Life's Too Short for Maybe | Ep 272

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[00:00:49] Combining new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home will allow you to optimize your health for today and all your tomorrows. Don't wait for your wake up call. Welcome back to another episode of the Don't Wait For Your Wake Up Call podcast.

[00:01:12] This is a special Podapalooza podcast event, and I am here today with my wonderful friend and colleague, Jen Trepeck. Welcome to the show, Jan. Oh, thank you for having me, Melissa. I am very excited to be interviewing you here again. You have been on the show before, and we're going to have a whole new conversation today. However, I first want to introduce you to the audience.

[00:01:37] Jan Jansen is an author and decision expert who writes about the choices that shape business and life. Her upcoming book, Devil with a Briefcase, Stop Winging It, Start Winning, is built around 101 decisions entrepreneurs must make to move from chaos to structure and results. After decades in business, Jan's work focuses on clarity, conviction, and building something that works without second guessing.

[00:02:05] And I love the name of that book, Jan. And I love that you also say that life is too short for maybe. And would love for you to, you know, dive into where has this book come from and that concept of life is too short for maybe. Well, Melissa, this story, this book has a story. It has a history. This is the, I just, I don't know if you can, if you can see it, can you? Yes, I can. Okay, perfect.

[00:02:35] So this is the, just got my proof. And as you can see, I've got the proof line right across it. But I wrote this book originally back in 2004. Wow. This was my very first book called Devil with a Briefcase, 101 Success Secrets for the Spiritual Entrepreneur. I had just come out of a high control religion, the Jehovah's Witnesses. And I had to make sense of what I had lived with for 38 years.

[00:03:03] It had been a fascinating time. That's a nice way to put it. It had been a fascinating journey. And so when I, when I escaped and I literally escaped, I had to make sense of it. And so the Jehovah's Witnesses are the most successful, organized volunteer organization in the entire world. So I took them apart from a business point of view.

[00:03:29] And what I've now done is I've updated it and used more technology and things like that. And it's, it's fascinating. I'm super excited to get it out to the world again. And I bet in rewriting the book, you learned so much more going through that process. You're right. It was funny because there were times I thought, man, I need to be doing that. That's a good point. I need to be applying that.

[00:03:56] Especially since so much has happened in my life since I wrote that book 20 years ago. I've traveled the world. I've been married. I've been widowed. I've moved. I recently moved to Vancouver Island. I'm starting over again at almost 65. There's a lot that's happened. And so I'm thinking, yeah, you need to apply that. And man, I should be doing this. And good job you're doing there. It's been really good. I'm loving it.

[00:04:22] I love that because as you write the book, you are, you know, following your own, you know, getting your own lessons and then implementing them for yourself while teaching others. And that is such beautiful alignment. And I also want to share that years ago, I read a book and I honestly don't remember what it's called. I read it in about 2008. I remember because I was in Hawaii and it was about the North Korean regime and the North Koreans that escaped to South Korea.

[00:04:51] And when they and there were so many of them escaping to South Korea, that South Korea was literally putting up camps and educational centers for these people from North Korea to teach them how to live life in the real world in South Korea, where they needed to learn how to, you know, open a bank account and get a phone plan and put together a resume of some sort and apply for jobs and learn how to buy clothes because in North Korea, you got your clothes through your work. It was your uniform.

[00:05:21] And that was all the clothes that you had and learn money because again, in North Korea, it was coupons that they had. And so you sharing your story of escaping and having to make sense of it all. And that reminded me of that book because you had to learn things as well about living in the real world when you escape from Jehovah's Witnesses.

[00:05:44] So just share a little bit about that for the listener to tap into how the courage it took for you to escape and the courage that it's taken for you and the lessons that you've learned starting at age 38. Well, first of all, my husband and I, my first husband and I escaped together. It was a mutual decision. We had been married for 18 years. You get married very young in the Jehovah's Witnesses because there's no sex before marriage. So you have a lot of very early marriages.

[00:06:14] So we had been married since we were 20. And at 38, we decided to leave together. That meant we lost everything. We lost our families. We lost our friends. We lost our community. We lost our routine. We lost our belief system. It was like starting coming out of the womb. And then eight months later, I came home from a massage, all relaxed and blissed out. And my husband standing there in the kitchen, I can still see him. And he said, I don't want to be married to you anymore.

[00:06:41] And it was one of those HS moments that does not stand for a Holy Spirit. Let me tell you, Melissa, because I wasn't expecting that. Not even close. He moved out and that was it. I ended up homeless a couple of times over the next two years. I ended up in another relationship. It was a real mess. I had never had a birthday. I had never celebrated Christmas. My very first birthday, I was 40.

