All right, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. My name is George Wright III. I'm your host with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. Guys, we're creating our best lives. And I want you to really think about this that we're going to talk about today because some of the most influential people that you'll ever meet have one thing in common. They didn't become who they are because life was easy. They became who they are because they chose to grow through ultimately hard challenges. And today's guest, Tony Salimi, I think you're really going to enjoy this because he's lived a life that most people can't imagine. From surviving war and homelessness to becoming a globally recognized expert in human behavior and transformation. His journey is a powerful reminder that our circumstances don't define our future. The meaning we assign to our circumstances does. And what I appreciate most about this conversation is that it isn't just about overcoming adversity. It's about understanding how our beliefs, our emotions, and daily choices shape the person that we're becoming. And if you have ever wondered how difficult experiences can become the foundation for a stronger, more purposeful life, I think you'll really like Tony's story. And you'll like his perspective because it's inspiring and it's also very practical. So I hope you enjoy this episode and talk to you soon. Tony J. Salimi, how are you doing? I am great, George, and thank you so much. It's an honor to be with you on this podcast to serve as many people as we can. You know what? We're on two opposite ends of the world, but we are going to light some fires for people today, so I'm super excited. Let me give you, or for those of you listening that don't know Tony, let me give him a quick introduction. So Tony's a globally recognized human behavior and transformational leader expert. His journey, which we will actually talk a little bit about, is from worn-torn hardship to international thought leadership. You know, his work basically helps entrepreneurs, CEOs, experts unlock their peak performance through a lot of different ways, but emotional mastery being one of them. But he's a multiple best-selling author, including books, The Unfakable Code, A Path to Wisdom, Hashtag Loneliness. You know, he's a transformational life coach at a real elite level. And we're going to talk today a little bit about his framework, the TJS method, alarm method. And so besides being a TEDx, an international speaker, a producer, a creator, we've got a lot of cool stuff to talk about in a limited period of time. So I appreciate you being here, Tony. You've got an amazing resume. Thank you so much, George. Listen, let's do this because generally I don't do a lot of backstory because we don't have a lot of time. But you have such an amazing story that spans civil war, homelessness, you know, eventually becoming a globally recognized human behavior expert. So give me a little bit of that backstory and what was the single turning point that shifted your identity into this whole transformational path that you're in? I grew up in a family that worked the land and run restaurants. We fed animals, we fed people, and fed the entire community. There was abundance around me, so I can't really say I grew up in poverty. not from luck but from effort and from age seven I contributed into the family life you know milking the cows working the land selling the produce to the local community at the same time going to school and you know being one of the best in school so you know I learned from a very young age that anything you need to do in your life it takes commitment it it takes discipline so So the story is sort of when I was born, I came into this world with crooked legs. And every day my mother straightened my legs with old wooden sticks. We didn't have the pair of things that we have today. The only thing I remember from those days is the pain, the screaming, and the effort, and the words of my mom saying how much she loves me and that I have to endure this consistent pain in order for one day for me to be able to join the children out there playing. So I learned something very fundamental during this part of my life, that if you stay committed to growth, pain becomes strength. And that's what became for me. That's a difficult lesson young, but probably the best time to learn it, right? I think so, because it gives you this, I would say, um, basis of no matter what pain, uh, life throws at you, you start becoming resilient to pain. So your pain threshold starts increasing. So, you know, when you experience a high threshold pain from a very young age, you know, the rest of the pains start becoming more absorbable to your body. So you learn ways to manage that pain. So I've got very high threshold of pain, by the way. So, and I think as I went through my life after that challenge, I was abused by one of the managers that my parents entrusted to run our restaurants. And then somehow all of that passed through. And then when I went to high school, because I was gifted child and I had a lot of extra professors working with me on many subjects, I was bullied for being an Albanian. So in that school in the capital city, I managed to receive many awards in physics, in mathematics, in science. And despite all of that, there were certain students who wanted to make my life miserable to the point that they even tried and attempted to actually kill me. Just simply by being Albanian and by being