Jim Carrey: Memoirs and Misinformation
EPISODE 178
Jim Carrey, Film Star, Survivor, Inspiration. From humble beginnings to superstardom, he joins an elite group of comedians who have spanned the acting chasm to achieve phenomenal success.
His book; Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our "one big soul," Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world-apocalypses within and without.
"None of this is real and all of it is true." - Jim Carrey
INTRO
Jim Carrey speaks to us about his view on success and achieving your goals
Manifest the life you want (2m25)
BE AWARE OF THE SELF
Jim Carrey and how intention creates your reality
Intention is everything (4m05)
Jim Carrey‘s commencement address to Maharishi International University (MIU)'s class of 2014 tells everyone that they should get what they want so they realise it’s not what they need
Dream up a good life (3m16)
THINK DIFFERENT
Jim Carrey and the power of thought
Awaken (2m08)
OUTRO
Jim Carrey and co-author Dana Vachon talk to Tom Power about what happened when he was told he had 10 minutes to live
List your gratitudes (3m27)
READING
Jim Carrey: Memoirs and Misinformation
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Jim Carrey: Hello
[00:00:01] Mike Parsons: and welcome to the moonshots podcast. It's episode 177. I'm your, Mike Parsons. And as always, I'm joined by the man who's sometimes misinforming, but we love him all the still it's my piss and Mark Freeland. Good morning. Hey,
[00:00:17] Mark Pearson Freeland: good morning, Mike. If I'm the misinforming one, then you must be the memoir individual because today we're digging into somebody who doesn't necessarily need too much of an introduction.
[00:00:26] Arguably Mike, it might be one of our most well-known individuals from the land of Hollywood. What would you say?
[00:00:35] Mike Parsons: I would say, I think he is as big as Mr. Green lights McConahey but might tell our listeners, who are we
[00:00:44] Mark Pearson Freeland: studying today? Today, listeners, we are digging into the creative. I'm going to say genius.
[00:00:50] Mic of Jim Carey, Jim Carrey, who a lot of us will know from the land of films. Just to name some of the ones he's done. It's ACE, [00:01:00] Ventura, the mask, dumb and dumber. He was in Batman. If you remember that one cable guy, me, myself, and Irene buddies. The author of a brand new book called memoirs of misinformation that he co-wrote with Madonna of VaShawn, which is a novel about, I'd say creativity it's semi-autobiographical, but also it's a bit of a, as he would say, deconstruction of persona and Hollywood, so pretty creative look, Mike.
[00:01:29] Mike Parsons: It is, and I would say one of the things that makes today's show so interesting, so valuable to us is I think Jim Carrey is quite candid. Not only in his search for. Who he really is search for identity and meaning that he pursues in this book, but also in some of these public talks, he really is Frank.
[00:01:53] I would even go as far as saying a bit vulnerable. And he's happy to admit his faults and because of [00:02:00] that, we can learn so much from him. It is great to think that not only can he give us his acting, but he's got some real lessons to teach us. So if you enjoyed ACE ventura, if you enjoyed the cable guy yeah.
[00:02:18] That's to take a turn on things. He's also got a lot to teach us, which is why I just love this show market is so amazing that we can go on this search for ideas, for inspiration, for practices and habits. That can help us be the best version of ourselves. And it's just so fun to turn to someone like Jim Carey's.
[00:02:39] Mark Pearson Freeland: He is a fun individual comedian first in my mind, but actually as we dig into his book, as well as some of the commencement addresses some of the talks, as well as the, some of the things that he's penned, it's very clear to us that he's just this persevering, quite selfless [00:03:00] individual who has been through the ringer.
[00:03:03] I guess he's done a lot of work. Most of it seems pretty comic quite lighthearted, but actually the truth is he's quite open to reflecting on what makes him a unique individual. What makes him a household name? What allows him to be this character in our minds? He's quiet. Honest with himself, as you say vulnerable, I think is again, the word that we can come back to here.
[00:03:29] He just said. As though he wants to open himself up, he's willing to take criticism and therefore he's willing to put forward this creative concept of himself as well as his characters into the limelight. And what better way for us to learn about creativity as we're in the middle of our creativity series, Mike, than somebody who is just so open and honest.
[00:03:53] Mike Parsons: Yeah. So we have an action packed show in front of us. We're going to get into some key concepts of manifestation, [00:04:00] intention dreaming art, really. You want to be that very best version of yourself and gratitudes, which is something that many other people have talked about. So we have so much in front of us, mark, where do we want to start this adventure into the world of Jim Carey?
[00:04:18] Let's
[00:04:19] Mark Pearson Freeland: start with Jim Carrey himself, the man and the legend, talking to us about his view on success, achieving his goals and fundamentally how all of us should really start to work on manifesting the life that.
[00:04:33] Jim Carrey: When you create yourself to make it you're going to have to either let that creation go and take a chance on being loved or hated for who you really are, or you're gonna have to kill who you really are and fall into your grave, grasping onto a character that you never were saw.
[00:04:59] [00:05:00] This psychic Palm reader sign. And she gave me a reading and she said,
[00:05:08] you're about to do three things, three movies. That will be very. And very important. And after that, it will be impossible for anyone to knock you down from that place. I've worked in factories. I had a ninth grade education and it's a series of crushing disappointments. And I just go into a different gear.
[00:05:35] I go into don't know how it's going to write itself, but it will, I don't know how I'm the guy who wrote the $10 million check to himself and had it come to fruition. And the guy who had the substitute teacher in grade two said that whenever I want something, I pray to the Virgin, Mary and I asked her for it and I promised something in return and it got whenever I walked.
