What if you didn't need to know exactly where you're going next to know it's time for a new chapter?

In this episode, we sit down with Justin Harris: entrepreneur, former mortgage industry leader, and lifelong adventurer, to explore what happens when we let go of certainty and trust where life is guiding us.

Together, we explore what it means to follow the voice within, release the need to control every step, and allow life's next chapter to unfold. From spiritual exploration and past experiences to the difference between the “little self” and the “bigger self,” this conversation dives into what can happen when we become more open to possibility and trust the journey ahead.

This isn't just a conversation about changing careers: it's about embracing the unknown, following what feels true, and discovering that the journey itself may be where the real adventure begins.

Topics We Explore:

• Trusting yourself without knowing exactly what comes next
• Letting go of certainty and embracing the unknown
• The “little self” versus the “bigger self”
• Spirituality, consciousness, and personal exploration
• Past experiences and the lessons that shape us
• Inspired action versus forcing the path forward
• Why life may be more about the journey than the destination

Connect with Justin Harris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-harris-005b30355/ 

Learn More about The Viking Academy: https://www.vikingacademy.com

Episode Transcript: 

Erik Solbakken: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Viking Academy Podcast. This week I have Justin Harris on the podcast. Now, Justin and I met in, Strategic Coach. He's a mortgage broker, and he, all of a sudden decided that he was just gonna sell his business. And I was like, "Why are you gonna sell your bus- why did you sell your business?" He goes, "Something inside me told me to sell it." And I was like, "Holy hand grenade. I'm gonna have you on the podcast, and we're gonna have a chat about what it was that spurred you on to do that," because I've been finding that there is a common thread that's been happening lately. A lot of people selling their traditional businesses to move on to do other, shall we call it, spiritually connected and more human-centric-ish kind of, professions or careers. Case in point, Eric, being a chartered accountant, now Viking Academy podcast host and a leader, ringleader of the Academy platform, and business coach, and life coach. and spiritual coach is where I'm also headed towards. I'm reluctantly heading towards, but that's where I'm talk- spirituality. But I'm seeing a lot of more people doing that. They're moving from doctor, lawyer, financial advisor, and moving to this area. So for me, I wanted to have this conversation with Justin to see where it went, because this dude is connected. He's spiritually tapped in. And the funnest part about this, he has no clue what he's gonna do next. Sold his business, and he's, like, allowing his, shall we call, our soul self to guide him to find out what the next thing is to do. you'll find also in the podcast that I, I pretty well can read. I'm sure I, I got a feeling for what he's gonna do next, and I feel like he's gonna be part of the Viking Academy in the future on the platform. I can see that happening for sure. Great guy. We have a little trip down an ayahuasca ceremony. We talk about some life past traumas, and we talk about how excited we are about the future for not only ourselves, but for everybody else on the planet. So there you go. Without further ado, let's go explore. Welcome to the podcast, brother.

Justin Harris: Yeah, thank you for having me. I've been looking forward to this day.

Erik Solbakken: Y- yeah, me too. so, we're all the wellspring of all wonderful people and conversations. Strategic coach, you and I had a chat in Chicago if I recall- Yep. and that's when you were telling me about, off- selling your business- Yes. and going where, and where are you gonna go to next? And we started. We started briefly touching on spirituality and purpose of life and that sort of thing, and I'm like, "Okay, stop. Let's stop talking." Like, just, "Let's get you on the podcast and let's have a conversation," 'cause I'm very curious, man. Like, what, what spurred this and where you're planning on going and what you're gonna do in your next chapter because I'm finding it's like a. It's a, it's a pattern that I see repeating over and over, right? Our, our other buddy that we were talking to, he's also looking at selling his company, right? Yes. And then going and doing something else. So, so give, give me a little background on yourself so we can get caught up, and then we're gonna get into the meat of the conversation.

Justin Harris:Yeah, so the, the company I sold was a mortgage business. I've been in the mortgage game since 2021, so 24-year run, and I love the mortgage business. it's different every day. Lots of challenges to be solved. Helping people buy, purchase a home. the American dream. Yeah. And, and a part of that we had a, a foundation attached to it, the First Rate Foundation, where we had invested. We t- took, - Money on every loan that we closed, put it into the foundation, which is a 501[c][3]. And when I left in 2025, we had. We were just about up on $700,000 invested back into the community, sowing seeds of goodness, which that, that was my favorite part of, of the business, helping people in their, their darkest hours, Unfortunately, we paid for a lot of funerals and things like that. But, felt good to come alongside people. And everybody at First Rate could go find people, go find needs, and then they would bring them to a committee. And if it got past the committee, we'd. the whole office would vote. And once 50% of the office said yes, we funded that need, which was a, a, a lot of fun.

Erik Solbakken: So, yeah, a lot- Well, so, so it was, it was like you, you had your office was all part of the foundation, so they were all. Like, everyone in your office that were working together, that was the committee? That was the foundation? There was a committee of five or six people, and the committee would. You could only be on the committee for two years, and it was a.

Justin Harris: , people wanted on the committee. So, so people got a chance. we were always rotating people on and off of the committee. Okay. But so somebody, somebody at First Rate would bring a need to the committee. And if it made it past the com- the. There was a couple of, of requirements. We had, one, direct tie to First Rate, and two, we had to be able to make a sizable need, right? If the United Way's raising $100,000, we're not gonna go give them 10 grand. Like, we gotta. We, we wanna have a big impact. And so once it got past the committee, then everybody at First Rate got to vote, "Hey, do we wanna fund this need or not?" And then- Okay. and then we would, once that person delivered the check, if it got past the committee, I. it got funded. Wait a second. Most people were, yes. First Rate was your company? Yeah, First Rate- Yeah. Yeah, First, First Rate Financial was the mortgage company, and then First Rate Foundation was the 501[c][3]. Okay, so but, so that's what I meant, like, your entire company, everybody who was in the company got to vote. Yes. Yeah. That's. No, that, that. Dude, that is beautiful. Like, I'm just- You got it. 'Cause I've got the Sol Bakken Foundation in my head and what we want to do with it, but that structure, I love that, is that you can have an organizing committee that fi- they're filtering the opportunities, but then as soon as the opportunity is there, everybody in the office got to, to vote on it.

