This is the second part of an interview with Akashic record reader Akemi Gaines. Be sure to read the first part, if you haven’t already.

Hunter: In part 1 we went over what the Akashic records are, and what you’d gain from having a reading. Now I’m going to get into some more theoretical questions. Akemi, it’s fine to say you don’t know the answers, since the questions are probably outside your job description. But I figured I should take advantage of this chance to ask, since I don’t know anyone else like you.

First of all, why do we need to clear our own souls? Why can’t God, or the universe, or our spirit guides, do it for us? After all, they know we don’t know how to do it on our own. It doesn’t seem like a great system, if soul damage passes down from one lifetime to the next, and everyone is handicapped without even knowing it.

Akemi: I love this question! I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me these fundamental questions!!

To answer that, we need to step back and think why we even bother to incarnate. My understanding is that souls incarnate into the physical bodies by choice. Free will and free choice are the biggest gift God (or the Universe, whatever you call) has given us.

And the ultimate purpose for coming to this physical world is to experience it. Back when we were simply spiritual beings, there were no pains, no troubles, and no loss nor gain, no particular fun – we just were. This was wonderful, but also kind of – boring.

This physical world, on the other hand, is like an amusement park. Vivid colors, entertaining music, so many people who each have different personalities, and we have the bodies to do things, too! We can ride a roller coaster and enjoy the ups and downs. We can stuff ourselves with cotton candies!

As we experience this world, we are learning. We figure there are causes and effects. If we eat too much cotton candies and ride the roller coaster, we might get really sick. Wow, we didn’t know that when we didn’t have the bodies! It tasted good at the time, but let’s stop at two cotton candies next time . . .

Soul-level learning is just like that. For example, if you curse (and I don’t mean just using bad words, but really cursing), say, your spouse that he or she can’t do anything right, you may get a temporary sense of fake superiority, but there are consequences. Now they start thinking they really can’t do anything right (if they buy into that curse). And the curse ties the two of you together so that you get to see the effects in the following lifetime. That person may not be your spouse this time, but maybe – your parent. So you are born to a parent who doesn’t think he or she can do things right – and this sucks. Your soul finally figures cursing is not a good idea. The soul grows a step closer to Divine Love, Light, and Truth.

Whether you are consciously aware or not, your soul is doing this learning, and seeks assistance in clearing the damages as it sees fit. But this has to happen with its free will. Some other forces doing the clearing without the soul’s request does not support its learning and growing process, so they respect your initiative.

Hunter: OK, we have to seek out the soul clearing as a part of free will. But let’s go back to what you said about incarnating by choice. When we were spiritual beings, we had a wonderful existence, but being the drama queens we were, we decided to start our own version of Melrose Place, because souls just wanna have fun? Didn’t we take a considerable risk in doing this, allowing our souls to be damaged and possibly never healed, just for some cotton candy?

Also, this thing about cursing…how does that happen exactly? How do we know if we cursed someone accidentally, and how do we undo it?

Akemi: Hmm . . . so you don’t think going to the amusement park is worth the fun even with potential risk of injury?

Now when I say fun, it’s not just about the cotton candy. It involves all the experiences. If amusement park is not an example that appeals to you, how about some sports? I personally don’t get why it’s so fun to chase a ball to hit it back to the other side, but some people love it, they love getting exhausted doing it, and they swear they learn so much about themselves and others doing it. I’d say the same about life. It may not be rosy and sweet all the time, but it’s worth it. Even with some risks.

BTW how much drama you want in your life is up to you. You don’t have to be the drama king ^_^

I’m sorry if I scared you about the curse story because that is just one of many things we can screw up. I don’t think we “accidentally” curse – the curse I’m talking about is the one you actually mean it. If you are cursing, you may not know the full consequences of doing it (which is the whole point) but you really intended wrong to someone.

There are various healing modalities beside my clearing. I heard EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) works well. Or you can release and bless the person in your prayer.

Hunter: Are the Akashic records read-only, or could you screw up someone’s soul, change their past, give them negative energies, etc? If you looked up Hitler’s date and place of birth, could you locate his record, find out who has his soul now, and remove the evil?

Akemi: Hmm . . . I think there are several issues involved here.

First, accessing someone else’s Akashic records is a privilege the Akashic readers have in the Hall of Akashic Records. I retrieve and read the Akashic records with the assistance of my Akashic Record Guide. When a client places the order with their personal info, they are essentially giving me the permission to read their Akashic records.

So I don’t go around and read someone’s record who didn’t order me to do so. I don’t think it is appropriate of me to snoop around and my Guide would not help me in that. This is why I don’t do reading of celebs. It would be interesting to read the Akashic records of Barack Obama or Madonna, but no . . . not until they ask me to . . . and not Hitler’s, either . . .

You are also asking about manipulation on the Akashic records and the souls. These are two separate issues. As for changing the Akashic records, well, when we do the clearing, we ask them to delete negative info, so the answer is yes, they can be updated, but I think the Hall is well guarded so that negative manipulation won’t happen.

Manipulation on the soul is another story. There are a lot of negative souls and beings trying to get hold of you, to suck up some life energy from you, and to do other manipulations on your thinking and feeling. That is why we have the spheres of protection around us. Light is stronger than shadows.

Hunter: In part 1, you said you’d do a reading for someone we’re thinking of having a long-term relationship with, or someone we want to go into business with. Would they have to consent to the reading, or is it OK to read their record without their knowledge since the relationship will affect us?

