yeah, so on that plane there was a s Sultan of Sokoto, his son and his grandson.

00:41:26.231 --> 00:41:29.112
There was a mom with four kids.

00:41:29.112 --> 00:41:31.772
There was a deacon living in my church growing up right.

00:41:32.353 --> 00:41:48.179
So there were so many amazing people that died World standards really high, amazing people yes, and then you know there's this little peep squeak of a girl that all the headlines miracle girl, did you know.

00:41:48.179 --> 00:41:50.083
And I'm just like, why?

00:41:50.083 --> 00:41:51.246
Like, what do you want?

00:41:51.246 --> 00:42:07.219
Especially because it really messed with my mind and my theology up until that point because, like I said, coming from my background of a single parent, you know, whatever, where god is, heavenly uncle, you know, and then people are now ascribing my oh, this, did you see the thumbs of this?

00:42:07.219 --> 00:42:10.250
Uh, mac and his thing, you know anyway.

00:42:10.250 --> 00:42:25.782
So I'm coming from my, coming from my, you know, from my background, coming from you know, people are saying, oh, god saved you for a reason, for purpose, you know, second jesus, and I'm like I didn't know that he knew me, I would care about me to do this amazing thing.

00:42:25.782 --> 00:42:27.146
So, what do you want?

00:42:27.146 --> 00:42:28.781
Do you want me to be a missionary somewhere?

00:42:28.781 --> 00:42:32.263
Like, what do you require from me, please?

00:42:32.263 --> 00:42:34.177
What's the price I pay for this?

00:42:34.177 --> 00:42:36.342
Thank you, like, what do you need?

00:42:36.342 --> 00:42:37.304
Like why?

00:42:37.304 --> 00:42:38.708
Why me, you know.

00:42:39.094 --> 00:42:49.108
And so it was a lot, it was a lot and, to be honest, I'm not even somebody till now that really likes spotlight.

00:42:49.108 --> 00:42:56.242
So all the attention was a lot, it was a lot and I don't know how to process it.

00:42:56.242 --> 00:42:58.262
It gave me panic attacks, you know.

00:42:58.262 --> 00:43:02.041
And so I remember, in January or so of 2008,.

00:43:02.041 --> 00:43:09.806
One of the ladies that was, she was like my junior in Queen's College and she committed suicide and people were like how, why would she commit suicide?

00:43:11.436 --> 00:43:20.505
And I was like I can understand it, you can be in such a dark place, you know that the hope, the will to live, you know, and I was the funniest person.

00:43:20.505 --> 00:43:21.969
I could make everybody laugh.

00:43:21.969 --> 00:43:24.940
I would see life from a third-person perspective, laughing.

00:43:24.940 --> 00:43:25.922
What's funny?

00:43:25.922 --> 00:43:26.525
Do you know what I mean?

00:43:26.525 --> 00:43:32.733
Like I'm having a concern and I'll just be, you know, almost like outside an out-of-body experience, looking at like why are you laughing?

00:43:32.733 --> 00:43:39.717
You know, and it wasn't until that simple but profound statement just brought light and broke the darkness.

00:43:39.717 --> 00:43:43.241
So, but I have a lot of.

00:43:43.241 --> 00:43:48.529
Therefore, that's why the mind is so powerful, because the mind can literally halt you in your tracks.

00:43:48.529 --> 00:44:03.588
It can make you disengage from the world as you know it, you know, and so one of my own life's messages is a message of hope and encouragement and also deliverance, you know, just making you embrace freedom on different planes of your life.

00:44:04.969 --> 00:44:10.724
Thank you, and that kind of leads us, natalie, into one of your flagship programs.

00:44:10.724 --> 00:44:20.461
You do, and I encourage everyone to check out Esther Lunger's Instagram and she talked a lot about her Fortified Mind program and we go there for more information.

00:44:20.461 --> 00:44:24.242
I'm sure she'll share a bit more about it for you before we finish as we come to the end.

00:44:24.242 --> 00:44:36.076
So when I look to the Fortified Mind mind, it talks about sort of identifying and dealing with strongholds and overcoming battles of the mind, dealing with imposter syndrome and elevated visioning.