[00:05:56] So
[00:05:56] Mike Parsons: didn't you write yourself? A
[00:05:57] Jim Carrey: check I heard that you did is that true? I wrote myself [00:06:00] a check for $10 million for acting
[00:06:02] Mike Parsons: services rendered. And I gave myself a
[00:06:05] Jim Carrey: five years and my dad couldn't read worldwide sickle. So I went to. I prayed for a bicycle and promised I'd say the rosary return. And then I got a bicycle showed up in my living room, brand new Mustang bike.
[00:06:21] I put it in one of the scenes in eternal sunshine, that Mustang bike with a banana C just before, excuse me, 1995. I
[00:06:29] Mike Parsons: thought that I was going to make $10
[00:06:31] Jim Carrey: million. So you visualize and on it was whenever I wanted something to happen. I manifested it. I stood there in an open field like this, my arms out.
[00:06:42] Mike Parsons: Oh my gosh manifestation. Now this is something that mark, we have seen a lot of successful people employ, and I think it is, you can trace it right back to think and [00:07:00] grow rich by Napoleon hill, which we actually studied together, mark. And he talks about creating this burning desire. And one of the ways you can practice manifestation is you don't only think it, you don't just visualize it, but you really you're actually say your goals every single morning and without getting too fluffy about it, what it really does is it just sets you on a course.
[00:07:29] It might sound a little weird to stand there and, shout your intentions and really manifest the things that you want to come true for you. But I'm afraid there are too many successful people who talk about doing this. And I think there's something big to learn in terms of this. The guy wrote himself a check for 10 million and then he got the 10 million he wanted to, talk about the big three things that were [00:08:00] going to happen in his life.
[00:08:01] ACE venture, the mass dumb and dumber all happened in the same year. So there's something there. Isn't there, mark.
[00:08:07] Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah. What I really like about that clip and what we're going to learn from Jim Carey in today's show is although he was known as, and still is known arguably as a slapstick sort of comedian actor.
[00:08:21] You were already starting to get a sense of his reflection and the hard work that he's put into his mindset, as well as his habits and behavior. And for me, what stands out when it comes to manifestations is. The connection with mantras as well. If I'm going to manifest the best version of myself, I might enlist a series of behaviors or habits that help me get there for you and I, Mike, we've spoken about it on the show before with our, to do his steps and how we have maybe a list of mantras that I certainly reflect back on relatively frequently, just [00:09:00] to see, okay how am I tracking with that?
[00:09:01] And even though I might not be manifesting or writing down I'm going to earn $10 million through, films for acting services rendered as Jim Carrey. My put what I think what I'm getting from that eclipse particularly is if I have a goal in mind and I reflect on it and I hold myself accountable to.
[00:09:22] Then I can try and make it happen. And what it reminds me of is, again, a similar to a reference you just made in our finance series, unless you take ownership of your finances or your behavior or your success, nobody else is going to do it. So it's really up to you to take that ownership and try and make it happen.
[00:09:44] That's where I'm getting what I'm getting from Jim heads, that individual success story, where he just wants to make it happen and he'll go out and work really hard.
[00:09:53] Mike Parsons: Yeah. I think you really nailed it. You've got to, you gotta know your objectives and I think no, [00:10:00] there's just no way to, to overinvest in defining what you want.
[00:10:06] And what I mean by that is you should be coming back to your goals and objectives daily. Yeah. Or you should be saying them writing. Daley, you should be visualizing them daily. And if you really want to mark them inside of yourself, you have to imagine that you are achieving those things and asking yourself, how will you feel when you achieve those?
[00:10:33] This for me is a very deliberate working on yourself, but just like running around, being busy, really working on yourself, manifesting with clarity, with purpose. And it really does sound a little weird. Doesn't it? To say your goals out
[00:10:53] Mark Pearson Freeland: loud every day. Yeah, it's funny. Isn't it? And I think it feels refreshing to hear somebody [00:11:00] who we all are probably aware of.
[00:11:02] We probably will seen that work at Jim Carrey, as we've already said, that those lists are pretty well known, but it's refreshing isn't it to hear somebody who's as successful as he. Still doing something that you could say is perhaps a little bit unusual, maybe embarrassing today. You can do it just in front of yourself, of course, but that working on yourself, that honesty, that vulnerability, as you've already said is something that's so consistent with.
[00:11:29] A lot of our moonshots isn't it? Why are we doing things? What is it that we're doing to, in order to become the best version of ourselves? If we are going to be a leader, we should work on ourselves and try and really focus and hone our skills to be the best version. And again, I think what Jim Carey's already saying, and Mike, look, we've, we're only just heard the first clip from Jim Carrey show today.
[00:11:54] Mike Parsons: We're already
[00:11:55] Mark Pearson Freeland: getting so much from it that can help us be focused in our goals [00:12:00] and our objectives of our
[00:12:01] Mike Parsons: lives. Hey and listen, I think, If you think saying, and writing your goals as a practice, as a habit that you can have every day, if it sounds a little odd, then do it somewhere private and ask yourself what is there to lose.
[00:12:16] If so many famous people successful people have used this as a way to guide their success, to get them on the right track so that they can just be in a positive disposition, what is there to lose, but really what is there to lose. But if you think about this, if you spend more of your time stating your goals, how could you not be somehow affecting your subconscious to twist and turn it towards the right direction?
[00:12:45] Think about this. If you watch too much junk television, We say that your brain's going to mush all then surely if you do the opposite, your brain's going to be like all pumped up. If you watch good stuff then your [00:13:00] brain's going to be in a good place. So surely saying positive things that you want to be true, have a far higher chance.
[00:13:06] If you keep saying to yourself every single day that you will. These happen. I believe there's something there. I'm I'm just trying to argue, give it a, go, try it out. There's nothing to lose this.
[00:13:21] Mark Pearson Freeland: No, there's nothing to lose and I'll tell you who else has nothing to lose Mike and that's our Patrion members for the moonshots master series.