Erik Solbakken: Yeah. Like everybody on the team. That's beautiful. Yeah. So they're all part of it. And- Yeah. they're all part of it, and then whoever delivered the check, on our next team meeting, we had a team meeting every Wednesday, would, would, would, would tell the story on the team meeting, which was a lot of fun. So yeah, everybody's involved and, and giving out check.

Justin Harris: I, I wrote the checks, which that was my favorite thing to do, and then, hearing the stories was, was always a, a good, a good time as well. So then everybody knew that when they closed a mortgage, there was a percentage of the money that went from that close, from your, your commission on the mortgage close, would go into the fund.

Erik Solbakken: Yep. So it was fully funded purpose. Like, everybody knew everything they were doing was funding that. They all had a- Yeah. they all had their part to play in it. Yes. That's. And when did you start that? Like, when did you start the foundation? 20- 20. Officially, I think we started in 2018. Okay. unofficially, I.

Justin Harris: So we'll, we'll back up a little bit. So I was in production for a lot of year. I owned a company for a while, moved to California, sold the business, came back, and then started back with, with, at First Rate Financial as a loan officer. And then Jason and. gifted Adam and I each a third of the business in 2018. And a- in my production years, I would take a percentage of my closings and put them into a, in, into a, an account, a pot if you will. and, and, we were funding, $1,000 needs here and there, and it just continued to grow and grow and grow. And then when I became a partner at First Rate, they wanted to continue that, so we memorialized it, became a 501[c][3] and made it official. And the checks just kept getting bigger and bigger, which was really cool. That's awesome. I love that. I love that. I can, I can just feel, like, the energy in it just feels right. Oh, yeah. It's, that was the best part of the job, I thought. That's awesome. Okay. Sorry to, to derail the conversation, but I just- No, no

Erik Solbakken: wanted to dive into that part, man. Just- So you, you already made the connection with Coach. I was at a strategic Coach event in Toronto March of 2025, and I, we're. Coach is great because, it's about setting big goals and then making them happen. And, and, and I declared in, in the room, I'm not sure if it was in the free zone or, or the 10X workshop, but that I was gonna sell my business.

Justin Harris: And I didn't know what that looked like. I felt like it would be a surprise to my partners, and I came home and told Shayna, my better half, as we were walking into a board meeting. I'm like, "Hey, I think I'm being called to something different. I don't know what it is, and it, I think it requires me leaving First Rate." And she's like, "Whoa, you had to pop that on me, like, going into a board meeting. you sh-" And I'm like, "Yeah, I just had to get it off my chest." And so that was March of 2025. I waited patiently for some kind of an opportunity to, to, bring this, this is my words, spring this on my partners in a way that it would be res-, I could see it being- Not well received that, that I was leaving or wanted to leave. but I. And the opportunity showed up in July. I let them know, "Hey, I would love to. we're- Aaliyah, our youngest, is graduating high school. We want to leave Alaska at some point in the next couple of years, and I don't, I, I would love for you guys to buy me out." And November 30th, we closed the deal. I agreed to stay to the end of the year to help transition with the team, and, and the rest is history. We are, we're, we're, we're, we're, yeah, we're on completely separated. You're, so now you're done, so you got. Oh, so you just stayed till the end of the calendar year, not, like, a full year afterwards? End of the calendar year, yeah. Yeah, end of the calendar year. So you've been out, you've been in the wild now for eight months. Eight months, yeah. Dude. Yeah, and it's 11:11 right now as we're recording this, and that's a, that's a magical number right there. I've been seeing that 11:11 every, almost every day.

Erik Solbakken: Every time I turn and look and it's 11:11, there's something important about that. So that you- Oh, the time? Yeah, the time. That, - What have you been up to? to be honest- What, what have you been called to? 'Cause I'm. Here's the, here's the thing that I'm really curious about, is, like, you said some- you're being called to something, so something was stirring inside of you, but you didn't, you don't, do you, or I, I'm assuming you didn't know what it was, but you knew that you need- you, you were being called to do something else. And I'm also curious, have you figured out what that is, or are you still trying to figure that out? I'm still waiting. I know it'll show up at the exact right time. I was sitting next to, Gino Wickman at, He's the, the EOS guy. Yeah. At, at a, at a coach workshop in Chicago late last year. And, and may- maybe, I think I'd already.

Justin Harris: I think I was preparing to, to exit, and he's like, "Hey, could I give you some advice?" And I'm like, "Yeah." And, 'cause he's, he exited EOS six or seven years ago. He's like, "First thing is be patient. Don't go running and jumping into the next thing." And I, I, I think a lot of business owners, their identity is wrapped up in, in the business. And one of the things that Coach helped me with, it was early in Coach, I think my very first year. I've been in four years now, going on year five. Chad, Johnson, and T-, I, I love Chad, but one of the things he talked about early in Signature is that you're not in whatever business you're in. Yeah. For me, I'm, I'm not in the mortgage business, I'm an entrepreneur who's playing in the mortgage game, right? So I was able to. At that point in time, my identity was firmly wrapped up in the mortgage business that I owned, but I was able to take a step back from that and be like, "Okay, well, I'm, I'm an entrepreneur and there's lots of things I can do. I happen to be doing this thing right now." And I think that that was a key for me in the exit and having a lot of peace about it. things got a little bit contentious at one point during the negotiations about the buyout, and I turned around and- offered the exact same terms to one of my partners, "And I'll buy you out." And he, at the exact s- terms that I, that I'm asking for. And his response was, "First Rate needs me." And another way to say that was, "I need First Rate." Yeah. And then from there it, it was pretty smooth sailing after, after that. We, we, we met in the middle. Yeah, I wanted all my cash up front, clean separation. He wanted to give me no cash up front and take payments. And I, I got half my cash at closing, and we agreed to a percentage of net operating income paid out over time, and I've already gotten all of my cash. Awesome. I got it way quicker than, than, than we were, than I was thinking or he was thinking. So he even commented at the holiday party, 'cause there's al- we do a holiday party every January. And, and he's like, "Hey, I guess there was no need us, for us to argue about, when you were gonna get all your money.", I think they had one or two more payments at that point done. So yeah, it worked out. That great, great, advice from Gino, it, I think, so couple things. So I'm co- I'm coaching a lot of workshop one's, and that's in workshop one we get the entrepreneur to s- or the, the business owner, shall we.