Akemi: If you feel comfortable talking to the person to get their consent, that will be great. If not, I can do it on your behalf because they affect your life. This is totally accepted in the Hall of Akashic Records.

This is why I said I’d be happy to do reading for your family (biological or not) because they definitely influence your life. With friends and business associates, it depends, so I used the example of serious boyfriend / girlfriend or business partner. Your non-romantic but very close friends or your ex you can’t put closure in your mind are also okay. If you are unsure whether it is appropriate of you to order a reading for someone, please email me.

Hunter: Are humans special, or are we just apes who happened to evolve, rising to dominance only because the dinosaurs had been wiped out by chance? Do chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, have souls? If so, what about fish? If not, what about Neanderthals?

Akemi: I don’t really know the answer for this.

Hunter: OK, then on to the next question. I don’t know the right terminology, but what is the hierarchy of all the different planes? Like we have the physical plane that we know and love, but is there just one astral plane, or several? For that matter, are there other physical planes?

Are we at the bottom of the hierarchy? Some people say they can project into the astral plane, but I never see aliens projecting into the physical plane. Is it one-way?

Akemi: Terminology is indeed confusing. It is quite possible two individuals are using the same word to mean different things, or using two different terms to mean the same thing.

As I mentioned earlier, I think there are higher dimensions than this world we know. How many of such higher dimensions there are and how they look like, I don’t know. Some say there are up to twelve dimensions . . .

There are also astral planes. I heard there are seven positive and seven negative astrals. And we go there all the time, unconsciously, in our dreams. Conscious astral travel is yet another story.

Hunter: What does the journey of a soul look like? You’ve mentioned past lives before. If someone dies and their soul is reborn into another body, and then another body, and so on, what’s going on there? Is the soul trying to complete itself before moving on? If so, what needs to happen for the soul to be done, and where does it go next? Is there a grand scheme? Are some souls waiting at a finish line somewhere, and when they all get there, the universe will implode?

Akemi: Another great question! Let’s talk about the journey of the individual soul and our souls’ journey as a whole group.

Each soul comes to physical life with a purpose and a set of lessons it wants to take. The plan may work well, or not, and there may be unexpected events (remember we all have free will?) So when we die and cross over, we review our past lifetime and make a plan for the next. There is indeed a big plan, and we are working on it while having fun with the ups and downs of life.

Many souls are accelerating their spiritual growth now. Having the physical bodies is fun, but there are some drawbacks. So we are evolving to a new style of existence called “lightbodies.” This is why so many people are seeking spiritual assistance, like my Akashic record reading and clearing.

I’m not sure exactly what this looks like or what it takes for this process (sometimes called ascension) to happen. Personally, I think this is my last incarnation – I sure hope so. For some time, I thought I would be a spirit guide next time, but so many people seem to ignore their spirit guides that I’m starting to think working as spirit guide may not be so fun. So I’d like to ascend

Lightbodies are still individual existence. The ultimate goal of our spiritual evolution, I think, is to realize this was all about learning and we are really one with the Source. That is how it all started – the Source, being whole and perfect, wanted to experience itself as separate individuals, so the universe and all beings in it came to be. And we will go back there.

Hunter: You mentioned that people ignore their spirit guides. But how can we help that, if we can’t hear them? Are we supposed to be able to hear them? And if so, is it an actual voice, or is it something like noticing opportunities they put in our path?

Akemi: Spirit guides communicate with us in various ways. Some talk to you, and you sense words coming to you. If you are good at clairaudience, you may actually hear them. Some spirit guides show us pictures. Some touches you, and you sense someone just gave you a hug, or you get an itch. Some just puts a bunch of idea into you, like downloading a file and after that, you just know something.

The problem is most people dismiss these incoming messages. They don’t give credit to that subtle voice or the gut feelings, and go for that loud instructions from the ego.

When I do Spirit Guide Reading, my clients often start saying things like, “Oh, now I remember . . . this and this happened when I was young and I sensed someone speaking in me ‘Don’t go there!’ And it was good I didn’t because if I did, I could have been in big trouble . . .”

Communicating with your spirit guides is natural, but for many of us, it takes practice. As a starter, have some quiet time, ask a few questions to your spirit guides, and “listen” within. When you sense you are getting a message, don’t write it off as your “imagination” but trust and take action. You can start small, like what you might want to do this weekend.

Spirit guides also arrange synchronicities and other opportunities. (They really work hard!) But again, it is up to you to take notice and utilize the opportunity. If you don’t, they still work hard for you . . .

Hunter: OK Akemi, it was great having you here. Thanks for shedding so much light on Akashic record reading, and especially for putting up with my weird questions in part 2.

Akemi: Your questions are great and I enjoyed this interview very much. If someone has additional questions, please ask in the comment section, and I will do my best answering them.

As Akashic record reader and life coach, Akemi Gaines can help you improve your life and grow spiritually. She lives in Oregon, USA, but distance is not an issue for her reading. To learn more, check her website Akashic Record Reading. You might also want to subscribe to her blog, Yes to Me, to read articles like What’s The Best Thing That Can Happen?

It’s time for another edition of Hunter’s Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Souls. This time, I’m going to be taking that tagline quite literally, as I talk to Akashic record reader Akemi Gaines.

You might know Akemi from her blog Yes to Me, which is mainly about entrepreneurship and life purpose. But more and more people are becoming interested in her Akashic record reading services. Since that’s not exactly an everyday topic, I’m very glad to be able to talk to her about it.