[00:13:30] And as always Mike, I'd like to start by just giving them a little bit of a roll call because that membership family is growing week by week. Isn't it?
[00:13:39] Mike Parsons: So it certainly is. And I think just before you do the roll call, mark, I think what you should do at the end is you need to make the stakes publicly announced if we hit the big number mark, so I'll let you do the roll call, but don't forget to me.
[00:13:55] I
[00:13:55] Mark Pearson Freeland: know, I know. For all those who are counting, how many members we've got, we're [00:14:00] getting close to that number, Mike, which I'll tease again at the end, we have done that. And ed Bob Niles, John Terry Nial, marshaling, Ken and DMR, Tom and mark Marjon and Connor, Rodrigo Yasmeen, Daniella.
[00:14:14] And Lisa said, Mr. Von, ju Maria, Paul Berg, Kalman and net David, Joe, crystal. Christiane hurricane brain and brand new Cinderella. Thank you guys. And a welcome, thank you for supporting us and the moonshots family as Patrion members and Mike, as you've already teased, we're getting over the 50% mark towards what we shared a few episodes ago, where we promise that if we make it to the big number of 50 members, five, zero, we'll be able to offer merge and merchandise and maybe moonshots t-shirts and all sorts of good stuff to all of our members, as well as the moonshots team.
[00:14:58] Mike, to be honest, we better get [00:15:00] our designing hats on because we are sneaking up on that number pretty fast actually.
[00:15:06] Mike Parsons: Oh yeah, we, yeah. And don't forget each and every one of those members were super grateful for your contribution. It's roughly a cup of coffee a month. That's all we ask in return for this show, but.
[00:15:17] As a member, you also get access to the moonshots master series where we break down one big topic. And we cross-reference it with lots of other superstar clips. And sometimes we find some classics. Sometimes we find some new ones. And the most recent one that we just published is managing people where we go really deep into how to get the most out of those that you're working with.
[00:15:43] Four. And that was a great episode. And what's the next master series we're thinking about
[00:15:49] Mark Pearson Freeland: mark. We're getting into rapid prototyping, a very good framework that actually we heard for your Eagle eyes listeners. We heard rapid prototyping and the idea of [00:16:00] testing, not only in last week's episode with Walt Disney, but you also remember James Dyson.
[00:16:05] So we can see this framework and way of working intrinsically throughout a lot of our moon shots, master individuals. Look, my merchandise is obviously a very attractive, but you're right. The real benefit for becoming members is not only to also support the moonshots family, but to get access to the master series, big, comprehensive, deep dives that we really do have a lot of fun pulling together.
[00:16:32] Mike Parsons: We do. We love it. And we want to thank you our listeners and in particular, our members for helping us along the way, it's not cheap to run a global podcast these days, and we're a victim of our own success. So our hosting bills keep getting higher and have production. We're pushing out on you choose Squarespace.
[00:16:51] All the podcasting platforms. We have to push all our content out to the members on Patrion that takes time people, energy, [00:17:00] resources, and we are delighted to share it with you. And we are super. Grateful for those that choose to pay value for value, to contribute a little bit to us. As we learn out loud in the search of being the best version of ourselves.
[00:17:15] And there is no better place to continue that journey with this idea of intention. And I tell you what, Jim, Carey's got something to tell us, so let's get ready for a world of intention. It's our
[00:17:28] Jim Carrey: intention. Our intention is everything. Nothing happens on this planet without it not one single thing has ever been accomplished without intention.
[00:17:38] So I started thinking about my life and I started thinking about this conference and what we're about. And I looked back and I thought I was two people. My whole life. I was in the living room, entertaining people, being a monkey, doing my thing for the company and trying to relieve my mother who was suffering.
[00:17:57] She had a rheumatoid arthritis and [00:18:00] phlebitis and everything under the sun that was nagging at her and she was depressed and I wanted her to be free. And I wanted her to you realize that her life, it was worth something because she gave birth to someone who's worth something.
[00:18:17] And then I would go into my room and I would sit
[00:18:22] with the legal pad. I was a little kid. I would sit there and I would try to figure out what it meant when it was all about why are we here? What is this? And one day I read something from boots. Yeah. That said that all spirituality is about relieving suffering. And I suddenly realized. That's what I'm doing in the other room.
[00:18:52] And I'm aligned, this, my purpose is aligned with this. [00:19:00] So I felt incredibly lucky. I lose sight of that all the time. I get caught up in different concerns and ego concerns, but I'm so lucky to be a part of this community and to do something that is of value. And I really cherish that and we are all one thing.
[00:19:19] It really is true. Can I speak to the person in the last row, in the very last seat against the wall? Is there someone back there that can say, hello? What's your name? Andrea. Are you aware that, do you have the distinct, palpable feeling that your intention created this evening as well as Melissa's.
[00:19:42] Do you understand that all of this entire event is happening inside you?
[00:19:48] we'll just try to feel it for a second. Cause it's a trip, man.
[00:19:52] Some people go to the Superbowl. I am the super bowl, man. I swear my [00:20:00] friends are all going to see that play. That was great. I'm like, yeah, but the energy coming out of me right now, man is unbelievable. I'm just sitting there. I'm the stadium. I'm the vendors outside. I'm the crack dealer on the corner. I'm everything, man.
[00:20:15] There's no end to it. And it's so much fun. It's so much fun. So I hope you can feel that. And I hope you understand that you are one of the creators of this evening, that your intentions and your desires created this evening as well. And then I hope you are able to ask yourself, why did I get such a crappy seat and be okay with it?
[00:20:39] You're in the last row, in the last seat, and yet you created this
[00:20:43] that's gotta be, it's a really selfless thing to do.