Erik Solbakken: I'm putting in air quotes here, that stop calling yourself I'm an accountant, I'm a lawyer, I'm a mortgage broker. It's like I'm an entrepreneur with a specialty in blank. Because you can ride multiple horses as an entrepreneur. But as you were explaining that, I was just thinking about it in terms of the experience of life itself, and this is where I, I like diving into the deep end of, of the spirituality. It's like we're a spirit having an experience of Eric doing accounting. Like, I'm, that's the horse that I was riding, or that's the, the part I was playing. I think there's a, there's multiple roles you can play, and you're just experiencing those roles, but that's not who you are at your essence. Like, I truly don't believe that this is who I am at my essence, but it's the part that I'm playing right now. And there's a, there's an immense, freedom of that mindset and thinking that way because you don't, you don't attach yourself to anything. It's like the teachings of The Buddha, life is suffering because of attachment. Like, we, as soon as you attach yourself to something, that's where the suffering is. When you let go, that's when the joy comes from it. So I love the fact that that is been mirrored in business as well. It's like don't go and attach yourself to something else. Like, be okay with not playing another role right now. But just thinking of it in, in those terms, that's where the freedom is. Yes. 'Cause you, yeah, you, you haven't identified yourself as part of the business. Yes. Yeah, that was, that was huge for me. The other piece of it, the second piece of advice Gino, Gino gave me was, was, this idea of liminal space. This, the space between things.

Justin Harris: , the space between my previous business and what's next for me, and that there's a lot of creativity in there, and just to enjoy that, that space. Because once you're off to the next thing, that, that space closes. And, and there's a lot of, a lot of benefits to being in that space. I can echo that because I, again, I.

Erik Solbakken: So I was in public accounting, right? So I had a ca- CPA firm, and I did that for 26 years. And then I sold it, and that's one of the things I wish I had done, is I had, looking back, I wish I had taken more of a break after selling it before jumping into the next thing. but literally within two weeks of me selling the accounting firm, I had people knocking on my door, and I ended up going into another business with another guy, 'cause he was like, "Eric, we gotta go do this thing. You're perfect for that." And like, so I had two weeks. I did two weeks as a as a break. Like, the fact that you're giving yourself that space, man, that's awesome. Yeah. I'm really, yeah, enjoying that. I- Somebody. I was listening to somebody else talking about, it's about eight m- about eight months is the right kind of reset period, which is where I'm at right now.

Justin Harris: I'm, I'm not ti- I'm, I'm ready right now if the idea shows up, and I'll, I, I'll know it when I see it. Yeah. But if it. But I'm, I'm also being really patient, so if it takes a more time. everybody asks me what I'm up to, and I don't really know what I'm up to. but I'm not bored. So. Well, you're exploring, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah. And that- that's what I, I like. Again, like a Viking Academy ethos is about- I think every one of us is put on the reason for, or put on Earth for a reason, but we're the only species that doesn't know why we're here. Mm. And so, but that's where the adventure lies, is going and exploring, right? And so you don't need to know what the horizon i- like, we look at the horizon and go, "I wonder what's on the other side of it."

Erik Solbakken: You have no idea. Well, go explore it. And so for you, you're actively exploring, but you're not attaching to anything yet, right? 'Cause you haven't found the thing that catches your attention. But the, the thing that I find really interesting is the fact that you had this inside you, a burning desire, and going, "It's time for me to go," without a clear picture of what that next thing was. And then you took the leap of faith and sold and walked away. 'Cause that's where I resonated with you, like from, the, there's a lot of stuff that I resonated with, 'cause I did the same thing when I sold my accounting firm. I went, I told my wife, I said, "I just gotta get out. It's time for me to go. I'm done." And she go, and then I said. And she goes, "Well, then sell the firm." She was the one who told me to sell the firm, and I said, "Well, what are we gonna do afterwards?" She goes, "I don't know. We'll figure it out." Right? But it was something inside of me that was telling me it was time to go. Like, I knew that there was something else I needed to do. The fact that you acted on that is, like, I love that. Yeah. And then we leave, our youngest just graduated high school. I've got four girls. Yeah. And, she's taking a gap year, but she's gonna leave the state. All our other girls except one have left the state. Our moms are gone. Like, we have no place here in Alaska.

Justin Harris: I've been here 50 years, and I love Alaska. I love that I grew up here. I love that my kids grew up here, but we're also moving, and we have no idea where. We're, we're flying out Friday. We ship my truck to Seattle. We're flying Friday to Seattle, and we're gonna do a 90-day drive about. And we've got some, some plans, but it's, a lot of it's gonna be unscripted and, and I know we'll. I'm, just like with the, the business idea, I'm, I'll know it when I see it. We'll, we'll know our next home when we, when we, when we see it. Hey- And we've got some ideas, but- It picks you. we're wide open. The house picks you. Yeah. I think. I really do. Yeah, we're wide open. That's so cool. well, yeah, you'll, then you'd be just, well, you'd be flying right over me then as you, as you get to Seattle.

