The Jim Fortin Podcast

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin reveals a perspective on fear that most people have never considered — one that doesn't require techniques, hacks, or willpower. Drawing on decades of work with his shaman mentor Don Javier, Jim makes the case that everything most people do to fight fear — affirmations, breathing exercises, reframing, even sheer determination — is the very thing keeping fear alive. The real problem, he argues, isn't fear itself. It's the illusion that fear is real. Jim breaks down why fear has no place in the present moment, why it is always a story about a future that hasn't happened and likely never will, and why resisting fear is like throwing gasoline on a fire. From the neuroscience of the amygdala to ancient Buddhist wisdom, Jim draws a clear and practical distinction between being consumed by fear and simply observing it — and explains why that single shift changes everything. This episode doesn't offer a better way to fight fear. It offers something far more powerful: a way to see through it entirely. Listen closely. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: (03:51) Fear lives in the future, not the present — Why fear almost never exists in the actual present moment and how most people are unknowingly living now from something that hasn't happened yet. (08:16) Most of what you fear will never come to pass — The sobering truth that the vast majority of things people catastrophize about never materialize, and why suffering through fear is always optional. (10:12) Fear is a story, not a fact — How recognizing fear as a self-generated narrative — rather than an objective reality — is the moment it begins to lose its grip on you. (13:07) Why techniques and hacks make fear worse — The neuroscientific reason that fighting fear through tools and strategies actually amplifies it, and what Jim calls the resistance trap. (17:21) Observation dissolves what resistance amplifies — The Buddhist practice of naming and witnessing fear as an outside observer, rather than being consumed by it, and why this creates genuine freedom. (29:26) Surrender is not weakness — it's the only way out — Why accepting what is in the present moment, rather than trying to control an outcome that can never be guaranteed, is the true path to eliminating fear for good. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway Fear is not your enemy — it is a story your mind has been telling you so convincingly that you forgot it was a story at all. Every fear you carry is a thought about the future, lived as if it were a fact right now. And the harder you fight it, the more real it becomes. The way out is not force — it is observation, surrender, and the quiet recognition that right now, in this breath, you are okay. The next time fear comes knocking, name it. Recognize it as a story. You are not the fear. You are the awareness watching it arise — and that is exactly where your freedom lives. Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin launches a new series called Brainwashed: Exit the Lie — a deep dive into the conditioning that keeps us small, stuck, and struggling. After 30 years of teaching transformation, Jim has arrived at a profound shift: the goal is no longer transformation, but transcendence — not fixing the self, but rising above the very identity that created the obstacles. Drawing from his own turbulent 18 months of personal and professional upheaval, Jim reveals that the source of our limitations isn't circumstance — it's the brainwashing we've absorbed our entire lives. At the heart of this episode is one paradigm-shattering insight: the reason your mental and spiritual work isn't fixing your life is because you are trying to fix your life. Using the vivid metaphor of the Blue Monkey, Jim unpacks how the desperate need for outcomes is the very thing that repels them — every plan, every "but how?" is ego-driven brainwashing telegraphing lack to the universe, keeping you locked in a cage you're unknowingly holding shut yourself. This episode is the beginning of a journey that promises peace, freedom, and power when you finally stop living in the lie and recognize yourself as the ultimate source in the universe. What You'll Discover in This Episode: (00:00) The shift from transformation to transcendence — Jim introduces the series and explains why true freedom comes from transcending the ego-self that created your limitations — not transforming it. (05:48) Why working on yourself keeps you stuck — Jim delivers a major epiphany: the very act of trying to fix your life signals to the universe that you don't yet have what you want. (09:03) The Blue Monkey and the Brainwashing — Using the legend of the Alchemist, Jim introduces the Blue Monkey to illustrate how our conditioned doing, planning, and needing is the exact force blocking the gold we're trying to attract. (17:45) The need that repels what you want — Jim breaks down how desperation for abundance, love, or health creates the energetic repulsion that keeps those things out of reach, because consciousness responds to state — not want. (24:08) To need nothing is to have everything — Jim shares a personal turning point: the things that showed up most powerfully in his life came when he held them as already on their way — without desperation or the Blue Monkey in charge. (29:00) There is no dualism — the exit is dropping the ego — We are not a physical body and a soul — we are one — and the brainwashing that keeps us living as separate from Source is the only lie we need to exit. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway You have been brainwashed by a lifetime of conditioning that taught you that life is hard and you must do in order to have. But every time you desperately reach for the outcome you want, you send one clear signal to the universe: I don't have it yet. That signal is the Blue Monkey — and it is the only thing standing between you and everything you desire. The exit isn't a new strategy or another affirmation. It's the recognition that you are not apart from Source — you areSource. Stop digging up the acorn to check on the universe. The gold isn't something you have to force or fix your way into. It's already yours — the moment you stop needing it. Mentioned Resources: Dying To Be Me Seat of the Soul You Were the Ultimate Power in the Universe Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin explores one of the most overlooked forces shaping our lives: the fear of silence. Inspired by watching visitors in Sedona bury their faces in their phones rather than soak in the stunning surroundings, Jim dives into the science behind why we're addicted not to our devices, but to avoiding ourselves — unpacking dopamine loops, variable rewards, and how constant scrolling has become a tool for escaping self-reflection. Jim reveals that the average person spends just three minutes a day in genuine self-reflection yet two and a half hours on social media. That imbalance isn't just a time problem — it's an identity problem. Every major spiritual tradition, from Buddhism to shamanism, points to silence not as a practice but as a natural state of being. The noise of our devices keeps us living on the outside, cut off from the authentic power within. This episode is a call to stop running and start listening — to yourself. Jim offers one simple, powerful challenge that can begin your transformation today. What You'll Discover in This Episode: (00:00) The phone addiction hiding in plain sight — Jim opens with a striking scene in Sedona and reveals that our phone obsession isn't about devices — it's about avoiding the silence and depth of our own inner world. (05:51) Dopamine, doom scrolling, and the slot machine in your pocket — Jim breaks down the brain science of variable rewards and why we're wired to keep scrolling, chasing the next dopamine hit the same way a gambler pulls a lever. (11:09) Silence triggers the default mode network — Why the brain literally interprets stillness as danger, and how burying ourselves in social media is a way to sidestep self-reflection, anxiety, and unresolved emotions. (18:24) Social media steals your soulful identity — Constant stimulation keeps us trapped in a 3D external identity, disconnected from the higher, more powerful essence of who we truly are. (25:30) Every spiritual tradition points to silence — From Buddhism to shamanism, the path to wisdom and transformation has always run through stillness — not apps, algorithms, or content. (32:00) The 60-second practice that starts it all — Jim's practical challenge: before you scroll, pause for one minute and notice what arises — because what surfaces in that silence is exactly what you've been avoiding. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway You are not addicted to your phone — you are addicted to avoiding yourself. Every scroll is a retreat from your own power and wisdom. The silence you've been running from isn't empty; it's full — full of the answers your analytical mind can never find. The next time you reach for your phone, pause for 60 seconds. The discomfort that rises isn't a signal to scroll. It's an invitation to evolve. Stop digging the hole. Get quiet. The power you've been seeking externally has been inside you all along. Mentioned Resources: Dying To Be Me As a Man Thinketh Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase. Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin reveals that the external world is not the cause of our experience — it is the reflection of it. Every bank balance, health diagnosis, and relationship outcome mirrors the identity we carry within. We don't need to fight our circumstances; we need to change what we're projecting. Jim explains why so many people stay stuck — not because life is against them, but because they keep trying to change the reflection without changing the face looking into the mirror. The shift he's calling listeners toward is moving from a 3D human identity defined by limitation to a spiritual identity rooted in divine mind, universal consciousness — what Jim simply calls God. Stop punching the mirror. This episode offers the awareness and tools to finally change what's being reflected back. Listen and let it shift something. What You'll Discover in This Episode: (00:00) The world is your mirror, not your enemy — Jim opens by reframing the foundational premise: our environment is not the cause of our problems but a reflection of our inner identity and consciousness. (05:51) You can't change the mirror with the same identity — Why fighting your external circumstances only reaffirms the very identity that created them, and why the senses report reality rather than create it. (11:09) Spiritual identity vs. 3D identity — Jim invites listeners to move beyond religious dogma and human limitation by asking: what if you identified as the ultimate power in the universe — as divine mind, as God? (16:28) You are never at the mercy of your circumstances — A powerful distinction: we are never at the mercy of our circumstances, only at the mercy of our identity — and identity is something we can change. (22:47) Think from the end, not to the end — Jim introduces the transformational question: "If this were already resolved, how would I feel right now?" — shifting consciousness from the problem to the resolution. (29:37) Who are you willing to be before the evidence shows up? — The ultimate takeaway: begin conditioning yourself to identify as one with divine mind, working from that identity before the physical reality confirms it. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway Your circumstances are not your truth — they are your mirror, created by a past version of you. Stop reacting to the reflection. Ask: if this were already resolved, how would I feel? Hold that feeling, think from the end, and begin identifying as divine mind — as the ultimate power in the universe. Change what you project, and the mirror has no choice but to change what it reflects back. Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim

Start Your Transformation Now In this follow-up episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin returns to the provocative theme of ego death introduced in Part 1, this time going deeper into the mechanics of ego identification and why most people remain trapped inside it. Drawing from shamanic teachings, brain science, and deeply personal stories—including the moment a doctor told him he was in heart failure—Jim explains that fear is not a personal flaw but the energy of separation, a byproduct of the ego. Every limitation, every story of "I'm not good enough," every belief system that keeps us small, is rooted in ego. And all of it, Jim insists, was learned. Jim distinguishes between transformation and transcendence, sharing why he is now calling himself and his listeners toward something even deeper: moving beyond the identity of ego altogether. He revisits the habits of the mind that keep the ego alive, explains why love itself gets hijacked by ego, and offers a powerful shamanic reframe—that the soul is the witness, the parent watching the child, the light that dissolves the darkness of the ego. The episode also introduces Soul Forge, Jim's new program designed to help people identify and dissolve the ego's grip on their subconscious patterns. If Part 1 opened the door, Part 2 walks you through it. Listen and let this one sit with you. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: (02:53) Fear is not personal—it's the energy of separation Why every fear you entertain is ego-based, not soul-based, and how understanding this distinction begins to dissolve fear's power over your life. (05:47) The habit of knowing yourself as ego How we become so deeply conditioned to identify as our ego that we forget there's a soulful being underneath—and why recognition is the first step to breaking the cycle. (09:13) Identity, ego, and the question "Who would I be without me?" Through a powerful client story, Jim illustrates how ego identity quietly runs our lives and why releasing it doesn't leave you empty—it makes you present. (12:04) Awareness is the light that dissolves ego Why your ego cannot survive scrutiny and observation, and how shifting from ego to soul as your primary vantage point changes what's possible for you. (18:03) The soul as parent, the ego as child A vivid metaphor for understanding the soul's role as observer—watching the ego's drama without being consumed by it and gently calling you toward expansion. (24:30) You don't need a birthday—you have an incarnation date Why recognizing that you've never truly died shifts your operating frequency from ego fear to soulful power, and what it really means to become more spiritual. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway You don't need to destroy your ego. You need to stop believing that it is you. Every fear, every limitation, every "I'm not good enough" belongs to the ego—a learned identity formed in childhood that no longer serves you. You are the soul observing the ego, present and aware, knowing everything is going to be fine. You have an incarnation date, not a birth date. You have never truly died. Stop fighting the ego. Simply become aware. Awareness is the light. Flip the switch. Mentioned Resources: https://www.jimfortin.com/soul Part 1 Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin unpacks the provocative statement "today is a good day to die"—not referring to physical death, but to the death of the ego. Drawing from shamanic wisdom and decades of personal evolution, Jim reveals how every fear, shame, anger, resentment, and struggle in life stems from ego identification. The masks we wear in different situations—at work, home, social events—aren't who we truly are, yet most people have forgotten they're even wearing them. Jim explains that transformation isn't about becoming better or acquiring more; it's about removing the illusion of who we think we are and recognizing the soulful being beneath the ego. Throughout the episode, Jim shares personal stories and observations about how the ego plays out in everyday life—from road rage incidents to political divisions to relationship conflicts. He explains why the ego, formed hundreds of thousands of years ago as a survival mechanism, still drives our reactions today. The key isn't eliminating ego (which is impossible), but recognizing when it shows up and choosing how we want to demonstrate it. When we stop identifying with our ego and start seeing ourselves and others as soulful beings temporarily wearing masks, everything shifts. If you've been struggling with fear, conflict, or feeling stuck in life, this episode offers a profound reframe that can help you see beyond the mask and reclaim your true self. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: (05:14) Why we wear different masks in different situations How the masks we learned as children for survival still run our lives decades later, keeping us small and inauthentic. (09:03) The power of separating ego from soul A parking lot encounter that demonstrates how recognizing someone's ego behavior—rather than taking it personally—creates instant peace. (13:25) How your ego was formed and why it persists Understanding the ancient survival mechanisms that created the ego and why fears of rejection and judgment still control modern behavior. (18:41) Why reacting to someone's ego with your own ego keeps you stuck How judging people for being assholes makes us the asshole, and what to do instead to break the cycle. (23:28) The choice between being right and being kind Why wanting to be right in relationships is pure ego, and how shifting this one pattern transforms conflict into connection. (26:55) Seeing every person as a soulful being The train metaphor that helps us recognize everyone—even the "bad" people—are on the same journey home, just at different locations. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway Today is a good day for your ego to die—not your physical body, but the mask you've been wearing that was never truly you. Every fear, shame, anger, and struggle in your life is ego-based, not soul-based. When you recognize that you are a soulful being having a human experience, and that everyone else is too, everything changes. The antagonists in your life aren't assholes—they're souls wearing masks, just like you. Stop judging their ego with your ego. Instead, choose to see beyond the mask. You'll never eliminate ego completely, but you can decide how you want to demonstrate it. Will you choose being right or being kind? Will you react from fear or respond from soul? The mask you wore as a child to survive no longer serves you. It's time to remember who you truly are beneath the illusion, and when you do, you'll discover that transformation isn't about getting more—it's about releasing what was never you in the first place. Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn

Start Your Transformation Now In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin explores why so many people feel lost, stuck, or overwhelmed in life—not because life is difficult, but because their attention is divided. Drawing from consciousness-based principles, Jim explains that when attention is split between inner truth and outer circumstances, progress stalls. Wherever attention goes, consciousness follows—and whatever consciousness serves becomes the master shaping results in health, money, and relationships. Jim unpacks how most people unknowingly give authority to the world of appearances—bank accounts, symptoms, relationship dynamics—while claiming to trust spirituality or higher intelligence. This inner contradiction creates tension, fear, and exhaustion. By learning to manage attention and live from consciousness rather than conditions, listeners begin reclaiming personal power and peace of mind. If you’ve been trying harder but feeling more frustrated, this episode offers a profound reframe that can help you stop serving the wrong master and start creating from alignment instead. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: (02:50) Why divided attention creates divided results How focusing on both fear and faith at the same time keeps people stuck. (08:45) The real role of attention in creation Why where you place your attention determines what you experience in life. (12:11) Why circumstances are effects—not causes How health, money, and relationships reflect consciousness rather than define it. (17:49) The hidden mistake spiritual seekers often make Why trying to use spirituality to fix a life you still identify with doesn’t work. (26:53) The true measure of progress in life Why peace of mind—not improved conditions—is the real sign of transformation. (29:30) Two questions that reveal who you’re serving A simple self-check to see whether consciousness or circumstances runs your life. Listen, apply, and enjoy! Transformational Takeaway You are not stuck because life is against you—you’re stuck because you’re serving the wrong master. When circumstances dictate your peace, they control your life. But when you reclaim authority over your attention, conditions lose their power. Shift the cause, and the effects must follow. Master your attention, and you master your experience from the inside out. Mentioned Resources: http://Jimfortin.com/soul Let’s Connect: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn LIKED THE EPISODE? If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. If you have found value, they will too. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more people. Listening on Spotify? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you! With gratitude, Jim