[00:20:49] Mark Pearson Freeland: Mike, what a fun little clip. You can get a sense of Jim carries energy, as well as the depth of his thinking. I think in that clip of him doing the [00:21:00] talk and for me, what I'm immediately getting apart from the references to his upbringing, being the monkey in the room, as he says but also that reference to Buddha and spirituality, having something to do with relieving suffering, which I think we've covered on the show as well.
[00:21:16] What I'm hearing is this idea around pub. Understanding valuing, identifying and reflecting on what your purpose is in life. That then can not only guide the work that you go out and do, but also it gives you a little bit of a dare I say, happiness in you in your role.
[00:21:36] Mike Parsons: Yeah so here's the formula that I've decoded from that.
[00:21:40] And I have to mix it up mark with a little bit of Simon Sinek and his work around purpose and asking the question why I think where he's pushing us towards Jim carriers is this notion of understand not [00:22:00] only what you're trying to do. But why, and that is when he talks about intention. That's I think w you know what, he's really pushing out.
[00:22:11] Why are you doing this? What is your purpose? And I think being this idea of being intentional, maybe you've heard this in conversation, or you've seen blog posts about it, but to me, I think mindfulness and intentionality, I think that the real thing that we've decoded here on the moonshots podcasts and the model that we see is people being super vigilant about what messages they put in.
[00:22:40] We were just talking about manifestation just before. That's a great example. And I was talking about choosing what messages are coming in, what media do you consume? What people do you listen to and keep company with. And then really. Taking time, we are [00:23:00] huge proponents of journaling.
[00:23:03] Write down what you want to do, how you want to do it. And why have this clear in your mind? Because for me, it's like having a beach shack that you can, it's all very nice in the summer, but when the winter comes, you need a Batten down the hatches. And one thing we know for sure is life will present.
[00:23:23] Challenge. Life is hard. Life is full of problems. And I think if you have your intentions really clear, not only can you find the right path, but when things try to drag you off the path, you've got your intentions clear and sometimes your intentions can just be to embrace the discomfort, right? I'm not going to reach out to, I'm just going to embrace it.
[00:23:49] And I think that the biggest thing I can say. My journey has been about is stepping away from just charging, trying to achieve [00:24:00] things in the life, but starting to ask why. And when you ask why you can refine your radar, make better choices and feel so much better in the day. Because for me, mark, the magic is when you do something today, when you is doing something in the moment and this is directly related to your intention, to your purpose.
[00:24:25] When you, if you say, I truly want to be a healthy well person, and you've identified eating salads for lunch every day, this week, every time you do that during the week, you can feel so. So good about yourself. Cause not only do you feel good cause you had a salad, but this is part of realizing the intention that you have.
[00:24:51] And I think when we're really lost, we cannot relate what I'm doing to my purpose. [00:25:00] That gap is so vast and I can't see it's so foggy. I can no longer see why the hell am I doing this? I can't answer the question. And I think that's when we feel lost, when we feel intentional is Hey, I got to bed early so I could get that I was asleep.
[00:25:16] So I've woken up and not only do I feel good that I had the capacity to get my ass into bed much earlier last night and not binge on Netflix. Does that make sense?
[00:25:25] Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, it makes total sense to me. I see. Not only this being a physical. Elements from a habit habitual perspective, William H McRaven saying, make your bed in the morning, because then at least you've got one thing that's tidy and sorted.
[00:25:41] When you get home at night, there's a physical control. It's a great example.
[00:25:46] Mike Parsons: That's a really good example. Like he's like you wanted to be disciplined in your day. That first thing, at least if nothing else, that first thing you got done
[00:25:56] Mark Pearson Freeland: tick because you can't control. And that's the next bill [00:26:00] that I would do here with regards to intention, mindfulness and desire.
[00:26:04] The work that mark Manson that we heard from a few weeks ago he was helping us determine and figure out what we should disregard. That's out of our control and the things that actually are in control and. Therefore what we should really care about because more often than not, we all get distracted and start caring about things that fundamentally we shouldn't give too much energy to.
[00:26:29] And I think that's going to be much harder to do, unless you have figured out and determined what your intentions, therefore desires and drives and passions really are, because then you can think, okay if somebody is upsetting me on the bus, maybe they don't give him my seat or maybe I'm in traffic.
[00:26:48] Does that align with my purpose? Should it matter? No. In which case I'm going to be far easier for me to disregard it and therefore not get upset and use a waste [00:27:00] editor. On something that is totally out of my control, not sweating the small stuff. Yeah.
[00:27:05] Mike Parsons: And we, we did our whole masters here is on that idea of circle of influence,
[00:27:09] Mark Pearson Freeland: that's right, exactly. The circle of influence. You've already referenced Simon Sineck and the work of identifying your being. I remember icky guy as well. There's a great breakdown from Tim Tamashiro in, in that master series episode as well. So listeners, if you do want to really dig into finding your purpose, go along to moonshots.io, and you can hear a trailer as well as subscribe to get access to that master
[00:27:35] Mike Parsons: episode, we are really.
[00:27:38] Really jumping into some very foundational work on setting our mind, body and our souls in the right direction. And if you want to give that just a little extra nudge, you could always go into iTunes and Spotify, leave a rating or a view. Mark, I'm sure [00:28:00] that's going to give you a little bit of a positive burst in, in life
[00:28:03] Mark Pearson Freeland: when you say it.
[00:28:04] It certainly is. And actually I've noticed. Within the Spotify app, the the ratings number is going up. So I can definitely say thank you to all of our listeners and members who are already leaving ratings within the application. We can't see necessarily who does, so we can't give you a personal shout-out.
[00:28:23] But what I can say is it does make a huge difference. Just giving us a rating or review. You can leave a review within apple podcasts and you can leave ratings in all of the podcasts apps as well. They really help get the moonshots algorithms working and get us into the ears and the palms of listeners around the world who like you and I, Mike, we just want to learn out loud together.