Erik Solbakken: You'll be flying- Yeah. down to Seattle. Just, just let me know and I'll give it a wave, give you a wave as you- There you go. Yeah. fly. Friday morning we'll be, heading over. That's awesome. That's awesome. And so, - So i- interesting thing. At, when you felt that urge to go, did it just happen overnight or did it happen over a longer period of time? Like, were you becoming disenchanted or disenfranchised with the business or was it. Yeah, I'm curious, like where, where the, where the, it, where it came from. Like, I know what it did for me. Like, for me I got, I got itchy, bitchy and twitchy and I was like, "I, I just feel like something else." And it j- it, but it, it happened fairly in a s- short compressed period of time. Like, everything was great until it wasn't for me. I'm curious, like how did it work out for you? Like, when you decided, before you decided. the mortgage business has been great to me for a long time. And so it wasn't so much a, itching to get out of the mortgage business, it was that I was being called to something different.

Justin Harris: , so at the holiday party Miss Casey was like, "Oh, off to bigger and better things." And I'm like, "I don't know about bigger or better, but d- different. It's something different." And I've had lots of offers to get back into the mortgage business since I've, I've left and I've no desire. Yeah. There's, there's just something else out there calling me. I, I believe that there are, are, are currents moving beneath reality, right? That we can't see. And so I'm just trusting in, in whatever the plan is that. And, and I don't know what it is yet. I, I totally resonate with that. I'm m- I'm becoming more and more convinced that whatever we wanna call it, the.

Erik Solbakken: Have you. You read the Tao Te Ching? Oh, yeah. Long, long time ago, but yeah. The first verse in it, right, the first verse is, "That which is named the Tao is not the Tao." In other words, that which you call God is not God, because you called it God, and it. God can't be wrapped up in a bow. So I think about being on Earth and, and where these inspir- ins- inspirations come from, which is in spirit, right? We're looking at the words, like, that's where inspiration comes from. I think there's, like, our soul or our being came here to experience something, and it came. And it, we experienced certain parts of my. Like, if I look back on my life, it came here to experience alcoholism. It came to experience the first marriage failing. It came here to experience, miss, losing the first practice. It came here to experience building a brand new business. It came to. All the things it came to experience, and then once it's experienced it, it's like, okay, now I'm ready for the next thing to experience. And so there's this soul that's driving the bus. It's always been driving the bus, but we think that we are driving the bus. Mm. But I think it's, like, more of a co- A- And so I flip flop between, oh, well, it's all fate versus it's, it's y- us doing it, and I'm more and more coming to what we talk about a lot in the free zone, which is a collaboration. I think it's a collaboration between your self with the small S and your Self with the large S collaborating, but I find that the, the S with the. The Self with the large S knows where, where we're, where we're meant to go, where the best outlet is. Like, so in allowing that to drive the bus more has been my experience, that that's where the magic really happens. It is and, and, and I. We, we were given free will, right? - Yeah. and so we have the ability to go exert our will and do things, and I've found, and I've certainly done a lot of that in my life, but I've found that it's better to be in alignment with the big S Self and let the, let, let that guide things even though it's.

Justin Harris: We have to give up control to do that, and- Well, I, yeah, that's, that's the, that, I guess that's the season I'm really leaning into in life is, is, is giving up control and letting it happen the way it's supposed to happen, and let it unfold in divine timing. And- Yeah. it always w- it always works out when we do that, always works out better than I could have planned to begin with. And it's so freeing not having to control everything. It. That's, I, that's the one, I was having a. So I was doing a coaching call, 'cause I work one-on-one with entrepreneurs, and I've got some other. And I work as a group coaching at Strategic Coach, and these are my other businesses. I was talking about that this morning with my guy, with my client that I was working with.

Erik Solbakken: I said, "If you can have a thought that makes it feel like a weight came off your shoulders, now you're on the right thought." Like, you're in the right direction. It's that one that takes the weight off your shoulders, and it becomes more light. It's lighter, and it feels easier and, I would say, more in alignment. It's just there's a lightness to it that I, I feel, and it always occurs when I let go and let God, shall we say in, in quotes. Yes. Yeah. Or I let go and I let the spir- Like, I let my soul guide me. Like, I've called it my, my soul self, is another phrase that I've been using. It's my soul self, not the Eric self. Like, it's the soul self, and letting it kind of guide. And every single time, dude, that I let it lead the way always turns out better, always turns out amazing. But I don't always let it guide the way 'cause I'm a- Like, I haven't figured out how to walk on water yet, what? Like, I'm still- Yeah I still grab the reins and, like, I still have that entrepreneurial A-type person, "Go make it happen,"? Yeah. Little Grant Cardone 10X action, right? Like, so I, I just, I, I, I f- I. And, and it's because it's conditioned in us. I think it's p- programmed because that's how we became successful. It's part of how we became successful, by doing stuff,

Justin Harris: That's the world we live in. I know. It rewards, yeah, doing, doing things instead of letting things happen. There's a, a great new book out, it came out earlier this year, David Deida, Man of Zero. Okay. And he talks about this a lot, about, about taking action when action is required, but if nothing is required, then do nothing. save your energy for when it is required. Did you say. It's Man of Zero is the book? Man- Man of Zero, yeah. Man- Man of Zero, and it's David Deida? Deida. D-E-I-D-A. Oh, okay. His previous book was The Way of the Superior Man, and then so he has this, this whole idea of the basic man who's tied up in woman and world, he calls it, doing things. And then the superior man that is a, a little bit, but still tied up with woman and world. And then the Man of Zero, which just is completely unattached, letting the, the biggest self drive, drive, everything. Yeah. Well, that- Doesn't mean action is not required. but you. Only in alignment with the biggest self.