00:44:36.076 --> 00:44:39.985
And tell us a bit more, because you've spoken about the mind so clearly.

00:44:39.985 --> 00:44:40.915
The mind is something you're.

00:44:40.915 --> 00:44:58.981
Even when we spoke about the book you're reading, the mind is something that fascinates you and, for any number of reasons, for a lot of us that are struggling, and fortified mind what is the problem is trying to solve for a lot of us, because I find that.

00:44:59.623 --> 00:45:13.980
So I'm called to like high achiever, high achieving individuals, and I feel like they are often overlooked because people believe that oh for you to be so accomplished, you know, intellectual, to get to where you are, you know you don't have problem.

00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:35.414
Literally, we intuitively put a cap on ourselves and the things that we aspire to, because of what our mind conceives about what we can aspire to, right.

00:45:35.414 --> 00:45:43.449
So there are some people that, no matter where they have gotten to and you'll see this in your career coaching I'm sure they believe that is luck.

00:45:43.449 --> 00:45:45.099
They have gotten to and you'll see this in your career coaching.

00:45:45.099 --> 00:45:45.882
I'm sure they believe that is luck.

00:45:45.882 --> 00:45:50.134
Or, you know, one day they'll realize that I'm not really worthy of this space that I'm occupying.

00:45:50.134 --> 00:45:50.695
You know.

00:45:50.695 --> 00:45:54.726
You know everybody else is looking at them like are you serious?

00:45:54.726 --> 00:45:56.556
You are the best thing since sliced bread.

00:45:57.199 --> 00:46:02.057
You know how, you know people just say you know that it's almost like I got lucky, or am I that good?

00:46:02.057 --> 00:46:02.920
And it even happens to me.

00:46:02.920 --> 00:46:05.065
Sometimes People go look at what you've done.

00:46:05.065 --> 00:46:07.388
I go what have I done, what have I done?

00:46:07.388 --> 00:46:14.455
And you minimize, you minimize, you minimize everything you've done in relation to what others see.

00:46:14.455 --> 00:46:17.188
So when others talk about it, like who are you talking about?

00:46:17.208 --> 00:46:19.442
They're talking about exactly exactly.

00:46:19.442 --> 00:46:21.661
It's like they're seeing something that you can't see.

00:46:21.661 --> 00:46:30.125
You know, and because things come easily to you, you almost minimize the efficacy of those things, because for you, like everybody should be able to do this.

00:46:30.125 --> 00:46:31.319
This is not a big deal.

00:46:31.319 --> 00:46:34.836
Well, you don't realize that there are gifts and graces that are operating in your life.

00:46:34.836 --> 00:46:38.125
So things that are easy for you are not necessarily easy for other people.

00:46:39.056 --> 00:46:51.208
I've also seen the most remarkable people, strong, even people that other people lean on, most remarkable people, strong, even people that other people lean on, but they don't believe that they deserve better than where they are.

00:46:51.208 --> 00:46:53.474
They don't believe that they can have everything.

00:46:53.474 --> 00:47:00.679
They believe that, okay, I'm thriving in one area and I thank God for the area I'm thriving in, but this is as good as it's going to get.

00:47:00.679 --> 00:47:02.001
And I'm like, based on what?

00:47:02.001 --> 00:47:04.027
Based on what?

00:47:04.027 --> 00:47:26.463
Oh, there are some people who and you know, when it's about strongholds, people think, oh, strongholds are such a strong, but it's literally a faulty mindset that keeps you, imprisoned, from entering into the freedom of everything that is possible for you yes, yes so it's not the enemies of your father's house, you know, for that is literally because those ones at least you can fight demon, you can pray, but how do you fight your mind?

00:47:27.144 --> 00:47:27.384
Yes.

00:47:27.726 --> 00:47:28.706
The mind is about you.

00:47:28.706 --> 00:47:32.020
I'm telling you how do you fight yourself.

00:47:32.020 --> 00:47:40.090
So somebody can be telling you I think you should go after this, I think you can do this and you're like no, you don't know what you're saying.