[00:28:48] We want to understand the maybe secrets or the tips or the behaviors and the habits of some of these world-class thinkers that can help us become the best version of ourselves. So ratings [00:29:00] and reviews within all of the applications really help our. Let's say mission or purpose. In fact, they are in our intention to get out into the ears around the world.
[00:29:11] So thank you, listeners.
[00:29:12] Mike Parsons: Yeah. Thank you for giving us a thumbs up a rating or review, regardless of which podcast app you're using. Just get in there, give us some love. We'd really appreciate it. And that's how we've grown from a few listeners a month to over 50,000 listens a month. And we've done that journey over the last four years.
[00:29:34] And we're so glad that you are here to be part of that journey. And just to give you that extra bit of sunlight in your day, why not return to Jim Carey and listen to him talking about dreaming up a good life.
[00:29:50] Jim Carrey: We're not the avatars we create. We're not the pictures on the film stock. We are the light that shines through.
[00:29:58] All else has just smoking [00:30:00] mirrors distracting, but not truly compelling. I've often said that I wish people could realize all their dreams and wealth and fame and so that they could see that it's not where you're going to find your sense of completion. Like many of you, I was concerned about going out into the world and doing something bigger than myself.
[00:30:21] Until someone smarter than myself made me realize that there is nothing bigger than myself.
[00:30:27] my soul is not contained within the limits of my body. My body is contained within the limitlessness of my soul. One unified field.
[00:30:36] one unified field of nothing dancing for no particular reason, except maybe to comfort and entertain itself.
[00:30:44] does that shift happens in you? You won't be feeling the world will be felt by it. You'll be embraced by it. Now I'm always at the beginning, I have a reset button. And I ride that button constantly. [00:31:00] Once that button is functioning in your life, there's no story that the mind can create. That will be as compelling.
[00:31:07] The imagination is always manufacturing scenarios, both good and bad. And the ego tries to keep you trapped in the multiplex of the mind.
[00:31:14] our eyes are not viewers. They're also projectors that are running a second story over the picture that we see in front of us all the time. Fear is writing that script and the working title is I'll never be enough.
[00:31:29] are you going to look at a person like me and say, how could we ever hope to reach those kinds of Heights? How can we make a painting? That's too big for our home.
[00:31:38] how do you fly so high without a special breathing apparatus? This is the voice.
[00:31:46] And if you listen to it, there will always be someone who's doing better than you. No matter what you gain, ego will not let you rest. It will tell you that you cannot stop until you've left an [00:32:00] indelible mark on the earth until you've achieved. Immortality. How tricky is this ego that it would tempt us with a promise of something we already possess.
[00:32:12] I just want you to relax. That's my
[00:32:16] Mark Pearson Freeland: job,
[00:32:17] Jim Carrey: relax and dream up a good
[00:32:19] Mark Pearson Freeland: life. Relax and dream up a good life. Mike, how on-brand is Jim Carrey in that clip with regards to the moonshot show in this idea of the,
[00:32:30] Mike Parsons: We went deep there, there was a whole episode code ego is the enemy, which was a study of Ryan holiday's work.
[00:32:37] We went deeply into it with the show on echo toll. The real aha moment for me is that those little whispers in your mind, those self doubts that so many of us suffer that is the ego having its way with you. And it creates this fear of failure. It's[00:33:00] it's terrible. But what.
[00:33:04] Jim Carrey is telling us what we are learning from him. Ryan holiday, I cut toll is that we have a choice. We can actually overcome the ego. We can know that we are not those thoughts. In fact, we can prime our subconscious with manifestation, with intention, with mantras, we can bring ourselves back into our real self, through breath work or through meditation and not for the.
[00:33:35] To all of those whispers in the background, those self-doubts we can truly embrace the real us. I think that's the invitation that Jim was making. Then don't you
[00:33:45] Mark Pearson Freeland: mind? Yeah. The understanding or identifying and therefore holding yourself true to your real self, I think is really the work that we're starting to uncover within Jim Carey.
[00:33:59] And we've had a [00:34:00] lot of clips from commencement addresses and so on. And isn't it interesting to hear that level of depth to an individual that a lot of us regard as just this comic actor, for me, Mike, My ego might not necessarily be in the same, let's say a frightening level as Jim Carrey. He is a man that is well-known all across the world and I'm sure it is very difficult to get yourself into that position.
[00:34:27] And stay clear headed for me. My ego will certainly get in my way, if I am trying to let's say, make a decision at work rather than let my ego where maybe I've come up with an idea override the best way forward that's going to get in my way. So let me try and break that down a little bit further.
[00:34:51] If I am feeling a little bit egotistical, a little bit confident in something that I've created, I might not want to listen to the points of [00:35:00] view or opinions of other people, because I'll think that I'm right. That maybe I'm the smartest person in the. Maybe because I'm the loudest person in the room.
[00:35:09] And I think what I'm hearing from Jim Carrey and how I can relate it into my own life both from a work perspective and kind of family one is just to take that breath, as he says, just relax. Don't let ego be the cause for let's say arguments or fallouts or restrictions among your life.
[00:35:30] Instead, having that reset button present through the use of remembering and holding yourself accountable. And knowing that your ego is always around the corner or maybe always on your shoulder, then you can always hold yourself accountable and stop yourself. If you are getting into something that is a little bit too close minded.
[00:35:52] Does that make sense?
[00:35:53] Mike Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. I think when we really try and just pair it right down, I think [00:36:00] our egos inside of us trigger this fight or flight, this fear inside of us. And it's very primal because we're trying to survive as caveman, and women. So what happens is we anything that is a threat to our survival challenge, adversity, scarcity, et cetera.
