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Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Parent Whisperer Podcast.
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I'm Richard Ramos, your host, and today I want to do something a little bit different and talk about youth on a mission.
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Now, most of the time I'm talking about parents on a mission and parenting and parent issues and different things like that.
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The last episode you saw, I was talking about the community so that you get a an understanding of the larger picture that we're ultimately wanting to make impact.
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It's not just about you and your kids in your home.
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It is about ultimately creating the safe and the safe and let me silence this phone, safe and healthy communities that we all want.
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So I want to talk about youth on a mission.
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And youth on a mission comes out of this book that I wrote years ago.
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I think I published this in 2011.
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But the reason I wrote this book, The Margins to From the Margins to the Mainstream, preparing Latino youth for leadership in the 21st century, was because I've always been concerned about and been involved in community and primarily not exclusively trying to exclude any ethnic group, but being Mexican, I and Latino or whatever name we call ourselves these days, that is my upbringing.
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That is most of the people that I've worked with and seen, and the families and youth and people are Latino.
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So I at the time was just growing in my own leadership experience.
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And the more I got around other leaders and higher levels of government and things like that, I noticed that I was one, only one of a few Mexicans at the table.
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Most everybody else is either black or white, or mostly white.
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And so nothing wrong with that, except that we want to be representative of everybody in our communities.
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We all know the growing population of the Hispanic community is the and the Mexican-American Mexicans are the largest, just last time I checked, of minority or groups in in the country.
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I know other groups are growing, but we've been coming across the border for decades.
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And so obviously it's grown to a point where we are, I think, I don't know, 15% of the population or something like that.
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And in California here, and in the southwestern part of the United States, we are becoming the majority.
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I think in California, I think we might be the majority at this point.
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But anyway, so that that's why I wrote the book because I said, man, we need more leaders, we need more kids to think about leadership and not just exist and then just have this kind of a mentality, a second-class mentality, and I don't belong, or that's not for me, or I don't want to get involved in that.
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That's I'm selling out if I give in to the American way and all this kind of thinking that probably was might have been a little more prevalent when I was younger and growing up in the Chicano movement, like I did in the late 60s and early 70s.
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That that was mentality we don't want to sell out, we're gonna be who we are, stay to ourselves, do our own thing.
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But you got to ask yourself, how's that working out?
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Versus what I meant from the so we often get marginalized.
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Now, some of the marginalization that we've experienced is due to racism, it's due to discrimination.
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Let's not play around, okay?
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Let's just be straight.
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I'm a straight shooter, and let's not try to sugarcoat it.
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That's what it is, that's what it's been, still exists today.
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Unfortunately, maybe it probably not like it used to.
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It's things are getting better.
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We see more black and Asian and Hispanic, Latino leaders in all the different industries, which is great.
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But how does marginalize how do certain communities or ethnic groups in a country get marginalized by policy on purpose?
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That's the way it is.
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But we want to do something about it.
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So that's what I meant by from the margins to the mainstream, so that we can have a voice, we can have a representative voice in the mainstream of life, community, politics, business, religion, etc., etc.
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Because those are the main institutions, education that build the community.
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And so that that was my goal in writing this book.
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And it comes because of the experience of me working with young people who were not doing well, and seeing their life change, helping them to see themselves in a better light so that their life can change.
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So there's three testimonies on the back of this book, and I'm going to go ahead and read them to you so you can get an understanding.
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And so, because what I want to talk about ultimately is on is youth on a mission and what that's about, why I do it, and I want to share with you in here what do I teach or what's taught in youth on a mission, because this is the same thing as parents on a mission.
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I certify, I have a two-day training, and I certify other leaders who are mentoring youth from the ages of somewhere from high school all the way up to young adults, and they take them through my curriculum, all for the purpose of moving from the margins to the mainstream and having influence and seeing themselves as a leader, and so we define what it means to be a leader.
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So I'll get to that.
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But here's just the impact that I've been fortunate to have, and the impact that I want you to have if you want to be a youth on a mission mentor, a youth on a mission leader, if you want to help me change the lives of other young people, misdirected people, they don't have to be Latino.
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It doesn't matter what it doesn't matter what ethnicity you are and what ethnicity you might be working with.
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You might be a white person and you're surrounded by all black people or Mexican people or some or Asian people.
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You might be Asian and you're surrounded by brown people.
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It doesn't matter, none of that matters.
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I could get into it, I don't want to get into all it just doesn't matter.
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If you care and you're genuine, that's what matters.
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Okay.
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So here's one testimony.
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At the age of 11, I got involved with the juvenile criminal justice system.
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Richard Ramos was one of the few people in my life that was supportive and unconditional.
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He would come to my house anytime my mother was having difficulty with me.
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He would hunt me down on the streets and get me to school or back home.
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With the support of Mr.
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Ramos, I was able to transition from offender to a young woman ready to take on the world.
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I received my bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Long Beach State University and Master's in social work from the University of Southern California.
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I now work as a therapist slash social worker with Orange County's most vulnerable youth and families.
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From the margins to the mainstream.
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I am truly grateful for all your work, Mr.
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Ramos, on a personal and professional level.
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I know your words will touch the lives of youngsters just like they once touched me.
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And that's from a young woman named Gabi.
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I know her as Gabi.
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Here's another one.
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I met Richard Ramos on at a crucial time in my teenage years.
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Meeting him opened my eyes to what a strong Latino man really looked like.
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His leadership during that time and to this day has changed my life as well as the lives of countless others.
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I now work with At-Risk Youth and have my own business in Ventura, California.
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And that is from a young ex-gang member named Philip.
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And last, I was a misdirected youth involved in a gang and going in the wrong direction until I met Richard Ramos.
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Because of his care, concern, and counseling, my life was transformed.
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I am now married, raising my children, and have a great job.
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Thank you, Mr.
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Ramos, for all you did for me and so many other Latino youth, and that is from a young man named Ruben.
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You can get this book on Amazon or you can go to my website, Richardr Ramos.com, and find it there.
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And it would be a great gift if you have a young person in your life.
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I would say anywhere from the ages at least 15, even a little older, but if they can read and they're motivated, this book can really help change your life.
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I've had lots of testimonies about that.
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One young girl told me she read it two times, and that's a resource for you.
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That is the foundation of what I now call Youth on a Mission, which I wrote and developed several years ago now.
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And I've been developing just like I do in Parents on a Mission, I develop youth mentors, and then they take this curriculum here.
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A lot of it's based on the book, what's in the book, and they develop young people who are getting out of juvenile hall, involving drugs, gangs, not doing well, and helping them get a vision for their life.
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So there are seven key principles or core principles that we teach in this curriculum, all for the purpose of changing the mindset, changing the vision, changing the self-worth self-esteem that young people have of themselves, and getting into their lane, getting into their God-given potential, to finding their true voice and their true purpose.
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That is what that's the bottom line.
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That's what it's all about.
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Because I have found in my career over all the many years I've been doing this through almost 40 years of doing this, that so many people are living out a script that they were given by a parent, a teacher, a relative, a cop, somebody said, You're this or you're not this, you'll never be this, you're no good.
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And it's like they gave them a script that they've been living.
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And I'm saying that is not who you are.
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I don't know who gave you that script, but it's not the one for you.
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It's not why you were put on this earth.