Erik Solbakken: Yes. Right? Yeah. Well, that's, that's the ultimate essence of, the Alcoholics Anonymous movement, right? Is alignment, let go and let God is seeking a higher power. But in the, in a, in the literature right there it says, "Keep your head in the clouds with God, but keep your feet on the ground with your fellow man." So there is work to be done, but allowing the inspiration to flow through you, and then when you're doing it, it becomes inspired action, and I find inspired action is so much more enjoyable and fun than, perspired action. 100%. And our, our biggest self, our biggest self is for us, right? And wants us to experience what we're here to experience. Yeah. And I think other. a lot of people, I don't know about a lot, but people don't get to experience those things 'cause they're too busy letting the, the, the little self run, run the show when they. Because we have free will, right? And we can miss a lot of opportunities that would've been easier and more enjoyable if we just let the biggest self- Run, run the show. The, i- interesting conversation. So I have a, a, a mastermind that I, that I run. I've got a couple of them. One is, like, with business owners. It's, one I started a long time ago. And then I started a new one called the Healer's Wheel in the Viking Academy, and it's with, spiritual advisors, energy healers, and this. it's. So it's incredible conversations that we have every month. I feel sometimes like a bit of an imposter being in the group with them because. But then they laugh at me and say, "No, Erik, you're a healer as well," but you just, you haven't. I don't have, like, a modality of the healing, right? So, but they've said. And this message has come up multiple times where they feel that, and they've. I, the information that I've got from them is they said the next generation that's coming in, the kids that are being born have no karma. They, they, they're coming in with zero karma, and they're not carrying any more karma with them, so they've cleansed it, so they're here fully experiencing this life. And those of us, the rest of us that are not born in that era, right, are starting to wake up and cleaning our karma out so that we can start living from this position that you and I are alluding to, which is allowing the soul self to direct the ship. But they're already living that right now, and so they're almost, like, creating a, a critical mass that's been pushing the rest of us to that point of allowing it to happen. Because all the things we're talking about are not new concepts that haven't been around for, like, a millennia- like, for, since the beginning of time. But I have never. I don't think there's been a point in time where more people have talked about it. Do what? Like, I- Yeah. I find more and more people. I'm talk- I'm having this conversation about spirituality- With way more people than I ever did in the past, and more people are talking about. My daughter's talking about projectioning and, and having quantum experiences and stuff, and I've never talked to her about that stuff. She's telling me- Mm. about it, right? And so I'm seeing this kind of m- this wave happening where more and more people are starting to live from that place, and it's exciting because, like, what i- what is it gonna look like when we're. when there's more people living from that space? Yeah, it's gonna be a beautiful world. ancient civilizations, Atlantis, Lemuria, places that are now gone because the Earth has shifted its axis and they're underwater now, but that's how they lived.

Justin Harris: They lived this, this, what they call the 5D world, right? And now we've, we've regressed to this, this three- 3D world, and now there's a big push towards back to this rising, ascension if you will, this ri- the, the, the raising of, of humanity's frequency- Yeah. to get back to these, this, this, this previous, this long lost, this long lost, civilizations, Yeah, I'm, I'm excited about it. Yeah. I don't. Y- I've, I've noticed too, like, and I don't know whether it's a red car syndrome, right, but I'm notice. I'm, I'm seeing it more. It's because, like, once you see something, you can't unsee it. You go buy a red truck and all of a sudden you see a red truck everywhere. I am seeing that it's a convergence between science and spirituality. Like, science is talking quantum and the quantum realm, and then s- but spirituality's been t- So they're all talking about the same thing, and they're starting to come together, and it's, it's starting to mesh and, and more and more- I'm seeing scientists are spiritual seekers as well, 'cause they're seeking truth.

Erik Solbakken: They're seeking an underlying understanding of the universe, and the deeper they go into understanding that, the closer it comes to spirituality, and they're starting to meet each other, right? They're, like, they're meeting. So they're not on left and right. They're just meeting themselves at, on the circle. Like, they're coming together. Yeah. Yeah. Joe, Joe Dispenza. Are, are you familiar with Joe Dispenza's work? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So he talks, he talks a lot about science in describing these spiritual concepts, right? These states that he gets people into in meditation. The, the challenge is, is, is, is there's a lot of things science can't measure in the spiritual world. But there's a lot of things that it can measure, and so, yeah, the, I can see the convergence of, of, of those two things as well, and he always tries to, he leads with the science. But then there's this mystical part, too, that you just can't explain with science. But, but they've got data on it, but there's still no explanation for it.

Justin Harris: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, even Einst- Einstein was that way, too. He talked about that. He goes, ", you just keep going, and then you'll find more and more until you finally get to God." And he just goes- Yeah. he throws his hands up in the air and goes, "I don't know." Right? The, so with your. So I, this, when you and I talked about this and you were talking about selling your business and getting out 'cause something was calling you to, to do, to do something else, I instantly flashed to I see something more on that lines of spiritual awakening and helping people level up.

Erik Solbakken: Like, the, humanity's I'm calling it, like, conditioning. Like, we've been conditioned and programmed for years, and, like, there's a time for us to upgrade our, our, our consciousness, right? I honestly see you being part of going into something that's. Like, when you first told me you were selling your business and we had that quick conversation, I f- that flashed in front of me so quickly. Like, that's where you're going. You're to be a part of- Yeah, that's- You're in- you're going there. Like, that's, that's- Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a foregone conclusion, but that's just my take on it, right? Th- that, yeah, that's the sense I'm getting as well. I'm still very much at the 30,000-foot level, though. I haven't, like- Yeah

Justin Harris: like, I don't know what it looks like. You talked about having your head in the clouds but your feet on the ground. I don't, I don't know where the rubber meets the road yet for my f- my feet. I've then spent a lot of time with, Stell, who I think he's been a, a guest on here. Multiple times. Stellios. Yeah. Stellios Nicolaou. He's one of my favorite guys. Dr. Nick. Dr. Nick. And, we've been going back and forth, and he says he can see it, but he can't describe it to me yet. But, and then also Chad Jenkins. I've been, I spent some time in Charlotte with Chad recently. Yeah. And, and so it's, it's, it's coming. It's, it's coming. It's just not quite- Yeah. quite here yet. Yeah, and, and there's an ex- so these are all examples of the same thing. Stell, right? And now he's doing Soul Sight. he's the eye specialist, and now he's doing Soul Sight. And Chad's talking about breaking down. Like, he's got. So we d- we did a joint, podcast with the three of us, Chad and Stell and my, and we d- it w- Oh, nice