gifted. Now, as I thought my freedom came to me, I went to one of the top engineering universities in Zagreb, now Croatia, back then Yugoslavia, Croatia. You know, I felt I was free. I was free in this incredible university and that my career now was going to go to the next level, my education and being able to graduate from one of the top engineering universities. And then after a year, the civil war fell upon us. I was conscripted in the Yugoslav army against my will. And then I saw some terrors that no child, no teenager should ever see. Now, I believe whether it's universe, whether God had different plans for me, my life was saved through those terrors. And I ended up homeless in London. Wow. So this is where the start of my story starts, by the way. So I went a total 360-degree shift of my reality. Well, you know what? And I'm glad you said this. And the reason I wanted to bring it up is because I think a lot of people have gone through trials and tribulations in their life. And a lot of times it's obviously not the circumstances, but our perception of the circumstances and what you do about them, which is that pivot point where you had, you know, obviously a mother that really, you know, helped to instill this in you, but you had the emotional and spiritual intelligence to kind of shape it the right way and move forward. And so tell me how you got down the path of not just being, you know, gifted and overcoming challenges, but down the path of transformation and into kind of the path that you're in now. Well, I mean, yes, the discipline that I have was born from very harsh circumstances. As I mentioned earlier on, you know, for me, everything that you have in life, if you go through that fire, you know, that fire will create significance. meaning you'll be forced into something that you don't even know what it is while you're going through that process. So, you know, at age 20, being in London with no family, I didn't speak English. I didn't have any friends. I didn't have a roof over my head. But what I had is I had discipline. I had those values. I had those spiritual intelligence that many of my parents, elders, who also helped me when I was suffering in hospital, which I almost lost my life at age 10, So I had those structures for me to be able to start first and foremost, go through the grief process because I was sleeping homeless, trying to understand what happened to me, what happened during the war, the loss that I suffered, loss of identity, being removed from my family and not having anybody, just being nowhere. So, you know, um, and sleeping underneath the bridges, I started really observing a different reality. So I've always been an observer and I've always been curious about me around what happening around me And one thing that my parents and my grandparents instilled in me no matter what situation you find yourself learn ways to adapt This is the key when we go through transitional crisis in our life. And you know, those prices never stop. They just go to the next level. Yeah. And you know, then I had to work many jobs to fund my university, my education, And I managed to graduate from one of the top engineering universities, University College London, with dual degree in engineering and organizational behavior. Then I started building a very successful tech career where my last job, I was managing 10 billion pound technology transformation programs. So during the entire process, I sought healers, I sought the therapists, I sought any expert out there who can help me soothe the pain and make sense of the kind of lessons and insights. So I've always was curious to learn from pain, from challenges, from events that sometimes even take your life. Yeah. It's interesting because you made a comment and I want to point it out to the listeners. You said, and you said this kind of when we were talking earlier, success is born in the fire or out of the fire. Meaning I think people look at bad circumstances in their life and try to learn lessons, but I don't think they go deep enough to say, but that's where the success is born from. So what you're saying, you're dealing with all this, you're trying to figure it all out. But the success of where you went came out of what you learned during that trial. Am I reading that right? Absolutely correct, George. Yes. It's basically going through that fire. You know, when we look at fire, especially when we look at steel, one of the places where my parents had a restaurant was in Zenitza, one of the biggest steel factories in Europe. So, you know, I worked with those steel men. I learned a lot of story when I was a child and I learned three languages with those people. I learned Pluente, Serbo-Croat, Macedonian, and Albanian. And plus I learned two alphabets. And one of the things when, as a child, where they used to take me to those steel factories, I was amazed how, you know, you get this steel, which is in a liquid form, and then you shape it in anything you want and it becomes so strong. And this is exactly what you said. success is born through that process and the strength you become and the way you mold yourself and you shape yourself into something that others can admire and actually can follow. Because we all need some people who can actually give us hope in the most difficult times when we go through. Yeah. And I want to ask you a question because I find that stepping back, most people would agree that that's when the things are going to happen for you and you're going to learn. But