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You think you were put here to be a gangbanger?
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You think that you were put here to sell drugs?
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You think that you were put here to drop out of school and live on the street?
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You think you're here to be a prostitute and give yourself to away to your body away to other people?
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Do you really think that's why you're here or to be abused, misused by your your family, friends, whoever, to be rejected, to be depressed?
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That's why you're here.
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You feel like you're nobody, you're nothing, you have nothing to contribute.
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You you're living small in your mind, you do have no ambition, you have no goals, no vision.
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See, that is a wrong script that I find so many people, young people they're getting their orders, their direction from social media.
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Just think of a director on a movie set directing the actors who are acting out a script.
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It's not really who they are, it's a script.
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They're acting, but they're being directed by somebody.
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Stop, wait, no, get let's do it again.
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That's not the right line.
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Let's go over it again.
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That's the same thing that's happening in movies, magazines, music, social media, telling kids who they are, how to act, how to dress, how to be, what to look like, who to have sex with, using drugs and on some fantasy that is not who they are.
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Another way I put this is that people are out of position.
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It's like a sports team, and you have a guy who's a lineman, big thick guy, but he wants to play quarterback, and he's going out for quarterback, and he's not doing very well.
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Why?
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Because he's not a quarterback, he's not meant for that.
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Or you have a receiver a little thinner, fast, uh, but he wants to be a linebacker.
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And a linebacker usually that's the kind of guy, usually pretty big, strong, fast, and you're tackling people.
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And this thinner guy is not doing very well.
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Why not?
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Because he's out of position.
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The catcher who wants to be the pitcher, you're out of position.
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And I find again, so many people are living their life out of position, they're not playing the right position that they were meant to play, where they can excel.
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Now, that's a sports metaphor.
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You can use it any other metaphor you want.
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You get what I'm saying.
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You are put here on purpose with a purpose.
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That is what we're teaching in Youth on a Mission.
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You are not here by accident.
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There is a role for you to play in this world, and that role matters.
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You matter, you count, and unless you fulfill the role of why you were put here, other people are not going to benefit from it, or they're not going to benefit from you because you're not fulfilling your role, you're missing, and other people are being affected by that.
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See, now that's a vision of life and understanding that we want to give young people that they don't have.
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Probably a lot of you have seen the movie It's a Wonderful Life.
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It's an old movie, it comes out every Christmas, I think.
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It's a great Christmas movie.
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My family, we watched it for years after year, and my kids when they were growing up, and we still watch it, probably not every as every year like we used to, but we it's a great movie.
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We watch it.
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Now, what is the point of that movie?
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It's about a guy who gets so frustrated with his life that he wants to commit suicide, ultimately comes to a place, and right before he's going to commit suicide, somebody else is distressed and he sees them, and then he jumps in the water to help this guy who's drowning.
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That turns out the guy again, it's a movie, okay.
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He's an angel and he saves him, and then the angel starts telling him about what his life would be like, showing him actually, and putting him in this fantasy world of what his life would be like, or what life would be like if he would committed suicide and he was no longer around.
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And so he did that so that he could realize people need you here.
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Life is not the same.
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Look at the way life would have turned out if you would have killed yourself.
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So it's a great way to help people understand why all of us have meaning, we have purpose, we have potential, we have a calling.
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Does everything Satan, the devil, however you want to look at it, does everything he can to take you and destroy your life.
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Why is the human condition in the condition that it's in?
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Okay, that's a more of a spiritual topic, but essentially you can see how a lot of people, their life is destroyed, they're on the wrong track, they have no meaning, they have no purpose, they're depressed, suicidal, drug addicted, in prison, in jail, all of those kinds of things that was never meant to be.
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That was not why they were put on this earth.
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Okay, so that's where I'm coming from.
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So I say to leaders, our role, parents included, but this as far as a community leader, somebody who works in a nonprofit or a coach or a teacher or something like somebody like that, a mentor.
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Our purpose is to reclaim those lives, to re redeem those lives back to where they belong, to what they belong to, to restore them to their original purpose in life, and to see that happen is just something that is so powerful, and that's why I read you the three testimonies, not because it's about me.
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I hope you didn't get that idea.
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That's not it's not about me, but I want to demonstrate to you that I know what I'm talking about, that I've done it.
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I've those are only three testimonies that I could give a lot more, but so could you, okay, and so that is why we do youth on a mission.
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So it's just hard to put into words, and the other thing is some sometimes, unfortunately, and this is the reason why I do parents on a mission, the parents aren't doing their job, they're not doing a good job, and so now you got these kids out there that are all messed up.
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So if we can't fit help the parent, then mentors are the next best thing.
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Okay, and I did that for many years before I started doing Parents on a Mission.
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And you should know that story by now if you've been listening to me, how I went from being a youth mentor to becoming a parent mentor, and then I went full circle after doing that for many years, and then I developed and wrote this book and developed this curriculum because I wanted to come back to let me go back to the youth mentors and because can't fix all the parents, man.
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I wish we could help all the parents, but we can't.
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Some parents that really need help, they don't want help, and if they don't want help, I can't help them.
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That's the reality.
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So, next best thing, let's continue to create people who want to work with runaway youth, troubled youth, violent youth, or just youth that are just out of position and they're not living in their full potential.
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So we teach seven principles.
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I'm not gonna obviously go through the whole thing.
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There's too many, too much here, but I want to give you an idea just in case you're interested.
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The first thing we talk about is the psychology of influence, such a powerful understanding.
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And we use John Maxwell's definition of leadership.
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What does it mean to be a leader?
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What is leadership?
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Simple, influence.
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If you have influence, you are leading people.
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Okay, and Stephen Cubby talks about the circle of concern and the circle of influence.
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And it's the circle of influence that we want to focus on.
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That's where we want our time and attention to focus on the people that we are influencing.
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That's leadership.
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And the point I make about that is that to be a leader, you don't have to be the boss, you don't have to be in a position of authority or power, you don't have to be the CEO, the principal of a school, the teacher, the coach, the head coach, anybody that has influence the gardener, the janitor, the cafeteria worker in the school.
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The secretaries and work, the or whatever the proper term is these days, I don't know.
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But in other words, you're not in charge.
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But yet you have a circle of people starting in your with your family, starting in your home, but outside of that as well, could be neighbors, could be at church, could be at work.
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You have influence.
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That's leadership.
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And I love that because then that means anybody can be a leader.
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And as a matter of fact, anybody that's influencing other people is leading them.
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Okay, so that's the first thing.
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And we talk about the psychology of influence, and that comes from the book by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion.
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And he talks about, he wrote that book to make us aware of how we are manipulated by advertisements to buy consumers and to buy products.
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And he goes through the different what he calls weapons of influence and talks about how all of those things influence us psychologically.
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And it's a very powerful understanding, but he's showing us how we're being manipulated.
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So what I did, I took those same principles and said, How can we use these principles because human beings are psychologically influenced?
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Okay, let's use these principles that he talks about, weapons of influence, for a positive influence, not manipulating people.
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And so we talk about that.
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For example, like one here, just to give you an example, is the principle of reciprocity.
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And Robert Sildini talks about how when somebody gives you something, a gift, something automatically happens in you that you just feel like you need to reciprocate.
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I always use the example if you ever say during Christmas time or something, somebody comes to the house and they bring you a gift, but you didn't buy them a gift.