[00:07:08] I was in a new relationship and they, I had a party with my very first party. I'd never been to a birthday party. Never mind. Have one. And then afterwards, people came up to me. They said, you blew up the candles like right away. And I said, wasn't I supposed to? There was so many little things. I had no idea. I didn't have a Christmas till I was 40. So there was all sorts of things. I bought a tree. I wanted a live tree.

[00:07:36] And then I went and bought white wired Christmas lights. And my partner said, those that wires white. And I said, yeah. And he said, well, the tree is green. And I said, oh, are there green Christmas wires? He goes, yes. It was that basic, Melissa. Looking back, I think, wow. That took a lot of courage.

[00:08:00] And it took a lot of humility to admit that I did not know how to live outside a cult. Right. Yeah. It was definitely a transformation. And that is what is so profound for the listener to realize is there's so much that we learn as children that we're not even aware we're learning, you know, as we go through our daily lives. And we're all programmed in those earlier years.

[00:08:27] And your programming was specific to that cult and not to living in the real world as everybody else does. And we take our learning for granted. And it's not until someone like you experiences their first Christmas at age 40 to realize that, you know, oh, I naturally knew that there was green wires on Christmas lights.

[00:08:54] And we start to realize just, you know, how different each of our lives are because of that childhood programming. And yet here you are today, authoring, reauthoring and touching up this incredible book of giving people life skills, business skills, and how to move forward in their life. And you do it from a place of another belief that you've come to know, which is life is too short for maybe.

[00:09:25] Yes, that's the book that's being written right now as we speak. So that, it was funny when my, when my web's new website was done. I opened it up and there was this book on there under books. I thought, I wonder what they have under books because they didn't have any of my books. And there was a book called life's too short for maybe with me on the cover. And at first I was a little annoyed. I thought, how dare they go and just create a book in my name. And I didn't even authorize it. I didn't approve it. They didn't ask me.

[00:09:54] And I was a bit annoyed. I remember that. And then I started, I thought, that is really a good title. I like that title. Yes. And I started using it. I've now given a couple of talks on it at a church and also at a networking event. And people are somebody, one of my business networking groups, they put it on the front page of their website. They loved it so much. And now the book is being, being written and is almost finished.

[00:10:22] So I'm super excited about that because it is a great title. And my whole thing is indecision is a decision. Yes. It's the decision to stay stuck. Exactly. Exactly. And so many people are stuck in that indecision, not even realizing that in choosing to be there, they're making a decision. Exactly. And when they have awareness around that, maybe they can choose something differently.

[00:10:50] So you've authored many books and I want to share with the audience the fact that you are also in our Girls Matter fundraiser book because you're, of course, you are a board member of Girls Matter. And we published the book, Empowered, The Journey from Victim Island to Solution City, last December. And you have a wonderful chapter in that book as well. So love all the writing that you're doing and the wisdom that you share. So let's get back to Devil with the Briefcase, though, this book.

[00:11:18] And you've got 101 lessons in that book. Is there, are there one or two that you would like to share and just tease the audience with so that they want to get out and buy the book and read the book? Well, first of all, they're not called chapters. They're called decisions. Because my whole, my whole, my whole focus right now is on making decisions.

[00:11:44] Because people would look at me and say, how can you have had such a fascinating life? And it's because I made decisions. I decided, I decided I was going to move from out of the house at 17 and I moved myself from Vancouver to Montreal on a bus by myself. That was a big decision. I traveled the world for nine years. I lived in many countries. My first husband and I were missionaries in Ecuador. That was a huge decision. And people wonder why sometimes their lives are boring or their lives aren't working.

[00:12:13] And it's because you have to make decisions. You have to come up with, you have to decide what you want. And that's a big thing is you have to decide what your, what's your, what's your priority. And I talk about that. So one of the things, especially for entrepreneurs is having systems. And I, and I have the book divided into seven parts. And this is the first chapter in part four, which is called the unsexy stuff that changes everything. Yeah.

[00:12:43] Because people got all the systems. I just want to be out speaking or something, writing. I just want to be doing workshops. I just want to be coaching, but they don't think about systems. But when you think about, and that's where I came back to is how did the Jehovah's Witnesses create a global organization that publishes their literature in over 1000 languages.

[00:13:08] Now, most people I know I would be hard pressed to tell you right now, 50 languages. Agreed. I was just thinking, really? There's a thousand languages. Exactly. A thousand languages. That's amazing, isn't it? How do they do that? And we could go from a kingdom hall, which is what they call their meeting place in Toronto.

[00:13:30] We could go to, you know, Caracas, Venezuela, and you would have exactly the same thing happening, except it would be in Spanish instead of English. You can go anywhere in the world. If we try, when we travel, we go to a kingdom hall and we would be welcomed as a brother and a sister. And the same thing was happening, the same organization, the same system.