[00:36:22] And so what happens is we develop in the modern world, some bad behaviors from. Maybe we don't listen. Maybe we're selfish or more personally intrinsically. Maybe our mind runs wild with questions and self doubt. And I think that one of the greatest challenges has been, trying to be strong when we've had the last couple of years, some crazy things around us with, the change in the world order and COVID, and this calls upon us to let go of fear and [00:37:00] self-doubt, we cannot worry about all those things on the outside.
[00:37:03] What we can do is hit that reset button. That's what Jim Carey talked about. We can start day one, clean and fresh. We can start in the attempt to be the best version of ourselves and not let self doubt. Overconfidence get the better of us, but rather we can be much clearer in our intentions, how we can help, how we can serve others.
[00:37:33] And if we do those things, I'm sure all the wealth in the world will come your way. I think that's how we respond. Don't you, Matt?
[00:37:41] Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah I think so too. I think that fear of originality as well, that Jim Carey was talking about in that clip reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert and big magic. Her big takeaway that I took from her book was if you have again, if your ego.[00:38:00]
[00:38:00] And this is the other side of ego, isn't it? There's one side of ego, which is I'm always right. And then there's the other side of ego that has maybe, oh, I'm always wrong. And it's the one that's holding you back, like you were saying. I think with that clip and reference to Elizabeth Gilbert, don't let the fact that an idea or a story has already been told by another individual, stop you from telling your own story.
[00:38:25] It's okay. To tell it in a different way. It's okay to tell it in your own way, because it's the first time that you've seen. Maybe not it's the first time that the story had been told in the world, but it's the first time that you've said it. And I love that idea, particularly around creativity and originality, because it reminds all of us that it's more accessible than perhaps we once thought creativity, originality, therefore, authenticity is achievable by everybody.
[00:38:54] As long as again, you don't like that ego perhaps holds you back or get in the way
[00:38:59] Mike Parsons: [00:39:00] that's so right. And it's funny, isn't it for someone that has brought us so much joy and laughter already in this show, we've got into some pretty serious topics of manifestation intention dreaming up a good life.
[00:39:13] What I think the theme here is that Jim Carrey is saying you are in control of your thoughts. Take control. Don't be a passenger, be a driver. And this next clip, mark, he goes. Straight to the harder things. He it's a siren song. It is a coal to the awakening
[00:39:36] Jim Carrey: a few months ago after knowing Eckhart totally for a while and studying the books I woke up and I suddenly got it.
[00:39:51] I understood suddenly how thought was just an illusory thing.[00:40:00] And how thought is responsible for, if not all, most of the suffering we experience. And then I suddenly felt. Like I was looking at these thoughts from another perspective. And I wondered who is it? That's aware that I'm thinking. And suddenly I was thrown into this expansive, amazing feeling of freedom from myself, from my problems.
[00:40:42] I saw that I was bigger than what I do. I was bigger than my body. I was everything. And everyone, I was no longer a fragment of the universe. I was the universe. And ever [00:41:00] since that day, I've been trying to get back there.
[00:41:04] It comes and goes.
[00:41:07] It's like riding wave. Sometimes I'm on, sometimes I'm off, but at least I know where I want to go and that I want to take as many people with me as I possibly can, because the feeling is amazing.
[00:41:26] Mark Pearson Freeland: What I like about that, Mike? And again, like you say, he's bringing it up. He's starting to bring it home for us now.
[00:41:30] Isn't he? So idea of awakening, the illusory thought as an illusionary idea. I think what he's really saying, and what stands out to me is the perception that I have in my world is influenced by my my point of view about it. And if I am constantly let's say distracted or. I always think about a certain problem from the same avenue or angle.
[00:41:59] Maybe it's [00:42:00] political, maybe it's social. Maybe it's just something I, that I get from work. Maybe an email I'm always going to live in that world. And therefore my points of view about it might be quite there might be quite low if I'm feeling a bit rough or they might be quite challenging if I can't put up with the particular problem.
[00:42:20] I think what he's really saying here is, okay not only do you have control over it, but you can have control over it as long as you work on it day to day. And it reminds me very much of our habits series, the way that you see things, the way that you avoid, maybe the extra cookie, or maybe it's the way that you go out and daily exercise or you work on your sleep is because it's a day.
[00:42:46] Attributes. It's a daily behavior that you just have to do. And the same, I think with what Jim Carrey is saying, here is mindset. It's a daily action.
[00:42:55] Mike Parsons: It is. And without diverging too much into our whole Eckhart taller [00:43:00] podcast here, mark, I did touch upon, first of all, isn't it cool that Jim Carey, who we're studying is talking about Eckhart Tolle, who we've studied.
[00:43:08] If that doesn't prove there is a formula to being the best version of yourself, everybody who is successful, they're all studying each other, learning from each other. So why shouldn't we learn from them, right? Yeah.
[00:43:20] Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah. I mean that book power of now are we covered in episode 123, but the book came out in 97.
[00:43:27] Mike Parsons: Yeah. And it's unbelievable. He was made popular by none other than Oprah Winfrey and appearing on her show. So she's somebody we've studied as well. So the cycle is repeating. But what I want to do here is just share really quickly for me personally, this was the big breakthrough that Jim Carrey talked about that I discovered through Eckhart Tolle's work, which is they talk about this idea of watching the [00:44:00] thinker and Jim talks about it like, then who is watching me as I think about something, particularly when thoughts come to me that are thoughts that I don't want, who is watching that event transplant.
[00:44:14] And the answer is that's your true self. So you are not your thoughts. You are the one watching your thoughts. And when you create that distinction, it gives you the power to control your thoughts, because those thoughts are now something that are happening on your terms. Not those thoughts are happening to you, really powerful thought, really great way to become more present and aware of your thinking and how the ego drives your thinking.