00:47:46.514 --> 00:47:52.417
You actually do it, and what I find amazing about it you're saying is that in their heart of hearts, all these people, they know they can do it, but when it comes time, it's almost as if they're also afraid of success.

00:47:52.417 --> 00:47:54.763
Sometimes they're not even afraid of failure.

00:47:54.763 --> 00:48:02.944
It's like they're afraid of what if I'm successful, it's going to ask more of me, and more of me, and more of me, and then the virus stays safe.

00:48:03.806 --> 00:48:06.650
I feel like running around this room right now.

00:48:07.715 --> 00:48:11.661
What I'm saying also was I see it and being vulnerable as well.

00:48:11.661 --> 00:48:14.976
I see it in myself sometimes Me too.

00:48:14.976 --> 00:48:18.837
My hands are up, so be consistent I'll do a bit and I'll go back.

00:48:18.837 --> 00:48:27.184
I'll do a bit and I'll go back, instead of just step on the accelerator and just push to the very end I always.

00:48:27.204 --> 00:48:36.427
So that's why I'm running around, because we see with our own clients generally for me to identify it, because because you know, they're not afraid of failure.

00:48:36.427 --> 00:48:38.072
I'm not afraid of failure.

00:48:38.072 --> 00:48:38.654
Do you understand?

00:48:38.654 --> 00:48:42.511
You know, because the with the knowledge that we have, we don't fail.

00:48:42.511 --> 00:48:43.275
Do you understand what I mean?

00:48:43.275 --> 00:48:49.184
Like we adapt, you know, know, but success, then what will happen to this life that I've built?

00:48:49.184 --> 00:48:51.261
Then what will it demand from me?

00:48:51.261 --> 00:48:52.920
Then I have to expand into this.

00:48:52.920 --> 00:48:54.043
Then I have to do this.

00:48:54.043 --> 00:48:55.278
Then what if I cannot?

00:48:55.278 --> 00:48:56.824
I don't have the capacity for it anymore.

00:48:56.824 --> 00:49:06.909
What if, as you now talk yourself out of things and then you know, a lot of times I have people say you know, a lot of times I have people say, well, it's okay, I'll just help other people, I'll just coach other people.

00:49:06.969 --> 00:49:17.960
Shots fired in both directions usually such people are also intelligent enough to know that life is passing you by.

00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:23.119
So it becomes a mental torture as your life is passing you by your dreams are fading.

00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:28.159
So it's not like that ignorant of so when people are even coaching them.

00:49:28.159 --> 00:49:32.219
Sometimes it's even harder to coach or speak to such people because they can answer.

00:49:32.219 --> 00:49:33.362
They can everything you want to say.

00:49:33.362 --> 00:49:34.204
They will say it for you.

00:49:37.601 --> 00:49:47.320
You just have to do it yourself, because I can't help you, because intellectually you know what you already know the answers, and so that's why I believe that even my own strategy I go.

00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:53.098
So I go to do roots, because a lot of these things have their foundations in childhood.

00:49:53.098 --> 00:50:01.706
They have their foundations in things that that accessed our minds before we had the ability to defend ourselves.

00:50:01.706 --> 00:50:06.240
So there are things that people will say to you now, as an adult, that you're like are you crazy?

00:50:06.240 --> 00:50:08.505
What did you smoke, did you get before coming to me?

00:50:08.505 --> 00:50:09.127
Do you know what I mean?

00:50:09.634 --> 00:50:18.234
But as a child, it has the ability to devastate you, and so you don't realize that you're now beginning to take position based on what happened in childhood.

00:50:18.234 --> 00:50:23.723
From that age, you begin to take a position and you begin to protect yourself.

00:50:23.723 --> 00:50:33.619
These are the parameters of my life, julia, so that I never feel this feeling again.

00:50:33.619 --> 00:50:37.876
I will never put myself in a position, and every time you put those parameters around you, you're literally walling yourself in, and some people say what's wrong with that?

00:50:37.876 --> 00:50:41.646
I'm protected, I don't get to be hurt, but you also don't get to experience.

00:50:41.646 --> 00:50:48.005
So you don't feel the low lows of being hurt, but you don't feel the high highs of the joy that comes from accomplishing what your destiny is.