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How does that make you feel?
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Oh, you didn't have to do that.
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Oh, I know, but I just want to show you my appreciation.
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So you feel kind of bad, andor you feel, hey, I want to reciprocate that kindness.
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So that's a a form of influence psychologically, but like the way the advertisers do, they get they send you free samples, or you're walking down the mall and they want to give you something for free, a free bite, a free taste, a free perfume, whatever.
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And the reason they're doing that is because they want to influence you to reciprocate and to buy something from them.
00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:48.319
So that's just a simple example.
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:53.119
So the psychology of influence, that's the first thing we we talk about.
00:24:53.279 --> 00:25:03.039
Then the second thing we talk about is understanding human being, not human doing, because that's usually what we're focused on.
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:10.559
But the point of a human being is who am I becoming by what I'm doing?
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.599
What's my the essence of my being as a human?
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:30.240
So giving young people the understanding of how we function as human beings, and so I break it down in body, soul, and spirit, and how what's the functions of our body?
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.799
What's the function of our soul?
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.279
What's the function of our spirit?
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:43.519
And which one of those things is influencing us in the choices that we are making on a daily basis?
00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:53.759
So if we're influenced mostly by the body, which is what we need to sleep, we need to eat, and we have the ability to be intimate, to have sex, to procreate.
00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:02.960
Those desires are leading you as a human being, then they're maybe not so great.
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:16.079
Lazy, always eating, overeating, and you're addicted to pornography or something like that, then the soul, the soul is our reasoning, our emotions, our thinking, and free will.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:25.599
So we make decisions and we get influenced with our feelings, we think, and then we decide and we make choices.
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:27.119
How does that work?
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:35.119
Because if we're always being led by our reasoning, we can reason our way into stealing things.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.839
Human beings will reason their way into killing people.
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:39.119
It can get pretty ugly.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:40.559
What can be good or bad?
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.599
But again, what is leading our being?
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:55.200
Then we have our spirit, where we have our intuition, where we have communion with the spirit world, and where we have our conscience.
00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:03.519
And you've all heard the saying, be guided by your conscience.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:12.799
That would be nice if we always listen to our conscience, because our conscience functions for two things to tell you when you're right and to tell you when you're wrong.
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:22.079
And everybody has a conscience, it's impartial, non-political, and it's just right and wrong.
00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.200
And I wish I could always say that I listened to my conscience.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:26.640
Obviously, I haven't.
00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.119
I don't think anybody can say they do.
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.759
But the more we do, the better we become.
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:44.880
That we have this ability to respond versus react.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.400
Reaction is instinctive and kind of an animal nature.
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.759
And if you're reacting to survive, that's good.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.200
But reacting in relationships usually doesn't work very good.
00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.480
They hate me, I hate you.
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.519
Hit me, I hit you.
00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:58.799
Push me, I push you.
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:00.000
Just reacting.
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:02.480
And that usually doesn't work too good.
00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:23.279
But again, so we walk the young people through this understanding of how we function our body, the purpose of that, the purpose of our mind and thinking, emotions, our choices, and then our the purpose of listening to your conscience, your intuition, maybe having a prayer life.
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:24.240
Why?
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:39.200
Because if we're coming from that place, then we're probably going to start to make better choices, feel better about ourselves, have some discipline in our mind, discipline in our body, discipline in the choices that we make and things like that.
00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:45.519
The third thing we talk about is how to discover your life purpose, vision, and legacy.
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:56.079
And I always enjoy teaching this because we have the people answer certain questions about what is it that you love to do?
00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:04.079
If you, if money was not an issue and time wasn't an issue, how would you spend let's just say a year?
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:12.880
You had a year, no the money was no problem, you're not to work, you had a year, what would you do?
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:19.680
Hopefully, you know you you would do something that you love doing, that's something that's has meaning.
00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.960
So asking those kinds of questions, then we ask them to.
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.799
And then we teach them how to create a vision board.
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:51.680
And a vision board is just a simple concept.
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:59.359
After you think about who you want to be, where you want to be, do you want to own a home, you want to go on these certain trips?
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:11.359
So then you find these things in magazines, they cut out the pictures of a car they want, a home they want, a vacation they want, a goal that they have, and then they put it on a poster board.
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:12.559
It's very simple.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:23.039
Or they can write on it, and then it's just something that we say, put that somewhere where you can see it all the time, and just remind yourself you have a goal, you have a purpose, you have a vision for your life.
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:37.359
You're not just existing like a lot of people, they're just existing and just tossed as the metaphor to and fro, it's like a piece of wood in the ocean, just here and there, whatever, que seda.
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:50.480
That that's no way to live your life versus what we're doing is we're giving you a rudder, we're giving you a sail and a rudder because you have direction, you're not being tossed to and fro.
00:30:50.720 --> 00:31:03.839
You have an anchor that you can put it down that anchor, and you're where you want to be, and then when you want to move, you have a rudder and a sail to keep moving forward to achieve the vision that you have for your life.
00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:18.000
So that's the kind of lesson that is, and it really helps them begin to really see themselves living in their purpose and having a vision for their legacy.
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:21.359
And the sooner they can get that, the better.
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:28.400
Then, fourth, we talk about how to develop your authenticity, because that is so important.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:38.720
Again, as I said earlier, we don't want people being this fake person, being like a chameleon, depending on who you're hanging around with and what the latest fat is.
00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.920
Now you're that.
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:41.759
Oh, but six months later you're this.
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:42.640
And hey, what happened?
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:47.680
I thought you were I'm about this now, and just constantly, wherever the wind blows.
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.519
No, we don't we be authentic.
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:52.799
Who are you?
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:54.319
Who are you really?
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:58.079
And so, how do you discover your authenticity?
00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:02.720
So we have a whole lesson on that, on discovering that.
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:12.240
And then once we discover our authentic self, then the next lesson is how to develop your authenticity.
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:13.759
How does that happen?
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.559
To discover it and to develop it.
00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:24.960
Now, this is something we also teach in parents on a mission, parents helping their kids to discover who they are and then help them to develop who they are.
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:27.839
That's also part of Parents on a Mission.
00:32:28.640 --> 00:33:05.119
But if they don't, if this young person doesn't have that happening in their home, then we are providing this in the classes that they're taking with the youth on a mission mentor that's walking them through these lessons and helping them really value who they are, that they matter, that they have a specific purpose, that they were born on purpose with a specific purpose, that they have a God-given talent and potential to live in their peak potential and be the best version of themselves.
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:07.599
So that's what they're learning.
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:28.400
And we're really building up their self-worth and their self-esteem to be proud of who they are, to walk with dignity and their head up and not be afraid to worry about what other people are going to think about them just because they want to be successful and have significance in their success.
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.799
That that kind of lesson.
00:33:31.279 --> 00:34:06.000
From there, I have this lesson that I created about how to dream your way to the top, and talking about the importance of tapping into the gift of imagination and intuition and following and allowing that spiritual part of us, that intuitive part of us to lead us, and then to use our imagination, as Einstein said, that imagination is more powerful than knowledge, because knowledge has a kind of a limit.
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:09.199
Imagination, there's no limit.
00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:18.800
You can just you can imagine your way into a great purpose in life, and that is one of the benefits of meditation.
