Behind The Mic: Become Your Own Superhero with Laban Ditchburn

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Hey, amplify your family. Michelle Abraham, your host here today with a behind the mic interview. You know what today guys, I've got a special treat for you. I've got a Laban Ditchburn with me today. He is the world's best courage coach, and the host of Become Your Own superhero. Hey, Laban, how you doing?

Michelle Abraham Lovely to see you face as always thank you for having me.

Well, I am so glad. And for those of you guys are only on audio, you have to see Les with amazing outfit. He is coming to us all the way from Mexico with no shirt on, but a nice white blazer and a purple handkerchief in in it. So you're dressed for the occasion. I love it. And I can guarantee you probably just have shorts on underneath, right?

It's exactly what's going on. Yeah, I must correct you. I must correct you add an associate. It's actually a light pink coat. So maybe you can see that through a very important distinction.

It is very important now that I know that it's light pink, I can sort of see the light pink. Yes. Awesome. Well, oh my gosh, tell us. I want to share your story. But I am never going to do it justice. So I would love for you to kind of like, take us on your podcasting journey. What the heck made you start a podcast? And like why, but guys, let me tell you live his podcast is one of those anomalies. It's a podcast that has gotten some great traction with it. You've inspired us so many humongous names to come onto your podcast right from like day one. And so I want to dive into that part of that is in this conversation. But first of all, let's just hear like what inspired you to start a podcast in the first place.

It's such fond memories. Michelle and I first thing I would say is I really want to acknowledge you and the work that you're doing. And if you're if you're listening to this for the first time, you need to subscribe and consume the other amazing guests that Michelle has because she's a whirlwind of knowledge so it's very important. Podcasting changed my life. I my story really is overcoming addiction drinking and drugs and gambling floundering and and I realized after conquering all of that, that I wanted to become a speaker. And I planned to kick that off at the end of 2020. In January of 2020 I was like alright, I'm gonna do it a year from now kickoff and then COVID hit. And we were living in Australia and Melbourne and what was the most lockdown city in the world. And there was nothing else to do apart from create a podcast because we're in we're in curfews, you know, you could only go out for shopping for an hour and you know you being in Canada you can kind of empathize and what was going on the last weekend before the lockdown kicked in literally the last weekend. My wife now wife and I spent the last of our money going to a professional speakers Australia conference in South Australia about an hour's flight from Melbourne. And I net worked my tail off. And it was a three day event surrounded by the best speakers and coaches in Australia. And I was witnessing all the people standing out in the hallway as like a year's worth of speaking engagements were canceled some people lost, you know, hundreds of 1000s of dollars yeah, and but during that time and and I had a really great impact on the people there. We were just so thirsty and receptive and and so when we came back and went into lockdown, I had a small number of speakers that I had really resonated with, that I could call upon. And so they were my first half a dozen guess. You talk about bringing on a big guest Well, I was able to bring on Les Brown. And when I reached out to him, I got his phone number and I cold called him and he picked up and and I invited him on and he never asked me how many subscribers I had, which was 10 and I think five of those were family members that did it out of generosity, right? Well sympathy. And that really kick started the bravery. Like as in bringing on the best people that I could learn from ever. And I wanted to become, you know, my my whole thing was to get to be well on my way to being known as the World World's most positively influential speaker. So what would I do? I would invite the best speakers on the planet. And because of the lockdown, they weren't speaking, it was like, Yeah, okay, I'm on your podcast, you got a bit of spunk about your son. And then it just dominoed from the and one big baguette to and to get through, you know, the rest is history really. But during a time of a lot of scared like fear and scarcity. It was the greatest blessing in disguise. I was forced into writing my first book during that time, which was inspired directly from Les Brown from the podcast interview that we did together. And that's really how it started out.