00:50:48.005 --> 00:50:55.221
And so we now have to begin.

00:50:55.241 --> 00:50:56.223
We have to unpack it.

00:50:56.223 --> 00:51:09.038
Right, but yes, because it could it be also that you were so young that you may not even visually remember what the event was that caused you to be like this?

00:51:09.038 --> 00:51:10.423
Could that be as well that you can't?

00:51:10.423 --> 00:51:11.670
You can never have it.

00:51:11.670 --> 00:51:17.266
Yes, you can never really remember what the event was that made you as you are yes, and so that's why.

00:51:17.286 --> 00:51:29.521
That's why even the profile mind is such a unique course, because it is both um intelligence systems, but also God, where, as I'm talking to people, they now remember oh, my primary school teacher said this to me.

00:51:29.521 --> 00:51:31.101
Why am I remembering my primary school teacher?

00:51:31.101 --> 00:51:32.960
I've not thought about them in 30 years.

00:51:32.960 --> 00:51:43.402
I'm not struggling, I'm going to stay there because there's something there, there's something that happened in that timeframe that the Holy Spirit is bringing to your remembrance so that you know that that's where the issue started.

00:51:43.882 --> 00:51:57.123
So a lot of times, if you're talking to adults and you're saying, oh, I see that you know there's a fear of rejection, I see that you know you don't allow yourself to be seen or pursue your life, they'll say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, five years ago, my best friend did this to me Ten years, you know.

00:51:57.123 --> 00:51:59.955
No, that is just a symptom.

00:51:59.955 --> 00:52:01.596
It's not the root, the it's not the root.

00:52:01.596 --> 00:52:03.577
The root usually would have happened in your childhood.

00:52:03.577 --> 00:52:09.060
And so what you find is that your experiences are just corroborating this script that has already been planted.

00:52:09.400 --> 00:52:29.029
And so I say I use an analogy which I feel captures it, where I read in the book years ago about this elephant, that when the elephant was a baby elephant, you know it was tied to a tree and so, as a baby is trying to you know, like you know remove itself from that and trying to yank, but it can't because it doesn't have the strength.

00:52:29.029 --> 00:52:32.771
And so he tries a few days and then stops.

00:52:32.771 --> 00:52:42.007
As that elephant becomes older, the owner can just tie it to the tree and walk away, because the elephant is not even going to try to shift.

00:52:42.007 --> 00:52:50.583
Meanwhile, at that point of vision in its lifespan, it can destroy the whole forest, if you allow it, at its size it can just walk away.

00:52:51.154 --> 00:52:55.661
So a lot of us we are free, the prison is open.

00:52:56.601 --> 00:52:57.172
The door is open.

00:52:57.694 --> 00:53:01.924
But we don't realize that we're not sitting down in the prison thinking we're in prison, even though the door is open.

00:53:01.944 --> 00:53:09.688
Number one and number two you also even have the strength not just to free yourself but to free others because you are that powerful.

00:53:09.688 --> 00:53:11.797
So that's what even the battle is.

00:53:11.797 --> 00:53:19.451
For that's what the battle is about, because you find, you know for me, just like you and I, that the lessons that we have learned, we are paying it forward.

00:53:19.451 --> 00:53:20.955
So you're doing it through your coaching, I'm doing my coach.

00:53:20.955 --> 00:53:21.456
You know what I mean.

00:53:21.456 --> 00:53:31.601
So there is something about people that are strong, people that have gone through stuff that the devil even knows that inside of you is the ability to liberate other people.

00:53:31.601 --> 00:53:43.960
So if he can keep you trapped, you know, not even understanding the power that you carry, and also the power that you carry for liberation for others, then he has not just stopped you in your tracks, he's probably stopped another generation that is coming after you and.

00:53:43.980 --> 00:53:44.802
And so that's why the battle.

00:53:46.755 --> 00:53:50.367
The temptation of Jesus Christ was really about not just him.

00:53:50.367 --> 00:53:58.167
But if you tempt Jesus and he falls, then God's plan for salvation of the whole of humanity is destroyed.