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:34.559
The benefit of meditation is that you're getting out of your conscious world consciousness about everything around you and distractions and noise, and the email, and texting, and the radio, and music, and television, and noise.
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:53.440
And so you don't have time to tap into your subconscious mind to start using in your subconscious mind your imagination to start creating that purpose, that legacy, that vision for your purpose in life.
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:58.880
And so we walked through that, and that that's the whole lesson about dreaming your way to the top.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:18.719
And I use some examples of other leaders that I know and other leaders' other stories, not only my own story, but the story of other leaders who went from the margins to the mainstream by using their intuition, their imagination, their knowledge and self-mastery, how to master yourself.
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:21.199
Remember, we talked about human being.
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:32.239
Now we want to talk about how to master your being and so dream your way to the top of whatever it is that these young people want to become.
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:38.000
And then finally, we talk about destiny and the power of one.
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:43.519
And in that, to understand that, you you have to understand my story.
00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:56.880
So I tell my story about how I was saved by policemen from being run over by a train when I was two years old.
00:35:57.039 --> 00:35:59.119
And I tell the story in the book.
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:02.320
But the snapshot of it is I was on the train.
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:06.320
How that happened, I don't want to necessarily get into all the details.
00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:10.079
How did a two-year-old end up on a train tracks?
00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:15.360
Our backyard was basically the train tracks where I grew up in northeast Los Angeles.
00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:18.480
So it was very easy for me to get through the train tracks.
00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:22.719
But on that particular day, the train was coming.
00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:31.119
And when the guy can imagine the conductor seeing me, there's no way he could stop.
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:32.079
No way.
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:39.360
So when he's according to the article in the newspaper, again, it's all in the book.
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:42.960
So he's blowing the horn, hoping to scare me to get off the tracks.
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:44.559
Remember, I'm only two years old, though.
00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:47.039
What that caused me to do was freeze.
00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:52.000
But what happened was there just so happened to be destiny, okay.
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:59.360
There just so happened to be two cops that were on the street parallel to the train tracks.
00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:04.639
So the train tracks are down here, the road is up here about eight feet up higher or so.
00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:08.480
And they get a call that somebody got shot.
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:14.239
So they're racing on their way to go find out about this crime that was committed.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:18.559
On the and on their way, they see me.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:21.039
Oh my god.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:30.079
So now they got to outrace the train, which they would not have done had they not already been going fast because they were trying to get to this crime scene.
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:34.719
And outrace the train, screech to a halt.
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:45.599
The passenger, the guy in the cop in the passenger seat, shotgun seat, jumps out of the car, jumps down this embankment, pushes me off the train train as the train goes by.
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:50.880
So there's a lot more to the story by the book.
00:37:51.440 --> 00:38:01.519
But I tell the story, Destiny and the Power of One, because I know that my life was saved to save lives.
00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:03.840
I didn't know that for many years.
00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:06.480
I never intended to do what I'm doing.
00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:09.440
What I wanted to do is what you see right here behind me.
00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:12.000
I wanted to be a professional baseball player.
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:15.679
That's what my whole goal in life was when I was young.
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:19.519
I had no intention of doing what I'm doing now.
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:33.039
But of course, as I got older and I nobody ever talked to me, my mom, nobody, my dad, no, my parents, nobody, relatives, brothers, sisters ever talked to me about that incident.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:35.840
So I just forgot about it after a while.
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:46.159
But one day my mom brought me the newspaper clip, and then I by that time I had already been serving people and doing a lot of work, and I thought, man, my my life was saved to save.
00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:47.519
That's why I'm doing all this stuff.
00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:57.039
So I know my whole point in telling you this is that I know if you're listening to me right now, it's not an I it's not an accident.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:07.119
And everybody I've met over my life, and the many lives that I've I've influenced, and these were just three examples that I told you about today.
00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.960
But I've been doing this basically since 1982, basically.
00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:16.800
And it's just been a privilege.
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:27.360
But what I'm saying is we all have a destiny, and my destiny was to save lives, just like my life was saved.
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:34.480
And I think a lot of you who are listening to me right now, that's who you are, that's why you're listening to me.
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:41.599
And I just pray you you could read the book, and that that would be great.
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:56.880
But I just pray that if this is really resonating with you, that you'll go to my website, Richard Ramos.com, click on the courses tab, you'll see the YOM Youth on a Mission, YOM wait list.
00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:07.199
You can get on that list, and the next time I do a certification training, so that you can teach this to this.
00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:10.400
Is an older cover, but it's same material.
00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:14.239
Youth on a mission, the future of influencers.
00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:22.559
That you could then start having weekly classes with the youth that are in your circle of influence.
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:25.760
What do you think about that?
00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:30.719
So that's what youth on a mission is all about.
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:36.159
I just wanted to share that with you in case you've heard me mention it before.
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:44.239
And all of this parents on a mission, youth on a mission, the executive director, training and development.
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:45.840
I do, all of that's on my website.
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:47.199
The books I've written.
00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:47.920
What is it?
00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:48.719
What am I doing?
00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:50.320
What am I saying?
00:40:52.480 --> 00:41:22.639
We have a mission in life, we have a calling in life, we have a destiny in life, and that is to serve other people, to reclaim, to restore, and to redeem people to their proper position in life, to snatch them from the jaws of evil, drug addiction, prostitution, and all the ugly thing, gang life, violence, abuse.
00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:56.719
And just like my life was saved all those years ago, we intervene in their life and pull them off the tracks of destruction and put them on the tracks of life and liberty because they find their voice, their true calling, their true purpose by you helping them through this simple curriculum that I put together called Youth on a Mission.
00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:05.599
So if you are interested in that, I would love to have you on my team.
00:42:06.159 --> 00:42:15.920
And you can join, just like I said, go to my website and click on those things, sign up, and you will be hearing from me.
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:17.599
Thanks a lot for listening.
00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:24.480
This is Richard Ramos, the Parent Whisper Podcast, and I will see you in the next episode.
00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:24.880
Thanks.
00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.000
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Parent Whisperer Podcast.
00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:22.160
I'm Richard Ramos, your host, and today I want to do something a little bit different and talk about youth on a mission.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:30.079
Now, most of the time I'm talking about parents on a mission and parenting and parent issues and different things like that.
00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:41.119
The last episode you saw, I was talking about the community so that you get a an understanding of the larger picture that we're ultimately wanting to make impact.
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.079
It's not just about you and your kids in your home.
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:55.439
It is about ultimately creating the safe and the safe and let me silence this phone, safe and healthy communities that we all want.
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:57.679
So I want to talk about youth on a mission.
00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.679
And youth on a mission comes out of this book that I wrote years ago.
00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.239
I think I published this in 2011.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:37.920
But the reason I wrote this book, The Margins to From the Margins to the Mainstream, preparing Latino youth for leadership in the 21st century, was because I've always been concerned about and been involved in community and primarily not exclusively trying to exclude any ethnic group, but being Mexican, I and Latino or whatever name we call ourselves these days, that is my upbringing.
00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:44.719
That is most of the people that I've worked with and seen, and the families and youth and people are Latino.
00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:52.560
So I at the time was just growing in my own leadership experience.
00:01:52.799 --> 00:02:05.519
And the more I got around other leaders and higher levels of government and things like that, I noticed that I was one, only one of a few Mexicans at the table.