Hunter: Hi Akemi, and thanks for joining us. To start off, I’m sure that most people have never heard of the Akashic records. Can you explain what they are?

Akemi: Hi Hunter and the wonderful readers, it’s a joy to be here today. And I’m thrilled you named this interview series “Ordinary People, Extraordinary SOULS” because that is what the Akashic records are about.

While so many people identify with their physical bodies and their thinking minds, that is not the whole picture of us. We have souls – or more accurately, we are souls having the bodies and minds.

Everything that a soul has experienced through its many lifetimes is recorded and that is called Akashic records. The word “Akashic” is derived from the Sanskrit word “akasha,” which means sky or space.

Hunter: Before we go any further, I think we have to address the issue of skepticism, since we both know what a lot of people are thinking right now.

If you hear about something for the first time and aren’t immediately on board, I don’t think that’s skepticism, that’s just normal. To me, skepticism means having an attitude of “guilty until proven innocent.” I find it more constructive to have the humility to admit that we don’t know everything, and take it from there without rushing to an uninformed judgment.

Let’s face it, we don’t live in Star Trek world, and science still has a ways to go. We laugh at people who thought the world was flat, but then we often turn around and commit the same logical fallacy. Would you have been open-minded enough to consider the possibility that the world was round, when you could plainly see that it was flat?

Even if there’s currently no scientific evidence of the Akashic records (and I don’t know, maybe there is), it would be unscientific to declare that they don’t exist. There was no evidence of lucid dreaming either for thousands of years, until someone finally figured out how to prove it. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything is automatically true, but I’m just saying that we don’t need to reach a verdict today.

Akemi, do you have anything to add to this?

Akemi: Wow, Hunter, that is exactly how I’d address the point.

Physically we live in the three dimensional world. If there are higher dimensions, the beings in the higher dimension have no problem understanding and accessing the lower dimensions, but the other way around is very difficult. We may observe the signs here and there, but understanding what it is like in the higher dimension is extremely challenging. But it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Hunter: Why would somebody want to have their Akashic record read? What kinds of things could they gain from that knowledge?

Akemi: There are so much benefit . . . how many words am I allowed to use here?

Basically, if someone feels they are bumping their head against invisible wall, please consider the possibility that there IS an invisible wall blocking their growth. In other words, if someone has the good intention for personal development and still find themselves doing the same old things over and over, or just can’t let go of their negative feelings, there is a good reason.

The condition of the soul affects us mentally, emotionally, and even physically. So it can cause all kinds of problems – from sleep problem or persistent anxiety to toxic relationships and obsessive behaviors.

It also helps our spiritual development tremendously, so if someone is serious about it, it is well worth it.

My reading is clearing-oriented. By that I mean I check the past events as they relate to the current blocks my clients are facing.

It may be entertaining to learn that you were a general of Napoleon or you were killed in a witch trial, but then, so what? I don’t see much value in learning this kind of info so I don’t go in there, unless it has something to do with the energetic restrictions the client is facing NOW. If it has indeed caused the invisible block, then I gather enough info to understand what happened so that we know what we are clearing.

Hunter: Actually, I would definitely find it worthwhile to know a little about our past lives, even if that knowledge doesn’t help us beyond entertainment value. So even though the focus of the reading should be on clearing the current blocks, if I was Attila the Hun I’d like to know it!

Moving on, how do you go about reading the Akashic records? Do you do it in a dream, in a trance, by astral projection, etc? Do you see the records, feel them, hear them, etc? And using only the person’s current name, name at birth, birth date, and place of birth, how can you locate a specific record? Is it more like looking through the index at the back of a book, or more like a Google search?

Akemi: I go into the Hall of Akashic Records, where all the Akashic records are stored – energetically. So I’ll be in a slightly modified condition, but it’s nothing like you call “trance.” I can pick up the phone and carry a conversation just fine (not that I want to do so while I’m doing the reading, though).

I need to give credit to my Akashic Record Guide (or Akashic Record Keeper) here. I ask for the specific record with the identification info, and boom, he brings it in. Thank you!

I’ve had no problem locating the record just with these info, so I guess it is enough. In terms of how I read it – it’s a combination of sensing, seeing, hearing, with lots and lots of probing questioning.

Hunter: Questioning? You mean you’re not just passively reading the record, but it actually listens to you to know what information to give you?

Akemi: Yes, and that is the challenging part. The Akashic records hold everything – all events, thoughts, feelings, in detail . . . It will totally crash my poor little brain if I try to read them all, or even close to it. So I need to carefully choose and craft my questions to know specific points in the records, which goes back to the discussion that I focus on the issues that are causing problems to my clients now, and just enough information to understand what happened.

Hunter: What is it that gives you personally the ability to read the Akashic records? Are you special somehow, or did you just learn how to do it? Did you learn from a person, a book, or what? Is it theoretically possible for anyone to learn how to do it?

Akemi: I had my own reading and was so impressed that I decided to learn how to do it myself.

Let’s see if I can explain the ability issue with analogy. I think everyone can cook. At least, everyone can cook to feed themselves with something warm. Maybe they can cook well to feed their family and friends. And some seem to have the gift to just know how to season a dish wonderfully. Some go ahead and cook professionally. But then, some insist they can’t even boil an egg.

Psychic ability is like that. I think everyone has the ability to cook, with open-mind and some practice, but not everyone will. Some have higher aptitude and can do some favor for the loved ones quite naturally. To cook for many others, it takes training and experience, better aptitude, and most importantly, the passion for it. Reading the Akashic records is one special area of psychic practice.