00:53:58.167 --> 00:54:11.176
It's not just you the enemy is attacking, but also and if you don't even want to go spiritual by you not achieving yourself, you're not fulfilling your purpose and destiny and liberating everyone else you should liberate.

00:54:11.176 --> 00:54:18.621
So it's like for the price of one, a thousand others are locked down as well, forever so now think about, think about this for me.

00:54:18.761 --> 00:54:20.755
So I mean, let's like, don't know, it won't be in spiritual.

00:54:20.755 --> 00:54:21.397
I think about it.

00:54:21.397 --> 00:54:30.261
Imagine inside of I don't want to say another apple, but a tech solution that has not even been conceptualized yet.

00:54:30.261 --> 00:54:36.385
Yeah, but imagine that the person is now riddled with self-doubt, imposter syndrome, all of those things.

00:54:36.385 --> 00:54:37.780
And they know that they have that.

00:54:37.780 --> 00:54:38.978
They've seen that vision.

00:54:38.978 --> 00:54:47.837
Clearly they won't see the end, but that self-doubt, no, no, no, is it me, can it be they shut it down.

00:54:47.837 --> 00:54:56.842
Meanwhile, you pursuing that vision not only changes the landscape of your finances, your family's finances, forever, but there are people that will be employed by you.

00:54:56.842 --> 00:55:00.536
Look at all the people that apple is, or tesla is, you get even.

00:55:00.536 --> 00:55:23.521
It was not even that they're employing, but that by virtue of their stocks and shares they have made, there are so many people that are connected to you we are connected through Apple devices because of us, we are also creating content that helps others, so the multiplier effect of your gift and that is why, for anybody that looks at themselves and says, do I even carry value?

00:55:23.654 --> 00:55:25.320
I'm thinking are you like, do you know?

00:55:25.320 --> 00:55:25.822
Do you know?

00:55:25.822 --> 00:55:33.018
You don't know, if you knew, you would stand up and shine your light, because there's so many people that are dependent on what it is that you're carrying.

00:55:33.942 --> 00:55:34.903
No, that's amazing.

00:55:34.903 --> 00:55:35.826
That's amazing.

00:55:35.826 --> 00:55:48.518
No, as I'm talking to you, as we are bonding on this, I can see that we're going to have to look for more time to just do a series on unpacking some of these things yes yes so yes, definitely one more thing I want to talk about.

00:55:48.518 --> 00:55:50.103
You said your heart is your superpower.

00:55:50.344 --> 00:55:56.726
As I wrap up, yeah when you say your heart is your superpower, how is it?

00:55:56.726 --> 00:56:02.063
Because you seem like someone like so clear thought, so have clarity of thought.

00:56:02.063 --> 00:56:02.583
But the heart?

00:56:02.583 --> 00:56:05.838
When people say heart, they usually think it just means emotion.

00:56:05.838 --> 00:56:09.516
Does that mean you, you are in touch with your emotions or you're able to control their emotions?

00:56:09.516 --> 00:56:11.281
When you see your heart, your superpower, what?

00:56:11.281 --> 00:56:12.885
What does it mean for you?

00:56:14.958 --> 00:56:15.159
so?

00:56:15.159 --> 00:56:38.949
So, first, I think there's almost like this um misconception that being um, a feelings based person means that you are unstable and or, you know, you're erratic, all about emotionally, almost like, oh, you're so emotional, um, yes and no, right, you can be in touch with your feelings and use so like gut instinct.

00:56:38.949 --> 00:56:50.668
You do not mean, your gut instinct tells you that this thing is off, and then you pursue it logically and you realize that, actually, did you get my gut instinct already told me that these flaws that I'm now uncovering through my research, do you understand?

00:56:50.668 --> 00:56:52.417
You know, but my gut instinct has led me.

00:56:52.417 --> 00:56:56.708
So being a feelings based person is not a flaw.

00:56:56.708 --> 00:57:10.359
It is actually something that if you can hone and we've been talking about this, you know, throughout the thread of this conversation it's about being aware and honing yourself, honing your gifts.

00:57:10.359 --> 00:57:12.931
Even if you're logical as well, you must also be able to give space, for I feel like this is right, let me do it.