Wow, that's so cool. And it's interesting to see how you were in that space where everyone was hugging everyone's speaking engagements were being canceled and just like the fear and like hanging over that whole industry, yet you dove into the seat, very similar industry of like podcasting where you are speaking on your own show, and you've made it successful. Successful go at it. And so, I'd love to share, we'd love for you to share with us like, what is it about reaching out to people that I know you're the world's of courage best courage coach, and, you know, it's one of those things, I think a lot of people don't have the courage to reach out to people that have had a name or that you maybe admire and feel like you're out of reach. But having a podcast gives you that opportunity to reach out to some of those people. Is there anything that you've done or said in those conversations or reaching out? Or is it really just having the courage to pick up the phone and or pick up or third an email and reach out?

Look, this is just my experience. And there's probably a million different ways to skin a cat with this. But I seem to have had some of the best success out of most people that I've spoken to about this. So you would assume I want to a winner. I approach every interaction in life now become really disciplined with what value can I add this person's life? And that's not a podcast guest. You know, specifically that's anyone if I'm going grocery shopping the UPS guy like whoever the IT support guy in Bangalore? Like how can I improve this person's life. And when you when you operate from that mindset, you release an energy that resonates with your people. And the people that ended up coming on the podcast, for the most part, were inevitably my people. And what I mean by that is, we operate at certain vibrational frequencies, and that I was attracting those people that understood the significance of what I was doing. And they entered into the arrangement without any expectation. And I think that's that was a real catalyst. I know I have people occasionally say how many subscribers do how many downloads Do you have? Pay me $5,000. And those people will usually sort of mediocre level, I was able to get some of the best of the best Nobel Prize winners and, you know, multiple gold medal winning athletes and you know, movie stars, and, you know, Oprah's spiritual guide for for I never paid a single person a single dime for any of my interviews. But what I got was 1000s of hours of knowledge worth. And I've worked this out, like in excess of millions of dollars, because of the, you know, how much people charged with their time and access to them and, and through reading their books, for those that have published authors beforehand, watching other things. So that's really been the main thing, certainly the self belief, to know that I'm worthy to have conversations at that level, was all part of a lot of the work that I did in my healing journey.

Yeah, I think you hit the nail right there like to that you're worthy of having conversations of that level, like, and I love how I've heard you say this before how you've tried treated everyone, as as, as an equal to like, you don't see them as any better than you or, you know, and I think that's where it puts people in some sort of weird state where they feel like, you know, teammates, or reach out because they're, you know, that self worth piece a little bit, too. I love the way you approach things with how can I add value to this person's life? So give us an example of a podcast interview that you've had where, you know, showed up? There was, here's your podcast guest Dee, and and, you know, they're going to give you some amazing content. What are some things that you've done to help you know, add value to someone else's life? Just because I know I have I know I've heard the stories may seem like a weird question. I know some of your answers.

It's totally loaded. I love this question. Michelle. One of my favorite ones has to be with Jack Canfield. And for those who don't know, he's the CO creator and author of Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which have sold collectively 600 million books globally. All right. He also wrote success principles he's been on Oprah's show countless times and is regarded as the number one successful arch in North America may the world right? He was introduced to me via someone else. So I didn't get a chance to speak to him like I ordinarily would have. But he came on the podcast, Michelle, and he was fatigued from this was during the back into 2020. So he'd been on lots of podcasts, everything was still on lockdown. And he was pretty distant and cold. And I thought, Man, how am I going to get out of this? Because this is gonna go south quick. So I said to him, Hey, Jack, and we're on a zoom call. He goes, Yeah, I said, I've got a commitment for you. He said, What's that leave? And I said, Jack, you're gonna leave this podcast with more energy than when it was so I can commit to that point. And even that was a bit ambiguous and his whole body language shifted, right? And he just went, alright, leave and I'm going to hold you to that. And I said, Alright, let's go Jack 321. The first question I said was Jack, my wife and I at that point had gone through the loss of 14 consecutive miscarriages. What advice would you give us to help bring this baby into the world? Right now I can tell you now, after having a verified from Jack Canfield, he'd never been asked that question before. He went into full Jack Canfield. Success Principles, mon answered it in the most beautiful way possible. And then it triggered his engagement. It was and it was an amazing podcast we did together. The second question I asked him, though, was Jack, what do you need help with? You know that I'm one success coach in the world. He said live in very arrogantly I don't have any challenges live, and I'm doing really good. And then he thought about it for a second. He goes, Oh, I actually, I've been trying to lose 15 pounds of belly fat for the last 12 months. And I said, Hey, Jackie goes here live. And I said, today's your lucky day. He said, Why is that live? And I said, because of what I didn't tell you about my magnificent transformation was that I lost 60 pounds of body fat and put on 30 pounds of muscle. And if that's something you want to have a discussion at the end of the podcast, you just let me know why and the number one success coach in the world, talking and asking me for 15 minutes at the end of the show off camera about what I did to lose this weight. And that was a moment, Michelle, where I realized I could operate and play at the top level. I know that I can add value to people's lives that on the on the surface of it and on paper look like they go to all together. And I can I can tell you this with 100% certainty. Even the most successful people in the world need help sometimes. And maybe you're the person that can help them with it.