Hunter: When you do readings, I’m sure some people approach it as a test to see how accurate you are, but I wasn’t thinking of my reading as a test.

Looking back on it now, I see that my reading contained (1) some parts that seemed very accurate, but which were related to things you already knew about me, (2) some parts that seemed very accurate, related to things you didn’t know about me, (3) some parts that I couldn’t confirm, but only because my memory isn’t good enough, and (4) many parts that I couldn’t confirm, because they relate to things we can’t see.

If I had a reading from someone else, how consistent would it be with the reading I got from you? While some readers out there are bound to just be pretending, if two people are able to accurately read the Akashic records, they should give basically the same information for the same person, right?

Akemi: Well, most of my clients are people that I know only by their names until I actually set up the phone session, and they confirm the accuracy of my reading. If you’d like to “test” me, you can order the reading for someone I don’t know, like your mother . . . (Don’t worry, Hunter, I know you didn’t say that in a bad way).

I’d be happy to do reading for my clients’ family members, close friends, and anyone who has or will have significant influence on my clients’ life, like the person you are seriously thinking of having a long-term relationship with or the person you want to go into business with.

I agree with you that two Akashic readers should be able to give you basically the same reading. Have I verified it yet? Not really, and I guess I’m not responsible for other readers. I’ve had just one client who already had her Akashic record read before by another, and I read basically the same (and some more, actually).

To be fair, I’m going to say the accuracy level of my reading has some room for improvement. The other day, for example, I read that my client experienced significant sense of loss when she was about seven, and I figured someone in her family died then. I thought it was her father. Upon our phone session, she confirmed the loss, but it was her grandfather who was, according to her, “like my father.” We could still address the issue this event caused and I think my finding was good and accurate, but yes, it can be improved further.

Hunter: Part of your service is customized homework to clear any blockages, damage, negative energies, and so forth, to get their soul in tip-top shape. How common is it for a soul to have problems, and should someone feel bad if their soul isn’t in mint condition?

Akemi: All my clients have soul level issues, more or less, so don’t worry about it. In other words, the true reason a client is coming to me is because they sense their soul-level issues. They may not be consciously aware of this, but deep inside, they know.

If it were me, I’d feel bad ignoring that inner feeling and not taking care of the issues.

Falling and straining your ankle is not bad – not taking care of the injury may be.

Now, I don’t want to disappoint you, Hunter, but . . . the Akashic Record Reading you had (I also call it the comprehensive profile reading) addresses the major, most harmful damages on your soul. It is very comprehensive, and maybe you are fine just with that reading and clearing, but it doesn’t cover everything. For people who may find additional issues, I offer Life Situation Reading as follow-up service.

But believe me, what you got in your first reading is plenty. If I put more things in it, I might send my clients into healing crisis.

Hunter: I definitely wouldn’t make your Akashic Record Reading any more comprehensive. Like most people, I hadn’t ever really thought about my soul before, and I was almost overwhelmed by how much information you gave me. It was a LOT to take in all at once, and a great value for the money. For anyone considering getting a reading from you, I would definitely pay the extra fee for the written summary. It’s way too much information to write down, especially when you’re in shock, and you don’t want to pay for the reading and then not have a written record.

After getting my reading and doing my 21-day homework, I’ve noticed that I feel much less stressed than before. In March, I started trying to go for 21 consecutive days without complaining, but it was very rare for me to even make it a week. I had my reading on July 15th, finished my homework on August 9th, and finished my 21 consecutive days of being complaint free on August 25th.

But also, I had some shakeups in my life at the same time, so it’s really hard to determine cause and effect. Anyway, how often do your clients report noticing changes soon after the reading, and what kinds of changes?

Akemi: Hunter, you are lucky you experienced the changes in a mild, gradual way ^_^ Some clients report big changes . . . and while the Spirit will never give anyone more than they can handle, huge changes are tough, you know.

In fact, I just received the testimonial from home business marketer Naomi Dunford, who reported me one of the most dramatic changes I’ve heard so far. It’s on the landing page of my Akashic Record Reading site, please scroll down all the way to read it.

Because time is non-linear on the spiritual plane, it can happen really fast, like immediately after ordering the reading, even before I talk with the client. The Spirit knows you have commitment and will do the clearing, and rewards you back well.

Many clients report feeling light and happy. They start seeing the opportunities and possibilities they previously didn’t notice. They are more in control of their lives, literally. Some see improvement in their physical health. (I just mentioned some clients report improvement in their health. I didn’t say I can cure illness – please consider this as my disclaimer. I’m an Akashic record reader, not a health care professional of any kind. If I may add, YOU have within you the ability to heal yourself of many of your ailments.)

Hunter: Well, this interview is getting really long, so we’d better split it into two parts. Let’s end part 1 with one last question: does this have anything to do with quantum physics?

Akemi: Oh, God, the question about quantum physics! I’ve seen so many people, from well-known Law of Attraction teachers to anyone who happened to mumble those words chastised! Do I have to volunteer to join the rank?

I just have no idea about quantum physics, really. Or physics in general, for that matter.

Hunter: Well, we’ve covered the basics of the Akashic records here in part 1. In part 2, I’ll grill Akemi with the really tough questions about what it all means. Don’t miss the exciting conclusion - subscribe now!

Update: Part 2 has been posted.

Akemi: In the meantime, if someone has additional questions, please ask in the comment section, and I will do my best answering them.

