The Jim Fortin Podcast

Your personality is unique, but what if I told you it wasn’t unintentional? The third installment of Jim Fortin’s series on exiting the human lie answers that exact question. In this episode, Jim takes on one of the most widely accepted beliefs about personality to prove that much of who we become isn’t up to us. He explains that everything around us, including family, culture, and society, molds and shapes our personalities.

As Jim puts it, the person you call “me” was built by strangers. Even more compelling, he argues that a great deal of who you are today is simply what you have learned to be. He uses regional accents as an example, explaining that how we speak is directly linked to where we are in the world, just like the way we behave.

There’s also the idea of the "old recording,” which Jim says comes from decades of inner training and how it comes into play when we judge ourselves. He shares the first-grade moment a teacher told him he was “just not good at math,” a label he carried until a sophomore geometry class proved otherwise. In this example, he shows why the inner critic is usually someone else’s voice and why decades of conditioning can’t fix present-day problems.

Jim invites listeners to question their identity on a deeper level. He leaves them with a simple prompt asking them to get curious about who they are beneath the surface, beyond the conditioning, and under the layers of brainwashing, to meet who they really are.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode:

(02:49) Jim explains how the personality people call “me” was put together by others, many of whom are no longer alive.

(09:10) The generational chain: Jim shows how beliefs about money, guilt, and scarcity get passed from great-grandmother to child, long after the original circumstances are gone.

(15:30) Jim recalls the first-grade comment that shaped his identity for a decade, and what finally broke it.

(23:13) Jim explains why people have only ever met their programming, and how mystics, shamans, and the Toltecs each named this false self.

(27:12) Why the conditioning that created a problem can’t be used to escape it, and why the instructions are always on the outside of the box.

(31:18) This week’s homework: Jim offers a simple practice. Every time the thought “I’m the kind of person who…” shows up, stop and ask, “Who taught me this?”

Listen, apply, and enjoy!

Transformational Takeaway

Every “that’s just how I am” was handed over by someone else. The anxiety about money, the voice that says you’re not enough, the belief that life is hard: none of it started with you. You picked it up as a child the same way you picked up your accent, without knowing it was happening. That means it can be put down. The next time a limitation sounds like a fact about you, pause and ask who taught it to you. The one asking that question, the one who can see the programming, is the self you have never met.

Let’s Connect:

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With gratitude,

Jim

Are You A Turkey, Otter, Badger, Skunk, or Something Else? In all my time doing the podcast I’m surprised that I’ve never talked in depth about “Animal Medicine.” So, here you go. I was introduced to “Animal Medicine” two decades ago and I have consistently used it over the years for healing and guidance. Many of the students in my transformational program initially had not heard of it and when they start using it they become surprised at the true guidance it can help us within life.

In this episode, I talk about how to use Animal Medicine and I share the various engagements I have had over the years and what that has done for me. Almost all of us humans have heard, “We’re all connected” and for most of us, it’s hard to get our mind around that. Let’s go further and it’s not just us people that are connected, all consciousness on the planet is - and that includes the animals.

Animals can be incredible guides as they each have different abilities than humans and they are amazing at providing life wisdom/guidance if you just observe and learn from them. I mean, heck, your dog alone, if you have a dog. What could you learn from your dog? Specifically, most of us look at the fact that our dogs are absolutely happy all the time, even when they don’t feel well they most often wag their tails.

There is so much to learn from life and in particular the animals and I dig into it in this episode. I talk about the meanings of certain animals that cross your paths and I talk about your lifetime animal totem and that’s what I mean in the headline, “What kind of animal are you?”

Transformational Takeaway
Let the animals in your life be your guide to higher wisdom, knowledge, and guidance.

Mentioned Resources
Medicine Cards

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:

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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

Most people believe they are the sole architects of their decisions. But in truth, many factors influence our choices. Whether it’s career-related or a new relationship, outside elements have a tendency to sway our thinking. In this episode, Jim breaks down a belief he calls the brainwashed script. He explains that most people follow pre-programmed prompts without even realizing it. Even when a decision feels spontaneous, he says it can be traced to early childhood moments. Using an early ‘90s children’s Tylenol commercial as an example, he explains that we are often persuaded to do something based on an idea planted in the subconscious mind. In these situations, analytical thinking goes out the window, and a decision is made solely based upon the seed planted.

Jim also draws on his work as a former professional hypnotist. He notes that this tactic isn't just common in marketing. The Tylenol commercial is a prime example that shows how people react on autopilot, allowing the brain to invent a story afterward to justify their choice. He compares it to an invisible boundary that keeps the mind gated and limits what a person believes is possible. He also gets into the primary drivers of our decisions, sharing that most people rely on three main elements when choices arise, before explaining why restricting yourself and your thoughts may be the biggest lie of all.