00:57:12.931 --> 00:57:14.275
It may not always make sense, you know.

00:57:14.275 --> 00:57:15.498
So we have to balance things.

00:57:15.578 --> 00:57:22.782
Now, when I say that my heart is my superpower, I am very clear in thoughts.

00:57:22.782 --> 00:57:27.281
Right, I have logic, but at the base, if I was between feelings and logic.

00:57:27.281 --> 00:57:32.443
I'm a feelings person, right, I go with my gut first and then my mind catches up after.

00:57:32.443 --> 00:57:42.983
But what I actually do mean is that I believe that a lot of my purpose, a lot of my calling as an individual is people-based right.

00:57:42.983 --> 00:57:53.317
And for you to be able to serve people, your heart must be it's not something that is a mind thing your heart must, you must love people, you must care about their success.

00:57:53.317 --> 00:57:55.340
You may almost want them to do.

00:57:55.340 --> 00:58:00.056
You must feel they're empathetic, you know, or even sympathetic, you know.

00:58:00.056 --> 00:58:03.422
You must be able to enter the trenches and bring them out to the other side.

00:58:04.743 --> 00:58:08.730
Now, so my ability to see where people are.

00:58:08.730 --> 00:58:13.007
So even like I said, I was talking about how I'm called to strong individuals.

00:58:13.007 --> 00:58:17.135
A lot of times people say, oh, how are you If you're a strong person?

00:58:17.135 --> 00:58:20.659
And they don't wait for the answer because you are a family.

00:58:20.659 --> 00:58:22.060
You're a family, you're not living in London.

00:58:22.101 --> 00:58:23.301
You're not living in Jigga.

00:58:23.781 --> 00:58:25.884
But a lot of times people don't look in the eyes.

00:58:25.884 --> 00:58:32.170
And in the eyes, as they say in Yoruba, it's the eyes that the Jigga, the conversation is the stool.

00:58:32.170 --> 00:58:53.795
Yeah, I'm telling you, and a lot of times I'm able to look at people's eyes and look beyond the facade of how they present to the world, to see where they are really and to see if they're in pain and to enter the trenches with them, create a safe space for these strong leaders to be able to unpack and say you know, today I don't got this jiget.

00:58:53.835 --> 00:59:00.009
I need help, I need encouragement leave the facade, leave the facade aside, let's cut.

00:59:00.009 --> 00:59:00.234
Yeah, yeah.

00:59:00.234 --> 00:59:00.775
I see what you did there.

00:59:00.775 --> 00:59:03.501
I see what you did there the heart of the matter.

00:59:03.521 --> 00:59:05.085
I see what you did there, I see what you did there.

00:59:05.085 --> 00:59:05.885
The heart of the matter.

00:59:05.885 --> 00:59:07.509
I see what you did there, I see what you did there.

00:59:07.509 --> 00:59:34.110
But for a lot of leaders, right, people that are type A people that are leading other people they don't have that luxury a lot of times because, whatever you're going through, you must have to suck it up and get on with it, because there are people that require you to show up every day and that's why you find that at that level, exactly at that level, exactly at that level, when burnout happens is epic, because the person says I'm not doing again.

00:59:34.110 --> 00:59:35.194
They take their backpack.

00:59:35.194 --> 00:59:42.897
I'm telling you, mountain climbing, yeah, they don't want to be in any office environment, but it doesn't have to get there.

00:59:42.897 --> 00:59:50.036
So one of my life's duties is to provide safe spaces for you know, high level people to unpack.

00:59:50.036 --> 00:59:52.865
You know, before they get to that place of burnout or crashing.

00:59:53.815 --> 00:59:58.927
Now, when your heart is your superpower, it also gets attacked, right.

00:59:58.927 --> 01:00:01.614
So hurting people hurt people, right.

01:00:01.614 --> 01:00:05.894
So that's why you know a lot of of work I do and that's why I'm so aware.

01:00:05.894 --> 01:00:16.815
You know of the different aspects of my life, what I'm feeling, how I'm feeling it, because I have to be careful to make sure that I'm always able to function optimally for the people that I'm called to.