As Akashic record reader and life coach, Akemi Gaines can help you improve your life and grow spiritually. She lives in Oregon, USA, but distance is not an issue for her reading. To learn more, check her website Akashic Record Reading. You might also want to subscribe to her blog, Yes to Me, to read articles like True Life Purpose Goes Beyond The Illusion Of Self.

My post Introverts And Extraverts: Can’t We Just Get Along? on PickTheBrain hit the Digg front page. Thank you so much for your support!

I’m giving away a copy of Bill Strickland’s Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary. It’s about Bill’s story of growing up in a rough Pittsburgh ghetto, and eventually winning a genius grant from The MacArthur Foundation for his work in transforming disadvantaged children into productive citizens. While I gave the book a less than flattering review, it has been well received by others and it carries a 5-star rating on Amazon.

To enter the contest, just follow the instructions below. The only prerequisite is that you must have a blog (and if you don’t have one, you might want to consider starting a blog). If you enter and don’t win, your entry will roll forward to the next contest. International entries are OK.

1. Pick a post of mine that you especially liked. Any post with real content will do, but it has to be a post that appears here (not a guest post I wrote for another site).

If you look through my blog archives, there’s a good chance you can find a post related to your own blog’s topic. Here are some suggestions from the last 6 months:

Randy And His Wonderful Pauschisms
Overnight Success
Comparing America and Japan, Part 1
The Introverts Strike Back
What Is An Ebook Worth?
How To Be A Woman
Persistence Isn’t Using The Same Tactics Over And Over
Synchronicities: Just Coincidence, Or Signs From The Universe?
A Complaint Free World
The Difference Between The Dream World And The Real World
What Color Is Your Focusing Crystal?
Want To Dodge Bullets? Maybe You Don’t Have To!
Treading Water Only Delays Drowning
Are You A Gryffindor Or A Slytherin?

2. Write a post on the same topic as the post you picked. It doesn’t need to be a clone of my post, just related. For example, if you pick a post I wrote about blogging, you would then write a post about blogging, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be on precisely the same aspect of blogging. This must be a new post you’re writing; you can’t use one you’ve already written. And it must be of decent quality, not a spam post.

3. In your post, link to the post you picked, and write at least a couple of sentences saying why you liked my post or why people should read it.

4. Leave a comment on this post below, including the URL of your post in the body of the comment. You’re also welcome to leave a comment on this post without entering the contest; just don’t include a URL.

That’s easy enough, isn’t it? You have until 11:59 PM EST Tuesday, August 12, 2008 to enter. At that time, one winner will be selected at random from the eligible entries. Remember that if you enter but don’t win, your entry will roll forward to the next contest. Good luck!

I got my first clue that Randy Pausch was a bit different when he got everyone on a first name basis, giving us all name tags and insisting that we simply call him “Randy.” I got my second clue when he said that he was giving away a giant stuffed bear to whoever did the best job on the first project. I got my third clue when he put on safety goggles and smashed a VCR with a sledgehammer. This all happened on the first day of class.

That was 12 years ago. Today, Randy Pausch is famous for his last lecture, a talk called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” that he gave to reflect on important life lessons as he fought with pancreatic cancer. And while he passed away about a week ago, I figured there was no reason I couldn’t make him a posthumous guest of honor in my series Hunter’s Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Souls.

I’ll start by pointing you to some of his work, and then I’ll move on to some “Pauschisms” that you haven’t seen before.

First of all, if you haven’t seen The Last Lecture yet, you can watch it right here (1 hour 16 minutes):

After “The Last Lecture” the lecture came “The Last Lecture” the book. It’s along the same lines as the lecture, and partly based on it. He goes into more detail about some things he talked about in the lecture and answers some of the questions I had, like “If the lecture was just for your kids, why not record it at home?”

But he also talks about a number of things he didn’t mention in the lecture, such as my blog, which he mentions on page 184. (Yeah, I know I’ve said that like four times now. What can I say, I don’t get mentioned in books very often!) I’d say the main difference between the book and the lecture is that the book seems much more personal, as if he was really writing just for his kids.

A lot of people watched his last lecture but missed the one that he’s always been the most proud of, his time management lecture. In spite of all the technological advances made in the last 12 years, his updated version of this lecture is substantially the same as it was back then (1 hour 26 minutes, Randy comes on at 7:30).

Randy also had his own ABC special with Diane Sawyer (41 minutes).

And he gave this testimony to the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (8 minutes).

Before The Last Lecture, Randy was known as a friendly, insightful, and entertaining professor of computer science. I was in his Usability Engineering class at the University of Virginia (not Carnegie Mellon), where we learned about the often ignored practice of designing things to be usable. For example, if a smart person can’t figure out how to program their VCR, the problem isn’t with them, it’s with the VCR. Nothing drives that point home quite like a sledgehammer.

But while the class was useful and interesting, what we really liked were Randy’s “Pauschisms,” his profound sayings that he managed to work into every class, whether they seemed to be directly relevant or not. The following Pauschisms are just what I remember from 12 years ago so obviously they’re not exact quotes, but the message has been preserved, if not the wording.

On the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few:

“The stealth bomber costs $2 billion. Why does it have an ejector seat? If that plane goes down, that’s $2 billion that can’t be spent to save other lives. Even if a pilot’s in trouble, and he only has a 1% chance of landing safely, I still don’t want him to think there’s any other way.”

On being approachable:

“Please, call me Randy.”