If you’ve wanted more in life but keep repeating the same patterns, this episode shows you where the invisible fence came from and how to start stepping past it.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode

(4:15) The liver and onions test: Jim uses a simple lunch scenario to show how people respond in a nanosecond with no conscious thought behind the choice.

(7:15) Jim explains how parents, culture, and society record a psychological track that most people replay for decades without knowing it.

(11:49) Jim shares research from the Max Planck Institute showing that the brain chose up to seven seconds before participants believed they were consciously choosing.

(17:10) The invisible electric collar: Using his own dogs and property line, Jim describes how learned limitations act as invisible boundaries that keep people from going further in life.

(20:22) Jim breaks down a short Tylenol commercial to show how marketers plant suggestions that bypass the critical, analytical mind.

(23:57) The three drivers behind 99% of choices: Jim explains how fear, comfort, and repeated neural pathways make most decisions for us, and why the ego fights to keep that hidden.

Listen, apply, and enjoy!

Transformational Takeaway

Every limitation you think you have was learned, and what was learned can be unlearned. The fence feels real only because no one ever told you it was invisible. Start noticing the moments when you react before you think, and ask who installed that choice. That simple question is where reclaiming your power begins.

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

Yes, you read the headline correctly. Fear is the cure for fear. Why? Because you’ll not go through fear until you go through your fear, hence, fear is the cure for itself. I could spend hours writing fancy copy explaining this episode but it’s as simple as this: Go through your fear or you’ll never go through your fear and when you go through your fear your higher essence and Spirit will be free to soar.

You have probably heard before, “All the things you want are on the other side of your fear.” This is because mostly all the big things you want in life are coming from your desires which are many times coming from your spiritual essence. As long as you entertain your fear you’re going to hobble and hinder your spiritual growth.

So many people who listen to my podcast would consider themselves spiritual but on the flip side of the coin, they have tremendous fears. Ask yourself, “How spiritual is it to get into fear, that which hampers my spirit?” In this episode of course I go deeper into this but it’s a short episode because when you really ponder the single phrase, Fear Is The Cure For Fear, and you come to know that, everything changes in life.

Transformational Takeaway
You’ll not transcend your fear until you go through your fear and it’s one of the most spiritual things that you can do.

Mentioned Resources:
EPISODE 1: “Transforming Your Life From The Inside Out”

Let's Connect:

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LIKED THE EPISODE?[Text Wrapping Break]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

In this episode, Jim tackles the misconception that learning more is the key to transforming life. Yes, knowledge is powerful. But context is everything. Jim uses common vices, like smoking and dieting, to show that knowing something is wrong isn’t enough to make you change. He also explains why piling on more information only confuses you, and uses his experiences as an example.

Like many people, Jim believed that knowing more leads to doing better. He read and researched to learn as much as he could, yet he was still broke and overworked. Becoming a walking encyclopedia led to nothing, and he realized that being, not knowing more, was the key. As the episode continues, Jim breaks down the idea of “decorating the cage" and explains why collecting information makes the human ego comfortable without ever freeing them from it. For his final thought, Jim shares how this understanding led to his next shift and outlines what listeners can expect as the podcast moves into its next chapter.

For anyone who has learned plenty and changed very little, this episode explains why and sets the stage for what comes next.

What You'll Discover in This Episode:

(00:20) Jim asks why smokers, dieters, and doom scrollers keep repeating habits they already know are bad for them.

(04:00) Jim revisits the familiar "know better, do better" idea and explains why he no longer believes it.

(08:52) Jim describes“decorating the cage” and shows how endless reading and listening can make the cage of the ego more pleasant without opening the door.

(13:12) Content versus context: Jim explains why adding information never changes the frame through which a person sees their life.

(15:34) Using swimming and his own 2020 near-death experience, Jim draws the line between reading about something and living it.

(19:15) Jim lays out the show's new direction and its upcoming name change to Brainwashed: Exit the Human Lie.

Listen, apply, and enjoy!





Transformational Takeaway

Think about how much you learned in the past year. Now think about how much your life actually changed. If the gap between those two answers is wide, another book won't close it. Nobody learns to swim from a manual; they get in the water. So set the information aside for a moment and look at the frame you live from, the belief that you are only human. As Jim puts it, you were never only human. You were taught to be that. Once you see through that teaching, you can't unsee it, and that is where real change begins.

Let's Connect:

Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn

LIKED THE EPISODE?[Text Wrapping Break]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