00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.840
Most everybody else is either black or white, or mostly white.
00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:17.439
And so nothing wrong with that, except that we want to be representative of everybody in our communities.
00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:32.400
We all know the growing population of the Hispanic community is the and the Mexican-American Mexicans are the largest, just last time I checked, of minority or groups in in the country.
00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:38.719
I know other groups are growing, but we've been coming across the border for decades.
00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:46.479
And so obviously it's grown to a point where we are, I think, I don't know, 15% of the population or something like that.
00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:53.840
And in California here, and in the southwestern part of the United States, we are becoming the majority.
00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.360
I think in California, I think we might be the majority at this point.
00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:17.759
But anyway, so that that's why I wrote the book because I said, man, we need more leaders, we need more kids to think about leadership and not just exist and then just have this kind of a mentality, a second-class mentality, and I don't belong, or that's not for me, or I don't want to get involved in that.
00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:34.080
That's I'm selling out if I give in to the American way and all this kind of thinking that probably was might have been a little more prevalent when I was younger and growing up in the Chicano movement, like I did in the late 60s and early 70s.
00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:41.039
That that was mentality we don't want to sell out, we're gonna be who we are, stay to ourselves, do our own thing.
00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.000
But you got to ask yourself, how's that working out?
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.120
Versus what I meant from the so we often get marginalized.
00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:56.319
Now, some of the marginalization that we've experienced is due to racism, it's due to discrimination.
00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.319
Let's not play around, okay?
00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.199
Let's just be straight.
00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.400
I'm a straight shooter, and let's not try to sugarcoat it.
00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:06.159
That's what it is, that's what it's been, still exists today.
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.599
Unfortunately, maybe it probably not like it used to.
00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:10.879
It's things are getting better.
00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:18.399
We see more black and Asian and Hispanic, Latino leaders in all the different industries, which is great.
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:30.720
But how does marginalize how do certain communities or ethnic groups in a country get marginalized by policy on purpose?
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.360
That's the way it is.
00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:36.319
But we want to do something about it.
00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:56.399
So that's what I meant by from the margins to the mainstream, so that we can have a voice, we can have a representative voice in the mainstream of life, community, politics, business, religion, etc., etc.
00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:03.439
Because those are the main institutions, education that build the community.
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:09.680
And so that that was my goal in writing this book.
00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:27.680
And it comes because of the experience of me working with young people who were not doing well, and seeing their life change, helping them to see themselves in a better light so that their life can change.
00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:35.040
So there's three testimonies on the back of this book, and I'm going to go ahead and read them to you so you can get an understanding.
00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:55.519
And so, because what I want to talk about ultimately is on is youth on a mission and what that's about, why I do it, and I want to share with you in here what do I teach or what's taught in youth on a mission, because this is the same thing as parents on a mission.
00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:31.839
I certify, I have a two-day training, and I certify other leaders who are mentoring youth from the ages of somewhere from high school all the way up to young adults, and they take them through my curriculum, all for the purpose of moving from the margins to the mainstream and having influence and seeing themselves as a leader, and so we define what it means to be a leader.
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.040
So I'll get to that.
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:52.639
But here's just the impact that I've been fortunate to have, and the impact that I want you to have if you want to be a youth on a mission mentor, a youth on a mission leader, if you want to help me change the lives of other young people, misdirected people, they don't have to be Latino.
00:06:53.040 --> 00:07:00.959
It doesn't matter what it doesn't matter what ethnicity you are and what ethnicity you might be working with.
00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.800
You might be a white person and you're surrounded by all black people or Mexican people or some or Asian people.
00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.600
You might be Asian and you're surrounded by brown people.
00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.560
It doesn't matter, none of that matters.
00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.319
I could get into it, I don't want to get into all it just doesn't matter.
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.759
If you care and you're genuine, that's what matters.
00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:20.319
Okay.
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.720
So here's one testimony.
00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.040
At the age of 11, I got involved with the juvenile criminal justice system.
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.519
Richard Ramos was one of the few people in my life that was supportive and unconditional.
00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.360
He would come to my house anytime my mother was having difficulty with me.
00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:38.959
He would hunt me down on the streets and get me to school or back home.
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:40.160
With the support of Mr.
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:45.360
Ramos, I was able to transition from offender to a young woman ready to take on the world.
00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:54.720
I received my bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Long Beach State University and Master's in social work from the University of Southern California.
00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:04.079
I now work as a therapist slash social worker with Orange County's most vulnerable youth and families.
00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.000
From the margins to the mainstream.
00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.639
I am truly grateful for all your work, Mr.
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.279
Ramos, on a personal and professional level.
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:22.079
I know your words will touch the lives of youngsters just like they once touched me.
00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.920
And that's from a young woman named Gabi.
00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:28.720
I know her as Gabi.
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.000
Here's another one.
00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.600
I met Richard Ramos on at a crucial time in my teenage years.
00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:38.399
Meeting him opened my eyes to what a strong Latino man really looked like.
00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:45.440
His leadership during that time and to this day has changed my life as well as the lives of countless others.
00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:51.519
I now work with At-Risk Youth and have my own business in Ventura, California.
00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.120
And that is from a young ex-gang member named Philip.
00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:03.200
And last, I was a misdirected youth involved in a gang and going in the wrong direction until I met Richard Ramos.
00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.039
Because of his care, concern, and counseling, my life was transformed.
00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.879
I am now married, raising my children, and have a great job.
00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:13.840
Thank you, Mr.
00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:21.679
Ramos, for all you did for me and so many other Latino youth, and that is from a young man named Ruben.
00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:29.759
You can get this book on Amazon or you can go to my website, Richardr Ramos.com, and find it there.
00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:35.519
And it would be a great gift if you have a young person in your life.
00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:47.600
I would say anywhere from the ages at least 15, even a little older, but if they can read and they're motivated, this book can really help change your life.
00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.080
I've had lots of testimonies about that.
00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:54.879
One young girl told me she read it two times, and that's a resource for you.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:04.799
That is the foundation of what I now call Youth on a Mission, which I wrote and developed several years ago now.
00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:14.320
And I've been developing just like I do in Parents on a Mission, I develop youth mentors, and then they take this curriculum here.
00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:31.679
A lot of it's based on the book, what's in the book, and they develop young people who are getting out of juvenile hall, involving drugs, gangs, not doing well, and helping them get a vision for their life.
00:10:32.000 --> 00:11:02.960
So there are seven key principles or core principles that we teach in this curriculum, all for the purpose of changing the mindset, changing the vision, changing the self-worth self-esteem that young people have of themselves, and getting into their lane, getting into their God-given potential, to finding their true voice and their true purpose.
00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.840
That is what that's the bottom line.
00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.759
That's what it's all about.
00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:38.320
Because I have found in my career over all the many years I've been doing this through almost 40 years of doing this, that so many people are living out a script that they were given by a parent, a teacher, a relative, a cop, somebody said, You're this or you're not this, you'll never be this, you're no good.
00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:43.679
And it's like they gave them a script that they've been living.
00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.480
And I'm saying that is not who you are.
00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.399
I don't know who gave you that script, but it's not the one for you.
00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:57.120
It's not why you were put on this earth.
00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.159
You think you were put here to be a gangbanger?
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.279
You think that you were put here to sell drugs?