On your email identity:

“I strongly suggest that you configure your email account to use your real name. Not something like ‘John the Stud,’ or whatever you thought was cool when you were 19.”

On ambiguous words:

“That’s the trouble with the word ‘last.’ It can mean either ‘final’ or ‘previous.’ And if you think it’s obvious, that everyone will know what you mean, that’s when you know you’re in trouble.”

On dress code:

“You know, Randy, this is a university, not a beach house.”

“Gee, you should have thought of that before you gave me tenure.”

On valuing your time:

“If I were to ask you for $20, you’d say ‘no way.’ And yet, I’m willing to bet that if I came up with any kind of flimsy excuse, any one of you would gladly give me half an hour of your time.”

On the scarcity of time and money:

“You always have infinitely more money than time. Even if you’re in debt. You can always make more money, but you can never make more time.”

On money’s power to corrupt:

“Money is a resource. You can always ignore it.”

On wasting time with unimportant tasks:

“Your goal is to get tenure. Planning the Christmas party is not going to help you get tenure. On the other hand, pissing off the head of the committee isn’t exactly going to help either. So you might suck it up and say, ‘OK, I’ll do it this one time.’”

On data vs. guesswork:

“You’re saying that your guess is better than my data?”

On being asked if he tested Disney’s Aladdin attraction on enough people for the results to be statistically meaningful:

“Is 25,000 enough?”

On remembering the human element:

“The Aladdin attraction had all the latest and greatest virtual reality technology, but there was a problem. Users didn’t find it realistic. And when we asked them why, they said ‘Because the other people didn’t look at me.’”

On having a story:

“People would play with the Aladdin attraction, and after a minute or so they’d get bored and ask what they were supposed to do. So we came up with a story. The magic lamp had been broken up into five pieces, and they had to go out and find them. After that, people could play for hours.”

Name tags

Now, back to that first day of class. When we got there, Randy had set out name tags on a table, and our names were already printed on them. He said if we went by a different name, just make the correction and they’d print a new one for next time. So every day we had class, we’d pick up our name tags and put them on our desks. That was the only class I had where the teacher called everyone by name, and it made such a big difference.

But I didn’t realize at the time that Randy had an ingenious dual purpose for the name tags. Once when I was talking to one of my team members about a project, he was checking his email and said “Oh, I got an email from Randy.” I looked at it, and just saw the subject: “Missing class on 10/17.” Of course! If you’re not there to pick up your name tag, he knows who you are. I don’t know what happened after that, but how many teachers even care if you show up to class?

Teamwork

We always worked on projects in teams, which were switched up after each project. And we all hated this, because doing something as a team inherently meant three times as much work as doing it solo. But it helped prepare us for the real world, where you usually have to work with people that you didn’t choose to work with. For each project, we wrote anonymous evaluations of our team members, and we only got to read them all at the end of the semester. Randy’s theory was that if something’s wrong with you, if people tell you enough times then you eventually listen.

Once we had an interesting team situation that threw Randy for a loop. He told us:

“I got an email from a student that started off: ‘Randy, I need to tell you that not all of our team members carried an equal share of the load.’ And right here I thought, ‘Oh boy, here’s another person complaining about his team members.’ This happens every semester, and I always say that we change the teams after every project so that everyone gets to work with everyone else, so I don’t want to hear any complaints. But then the email surprised me. It said: ‘On this project, I did not do as much work as the others. Please give some of my points to them.’ I had never seen something like this before, and I didn’t know what to do. And I decided that the fair thing to do would be to put it to a vote. By a show of hands, how many people think I should give some of this person’s points to his team members, keeping in mind there’s no guarantee that this will happen when you get stuck with a bad person? OK, the ayes have it.”

Not normal

One of my favorite Randy stories has also been popular with my friends, so I’ll end with that.

One day Randy was telling us that engineers as a group are not normal, and they often don’t keep in mind that the rest of the population is not like them. For example, engineers are not normal in that they like to use jargon, so they might write a user manual that no one can understand. And they’re not normal in that they like to edit autoexec.bat files (remember those?), so they might assume that users will know how to do this.

He called on someone and said, “Give me three reasons why you, plural, are not normal.” The student came up with some answers, and we talked about them.

Then one of the students, who had a notorious reputation for needing to draw attention to himself, started one of his typical clown routines. Randy called on him and said, “Give me three reasons why you, plural, are not normal. We could talk all day about why you, singular, are not normal.” Everyone laughed, and the problem student always seemed to be a bit less obnoxious after that.

Yoda, Captain Kirk, and Jim Carrey

Randy’s fellow professor Gabe Robbins described him as a combination of Yoda, Captain Kirk, and Jim Carrey, meaning he had a delightful mix of wisdom, leadership, and humor. I’m sure he’d rather be remembered for those things than being “the guy who had cancer.”

Still, he was a big supporter of pancreatic cancer research, a deadly disease that strikes without warning, and which we’ve made very little progress against. You can support research into curing pancreatic cancer via the Lustgarten foundation or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN).

Here we go with the first edition of Hunter’s Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Souls.

You may know Shilpan Patel from his Digg-decimating blog Success Soul: Abundance and Simplicity for Mind, Body, and Soul. But did you know that he came to the U.S. with only $20 in his pocket, and worked his way up to owning 3 hotels? I asked Shilpan to share his story with us, and he was kind enough to oblige.

Hunter: Shilpan, why don’t you start off with what made you decide to come to the U.S.? I think that with your engineering background, you could have done pretty well in your native India. What caused you to choose a life over here, and how old were you when you decided this?

