LIT Podcast

Episode #1: What is LIT?

Full Transcript

Welcome to episode 1 of LIT. My name is Ravi Toor, I’m your host. Today, I’ll be talking about what LIT is? But before I tell you what LIT is, I have to tell you how LIT got started. It began way back in my life.

Growing up, I developed as humanist, philosopher and Truth-seeker. Born to, and raised by immigrant and Entrepreneurial parents, they taught me the ethics of hard work and encouraged me to dedicate my life to something greater than myself. Early in life, I found myself interested in politics and justice. As life went on, I found myself wanting to work for and with the marginalized demographic. Life taking its twists and turns, I always found myself looking for meaning in life, alignment and true purpose.   

Now, let’s fast forward to 2016.

I found myself falling deeper and deeper into depression. Often the depressive thoughts would flare up during my commute to my corporate finance job.  

The constant thought? There was never any way I would be able to make a meaningful impact in this world.

I often stared out the window of the Skytrain holding back tears of desperation and loss of hope. I found my mundane life not changing anytime soon. Here I was, sitting with the rest of the commuters thinking, this must be it, this must be the purpose of my life.

The Rat Race we’ve all conformed to.   

The purpose of my life at the time seemed lame. I was working a job for the sake of working so I could pay for my life. I was stuck commuting most of the time and when I did get home, I was tired, frustrated and unmotivated.   

Then came November 8th, 2016.

I remember going to sleep the night before thinking… there’s just no fucking way Donald Trump is ever going to win the American Presidential Election.

There’s no fucking way.

I woke on the 8th, got ready for work, boarded the Skytrain and took a seat at the back of the train. As I sat down, there on the floor lay the Metro. I picked up the newspaper and saw the front page.

To my complete shock, I saw the news that would forever rock me to my core.

Donald Trump had been elected as the 45th President of the United States of America. All I really remember from that moment was my complete shock, utter disbelief and pure sadness. I was listening to Peponi by the Piano Guys and I remember the music shaking my soul as I held the paper in my hands. And then, just like that, the tears that I’d been holding back for so long came flooding out, uninhibited.. right in front of all the commuters.   

That was the moment my life direction changed.     

The election of this president meant 2 things to me. First, people were obviously hurting and looking to fill needs no matter what the costs. Second, the world was headed for a muthafuckin’ ride, and not of the good kind. This election had a bitter-sweetness to it. Yes, I was floored that people were willing to elect in such a human being who clearly hurled hate around like it was skittles and didn’t know a fucking thing about politics yet, he knew how to play the game.

The reality was this election made me realize I had to create a change in myself in order to create a change on a global level.

I couldn’t wait for someone to come down and rescue me and the People of the world. I couldn’t even expect change to happen if I didn’t initiate change within myself. And, just like that, as soon as I declared “Challenge Accepted,” the most serendipitous events started to generate in my life. I decided to invest all of my spare time into finding a way out of corporate finance and into Entrepreneurship.

Why?

Simple, I wanted to make an impact, work with people, help them really Rise, and encourage global change. However, there wasn’t exactly a position out there for me. I had to make one up. So, I started with Virtual Assistance after watching a webinar presentation online teaching me how to set up and get working.

Although being a VA wasn’t ground moving work, it was the beginning of funding my dreams.   

I busted my ass, burning the candles at both ends. I would wake up early as fuck and start a morning ritual of badassery. That means, I would start my morning high vibing by meditating, listening to music, podcasts and YouTube shows that would lift my state of being. I would then head into work, do my job, leave as soon as the clock ticked “home time” and jump on the computer to build my side hustle.

Soon enough, the summer of 2017 showed up.

I was ready to leave and declare no more side hustle but, a business owner, full time. As I pressed on, the world rapidly changed. You know, you’ve been watching and listening. I knew I needed to create change faster.

I wanted to tap into leaders and help them become strong and vibrant from within so they could go out in the world and transform what we call reality today.

And so with that, I pushed forward, removing any corporate crutch I had developed through providing administrative services and instead, developed my private coaching practice. I utilized all the skills and psychology background I already had developed during my college years and throughout my different jobs in life. I transferred those skills and talents to my coaching practice. I knew, by focusing on Badass Transformational Leaders, helping them overcome their obstacles, recognize their skills and inherent talents, they could self-actualize their highest and truest potential to succeed as world changemakers.

I knew by doing this, my life not only would be fulfilled but I would strike right with my vision to help The People.  

So, why LIT?

It’s an extension of my coaching practice and an extension of me. You see, on LIT, I get to truly be unfiltered and help the leaders of tomorrow rise today.   In my own province of British Columbia, I’m seeing younger and younger candidates elected for positions of political authority. The same goes for the US. I mean, the midterm elections of 2018 brought out all the people who wanted to create immediate change. So, in both Canada and the US, we’re seeing younger people, people of colour, and people of different sexual orientation being elected into political positions where back in the day, that shit would never happened. Why?

People want change, leaders masked as regular day people like you and me are rising and there is an urgency.

But mostly because People are awake and realize turning back is not an option instead, it’s time for a revolution.   And so, LIT stands for Lead – Inspire – Transform. I will use this podcast to share my uninhibited thoughts around world issues, talk about mindset, people, and theory.

My hopes are, this podcast will engage normal, everyday people like you and me to take a stand somewhere in our communities for something we feel most passionate about.

My hopes are I encourage people to recognize their own greatness within them to understand our true potential as human beings. My hopes, to revolutionize the way we think about our reality and turn this reality on its head so that The People are served and not robbed from.  So, if you’re game to all of this and more, I ask you stick around, get to know me and get a ‘lil crazy with me because, as the late Steve Jobs so eloquently said:

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Be the fucking crazy with me and let’s change the world, you Badass Transformational Leader.