00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.399
You think that you were put here to drop out of school and live on the street?
00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:12.480
You think you're here to be a prostitute and give yourself to away to your body away to other people?
00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:23.440
Do you really think that's why you're here or to be abused, misused by your your family, friends, whoever, to be rejected, to be depressed?
00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:25.039
That's why you're here.
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.480
You feel like you're nobody, you're nothing, you have nothing to contribute.
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:39.440
You you're living small in your mind, you do have no ambition, you have no goals, no vision.
00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:55.919
See, that is a wrong script that I find so many people, young people they're getting their orders, their direction from social media.
00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:01.759
Just think of a director on a movie set directing the actors who are acting out a script.
00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:05.039
It's not really who they are, it's a script.
00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.519
They're acting, but they're being directed by somebody.
00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.200
Stop, wait, no, get let's do it again.
00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:14.960
That's not the right line.
00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:16.639
Let's go over it again.
00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:41.759
That's the same thing that's happening in movies, magazines, music, social media, telling kids who they are, how to act, how to dress, how to be, what to look like, who to have sex with, using drugs and on some fantasy that is not who they are.
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.600
Another way I put this is that people are out of position.
00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:56.320
It's like a sports team, and you have a guy who's a lineman, big thick guy, but he wants to play quarterback, and he's going out for quarterback, and he's not doing very well.
00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:56.879
Why?
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.879
Because he's not a quarterback, he's not meant for that.
00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:07.440
Or you have a receiver a little thinner, fast, uh, but he wants to be a linebacker.
00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:13.840
And a linebacker usually that's the kind of guy, usually pretty big, strong, fast, and you're tackling people.
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:19.039
And this thinner guy is not doing very well.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:19.840
Why not?
00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.759
Because he's out of position.
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.840
The catcher who wants to be the pitcher, you're out of position.
00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:39.120
And I find again, so many people are living their life out of position, they're not playing the right position that they were meant to play, where they can excel.
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:40.879
Now, that's a sports metaphor.
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.279
You can use it any other metaphor you want.
00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.120
You get what I'm saying.
00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:51.440
You are put here on purpose with a purpose.
00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.240
That is what we're teaching in Youth on a Mission.
00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:56.960
You are not here by accident.
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:04.399
There is a role for you to play in this world, and that role matters.
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:25.360
You matter, you count, and unless you fulfill the role of why you were put here, other people are not going to benefit from it, or they're not going to benefit from you because you're not fulfilling your role, you're missing, and other people are being affected by that.
00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:34.720
See, now that's a vision of life and understanding that we want to give young people that they don't have.
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.639
Probably a lot of you have seen the movie It's a Wonderful Life.
00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.679
It's an old movie, it comes out every Christmas, I think.
00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.600
It's a great Christmas movie.
00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:53.360
My family, we watched it for years after year, and my kids when they were growing up, and we still watch it, probably not every as every year like we used to, but we it's a great movie.
00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:53.919
We watch it.
00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.000
Now, what is the point of that movie?
00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:20.559
It's about a guy who gets so frustrated with his life that he wants to commit suicide, ultimately comes to a place, and right before he's going to commit suicide, somebody else is distressed and he sees them, and then he jumps in the water to help this guy who's drowning.
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.759
That turns out the guy again, it's a movie, okay.
00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:46.240
He's an angel and he saves him, and then the angel starts telling him about what his life would be like, showing him actually, and putting him in this fantasy world of what his life would be like, or what life would be like if he would committed suicide and he was no longer around.
00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.919
And so he did that so that he could realize people need you here.
00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:54.799
Life is not the same.
00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:59.840
Look at the way life would have turned out if you would have killed yourself.
00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:12.559
So it's a great way to help people understand why all of us have meaning, we have purpose, we have potential, we have a calling.
00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:34.480
Does everything Satan, the devil, however you want to look at it, does everything he can to take you and destroy your life.
00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:39.200
Why is the human condition in the condition that it's in?
00:17:39.359 --> 00:18:04.079
Okay, that's a more of a spiritual topic, but essentially you can see how a lot of people, their life is destroyed, they're on the wrong track, they have no meaning, they have no purpose, they're depressed, suicidal, drug addicted, in prison, in jail, all of those kinds of things that was never meant to be.
00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:06.880
That was not why they were put on this earth.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.000
Okay, so that's where I'm coming from.
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:26.079
So I say to leaders, our role, parents included, but this as far as a community leader, somebody who works in a nonprofit or a coach or a teacher or something like somebody like that, a mentor.
00:18:27.359 --> 00:19:00.400
Our purpose is to reclaim those lives, to re redeem those lives back to where they belong, to what they belong to, to restore them to their original purpose in life, and to see that happen is just something that is so powerful, and that's why I read you the three testimonies, not because it's about me.
00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.319
I hope you didn't get that idea.
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.559
That's not it's not about me, but I want to demonstrate to you that I know what I'm talking about, that I've done it.
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:20.319
I've those are only three testimonies that I could give a lot more, but so could you, okay, and so that is why we do youth on a mission.
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:39.279
So it's just hard to put into words, and the other thing is some sometimes, unfortunately, and this is the reason why I do parents on a mission, the parents aren't doing their job, they're not doing a good job, and so now you got these kids out there that are all messed up.
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:48.559
So if we can't fit help the parent, then mentors are the next best thing.
00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:54.240
Okay, and I did that for many years before I started doing Parents on a Mission.
00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:19.519
And you should know that story by now if you've been listening to me, how I went from being a youth mentor to becoming a parent mentor, and then I went full circle after doing that for many years, and then I developed and wrote this book and developed this curriculum because I wanted to come back to let me go back to the youth mentors and because can't fix all the parents, man.
00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:21.839
I wish we could help all the parents, but we can't.
00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:27.039
Some parents that really need help, they don't want help, and if they don't want help, I can't help them.
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.640
That's the reality.
00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:46.160
So, next best thing, let's continue to create people who want to work with runaway youth, troubled youth, violent youth, or just youth that are just out of position and they're not living in their full potential.
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.599
So we teach seven principles.
00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:51.920
I'm not gonna obviously go through the whole thing.
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:57.920
There's too many, too much here, but I want to give you an idea just in case you're interested.
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:05.839
The first thing we talk about is the psychology of influence, such a powerful understanding.
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.279
And we use John Maxwell's definition of leadership.
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:11.039
What does it mean to be a leader?
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.319
What is leadership?
00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.400
Simple, influence.
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.720
If you have influence, you are leading people.
00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:25.759
Okay, and Stephen Cubby talks about the circle of concern and the circle of influence.
00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:29.599
And it's the circle of influence that we want to focus on.
00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:36.400
That's where we want our time and attention to focus on the people that we are influencing.
00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:37.839
That's leadership.
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:58.799
And the point I make about that is that to be a leader, you don't have to be the boss, you don't have to be in a position of authority or power, you don't have to be the CEO, the principal of a school, the teacher, the coach, the head coach, anybody that has influence the gardener, the janitor, the cafeteria worker in the school.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.000
The secretaries and work, the or whatever the proper term is these days, I don't know.
00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.880
But in other words, you're not in charge.
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:21.119
But yet you have a circle of people starting in your with your family, starting in your home, but outside of that as well, could be neighbors, could be at church, could be at work.
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.119
You have influence.