[00:13:57] But Jehovah's Witnesses are so well organized that they are often, and people don't know this, they are often the first responders at a catastrophe, a disaster. They are so well prepared. They are such experts. And this is another thing that I think is super important because people don't become experts in their field. They're good at it. They're really good at it. But are you an expert?

[00:14:27] And Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, are experts in bloodless surgery. We were, we carried a card that said I would not take a blood transfusion. Took me two years after I escaped to get rid of that card because it was so indoctrinated in me that I wouldn't take a blood transfusion.

[00:14:46] So when there's a really serious case at a hospital, it's oftentimes the hospital will call in the Jehovah's Witnesses, the committee that handles this at such a high level because they know exactly how to handle it with no blood options. Wow. That's incredible. And I totally agree with you. Systems and systems don't only apply in business, as you talk about in the hospital. It applies to your health as well.

[00:15:15] And what systems have you set up for your health in order to, you know, if there is an emergency that people know how to, you know, what to do, et cetera, and where all of your information is and who your doctor is and who to call, et cetera, et cetera. What medications you're already on just so that the, you know, ambulance, the first responders can have that information because there may be contraindications with whatever you need in the moment. And they might have choices.

[00:15:44] And if they know, okay, these are the meds you're already on. Now we're not going to use this drug. We're going to use that drug because that drug is safe with the medications that you already have. Just in terms of overall, I realize your book is, you know, aimed at business people. However, again, there's so many decisions that are made both in business and in health. Can you share a lesson that comes to mind or a decision that people need to focus on when it comes regarding their health?

[00:16:14] One of the chapters that I realized was super important to me, one of the decisions, was to have fun. And people don't have enough fun. I don't think they do. And when you think about it, I was raised with no holidays, none. We didn't celebrate any holiday. So to have, you know, not a birthday, nothing. You would think, man, that was a boring life. How did you? That doesn't sound like very much fun. But we always had fun.

[00:16:42] There was lots of social get togethers. There was our meetings. We've had five meetings a week. We didn't just go to church on Sunday. There was, we met three times a week and that comprised of five meetings. So we were constantly in association with the people that were in our congregation. And then we would have massive events when I was, when I was young, there would sometimes be events. We would tend to had a hundred thousand people. Wow. Literally, literally. Yeah.

[00:17:12] I know it's amazing. It's amazing when you think about it with dramas and, and symphonies and orchestras, all live music. And then they would have talks and we would have breakfast, lunch and dinner. It would go into the evening. We would have guests from around the world, staying at our home. It was a very social organization. But I think that's one of the things that for everyone, whether you're an entrepreneur or whether you're, whatever you're doing, I don't think people focus on having fun. That is one of my pillars.

[00:17:42] One of my five pillars of my life is that I have to have fun. That's the first one, fun, freedom, faith, finances, and then philanthropy. Philanthropy, I call it, I spell it with an F and it's in the middle. So, but it's one of my pillars. I absolutely have to be having fun or I don't want to do it. I love that.

[00:18:00] And when you're having fun, that's when you're, you're relaxed and your nervous system can calm and you get out of that fight or flight stress state and you get into your rest and digest state and you're let loose. You're more in the flow. You're laughing, which is such a powerful healing tool as well. So, yes, fun is so important. And I love that, you know, you said we didn't celebrate and maybe people think that that sounds boring.

[00:18:28] The fun comes really from who you're with, who you're with and who you are being in that moment. Right? So if you're with loved ones, then that it doesn't matter whether you're celebrating an event or not. You're still with loved ones just celebrating life. And that's probably the bigger picture there. Right? Is that you were constantly celebrating life rather than choosing specific dates of the year to celebrate.

[00:19:21] Yeah. So if you're a good friend. You're an inventor creator. You're going to come to dementia and Alzheimer's and eventually cancer. It was it was a horrible thing to see. So I treasure the fact that I'm still thinking. I'm still able to write. I'm still, I'm still able to function. I've got an active mind. I've got an active mind. And that is something I am in total gratitude for every single day. I love that.

[00:19:46] It is such a powerful tool because what I always love to share is when we focus on the gratitude, we reprogram our mind from focusing on the fear, which is what it's innately programmed to focus on. Because back in the heyday when we had to hunt for our food, we did need to focus on the danger and the fear that comes with the danger and being aware of, you know, we might become an animal's meal if we're not careful when we're hunting our own meal. Right?

[00:20:14] However, last I knew when I went to the grocery store, I have never seen a lion or a tiger there. We don't have to live in that same state of a hyper awareness looking for the danger with our brain on alert, you know, sending fear signals out. We can choose to reprogram it and it is a choice. Coming back to what you were saying earlier, it is a choice, a decision to choose to focus on the gratitude and rewire our brain to look for the gratitude.