obviously it's much harder when you're in the fire. And so sometimes I've found, I've learned this from the CEO of Netflix and many others, that sometimes you don't have to have all the answers, but it's just the way you look at it, right? So the way successful people, like at your level, see failure is they don't see it even as a lesson. They see it as a path, as a path to success. So whether it's failure or trial or circumstances, how do you help people see those, in those times, how to see through them and see the success that's going to come from it. Because it's hard to get that mindset when you're in the situation, right? Absolutely. Many things have taught me many lessons, but I'm going to use a metaphor in here. I'm going to use the metaphor of being through civil war. So similarly, if you don't know who you are, life will assign you a role you never chose for yourself. And my clients often arrive in having different battlefields in their life. Whether they are corporate wars, whether they are relationship wars, whether they are wars with fame, where are wars with themselves, where are wars with their emotions, where are wars with innovating the next level. Uh, no matter where it is, there's some kind of war inside of them. There's some kind of void. So basically the first thing I really do, it's actually, I have a very in-depth diagnostic when I start working with a client to understand where is the, I would say the bottleneck in their psychology, what is it that in their emotional being, they are not really listening. So I'm going back to the alarms. So basically I'm taking the clients through those 25 process unconsciously without listing them, by the way, because I've applied those over 29,000 coaching hours, which is basically the first step in the alarm methodology is a principle of present moment awareness. So let me actually, for the listener's benefit, let me just kind of clarify, for those of you that haven't known a lot about Tony, he has this signature framework called the TGS method alarm method, which is what he's referring to. So Tony, maybe break that down for us. So now they have a little bit of a reference for that. Sure. Basically, this was born after I left the corporate world and I wanted to pretty much merge the material and spiritual world. I wanted people who are very scientific being able to have much more depth understanding of the spiritual world in a very grounded way, how they can apply those principles in their own life. And I wanted to bring technology, business, leadership, I would say uh, spirituality, healing, mindset, emotional intelligence, and behavioral science under one umbrella. Now, having spent almost two decades, uh, growing myself and helping so many people during that period. Uh, I sat in medica meditation for 12 weeks to actually take all of this information and actually, um, uh, be able to distill it in a very clear framework that everybody can use step-by-step. And I wanted to make it so people, when they read it, it's almost like childlike intelligence, but with, I would say, higher self-knowledge. Yeah, so they can learn it. So alarm pretty much represents how, as a conscious being, we have forgotten who we are. And we actually put those alarms that our body sends to us, the signals, every single day. Because some of my clients have wars with their health, by the way. So it's not just I'm helping them on a leadership level or business or creating innovation or products or AI. We're actually talking more about the gains inside, but also the wars that they're having. So how do I really bring people into balance, into health, into finding inner peace? So methodology has those 25 principles embedded in the acronym ALAM, which means when we acknowledge love, we achieve results, we create consciously miracles. And a miracle can be something for each individual, could be something different. So for instance, if you're going through a health challenge, you're coming into perfect health, that for you is a miracle. Yeah, yeah. Breakthroughs and transformations. You said something when we were talking before, which is one of the primary reasons I wanted to have you on the show, is you talked about you kind of see yourself as an individual that is passionate about mapping human consciousness in individuals. And I thought about that for myself, and I thought, you know, everyone's different, right? There are general timeless principles, like when I talk about on our Franklin Planner podcast, and the timeless principles, like you said, wisdom that sometimes you understand, sometimes you don't. But mapping your own individual human consciousness is unique, is it not? Absolutely, it's unique. You know, we know that as human beings, we operate a unique value system, and also we operate a unique voice that we experience in our life. And also the way we experience reality, it's unique. Our perceptions are unique, our thoughts are unique, our behaviors are unique, And also those repeated patterns that to a naked eye, most people do not pick up. You know, some of my clients call me the Citroën coach. Others call me the architect of the mind. Others call me, you know, the healer. Well, there might be all those labels. But in reality is when we map that inside of ourselves, we can really unleash this greatness that sometimes is almost unimaginable for ourselves in that point in time to imagine something greater than where we are. This is the role as a trusted advisor, trusted coach for many of my clients