00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:25.200
That's leadership.
00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:30.319
And I love that because then that means anybody can be a leader.
00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:35.680
And as a matter of fact, anybody that's influencing other people is leading them.
00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:37.440
Okay, so that's the first thing.
00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:50.799
And we talk about the psychology of influence, and that comes from the book by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion.
00:22:51.759 --> 00:23:06.000
And he talks about, he wrote that book to make us aware of how we are manipulated by advertisements to buy consumers and to buy products.
00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:17.680
And he goes through the different what he calls weapons of influence and talks about how all of those things influence us psychologically.
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:22.319
And it's a very powerful understanding, but he's showing us how we're being manipulated.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:32.160
So what I did, I took those same principles and said, How can we use these principles because human beings are psychologically influenced?
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:40.960
Okay, let's use these principles that he talks about, weapons of influence, for a positive influence, not manipulating people.
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:43.200
And so we talk about that.
00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:49.759
For example, like one here, just to give you an example, is the principle of reciprocity.
00:23:50.319 --> 00:24:03.599
And Robert Sildini talks about how when somebody gives you something, a gift, something automatically happens in you that you just feel like you need to reciprocate.
00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:12.480
I always use the example if you ever say during Christmas time or something, somebody comes to the house and they bring you a gift, but you didn't buy them a gift.
00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:13.920
How does that make you feel?
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:15.759
Oh, you didn't have to do that.
00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.480
Oh, I know, but I just want to show you my appreciation.
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:25.119
So you feel kind of bad, andor you feel, hey, I want to reciprocate that kindness.
00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:39.039
So that's a a form of influence psychologically, but like the way the advertisers do, they get they send you free samples, or you're walking down the mall and they want to give you something for free, a free bite, a free taste, a free perfume, whatever.
00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:46.319
And the reason they're doing that is because they want to influence you to reciprocate and to buy something from them.
00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:48.319
So that's just a simple example.
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:53.119
So the psychology of influence, that's the first thing we we talk about.
00:24:53.279 --> 00:25:03.039
Then the second thing we talk about is understanding human being, not human doing, because that's usually what we're focused on.
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:10.559
But the point of a human being is who am I becoming by what I'm doing?
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.599
What's my the essence of my being as a human?
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:30.240
So giving young people the understanding of how we function as human beings, and so I break it down in body, soul, and spirit, and how what's the functions of our body?
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.799
What's the function of our soul?
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.279
What's the function of our spirit?
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:43.519
And which one of those things is influencing us in the choices that we are making on a daily basis?
00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:53.759
So if we're influenced mostly by the body, which is what we need to sleep, we need to eat, and we have the ability to be intimate, to have sex, to procreate.
00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:02.960
Those desires are leading you as a human being, then they're maybe not so great.
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:16.079
Lazy, always eating, overeating, and you're addicted to pornography or something like that, then the soul, the soul is our reasoning, our emotions, our thinking, and free will.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:25.599
So we make decisions and we get influenced with our feelings, we think, and then we decide and we make choices.
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:27.119
How does that work?
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:35.119
Because if we're always being led by our reasoning, we can reason our way into stealing things.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.839
Human beings will reason their way into killing people.
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:39.119
It can get pretty ugly.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:40.559
What can be good or bad?
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.599
But again, what is leading our being?
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:55.200
Then we have our spirit, where we have our intuition, where we have communion with the spirit world, and where we have our conscience.
00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:03.519
And you've all heard the saying, be guided by your conscience.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:12.799
That would be nice if we always listen to our conscience, because our conscience functions for two things to tell you when you're right and to tell you when you're wrong.
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:22.079
And everybody has a conscience, it's impartial, non-political, and it's just right and wrong.
00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.200
And I wish I could always say that I listened to my conscience.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:26.640
Obviously, I haven't.
00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.119
I don't think anybody can say they do.
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.759
But the more we do, the better we become.
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:44.880
That we have this ability to respond versus react.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.400
Reaction is instinctive and kind of an animal nature.
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.759
And if you're reacting to survive, that's good.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.200
But reacting in relationships usually doesn't work very good.
00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.480
They hate me, I hate you.
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.519
Hit me, I hit you.
00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:58.799
Push me, I push you.
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:00.000
Just reacting.
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:02.480
And that usually doesn't work too good.
00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:23.279
But again, so we walk the young people through this understanding of how we function our body, the purpose of that, the purpose of our mind and thinking, emotions, our choices, and then our the purpose of listening to your conscience, your intuition, maybe having a prayer life.
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:24.240
Why?
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:39.200
Because if we're coming from that place, then we're probably going to start to make better choices, feel better about ourselves, have some discipline in our mind, discipline in our body, discipline in the choices that we make and things like that.
00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:45.519
The third thing we talk about is how to discover your life purpose, vision, and legacy.
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:56.079
And I always enjoy teaching this because we have the people answer certain questions about what is it that you love to do?
00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:04.079
If you, if money was not an issue and time wasn't an issue, how would you spend let's just say a year?
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:12.880
You had a year, no the money was no problem, you're not to work, you had a year, what would you do?
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:19.680
Hopefully, you know you you would do something that you love doing, that's something that's has meaning.
00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.960
So asking those kinds of questions, then we ask them to.
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.799
And then we teach them how to create a vision board.
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:51.680
And a vision board is just a simple concept.
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:59.359
After you think about who you want to be, where you want to be, do you want to own a home, you want to go on these certain trips?
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:11.359
So then you find these things in magazines, they cut out the pictures of a car they want, a home they want, a vacation they want, a goal that they have, and then they put it on a poster board.
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:12.559
It's very simple.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:23.039
Or they can write on it, and then it's just something that we say, put that somewhere where you can see it all the time, and just remind yourself you have a goal, you have a purpose, you have a vision for your life.
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:37.359
You're not just existing like a lot of people, they're just existing and just tossed as the metaphor to and fro, it's like a piece of wood in the ocean, just here and there, whatever, que seda.
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:50.480
That that's no way to live your life versus what we're doing is we're giving you a rudder, we're giving you a sail and a rudder because you have direction, you're not being tossed to and fro.
00:30:50.720 --> 00:31:03.839
You have an anchor that you can put it down that anchor, and you're where you want to be, and then when you want to move, you have a rudder and a sail to keep moving forward to achieve the vision that you have for your life.
00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:18.000
So that's the kind of lesson that is, and it really helps them begin to really see themselves living in their purpose and having a vision for their legacy.
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:21.359
And the sooner they can get that, the better.
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:28.400
Then, fourth, we talk about how to develop your authenticity, because that is so important.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:38.720
Again, as I said earlier, we don't want people being this fake person, being like a chameleon, depending on who you're hanging around with and what the latest fat is.
00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.920
Now you're that.
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:41.759
Oh, but six months later you're this.
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:42.640
And hey, what happened?
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:47.680
I thought you were I'm about this now, and just constantly, wherever the wind blows.
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.519
No, we don't we be authentic.
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:52.799
Who are you?
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:54.319
Who are you really?
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:58.079
And so, how do you discover your authenticity?
00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:02.720
So we have a whole lesson on that, on discovering that.
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:12.240
And then once we discover our authentic self, then the next lesson is how to develop your authenticity.
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:13.759
How does that happen?
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.559
To discover it and to develop it.