Erik Solbakken: and it was, it was crazy. It was talking about, quantum vision and collapsing all, like. 'Cause Chad was explaining. He goes, "Everything already exists, and so all's we're doing is," he goes, "I see all the possibilities and all the." And he goes, "And alls you gotta do is collapse that into this reality." And I was like, "Okay." I somehow understood what he said. Like, Chad'll do that. He'll just talk in the, in what he shares in, in the workshops, and, and I see people turning and looking and c- cocking their heads and going, "I think I understand what he's saying." Like, they can feel it, but they don't think they can conceptually grasp it right away. Right? 'Cause it's, there's, it's- I just feel that this is where more and more people are moving towards. Like, I saw Stell and I said, "I can already see where you're going." Like, when I had him on the podcast, we were in tears because we were. could, could kind of feel where he was gonna go with what he was gonna do. And when you told me, I could see clearly where you're gonna go. But not, not in, not in, not in the how, but w- the why. Like, where you're going. Yeah. And that's the thing, thing. Like, for the Viking Academy, for whatever it helps you in terms of what you're doing, I just decided all of a sudden one day, I was like, "No, the Viking Academy needs to, to be born." And, and all. and my wife's like, "Oh, okay. So what is it gonna be?" I said, "I have no fucking clue." No i- She goes, "Well, what is it?" I said, "It's the Viking Academy." "Yeah, but what does it do?" "No idea." And so I'm like, "But it's got mind, body, and spirit, so I'm gonna start a podcast." Okay, so now I've started a podcast. Okay, and then I'm gonna start a membership site, so I'm gonna just try something. And so I got a free membership site now for people to start looking at that, and now I've got coaching. And so it's still in a state of exploration and discovery. And I gotta tell you, it's been the funnest business I've ever started.

Justin Harris: Good for you. Because I'm like. I'm going, "I'm just gonna." But I have to be keep reminded that just stop trying to. Any time I try. Let's put it this way. Any time I try and formalize it, and monetize it, and scale it, I get met with resistance, and I- Mm. and it doesn't, and it doesn't feel right. And then I just take a step back and go, " what?

Erik Solbakken: Eric, just go back in and have the conversations. Just keep having podcasts. Just keep exploring, and just relax." And when I do, then new opportunities pop up. Like, it's so much more. Like, it's so much more fun and easier. It's like what, what Joe Polish, he's got the acronym. What is it? ELF, easy, lucrative, and fun. Mm. Yeah. Talks about that. Yeah. That's, that's what it's been like for me on this. But it takes a hill of faith and courage to do it What do you see. Here's a question for you. W- what, what is your unique ability that you understand it to be right now?

Justin Harris: So my unique is, is, is seeing people at, at the soul level. Like, I can, I can just drill down right into people. I've always been a, a noticer, an observer. I've alway- I always sit in the back of the room. I wanna be able to see everything. And, and then the kind of the, the gift that goes along with that is, is holding space for people, right? Helping people, one, seeing who they are, and then, but then two, holding space for them to, to, to be that. Were you doing that in your business when you were in the mortgage business- Oh. all the time? Yeah. Were you doing that when you were younger? I don't, I don't know My sense is I was, but I don't, there's a lot of things about my, that I, I just don't remember.

Erik Solbakken: Do you, don't remember about your childhood? Yeah. Did s- did you have a traumatic event or? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm born into a, a very abusive household, and so I think I've just blocked a lot of things So your need. Okay, so then, well, this is what's coming to me. So your unique ability about being able to see people for who they are and giving them space to be who they are is what you wanted when you were a child for yourself. 100%, yeah. Right. Right. And so that's what your soul came here to experience, and you can only share that which you've already experienced, so that's why you went and experienced that so now you can help others.

Justin Harris: Yes. Yeah.

Erik Solbakken: Oh, it's, it's formulating now. I see it now Okay, I'm wondering how I can. I, I, I'm, I'm now curious how. what? What's gonna happen is we're gonna amplify this through the Viking Academy. I can see that. Okay. Yeah, let's go. I can see that. Because that's a. For me, the, the idea of the Viking Academy again is where it's f- it's feeling right is that I'm being the lead explorer. Like I said, let's go explore. Let's. Like, it's a philo- So the Viking Academy is now a philosophy of self-discovery. But I don't want it to be the Eric Show, right? It's not no longer about, like, creating the Eric Show and it's about all me. It's like I wanna create a platform, a resource platform where people can go into journey of self-discovery. So I highlight, and I've got resources on my platform for people to go and explore, and that includes healers and, other modalities and coaches and everyone. So I wanna bring them all to the table, and it's a massive collaboration. Like, it's an ultimate free zone, if, so to speak. Mm. Like, I want it to be the ultimate free zone.