when they hit those bottlenecks, those limits in themselves, but also understanding to make sure that they keep their wellbeing in balance and to keep the things they love in balance but also to clarify what is the significance they want to create What is that vision in 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years, 40 years? And now with longevity, many people, many experts say we could be living to 150, 250 years. Most people never answer the questions. So when I work in those private retreats, I ask about three to 6,000 questions and out of that, a miracle is born. I love that because it comes outside of you. Yeah, for you. Yeah, it's unique for each client. And some people who've seen some of my videos when I share, when I don't have like, you know, non-closure agreements, non-disclosure agreements, they will see that the walls we operate, they are full of those sticker whiteboards. And, you know, that would be created a technology, a product, a book, whatever the client wants. And also we can map out exactly who they are and where they're heading. Well, I love the frameworks because it not only takes all kinds of different areas from emotional, spiritual, business, whatever, and puts them into a framework, but it also is a starting point that then goes deeper into the individual. So I'm curious because I think a lot of people right now lack clarity and clarity in particular. I wonder for you with your clients, with the people you're across, you speak all over the world. Do you find clarity is something needed as a starting point to clarify vision and things like this? Or is it a process? What is it about, where do you start your clients? Because you talked about creating that vision for themselves. Is that a process or is clarity something they need to develop, you know, as a starting point? I think, I believe that the two are needed, George, both the clarity and the process. Why? Because as we go through the process, a new clarity will emerge. Oh, got it. Because the reality, the reality is, you know, the only constant in life is change. Now, you know, there was times when I was working in tech and going to Tony Robbins seminars and Jack Canfield and all these wonderful teachers around the world. And back then, many were teaching fight your purpose. And, you know, you said the word wisdom earlier on. And in reality, our brain cannot comprehend that. You know, nobody knows really what that means. Yeah, right. We can have very limited awareness around that. And one thing that came to me as I started writing many books came the clarity that purpose is not fixed. So therefore, I coined the word ever-evolving purpose. And I put that in my book, starting my second book in 2017. And ever since, no matter what I'm doing, I use the word ever-evolving. That also includes clarity. You know, but also what helps is being able to have a great foresight. So most of my clients, when I really ask powerful questions, we go ahead into the future and we clarify what do they see in their future. And sometimes by posing different questions, that future changes. But also I work with the body wisdom and also I work with what's happening around them where they are. So really trying to understand who you are truly and what you are here to serve, not from the external noise, not free external expectations of you, but being driven by those authentic voice, authentic values and authentic evolving vision that you see for your life while you're in this material form. But also I have a program where it's called existential program, which is for people who don't really need my help for money or growing businesses. They just simply want to focus on that, on their spiritual growth. And basically, I take people through many different exercises to be able to quieten the entire body and being able to start opening up their visions from being the essence rather than sort of being the person who's in a material form. Yeah, it's interesting. I knew that there's, I'm scribbling down notes for those of you that are just watching our video, because when you said ever evolving, that really resonated with me because I believe that one of the challenges a lot of people have, especially in personal development, is they have this destination they're trying to get to or this perfect scenario. And when they let go of that and they realize that it's an evolving process, hence why I have, you know, you notice my logo, the Phoenix. And my and my company, my core company is Evolution Group, and it's designed because we are constantly unleashing our potential. Right. We have greatness inside of us, but it's an ever journey of re being reborn and building and growing. But then we go through this rebirth at many different levels. Right. I've seen it happen. And so ever evolving, I think, is a principle that I think if you're listening to this, you really need to take to heart because there's a power and a comfort in knowing that you're not measuring. the distance you are, the gap you have from where you want to be, it's an ongoing process. And when you can let that go, more transformation can happen. Would you agree with that? Absolutely. Because, you know, what you're mentioning that when we have those fixed views about who we are and where we're heading. And, you know, I know many of our listeners will connect with this. Why? Because, you know, sometimes we have this fixed destination, but on that destination, something happens and derails you completely. And then you find