Shilpan: My father is a successful businessman. I have seen him working hard everyday to build a respectable business on his own. I could have just stayed in India after earning an engineering degree but I wanted to chart my own course. America is a land of endless opportunities. It was an easy choice when I realized that to chart my own destiny I have to leave home and do what life demands. I was 25 years old when I came to US about 17 years ago.

Hunter: Whenever I hear about someone coming to the U.S. with a tiny amount of money, I always wonder about the practical matters. I mean, you need food and shelter, and $20 doesn’t buy a whole lot. How did you get a foothold? Did you have family and friends over here to help you get started?

Shilpan: Well, I had a close friend who was kind enough to let me stay with him for the first several months. It was still difficult as I’m a vegetarian. I have never had to worry about the veggie food back in India but it was rather difficult in America at least for the first several months. It’s funny. I walked one day to a local pizza shop and ordered a pepperoni pizza with the false assumption that what I saw in the picture was a slice of a tomato. Later when I learned what it was – I laughed at myself for the stupidity.

Hunter: That’s not stupidity, it’s just part of getting adjusted to a strange land. I would have assumed it was a pepperoni pizza, but that’s because I’m so used to it. By the way, everyone, keep in mind that while there are plenty of vegetarian options available in the U.S. today, that was not the case 17 years ago.

Moving on, I’ve never known anyone in the hotel business before. How did you decide that’s what you wanted to do? Was it a family tradition, did it come from a love of real estate, did it come from a love of providing service, or for some other reason?

Shilpan: I always wanted to go into a business, as my father was a businessman. He still is my role model. I found out that lots of Indians owned hotels and for good reasons – it builds equity, it provides tax write-off and for some it also provides a primary residence.

Ten years ago, my oldest daughter got into kindergarten. My wife insisted that both of my daughters have to attend a private school. See, I went to the finest school in my town back in India. Most Indians make sure that their children get a good education. I was working for Johnson & Johnson at the time but my salary was not enough to pay for private schooling. Need is the mother of motivation. We sold our house and purchased a brand new hotel that had a nice living apartment. That was ten years ago.

I used to drive 45 miles to drop our kids off at the private school and then drive another 60 miles to work everyday for almost seven years. My wife would pick them up and make sure that they did their homework on time, etc. We worked hard, very hard for the first seven years of owning our first hotel. I never had any breaks or any vacations. My vacation would be to take friends to Atlanta or Stone Mountain Park if they visit us.

When I look back in retrospect, as crazy as it seems, I’m proud that every bit of effort was worth it. My daughters are very bright and I’m sure that when they chart their own course, they will have gratitude for me and my wife for the sacrifices that we have made along the way.

Hunter: I’m sorry, I’m going to need a minute to process this…

OK, for anyone who missed it, his morning commute was 105 miles for seven years! And when he says they worked “hard, very hard,” I’m sure that’s a euphemism for “way harder than most people could possibly put up with.” I have no doubt that your daughters will appreciate all the sacrifices when they’re old enough to understand.

So, from the time you decided you wanted to own hotels, how did the timeline play out? What year did you start, and when did you buy each hotel? How much time did you have to invest in learning the ropes, as well as actually running the business?

Shilpan: I actually had given hope to buy the first hotel. It’s an interesting story. Ira was the owner and builder of my first hotel. I made a very attractive offer to him as I was determined to buy the hotel but he did not respond. I was disappointed and angry for his lack of response. I had depicted a rather rude image of him in my mind.

Boy, I was absolutely wrong. Several months later, he called me and informed me that if I’m still interested, he is ready to close the deal. I was amused and confused. When I met him, he discussed all the private issues he went through during the time I made him an offer. As he was speaking, I was cursing myself for such a poor judgment of a man who was as nice as anyone I met in this great nation. This experience changed my entire way of thinking about life. He not only helped me establish a relationship with the local bank but also lent some funds to close the deal. It was an incredible experience.

When we took over the hotel, we did not know much about the business. My wife and I were determined to learn and deal with whatever challenges we had to face to learn the ropes. It was a struggle for a while as I was also working at the time. I strongly believe that if you decide to change your life, you can definitely do that. All you have to do is to free up your mind – do not restrict it with the stereotypes. Nothing is impossible if you do not program your mind with restrictions.

Hunter: I really like how your initial perception of Ira turned out to be wrong, and you got to see how he really is. A lot of the time, we judge somebody by a first impression that could be influenced by things going on in their life that we don’t know about. It reminds me of when Randy Pausch said: “Find the best in everybody. You might have to wait a long time, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting, it will come out. And be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.” And this certainly became an opportunity for you, Shilpan.

Now let’s get into some nitty-gritty details. How does someone actually buy a hotel? Do you have to be rich to do it? How much does a hotel cost, and what kind of down payment do you need? How do you locate hotels for purchase and evaluate profitability? And how the heck do you learn how to run them?

Shilpan: No one has to be rich to buy a hotel. There is a prevailing myth that hotels are purchased by rich people. It is true that hotels do require huge capital investment but if you are keen to work hard, you can find partners. In my case, I had 28K when I made the offer. I knew that I did not have enough money as I had lost all of my assets in the stock mania of the mid 90’s. I borrowed some from friends with a promissory note to pay 10% return on their investment. As I said, Ira also surprised me by lending 100K of his own money. I’m still in disbelief.