Yeah, so great. Such a great insight. Now, I'm curious about your first question, though, what what was what was the what was the thought behind that first question? Was it just out of out of out of curiosity for genuinely out of curiosity for if it were his answer, or was that kind of a plan thing for like, shock value?

Do you know what I I think there's probably a little from Column A little from Column B, and maybe column C that I don't know about, you know, sounds like we're joking about it. But it's a real challenge that my wife and I are looking to get to the bottom of and because I've been able to ask that question of other people. You know, I asked the Jana Van Zandt, as well, who's Oprah Winfrey's coach? And she introduced us to some faith healers and some people, some spirit guides and, and so we've been I've done this with maybe half a dozen people since that, right. And I'm getting outcomes that would don't exist to regular people. For free. Right now, this has cost anything. And I don't know how else I can describe how beautiful that is. It's an unintended, beautiful byproduct of doing a podcast, right?

Yeah. And life changing too. Right. Like I mean, some some of those connections that you've made now from the podcasts have gone on and you've done business things with other people or you have an event coming up actually in September. Do you want to talk about that for a second?

Well, this is another great example of the power of podcasting. You know, a friend and business partner of mine, Tony schmaltz, asked me to speak at an event he wanted to create in Panama City Beach in Florida, in September of 2022, September 17, and 18th. And I said, Yeah, I'd love to I said, What do you need help with? is like, I'd love to get some big name speakers here. And I said, Well, who would you like to get is I'd be great to get Tony Robbins. I said, Well, I don't know Tony Robbins, but on iOS Brown. And I know Kevin Sorbo. And I know, Waldo Waldman, and I know Tom Ziglar. And these are all our headline speakers at this event now. And it was through the credibility. They the likability, the respect the service, that I now have varying levels of relationship with these people, where I can pick up pick up a phone and ring them and say, Hey, Kevin, hey, Les. Hey, we got this van, would you like to be involved? And that's what's happening. Like it's, it's miraculous, right?

Amazing. And you and Anna also got to spend some time in the US going and traveling and and it was really cool to hear that you stayed at a lot of people's places, or met up with people who you had interviewed on your podcast as well.

We stayed for two out of the three months, we're in the US, former podcast guest or people that have come through podcasts, multimillion dollar mansions on like Austin, like the most extraordinary stuff. And again, like it didn't cost anything, it's, and we've been able to pump a whole heap of value and some of those people's lives as well.

I mean, I just love that the way the magic and the connections happen for you through your podcast. And so what do you think has really, really helped transpire all those connections of staying connected beyond the podcast, and I know that's something that people talk about a lot, where it's like a podcast episode sometimes can feel transactional to people and it's there, you know, it's really should be the beginning of a relationship, and you've done a great job of continuing those relationships on any advice for our listeners that are maybe struggling with that.