00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:24.960
Now, this is something we also teach in parents on a mission, parents helping their kids to discover who they are and then help them to develop who they are.
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:27.839
That's also part of Parents on a Mission.
00:32:28.640 --> 00:33:05.119
But if they don't, if this young person doesn't have that happening in their home, then we are providing this in the classes that they're taking with the youth on a mission mentor that's walking them through these lessons and helping them really value who they are, that they matter, that they have a specific purpose, that they were born on purpose with a specific purpose, that they have a God-given talent and potential to live in their peak potential and be the best version of themselves.
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:07.599
So that's what they're learning.
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:28.400
And we're really building up their self-worth and their self-esteem to be proud of who they are, to walk with dignity and their head up and not be afraid to worry about what other people are going to think about them just because they want to be successful and have significance in their success.
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.799
That that kind of lesson.
00:33:31.279 --> 00:34:06.000
From there, I have this lesson that I created about how to dream your way to the top, and talking about the importance of tapping into the gift of imagination and intuition and following and allowing that spiritual part of us, that intuitive part of us to lead us, and then to use our imagination, as Einstein said, that imagination is more powerful than knowledge, because knowledge has a kind of a limit.
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:09.199
Imagination, there's no limit.
00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:18.800
You can just you can imagine your way into a great purpose in life, and that is one of the benefits of meditation.
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:34.559
The benefit of meditation is that you're getting out of your conscious world consciousness about everything around you and distractions and noise, and the email, and texting, and the radio, and music, and television, and noise.
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:53.440
And so you don't have time to tap into your subconscious mind to start using in your subconscious mind your imagination to start creating that purpose, that legacy, that vision for your purpose in life.
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:58.880
And so we walked through that, and that that's the whole lesson about dreaming your way to the top.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:18.719
And I use some examples of other leaders that I know and other leaders' other stories, not only my own story, but the story of other leaders who went from the margins to the mainstream by using their intuition, their imagination, their knowledge and self-mastery, how to master yourself.
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:21.199
Remember, we talked about human being.
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:32.239
Now we want to talk about how to master your being and so dream your way to the top of whatever it is that these young people want to become.
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:38.000
And then finally, we talk about destiny and the power of one.
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:43.519
And in that, to understand that, you you have to understand my story.
00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:56.880
So I tell my story about how I was saved by policemen from being run over by a train when I was two years old.
00:35:57.039 --> 00:35:59.119
And I tell the story in the book.
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:02.320
But the snapshot of it is I was on the train.
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:06.320
How that happened, I don't want to necessarily get into all the details.
00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:10.079
How did a two-year-old end up on a train tracks?
00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:15.360
Our backyard was basically the train tracks where I grew up in northeast Los Angeles.
00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:18.480
So it was very easy for me to get through the train tracks.
00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:22.719
But on that particular day, the train was coming.
00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:31.119
And when the guy can imagine the conductor seeing me, there's no way he could stop.
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:32.079
No way.
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:39.360
So when he's according to the article in the newspaper, again, it's all in the book.
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:42.960
So he's blowing the horn, hoping to scare me to get off the tracks.
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:44.559
Remember, I'm only two years old, though.
00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:47.039
What that caused me to do was freeze.
00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:52.000
But what happened was there just so happened to be destiny, okay.
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:59.360
There just so happened to be two cops that were on the street parallel to the train tracks.
00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:04.639
So the train tracks are down here, the road is up here about eight feet up higher or so.
00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:08.480
And they get a call that somebody got shot.
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:14.239
So they're racing on their way to go find out about this crime that was committed.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:18.559
On the and on their way, they see me.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:21.039
Oh my god.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:30.079
So now they got to outrace the train, which they would not have done had they not already been going fast because they were trying to get to this crime scene.
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:34.719
And outrace the train, screech to a halt.
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:45.599
The passenger, the guy in the cop in the passenger seat, shotgun seat, jumps out of the car, jumps down this embankment, pushes me off the train train as the train goes by.
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:50.880
So there's a lot more to the story by the book.
00:37:51.440 --> 00:38:01.519
But I tell the story, Destiny and the Power of One, because I know that my life was saved to save lives.
00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:03.840
I didn't know that for many years.
00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:06.480
I never intended to do what I'm doing.
00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:09.440
What I wanted to do is what you see right here behind me.
00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:12.000
I wanted to be a professional baseball player.
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:15.679
That's what my whole goal in life was when I was young.
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:19.519
I had no intention of doing what I'm doing now.
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:33.039
But of course, as I got older and I nobody ever talked to me, my mom, nobody, my dad, no, my parents, nobody, relatives, brothers, sisters ever talked to me about that incident.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:35.840
So I just forgot about it after a while.
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:46.159
But one day my mom brought me the newspaper clip, and then I by that time I had already been serving people and doing a lot of work, and I thought, man, my my life was saved to save.
00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:47.519
That's why I'm doing all this stuff.
00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:57.039
So I know my whole point in telling you this is that I know if you're listening to me right now, it's not an I it's not an accident.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:07.119
And everybody I've met over my life, and the many lives that I've I've influenced, and these were just three examples that I told you about today.
00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.960
But I've been doing this basically since 1982, basically.
00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:16.800
And it's just been a privilege.
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:27.360
But what I'm saying is we all have a destiny, and my destiny was to save lives, just like my life was saved.
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:34.480
And I think a lot of you who are listening to me right now, that's who you are, that's why you're listening to me.
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:41.599
And I just pray you you could read the book, and that that would be great.
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:56.880
But I just pray that if this is really resonating with you, that you'll go to my website, Richard Ramos.com, click on the courses tab, you'll see the YOM Youth on a Mission, YOM wait list.
00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:07.199
You can get on that list, and the next time I do a certification training, so that you can teach this to this.
00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:10.400
Is an older cover, but it's same material.
00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:14.239
Youth on a mission, the future of influencers.
00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:22.559
That you could then start having weekly classes with the youth that are in your circle of influence.
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:25.760
What do you think about that?
00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:30.719
So that's what youth on a mission is all about.
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:36.159
I just wanted to share that with you in case you've heard me mention it before.
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:44.239
And all of this parents on a mission, youth on a mission, the executive director, training and development.
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:45.840
I do, all of that's on my website.
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:47.199
The books I've written.
00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:47.920
What is it?
00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:48.719
What am I doing?
00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:50.320
What am I saying?
00:40:52.480 --> 00:41:22.639
We have a mission in life, we have a calling in life, we have a destiny in life, and that is to serve other people, to reclaim, to restore, and to redeem people to their proper position in life, to snatch them from the jaws of evil, drug addiction, prostitution, and all the ugly thing, gang life, violence, abuse.
00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:56.719
And just like my life was saved all those years ago, we intervene in their life and pull them off the tracks of destruction and put them on the tracks of life and liberty because they find their voice, their true calling, their true purpose by you helping them through this simple curriculum that I put together called Youth on a Mission.
00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:05.599
So if you are interested in that, I would love to have you on my team.
00:42:06.159 --> 00:42:15.920
And you can join, just like I said, go to my website and click on those things, sign up, and you will be hearing from me.
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:17.599
Thanks a lot for listening.
00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:24.480
This is Richard Ramos, the Parent Whisper Podcast, and I will see you in the next episode.
00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:24.880
Thanks.