Very similar to, to Chad's Co: Lab, right? Chad's bringing the idea of Co:Lab and collaboration to business owners. I'm gonna. I wanna bring that in that space of the, the Viking Academy. I see- I see what you're gonna bring, and I wanna be part of bringing that out, so. But it's not clear to you yet, and I can see that, but it's going to be very clear, and when you step into it, it's gonna make so much sense. You already, you already s- Yeah. you already, your soul already knows it. It's just your, your, your, your, your conscious, the meat sack, or the meat sack that we're carrying around that's not ready, it's not. It hasn't figured that out yet. and I, I. My sense is is it's just, it's not, timing is important, and it's just not time yet. It. I found that as well. Like, I was having these conversations with people before. Like, I never would've had this conversation 10 years ago. Hm. I don't. Well, I, I don't never, but what? Like, it just didn't seem right. Like, if more and more people are ready. Yeah. What's your, what's your, what's your, spiritual practice? Or do you have one? raised in a, a Christian household, and I still very much identify with that. But, I definitely believe in, God, a creator, something way bigger than, than we are, but I don't attend church or anything like that. I've, in the last five years, have ventured quite a bit into plant medicine- Okay

Justin Harris: and, and, and really enjoy ex- experiencing life through that way. Are you working with a, with a shaman to take you through these, or are you doing self- No. self-directed? no, no, no, no. So the. My fir- 50th birthday, we went to Costa Rica with some friends, and then we added a week on and went to this place called Rythmia and did. It was a week-long ayahuasca retreat. Okay. So they. Four different shamans over the four different nights. And then, quite a bit of psilocybin. But these are, with, not shamans in that world, these are, with somebody that knows what's going on, leading them. We've done a couple just solo. and then most recently was with a shaman in. that runs a church in, we were in Nashville, and three nights of ayahuasca at the end of last month. What is it like with ayahuasca? Like, what is the experience? the best way to describe it is- It's really good at holding a mirror up and reflecting back to you who, who you are. And, and what you need. And the interesting. So of seven different nights between the four at Rhythm and the three here, and every one of them very different experiences. But exactly what I needed at the time

Erik Solbakken: It, when you say what you needed at the time because of the insight that you got? Yeah. Yeah. R- so your, your mirror reflecting, so your soul self is talking to yourself? Yes But in, in a, not in a direct language though. It's, it's crazy how the, the medicine works It's non, non, non, non-verbal Correct, yeah. And not.

Justin Harris: Sometimes it's really hard to understand what the message is. It's, the, it, it'll hit you way later, not during the- What were, what was one of the things that you got at the time that you could verbalize or that you could explain? Like, I'm just real- I'm more curious than anything, Justin. Yeah.

Erik Solbakken: 'Cause, what, here's the. Like, for me, I've, I've known about ayahuasca, and I've understood about the psilocybin ceremonies and all the rest of that stuff, but as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, I'm very, very, very hesitant on- Oh, as you should be. trying it myself. As you should be, yeah.

Justin Harris: Yeah. what? Like, that, to me, that's, like, my number one. I've talked to a lot of people and they said, "It's okay. It's safe. It's fine." I'm like, "Yeah, okay, you're not playing with a loaded gun, I am," right? So I, I'm, I'm very curious on the experience, so that's why I'm kind of prodding and asking more questions than anything- Yeah

Erik Solbakken: is I'm c- I'm very curious on, on how it ex- how it was experientially for you and how it impacted you. Yeah, so for the, the, the, the first, my first experience at Rythmia, there was a lot of, And this took me a while to, to understand what was happening, but there was a lot of generational trauma that needed to be healed. Okay. And so that's what was taking place, over those four nights. and it, s- I didn't realize it until-, a year or two after that, that that's what that was. Mm. but that rang pretty true for me then. And then this, these last, the last three nights here, couple of weeks ago, were very calm and peaceful, and I spent a bunch of time the third night in a hammock, and I was listening.

Justin Harris: There was a girl probably 100 yards away that was just wailing for what I. Time disappears, right? But for hours, like a, an inordinate amount of time, and so I'm. But I'm en- wrapped in this hammock, in this cocoon of, of love over here, having a way different experience than she is. -huh. And, but sending her love, and knowing that, hey, everything's gonna be all right for her, and everything's great. Everything's gonna be all right for me. Just this overwhelming sense of calm and peace, and you're right where you need to be, and, and don't rush things, and just be, just keep being who you are

Erik Solbakken: The, the, the The thought feeling, I just came up with that idea, that like a thought. It's a thought feeling that is we're enjoying every second that we're here. Like, we're enjoying the entire ride. Like, the whole thing is for us. Like, it, it. When I see it as life as a gift that way, it changes the whole- my whole perspective of everything, 'cause all of a sudden it's like all of the tra- 'cause I've got my own raft of childhood traumas and all the rest of it and why I became an alcoholic and all the stuff that I did while I was drinking and drugging and just all the stories after stories. I'm looking back on all of it and going, I, I think my soul wanted, like, enjoyed every second of it, and it's in- like, if I'm actively, presently aware of the fact that I'm enjoying every moment, that my soul is here enjoying this ride, like, it is the ultimate experience. I had a Michael Monk on the podcast, and he flipped the thing upside down as like in spirituality, so like in religious teachings, it's like the higher the vibration, the better and the grandeur, and it. We're going for something up there. He flipped it up around and he goes, he goes, ", no, this is the bra- greatest expression of love that God has ever created, is this three-dimensional space that we're in, because it's the most tangible space that you can touch and taste and feel and experience. It's the highest form of creation that the Creator's ever made, and it was all for us." And it all of a sudden, that just. It's resonated with me where it's like all of the experiential things that we're having, when you look at it through that lens, it's like I'm just filled with gratitude. I'm like, holy crap, what an, what a ride. Like, dude, what a ride. And we're still riding it. Like, the fact that you're still here and we're having this conversation, like, we're in the middle of the ride, We are. And I've got this deep belief that life is, is always rigged in my favor. Right? And that doesn't mean that there's not lessons I need to learn and hardships that I'm gonna go through, but I'm gonna get the lesson and, and I'm gonna move on, so I'll have to keep repeating some version of that experience before I do get the lesson. Y- yeah. Do you, do you have a sense, 'cause when you were explaining going through and h- healing some past tra- like, ancestral trauma, I think is what you, you referred to. Yeah. I've had that, 'cause I work with a lot of en- I've got an energy healer that I work with on a regular basis. I've got soul guides. I've got, Tammy Grantham goes, do soul sessions with me. She's awesome. Nikki Reed. I- there's, Ursula. they've s- been talking about me cleaning up and cleansing this. It feels like- That's all part of the process that has to happen so that we can wake up as an entire s- species. Like, this whole convergence, it's the, the work that I'm doing to clean my past up, it just becomes another layer, and every layer that I find, it's like it keeps getting more and more, but it's feeling lighter and lighter as I'm going along. Like, are you finding that that's. Are you in that cycle as well where it's you're looking forward to removing more layers, 'cause it feels good to remove them? Yeah. It's the, the, so you talked about karma earlier. It's the, it's the karmic debt that we're- Yeah. born with, right? We. And Joe Dispenza has a, a pretty lengthy talk about inherited trauma, right?