[00:44:44] And this is that awakening that Jim Carrey is talking about. I know it's a little philosophical, but I want to draw everyone's attention to that who is watching me think, who is that? And the true answer is it is your true self.
[00:44:58] Mark Pearson Freeland: I have a full stuff. I think it's [00:45:00] perfect topic as we're halfway through our creativity series, Mike, if you can practice that, if you can be the thinker and you can identify and therefore be present, then you can get away from those distractions that you have in your life.
[00:45:15] You're the things that are causing you, concern are suddenly put into context and something that I always come back to short-term versus long-term concerns or behaviors, you can start to compartmentalize them and understand them that little bit better. Eckhart Holly's work and power of now, Jim Carey's referencing it.
[00:45:34] It's such an interesting, as you've already said, connection in the moonshots matrix, getting everything pulled together and therefore allowing us to be the best version of ourselves. That's exactly what it is that we're trying to do. Yeah.
[00:45:46] Mike Parsons: And this capacity for intention manifestation being present, this is all fundamental practices and habits that each and every one of us can do today.
[00:45:59] [00:46:00] You can say your mantras out loud, write your goals, set your intentions, dream big dream, absolutely big to live that good life. And then as we just said, if you're able to observe your thoughts when you're having them and look at them like you are the watcher of those thoughts, you are watching the thinker as echo.
[00:46:22] Tyler would say you uncover a huge insight into being in control of your thoughts and by proxy your ego, but. We come to a point where a dare I say before, even playing it, we have come to the best clip of the show. When you say
[00:46:38] Mark Pearson Freeland: that, I do actually agree. This is a story that we might all be aware of the historical moment, but I think as you and I discussed before the show, Mike, and with the moonshots team, it's something that we didn't really know happen to Jim Carey.
[00:46:53] And this is a reference within his book, memoirs and misinformation that he co-wrote with Donna VaShawn, Jim Carrey here [00:47:00] is talking to Tom Powell about this particular event. And I think it's a really good example of, again, putting things into perspective, putting things into context and helping us understand what it is that really matters in our lives.
[00:47:14] And this is a final clip. Is Jim clear. Cherry's closing out the show for us as he's helping all of us remember, and therefore lists our gratitude. Yeah these
[00:47:24] Mike Parsons: tender, there's so much in this book, like
[00:47:26] Jim Carrey: there's so many, like very funny sort of satirical moments or some sort of like terrifying scifi moments.
[00:47:31] But I think the moments that really came to me were, as I mentioned, the really tender the tender moments and, and I think that's even on the cover of the book, which I didn't know about until about half. I knew there was a cover if there is a cover, but I knew there was a cover about halfway through the book that was reminiscent
[00:47:47] Mark Pearson Freeland: of a time, or it
[00:47:47] Jim Carrey: was a photo taken of a time when you were in Hawaii.
[00:47:51] Am I right? And that, that false alert wind out that alert that the atomic bomb was coming your way. And you were [00:48:00] called me FaceTimed me, interrupted Dan and I on a Skype when we were working already, it was eight in the morning or something like that. And she was crying and she said, chief, we only have 10 minutes.
[00:48:12] And I said, what do you mean? She said, there's missiles coming. They're going to land in 10 minutes. This is really. And the alarms were going off and stuff. And and as she told me, she was, strenuously, clutching her iPhone and she accidentally took a screenshot of my face. So the book's cover is an actual shot of my face.
[00:48:36] After being told that I have 10 minutes to live. So what goes through your head? What goes through your head when you honestly believe that you only have 10 minutes left? If you look at that cover, you'll see a man who's not not freaking out, not a hysterical, more, a wave of calm coming over me and [00:49:00] a sense of, oh, that's strange.
[00:49:04] Oh, what a funny way for this, all the end, and that's the feeling I got. And then there was the consideration of the height under the stairs. Do you get in the car? What do you do? And I don't want to die in my car and I tried to get off the island on the phone to my daughter, then I couldn't get through.
[00:49:21] And finally I just said, you know what? I've had a wonderful life. And I decided to sit there and watch the ocean and and go through all the ways in my head that I could that I could be grateful for what I had. And and I started this list of gratitudes then I could have gone on forever.
[00:49:44] Just how lucky I've been, are you forever changed by it? I can't imagine going through something like that and not taking him with me when I'm walking in. Yeah, that's a part of me. It's a part of this book. It's a part of this book. When all is lost, then all is found.[00:50:00]
[00:50:00] So yeah, there was a, there was two minutes left when Dana called back and said it was a false alarm. Dana callback. You did. And the mainland knew before we did. It also is it's
[00:50:11] Mike Parsons: attributed to the power to your earlier question, the blurring of the line between fact and fiction. This is
[00:50:17] Jim Carrey: a man who believes he's got
[00:50:18] Mike Parsons: two minutes to live because of a piece of misinformation.
[00:50:21] Jim Carrey: The cover itself is a perfect example of misinformation. I had to go through my own death for eight minutes.
[00:50:31] Mike Parsons: Wow. Mark. What our story. Can you just imagine being given new. And thinking to yourself, I have 10 minutes left to live and dislike. All right. That sounds crazy
[00:50:48] Mark Pearson Freeland: to me. Yeah. It's such a unique situation.
[00:50:52] I think what happens for people who maybe have a medical issue, it's not [00:51:00] quite like that. People often talk about, oh my, my life or points of view change after a certain medical event. But actually this situation for Jim Carey was quite unique in the fact that it was quite short. It was quite immediate 10 minutes.
[00:51:16] This is ed, what am I going to do within my 10 minutes? And I love this calmness, this tender almost contextualization that he went through where he thought, okay there's no point in. Getting in my car or trying to get away. This is kind of it. And instead to put into practice, some of the things that we've heard about on the moonshot show, some of the lessons that he's learned from his own studies as we've already heard through the rest of this show on Jim Carey to put them into practice and really think, okay what have I achieved?