this new destination that was better than before. That also comes to some of the clients we serve, by the way. I've observed that when, you know, I had this big, huge client, by the way, and sort of the client moved on. And literally a day later, I received 10 times bigger client. And I wasn't really nostalgic about it. I was very grateful. And, you know, we had a dinner and we were like, Tony, for 10 years, you've changed my entire life. Now I just want to slow down and spend time with my family. I don't even want to work anymore. And then we had these great evenings. And I have this belief that I'm here to serve globally. And I've had, since I was a kid, especially when I was born, my parents were told that one day I'm going to become this masterful healer and teacher and is going to go around the world and inspire billions of people. But then when the illness hit me, I was hospitalized and in life support machine for almost like a year and a half. My parents took me from hospital where the doctors told my parents, he will die. You better prepare for a funeral. And they took me back to this guy who also healed my brother from epilepsy. And apparently, you know, he lived back then in the mountains, no electricity, nothing, just a candle. I would spring next to him some herbs, some garden of herbs. And that's where my healing journey started and where my curiosity between science and spirituality really, really started. So for me, it's about really understanding and unlocking that potential as you go on that journey. And when you let go of that, you let go of control because we are control freaks. You know, because of all those issues that we've had and all the challenges, we start to try to be in control of our lives. But there's something miraculous about being present in where you are in the moment with who you are. Yeah, I agree with that entirely. In fact, I think it's our need and our desire for control that holds us back many times. And so I always like to talk with individuals I'm around to say, listen, just shift that need for control to curiosity and it'll make a huge difference for you. But I think sometimes in the transformational world, and that's why I really like that you do things individually, we set people up for failure in the sense of people are trying to create this vision of who they want to become and then operate from that in the present moment. And yet you can't truly know your potential, even though there's a lot in you, because it evolves as you go, right? So it's a crazy world, and I really love the framework that you've created. I wish we had a ton more time, but I do want to get to one more topic, and that is the current marketplace. with AI and we had a brief conversation about how things like AI and technology are shaping people's identity and internal operating system. Talk to me about your thoughts on that. And let's spend just a minute talking about what people can do right now to embrace what technology is doing, but yet do it in a way that truly will help them still feel fulfilled As somebody who worked for 17 years in technology and led billion pound technology transformation programs I predicted AI in 2017 where I wrote in the book, Hashtag Loneliness, a whole chapter dedicated to AI and what will happen to us as humanity. And that landed me a TEDx talk called Technological Armageddon, a wakeup call, which is both available on TED platform and TEDx platform has over Million Views and Keep Growing, where I pretty much gave humanity a talk about both to be cautious, aware, and to be able to put, I would say, the framework and the security in place before it becomes big, before it becomes uncontrollable. So, and in there, I predicted pretty much what It's happening now, what's happening going forward. So people who will really thrive. In that back then, I predicted 75% of drops in US will disappear. And that could be even bigger by 2030. So we're talking about in a very quick space of time. Why? Because AI now is pretty much reaching the point of singularity, which was predicted a long time ago in the scientific world. So if somebody like me is a nerd, they will know what I'm talking about around singularity. And we pretty much have reached that point where artificial intelligence is more intelligent than human intelligence. Now, it's great if we use AI for wonderful things, such as predicting weather patterns or, you know, solving bigger problems for humanity. You know, looking at the oceans and how we can clean the oceans, for instance, using AI. How we can pretty much look at the crops, how we can look at illnesses, which I'm working with medical innovators that I'm helping them innovate a whole new products around well-being. So a lot of my clients also are from the medical field. And using AI, being able to create, for instance, very focused medication for you as an individual, not be taking one pill and hopefully that pill helps you out. So precision medication, being able to predict any illness. So we can go much deeper how to be able to do better diagnostics. Now, that's great if humanity was at the level of the conversation we are having, George. Yeah, yeah. Heart to heart, curiosity, evolution focus, and being of service to humanity in general. Unfortunately, we see what's happening globally. Unfortunately, we see the uncertainty. Absolutely, we see the division. We see the wars. So humanity with a powerful tool like this can really unleash evil. Yeah, and to your point, hashtag loneliness, it's