So I don't force anything, right, like people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. And there'll be there'll be times in your life where you'll spend more time with one person, and then you might seem like you're bouncing around. But as long as you are not tying any outcome to any service, I mentioned this earlier, like, if you anytime you can think of a way to serve someone without any expectation, you know, a quick text message, an acknowledgement or whatever, like, that's how I do, I've now had 1000s of interactions with people, not just podcast guests. And it's impossible to keep track of everything. I do my best. I've got a great memory, but like, it's not that good. And so I just leave, people don't remember what you say what you do, they remember how you make them feel. All right. So just remember that it's a real important thing. If you operate from that service mindset, you can never, you'll always be known as someone who's like, hugely beneficial to be around, particularly with more high profile guests, right? Because a lot of people want to take take take take take. Yeah, all right. And then when someone wants to give us like, hang on a second.

Absolutely, yeah, that's a really great explanation of that. And I hear it's interesting how much that law of reciprocity comes into play by leading with just being able to give and the supporting, and doing it so genuinely as you do, I think that's a really, I do think that's an innate quality and so on, or this evening, that's a skill that's learned.

Look, my father is a retired radio announcer. And he always told me, You gotta give voice, right? Why I've also worked really hard on my voice I've done I've done like vocal training and a bunch of other things as well, to make it better. And I think 150 podcasts, plus another 50 that I've been interviewed, plus 1000s of hours talking helps, but I was reading something recently, Michelle about charisma. And this might be beneficial. I was trying to figure out what it is because people have told me that I'm very charismatic. It didn't used to be the case. And it's, it's a, it seems to be being present with someone pretending like there's not even pretending just being there with them so that nothing else really exists and actively listening and the power is in the listener, and I and I try to do that as best I can. And that's the one thing that I would recommend that you get good at. Don't worry about trying to formulate your next question if you really pay attention and be present. All right, you'll be able to formulate a really interesting question and ask questions that you want to know the answer to not what you think your audience do right? Do it for you the right energy the right energy will attract the right people and if it's not a Joe Rogan level download for now don't worry about it. Just stick to stick T ganz be authentic and be real.

Love it. That's a great reminder. I remember being so caught up on like what the next questions gonna be in interviews when my early on podcasting days that you missed it, you missed the good stuff, because you're so focused on what's coming next. Doesn't make for a good listen for your audience. Yeah. So even before we let you go any, any words of advice for our podcasters or thinking about starting out a podcast or thinking about putting the time into creating one?

Yeah, don't do it. It honestly is one of the greatest things I've ever done. It's, it gave me a platform where there was none. It gave me credibility where there was none. It gave me a voice where there was no voice and And it's given me a skill set that has become incredibly valuable. I've become not just a podcaster, but a publicist, a PR agent, a super connector, you know, the ultimate networker, and you can create a wonderful lifestyle for yourself off the back of doing this, and stick at it. Get 100 episodes in year before you decide whether you want to stop

100 episodes fresh or the amount of personal development that happens in those first 100 episodes is great, too. Awesome. Well, thanks so much, David, for being with us. Any last words of where we can reach out to you connect with you find out more about what traps you.

Look, I definitely want to talk to you. Yeah, I'm the world's best carriage coach. And I teach people how to take bold, massive and strategically courageous action to facilitate their own miraculous outcomes. And I do that through being a podcast host, a speaker, a coach, and I've got a mastermind and I run events, right and all of that can be found through the website, leaving ditchburn.com The upgrade your life tour is Tickets are available now upgrade your life to a.com We've got some really great early bird tickets available to an amazing lineup. And yeah, love to hear love to hear from you and love to engage with my audience and happy to share any, any other nodes

that I keep. above anything else. I will be there at the upgrade your life tour, you can hear that or come and lead us and come and join us there. We will we will. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Well, David, thank you so much for being on with us today. We'll bring you back lots more times because there's lots more to uncover about being the world's best courage coach that I think our podcast listeners need to hear. So until next time, amplify your family go out there, go check out Labor's podcast, go grab a ticket to the upgrade your love tour. And we will see you in Florida in September then.