01:00:16.815 --> 01:00:28.101
So, even when I am hurt and all of those, I have to process it quickly and I have my tool kits to process you know what I mean so that I can show up and be the person that my people need me to be, my tribe needs me to be.

01:00:28.101 --> 01:00:32.643
So I like how we're pulling everything together, even with the different aspects that we're speaking about.

01:00:32.643 --> 01:00:37.286
So that's what I mean when I say my heart is my superpower Over my brain.

01:00:37.755 --> 01:00:41.163
Because my heart has actually led me into places and spaces that my brain could not.

01:00:41.744 --> 01:00:49.904
Yeah, yes, and because the heart, ultimately, people can feel the heart and a genuine heart is what people are drawn to.

01:00:49.904 --> 01:01:04.167
You can get logic in books, you can get logic anywhere, but genuine people and in this world of ai and everything, the people that are going to win are people that are authentic and genuine and are real, because everything else you can get from you can just go into chat, gpt or whatever.

01:01:04.167 --> 01:01:07.779
I get the information you need yeah amazing.

01:01:07.880 --> 01:01:09.282
Thank you so, so much.

01:01:09.282 --> 01:01:11.246
So where can people find you?

01:01:11.246 --> 01:01:12.855
Where can people what are you up to now?

01:01:12.855 --> 01:01:13.699
What's happening?

01:01:13.699 --> 01:01:15.403
Anything big happening over the next few months?

01:01:15.403 --> 01:01:19.862
Where can people find you or learn more from you, or just tap into you and get more from you?

01:01:21.125 --> 01:01:27.536
okay, so the easiest place to get you know um updates on what it is that I'm up to is my Instagram Esther Lunge no A.

01:01:27.536 --> 01:01:29.884
Esther Lunge, lunge with an E.

01:01:29.884 --> 01:01:34.244
And yes, this year is a big year for me I'm 40.

01:01:34.244 --> 01:01:36.378
And you know so.

01:01:36.378 --> 01:01:38.284
I have a book coming up in November.

01:01:38.284 --> 01:01:45.088
One of my flagship coaching programs is called Unicorn Program and that starts in in january.

01:01:45.088 --> 01:01:54.420
So there are different ways to connect, but the easiest way to find all of that information is on my instagram page at esther long fantastic, thank you.

01:01:54.460 --> 01:02:11.581
So if you had one party message for people today, you know, mentor, with esther, your mentor, if you're going to leave something, if you're going to leave a message for the world, what will you leave for all our listeners and guests to wrap up, I would say that you matter.

01:02:11.654 --> 01:02:24.804
You are created on purpose, for purpose, and so the best thing you can do is to discover why on earth you are here and to lean into it, own your uniqueness.

01:02:24.804 --> 01:02:26.496
Stop trying to be like everybody else.

01:02:26.496 --> 01:02:30.324
You are created, purpose-built for whatever it is.

01:02:30.324 --> 01:02:38.635
That is the message of your life, and there are people that are waiting for you to find it, so that they can align with what is being built in and through you.

01:02:39.757 --> 01:02:42.302
Bless you thank you so much, esther.

01:02:42.302 --> 01:02:44.527
It's been an absolute pleasure you heard it there.

01:02:44.527 --> 01:02:51.507
It's really about purpose and also connecting your life story all together to bring it to where you are today.

01:02:51.507 --> 01:02:56.164
But also your faith is one of your, is your compass as well, to direct you as you go.

01:02:56.164 --> 01:02:58.257
I can't speak more about this podcast.

01:02:58.257 --> 01:02:59.339
You've just got to listen to it.

01:02:59.339 --> 01:03:00.442
It's been transformational.

01:03:00.442 --> 01:03:04.402
It has been for me as well, and I leave here inspired, motivated.

01:03:04.402 --> 01:03:08.741
I encourage you as well to go back, and you're going to need to listen to this more than once.

01:03:08.741 --> 01:03:11.682
Make sure you do, make sure you get everything out of it.

01:03:11.682 --> 01:03:17.096
So for me and Esther, it's get unleashed, stay unleashed and have a blessed week you.