It’s all due to my strict adherence to honesty and integrity that I learned from my father as a businessman. If you are honest, transparent to your partner, your friends and everyone else – the universe makes a way for your success. I have no doubt about the power of the universe and its positive influence in my life. It takes 20% down similar to a home purchase deal, but as I said with the help from friends and the owner himself, I was able to buy it.

I still remember that day. I was very nervous going to the bank as I had serious doubts about my ability to close the deal. I kept my eyes closed while the attorney was going through the paperwork, occasionally nodding to whatever he asked me without paying attention one iota to what he was saying. I was expecting the deal to go sour. All of sudden I heard the attorney’s somber voice – Mr. Patel, congratulations, you are the owner of this beautiful hotel. Success meets us on the cross roads when we are looking hard for a failure to show up. It’s amazing.

Hunter: I think you just shattered the stereotype many of us had in our minds about all hotel owners being like Donald Trump. How good it must have felt to hear the attorney say those words!

Tell us about a day in the life of a hotel owner. Do you actively manage the hotels yourself? How many employees do you have? What kinds of tasks do you perform, what are the hours like, and how stressful is it?

Shilpan: Gosh, life of a hotel manager. I have done everything Hunter - from managing the front desk to cleaning toilets. My wife has silently supported my efforts so I’m immensely grateful to her, but we both are thankful to this great nation for the opportunity. We both actively manage our properties. As a hotel manager, we have to schedule employees, take care of daily purchasing, deal with any issues and most importantly, make sure that we keep the property up to or exceed the franchise standards in terms of cleanliness and curb appeal.

Hunter: I guess in a business like that, you have to wear all kinds of hats. Have you ever experienced any major setbacks? Have you ever thought about throwing in the towel, or questioned whether you had chosen the right business?

Shilpan: Fortunately, we have not had major setbacks. It’s been relentless hard work though. As I said, we both have worked tirelessly for the first seven years. Now, we don’t work as hard but we still put in more than 60 hours per week. I’m not a quitter by nature. I’m not the smartest guy out there but I have an iron will. So does my wife. She is very focused and dedicated to our family. I guess you can call me lucky in this regard. Hunter, if you keep working hard, you can get luckier. I’m a staunch believer in doing your best without allowing thoughts of negativity to hijack your dreams.

Hunter: It was Samuel Goldwyn who said “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” But I think you’re a good example of that as well.

How does someone know if they’re cut out for the hotel business? And how can someone learn more about how to get started?

Shilpan: As I said, if I can do it, anyone can succeed. I’m not the one with IQ of 180 but I have succeeded with the relentless work. That’s all it takes to keep digging when there is no hope for the gold by general consensus. Always follow your heart and do what makes you happy. If the hotel business excites you but you don’t want to work beyond your regular 40 hours, it may not be your best suit. I’d suggest managing someone’s business for a year or so to get the feeling. I wasn’t fortunate to do so. I have learned the hard way but in the end what matters is the sheer determination and deep faith in your pursuit. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else has any interest in doing so either.

Hunter: And finally, where are your hotels located, for the next time we’re in town? Can you offer our readers any special discount, say 10% off and an extra chocolate on their pillow when they subscribe to your blog and subscribe to my blog?

Shilpan: For my blogger friends, I live about 60 miles north of Atlanta. I currently own a Ramada and a Quality Inn and I’m building a brand new Country Inn and Suites with an upscale shopping plaza right off I-85 near Atlanta. I’m very generous as a friend. It may be more than just 10% if you call me and introduce yourself. I will give you a box of chocolates and a hug if you subscribe to my blog. That’s the promise I will make and keep for all of you.

I am a passionate writer and thinker about life, bliss and goodness. I’m not a trained writer but I promise to write from my heart and with utmost honesty. You can see what I’m up to at my blog Success Soul.

Hunter, thank you for this opportunity to share my life story. I’m both humbled and honored to do so. I hope that it will inspire those who still have self-doubt about their ability to make a profound change in their lives.

Hunter: And thank you, Shilpan, for this incredible interview. Even for those of us who already knew you, I think it helps us see you in a different light. I’ll try to refrain from making a Forrest Gump response to your “box of chocolates” comment, but guys - definitely go check out his blog for all kinds of great life advice. You never know what you’re gonna get.

It’s time to announce a new series I’m going to be running on this blog, titled “Hunter’s Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Souls.” (I’m using “Heroes” to refer to both men and women, as opposed to the more accurate but much clumsier “Heroes/Heroines.”)

There are countless people out there who exemplify a true hero in my eyes. People who are not necessarily born with a silver spoon in their mouth or blessed with superhuman abilities, but who nevertheless work their way up to being great role models in one way or another.

While I don’t want to open my blog up for guest posting, I do think it’s a good idea to do interviews. It’s one thing to listen to someone talk, but it’s another thing to have a conversation with them. Instead of doing broad “tell us everything about yourself” interviews, I’m going to try to focus on a particular angle, preferably showing a side of the interviewee that we haven’t seen a million times before. And I won’t be following any kind of regular schedule; I’ll do just them “whenever.”

Stay tuned for stories of regular people showing incredible courage, integrity, persistence, faith, selflessness, achievement, and so on. Be sure to subscribe for free updates so you don’t miss any. Come on, you know you want to!

Here’s my list of heroes so far:

From $20 In His Pocket To Owning 3 Hotels: Shilpan Patel’s Story
Randy And His Wonderful Pauschisms
Akashic Record Reading With Akemi Gaines, Part 1
Akashic Record Reading With Akemi Gaines, Part 2