[00:20:43] Because we get what we focus on. So the more we focus on our gratitude, the more we rewire our neurology to look for more gratitude in our day. And I know I started my gratitude journal back in 2016, so 10 years ago, and attended a conference at the end of that year. And we had round tables of 10 people. And somebody said, let's go around the table and everybody share what you did this year that had the greatest impact. And I thought, oh, that's a deep question.

[00:21:13] What is it? And then boom, download from my unconscious mind, your gratitude journal. Because it literally shifted how I showed up in the world. And as a result of that gratitude journal, I felt like I walked through life, you know, with lighter footsteps, almost like I was floating through life. Because when we focus on the gratitude, it shifts everything. So yes, I love your five F's and then plus gratitude.

[00:21:39] I'd love for you to share your five F's again, because those pillars are very powerful. Fun, freedom, finances, because I've been homeless. I know what it's like to not have money. It's not fun. So we have to pay attention to the finances. Faith. I'm a minister. I have a very strong faith. And then philanthropy is in the middle because people say, why did you go back to work, Jan? Like, why? And I said, because I want to be able to give more.

[00:22:05] So for example, 25% of the proceeds from the book is going to Girls Matter. That's an important part. Thank you. There's a beautiful whole section on the back about Girls Matter with a picture of the, one of the pictures off the website. It really translated beautifully. And I've been speaking about it. People are aware of it. Because we, having traveled and been in so many different countries, Melissa, we live in such a privileged, privileged part of the world. It did.

[00:22:35] And we don't, we still find so much to complain about. And so when you think about what these girls are going through, and I keep on telling people about it because we're ignorant. How would we know that 10 year olds are being married off? How would we know that childbirth and pregnancy is the leading cause of death between 15 and 19 year old girls? And it's now affecting the 10 to 14 year olds.

[00:23:03] Like when you think about that fact, it makes me want to cry, but it also makes me want to have more, more income in order to help that situation because it can be resolved. And people will say, I know we can't make a difference. It's such a huge problem, but we can make a difference. We are making a difference. Yes. You and I are making a difference. We're doing it. Yes. And that's, that's a decision. We have decided that we are going to make that difference.

[00:23:30] And you and all your brilliance and determination made it happen. And then you, you attracted people who had a similar decision and it's working. We're doing it. The only thing that holds us back from doing more of it is money. Yes. That's it. It's really the only thing that stops us from helping not just 20 or 30 or 40 girls, but why not 40,000 or 400,000? We could do that, but it always comes back to money, which is why I decided to come back to work.

[00:23:59] Well, I love your mission. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I know that you're way too young to be retired and we got to use our brains. You know, it's use it or lose it. Right. Ikigai, you know, be in community, find your passion, live it. And that's that Japanese philosophy of, you know, becoming a centenarian and one of the blue zones, et cetera, is have that purpose. And that's what you have. And so thank you for all that you do.

[00:24:28] I'm so excited for your next book to come out. And the one after that, love that you're writing and getting so much joy from it and learning again along the way and following your own, your own advice. That's wonderful. So thank you so much for being a guest here on the show today, Jen. Just very, very quickly. I love to ask every single guest. What does don't wait for your wake up call mean to you? Often when I talk to people about decision making, they're waiting for something.

[00:24:57] They're waiting for the right person. They're waiting for the right house. They're waiting for the right opportunity. They're waiting for the right investment. They're waiting for something. And we don't know that we have tomorrow. I never expected to lose my husband at 73 years of age when that's how old he was when he passed away. I never expected that. His mom had lived to 99 and my dad's like, if I don't know, because my family has shunned me, of course.

[00:25:21] But I believe my dad is 104 and he's 104 this month and he is still alive from what I know. So we can't just say, we can't just sit in that place of indecision because decisions is what makes our lives work. And when we are on that deathbed and it's not a nice place to be, you don't want to be thinking, I could have, I should have, I would have. Man, the regrets are huge. Yes.

[00:25:50] When you don't take action. So decide and take action. Beautiful. Because otherwise you are creating a life that you don't want. And nobody wants to have those regrets on their deathbed. That's for sure. Absolutely not. And if somebody wants to get hold of you, reach out, work with you or get your book, can you please share how people can do that? Yes, absolutely. Janjansen.com. That's the simplest, simplest way. Perfect.

[00:26:20] Wonderful. Well, thank you again for being on the show. It is always a pleasure to have you on the show. I will also link up your previous episode in the show notes and wishing you a wonderful rest of your Potapalooza day. And thank you to my audience for always tuning in, being open to learning about any aspect of your health and choosing to learn and live your best life. Thank you so much, Melissa.

[00:26:46] Thank you for investing this time with me on the Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call podcast. I'm so glad you joined in. If you can take two minutes to share this episode with someone you think can benefit and have a positive impact on their life, that would be wonderful. Please leave a review by going to your favorite podcast listening app and let me know what you enjoy or would like to hear more of.

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