Justin Harris: That we can inherit trauma from our mom and from, or, from our ancestral line. But in animals they've proven, you put a, I forget the, mice in a thing and it gets shocked at this, in the, on this color but not on this other color, and then when the babies are born, the babies are scared of that color.

Erik Solbakken: . Right? They avoid it. They never got shocked, but they have inherited this- Yeah. this trauma. And so I think we show up with inherited things that we need to, we live in a, it's back to the free will. We live in a f- f- a broken world, right? It's, it's, it's not the Garden of Eden anymore. It's, it's, it's free will, and there's people, there's bad actors that do bad things.

Justin Harris: And, and so the more we can cleanse ourself of, the more we can pay these karmic debts back that we inherited, the freer that we are today in the world. And I think if we can get to a point where- I'm not sure what the point is where we're completely free or free enough to be able to end to the big S self aligning with that and doing whatever we were, whatever we're here to do. I think we, we choose this life, our souls choose this life for experiences like you said, that we want to have. But there's a series of tests perhaps that we have to, a series of lessons we need to learn before we can get to whatever the thing is we're here to do One of the things I find really f- fun with these podcasts is that I- I'm likening spirituality to business.

Erik Solbakken: Like, I. The things that we learn in Strategic Coach, too. Like, 'cause Dan's a self-proclaimed. He's a philosopher with expensive tastes, right? Let's be honest, like, it's- Yeah. Yeah. Strategic Coach is a philosophy, right? Wrapped in a business blanket. That's been what I always say. B- but Dan's talked about, like, this. When you're an entrepreneur and you go and you achieve a goal, an entrepreneur that achieves their goal, if they don't set a new goal, they become dangerous, and they end up wrecking their. They'll, they'll plant landmines in their business. So there's always this. Someone often says to an entrepreneur that they're so ambitious. What- when's enough enough? Like, people complaining about Elon Musk. Well, when is it enough? He's a trillionaire. He should stop, right? Like, and I'm like, "No, you don't understand." Like, a- as soon as you reach the next pinnacle, then there's the next thing to go to, and the next thing to go to. So when you were talking about that, I, all of a sudden, I, I kind of conceptually wrapped my head around the fact that it's the same thing with this, l- with life. It's the same thing with business. There is no. I don't think there is an endgame. But there is an always ever l- l- like, you're always progressing, and that's part of the fun. Like, that makes it fun. So it's not like- to, to phrase it, I don't think the world is broken and needs to be fixed. The world is in a constant state of fixing. Yeah. Do what? Like, it's always evolving. And so Jesus, I, I'm gonna paraphrase this wrong, I always do. It says, "In my Father's house there are many mansions." Like, so that means there's a constant. Every time you open a door, there's another whole mansion inside that room, and so you can just keep going and going and going. It's like you're unpeeling, but there's no. The ultimate point of life is just the, is the j- like the corny thing, it's not the destination, it's the journey. I think that's the whole part. Yes, yeah. And, 'cause whenever I get into that kind of. And I set myself, seat myself into that position, all of a sudden I'm like, all of a sudden it feels fun and joyful. 'Cause I'm no longer trying to achieve a goal that's gonna make everything right. Everything's right right now because I'm moving towards achieving goals. Yes. And that's what, like, your, in your process and where you're going, it's like you're in this process and you're s- I s- I saw, like I he- I see it in you right now. You're so comfortable in the process 'cause you're relaxed. You're not, you're not concerned about, "I need to make it to there to be okay." Right? And that's why you, like, you're selling this comp- and you're following your soul guide, your soul's calling for more adventure, for more fun, for more exploration, and it's just gonna keep unpeeling and you're gonna find more, and you're doing, ayahuasca, and you're, you're, you're exploring, you're searching out. That, what a f- that's fun, dude. Yeah, there's alwa- always a new level, always a new level of mastery or, or whatever the situation is. I have a fantastic relationship with Shayna, but there's always a new level, right? You. I, I don't wanna be complacent with, with, with what we have because there. I know there's more juice in there.

Justin Harris: I wanna get all the juice. Yeah, and this, what this- The next level of juice. I, I don't think, I don't think there's an end to it. I think- Yeah, yeah. I think the more you mine, the more is there. Correct. And it's like, so it's an absolute l- unlimited abundance, like infinite abundance.

Erik Solbakken: If there's not a better thought to end a podcast on, it's that one. It's infinite, and you just get to keep mining it It is. And I see, I can see where you're going. I'm excited to see where you're, you're mining and what you're gonna uncover. Yeah. And I can see it without being able to articulate it. Mm. So I don't know if I'm picking up from what you're. It's like you can feel it. I ca- I, I, I think I can see it. I can see it without being able to explain it to you. But dude, you got hu- like, it's gonna be glorious and it's gonna be a. You're gonna have a blast. You're gonna love it. I'm excited. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. any parting thoughts before we wrap it up? No, I'd love to stay connected with you. we've been in a couple coach workshops together, but we'll have to be intentional about, staying connected and, and as I discover, I peel back this onion, I'll let so we can, share the goodness with the Viking Academy. Oh, yeah. I'm looking forward to that. That, that's a guarantee, my brother. That's gonna happen for sure. All right. Thanks for being on the podcast. Awesome. Thank you for having me. We'll talk soon. Keep exploring. Thanks, Erik. Bye-bye.