creating a rising epidemic of disconnection as well. And I think that this disconnection is making more and more people feel lonely, feel disconnected, feel unfulfilled. And despite all the positive benefits and long-term beautiful implications of it, it's creating a shift in mindset that is alarming. And so I'm curious, what do you recommend? what would be your recommendation to people of how they can overcome this digital disconnect epidemic and still be aligned with their purpose and their spiritual, emotional health? Firstly, to remind themselves, George, that you are powerful beyond your limitations that you have currently. Secondly, that it is us as human beings who invented AI. It's an extension of who we are, but it's not who we are. Yeah. But thirdly, make sure that you don't become dumber and keep offloading your intelligence into AI. Mm-hmm . You know, use it consciously for the things that can help you really accelerate your work, for instance, whatever, you know, social media posts, but nurture your brain by putting information in, not out. Yeah. I love that. That is something that will help you navigate AI world better. Why? Because experts like me will become even more, I would say, not only expensive, but also very rare to find and people in the AI world will value expertise and deep knowledge because as humans we give something that AI does not give. So I think, you know, as you go through this, use it consciously, but make sure you nurture your brain with a lot of knowledge and be careful. Like for instance, I see my clients sometimes, even a simple response, they go to chat GTP for GTP to give a response to somebody. Yeah. Yeah. I have a team who manages my social media. Sometimes when I know people, I go and respond myself. And sometimes I tell them, I said, by the way, I know you're using AI, but try to use it responsibly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and the more you are conscious of it and the more you embrace it, but yet personalize it, it will make a difference in your life. Otherwise, you know, I think people do begin to doubt their own abilities because they know that they can't give an answer that's even half as good as the other. But this leads to a topic we won't be able to have time to talk about, but it leads to where are you practicing true authenticity? So knowing the answer is not always what's most important. Being authentic and utilizing that tool to give your answer is, I think, the more authentic way to do it. Correct? Absolutely, George. So AI for me is just another more intelligent, more powerful tool that we created to help navigate ourselves. And I think it will give us a whole new dimension of understanding of who we're becoming. because even authenticity will change. I think every dimension of our life will change in the era where AI and I would say robotics will be implemented in every part of our life. Now, even privacy, as we know it, will end. I predicted this in 2017, and we're already seeing this now. Already we've seen that. Already we've seen it in government decisions, structures, where they remove certain human rights, where they pretty much go into your finances and they have full access of who you are. And going forward, it will be pretty much a society where, you know, this privacy is not going to exist anymore. So, you know, people need to be very cautious of how they proceed going forward. It's great, but what we're creating now, we're creating something which is more powerful than ourselves. And in my TED talk, I warned humanity. What do we do with creatures that we perceive them not to be equal to us? You know, we smash them, we kill them, and we exterminate. And that could also happen to humanity. Yeah, that's such a great thought. And it's so powerful. And I think more than anything, the awareness and conversation and thinking is what's important. Well, Tony, this has been amazing. How can people get in touch with and connect with you? What's the best way for them to, because there's so many TED Talks, books and things, where's the best way for them to connect with you? The best way is to go to my website, tonyselimi.com, T-O-N-Y-S-E-L-I-M-I.com. And for those who love to read books, they can go on Amazon, on my Amazon page, Tony J. Selimi. They can start with any of my books and they'll find a lot of value. And those who are film nerds, they can go on Amazon Prime and they can watch Living My Illusion documentary and The Truth About Reading documentary. And they can connect with me on social media. So I add a lot of value, so complimentary value to everybody. I love it. Well, and if you're listening to this, I'm going to put most of those links in the show notes. And so those will be there if you need them. And listen, this has been a great conversation. And for those of you that are listening to this that might be dealing with things in life, I mean, remember those couple things that Tony pointed out. Success is born out of the fire. and if you can just be curious and really tap into what your unique human consciousness map is and learn to really embrace that, I think you'll very quickly realize that you have massive potential inside of you and so I appreciate you being here with us today. Share this show. I definitely want to get the message out there and just remember, like I always say, it's never too late to start becoming the person you were meant to be, but you've got to take action. So have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.