[00:51:51] What have I done my life? What are the things that I'm grateful for? And put it into context? It's something that I think we can all [00:52:00] do. Day-to-day we don't all have to be in this situation. Like Jim Carrey was, I think we should all start to reflect on those types of things, because it does help you put things into context.
[00:52:10] What, how, what are you hearing when you hear that pretty scary
[00:52:14] story
[00:52:14] Mike Parsons: from Jim Carey? Yeah. I mean it provokes so many different thoughts. One thing it reminds me of is something we've talked about on the show before is asking yourself what is going to be your legacy as a way of framing.
[00:52:27] Are you on track, and we hear too many times people getting to their deathbeds with lots of regret. And we actually did a whole show on regret with Daniel Pink's new work. The other thing that strikes me about what he's saying is how important the practice of gratitude is because I think we forget how much good stuff we have.
[00:52:45] And I think about all of the people here, like I just did a search through all of our shownotes while that clip was playing. And just the first page of results here are all the moonshot people that we have studied that mentioned [00:53:00] gratitude. Bernay brown Ryan holiday, Elizabeth Gilbert, such an Adela Covey Jordan Peterson, Tim Ferris.
[00:53:09] And I'm just on the first page. Isn't that incredible. Every bodies.
[00:53:15] Mark Pearson Freeland: If everybody's doing a mic, there must be something relevant here. If something that we can't avoid.
[00:53:23] Mike Parsons: Yeah. I think practicing gratitude, I would never have thought, never a thought. That it would be so powerful, but it truly does affect me when I take a moment to work out.
[00:53:39] What am I grateful for? I'm always like, I always feel better after I do it. How do you get, do you try it much, much? Do you this practice of gratitude?
[00:53:49] Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, I have it in my we've referenced it on the show. I'm already to do list it's one of my daily. Let's say practices or reminders that I [00:54:00] want to achieve each day, along with my stretching along with my activity hour to get my blood pumping, as well as my productivity work during the day, actually sitting down and reflecting and journaling and writing some of the things that I'm grateful for really helps contextualize and keeps me honest.
[00:54:20] The things that, that matter to me and without doing that, I think it would be too easy to be steered by the wrong intentions or the wrong things that are going on in life. It really is important to keep things grounded.
[00:54:36] Mike Parsons: Yeah. And I think I'm like some really good little hacks for gratitude is first of all, keep a gratitude journal.
[00:54:46] You can even buy a journal. So the specific for gratitudes and some topics that you can be grateful for. And this is going to sound really crazy. You can say the nice weather. Okay, great. Good one. [00:55:00] But things like let's assume that you have two feet and you can walk. You can actually be grateful for that, particularly, I find if I see a movie or watch a documentary and you see someone who like I think about who is the guy that we studied that did Kilimanjaro and he has no hands and leads.
[00:55:19] Kyle May not. I remember doing that show and being strapped by damn, he did amazing things with no arms, no legs, but I have hands and feet. I should be grateful for that. So that is really the level of which you can be grateful. You can be grateful for the fact that you wake up in the morning and you have a nice cup of tea.
[00:55:46] I have a nice cup of coffee. You can actually be grateful for these family, for friends, for things that are happening. You can notice the beautiful day. I have this crazy thing where, when I hear the birds [00:56:00] flying around my house and making all their happy noises, like I'm always grateful for that. I'm always grateful that brings me such pleasure.
[00:56:08] That's how you can practice gratitude,
[00:56:10] Mark Pearson Freeland: right? It doesn't have to be written down. It can just be an awareness in that moment. Let's say it's, you're immersing yourself on in the ocean. It's just feeling the temperature. It can be something as simple as that and thinking I'm grateful to be here.
[00:56:27] It's something you can practice at any point of your
[00:56:29] Mike Parsons: day. Isn't it? Tyler. And hopefully you don't need the threat of a nuclear bomb blowing up in 10 minutes. What a story? What a story, man. That is one of the best means short stories.
[00:56:42] Mark Pearson Freeland: W what a story one that we'll definitely reference again, I'm sure on the moonshot
[00:56:46] Mike Parsons: show.
[00:56:48] So a great way to end Jim Kerry and our study of him, his work he's thinking and a great midpoint of the creativity series. Mark, what [00:57:00] do you take from the many practices of Jim Carrey? Which one is going to get your attention? I'm
[00:57:07] Mark Pearson Freeland: going to say around intention. I think this idea you made reference to Simon Sineck, we've covered the intention of identifying your purpose on the master series as well.
[00:57:19] For me, that's the big takeaway here. I think it's a great demonstration of what drives gym and therefore what we can all start a practice. Following some of the work that he does that's the thing that's standing out to me. Nice. What about you, Mike?
[00:57:33] Mike Parsons: There's a lot. I like watching the thinker.
[00:57:36] This one really appears to me. I have a little bit of a monkey mind that I wrestle with quite a lot. Asking the question who is watching the thinker is really interesting to me. So I'm going to study that. Mark. Thank you. Thank you to you for this show. 177, the study of memoirs and misinformation by Jim Carey.
[00:57:58] What a [00:58:00] fantastic book to learn out loud together to push us to be the best version of ourselves. And it talked about some hot topics here at the moonshots podcast. Manifesting the life. Intention set their intention. It is everything and dare to dream a good life. We heard all of this from Jim Carey, but we also learned in the power of thought and how we can awaken by asking who is watching the thinker.
[00:58:27] And when in doubt, when you're a little bit adrift list, your gratitudes practice, the art of being grateful. Tell someone that you love them. Notice the beauty and the nature of every day. Notice the things you have and enjoy, and you will truly be on the way to being the best version of yourself. And that's what we're all about here at the moonshots podcast.
[00:58:49] That's a wrap.